sorry, this has nothing to do with fashion but it made me laugh because i’m a big nerd. a tweeting of the declaration of independence.
via the gq eye
after tsarina alexandra yesterday, i figured i’d ride the revolutionary russia wave as far as i could. naturally, the most ‘editorial’ of all these cats would be rasputin. now i’m sure most of the people who read this blog are familiar with him from the anastasia movie. i hate to be the bearer of bad news but i don’t think he sold his soul for a vial of demon monsters to destroy the romanovs. rasputin was a mystic, some revered him as a prophet and others dismissed him as a lunatic. regardless of the public, tsarina alexandra turned to him to aid her son’s illness. rumors swirled around the tsarina and rasputin, but the czar refused to send him away for fear his beloved wife and son would feel betrayed. as his relationship with the royal family grew, so did his influence. ultimately driving the country’s nobles mad with jealousy and fear. and everybody knows what happens when you’re jealous and frightened enough. too bad for rasputin. please note: these captions are taken from this song
1: he was big and strong and his eyes a flaming glow: coat by rick owens, shirt by givenchy, pants by ysl, boots by ann demeulemeester
2: ra-ra-rasputin, russia’s greatest love machine: coat by john galliano, pants by ann demeulemeester, boots by tim hamilton
3: though she’d heard the things he’d done, she believed he was the holy healer who would heal her son: coat by burberry prorsum, shirt by neil barret, man-skirt and leggings by givenchy, boots by burberry prorsum
note: anastasia was posted ages ago…but check it out, one of my favorites.
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
when i think of queen victoria the word that comes to mind is dignified. perhaps it’s just because of the imagery i’ve seen of her, who could forget that statue where she’s enthroned and looking out into the distance? it’s a pretty powerful image and you can tell that she means business. my favorite of her accomplishments (along with her husband albert) was the crystal palace exhibition where the world showcased technology and culture. to me it seemed one of those pivotal moments in history where everybody realized the future is going to come barreling towards us and we’ll be charging right at it. of course she today would walk that fine line between dowdy and dignified (a feat not accomplished by some of her contemporaries).
1: i mean business: suit by oscar de la renta, shirt by stella mccartney, tights and shoes by yves saint laurent
2: state function time: dress and shoes by reem acra
3: opening the crystal palace: coat by prada, trousers by stella mccartney, shoes by rachel roy, shirt (you can barely see) by reem acra
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
