Stitching For Spotlights - Epic The Musical: How I'd Adapt The Looks For The Stage
- Khadeejah Masud
- 4 hours ago
- 9 min read
Welcome back to Stitching For Spotlights, where we talk all things fashion and theatre!
Today’s article was inspired by the cultural phenomenon of EPIC The Musical, which has revolutionised what Julia Harter Lee describes as a “renaissance” in musical theatre. There’s always been a sort of accessibility issue with musicals, appealing to a certain market due to its limited nature as a more ‘high-end’ entertainment form. Creator Jorge Rivera-Herrans changed the game by captivating millions globally through his nine-part album series retelling Homer’s ‘The Odyssey’, that circulated purely through digital platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram. EPIC is just as much about the fandom being included as it is the actual story, with Rivera-Herrans commissioning artists to create animatics for the songs, and many fans choosing to create animatics for the fun of it. This production marks a first-of-its-kind collaborative project - blurring the lines between creator, performers, and fans in a way no musical has dared to before. It is for this reason that so many hope they will see EPIC grace the Broadway stage soon (and I pray it’ll come to the West End).
In this spirit, I was inclined to create a costume design deck that adapts the characters from the musical and brings them to life for the spotlight.
Fashioning the Femmes of EPIC
Penelope
The first look I was inspired to adapt was Penelope’s, because I felt I had the clearest idea of how I’d imagine her onstage. The first sources of inspiration I looked towards were the animatics, but I also looked at historical depictions of Penelope.
In animatics, she’s often approached with purples and golds that offer a regal image of her. The contrast between the deep purple and the brightness of the golds reflect the different phases of her relationship to Odysseus in the narrative - clouded by periods of darkness, and eventually overpowered by the light of hope when he returns.
I felt these colours also reflect her status - in the Mycanaean Bronze Age (in which the Odyssey is set), tyrian purple represented wealth and royalty. The ancient pigment was considered more valuable than gold itself, and the recipe to recreate the pigment has since been lost to time. Dressing her in purple would outline her role as a queen, if the golden jewellery didn’t already give it away. I also think purple functions well as a magical colour, as a subtle nod to her heritage as a Nymph. I think this pairing of purple and gold metal functions well to highlight Penelope’s dual nature too - as a princess of Sparta, born to a nymph, she is both strong and elegant.
In her outfit, I’ve woven many details into her accessories and the garment itself. On her left arm she wears two jewellery pieces - one is a winding olive branch, with a single peridot to represent the olive tree in the ending saga of EPIC. The second is a thicker band that would have the tusk motif in her husband’s helmet hammered into it. I also designed a crest that I think their family would bear on their armour and jewellery - this would form the centrepiece of the coin belt Penelope wears around her waist - a key element of the outfit in cinching the waist. As opposed to having the crown on top of the head, I have leant into her nymph heritage, and designed it to be like a wreath crown - however, the sharp edge that dips onto her brow is much like that of Athena’s helmet, and highlights Penelope’s harmonious ferocity and elegance.
Throughout the show, I would have different stages of Penelope’s development shown through the change of her veils. This purple one that you see above has been sketched with an updo hairstyle in mind. The look would appear ‘The Challenge’, set in the Ithaca Saga - the scene in which she tells the suitors she will choose one of them to be the king, if they can shoot an arrow using her husband’s bow through 12 axes. The veil plays into her image as a bride, and is flecked purple to display power in front of the suitors - the reason it is flecked is to show how her power is slowly breaking down as the soldiers become restless.
The advantage of the veil is that it can symbolise both power, and yet it could also be Penelope’s way of hiding herself and her true intentions from them. This would create an effective contrast to the ending scene, where she’d remove her veil and wear only her base outfit, and the updo would come down to show an undoing - a vulnerability that she cannot show the suitors.
