A Scold’s Scatter, 2022, Maria Foka
leather, gems & rubber electrical cord
Photos 1&2 as seen for Rabanne x HM on The Common Pages Magazine
Wearer: @lucky_user7 | Photographer: @velissarios_j_george | Styling: @nikipagiataki | MUA: @kastiee | Hair: @bratis.k
The scold’s scatter reclaims the narrative of the scold’s bridle, aka the witch’s bridle, a medieval torturing device for women, imposed by their husbands or the church. Its goal was to silence, humiliate and intimidate suspected witches, prostitutes, and women who were nagging or causing a public nuisance, into submission. The scold’s scatter compels the corporal punishment into regression, using this collective trauma to force a definitive shift – the power no longer lies with the enforcer but within the wearer. The choker no longer chokes, and the gems do not cut. The cords are embedded into the purposeful or senseless movement of the wearer, they hug and protect the body or they are unleashed and enraged.