Costumes

Grace Hopper

If it weren't for Admiral Grace Hopper (1906-1992), you wouldn't be reading this. There wouldn't be an Internet to read it on. There wouldn't be personal computers or word processors or any of the ...

Grace Kelly

Before she married Prince Rainier of Monaco, Grace Kelly (1929-1982) was an Oscar-winning actress at the very top of the Hollywood game. On-screen she played cool beauties; off-screen she was ...

Grace O’Malley

To the English, she was Grace O'Malley (1530-1603), notorious pirate. To the Irish, she was Gráinne Ní Mháille, Queen of Clew Bay, and her crews were just collecting taxes from the ships that ...

Hatshepsut

Hatshepsut (ca. 1508-1458 BCE) was an extremely successful pharaoh whose reign was full of accomplishments: important trade missions, gorgeous architecture, a booming economy. But the thing she's ...

Hecate

When we first decided to do a costume for Hecate---the goddess of witchcraft, the night, and crossroads---we thought we would do a classic Greek look, the way the ancients saw her. But we ran into ...

Hedy Lamarr

Movie star by day, genius inventor by night: it sounds unbelievable. But it's true. Hedy Lamarr (1914-2000) was an extremely intelligent woman with the mind of an engineer. Being a movie star ...

Himiko

Himiko (3rd century) was the first recorded ruler of Japan. The Chinese chroniclers described her as a great shaman queen who united 30 warring clans, established the imperial throne, sent ...

Hypatia

There are no known images of Hypatia (ca. 350-415), the last great pagan philosopher and scientist of the ancient world. That's not surprising, of course; there are no known images of almost anyone ...

Inanna-Ishtar

Long ago, before Venus or Aphrodite, before Artemis or Athena, before Demeter or Persephone, there was Inanna. She was the great Mesopotamian Queen of Heaven and Earth, the goddess of love, ...

Isis

Isis is the Egyptian goddess of magic and motherhood, but putting it that way rather understates the case. Isis is simply one of the all-time great goddesses of world civilization. Worshiped by the ...

Ixchel

Why yes, that is a snake on her head. Ixchel is the Maya goddess of fertility, childbirth, weaving, and maybe the moon. The snake in her hair is the cosmic serpent, representing rain and the ...

Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775-1817) hardly needs an introduction; she is one of the most beloved and admired authors in the English language. The watercolor above right is by her sister Cassandra, and is ...