Calypso
Calypso is a sea-nymph. Her costume is heavily inspired by art works I have seen of her, with cool tones representing the island she is from - almost siren-esque, with running themes of aqua green, azure blue and lightweight fabrics. The cup area of her top would be solid, likely satin - or could even be interpreted as a cowl neck. The lower portion up until her navel is intended to be a see-through fabric like chiffon, adding a certain ethereal, breezy float to her motions. The skirt draws from traditional Mycanaean dress shapes, and is supposed to also emulate the Little Mermaid’s Romantic-era inspired dress, when she first gets her feet. It would have gold rope that cinches it into this bubble-skirt style shape, to represent entrapment - both her trapping of Odysseus on her island, and her own confinement to the island. Her silver jewellery, responsible for feeding through the asymmetrical iridescent drapery as indicated in the illustration above, also represent shackles.
I’m not a fan of Calypso’s character, but when designing her I wanted to incorporate the solitude and imprisoned aspect of her own struggle, something that in turn forces her to coerce and enslave Odysseus. At first glance you see the mermaid-y essence, in all the seaweed and shells that run through her outfit, but there is a deeper and darker side to characterise her.
Circe
Circe is the Goddess of Sorcery - majority of the EPIC fandom have decided on animatic-artist Gigi’s design as canonical, which is why I have tried to adapt it as accurately as possible for a stage appearance. In my costume, I have added some tweaks that would maintain an element of period accuracy whilst keeping her recognisable essence. In Gigi’s design, she sketches Circe in a semi-modern set, of a crop top and a long ruffled skirt with a split down the left side (notice I’ve also switched the sides in the sketch - that’s a technical error made when sketching that I would alter for better visual harmony onstage. This is because if the performer frequently presents their stage left side to the audience (their right side), then the floral cinch detail will pop. If not, and their stage right side (their left) is more visible, it might be obstructed from the audience’s view).
What I’ve altered and added to Gigi’s design is more coverage down the midriff area. Like Calypso’s outfit, this piece of fabric would be very sheer, so you could still see the actor’s midriff but you’d perceive it through this barrier first. I’ve made this decision with the flow of the costume in mind. It would hang loosely from her body rather than cling to her figure, and be cinched by the lowered waistline of the skirt, creating a relaxed visual that aligns with the calmness of her character. I really wanted to emulate the famous Pre-Raphaelite painting ‘Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses’ by John William Waterhouse, in which Circe emulates composure despite her subtle cunning. I’ve also added heavy gold decoration to her character design, such as the bangles and the arm cuffs - I imagine they amalgamate as a result of her nymphs gifting them to her, like ladies-in-waiting do to a queen, since she plays a motherly figure in their lives. Part of the costume would also be the body markings, mirroring that of a tiger or cat, qualifying a feline presence to the enchantress. This would mirror her relationship to nature and her slyness.
Sculpting the Soldiers of EPIC
Odysseus
All animatic designs of Odysseus are based on Jorge Rivera-Herrans, as he is the main singer and brings life to the character that was once less accessible in his epic form. In my own design, I based it on how I have seen him depicted around Penelope, as well as Athena.
Unlike most depictions of Odysseus, I selected blue as his defining colour, in contrast to red. The rich pthalo blue colur that characterises his cape represents the sea, which becomes the source of his troubles for twenty years (well, Poseidon does) - as does war. By making it the official uniformed colour of Odysseus and his army, it creates an inextricable link between war and their struggles at sea - as it is often their own violence and poor decisions that warrants the unmerciful and egotistical reactions of Gods and Goddesses in their path. It would also be the opposite colour of Antinuous, the chief suitor in causing unrest in Ithaca - his cape would be a deep red or maroon.
Around his waist I’ve designed a gold belt - I am unsure if this would be a solid metal belt or a thick metallic rope. I want it to be more like Penelope’s, appearing quite metal onstage, but it would require greater consideration - of the actor’s comfort and what would be better for choreographed movements like battle scenes onstage. I would probably make prototypes of both but it remains ambiguous in the rendering, down to the designer’s interpretation. His cape would be fastened by his crest, to represent his authority as king, and his helmet takes direct inspiration from the epic text, in which Homer describes it as made out of boar tusks. I researched Bronze Age armour, to create the design - so its shapes, to the average Hollywood-trained eye, would not be what is typically thought of as ‘Greek’ (Christopher Nolan, I’m looking at you).
