pan's daughter

This is probably the most elaborate/time-consuming/challenging and exciting set of clothing items I have made so far. It was made during my final year at fashion college and part of my final diploma. Making something so complex and intricate in a school-setting was great, as I could get help as needed and continuous support from my teachers. On the other hand, I might have done some things differently, if left to my own devices, especially when it came to the initial designing process.

Our brief was to create a ‘costume’ and use historical patterns as a reference, with an emphasis on making a corset. It had to be made in a theatrical way, and not how you would have constructed a corset back in the days. Obviously, the whole class had different concepts, so we were grouped into themes, that vaguely corresponded with our ideas. I ended up in ‘the woods’, which fits my design perfectly.

My original reference for this costume was a painting by Jean-Etienne Liotard, depicting his niece reading a book. I had liked this painting for a long time, and was always taken by the beautiful bodice the girl is wearing: I loved the red lacing on the patterned blue undershirt, the different necklines coming together and forming one cohesive curve, and the pretty cuffs. I wanted to create something similar, playing with different layers, hiding some and exposing others. The end result is pretty different from the original inspiration, but I am very happy with it nonetheless.

The inspiration for the rest of the costume came from somewhere else. The original idea of Red Riding Hood dressed in a wolf’s pelt and essentially becoming the wolf herself evolved and changed, and suddenly I had mythical creatures on my mind: Someone half-human/half-animal. Someone who lives between the worlds, not entirely belonging to either of them. Someone like Pan (and his Satyrs), the god of the shepherds, wild nature and rustic music.
This was my starting point for further research and I dove deep into traditional dress of various peoples and looked for examples of dresses that provide movement and practicality, in which you could actually work and hike and ‘live’, despite their intricacies, volume and restrictions.

Then it was a matter of finding the right materials, to achieve the look I wanted. I was not satisfied with most that I found, so I ended up dying and bleaching and re-dying all of the (20+) fabrics for the skirt (traditional cottons generally used for Dirndls), to gain more variety. The skirt is supposed to look like the character made it over the years, with bits and scraps of fabric she collected. And as she grew, she added more panels and lengthened it and it is now a cumulation of memories and stories, all stitched into one skirt.

I also ended up dyeing the linen of the blouse and the silk of the bodice - I wanted more toned-down colours, not a bright white and also a murkier green. While the silk dried, I also scrunched it up, to get some subtle texture and irregularities.
I left the fabric for the ‘undershirt’, which is attached to the main bodice and not a seperate piece, as it is: It is an old tapestry fabric I have had for years, and it had the perfect colour and pattern for this project - slightly dusty vines, recalling the pattern of the bodice of my original inspiration.

The final touches, which I actually added before the bodice was assembled, is the embroidery. I wanted more texture, less cleanness, I wanted organic shapes that break up the strict lines of a corset. So I added some moss and lichen, growing in patches all over the bodice. I used seed beads and embroidery floss and made an uncountable number of french knots to get the right texture. In hindsight, I could have added even more embroidery and let the moss grow denser, but the result is still rather pretty.

To complete the costume and make the main inspiration visible, I made (faux-) fur gaiters that go up to my thighs, and a pair of ram’s horns. They were made out of styrodur and then painted to look as realistic as possible. They are attached to a wireframe (which I covered in faux leather) and are kept secure with a few bobby pins. The curly hair I already had :)

All in all, I am pretty proud of this costume and I think that all the hard work that went into it was worth it. Of course, there are always slight changes one might make, things I would do differently now. It is not perfect, but I achieved what I was going for and I believe it captures the essence of my inspiration: A creature from the woods, who makes everything herself and lives in her clothes.
And yes, you can hike in this dress.

All images © Helena Schaber