Something a bit different for this year's Halloween special. I had this in mind since last year, and I ended up being quite thankful due to its simplicity (given I was trying to finish my Lamia cosplay at the same time). I'm aware I could've just left this one, but I'm very inflexible regarding plans. I decided to do it last year, had a Pinterest board full of stuff, so I was going to do it. I don't regret it, but October was a bit too hectic for my liking. I'll never be doing 2 Halloween outfits at the same time again.
Obviously living here in the UK there's no ancient Greek ruins to go and visit for a photoshoot, and all of the Roman ones are manned by national Heritage organisations. I was at a loss of where to do this shoot, and ended up landing on the woods, giving this costume more of a witch in the woods vibe, but oracles can live in the woods, right?
The Process...
I was a bit disappointed with how my 2021 18th century witch had turned out despite the many hours put into it, so I vowed to redeem myself in 2022. That kind of didn't happen as comparing the two of these costumes is like comparing apples and oranges.
I couldn't really decide on a colour of linen, whether I wanted to go the spooky route, or the more HA route. I landed on this blue as it's muted enough to look like it would've been available (yes, the ancient Greeks did wear colour. The statues we have surviving were originally painted).
This garment, commonly referred to as a chiton, it commonly just a rectangle of fabric which would've been woven probably at home by women as this was considered to be one of their main duties (just refer to Odysseus's wife Penelope). From the research I've done myself sewing, as we know it today, wasn't really that common, possibly due to the time and resources home weaving would've taken. Commonly the chiton, the rectangle, would've been belted, opened on one side (probably would've overlapped and secured by said belt), with either pins or buttons fastening it at the shoulder (I cheated and sewed mine becase CBA with buttons and I didn't really have appropriate looking ones, blame Lamia).
The rectangle is the common method, but I wanted more shaping on mine, so I cut the corners off my rectangle at the top and sewed up both sides. I put some traditionally greek silver and black trim on the hem, and used some very modern silver cord as a belt. It's purposely a bit longer at the back for the dragging, train effect, again quite modern, this wouldn't have been done at the time.
I was originally going to make something to go over it, a bit like a peplos, but ended up scrapping that idea (any ideas what to do with 3m of baby pink muslin?).
I was on the wig train this year, and I really like this red one, but not entirely sure I suit red hair.
The earrings were perhaps my favourite purchase, and are remakes of extant Roman ones, bought from a person who remakes historical jewellery. They're a lot heavier than the earrings I usually wear so I was quite glad to get them off, but they're really pretty. I was also saved by what is possibly my most valuable costuming purchase, my coral necklace (originally bought for regency, but has now spanned millenia). I didn't have anything else that would've looked better.
