Dreaming of Fairy Hills

My costume is based on the titular character of Thomas Hood’s poem “The Dream Fairy”. In the poem, the fairy comes from the moon to bestow pleasant dreams upon good children. To capture this lunar connection, I took inspiration from the Luna moth. The pale green, burgundy, and silver in the design mimic the insects’ coloration. The shawl is based on the moth’s wings in its shape, and the stitch pattern resembles the scales on a moth’s wings. I incorporated floral motifs into the shawl and corset in reference to the wonderous landscapes in the dreams gifted by the fairy.
The costume is composed mainly of undergarments inspired by late Victorian styles. The Dream Fairy heralds the transition from the waking world to that of dreams, and I wanted to evoke that same sense of transition in the costume. She is constantly caught in the process of undressing for bed: not fit to be seen outside, but not quite ready to sleep either. The shawl (as her wings) is the only outer garment of the whole costume.
While I tried to work from historical example, I made concessions for the fantastical nature of the project. Most notably, the corset contains no metal whatsoever! Because fairies are repelled by iron in many stories, I decided not to dress the Dream Fairy in a garment with metal bones, eyelets, or busk. I tried to create a fairy’s interpretation of historical style, down to the concessions that she would make for accessibility.