The Ornamented Being
Ornamented: -verb: Adorn; beautify
Be·ing: -noun: Fulfillment of possibilities; essential completeness
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Dress, Evening Mme. Jeanne Paquin 1905–7
c. 1905-07
The Met says: Produced several years prior to the 1908 Hellenic designs of Paul Poiret, the raised waist and decorative references to Greek antiquity indicate this classical aesthetic and change of silhouette were in the air from 1905 on. As the leading house of couture druing the Belle Epoque, Paquin’s promotion of this line would have been widely known to the public. The dress also incorporates signature decorative techniques such as velvet piping outlining peach satin ribbon at neckline and waist and the contrasting tones and reflections of silver, satin and velvet
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Persephone was a pre-Greek goddess who got drafted into the Olympic pantheon along with her motherDemeter. It’s a fair bet that she was the Queen of the Underworld long before the Greeks, with their usual penchant for male supremacy, added Hades to the mix and changed the story around. The Greek version is of course familiar: Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, the earth mother. While picking poppies one day in a field, she is abducted by Hades, who brings her to the Underworld to be his wife. During her absence Demeter becomes so distraught that the earth withers and all the plants die: wintertime. Only when Persephone is restored to her mother do the plants grow and bloom again. But because she had eaten some pomegranate seeds while in the Underworld, she is doomed to spend several months there every year.
For the costume, we’re going with the Queen of the Underworld aspect of Persephone. It is Halloween, after all. The pieces we suggest, from left to right:1. Black satin flat sheet. This is for your tunic. The Greeks wore simple draped tunics of dyed wool, a look which is easily replicated with sheets and safety pins. We give you instructions below on how to pin it together. A full size sheet will work for most people.
2. Black chiffon veil. The veil is 45 by 90 inches; drape it over your head and secure with the poppy wreath you’re going to make (next).
3. Red silk poppies. Get a few artificial poppies with wire stems and twist them together into a circlet. You can get a few extra to mix with your bouquet (#5).
4. Red faceted bead necklace. Every time we look at this necklace we think of pomegranate seeds. It’s very regal, too, which is appropriate for the Queen of the Underworld.
5. Dead flower bouquet with skulls. Skulls! Can’t get more Underworldly than that. Mix it with a few artificial poppy stems for a vivid and very weird bouquet.Shoes: Simple leather sandals are best. Gladiators, thongs, something like that.
How to make the tunic: The simplest ancient tunic for costuming purposes is the Doric chiton, which is the oldest kind of Greek tunic. All you need is a flat sheet, some safety pins, and a belt or cord. (You can get a rope belt here in white, natural, or gold.) Here are your chiton instructions:
Illustration credits: The central painting in our main illustration is Death the Bride by Thomas Cooper Gotch. The painting on the right is Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.
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“Be to her, Persephone,
All the things I might not be;
Take her head upon your knee.
She that was so proud and wild,
Flippant, arrogant and free,
She that had no need of me,
Is a little lonely child
Lost in Hell,—Persephone,
Take her head upon your knee;
Say to her, “My dear, my dear,
It is not so dreadful here.”
— Edna St. Vincent Millay -
This is random but so amazing! I can’t believe that is an OREO!
“Artist Judith G. Klausner created these amazing cameos out of Oreo Cookies.”
(Source: Yahoo!)
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Evening Dress, 1804, French
(from 100 Dresses)
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I’m sure by now you have guessed what tomorrows theme will be.
“Jewelry really got colorful near the turn of the century when famed jewelers such as Lalique and Boucheron mastered the use of enamel. This particular brooch is a Boucheron piece entitled “Juno” and dates to 1900.”
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I am totally out of my comfort zone but I find I don’t mind so much. Mad Carpentier was a master of beauty!
If Persephone lived in the 1940s I imagine she would find this dress suitable to her tastes. There is something about the drape of the silk that reminds me of a Grecian chiton.
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Maria Gallenga (Italian, 1880–1944)
Dress, Evening
ca. 1920Reminds me of Fortuny *sigh* I wish we still dressed this way.
This is printed on silk with glass beads.
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Goodness gracious. Click for link and zoom in on the bodice *melters*
House of Paquin (French, 1891–1956)
Mme. Jeanne Paquin (French, 1869–1936)
c.1905–7CI
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Just random because it’s BEAUTIFUL. It’s so full of life and movement.
Bronze statuette of a veiled and masked dancer
Greek, Hellenistic: 3rd–2nd century B.C.The Met says: The complex motion of this dancer is conveyed exclusively through the interaction of the body with several layers of dress. Over an undergarment that falls in deep folds and trails heavily, the figure wears a lightweight mantle, drawn tautly over her head and body by the pressure applied to it by her right arm, left hand, and right leg. Its substance is conveyed by the alternation of the tubular folds pushing through from below and the freely curling softness of the fringe. The woman’s face is covered by the sheerest of veils, discernible at its edge below her hairline and at the cutouts for the eyes. Her extended right foot shows a laced slipper. This dancer has been convincingly identified as one of the professional entertainers, a combination of mime and dancer, for which the cosmopolitan city of Alexandria was famous in antiquity.
![“Artemis With Quiver” - National Archaeological Museum, Athens
3rd century BC. Gold hairnet.
Source: National Archaeological Museum, Athens [www.culture.gr]
I’ve always loved this.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lli0x0sJKv1qegasto1_400.png)
