Designing "A Midsummer Night's Dream" costumes for the fairies had given me a lot of free reign to play with. The first thing that had come to mind was the story of Robin Goodfellow, and his alter ego Puck. Becuase I knew this story so well by heart, I decided that by going with the theme that nothing is ever as it seems, along with the Egyptian style for the clothing, I could incorporate a lot of detail that would otherwise go unnoticed by those in the audience until explained.

For a class project, we all presented our costume designs for "A Midsummer NIght's Dream" at the annual Duke Colloqueium Day.

The final rendering of Titania ended with her looking as though she is the ruler of Egypt. In her hand is a waset, often used in rituals and ceremonies. Her hair and wrist bands are the same style and color as that of Oberon's, and her hair is a classic Grecian style pulling back the original setting of the play.

As you can see, Titania didn't change much from the inital sketch that I drew of her. Her dress became more form fitting and of the Egypitan style than I originally had it, but overall: Titania stayed the same.

As said above, Oberon has matching ankle and bicep bands to show his connection to Titania. He also holds an ankc in his hand, another peice of Egyptian culture that was often used in rituals and ceremonies. This shows that Oberon and Titania have equal control, neither one with all of the power. He is dressed as a male pharoh would have dressed, barefoot and with a headress on.

Besides redrawing him with better proportions, I didn't change much (if anything) of Oberon's inital design. This is because I had a very clear idea what I wanted him to look like once I had Titania's costume designed.

To be honest, I put the most amount of work and thought into Puck's costume. This is because I had his story in the back of my mind. Because Puck is a warrior and mischief maker for Oberon, I have dressed in what could be considered battle armor for Ancient Egypt. The upper part of his costume is designed with the idea that each piece is overlapped, like chain-mail. On his head he wears a circlet with a jackal head on the center. This is because while he's Puck, and raising havoc, he wears the Head of Anubis as his mask. By having the jackal head on the center of his circlet, it shows that he has ties to Puck, but isn't currenlty him.

Again, Puck didn't change at all from the original sketch. I had a very clear idea where I was going with him, and did so. I did make the chainmail more silver with green and gold interlaced throughout however.

Moth is in a costume that is very close to what a servant in the palace of the pharaohs would have worn. Her belt is the color of her more known namesakes. Her sleeves, when away from her arms, show what look like and represent moth wings as her wings. Her hair is pulled back in a braid, again as ties to the original setting of Athens, Greece.

Moth didn't change much from the original sketch. I did however make it to where we would be able to see her wings.

Peaseblossom is in a costume that is very close to what a servant in the palace of the pharaohs would have worn also. Her belt is the color of her more known namesakes. I have Peaseblossom as a seven to eight year old girl, and this is because it is a good way to incorporate different age groups into the play. While she is old enough to have wings, shown by butterfly clips in her hair, she is still young enough not to really no what is going on thoguh she has a general idea. Her hair is cut in short tresses, and falll gently around her face, as ties to the original setting of Athens, Greece.

Cobweb is in a costume that is very close to what a servant in the palace of the pharaohs would have worn, yet also easily translated to that of a lower ranked warrior if needed. The colors of his skirt (wrap?) is that of the golden royalty in Egypt, yet the underside of it is a silver color that matches his "wings." His sleeves, when away from his arms, are made of a cobweb type material, as a tribute to his name, and are held in place by an elastic band at the wrist.

Mustardseed is in a costume that is very close to what a servant in the palace of the pharaohs would have worn, yet also easily translated to that of a lower ranked warrior if needed (however with his age, would more than likely not happen). The colors of his skirt (wrap?) is that of the golden royalty in Egypt, yet the underside of it is a green color that matches his name. He is the only sevant fairy that does not have wings. This is because see him as a three to four year old, who's not quite old enough to know what is happening around him. In order to show this, I don't show him wiht wings or anything that symbolizes them as I do with Moth, Peaseblossom, and Cobweb.