Although art director Brian McEntee had always envisioned the dress as yellow and gold, representing Belle's emotional growth into a happier, warmer character, Disney's marketing department wanted a pink dress to appeal to young girls; McEntee convinced the studio that gold would differentiate Belle from previous Disney princesses.

[17] Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Paddy Calistro observed that "the cut of Belle's clothes becomes more and more bare" as she falls in love with the Beast, "revealing voluptuous breasts and alluring shoulders".

[15] According to Vox contributor Genevieve Valentine, the dress "was lifted out of time, with crinolines and neckline a century removed from the movie's vaguely rococo trappings", believing these details help establish the character's "forward-thinking affinity for the unusual".

[18] Contrarily, Lacey Womack of Screen Rant believes the dress is fairly historically accurate but less "extreme" than 18th century fashion, observing that Belle's waist should be far more cinched to emphasize the fullness of her skirt.

[19] Uproxx contributor Donna Dickens wrote that audiences "believe the amount of petticoats utilized would hold the dress up without a human to support it", despite its lack of historical accuracy.

[20] Some critics have speculated that the gown was inspired by a costume actress Audrey Hepburn wears in the film Roman Holiday (1953),[21] but this has not been confirmed by Disney.

[10][19][20][23] Walt Disney himself had attempted to adapt the fairy tale during the 1940s but the idea was shelved, with an illustration of Belle wearing a yellow dress by Kay Nielsen being one of the few surviving artworks from the original project.

[10] Among several changes made to the film's style, Belle became the studio's "next great hope in establishing a second generation of indelible — and marketable — princesses", with her costumes adopting a cleaner, more anachronistic aesthetic.

[10] Dickens believes the animators forwent the intricacies of 18th-century fashion in favor of streamlining Belle's ball gown to save both time and effort.

[24][25] Art director Brian McEntee wanted the dress to be yellow and gold so light could capture as many of her movements as possible, despite the color being difficult to animate at the time.

[27][28][29] However, McEntee and story artist Chris Sanders convinced the studio to allow the dress to be gold to distinguish Belle from previous Disney princesses,[27][28] specifically Sleeping Beauty’s (1959) Aurora, who wears pink.

[36] Notably, the stage version of the garment adheres to the original 18th century-influenced concept art and time period more closely by incorporating a robe a la française, elbow sleeves, and panniers.

[20][10] Weighing 30–40 pounds (14–18 kg),[37] the completed costume was made of silk and consisted of a hoop skirt, brocade, beading, flowers, bows, lace, and ribbons.

[40] The weight of the dress would pull actress Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle, in the opposite of whichever direction she was dancing during "Beauty and the Beast".

[33][41] Belle's costume was the first one completed for the show, since Disney Theatrical Productions wanted the dress to be ready in time for marketing and photoshoots six months prior to rehearsals.

[40] The New York Times published the first colored line-drawing by caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, which depicted Egan and her co-star Terrence Mann in costume as their characters.

[50][51] Durran identified the garment as the most difficult costume to adapt due to the original's popularity, prompting several production discussions about its appearance, color, and material.

[58] Watson retained significant creative input over her character's wardrobe,[9] explaining that she did not "want a big princess dress" in favor of moving freely.

[59] Durran recruited an English artist to transform the pattern's floral motif into a painted design, which was hand-painted onto a canvas before being enlarged and digitally printed onto the dress.

[69] Durran's team printed the artwork onto three layers of the skirt using gold leaf filigree in a pattern reminiscent of the ballroom's Rococo floor,[52] on top of which they sewed 2,160 Swarovski crystals for additional sparkle.

[50][52][59] Overall, the design remained faithful to the original but, according to Fawnia Soo Hoo of Nylon, was updated to reflect Belle's liberated nature and allow her to lean into the final action scenes.

[70] The gown's accessories also complement the characters' surroundings, namely Belle's plant-like ear cuff, feather-like hairpiece and gold filigree necklace.

played Belle in Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration, a 2022 television special commemorating the 30th anniversary of the film's Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

[34][80] Writer Genevieve Valentine believes the design is difficult to recreate both at the Disney Parks and in merchandise, observing that the dress had received at least half a dozen redesigns by 2017.

[20] Valentine found Durran's design to be more concerned with Watson's brand than historical or aesthetical accuracy, opining that the garment's lack of visual impact "means they had something besides standout costuming in mind".

[10] Farmers Harvest felt the costume "does not live up to its iconic" reputation, comparing it to a modern prom dress "as opposed to the royal French ball gown it is supposed to be", which they blamed on Watson's creative input.

[91] According to Screen Rant's Sierra Robinson, the garment "is a huge reason as to why the [animated] film is so loved", ranking it the fifth "most iconic" movie dress.

[103] In 2017, Olivia Bahou of InStyle observed that the dress's "appeal is spilling over from the screen to the fashion world, and the proof is on the red carpet ... with everyone [in Hollywood] channeling the Disney princess".

[12] Bahou called the gown "the original celebrity stylist",[12] while Emma Firth of Grazia coined the dress's influence on fashion trends the "Belle-effect".

[13] The version of the costume Braxton wore on Broadway was displayed during the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives exhibit at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Museum and Library in 2012.