yolande de polastron is more commonly known as the duchesse de polignac. she was born into an impoverished aristocratic family, poor thing. her life took a turn when she was invited to versailles by her sister-in-law. shortly after arriving she became a favorite of marie antoinette. determined to stay close to the duchesse, the queen set up her husband with a royal position and plenty of money to continue on comfortably in the palace. her new fortune drove the duchesse to spend riotously (although most at versailles did) and other courtiers resented her extravagance and royal favor. outside versailles, parisians hated her and considered her a bad influence on an even worse government. when the revolution flared up, she remained a staunch monarchist and was forced to flee the country. i’d equate with one of those party girls today, perhaps not so trashy but you get what i mean.
1: heading to versailles: alexander mcqueen
2: hanging at versailles: dress by balmain, fur by elie saab, shoes by lanvin
3: fleeing versailles: dress by john galliano, shoes and fishnets by bottega veneta
catherine howard was henry vii’s fifth wife, but who’s counting? you can’t help but pity any of henry’s wives, none of them fared very well in his company. catherine is perhaps the saddest of all. she was very young when she came to court to serve as a lady in waiting for henry’s beloved jane seymour and was just seventeen when she married henry. her family were impoverished aristocrats and she had something of a wild past behind her. as she climbed her way to being queen, her history began to catch up with her and eventually her affair with a music teacher and the blackmailing of her peers earned catherine the axe. legend has it she escaped from the tower and banged on the doors of a chapel where his majesty was hearing mass to beg forgiveness. her ghost is said to re-enact this every night. too bad, so sad, you’d think the well to do laides of england would have learned not to cross henry viii by then.
1: lady in waiting: dress by reem acra, shoes by christian dior, bag by dries van noten
2: all hail queen catherine: dress by nina ricci, shoes by lanvin, fur by elie saab
3: catherine’s ghost: christian dior
continuing with the music theme, let’s look at roxanne. for those of you not familiar, she’s the subject of the police’s song roxanne. she is a hooker and it’s about a man who’s in love with her and saying the hooking part of her life is over. the song is posted below for your enjoyment. she’s actually not the first hooker to show up on textbook either, lady marmalade is around here somewhere. anyway, this one was pretty interesting because it’s kind of hard to look at clothes and ask yourself, “would a hooker walk the streets in this?” although i would say that this roxanne would’ve been the best dressed streetwalker on the corner. lots of short dresses, fur and crazy shoes to be seen.
1: roxanne, you don’t have to put on that red light: dress by balmain, fur by isabel marant, boots by burberry prorsum
2: you don’t have to sell your body to the night: dress by elie saab, shoes by proenza schouler
3: you don’t have to wear that dress tonight: dress by carlos miele, fur by balmain, shoes by givenchy
elie saab haute couture s/s 2010
thoughts: beautiful pieces and impeccably made with painstaking detail no doubt. anybody would be happy to shoot or wear these ethereal gowns. i only wish that the house would’ve taken things further, a little more vibrance, a little more variety and joie du vivre. it pains me to say that the above spread makes me think of juvenile fairytales. and if chanel and dior were the mortal kombat of haute couture…these girls would be the ones holding the signs that say “round 1” aka super delicate.
1-5: elie saab’s sirens
the lion the witch and the wardrobe was probably one of the first books that i actually enjoyed, a rare feat in my childhood. i loved all the characters but the most memorable was definitely the white witch. who could forget the villain that blanketed narnia in a seemingly endless winter? badass. she’s the epitome of ice queen and definitely was an artist at exacting revenge. her style would definitely be severe to show her power and personality. also, i’d imagine she’d wear all white to blend in with her beloved winter. so beware, if you’re schlepping through narnia and some crazy woman on a sled offers you turkish delight, scream stranger danger and head for the hills.
1: ugh, asland, ugh: dress and scarf by maison martin margiela, tights and shoes by rodarte
2: welcome to my ice castle, i am crazy: dress and shoes by givenchy, gloves by lanvin, headpiece by karl lagerfeld
3: i hate cats: dress by elie saab haute couture, headpiece by givenchy, shoes by christian dior
