Ariel's Costumes

Ariel is the heroine of the Disney classic film, The Little Mermaid.

Throughout the movie Ariel undergoes a few wardrobe changes, and this lens is here to analyse each of her different costumes to help people make their own replicas of her outfits.

Why make your own Ariel outfit?

Some people may not be content with the quality of store-bought costumes. Others may like the challenge of recreating a costume as accurately as possible. No matter the reason, costuming is a fun and ever-growing past-time of many young and young-at-heart alike.

Ariel is the property of Disney, as are the images on this page. No copyright infringement is intended.

I want to be where the people are

The 'costume' of Ariel's that people are most familiar with.

There's not much to it, really! Purple shell bra, green fishtail, and a long red wig.

So how to make a shell bra?

One option is to take a strapless bra with a narrow strap around the back, and sculpt two shells to cover over the bust, hiding the bra cups.

Most clays should work for this, but something with a frame or armature would work well to help strengthen it. Just make sure if you do use air dry or water clay that you don't use an armature because the clay will try to shrink in around it as it tries and can crack.

My clay of choice is du-kit, it has a gentle flex, doesn't shrink or expand, and can be sanded or filed after being baked.

As for the tail, that'll be a bit harder, and it depends whether you're going for accuracy (and are stuck sitting) or want something you can walk around in.

For the fabric, go for a shimmery green fabric, or something that has a green 'fish scale' pattern on it. I personally don't like the look of sequins (far too shiny), It should have a stretch to it, in order to fit as snugly around your hips and legs as possible.

For the fins, use something lighter, and stiffer. If you're doing a 'walkable' costume, you may want fins that can be hooked up out of the way while walking, that can be let down for pictures.

Listen to these songs from The Little Mermaid, on Amazon! If you'd like you can purchase the songs later.

Dinner with Prince Eric

The Pink Dress is worn when Ariel has dinner with Prince Eric.

It can be broken down into 3 parts - bodice, sleeves, and skirt.

The bodice has a wide scoop-neck which hangs off the edge of the shoulders.

At the waist the bodice comes to a small point in front, but remains horizontal around the back of the waist.

The neckline and waistline both are edged with a pale pink trim.

The sleeves have large puffs which are incorporated into the neckline (Raglan Sleeves). The only gathering around the neckline is that which creates the puffs on the sleeves. The main part of the bodice has no gathering.

There are about 6 diamond-shaped cut-outs around the lower end of the puffs that are evenly spaced right around the sleeve, the interior of which are the same pale pink as the neckline and waist trim. These could be achieved in a few ways - have pale pink panels stitched in place directly behind the cutouts, or have a second pale pink puff created that sits below the main puff which shows through the openings.

From mid-bicep to wrist, the sleeve is closely fitted around the arm, and comes to a small point over the back of the hand.

The skirt is big and floofy, and is gathered slightly at the waist. It is floor-length, and is made up of 2 skirts - a pale pink one, and a darker pink one.

The pale pink skirt appears to be a basic A-line skirt, with a little gathering in the centre-front, coming from the point in the waist.

The 'outer' pink skirt has a little gathering at the waist, but not much. It is also an A-line shape but does not reach the floor. It is hemmed about 6 inches from the floor and is horizontal from sideseam, across the back, to the other sideseam. In the front, the skirt is curved and rises from the 6 inch point in a rounded curve up to the point in the waist where the pale pink underskirt's gathering falls from.

There is a small amount of gathering in this outer skirt, done by simply hitching up the front pieces to the front of the waist.

Ariel's jewellery is nice and simple, she wears little pearl earrings with pearl teardrops, and a white barrette with rounded edges and a scallop design.

Click through the images below for detailed pictures of the dress!

(Images screencapped from the DVD, available on Amazon!)

Ariel's wedding dress is very typical of 80's fashion.

The bodice of the dress has a sweetheart neckline that extends horizontally across the front to the sleeves. The sleeves hold up the bodice of the dress, and are one of the most identifiable features of 80's dresses! The sleeves extend about halfway down the upper arm, after which the sleeve is fitted and ends in a small point over the back of the hand. The top of the bodice and the end of the sleeves are hemmed with pale blue trim.

The bottom of the bodice is shaped into 4 'petals', each with a triangular point at the bottom. They are evenly spaced with one each in the centre-front and centre-back, with the other two at the sides. The topmost part of each petal is about 2-3" below the waistline, and they come down just past the hips. They also are hemmed with blue trim.

The skirt is supported with a large petticoat. There is a triangular panel in the front, the top of which is hidden behind the centre-front petal. The panel appears to be about 20" wide at the hem of the dress, and the sides are edged with the same blue trim as the bodice. The panel is palest blue, it is lighter than the trim on the edges.

The veil is transparent and white, reaching to the floor. The veil is held in place with a golden tiara which comes to a point in the centre of the head.

Ariel's earrings are small white pearls with a single pearl drop each.

The shoes aren't seen in the movie, but promotional images show Ariel wearing slippers in the same colour as her dress. I'm not sure whether they have heels or not, but presumably they do since Ariel wore heels with her blue outing ensemble.

(Images below screencapped from the DVD, available on Amazon!)

After a wig for your Ariel costume?

Do a bit of window shopping before you buy, there's no point buying the first and cheapest wig you come across. Believe me, you'll regret it.

When it comes to wigs, you pretty much get what you pay for. If you want something that's quality, expect to pay extra for it.

Ariel's hair is bright red, but make sure the red is a shade that complements the natural colour of your skin. If you have blue undertones, go for a deep red with a hint of purple. If you have yellow undertones, look for something with an orange tinge.

I think deeper colours look more realistic than super-bright 'traffic-light' shades.

