is it so wrong to want the finer things in life? emma bovary didn’t think so, in fact she thought she was entitled to them. emma was a farmer’s daughter who married his doctor, she quickly became bored with marriage and provincial life. emma was sure that by acquiring the finer things, she would be content. she was so consumed by her fascination that she ran up a riotous debt, had two affairs and eventually committed suicide. the saddest part of the whole thing is that emma thought all the fortune, the aristocracy, the opera, the parties and the fancy things would bring her happiness. she failed to realize that all of these things often bring misery and that in the end, nobody is really any better off than anybody else. when all her debts and the schemes of her jerk banker caught up to her, she swallowed some arsenic in typical emma bovary melodramatic fashion. all that said, she still is somehow likable.
1: oh, i’m just the farmer’s daughter: dress by tory burch, shoes by derek lam, bag by marc by marc jacobs, hat by erin fetherston
2: hopping to paris with my lover: dress and bag by christian dior, hat by marc jacobs, shoes by calvin klein
3: i totally can’t afford this dress: dress by oscar de la renta, shoes by christian dior
All images from Style.com.
i always felt like desdemona of shakespeare’s othello was helpless. like a lot of shakespearean damsels, she was the pawn of schemes around her. she up and left venice to elope and accompany othello in his travels. as the plot unfolds we see that she is made to look like a two timing hussie with cassio by iago. all this is done because iago feels cassio was wrongly promoted over him by othello. confused? no worries…it’s shakespeare. anyway, upon duping othello into thinking cassio and desdemona were knocking boots, othello promises iago a promotion if he kills cassio. iago in turn convinces roderigo, who is in love with desdemona to kill cassio. things start getting crazy, othello smothers desdemona, iago kills roderigo, iago kills emilia, othello kills himself and then iago gets arrested. that’s a super bare bones version but as you can see, desdemona was pretty helpless…so she’d probably wear flowy dresses, right?
1: eloping with othello: dress by alberta feretti, shoes by valentino
2: i lost my handkerchief: dress by christian dior, shoes by stella mccartney
3: othello is being so mean: dress by giambattista valli, shoes by azzaro
lady brett ashley is the headlining woman of ernest hemingway’s, the sun also rises. the novel focuses on the exploits of her and various men, all of which have some infatuation with her. despite her knowledge of their affection and persistence that she is in control of the situation, it becomes obvious that she is not. engaged to one, in love with another and confused by the others she decides ends up escaping to madrid with the bullfighter, romero. however, this jaunt does not last long and she soon calls for her another to comfort her. the novel ends discussing what life could have been like if other paths were taken. in the book, she is described as having a somewhat masculine, but feminine and attractive style.
1: off to the bullfight: dress by dries van noten, shoes by calvin klein
2: meeting at cafe select: shirt by bottega veneta, bag by dries van noten, pants by chloe, shoes by prada
3: escaping to madrid: jacket by christian dior, pants by michael kors, bag by bottega veneta, shoes by christian dior
a lot of people requested lady brett ashley, so thanks.
p.s. literateandstylish asked for lady brett ashley along with daisy buchanan and elizabeth bennet…go ahead and click for those previous posts. thanks!
wendy moira angela darling is the most ridiculous name in the world, it’s so long. nevertheless, several people requested a wendy post. to be fair, i thought it was an awesome idea so props to you kids. everybody pretty much knows the deal with wendy. long story short - she flies to neverland, hangs out, decides to be a grown up and goes home. however in the end, she finds herself wondering if peter will ever return. sad trombone.
1: her famous nightgown (made famous by disney): dress by christian dior, shoes by marc jacobs
2: adventures in neverland: jacket by balmain, pants by tsumori chisato, shoes by marni
3: “you won’t forget to come for me, peter? please please don’t forget.”: dress by marc jacobs, coat by christian dior, shoes by stella mccartney
thank you all for the great submissions, keep ‘em coming. several of you suggested marie anotinette. to be honest, i’ve been avoiding the ill fated queen since i started because she is pretty daunting. however, since i’ve been denied internet this past week and have plenty of posts to catch up to i figured i’d give it a shot. everybody knows the drill, she had tons of money, was ill prepared to run a country and had a penchant for crazy hats. there, done. enjoy.
1: the dauphine: hat by jean paul gaultier haute couture, dress by john galliano, tights and shoes by rodarte
2: queen of france: chanel haute couture
3: this could get ugly: hat by l’wren scott, dress by christian dior, shoes by oscar de la renta
p.s. how fitting they are all headless. oh, france.
