Veils
A symbol of chastity, a demonstration of purity and after all – entirely about style – the veil is obligatory for a bridal procession. There are all kinds of veils, such as the Flyaway, which touches the shoulders, Elbow which ends somewhere near the elbows, Fingertip – having multiple layers and reaching the end of the fingers, Sweep – which brushes the ground, Chapel which extends to the floor, and Cathedral dragging some yards behind the wedding dress. There is a frontal part of the veil called the Blusher, a single layer, which falls all over the face. Veils come in transparent fabrics such as lace and chiffon, in colors such as white and red, with roses and flowers made of silk, and beads, mysterious and enchanting. The face of a veiled woman exudes innocence, asleep passion, it is an adornment of her hair, which makes her seem attractive to perfection.
Feathers
Birds and women wear feathers, colored in all nuances of the rainbow. They wear them for jewelry, as amulets and all kinds of accessories. You can come upon a knitted necklace with purple feathers, feather earrings, bags covered with feathers, even stilettoes with red feathers for a burlesque night. There are feather bow ties, feather skirts, not only for hula dancers, feather scarfs, and dresses, and that’s not all. Hippies used to wear feathers along with flowers in their hair. Brooches and rings, belts and night gowns in bright blue, in pink, in red, in peacock… women and birds simply love feathers.
Wigs
Wigs can be scary. Especially purple ones, or bright green, or pastel silver blue. Wigs are all about volume, colors and shape: there are straight, curly, wavy. There are wigs which combine several colors. There are pink wigs, which look nothing like your regular hair and long black wigs usually worn on Halloween. White and red, gray and silver, blonde and blue – wigs come in all colors and require heavy makeup like brocade all over your eyebrows and eyelashes. Nowadays, wigs are worn especially for holidays and parties.
Masks
Why do we love Halloween? It’s a great chance to portray ourselves as monsters, or witches or other masked creatures – traditionally scary ones. Gray masks with ribbons, golden masks with feathers, with bright red lipstick, with flamboyant make up – all the witches are ready for the ball. They wear masks during the Carnivals in Venice and Rio, they wear masks on balls and parties, they wear masks for the Shamanic dance. Masks represent gods and spirits, and deities, which patron the people, masks are often scary – meant to chase the mean spirits away, masks are worn in the Muppet show in puppet theatres in Disneyland and on masquerades. They are artistic and soulful, some of them are decadent but children love them. Masks are worn by traditional heroes such as Zorro, Don Juan and other famous characters. People wear them when they want to instill a different demeanor, or to hide their identity. Often masked people have less restrictions than the same people without the accessory.
