Mantis was a really fun character to figure out a ballet interpretation of. The design changed a little from the initial preliminary sketch.
Originally, Karolina designed this costume with leggings. However, when making the costume, she found the leggings to be visually boring and decided to scrap that idea and give ballet Mantis a skirt. I think the end result is perfect.
The helm was also a fun one to design. Carol said it was basically like designing reverse Loki horns, which I love.
The design is reminiscent of the ballet I planned to talk about for Mantis week: The Nutcracker. Originally, the plan was to paint it with a holographic paint, which was gorgeous (it was white, but turned gold when the light hit it). In the end, the color was just a little too white and so we went with a champagne color.
As always, it has gorgeous Swarovski crystals that give it that beautiful glisten.
(The tips of the antennae are even slightly feathered, just like Mantis’ antennae. This is one of my all-time favorite helms. I love it so much!).
Mantis preliminary sketch and costume by BeBaGo (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
Mantis helm sketch and helm by Carol Datura Riot (Etsy, Facebook, Instagram)
