JOAN OF ARC
Ahoy mateys! So, as Textbook is now almost a year and half old, I seem to be running out of ideas. Luckily, the seasons of fashion change giving me new ways to experiment. Having said that, I’d like to revisit Joan of Arc. Our heroine is responsible for bringing a nation together in a time of great crisis and unrest. As fate would have it, political turmoil and intrigue put Joan to a cruel fate and she was burned as a witch and heretic by the English. Of course, one wonders how exactly Joan would fair in this age? Would she have an epic twitter following? A life-casting blog? Or perhaps she’d be a commanding officer, either way you can’t deny her lasting impression on the world.
1. Peasant Joan
Dress by Aquilano Rimondi, shoes by Peter Pilotto
2. To battle! Raawwrr!
Dress by Rodarte, shoes by Alexander McQueen
3. St. Joan
Dress by Alexander McQueen, shoes by Rodarte
And as I said, I’ve been finding it very difficult to come up with new characters…I implore you to leave suggestions in my ask box and thank you kindly for all those already sent! You can also e-mail them to me. Enjoy your weekend, Tumblr!
All images from Vogue.
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
maria louise of savoy is more commonly referred to as the princesse de lamballe. as was customary she was married at a young age to one of the greatest heirs in france. the match was arranged by his father who thought it wise to pair his debaucherous son with the beautiful and pious princess. despite his wishes, lamballe’s husband quickly returned to his ways and soon after marriage died of an STD. too bad so sad. widowed, lamballe traveled to the court at versailles where she became a close friend of queen marie anotoinette. we all know how that ended. lamballe met perhaps the worst end of all, after agreeing with the revolutionaries on the rights of man but refusing to renounce her friend and queen she was brutally (like bruuutallly) given up to a mob. her head was paraded around on a pike in front of marie’s windows and that’s not nearly the worst of it. oh well, she probably had some kick-ass refined style.
1: let’s be best friends, marie: dress by oscar de la renta, coat by reem acra, shoes and tights by ralph lauren
2: i feel like we should be working on something: dress by marc jacobs, fur by dennis basso, bag by marc jacobs, shoes by zac posen
3: party at versailles: dress by donna karan, coat by brian reyes, shoes and tights by ralph lauren
