Wednesday 29 October 2014

The Green Man



There has been a longer hiatus than I would have liked from this blog. Life has been busy and complicated of late and it's left little time for the shoots I have had in mind. Things are now starting to feel a little calmer and I am hoping to have lots of delights to show you all over the coming weeks.

Autumn has firmly set in. October is my one of my favourite months of the year. I love the oranges, reds and greens and the colder air. I also love that it is the beginning of many of the colder season's folk customs; the most famous all being Halloween of course! I do love any opportunity to dress up, 
so Halloween is a big hit in my house (it's really the only time of the year I can legitimately go out in my more bonkers of costumes). To celebrate it's arrival I always plan an elaborate costume. This year I am feeling rather enthralled by Green Men and Morris Men, so I set about creating an outfit which merged these. I really wanted to look like I had just danced out of a woodland. I also recently went to a study day at The Museum of Witchcraft on folklore which left me with a taste for all things spooky! What I created, with a little help from my mum, is far more terrifying than I could have ever imagined, I really didn't set out to scare (although I am of the opinion that Halloween costumes should at least be a little bit scary!)

I managed to purchase rolls and rolls of amazing coloured ribbon from a car boot at the weekend so I spent several hours sewing lines of them to a waistcoat I nicked from my brother. The mask was painted by mum on a blank she bought in Venice. We have lots more, so Mrs MacBeth's Department Store will have a few very soon. All the other components were found from charity shops and The Range's Christmas decoration department.

I was of course inspired by folk dance costumes, in particular those of Morris Dancers. I love these pictures (I didn't actually look at these until after I made the costume 
but I think I'd fit in quite well!)

Sources: 1, 2


Sources: 3, 4


I'm planning on wearing my costume out, although I will paint my face underneath so that I don't have to wear my mask all night (it gets a little hot!) I'm going to make some friends a warming feast before we dance into the night. What are your plans for Halloween? I'd love to hear what you are all dressing up as (that's if you are- I do hope you are!) I hope you all have a throughly spooky one.


Linking to Share-in-Style Halloween special.



Outfit Details

Ribbon waistcoat- re-cycled by me from an old Topman waistcoat

1970s red polyester flares- Barnardos

Suede gloves- gift from my mum

Vintage brogues- Oxfam

Venetian mask- painted by Penny MacBeth

Bells- The Range 

Ivy wreath and ivy- The Range

Floral garland- made by Penny MacBeth

Velvet top hat- Asda

Red and white striped wool socks- a Christmas gift


X

12 comments:

  1. I love this! Genuinely terrifying mask! I can't wait for Halloween and to dress up outrageously, I've got a few old costumes that need to see the light of day..Also the Witchcraft museum looks amazing, I really want to visit!X

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  2. Oh yes, definitely a scary mask - perfect halloween dress-up. There used to be a yearly Green Man day that I visited when I was younger: you'd have loved the costumes. And as a child I used to hang out of the window on warm summer evenings, watching the local Morris dancers rehearsing in the car park of the village hall, their brightly ribboned coats flying.

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  3. You and your Mum astonish me! That mask is spooky (or better ooky - scary, but in a good way), and your costume is brilliant, love the colored ribbons, the red pants, and you are right - you'd fit in perfectly with those dancers! xxxx

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  4. You would fit into any one of those photographs perfectly!
    This outfit is both fruity and freaky, and definitely scary! X

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  5. What an imaginative, creative and wonderful post, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
    Love it
    Thank you soooooooooooo much for joinig, you are part of the Share-in-Style family and that is WONDERFUL
    Will you be back to vote TOMORROW?
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  6. Could you please revisit Share-in-Style and VOTE for your favourite look. Voting open until tonight. Thanks a lot.
    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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  7. Totally scary, I'm cowering! xxx

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  8. Just gorgeously creative. Love it!

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  9. This is the most amazing outfit ever, sooo cool :)) You look marvellous doll, I hope you have a fun Halloween time xx

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  10. That's much scarier than a ghost costume, in fact it's really chilling! Very creative and the red trousers look hot on you! Xxx

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  11. Wow, such a great outfit! Love all the colors and details! :)

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  12. Love the color and detail!

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