Costume

The Selkie is found in folklore from Cornwall, Scotland, Ireland, Iceland, Scandinavia and the Faroe Islands. The Selkie is a shapeshifter, transforming between human and seal form by shedding or wearing their seal skin. They are said to be alluring to humans and some fall in love with them, but their hearts really lie with the sea. A Selkie can only transform with its seal skin, if their skin is taken from them or lost, they are stuck in human form. The Sea Cat is very fond of the well loved tale of the Selkie and wants to keep it’s spirit alive so made this skin for Montol Festival, a winter solstice festival held in Penzance, Cornwall.

In Norse mythology, Muninn and Huginn are the god Odin’s Ravens, their names mean memory and thought. They flew across the realms, gathering information for Odin, acting as his eyes and ears. The Sea Cat made Muninn for Feast night guising in Febuary 2025 with ‘The Scaleybacks of Hakey Bay’ in St Ives, Cornwall. The Scaleybacks are a sea themed guising guild. Guising is an old Cornish tradition dating back to the 1800s, popular in St Ives. Guising is to don a disguise/costume and parade from tavern to tavern playing music and dancing, entertaining the locals on the dim winter nights. Guise dancers were often given drinks in return for their entertainment. It was not approved of by everyone and in 1900 was banned by the Mayor of St Ives. The tradition almost died out after the first world war but was later revived in the 70s for Feast night in St Ives. It eventually died out again until 2023 when The Scaleybacks formed. 

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This piece was made to wear as part of a Period Vampire's costume.

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This costume was made for Nozstock festival work.

This costume was made to perform on stage.

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For Sale.