This weekend I went to an event, a hafla hosted by Adira, of Adira Dance and Costume in Willow Glen, CA. Once a month throughout the summer, Adira transformer her parking lot into a performance space, and invites dancers from all across Northern California to come and dance. This Saturday, it was my turn, and I took the stage as one half of a duet called “Swirl,” the name I use for all of my group dancing experiences. Zemira, aka Alisha Westerfeld, my co-author and photographer on Cloth of Egypt.
Well, lo-and-behold, I spied one of my costume pieces! Alisha got a snap of dancer Hiya-Chaiya, performing with the group House of Inanna. This bra was part of the Byzantium line of ready-to-wear bra and belts that I started in 2001. I don’t even know how many of these I made! But here are a few of my favorite pictures of Byzantium bras.
Before Istanbul was Constantinople, it was called Byzantium, and I took this name for this collection of easy-to-wear costumes. The style is tribal fusion, a multicultural blend of textiles, coins, and jewelry components from along the caravan routes of the spice routes and along the silk road of Asia and North Africa. Ribbons from India, jewelry from Morocco, Coins from Iran, all came together to form these costumes. My personal mission was to make garments that would hold up to the rigorous life of dancing outdoors at festivals, historic events, on the beaches and around the campfires. They were sturdy, made from materials that could be hand washed and laid out to dry, ready for the next performance.
I adored dancing at Renaissance festivals and other living history presentations. At a festival, you might have to wear your costume for 4, 6 or even 8 hours in a row, longer than you would wear a spangled glam costume for a restaurant. They need to be flexible, and have give. And, they need to be made from period inspired materials.
Of course, a modern commercial bra isn’t historical by ANY stretch of the imagination, so covering it up with embellishments, and wearing it under a dress, vest, or coat, a period impression is created, without sacrificing modern comfort. Like these two lovelies on the left, Mollie and Alisha wearing Byzantium bras paired with wash-and-wear cotton tunics. Of course, a few were so lusciously embellished that they were stage-worthy like the costume below, worn by San Francisco/Bay Area pro dancer Setareh.
Thanks for joining me on this little blast from the past!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
August 17, 2015
Scraps! We all make them, and for many of us, they are a difficult thing to part with. I too have been saving up the tiny bits and pieces of hundreds of assiut costumes, and have amassed quite a little hoard of assiut scraps. My scrap box went from something a bit bigger than a shoe-box, to a pretty large flip-top tub. I’ve found I’ve had to sort them by size and usability and it took a day to realize that I making scraps faster than I’m getting rid of them!
The venerable New York institution The Metropolitan Museum of Art, has a vast collection of textiles, clothing and accessory pieces in their collection. In 1946, The Metropolitan incorporated the old Museum of Costume Art as a curatorial department, renaming it the Costume Institute. In January 2009, The Brooklyn Museum transferred its costume collection to the Met. Shortly thereafter, the museum remodeled its costume storage, research and display facilities. Today, The Anna Winter Costume Center is home to 4,200 square foot state of the art exhibition space for their collection.
Ethnographic Garments
I’m please to announce that Andelee, over on the website has just published my article