Dresss of the Week: Iphigenia Fancy Dress

Today Dress of the Weeks takes a turn for the scandalous. Do you dare emulate the rakish Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston, who dressed as Iphigenia ready for the sacrifice?

Elizabeth Chudleigh as Iphigenia, 1740

In 1740 Elizabeth Chudleigh appeared at a private Subscription Masquerade at the King’s Theatre wearing a costume of Iphigenia. Though no accurate description of a costume exists, and all subsequent artistic representations of it are nothing more that fanciful imaginings, it is said that she outraged the guests by being practically naked.

King George II, on the other hand, liked the costume very much. On seeing the lady he asked to touch her exposed breast, to which Lizzy replied, with a coy smile, I should imagine, that she can put his hand on a far softer place. And she placed the King's hand on his own head. What a gal!

So this year, forget about the old and tired sexy nurses, sexy kittens and sexy vampires, and, instead, go as Iphigenia ready for the sacrifice. 

Great Halloween Ideas from Take Back Halloween

My Halloween costume was good and ready by Thursday night and, just when I was happy with what I was going to be, I came across this.

Ada Lovelace Costume from Take Back Halloween

I want it!

Not many people know who Ada Lovelace is, and that's a shame. She was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron. And she was the mother of programming. That's right, she was writing the first programs for the proto-computer created by Charles Babbage.

This costume is from an amazing website called Take Back Halloween: A Costume Guide for Women with Imagination. The idea behind the site is that it has become increasingly common for women to dress up in 'sexy something' costumes. While there is certainly nothing wrong with wanting to look nice or sexy on Halloween, most of these ill-fitting polyester numbers are silly, demeaning or downright offensive. And some are just bizarre. So, the folks over at Take Back Halloween came up with this great costume resource  honoring some great women of history: activists, queens, heroines, goddesses and stars.    

I've already picked two costumes for next year's Halloween 

Persephone 

Emma Goldman 

A few other great Halloween costumes ideas: Jane Austen, Pele, Nzinga, Josephine Baker, Sappho.