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Description
So I maaaay have over-thought this challenge. Just a bit.

The challenge was to create a complete, theatrical outfit inspired by a 60 second clip of music from a film soundtrack. Well, I'm more of a costume designer than a fashion designer, and I'm more of a writer than a costume designer, so the concept stage of this design...well, got a little out of hand. I spent so long thinking about it that I barely got it drawn.

I listened to my clip over and over, had several friends listen to it, and we all agreed that it sounded like music that belonged over a long, slow, panning shot of gorgeous
scenery--green, misted mountains, distant trees, rolling hills, and so on. But how to approach designing around that?

Well, I decided first that I needed to figure out what kind of movie I was designing for--and then things got complicated. The music didn't sound too modern, but it also didn't sound like it belonged in a period movie. Nor did it sound like a true fantasy or futuristic movie. The nature element was too strong for SF, so...what?
And then I got this crazy idea. Bear with me, while I explain the scene that popped into my head:

The music has a dark note in it, that I felt implied that something sinister had happened, but it ends on a triumphant swell, that made me picture a sunrise over those misted hills I mentioned earlier.

And then I thought 'Ah, post-apocalyptic London!'

Because, y'know, that makes perfect sense for a nature shot.

Like I said, bear with me. The film I envisioned is set in a post-apocalyptic world--the cities are ruins, technology has been set back a few hundred years, and trees and wildlife have begun taking over the areas that were once urban. Usually when someone says 'ost-apocalyptic' I think dirt, brown, grimy, Mad Max sort of things. But for this I saw a world that has had time to re-grow--whatever happened (perhaps a sudden, world-wide freeze that drove mankind underground to survive) is hundreds of years in the past, humans have emerged in scattered, isolated groups and begun to multiply and form complex societies again.

That's the world I decided to jump in and portray. I decided that the imaginary film I was designing for was a simple story, set against this complex backdrop--in the community that's sprung among the overgrown ruins of London, a young priestess is in love with a young man, but their roles in society (hers as a priestess, making her pretty much as up in the upper class as this society gets, and his lowerclass) keep them apart. Classic, right? So I designed an outfit for this young priestess, designed to communicate her origin--she was born into a working class family, and didn't choose the life of a priestess (she was chosen by lot)--and her current rank, as well as supporting my established ideas about this regrown post-apocolyptic world and this newly established, complex, class-defined society.

Simple, right?

I decided that, just as society has started evolving to become more complex, clothing would be evolving in a similar way. After the apocolyptic event, once people ran out of modern clothing, they'd have to make their own--without the aid of modern sewing machines. I think that, under those circumstances, clothing would revert into very simple shapes and lots of layers, since Europe is once again in a mini-ice age, just as it was during the middle ages.

A few centuries later, clothing has started to develop more complex shapes and construction. I've also decided that this particular society, being in London, would probably have found its way into the buried V&A and started incorporating the things they found into their lives. So their complex clothing reflects examples of ancient clothing, but in...unorthodox combinations.

Now that I have bored you to tears, on to the outfit! It consists of multiple layers, designed for dealing with everything from out-door work in the sun to lighter work indoors to formal religious occasions, to the colder temperatures outside.

From the bottom up:

CORSELET: Like a good costumer, I know to start with foundation garments! For this priestess, a short corselet (okay, it's basically like a bra) boned with cord and laced in front, with narrow sleeves that come over the shoulder and tie to the front. This would give support and lift to the breasts, while still allowing a gentle curve at the bosom (unlike corsets boned with stiff material like bone). Made of a heavy linen.

CHEMISE: Over the corselet is a chemise with full, blousey sleeves that resemble a cross between the Irish leine and the kimono. The baggy sleeves also function as pockets, and each sleeve has two cords that run from the shoulder to the wrist. These drawstrings can be used to gather the sleeve and tie it up at the shoulder to free the arms for work and keep the trailing sleeve out of the way. Made of a light weight wool.

PANTS: Constructed after the example of hakama, these pants have slits over each hip and have large, flat pleats. They tie around the waist. Lower class people would probably just have drawstring pants, but since our design is for an upper-class priestess, her clothing uses a larger amount of fabric to reflect her status--the larger the pleats, the fuller the pants, the higher the class. Made of wool. For hard work outdoors, just pants and chemise would be worn.

BODICE: A waist cincher of russet leather is worn over the chemise--it keeps the chemise in place, and helps keep it from billowing all over the place. It closes with buttons made of horn. This would be worn within the household--demonstrated in the illustration by her use of a distaff and spindle. It demonstrates her rank--leather clothing with buttons, and inappropriate for hard labor.

TUNIC: A sleeveless tunic made of green linen, with a band of darker green along the edge, is worn for public appearances--the fine fabric is another indication of her rank, and the bright color. The bodice is worn outside the tunic to keep it closed and in place.

MANTLE: Made of a heavy, golden-brown wool, this mantle is inspired by a combination of Cavalier (think Musketeer tunic) and Italian Renaissance design. It is made in four pieces--the widest, hooded panel at the back, a narrower panel at the front, and two sleeve 'wings', one at each shoulder. Only the front panel is secured to the body, with a belt of russet leather--belt loops on the inside of the back panel help keep the mantle from flapping too much in the wind. The sides can also be laced to keep them closed, during very cold weather.

Her shoes are leather sandals.

