Theatre Ghosts : Heraclia / Fantômes de Théâtre : Héraclia

I have finished another costume for the Ghost’s play. This second costume in as many hours is for the character of Heraclia, an Ancient Greek woman. When considering what to make her, I did think of a peplos, but because of the t-shirt all actors will be wearing under their costumes, I went for a chiton instead.

J’ai terminé un autre costume pour la pièce des Fantômes. Ce second costume en autant d'heures est pour le personnage d’Héraclia, une femme de la Grèce Antique. Lorsque j’hésitais encore sur le modèle à lui confectionner, j’ai considéré le Peplos, mais en prenant en compte la réalité du gaminet porté par tous les acteurs sous leur costume, j’ai plutôt opté pour le chiton.

Peplos VS Chiton

Besides, when Nancy-Raven assigned me this costume, she was thinking of my Circe costume, worn to her Halloween party in 2009.

De toute façon, lorsque Nancy-Raven m’a assigné la réalisation de ce costume, elle pensait à mon costume de Circé, porté pour sa fête d’Halloween en 2009.

Gwenyver as Circé, Halloween 2009 / Gwenyver en tant que Circé, Halloween 2009

I made this chiton the same way I hade made mine: I cut two rectangles the width of the fabric by the desired length for the actress, closed the sides up to 20 cm below the top, to leave an opening for the hands to come out, and tacked the top in eight places, four above each arm from wrist to neckline, to imitate the effect achieved in period with fibula (brooches). The fabric is the same poly/cotton poplin used for Ladanaz’ tunic.

J’ai fais ce Chiton de la même manière employée pour le mien : j’ai coupé deux rectangles de la pleine largeur du tissu par la longueur de l’épaule au sol de la comédienne, puis j’ai refermé les cotés jusqu’à 20 cm du haut afin de laisser une ouverture pour passer les mains et avant d’assembler le haut en huit points, quatre au dessus de chaque bras, du poignet à l’encolure, afin d’imiter l’allure d’un chiton historique fermée par des fibules (broches). Le tissu est le même que celui utilisé pour la tunique de Ladanaz, soit de la popeline de poly/coton.

Heraclia's Chiton / Le Chiton d'Héraclia

For the Palla or shawl, Nancy-Raven gave a piece of dark flesh coloured veiling. I simply finished the raw ends with my overlock and I pulled them through a small metal buckle. The length can be adjusted to the actress’ desire and she can easily pull it over her head for a quick change.

Pour le Palla ou châle, Nancy-Raven m’a remis un morceau de voilage couleur chair foncée. J’ai simplement passé les extrémités non-finies à la surjeteuse, puis j’ai inséré chacune des extrémités dans une boucle de métal. Ainsi, la longueur peut facilement être ajustée selon les désirs de la comédienne et elle peut facilement enfiler son Palla pour un changement rapide.

Heraclia's Chiton and Palla / Le Chiton et le Palla d'Héraclia

I actually like it! Sure it’s beige, but still, I really think it has the right feel to it. Now let’s see what Heraclia thinks about her new outfit.

Je crois que j’aime bien ce costume. Bien sûr, il est beige, mais malgré tout, je trouve qu’il représente bien la culture et l’époque du personnage. Maintenant attendons de voir ce qu’Héraclia pense de son nouvel ensemble.

Movie Monday: Clash of the Titans

Hollywood loves remakes! Thankfully some classics are still popular enough today to remain original, but for the rest of the flicks out there, it's a whole other story. Take for instance, today's feature movie: first, there was Clash of the Titans (1981)...

And Friday, we'll have Clash of the Titans (2010).

Notice the subtle differences? (Okay, I'm being sarcastic here.) Hello special effects!

And what about the costumes?

Harry Hamlin as Perseus, Clash of the Titans (1981)

Sam Worthington as Perseus, Clash of the Titans (2010)

Why do modern men fear wearing long robes? Sure, non-period armour is much more useful when fighting for your life, but do you look as stylish?

Notice also the haircuts, which are so much more representative of the time the movie was made than the time it is set in. Movies are such great keepers of fashion trends history... which then become costumes!

Other costumes you can see in the New movie include Gods,...

Ralph Fiennes as Hades and Liam Neeson as Zeus, Clash of the Titans (2010)

...Mysterious ageless women,...

Gemma Arterton as Io, Clash of the Titans (2010)

...the Damsel in Distress,...

Alexa Davalos as Andromeda, Clash of the Titans (2010)

Hmmm, I thing that Peplos is showing a little too much cleevage for a princess of the time. Moving on.

... and of course, some Soldiers!

