I’ve been terribly neglectful of my two-year-old project, but I figure it’s only worth posting when I’ve got something worthy of posting, if you know what I mean. And since I haven’t been sewing lately (bad Rebecca), here’s the next best thing: two of my Ancient Greeks costumes in the Yorkshire Post!
Eureka! The National Children’s Museum
Going Greek! Part 2: Himations & Tunics
Costume Construction, Costume History, Eureka! The National Children's Museum, Fashion History, Realised DesignYassou! Kalimera! (That’s out of our Ancient Greek script, and they mean “hello!” and “good morning!” in Greek.) Welcome to Part 2 of the Greeks, in which we explore ancient menswear.
First, the tunic! Or chitoniskos if you want to be technical about it. A chitoniskos is basically a big Ancient Greek tee shirt, as seen on vase paintings like this:
Going Greek! Part 1: Hellenic Chitons
Costume Construction, Costume History, Eureka! The National Children's Museum, Fashion History, Realised DesignGood news guys! I recently got the opportunity to design and make the costumes for Eureka!’s latest school workshop, The Ancient Greeks. Woohoo!
In the past Eureka! has sourced all of its costumes for special events and workshops from a fancy dress company called Smiffys, so I was chuffed to be asked to take on the project.
I found this handy website, essentially a manual on ancient Greek costume construction and draping. It all looked so simple, and I thought it’d be a breeze. That is, until I realized just exactly how much fabric you need to make a 2m x4m rectangle for an Ionic peplos (or Hellenic chiton, as I prefer to call it).
Playing Teacher
Costume Construction, Costume History, Eureka! The National Children's MuseumGreetings! Apologies for the long hiatus, but I was waiting until I had something really good to write about. So, without further ado…
Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit a primary school and talk to a group of 5-to-7-year-olds all about costumes! After a few months in the closet, my bustle dress got taken on an outing and introduced to the Year 1 and Year 2 classes at Hebden Royd C.E. Primary. This came about thanks to my part-time job as an Enabler at Eureka! The National Children’s Museum. One of my co-workers left Eureka! to become a teacher and is currently doing her placement at Hebden Royd. As her class topic was clothes, she asked me if I’d like to come along and help give a lesson. And so I did!
Rebecca Rom 