Tuesday, 13 April 2010
Dreaming of the Show: Ophelia from Hamlet
My Darling Devotees,
I have found true love in the field of Costume Design and although Fashion Design will always be my first love, Costuming has quite literally swept me off my feet. Costume design is the art of creating a look that portrays a certain character or that helps a performer tell a certain story.
Costume production is the actual making of the aforementioned costumes. I find costuming is like a mix of fashion and literature and I think this is why it appeals to me so much. So some of you have expressed interest in the field and since I really want to work on my skills, I have decided to do blog posts on how I would style characters from different plays, movies and productions. Some of the productions may be popular ones you can recognise or they may be less expected or more unusual ones e.g ideas for a music video. Some of the posts will be more fashion history centric while others will be more modern and directly applicable to you if you want to add a bit of drama to your style.If you have any productions you would like me to do leave a comment about it below, or email me at aury4eva@gmail.com. I'm so excited about this and I hope you are too, my loves.
Ophelia from William Shakespeare's Hamlet:
Time period and place I would set it in:
Late 19th Century England
Plot summary: Can be found here, but basically Hamlet is a play about a young prince who's father is killed by his own brother, a brother who soon goes on to marry his late brother's widow and become king. Hamlet figures out the truth and proceeds to seek vengeance on his uncle, all the while losing his mind in the process and hurting people he loves, because of his high level of anxiety.
Character Summary: Ophelia is an innocent, naive and beautiful girl who is in love with Hamlet. She is hurt by Hamlet's sometimes rash behavior and is strictly obedient to her father's word. She lets him control her life and when he tells her to break off her relationship with Hamlet she does so, despite the fact she still cares for him. Then, when Hamlet in his crazed state kills her father, she is pushed over the edge and loses her mind. She begins to spend her days picking flowers and singing nonsensical songs until she drowns herself in a river.
Key words to describe her: sweet, innocent, young, naive, immature, delicate, unstable, crazy, in touch with nature, and broken.
Key elements to Ophelia's Style:
Beautiful pastel dresses
Frills, ruffles and lace
Floral and small polka dot prints
Flower headbands and flower-accented bonnets
Exquisite elbow length fingerless gloves,
Bows and sashes
Pretty fans and sun umbrellas
Slightly pale, natural looking make-up with emphasis on pretty pink/red lips except in drowning scene, when dishevelled hair with leaves and branches caught in it and deathly dull make-up are featured.
Ophelia to me:
Pictures from google images and we heart it.
Love you all and Stay inspired,
P.S. So let me know what you think. Have you read Hamlet? How would you style Ophelia?What period would you set the play in? What elements of her style would you/do you incorporate into yours? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.
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12 comments:
i really like this one, i think you got ophelia to the core. could you do one for juliet's nurse in romeo and juliet- i would like to see that! oh and this is from cathy!
Such pretty photos, I actually haven't read Hamlet yet - but I plan to!
perfect for this time of year..it reminds me of a Japanese movie I can't remember the name of..sorry. very cool pics.
These are gorgeous! I love your Ophelia vision - she's always been such a fascinating character!
I can't wait to see more of these posts!
iamemmamusic.blogspot.com
Hamlet is absolutely one of my favourites. You got Ophellia's look perfectly!
Merci beaucoup for stopping by darling =]
Stay safe and chic ma chérie,
English Rose x
http://iamanenglishrose.blogspot.com
Very romantic. Indeed.
Oh Aury you've made me want to read "Hamlet." Thus far, my favorite work by Shakespeare is "A Midsummer Night's Dream." I absolutely adore it. Stunning pictures, my love!! :)
Such great inspiration!
clothed much, a modest fashion blog
Thanks everyone for your comments! Cathy, I can and will do Juliet's nurse next. Keep an eye out for it. Cafe Fashionista, Hamlet is great and Midsummer's was my fave until I read 12th Night.
xoxoxo
Aury
I loved reading this and getting a bit of an inside tour of the workings of your mind. ;) I love hearing about what others are super passionate about, so I say definitely post more of these if you like writing/sharing them. :D
I read Hamlet a looong time ago, so it's very fuzzy in my head now, but from what I remember, that picture of Lily Cole you posted (this one: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_L52xTLbvcFg/S8QMhIYsTJI/AAAAAAAABJs/iaaczLfxgZE/s1600/ophelia1) seems spot on!
I've always had a special place in my heart for Ophelia. I like your ideas of floaty, pastel dresses. However, it would also be cool to have very buttoned-up, tailored styles for her to wear in the beginning, to contrast with her disheveled craziness later. Tailored styles might also reflect how restricted Ophelia is; she's constantly being ordered around by her brother or dad or emotionally taunted by Hamlet.
I've read Hamlet and enjoyed the language sooo much..I actually had to do some analytical writing on it for high school english. I especially enjoyed the conversation in Act I between Ophelia and Polonius about the "tenders" Hamlet pays towards her.
Great post! I look forward to more like this. I've enjoyed your comments and I've added you on my blog feed..add me back? :-)
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Hello my darlings!
Thank you, thank you,Thank You for deciding to leave a comment :) I just love hearing from you and interacting with you amazing people. This is why I blog. I love comments, compliments, and totally accept words of advice given in a friendly and positive manner. Negativity is not welcome here. I love all of my darling devotees and would never want to hurt you. I hope you feel the same way, too.