What Would Wilma Wear? Prehistoric Edition

National Geographic magazine is taking Fashion History to a whole new level by asking a selection of Project Runway designers to clothe a Neanderthal woman in traditional materials.

In the October edition of the magazine, NG showed readers the the first life-size, scientifically accurate reconstruction of a Neanderthal woman that has been constructed based on fossil anatomy and ancient DNA. (How amazing is it that science can do things like this?!) She is five feet tall, heavily muscled and nude, as anthropologists believe that Neanderthals probably went naked in the summer.

From the National Geographic blog:

"We thought Wilma, as magazine staffers affectionately call her, might have occasionally craved a cover-up. So we asked some of the Project Runway designers to sketch an outfit for her, featuring materials that would have been available in Neanderthal times: animal skins (aka “leathuh”), fur, bones, and ocher body paint."

I've never watched the show - shocking for a Fashion Journalism student, I know! - but I thought this was a great idea. Here are my three favourites:

Blayne Walsh, Season 5




Terri Stevens, Season 5

 

and Mollie Bates of National Geographic magazine.

Bonus points to Mollie for designing for the womans true shape! Check out the other outfits here.

(Via Winona, from the hilarious blog Daddy Likey, who is currently interning for NG. I'm jealous!)

Comments

[dnai]

Mollie Blates is indeed blates winner for not only tailoring to the actual model in question but also providing clothes that the model would understand rather than designing the dress she always does and then pretending some of the fabric is authentic tiger hair and mammoth hide.

Comfort zones are so difficult to break out of, eh.

_