Having said that, I did also incorporate some bronze structure in the helmet to appeal to that 'glamourisation' of the Ancient Greek period, which echoes similar motifs found in his crest (two boars tusks, and sculpted bronze fur in the centre, bordered by Greek meandering hammered into the bronze). There is also a deep green tassel indicated, that would be attached to the upper helm.
I also designed how I think he should look when he leaves Calypso’s island - returning 20 years later, I considered how weathered he would look by time, age and poverty. A duplicate of his tunic would be made, and worn using natural dyes combining brown, and green – to show how living on Calypso’s island has seeped into his very being, and clouded his previous identity as a king. He should be unrecognisable, even down to the shoes which have been stripped of detail.
Eurylochus
Odysseus’ ‘second-in-command’ Eurylochus is one of the more prominent soldiers of Odysseus’ army, alongside Polites. He and Odysseus’ brotherly relationship is conveyed through the sheer amount of blue in this costume, which has been designed to contain more colour resemblance than the other soldiers. His tunic is dyed in the same blue of Odysseus’ cape, layered over a brown tunic which shows his former identity concealed behind his appearance as a soldier. The brown layer beneath would also be the same material of the prop used in the song ‘Keep Your Friends Close’ - the bag containing the storm that causes Poseidon to torment the soldiers. This would be to show his natural inclination towards the bag, and subtly foreshadow the fatal mistake that sets the soldiers back years before they can reach home.
I originally was going to design the characters in armour, as opposed to the animatics which depict them in tunics. I decided to design them in tunics because of practical reasons, like the fact that various layers of armour would hinder the performer’s mobility, as well as their ability to sing in multiple layers. Though not period-accurate to warriors in the Bronze Age, I have maintained accuracy to the fashions of the era, utilising shapes and colours that would’ve been common. An additional detail I’ll draw attention to is how the tunic is fastened by two flatter brooches. These brooches are shaped as two semicircles, attached beside each other - this represents that Odysseus and Eurylochus are two halves of a whole, but rarely complete each other as they clash a lot throughout the musical.
And there we have it! Seven looks I’d bring to the stage for EPIC. If I were to do it again, I would like to include a design of Athena, that featured a silver breastplate, outlining her figure and overlaying a mid-length tunic. I’d border the tunic with feathers to allude to her symbol, the owl - as she is a figure of wisdom, as well as war. She would have a fierce but feminine look, that heavily emphasised her militarised nature. I would also design Antinuous to foil Odysseus - featuring brown, or black as his base colour, red as his cape, and gold accents to parallel his inclination to the throne of Ithaca. He would be heavily adorned with jewellery, as I feel he would overly compensate to boast his wealth as a marker of his worthiness for the throne and Penelope at large.
“Who do you try for?”
-The Horse and The Infant
Designing for EPIC wasn’t just about costuming the characters - it was about storytelling. Each look was crafted to reflect who these figures are, what they carry, and how they change. From Penelope’s veils of power and vulnerability, to Odysseus’ war-torn blues, every detail was a chance to build character through cloth.
EPIC has re-inspired my love for illustration. This musical’s digital legacy proves that the stage is no longer limited by velvet curtains and ticket prices - it lives in animatics, in TikToks, in fan-made art and even in sketchbooks like mine.
So until EPIC makes its debut under Broadway lights (or, fingers crossed, the West End!), I'll keep designing in the wings - imagining how these mythic tales might one day leap from my laptop screen to the stage, stitched with stories and love.
Dedicated to Liya
All Illustrations by Khadeejah Masud. Gouache on Paper.
Written by Khadeejah Masud, Columnist
Edited by Daisy Packwood, Fashion Editor
