25/04/2023
💀I wanted to transform into Goddess Hel from Norse mythology 💀
As the Goddess of death and the underworld, she was begged in the story The Death of Baldur to release Baldur, a beloved God that had been slain. To taunt, she agreed only if every living thing cried for Baldur, and with one refusal she kept him in the underworld.
Hel seems to have contrasting elements, both dark and light. She's illustrated with two colours that visualise her different sides, her face is half human and beautiful, and half dark, death-like and decaying.
Often depicted with things like wolves, dead trees, skulls, bones and fur, they are all symbolic of nature; light and dark, life and death. So, I chose the stark contrast of black and white in the fabric to represent both elements in the outfit, while the bottom of the skirt has sequins around the embroidered tree branches which make them look like they're in bloom and the trees around the corset are a little more bare and dead-looking from removing the sequins.
The skirt and corset together have the floaty, feminine quality in the silhouette. I wanted the corset to give structure, worn under the skirt with a straight, rigid rib shape and big waist reduction as she's a hard lady under the softer outer feminine aesthetics. For this I was inspired by historical under garments where the corset is worn under the skirt.