Some wig sellers sell small swatches of wig colours, with which you can see for yourself what the colour would look like on you before committing to a wig purchase. I highly recommend getting a swatch if you are unsure about a colour.

This is one of my favourite costumes of Ariel's, but it has about the shortest screen time of all her costumes in the movie!

It is just above ankle-length, is close-fitted, sleeveless, and has a cowl neckline.

To get that slinky look, I'd recommend going for a bias-cut gown if you have the know-how to work with fabric on the bias.

If you just want a regular cowl sewing pattern, you can download a free pattern from here: Burdastyle Cowl Dress

It will obviously need some adjustments, namely the slit up the front of the left leg, and the train on the end of the dress.

Easy to do - print the pattern, and tape newspaper on the bottom of the front and back pieces to lengthen it in order to add the train in. Give the bottom hem a nice rounded shape. As for the side split, decide how far up you want it to be, and just sew the side-seam on the left side from the underarm down to that point!

Cowl patterns aren't hard to find, and it's just a matter of finding a suitable one, lengthening it into a dress, (just take the hem down vertically from the hips to floor), fitting it to the waist, and making the above adjustments.

As for the fabric, it definitely needs to be something with at least a little stretch to it. Blue, glittery, stretchy... that shouldn't be too hard to find! Searches for 'blue glitter' or 'blue metallic' fabric should come up with some decent hits.

Just want to purchase a costume and don't want to make your own? There are plenty of mermaid costumes out there!

It doesn't get any more basic than this!

There are two versions of this 'dress/ wrap/ thing'. Not a very flattering outfit, but when a girl's just got a piece of sailcloth and a length of rope, she's gotta improvise!

Version 1: The version that gets the most screentime. The dress is essentially a long tube dress wrapped from the right side. There's one piece of rope that holds the top edge in place, and another piece of rope that goes around the waist, holding the wrap in place and preventing the gap at the side from flying open. The hem is lower on the left side where there is a definite edge to the 'sail' (the edge is squared off like a corner), and there is a giant eyelet (if that's the correct term for it) a few inches in from this corner.

Version 2: The first version we see Ariel wearing, but only very briefly (thank goodness). This again is a long tube, but the hemline is cut very jaggedly. The gap is on the left rather than the right, but appears to be much lower-set than the hip-high split in the first version. The fabric extends unevenly the topmost piece of rope, and the rope is wrapped twice around the waist. A large piece of the cloth is pulled up through the gap created by these two waist-ropes and hangs out on the right side. Picture 6, below, illustrates this version.

(Images screencapped from the DVD, available on Amazon!)

The Little Mermaid videos and the Broadway Soundtrack (with additional songs not heard in the movie!) on Amazon

If Only You Could Know...

Probably the easiest of Ariel's costumes to get around in!

This dress has 5 main parts - blouse, bodice, skirt, shoes, and bow.

The bodice is a basic black one with a small V-notch in the centre-front. The front hemline extends into a small V shape too. It's really hard to make out any seams on it, so it's up to you what pattern to go with. I highly recommend New Look 6480. It has the V-shaped hem, and one of the variations already has the V-notch. I've used this pattern for so many corsets for myself and really love it.

The fabric would need to be something black (duh!), preferably a heavyweight cotton. The boning that the pattern asks for will help the bodice to hold its shape.

The blouse is about as basic as it can get. Wide scoop neck, and long sleeves that end in small cuffs, collar follows close to the back of the neck. The fabric is a white/ baby blue colour.

The skirt is a periwinkle blue, and the top is hidden by the bodice at the waist. It's ankle length, and is a basic A-line shape.

Ariel's shoes are plain little black pumps, with a 1.5-2" heel. Going from learning to walk to walking and dancing in heels within a few days - Ariel's got talent!

The bow is pale blue, but seems to be a shade halfway between the blouse and the skirt. It's fairly large, and sticks up over the top of Ariel's head. It has two tabs that hang down which switch between 4 - 10" in length.

(Images screencapped from the DVD, available on Amazon!)

Fantastic video of Shir, performing "Part of your World" as Ariel with a gorgeous monofin mermaid's tail

After a ready-made mermaid tail that you can actually swim in? Check these out!

You could also purchase a Monofin and sew up your own mermaid's tail around it if you want to match Ariel's tail closer

Not so much a 'dress', but still, it's something that Ariel wears!

Once again something pink is forced upon Ariel.

Of all her costumes I'd say this one has to be the easiest!

The dress is a long basic column shame (ie. not A-line or with any flare towards the hem.

It's a matte opaque dusky pink with a wide scoop neck that is not so deeply scooped in the back. Seeing as there don't appear to be any seams on this dress, the sleeves could be either set-in, or raglan style.

There is a pale pink flounce that goes right around the neckline. It's about 2 inches wide, and does not appear to be transparent. In the centre-front of the neckline over the top of the flounce, there is a thin and short pink ribbon bow. The ribbon seems to be about the same shade of dusky pink as the dress, and when tied in a bow has ends that are only about 3-4 inches long.

The sleeves are gathered in close to the arm just before the wrist (think 3/4 - 7/8 Bishop sleeve with a small flare), and where the sleeves end there is a circular flounce of the same fabric that goes around the neckline. This flounce takes the total length of the sleeves all the way to just past the wrist.

The dress is ankle-length, and has a plain hem with no flounce.

(Images screencapped from the DVD, available on Amazon!)

Interested in the costumes Ariel wears in the Broadway musical?

"Pink goes with Green" has a great directory with images of Sierra Boggess in costume as Ariel in the Broadway production. The costumes were designed by Tatiana Noginova.

Sierra Boggess sings "Part of Your World" in the Broadway production of "The Little Mermaid".

Beautifully made costumes of Ariel, found on Deviantart