I made this gorgeous Persephone costume two years ago and didn't get a chance to share it. But this year I've been into the wonderful comic that is Lore Olympus, and man, if this costume doesn't fit those vibes. In case you aren't into Greek lore (look into it! It's super cool, and I am no expert.), Persephone is the Goddess of Spring Growth... and the Queen of the Underworld. So if you're into those kinda creepy but also historical costumes with a little bit of fashion flair, this might be the costume for you!
I'm going to start out this tutorial (I use that term loosely) with the inspiration for the costume! To come up with this idea I did what I normally do when I'm brainstorming for a character: I researched some shapes, pulled some inspiration images together, and drew out a sketch. The basic idea was a black greek inspired silhouette with flowers that peeked out when you move, almost as if you were planting flowers with your steps. I wanted to keep with a more gothic look, so that's where the crown of flowers came into play.
Image Sources: pomegranate cocktail, nature crown, black gown, black skirt, sketch by me, skull purse, flowers
The next step was shopping. I was on a time crunch so I was limited to what I could get quickly. I bought a black shirt and two skirts that I layered, giving me the draped shape I wanted. Then I bought this lace skirt for the underskirt and this crown for the base of the crown. I went to my local dollar store and bought a colorful array of fake flowers, trying to get flowers that were burgundies, blues, muted greens, and oranges. For the final decoration, I found the straightest sticks I could in my back yard.
The crown I bought was great for what I was creating because I could move the leaves and mold them into the shapes I needed. I positioned the sticks, and hot glued them on. I kept the skull pictured above on hand to help get the shape correct, also trying it on periodically to make sure it looked okay. When I liked the position of the sticks, I started gluing on flowers, keeping the bulk of the flowers on the bottom and "fading" up to the top.
For the floral underskirt, I used hot glue to attach flowers onto the bottom two feet of the skirt. I tried everything on as I worked to make sure that the flowers would peek out as I walked. If you have more time I would suggest sewing, but I wore it a couple of times and I didn't lose any flowers.
For how beautiful and unique this costume was, it was pretty simple to make. The most difficult part was the crown, but I really loved how it turned out. So much so that I actually just keep it displayed on the skull in my bedroom all year round. Someday, if I get time to create this costume with all of the attention to detail that it deserves, I would love to have a train with flowers so it looked like I was leaving a trail of spring behind me. Also, embroidered flowers on tulle? I think so. And to really take the costume to the next level I think it would be such a great touch to carry around a goblet full of pomegranate seeds. This could be a really unique couple's costume as well. Hmm... what kind of Hades costume could I create for my husband?
