Earlier I mentioned an article that gave inspirations of female icons to dress up as for Halloween… after a bit of web surfing I found myself down the rabbit hole of Take Back Halloween: A Costume Guide for Women With Imagination.
Really now?
To say that I was intrigued is an understatement. Nevertheless I was curious enough to look through the various female icons that were shown.
One of the first that I looked at was for Zenobia (since I posted a bit about an original musical coming next year). The ancient Syrian garb of the time tends to have a decidedly Hellenistic feel (lots of layers, draped tunics, and scarves for good measure), but I have yet to see a production on stage or in movies that show off that ancient garb in a flattering and historically accurate light.
Though I digress.
Another female that caught my attention was that of Wu Zetian: she rose through the ranks from being the concubine of Emperor Taizong… and after his death became concubine and eventual wife to his son: Emperor Gaozong. When the son suffered a stroke she took over the monarchy and ruled til her removal soon prior to her death.
I haven’t really had a chance to look more into her history and rise and fall but there is a lot of drama and political intrigue surrounding this particular figure that in some ways rivals that of the intrigue surrounding the six wives women of Henry VIII of England?
She accused the first wife of her husband of killing her child (with rampant speculation that she actually strangled her own child to dispose of her rival), during her reign she set out to disprove the old Confucius belief that:
Having a woman rule is like having a hen crow like a rooster at daybreak
When looking at the recommended pieces… one that caught my eye was the “Shanghai Tone Royal Queen Dress” just to have on hand for future possibilities.
After coming across the above two strong female icons in ancient history I starting surfing and poking around a bit more. Then I came across a rather intriguing figure from ancient Algerian history: Tin Hinan, queen of the Tuareg people where it is the men (not the women) who are expected to wear face veils.
Japan’s first recorded ruler was Himiko, known as a “shaman queen” who ruled over her people with “magic and sorcery”. Well it has been said that women possess a kind of magic that can turn even the strongest of men into little boys. 😉 And who could blame them when she has such an elegant kimono as part of her wardrobe.
There are just so many other icons in this website that I cannot name them all, however, reading up on them and researching I am tempted to do whenever I find the time to do so. But in honor of “Halloween” even though I may not dress up as an icon of some sort, the pieces suggested are extraordinary enough that I am more than willing to piece them together for my own future wardrobe of costumes.