# The story of the ugly duchess costume



## TheCostumer (Oct 12, 2008)

The Ugly Duchess costume is based on the character from the play The Ugly Duchess by playwright Janet Munsil.

The play is based on an actual person, Margaret Maukltasch, the midievil monarch of Tyrol. She was considered the ugliest woman in history but a monstrously desirable political bride. She was also a perfect scapegoat for the plague. Ugly, but pious she believes that her unfortunate looks are a divine test until she is demonized by her panic stricken subjects when the black death sweeps through Europe.

Ms Munsil's husband, Paul Terry plays the ill fated Gothic heroine in this production.

I found this idea while browsing the internet and thought that it would be a great costume for Halloween and Mardi Gras.

Since I have costumed in drag as Charley's Aunt and The Grandmother before, I thought that this would be both an unusual and also horrific costume. I gave the picture to my costumer and she did an excellent job.

The picture shows the original costume from the play followed by a picture of myself sans costume and then the final results.



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The only downside was costuming in drag but the plusses of both an unusual idea and a very unusual costume character outweighted the negative.

That is the story of how I became The Ugly Duchess.

The Costumer


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