TEXTBOOK

empress theodora of byaznatium was one of the first rulers i learned about in high school. she was part of that massive curriculum of ‘world history’ that we were taught over two consecutive school years. as far as her accomplishments, i’m ashamed to say i can’t tell you many of them. i recall her in a positive light and i do remember that it was under her and her husband (emperor justinian) that hagia sofia was built. the most clear images i have of empress theodora are mosaics. perhaps it was the artist in me that was naturally drawn towards the culture of each country we studied rather than the history itself but i thought those mosaics were amazing. the time and craft put in to each one is insane, i guess thats what you do when you don’t have tumblr. so when styling her for ‘the now’ i reverted back to those mosaics and the result was patterns, applique and a decidedly warm weather wardrobe.
1: empress theodora: dress by isabel marant, shoes by dvf
2: let us build hagia sofia!: dress by dvf, shoes by kris van assche
3: my dress looks like a big mosaic: dress by matthew williamson, shoes by stella mccartney

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