Disney Bounding!

 Disney bounding is the idea of subtly dressing like a Disney character. 

You don't want to copy the character's look, like with cosplay. You use the character's color scheme and accessories to hint at your character.

Disney bounding came to be because adults cannot dress like Disney characters in the park, so there is no confusion about who the official Disney employees are.

I haven't Disney bounded myself, but was inspired by someone making Disney bound outfits for her AG dolls in a Facebook group that I am in.

I like a creative challenge. I actually have the patterns to make the Disney princess dresses for AG, which I bought on sale in case a little girl in my life ever wanted them. I think that's Simplicity 5705 or 1581, if you are interested.

This is more creative to me, to make an outfit that suggests something without copying that thing.

I used Simplicity pattern 8072. It's cute, it's retro, it's easy to make. Actually, I had an issue with the dresses being a little too wide, and was carefully making them narrower for a better fit.

The first one that I made is Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

I just made the yellow dress from Simplicity 8072, and added a rose made of ribbon that I have been saving for years for the perfect project.

This dress is so super cute, and I think it definitely reads as Belle. 

Accessories could be more roses, or a stack of books? Or a purse that looks like a book?

I dressed Joss as Belle because of her brown hair and eyes, and I left her hearing aid on.

Hearing aids are important. Those of us who are hearing impaired would not leave the hearing aid off just because we are dressing up.

The next dress that I made is Ariel from A Little Mermaid. I made a purple dress with teal accents.

Then I found some teal buttons and added a row of those.

I like this one too! 

Astrid, who is Truly Me 61, is perfect to bound as Ariel, with her red hair.

I think this one is easy to accessorize. Seashells, fish, maybe a necklace with a music note.

I want to glue a seashell to a hair clip or two and accessorize her that way.

I really like this outfit as  Disney bound, and have more ideas for Disney bounds using the same pattern. 

Disney bounding is even cuter when you have a group of people with the same theme!

Disney bounding does not have to be retro, but I was looking at pictures of Disney bounding at Dapper Days at the Disney parks, pre-pandemic, for inspiration. The pictures that I saw are on the wonderful Epbot blog. Here's a link to their pictures from Dapper Day 2019. It's lovely eye candy.

You can see the dress I made previously from this pattern in Simplicity 8072 here.