The Wings That Gave Her Confidence Back
It Started With a Princess
This story begins in 2015, with my daughter Montana, a beautiful Princess Jasmine dress, and a little girl who loved to skate.
I'd poured my heart into creating her costume. Layers of turquoise and purple, intricate gold detailing, sparkling crystals and a delicate jewelled crown.
Everything you would imagine a princess wearing as she glided across the ice.
That season, Montana was skating beautifully. She won every competition in her level leading up to the final event. We were both incredibly proud.
But at that final competition, everything changed. Despite skating a technically beautiful Artistic program, Montana finished last.
The judges praised her skating skills and her costume, but felt the choreography hadn't captured enough of the character or told the story they were looking for, particularly compared with the other skaters.
The choreography wasn't something Montana had chosen herself, but she took the result personally.
Watching her confidence disappear was heartbreaking. As her mum, I knew how much work she'd put into that season. She didn't have to say a word. The disappointment was written all over her face.
I didn't know it at the time, but that experience would inspire one of the most unforgettable costumes I've ever created.
And it all started with another Disney movie.
A Little Disney Magic
During a holiday, Montana and I sat down to watch Disney's Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie.
As I watched, something sparked in my imagination. Why did artistic figure skating costumes always seem to celebrate princesses? Why couldn't we bring a villain to life on the ice?
But it was more than just the dramatic costumes and dark beauty of Maleficent that captured me.
It was her story.
A character who had lost her wings, been hurt, and somehow found the strength to rise again.
I couldn't help thinking about Montana and the confidence she'd lost during her previous season.
And suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to create.
Designing Maleficent
I wanted to capture two sides of Maleficent in one costume: the beautiful, powerful fairy she had once been, and the darker character she became after losing her wings.
The design combined her dramatic horns and plunging neckline with enormous feathered wings that would become the centrepiece of Montana's performance.
I knew I couldn't simply make a dress that looked like Maleficent. I wanted to create something that would tell her story on the ice.
A talented friend who specialised in hand-painted belly dance silks brought my vision to life, painting beautiful shades of brown, purple and gold into the fabric for the wings and skirt.
I began building the costume around a velvet bodice, layering the delicate silk, feathers and crystals to create movement and drama.
But there was one detail that would make this costume unlike anything I'd made before.
The wings had to appear as if by magic, right in the middle of Montana's performance.
The Secret Behind the Wings
The wings were the biggest challenge of the entire costume.
I needed them to stay completely hidden inside Montana's skirt while she skated, then suddenly appear at just the right moment in her performance.
My solution? Chopsticks!
I attached the silk wings to chopsticks that Montana could hold, allowing her to pull them out from beneath her skirt and spread them wide.
It sounded wonderful in theory, but I had one rather terrifying thought.
What if she fell while holding those chopsticks?
As a costume designer, I was excited by the possibilities. As her mother, I was imagining every possible disaster!
There was only one way to find out whether my crazy idea would work. We needed to test it on the ice.
Testing the Magic
Before competition day, we took the finished costume to our home rink to test the wings.
I needed to know that Montana could skate comfortably with them hidden inside her skirt and, more importantly, that she could reveal them without anything going wrong.
Watching her spread those beautiful silk wings for the first time was incredible. The movement, the colours, the drama. Everything I'd imagined was finally coming to life.
Of course, the mother in me was still worrying about those chopsticks!
But Montana was ready. Now we just had to see what would happen when she stepped onto the ice in front of an audience.
The Moment She Found Her Wings
Competition day arrived, and I could see the nerves in Montana's face.
But this time, she wasn't stepping onto the ice as a beautiful Disney princess.
She was Maleficent.
With her dramatic horns, dark makeup and flowing costume, she looked completely different from the little girl who had skated as Jasmine the previous season.
As the music began, something changed.
Montana wasn't simply performing her choreography. She was telling a story.
Then came the moment we'd worked so hard to create.
She reached into her skirt, pulled out those hidden wings and spread them wide across the ice.
The audience gasped.
It was everything I'd hoped for.
But the most beautiful part wasn't the costume or even the wings.
It was watching Montana skate with confidence again.
My little girl had found her magic.
A Season to Remember
That first performance was only the beginning.
Montana went on to win every competition that season, finishing with the overall Artistic trophy in Canberra.
After the heartbreak of the previous year, watching her enjoy skating again meant more to me than any medal or trophy.
And as I stood there feeling incredibly proud of her, I couldn't help thinking one slightly ridiculous thought.
How on earth was I going to top this costume next year?
A Magical Moment, Immortalised in Art
One of my favourite photographs from that season captured Montana with her wings spread wide, completely transformed into Maleficent.
I wanted to preserve that moment in a way that would last forever.
So I commissioned the talented artist Rachel Bell to create a painting inspired by the photograph, which I gave Montana for Christmas.
Seeing that magical moment transformed into a piece of art was incredibly special.
A costume I'd created with my hands had become a memory we could treasure forever.
More Than Just a Dress
Looking back, this costume will always hold a special place in my heart.
I've created so many beautiful skating dresses over the years, but Maleficent was different. It wasn't simply about crystals, feathers, silk or the hours spent sewing late into the night. It was about helping my daughter rediscover something she'd lost.
Her confidence. Sometimes the most extraordinary things we create aren't really about what we're making at all.
They're about the people we're making them for.
I gave Montana wings to wear, but she was the one who found the courage to fly.
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