Acurrate Eponine Costume

Honestly, there is only one thing that annoys me about the Les Miserables musical and that thing is, like in the book, Eponine and how the fans romanticize her.  If you have only seen the musical and never picked up the book, you might assume Victor Hugo's Eponine wears a cute short sleeved blouse, a slightly tattered skirt, a cap, a trench coat, a men's belt with a big brass buckle, and some old boots.  You'd probably think she was drop dead gorgeous, busty, and had perfect hair.  And you would be dead wrong.  Never in the book does it ever mention Eponine wearing a cap (except when dressed as a boy) or a coat, she didn't have a proper belt (or bodice for that matter), and several times she is described as being barefoot.  She was not particularly well-endowed, and passed as a feminine boy easily enough. She was not overwhelmingly beautiful though if she had an easier life she might have been; she was dirty and most likely had bad teeth and bushy eyebrows.  And lets think rationally: if her parents can't afford food, what's to say the can afford to keep a working comb?

Now, without further ado, let's hop to this costume.

First things first, Eponine doesn't wear a blouse, she wears a chemise.  Given that they had been poor for quite some time, it's most likely a Regency era chemise.  The style of a Regency chemise had a low neckline, high/drop waist, and really tiny sleeves, (Though you could get away with no sleeves or an off-the-shoulder neckline).  Make sure it's not perfectly white, that would be really inaccurate.  A good way to make anything white look aged is to soak it in tea. If you wanna go the extra mile, you could bind your chest.  Just enough so that your bust isn't obvious in a baggy button-up shirt. And remember, a chemise was tucked into the pantlets or knickers, so it's going to be tucked into the skirt.

The skirt Eponine wears is tattered, but not slightly.  And it has plenty of holes.  The default color among the fans is brown, but there is no actual cannon color of Eponine's skirt.  Have fun with that all you want, but don't make it look too new or luxurious, she's still poverty-stricken.  To make it look worn, you can wear it down with a stone, especially on jagged pavement.  Be sure to wear/tear all the holes as opposed cutting them with scissors: cutting them is too clean and looks like it was put there on purpose.  Eponine is also described wearing petticoats, which are thin and just as tattered as the skirt she wears over them.

Eponine also has a torn dress she wraps herself with and wears like a coat.  Again, given how long the Thenardiers were poor, it's probably in the Regency style. Think high-waisted with small puff sleeves.  This dress is only mentioned once and not described so it's optional, but I suggest using it and having fun with it.

When she went to the barricades she did not, in fact, wear a long coat and pants with her chemise. she switched clothes with a boy on the streets.

She wore a grey men's blouse (think thick material for an every day working boy) that she would have buttoned all the way to the top to hide her lack of an Adam's Apple. Her pants were black cotton velvet pantaloons.  No footwear is mentioned.  It is possible she found shoes, but it's most likely she was barefoot.

some facts about Eponine that every fan should know and work into their costume:
*Eponine was suntanned and freckled.  If you can't do both, then just do freckles, and a lot of them, all over her face.
*Eponine was fair-haired.  Meaning blonde, but in my opinion, you can get away with red or reddish blonde.
*Eponine was an alcoholic and an insomniac.  You can use dark purple or black matte eye shadow for the insomniac eyes and carry a flask or bottle.  If the bottle is clear glass, and you're willing to go that extra mile, you can fill it with cold tea. and drink out of it every once in a while.
*Eponine used rope to tie her hair back and keep her skirt up.  If you have trouble finding natural rope or working with it, you can use braided twine.

So follow this guide and you will look like you stepped out of the pages of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables