Insescts in Fashion: Would You Wear A Beetle Dress?

Insects are the future. 

Sooner, rather than later, insects will become an integral part of our daily lives. In some regions of the world, particularly in south-east Asia, insects have always been part of the menu, and eating spiders or insects like wasps, ants, locusts and grasshoppers are common. And if you think about it, insects are by far, a more sustainable food source than things like beef, chicken, fish, etc...

Today however, I want to highlight something that I find really interesting and aesthetically beautiful: insects in fashion. 

Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth
image via Wikipedia

It's not a new idea by any stretch, as seen in the painting by John Singer Sargent (1889) entitled Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth. The painting depicts the actress performing William Shakespeare's, Macbeth, wearing a green costume dress that was decorated with iridescent beetle wings. Sounds wild, but beetle wing textile goes back far before the 1800's. For example in the 16th century during the Mughal era, beetle wings were treated like jewels and were integrated into sashes, scarves, turbans, and other costume accessories. 

Madecassia rotschildi
image via Wikipedia 

Temognatha alternata,
image via Wikipedia 

But the term beetle 'wing' is incorrect. In textile fashion, it's not the wings (which are thin, transparent and very fragile) that are harvested. Instead, it's usually the hard and often iridescent elytra that is used. The elytra is the hard covering that protects and covers the insect's wings when they are not in use. Most of the time, beetles in the family Buprestidae, commonly called the "metallic wood-boring beetle" or "Jewel beetle" are used. It's one of the largest families in the insect world and boasts some 15,000 species known in about 450 genera.

Eurythyrea austriaca
image via wikipedia 

Recently, the use of beetle elytra to decorate clothing has resurfaced with the spotlight on this green gown seen HERE and HERE. The results are spectacular to say the least and if I had the money or the skill I'd love to incorporate beetle elytra into my wardrobe.

What about you? Would you wear a beetle dress or a beetle adorned accessory? Maybe earrings or a necklace?

C is for Coleoptera

An order of insects commonly known as beetles.

Ok, I know my last two posts were a tad on the long side, so I’ll try to keep this one short…er.

1) Coleoptera, meaning caped crusader sheath-winged, is the largest order of insects and constitutes almost 25% of all known life-forms on the planet. Just sit and think about that for a minute before looking at the pretty picture.





2) About 40% of all known insect species are beetles, one of which being the scarab beetle (sometimes called the Dung beetle) *insert pooptastic joke here*.

3) The Egyptians believed scarab beetles were associated with the Egyptian god, Khepri. It was believed that Khepri renewed the sun each morning and pushed it across the sky, just like scarab beetles pushing balls of dung across the ground. The scarab beetle became a symbol for rebirth and good luck.

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I'm a bit flash fictioned out this evening (I know, I'm such an amateur). Actually, I just want to get to bed before midnight. Are we at Z yet? Anyway, I thought I'd copy and paste share with you part of my wip where I metion the above beetle. Warning, this is a first draft excerpt that still needs tweeking. If you have tweeking suggestions/comments please leave them below. (:

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“Sumatra,” he mouthed and his expression darkened. I reached for my pressure point but felt a cold breeze lick my ear instead. I spun away from the edge of the terrace to face the last of the group. She was floating in mid-air in front of me with a vixen smile. I took a step back, my heart pounding as I watched her gracefully sweep herself over the edge of the railing and onto the terrace. She was stunningly beautiful and paid me little notice. Her ebony black hair was pulled back into a long sleek pony tail. And around her slender neck, lay an intricate gold necklace from which hung a pendent in the shape of a scarab beetle. Her dark eyes rivaled the black of night and her skin, a faded chestnut color, made her appear more human than her pale faced counterparts. She wore a long gold and lavender layered chiffon dress that flowed around her perfect physique. She looked like an African queen, a queen whose attention was riveted on Ayden.