Description
So I maaaay have over-thought this challenge. Just a bit.

The challenge was to create a complete, theatrical outfit inspired by a 60 second clip of music from a film soundtrack. Well, I'm more of a costume designer than a fashion designer, and I'm more of a writer than a costume designer, so the concept stage of this design...well, got a little out of hand. I spent so long thinking about it that I barely got it drawn.

I listened to my clip over and over, had several friends listen to it, and we all agreed that it sounded like music that belonged over a long, slow, panning shot of gorgeous
scenery--green, misted mountains, distant trees, rolling hills, and so on. But how to approach designing around that?

Well, I decided first that I needed to figure out what kind of movie I was designing for--and then things got complicated. The music didn't sound too modern, but it also didn't sound like it belonged in a period movie. Nor did it sound like a true fantasy or futuristic movie. The nature element was too strong for SF, so...what?
And then I got this crazy idea. Bear with me, while I explain the scene that popped into my head:

The music has a dark note in it, that I felt implied that something sinister had happened, but it ends on a triumphant swell, that made me picture a sunrise over those misted hills I mentioned earlier.

And then I thought 'Ah, post-apocalyptic London!'

Because, y'know, that makes perfect sense for a nature shot.

Like I said, bear with me. The film I envisioned is set in a post-apocalyptic world--the cities are ruins, technology has been set back a few hundred years, and trees and wildlife have begun taking over the areas that were once urban. Usually when someone says 'ost-apocalyptic' I think dirt, brown, grimy, Mad Max sort of things. But for this I saw a world that has had time to re-grow--whatever happened (perhaps a sudden, world-wide freeze that drove mankind underground to survive) is hundreds of years in the past, humans have emerged in scattered, isolated groups and begun to multiply and form complex societies again.

That's the world I decided to jump in and portray. I decided that the imaginary film I was designing for was a simple story, set against this complex backdrop--in the community that's sprung among the overgrown ruins of London, a young priestess is in love with a young man, but their roles in society (hers as a priestess, making her pretty much as up in the upper class as this society gets, and his lowerclass) keep them apart. Classic, right? So I designed an outfit for this young priestess, designed to communicate her origin--she was born into a working class family, and didn't choose the life of a priestess (she was chosen by lot)--and her current rank, as well as supporting my established ideas about this regrown post-apocolyptic world and this newly established, complex, class-defined society.

Simple, right?

I decided that, just as society has started evolving to become more complex, clothing would be evolving in a similar way. After the apocolyptic event, once people ran out of modern clothing, they'd have to make their own--without the aid of modern sewing machines. I think that, under those circumstances, clothing would revert into very simple shapes and lots of layers, since Europe is once again in a mini-ice age, just as it was during the middle ages.

A few centuries later, clothing has started to develop more complex shapes and construction. I've also decided that this particular society, being in London, would probably have found its way into the buried V&A and started incorporating the things they found into their lives. So their complex clothing reflects examples of ancient clothing, but in...unorthodox combinations.

Now that I have bored you to tears, on to the outfit! It consists of multiple layers, designed for dealing with everything from out-door work in the sun to lighter work indoors to formal religious occasions, to the colder temperatures outside.

From the bottom up:

CORSELET: Like a good costumer, I know to start with foundation garments! For this priestess, a short corselet (okay, it's basically like a bra) boned with cord and laced in front, with narrow sleeves that come over the shoulder and tie to the front. This would give support and lift to the breasts, while still allowing a gentle curve at the bosom (unlike corsets boned with stiff material like bone). Made of a heavy linen.

CHEMISE: Over the corselet is a chemise with full, blousey sleeves that resemble a cross between the Irish leine and the kimono. The baggy sleeves also function as pockets, and each sleeve has two cords that run from the shoulder to the wrist. These drawstrings can be used to gather the sleeve and tie it up at the shoulder to free the arms for work and keep the trailing sleeve out of the way. Made of a light weight wool.

PANTS: Constructed after the example of hakama, these pants have slits over each hip and have large, flat pleats. They tie around the waist. Lower class people would probably just have drawstring pants, but since our design is for an upper-class priestess, her clothing uses a larger amount of fabric to reflect her status--the larger the pleats, the fuller the pants, the higher the class. Made of wool. For hard work outdoors, just pants and chemise would be worn.

BODICE: A waist cincher of russet leather is worn over the chemise--it keeps the chemise in place, and helps keep it from billowing all over the place. It closes with buttons made of horn. This would be worn within the household--demonstrated in the illustration by her use of a distaff and spindle. It demonstrates her rank--leather clothing with buttons, and inappropriate for hard labor.

TUNIC: A sleeveless tunic made of green linen, with a band of darker green along the edge, is worn for public appearances--the fine fabric is another indication of her rank, and the bright color. The bodice is worn outside the tunic to keep it closed and in place.

MANTLE: Made of a heavy, golden-brown wool, this mantle is inspired by a combination of Cavalier (think Musketeer tunic) and Italian Renaissance design. It is made in four pieces--the widest, hooded panel at the back, a narrower panel at the front, and two sleeve 'wings', one at each shoulder. Only the front panel is secured to the body, with a belt of russet leather--belt loops on the inside of the back panel help keep the mantle from flapping too much in the wind. The sides can also be laced to keep them closed, during very cold weather.

Her shoes are leather sandals.