In editorial photoshoots, the photographs are taken with the intention to tell a story by themselves. As I was aiming to recreate scenes from the ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ fantasy book series, costume was of utmost importance for me to breathe life into this creative concept of mine.
As I had already picked out which of the characters I would be featuring in my magazine, I briefed through the books again and watched a couple of TikToks to get an idea of what the characters actually wore in the story. It was important that I know what their fashion aesthetic and personality was, to recreate the outfits to convey them appropriately.
I listed the key points in terms of the characters' fashion and personalities so I could work towards bringing the characters to life through the outfits.
I was not sure about the current price range for buying or renting out clothes in Colombo. I googled a couple of places that sold and rented out Couture wear and then called and visited some of the places to see what options were available and if they were cost-effective.
Upon calling UR Bridal Dresses, they informed me that their selling prices were above 16,000 rupees and renting prices range from 8,000 to 10,000 rupees. In addition, they only had very limited options of dresses for rent.
Then I called up H&H Bridal Gallery which is another store that rents out couture wear for women and they told me that their price range was 3,500-4000 rupees. As this was more affordable I decided to physically go to the place and see what dress options they had.
[Some BTS photos taken while checking out the stores.]
I even tried a few dresses on to see how they looked. Although I was able to find dresses that matched my colour palette and aesthetic I was not satisfied with it as the clothes I preferred seemed to have some damages on them and I was not sure if my models would prefer wearing rented out clothes due to sanitary concerns. It did not seem cost-efficient to rent 3 pairs of clothing as well.
So I decided to style the clothes which the models already had.
I direct messaged each of my models with the costume and style I wanted from them and from there on we mixed and matched whatever clothing they had with them or I could lend them.
Nesta: Nesta as mentioned above represents Death and one who wears clothes that aren’t revealing and always has her hair up. Thus I wanted the girl modelling as Nesta to follow the Arab fashion as they also don’t wear revealing outfits and go for black clothes so as to represent death. Thus we paired a black short skirt and black crop top with a pair of black tights and a black head scarf. As Nesta wears a gold face mask I decided to add a touch of gold to the look using minimalist jewels: 2 gold chains (a thick one and a thin one) layered together, a few gold rings and gold hoop earrings. We decided to finish the look with a pair of grey heels. Her makeup look would be more focused on her eyes.
Elain: Elain is the character who is considered as the most beautiful and the softest of the three sisters and is very much into flowers. I felt that her character would be better represented through Bollywood fashion which involved lehengas. Conveniently I had a sparkly maroon lehenga which captured the character’s personality and was cohesive with the colour palette which also happened to fit the girl modelling as this particular character. We decided not to wear any jewellery for her as she will be having a heavy floral makeup look and her hair would be let down like the character itself.
Feyre: Feyre is the High Lady of the Night Court and represents the starlight. I wanted her to represent the western culture in the Sri Lankan community and thus we decided that her outfit would be a long blue dress. We paired the dress with desi jewelleries: earrings, bangles and a simple necklace. The main intention here was to show that styles that are considered way apart can go together harmoniously. Her outfit was paired with Grey Block heels. The makeup look she will wear would include rhinestones so as to represent starlight and her hair would be let down like the book character itself.
Cassian: This character being the Commander of the Night Court represents Bloodshed. His entire personality is hidden behind a playful smile and sarcastic façade. As he is the commander he dresses in black leather. Thus I wanted my model to wear a black shirt, black trousers and pair it with a black belt and any black shoes he had. His makeup will be more messier to represent his easy going personality. We even tried to see if we could get feather wings, but eventually dropped the idea as wings weren’t available in the country at the time.
The process of styling outfits took quite a lot of time as we had to go back and forth between what we had and what we wanted. However as this was the most crucial part of my fashion magazine I did not want to rush through it. I specifically wanted the mise-en-scene to embrace the local cultures and yet adhere to the storyline of the book series.
0 comments