© Victoria and Albert Museum, London. snake embroidered silk stockings 1900
Egyptian snake armlet in gold. Roman © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Hellenistic inspired goldwork. Linked to the healing goddess Isis and Greek God Asclepios. Seen to protect the wearer.
Hellenistic inspired goldwork. Linked to the healing goddess Isis and Greek God Asclepios. Seen to protect the wearer.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Hand tinted photograph of Miss Marie Tempest in snake dress and snake armlet approx 1900.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Charles Frederick Worth 1922 design for Serpentine dress.
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 1860 costume design for Eve and the Serpent by Leon Sault designed for Worth.
The snake has been a symbol throughout history of healing due to the reptiles ability to heal and shed its skin. Also a symbol of transformation, rebirth and protection.
Popular in jewellery design as continuous loops, bangles and rings in ancient Egypt and Greece.
Used as a motif in fashion most often jewelled and golden.
Popular in jewellery design as continuous loops, bangles and rings in ancient Egypt and Greece.
Used as a motif in fashion most often jewelled and golden.
For my next design I want to create a gold showcase gown, hourglass shaped in metallic lame with a long black velvet wrap embellished with golden snakes. This design developed from seeing the fabric in the stock pile, remembering I had seen snakes on 1940s gowns and wanting to being something extra to the piece. The idea of transformation, rebirth and the snakes shedding their skins to grow comes at a a particularly important time in my working practice.
All images copyright of
© Victoria and Albert Museum, London. using for research only and not commercial.
Elsa Sciaparelli 1930 veil. Philadelphia museum of art
Louise Boulanger, Velvet dress with snake belt 1934
Delores Del Rio - looking at photographing the dress and need to know more about this actress.
