Making a Monster - The Costume Design of Medusa

Safety Pins

Around 3000 years ago the Mycenaeans figured out the coil design and it hasn't really changed since.

Herodotus "The Father of Written History" explained the switch in fashion from pinning garments to sewing them (Ionic to Doric) with the tale of a lone survivor returning to Athens from a failed military campaign.

All the wives of the fallen men were so grief stricken and fueled by anger they stabbed the man to death.

With the size of these pins it's not hard to imagine and the amount of times I've stabbed myself with them in the process of pinning the cloaks in prep for sewing.

All of this to determine an accurate wardrobe design for the archaic period of Ancient Greece, 800 BCE to 480 BCE.

And then to kind of throw it out the window a little for the practicality of shooting an action film. The pins will be decorative while the chitons have been sewn together to survive the stunts.

I glued together buttons and jewellery charms to make brooches for the 'Fibulae' (safety pins), etymology check: yes like the leg bones, potentially originating from using bird bones as pins.

The lion button was a nice find. Perfect for Andreas who is trying to prove himself through his bravery.

Thanks to consulting a friend: A seasoned larp costumer and history buff. Thanks Shani! I could tackle the construction of them. Thankfully Chitons (Tunics) were very simply made. A single sheet of linen folded in half then pinned and draped over the body, women tied them with belts more often than men outside of work or combat.

I bought a second hand sewing machine then set to work. After a day of getting nowhere fast and I finally found the presser foot lever to sew without very concerning noises and chaotically nested stitching.

So, what about the snails?

A little more context will get us there:

My favourite part of wardrobe design is the colour theory. I didn't want everyone to be dressed in drabs of brown and grey disappearing into the backgrounds of trees and grass.

Luckily the ancient greeks adored vibrant colours, from the paint on their temples and statues to everything they wore. (If they could afford dyed fabric.)

My Hoplites (Civilian soldiers) will be uniformed in varying blue fabrics, identifying them but also displaying the lower economic status of their village in not matching identically. -Also evident in their minimal bronze armour protection. I went with stripe patterns to break up the colour a bit, adding detail and interest.

The lower half will blend into modern day clothing with work pants and boots. This is to make the fighting, falling and rolling easier and more dignified for my performers. And bridges the gap in using the modern but rustic locations that we have available to us.

Their leader, Alexandros (literally meaning: leader of men) wears a cloak (chlamys) That I've spent hours fretting over trying to sew the folds in so that it layers in a way that looks great for such a large sheet of plain colour.

I added another subtle historical detail in the trim of the cloak. It's an Athenian meander braid design reproduced from an Athenian statue by Medieval Fight Club. The orginal sculpture 'Acropolis 685' is estimated to be from 490-500 BCE, one of the collection called the 'Korai of the Acropolis of Athens'

For Medusa herself, I don't have the resources available to do digital or practical prosthetics for her hair so what she wears has to do the heavy lifting in delivering her character.

Her shawl is a key plot device as well as a stand out feature of her clothing. Patterned in a greek key adds heritage.

Her own chiton brings us closer to the snail story, I wanted a linen that alludes to the mystical, slightly elevating her from the ordinary every day people of my film's world.

I discovered a cocoa brown grid pattern that caught my eye immediately. Just as I was going to pull the trigger on ordering it, it sold out!

So I found another similar pattern in aubergine purple with gold grid. This was the one. I just had to bear the shipping fee from the UK.

And isn't it enthralling:

-Okay so: Snails, snails and purple.

Tyrian Purple, a.k.a royal purple, specifically was an extreme luxury back in the day. The pigment could only be found in the glands of Murex sea snails and the yield was so meagerly low that it took 10,000, yep, ten thousand snails to produce one gram (1g) of dye. Enough for just the trim alone of a garment, nowhere enough for the whole thing.

So yeah it's a little out of place in the small, poorer world my film exists in but so is my character of Medusa, a fugitive of her own identity. I'll leave that for curious minds to ponder. Where did she find the cloth? Did gorgons horde treasures? And how long did the mortal ones live for?

Lastly to complete her appearance and really anchor her identity, I made another cloak out of a gorgeous green and gold snakeskin patterned fabric. pinned together with golden wings. A nod to ancient depictions of Gorgons with wings, and beards...

Kassie has an elegant pink coloured peplos. (a folded chiton variation) I am using colour in a very obvious way to align my characters visually into factions. Soldiers are the blue team. Medusa is purple, so pink aligns with her.

My civilian extras will be various browns, greens, yellows, and white. With Alexandros' husband wearing white and blue to connect between civilian and soldier associations.

So yes, I am forcefully beating the audience over the head with colour theory while still trying to enjoy the wonderfully vibrant textile spectrum of ancient Greece.

My costume design took a fascinating sidestep into leatherworking after I could not find apprporiate belts in Op shops.

Leatherworking and belt making was simpler than I expected and a very satisfying way to work with my hands. Cheap strips of leather, a couple of leather punch tools, some thread, left over contact glue from the sword making, and screw on rivets, all put together made for some great belts that really tie the look together.