JASMINDA!!

There! It's officially a series now! (phew) two is a coincidence but three, three shows intent, it shows purpose, it shows that I not just playing dress-up with some childhood heroes (ok, that last one is still true but at least it's a little more legitimate now). I picked Jasmine (Aladdin, 1992)because of my friend, Gina's, nickname. We were joking around with Disney quotes and she said her favorite was how the Sultan announces Jasmine's full name. She was particularly tough to do for a number of reasons. First of all being, I don't really know too much about Eastern and Middle Eastern costume history. It was fun doing the research about it but without a specific time or location (reasons two and three), I didn't really have two much to jump off from. I decided the best time was the explosion of math and discovery in the Middle East, which happened during the Western Dark Ages. This didn't narrow it down very much and because of the whole "don't draw people" thing in a lot of Islamic art, it was tough finding any sort of reference picture, especially of women. I also didn't want to resort to putting her in the stereotypical belly-dancing outfit, I knew I could find a piece that was elegant and beautiful but was neither underwear nor a burqa. I was about to give her an Indian sari when I considered Persian fashions. Lo and behold, I found a traditional dress that was exactly what I was looking for. Hopefully, I did Jasmine justice and I didn't annoy anyone too badly (either with my choices or with this incredibly long post.) Please let me know what you think.

Also, I think this is my last post for a little while (unless I put something old up tomorrow) as I'm jetsetting to the Riviera (no, really! how awesome is that!?). I completely intend to keep going with this series when I get back. [Belle, as requested by f3m413, then Pocahontas in Commonwealth and Mulan in Sui Dynasty.] I'll also have a ton of new artwork from Italy! See you then!