Medusa

A set of two skirts inspired by Ancient Grecian fashion, architecture, and mythology as well as commentary on social norms of the time.

Skirt 1: Pencil Skirt

- Sexualization limits a persons' value to sexual appeal
  - Negates the naturalness and beauty of nudity
  - Contrasts the sacredness of the nude body in Ancient Greece
- Nudity does not equal sex
  - Nothing inherently sexual about nudity
  - You can be sexual with clothes on and not sexual with clothes off
- Nothing immoral or wrong about human bodies
- The spread of Christianity changed the positive association to sin and shame
- Nudity was used symbolically to display heroes
- Powerful, ideal, beautiful
  - "By presenting an idealized nude, they were showing the rest of the world they were powerful"
- Male nudes dominated until 4th century BC, with figures of Aphrodite
- Before the Greeks, other cultures depicted nudity as a sign of weakness or shame

My goal is to design a skirt that symbolizes power in nudity, instead of sex, similar to how Gods were depicted in Ancient Greece

Skirt 2: Experimental Skirt

Representation of Medusa

Medusa had great beauty that not even Poseidon could resist
- When Medusa didn’t reciprocate his advances he forced himself upon her
- She remains a symbol of survival against sexual assault
Medusa was originally depicted as “hideous” but over time, her appearance has become more feminized
Femme fatale
Modern women often wear snake headdresses to depict power, sexuality, and their acknowledgement of their emerging roles in society and politics

My goal for this experimental skirt is to design a skirt that symbolizes Medusa and her femininity as well as her story.