This is our college project for theatrical costume design. Inspired from Ancient Egyptian Civilization, in particular Cleopatra, the Queen who had her fair share of fame, but was always restricted to one aspect of her personality - namely her seduction or her power.
We're trying to play a part in reconstructing the stereotypes she's always been portrayed with, and blend seduction and power.
We're trying to play a part in reconstructing the stereotypes she's always been portrayed with, and blend seduction and power.
The goddess Isis - who's known to be the goddess of life, death, resurrection, and fertility, was the ideal choice of inspiration for us. The association of Isis with the throne and Cleopatra being named The Queen of Kings supported our choice heavily. One of the most important symbols of Isis were her wings, which we paid homage to in our design.
The costume consists of a dress made out of Egyptian linen - stitched and embroidered by hand. The beaded pattern is inspired by ancient Egyptian textile, and was the most iconic dress of its time.
The focal point of our design was the shoulder-piece, which was designed to be in the shape of a metallic wing - a sign of strength and tenacity - connected to another wing of crystal beads which move gracefully in a feminine and graceful way. We did this to merge between Cleopatra's strength and her temptation.
We also designed a crown that separates to turn into two different head-pieces, and various accessories inspired by the wings of Isis, and even the make-up took the form of the rays used throughout the design.
This project was made with love by a group of people with superb skill and potential, who helped in executing all the details of the project completely as one whole group, while adding their individual touches in every aspect of the project.
The result was a rich, complete costume in all its details - a group effort that went on for more than two months.
The result was a rich, complete costume in all its details - a group effort that went on for more than two months.
All members of the group participated in every single part of the project, from several design stages to helping each other in every aspect of the execution, this was an invaluable experience, the first for us in costume design, the beginning of a journey.
