THEODATE POPE RIDDLE
DISCLAIMER: Today is my mother’s birthday, so send good thoughts out to the world and reblog this like crazy so she feels special. This post was her suggestion.
Most of you probably won’t know who Theodate Pope Riddle is, so let me enlighten you. She was one of the first women architects in America and paved the way for many women working in the field today. She graduated from Miss Porter’s School (now just Porter’s/my backyard) and designed her family estate, Hillstead, in town.
Hillstead
Knowing Farmington as I do, I’d expect her style to be approachable, elegant and understated…more of the J.Crew and kate spade vibe than the Lily Pulitzer vibe. Hillstead now exists as a museum housing Hokusai prints, De Gas ballet dancers and Monet’s haystacks. We also walk the dogs here, it’s fun. Enjoy!
1. Taking a stroll on the lawn
Dress by Ralph Lauren, jacket by Proenza Schouler, shoes by Celine
2. The Annual Garden Auction
Dress by Ralph Lauren, shoes by Valentino
3. Sketching in the sunken garden
Coat by Marc Jacobs, dress by Chloe, shoes by Jonathan Saunders
All images from Vogue UK.
THE MEN OF TEXTBOOK
Ahoy! So, I’ve received a lot of messages and e-mails asking for me to start a menswear section of Textbook. As such, I will be posting more menswear looks from now on. Long time followers will remember that I used to do these often.
For the new kids, you can see all men’s character posts HERE.
You can see anything related to menswear including some old personal style shots, favorite products, collection reviews and character posts posted on Textbook HERE.
Thanks for your support guys, always appreciated.
QUEEN ELIZABETH THE BAMF
You see this? You see this right here? This is Queen Elizabeth I. She was pretty much the most badass monarch to grace England…right up there with Eleanor of Aquitane and Queen Vicky (Victoria and I were on a nickname basis.) I’m sure you all know her well from your high school history classes and various wikipedia adventures so I won’t get into it. But let’s just say if you ascend the throne only to become a patron of the arts and fearless leader you’d probably have some pretty sick style.
1. An Armada? Please Phillip, this is so childish.
Dress by Christopher Kane, shoes by Dries van Noten
2. You know what, we’re gonna call this “The Golden Age.”
Dress by Giambattista Valli, shoes by Alexander McQueen
3. Seriously? I’m Henry VIII’s daughter, you have no idea who you’re messing with.
Dress by Oscar de la Renta, jacket by Marc Jacobs, shoes by Nina Ricci
All images from Vogue UK.
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.
if you were alive in the middle ages, chances are, you were un-educated and illiterate. you’re hard pressed to find anybody quite so smart and clever as eleanor of aquitane. as far as medieval women go, she was miles ahead of the rest. her father did his best to get her the best education possible and made sure that when he was gone, she wasn’t only taken care of but wasn’t taken advantage of…good man. at fifteen, eleanor married louis vii and was crowned queen of france. aside from her political duties, eleanor also fought in the second crusade, oh yah she went there. badass. shortly after returning to france she divorced her husband and married king henry of england, the couple bore 8 children. the marriage wasn’t exactly happy but served it’s political purpose. estranged from henry, eleanor set up the fabled court of love in aquitane where scholars of all kinds and leading women discussed matters of love, marriage and duty. later in life, she served 16 years in prison for supporting her sons in a rebellion against her husband but was set free upon henry’s death. see? she was really really badass. eleanor is also acknowledged as one of the most beautiful women in history. lucky her.
1: eleanor of aquitane: dress by tsumori chisato, shoes by proenza schouler, cuff by jean paul gualtier
2: queen of france and/or england: alexander mcqueen
3: crusade bound: dress by elie saab, crazy war armor by jean paul gaultier
thanks to fairphantom for this suggestion, keep the requests coming!
