Thread: Mata Hari Headdress?

I have a photoshoot coming up very shortly, and I'd like to include a couple of Mata Hari-themed shots (so sue me!).

The problem is, I think I really need a headdress to complete the look, and they're not easy to find. I don't have any spare time to make something myself, so I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for something I could order or repurpose into a headdress (e.g. some metal thing from the craft store that I could just bend into shape)? The only thing I've found that might be of use is this.

The headpiece need not be an exact duplicate of the styles Mata Hari wore, just reminiscent of them. I've left this until the last minute as usual, so I would need to be able to lay hands on it very soon.

I made a mata hari costume for a masquerade ball. I made the headdress/eye mask from, pellon, fabric a coat hanger a necklace and pearls. I'll try and find a pic, but I think you cold make one easy enough. Depends how fussy you are/ how much time you have? Mine took about 2 hours as I was in a rush to finish it.

Originally Posted by Ainsley

I have a photoshoot coming up very shortly, and I'd like to include a couple of Mata Hari-themed shots (so sue me!).

Just for curiosity's sake, do you see a connection between Mata Hari and the Middle East? Or is your desire to include some Mata Hari shots in your session due to having a separate interest in her, unrelated to Middle Eastern dance?

The reason for asking is that I've never quite understood why so many people seem to associate Mata Hari with Middle Eastern dance - so far as I can tell, she never spent time in the Middle East and never learned/performed Middle Eastern dance. Everything I've read about her associates her with Indonesia. But I'll confess my knowledge of her is fairly superficial.

Good luck with your headdress project!

Separate interest, but this is the only forum I belong to where people are knowledgeable about costuming.

To expand on the "separate interest" explanation, I should add that I was obsessed with spies as a child, and, although Mata Hari was ultimately not a very successful spy, she is one of the very few well-known female ones out there.

Originally Posted by Ainsley

Separate interest, but this is the only forum I belong to where people are knowledgeable about costuming.

I agree, this does seem like a place where you could find people knowledgeable about costuming!

Thanks for the explanation - I've heard other people over time seem to link Mata Hari to belly dancing, and I never quite understood the connection. So I thought maybe there was something I just didn't know about Mata Hari.

But yeah, if I was looking for input into how to make a Mata Hari headdress, I too would probably turn to bhuz for help!

Originally Posted by Ainsley

To expand on the "separate interest" explanation, I should add that I was obsessed with spies as a child, and, although Mata Hari was ultimately not a very successful spy, she is one of the very few well-known female ones out there.

Are you still interested in spies? If so, have you heard of Hekmet Fahmy, an Egyptian spy who helped the Axis during World War II?

No, I hadn't. I haven't done much reading on espionage in recent years. But, having Googled the name, I think I'm going to have to read up on her!

Actuly, she spend time in Egypt, an a lot of poses are very like bellydance. But did she dance bellydance no. She was a very intelligent lady and very mysterious, and an keen eye for what man like. It's shame we don't have films
from her dancing. But on a lot of pictures you can see she have a good posture and hands. From pictures when she danced in the garden she used modern veil technics and a backbend.

And white Roses I am very interested in your photo's I'm blundering with the headdress myself.

Princess Farhana has some discussion about making headpieces on her blog, nothing specific to Mata Hari, though. PRINCESS FARHANA: CROWNING GLORY: CONSTRUCTING HEADRESSES AND CROWNS

Sarah Skinner did a Mata Hari project not too long ago. ShakeMyDay :: Sarah's belly dance Costumes

Some headband construction also comes up in these threads.
Show me your signature costume that you would never, EVER sell!
Black and Gold Costume I made! :)

Originally Posted by Ainsley

The problem is, I think I really need a headdress to complete the look, and they're not easy to find. I don't have any spare time to make something myself, so I was wondering if anyone had suggestions for something I could order or repurpose into a headdress (e.g. some metal thing from the craft store that I could just bend into shape)?

Here's how I'd do a quick & dirty: I'd buy some buckrum or heavy pellon at the fabric store, enough to make 3-4 layers. I'd get my hands on some wire coat hangers made from easy-to-bend wire, or I'd buy some at the hardware store. I'd buy a good supply of fabric glue. Also whatever fabric, acrylic jewels, and trim I want to use on the outer layer.

I'd fashion some of the wire into a circle that goes around my head on whichever part of my head I want to wear it on, and make a couple of domes on it that match the shape of my head, to use as the basis for a skullcap. I'd also fashion some of the wire into the "wings" that appear on each side, and I'd attach them to the skullcap base.

I think that for the skullcap portion of it, I'd use just heavy-duty pellon on the wire frame, but for the "wings" I'd sandwich in some buckram.

