Unit Description

Advanced Sculpture Students “De-Disneyfy” Fairy Tales through Couture Costume Millinery

Liz Terlecki

In this unique unit, students with a minimum of two years of art courses on their academic résumé will combine two seemingly unrelated concepts: millinery and fairy tales. Students will begin by nostalgically remembering and discussing their favorite Disney classics—focusing on animated films that drew their inspiration from much older fairy tales. Students will then research and explore the original fairy tales that influenced these films—examining similarities and differences within plots and characters, in addition to parallels in dramatic structure. Upon choosing a fairy tale of their liking, students will begin learning about the history, art, and science of millinery. The definition and concept of couture will play a key role in the introduction of millinery, and students will begin to differentiate between couture and costume. Using their chosen fairy tale as inspiration and their newfound knowledge of millinery as technical expertise, each student will construct a wearable combination of both couture and costume. The final headpiece will serve as a visual (and wearable) representation of their fairy tale.