A Pelham Puppet Redressed as Desiree from the musical A Little Night Music -

 Send in the Clowns! 

A Pelham Puppet Redressed as Desiree from Stephen Sondheim's wonderful musical A Little Night Music -

This puppet was a special commission and used a Pelham Puppet Cinderella as a base.
It represents the fabulous actress Desiree from Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music who famously sings the iconic Send in the Clowns. She was played by Elizabeth Taylor in the filmed version of the musical and by Catherine Zeta-Jones and Bernadette Peters in a more recent Broadway revival.
Initially the hair was removed, carefully combed and gently washed with a damp sponge to remove a large amount of dust. It was then fixed back on the puppets head and restyled - the feathers, red satin roses and glass beads then being added.
The gowns base fabrics are a thick duchesse satin and red taffeta. There is a large amount of trimmings involved; pleated linen, black and red lace, red tear-drop beading. The bustle and large bow on her train were created with the duchesse satin, gathered tightly and secured in position by red velvet ribbon. The gowns boned bodice is cut over the hips and is tightly corset laced. 
I am really quite pleased with the end result.

Created by Alexander Sanderson Designs