Fairy Tale Lookbook: BELLE from Beauty and the Beast

Even though I know it's a big time-wasting procrastination tool, and that I don't have even a smidgen of extra time when I'm hosting an event like this, I can never resist doing a lookbook for you. Yes, in theory I could do these well in advance — at any time of the year — to which I say, have you met me?
So. Last-minute procrastination it is.
But taking a few hours to browse online for things my favorite characters would wear — taking a moment to visualize them as a real person, going about their real fairy tale life in this sometimes drab world — is a nice little time-suck, so I'm okay with it.

Click through to see how I envision a modern day Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and let me know in the comments if you agree with my choices, and how you'd dress up one of your favorite characters!

I was a little torn when it came time to do this year's fairy tale lookbook. First, I couldn't decide which character I wanted to do, and then — once I'd finally settled on Belle — I couldn't decide quite how to dress her. My mind just kept screaming, YELLOW DRESS YELLOW DRESS YELLOW DRESS.
But Belle is more than a yellow dress. She's a fairly lowkey girl who, other than the ballroom scene, dresses fairly casually and prefers to have her nose stuck in a book. She appears to have a penchant for simple country blue, and since it wouldn't do in this day and age to have her in an apron or smock (kinda weird), I decided that modern Belle would be a fan of blue and white gingham and casual day dresses.
But when she goes out...she knows how to make a statement (and yellow is her color). But she never forgets who she is, so underneath all those ball gown ruffles, she's still got some Everyday Belle in there - a little blue-and-white-checked something to keep her feet on the floor while her head is in the clouds... ;)

So how would you dress Belle up?

[All clothes shown are from Top Shop, with the exception of the yellow prom dress (aka, the Big One). Shown: Yellow one-shoulder dress / Yellow prom dress / Blue & White colorblocked dress / Striped denim dress / Gingham dress / Blue sandals / Gingham heels / Gingham backpack / Boater hat / Gingham scarf]

Click here to go back to the Fairy Tale Fortnight Main Page, where you can access the schedule or find out more!