Mads Mikkelsen as Draco, Clash of the Titans (2010)

I guess an Antiquity-Fantasy (as opposed to a Medieval-Fantasy) might be interesting for a change. After all, the Ancient World is so full of Legends! So nothing historically accurate, but some interesting costumes none of the less.

Costume Design for Clash of the Titans (2010) are by Lindy Hemming who was also responsible for this department on such films as The Dark Knight (2008), Die Another Day (2002), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Topsy-Turvy (1999) , for which she won an Oscar for Best Costume Design, and many more.

Costume Design for Clash of the Titans (1981) were by Emma Porteus who has also worked in the same function for Judge Dredd (1995), Robin Hood (1991), Aliens (1986), Supergirl (1984) and Octopussy (1983) to name only a few.

Funny Factoid: Emma Porteus was Costume Designer for James Bond Movies from Octopussy (1983) to The Living Daylights (1987), while Lindy Hemming has worked on the same franchise from GoldenEye (1995) to Casino Royale (2006).

Movie Monday: Agora

Still not much on the new movie radar this week, so lets talk about a movie for which we have no local release date yet: Agora (2009). The movie tells the story of astronomer-philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria (played by Rachel Weisz) and her relationship with her slave Davus (Max Minghella), who is torn between his love for his mistress and the possibility of gaining his freedom by joining the rising tide of Christianity. We are shown the event that happened in Alexandria, Egypt, in the year 391 C.E. and of which we still know today: the destruction of the Library of Alexandria by Christian Emperor Theodosius I.

So what was in fashion at the end of the 4th century? For men, a tunic and a toga (6 metres of wool wrapped around the body), and for women, a stola (long robe) and a palla (mantle or shawl).

Agora(2009)
Photo from Agora Trailer - Agora Pictures

If it's not too cold by the time this movie comes out at a theatre near me, I might go in my chiton and himation (which you know as my Circe Costume). Sure, that costume is Greek and not Roman, but they are somewhat similar, and besides, I'll be the only one to know.

King Tut: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs

Oh, this is exciting! The Art Gallery of Ontario is having an exhibition on King Tutankhamun from November 24, 2009, to April 18, 2010: King Tut - The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs.

Anyone who might be interested in Ancient Egyptian Costume (and can get to Toronto before April 18, 2010) should take the time to go. After all, after actual clothing pieces, the next best thing to study a costume is art, and Egyptian art is so beautiful and colourful.

Myth and Legend of the World - Circe Costume

I finally made up my mind as to what to wear to Nancy-Raven's party about a week ago, but I wanted to keep the surprise. I've decided to go as Circe. My ultimate inspiration was this John William Waterhouse painting, which I showed you when I talked about the local Waterhouse Museum Exhibition:

Circe Invidiosa: Circe Poisoning the Sea, John William Waterhouse, 1892, Oil on canvas, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide.

As I mentioned then, this costume fits in with the idea my Sweetheart had of all of us going as characters from Homer's Odyssey.

Busy as I was preparing for Fall Harvest and making my daughter's Owl costume, this was a marvelous idea because I could re-use a Greek inspired costume I made for Pennsic XXXVI's Grand Ball.

Gwenyver (a.k.a. Mórag), Grand Ball, Pennsic XXXVI

The costume consists of a leaf green, Indian cotton Chiton and a teal cotton Himation decorated with a black and gold Greek Key patterned trim. The top part of the Chiton is sewn at regular intervals and there are decorative gold (plastic) buttons at each of these seams.

As Circé's mother is said to be an Oceanid, the watery palette is perfect!

Gwenyver as Circé holding her cup of honeyed wine

Can you believe no one took any pictures at Nancy-Raven's party? This picture was taken once I got home so I would have something to show you, my faithful readers. I grabbed a wine class to hold as a prop for the picture.

Since my baby likes to grab necklaces and earrings, I wore none for the night. I did however wear the two golden metal bracelets (she loved banging on them). These are Naegle bracelets from Aldo. At the beginning of the summer, they were sold for 23$ CAD each. I bought them on sale for 2 for 7.21$ CAD. Gotta love a good deal!

Circe is said to have golden curls. Great, I already have blond hair. But to get any kind of twist or spring to my hair, the only technique that has been proven to work is rag curls. The result was not all that great, so I started pinning through my hair to get some sort of an up-do, and lo and behold, I got the perfect Antiquity look. I just added a headband of three pleather golf braids (which I found at the Dollar store) and I was good to go.

I have to wrap things up. I have guests coming tonight to celebrate Samhain with us and I'm not done cleaning. I promise to take more pictures tonight.

You can see what I finally decided to wear for Halloween night. (Which one do you think I'll go for?)