In Disneys animated version， Cinderella has some very handy mice to help sew her dress for the ball. The costumes for this live-action version， designed by Sandy Powell， required the work of many， many humans. For the wedding dress alone， shown in just one shortscene， 16 people sewed for 550 hours to create agown Powell designed to suit the characters modestsim plicity.

The three-time Oscar winner for Shakespeare in Love （1999）， The Aviator （2005） and The Young Victoria （2010） spent two years coming up with the costumes for Disneys first live-action film version of Cinderella.

And no look was bigger than the magical gown that lovely little orphan Ella wears for her grand entrance at the royal ball.

It took 270 yards of fabric， more than 10，000 Swarovski crystals， 4 miles of thread and 3 miles of hems. The dress is made up of 12 layers.

“The top level is a very expensive silk， while the others are a polyester. But the material is so light if you throw a piece of it up in the air， it just floats down really slowly，” Powell says.

The most important thing about the dress was the movement. Powell knew the dress would look wonderful when actress Lily James twirled it around the ball room floor. She was more interested in the way it would look when Cinderella makes her mad sprint to the carriageas the clock strikes midnight.

“I wanted it to float behind her and around her and have a life all of its own，” Powell says.

The storys most famous detail is the glass slippers Cinderellas fairy godmother creates for her to wear to the ball. In this version， the shoes were made of Swarovski crystal， because “glass doesnot sparkle，” said Powell.But crystal doesnt work for actual shoes that goon actual feet. So， the shoes worn by actress Lily James were converted by movie magic-CGI.

“The glass slipper is made out of Swarovski crystal and is probably worth more than my flat. I couldnt actually wear the real one， so in the shots where Im dancing at the ball or running to my carriage， I wear a double made of acrylic，” said the actress Lily James.

Yes， wearing that Cinderella dress “was like torture” for star Lily James

Theres no question that the live action rendition of the famous blue Cinderella dress is gorgeous.

But if you thought actually wearing it didnt look so comfortable， youre not alone.

British star Lily James， who unexpectedly landed the title role of Cinderella in Disneys latest big-screen adaptation after originally auditioning for one of the stepsisters， told The WashingtonPost that it was certainly a struggle wearing the gown for filming，

“The dress that Sandy Powell created-l mean I think shes a genius and Im grateful for that dress-but it was like torture，” James said. “It was so tight and delicate.”

James estimated that it took about 45 minutes to get in and out of the gown. However， she added， “It did feel quite magical every time I put it on. So it kind of does all the work for you.”

The Downton Abbey star also had thousands of the tiny gems stuck to her gown， body and hair and admits she still comes across one in her house despite completing filming months ago.

“The dress is also covered in 10，000 tiny Swarovski crystals that were also hand-stuck on my chest and in my hair. I still keep finding crystals at my home in Peckham，” James said.