I'd glue some of the pellon/buckram on the wire frame to create the skullcap and "wings". If I want to use hairpins to anchor it on my head, I might make some "tags" or leave some small holes for hairpins to anchor to. Then I'd glue a layer (or two layers, if needed) of the outer-layer fabric on top of the pellon/buckram. I'd then glue on the trim and acrylic jewels.

I'm thinking the shopping for this would probably take an hour, and the construction maybe a couple of hours.

Originally Posted by klazina

Actuly, she spend time in Egypt, an a lot of poses are very like bellydance. But did she dance bellydance no. She was a very intelligent lady and very mysterious, and an keen eye for what man like. It's shame we don't have films
from her dancing. But on a lot of pictures you can see she have a good posture and hands. From pictures when she danced in the garden she used modern veil technics and a backbend.

Thanks for sharing the information! As I said above, I don't know a lot about her, so it's very interesting to learn more!

A quick and dirty way to make a crown is to cut up one of those foam visors. They are available at craft stores. They look like this

Darice Foam Visor w/Vinyl Coil Yellow 1031-24; 12 Items/Order

You just turn it around the other way and put the coil under your hair at the back. Just cut the foam to the shape you want. You can cover with fabric or just use that paint-on gilt. Then glue jewels on.

Re: Mata. Jamila Salimpour wrote a series of articles (in Habibi, I think) about her.

Shira, Mata Hari played Salome at one time, and some of her costuming (beaded bra, hipscarf, etc), echoed the orientalist dancers of her time (Maud Allen, Ruth St. Denis, etc).

Just been reading Midnight Rose, Wendy Buonaventura's book about Maude Allen....

Originally Posted by alia t

Shira, Mata Hari played Salome at one time, and some of her costuming (beaded bra, hipscarf, etc), echoed the orientalist dancers of her time (Maud Allen, Ruth St. Denis, etc).

Just been reading Midnight Rose, Wendy Buonaventura's book about Maude Allen....

Alia, thanks for sharing that! (By the way, I hope we can re-connect at another dance event sometime - I still smile when I remember hanging out with you and Adrian at Rakkasah!)

[quote=dancingrrrlz]Thanks for the comment! I'll have to dig out my old Habibis from the Zalot era. Unfortunately, I've been rather disappointed by the quality of scholarship in Jamila's book From Cave to Cult to Cabaret so I must admit I'm skeptical of her research endeavors. But if she provides a useful bibliography in conjunction with her conclusions, it may be worth a look for that reason.

Originally Posted by *Shira*

From Cave to Cult to Cabaret

The title alone makes me wince, but, then, I don't believe it's very meaningful to use the term "belly dance" to refer to dance forms prior to the late 19th century.

http://richardtulloch.files.wordpres...-and-tiara.jpg
This is in the museum and suppose to be hers. I never found a picture were she wear this. This is more easy to make.

http://drstrange.nl/matahari/

Originally Posted by *Shira*

(By the way, I hope we can re-connect at another dance event sometime - I still smile when I remember hanging out with you and Adrian at Rakkasah!).

I was just remembering that myself! We went to a Thai place, I think, or Vietnamese--one you knew about, and we had such a lovely fresh meal. I reveled in the CA sunshine (VT still in the depths of winter). What a great pleasure it was, all fresh and new--the beads, the bangles, the 12,000 hours of belly dance--and California poppies IN CALIFORNIA! It was a dream voyage. Lost track of Adrian, sadly, and the whole thing was her idea.

I see you here and there (including Egypt :), but it is always in passing. Definitely, more lunch is called for!

Originally Posted by *Shira*

Are you still interested in spies? If so, have you heard of Hekmet Fahmy, an Egyptian spy who helped the Axis during World War II?

An interesting book about a female spy, Noor Khan (aka Madeleine), who helped the Allies during World War II is The Tiger Claw by Shauna Singh Baldwin. Noor was a Muslim woman who had lived in France as a child. She signed on with the British to be a spy in occupied Paris, because she was in love with a Jewish man who was imprisoned there. It's a fictionalized tale about an actual person.

Amazon.com: The Tiger Claw (9780676976212): Shauna Singh Baldwin: Books

Originally Posted by klazina

And white Roses I am very interested in your photo's I'm blundering with the headdress myself.

Hi, this is the only pic I could find on the computer, and really doesn't show the side parts, which are the interesting bit!

The components on the bra are the same as on the side parts.
Obviously, the eye mask part isn't what anyone else is after, but the method is adaptable.

(I basically bent a wire coat hanger, sewed it to the pellon/buckram eye mask shape, added elastic to hold it on, and decorated the wire parts). I will try and get a better pic of it though.

http://i740.photobucket.com/albums/x..._teal/mata.jpg