In my reinterpretation of “A Masked Ball,” I combined the silhouette from the eighteenth century with design elements inspired by the Romantic and Pre-Raphaelite artists whose paintings showcased dramatic scenes set in sentimental historical contexts. The historical clothing depicted in their artworks paired well with the theatrical nature of Verdi’s music. I aimed to merge these visual aspects with the eighteenth-century silhouette, producing a cohesive and aesthetically pleasing temporal pastiche.

Amelia was the perfect heroin for the nineteenth-century audience, a wife and mother who falls in love with someone else but remains faithful to her husband and is described as “pure”. A red gown with a pomegranate print (pomegranate symbolising fertility and abundance), a sleeve modification, “a finestrelle” from which a chemise with oversized bishop sleeves peaks through. The fabric is silk satin dyed and screen printed

Worn by Nejla Yasar