The Shakespearean comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream was written in the late 1500’s and originally set in Athens. You could take inspiration from there and start with Greek style clothing or costumes.
Alternatively you could go as someone from one of the three distinct character groups featured in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The Fairies, The Lovers (The Mortals) and The Mechanicals (The Rustics). Midsummer Night’s Dream costume inspiration can be taken from any one of the characters within each of the groups.
The Fairies
Titania is the Queen of the Fairies, Oberon is the King of the Fairies and Puck is Oberon’s right hand man. Cobweb, Peaseblossom, Mustardseed & Moth are the somewhat lesser known fairies.
Dress in your favourite Fairy gear. Obviously Titania and Oberon are the more elaborate of the group, with Titania often favouring white, green, gold & sometimes lavender, Oberon is usually depicted in green complete with leaves, twig like crown and a cape or cloak. Puck is almost always wearing green, sometimes shirtless and often wearing britches or a leaf style skirt along with his trademark horns.
The Lovers
The lovers are Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius and Helena they are the human or mortal characters of the story. Their lives have been turned upside down in the middle of the night by the fairies. Each of the characters has some kind of relationship problem and the humour of the play comes from when the fairies try to fix the lovers problems.
The lovers are humans from ancient Athens, so these are the characters where you take your inspiration for Midsummer Night’s Dream costumes from historical Greek or Roman costumes.
The Mechanicals
The Mechanicals are a group six of skilled tradespeople who come together in A Midsummer Night’s Dream to perform a somewhat amateurish play within a play. The group consists of Quince, the carpenter; Snug, the joiner; Bottom, the weaver; Flute, the bellows-mender; Snout, the tinker; and Starveling the tailor. They are often referred to as the Rude Mechanicals, a name coined by Puck in reference to their working class professions.
Pyramus and Thisbe is to be performed for Athenian Royalty at the wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. The mechanicals attempt to act out Ovid’s original version of Pyramus and Thisbe, a tragic love story. Ultimately they fail due to their ignorance and misinterpretation of it. It is this failure that ironically contributes to the comedic success of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Costumes for the Mechanicals could have hints of each characters profession, keeping in mind that they are all working class. Your costume should include natural fibres, earthy toned colours, waistcoats and britches. One of the most distinctive characters is Nick Bottom, due to Puck using his fairy magic to give him the head of an ass.
A gallery of Midsummer Night’s Dream costumes can be found here.
