From Sasha

I am reading a fabulous book at the moment: Temptress: From The Original Bad Girls to Women on Top (my hunny works at an art book company, so I get to indulge in some great stuff). I just finished the chapter on Lola Montez, and I can't get her out of my mind!

Born Eliza Gilbert in Limerick, Ireland, Lola had a quick mind and a fiery temper, and the dramatic looks to match. The life of a dutiful wife in Victorian Ireland suited her not one whit, so she left her marriage and set off for Spain to study Flamenco dancing. There she picked up Spanish, and reinvented herself as "Lola Montez", the daughter of a matador. She correctly intuited that exotic dancing was her ticket to fame and freedom, and she took her act all over Europe, picking up lovers and shocking upstanding moral people along the way. It was quite a sensation in the 1800s to publicly demonstrate "sensuous" dance movements, not to mention the flashing of ankles and possibly even knees!

Lola had affairs with Franz Liszt, Alexandre Dumas, and many other rich and powerful men, but her most scandalous liason was with the King of Bavaria, King Ludwig I. Ludwig was so bowled over by her charms that he lost all control of his heart and the purse strings of the country's treasury, even building Lola her own palace– featuring a fountain that sprayed perfumed water! Lola ended up essentially ruling Bavaria in the stead of the aging and besotted king, and her liberal rule infuriated those who would flex their political muscle. Eventually her detractors did get the upper hand, stirring up a violent movement against Lola, and in the end Ludwig abdicated his very crown rather than severe his alliance with his controversial mistress.  Continue Reading... (560 words + 4 images, estimated 2:14 mins reading time)

From Sasha

Okay, it was only a matter of time before Gossip Girl made it into the blog. Maybe I was trying to keep the lowbrow world of modern television separate from the world of fairy forest folk; maybe I felt you would be confused by my seemingly incongruent obsession with a show about rich teenage prep schoolers in New York City. But then, little by little, I realized– all of you are watching it, too! Ha ha! (And believe you me, that includes Amber here at Violet Folklore… big time.)

For the few among you who have yet to be initiated, I offer an explanation. No, I've never been– or tried to dress like– a preppy, in all of my life. No, I don't watch much TV– we don't even have TV service, and we haven't had it for 15 years. I have missed all the shows that have captivated my peers for the past decade: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Sopranos, Sex in the City. But then along came the show that brought me (and so many of my popular-culture-resisting friends) back to TV land– the utterly obsess-able Gossip Girl. It has a lot going for it: sassy, witty characters, outrageous fashion, steamy love scenes, and the most Jane Austen-esque-cliff-hanger plot twists imaginable on the little screen. For one hour, my brain is on vacation, and nothing else matters except the shifting reputations and alliances of these immaculately turned-out Upper East Siders.  Continue Reading... (619 words + 5 images, estimated 2:29 mins reading time)

From Sasha

Okay, I know it's not coming out til next year, but I can't help being Waaaaaay Excited about Tim Burton's film version of Alice In Wonderland. Not only is it inspired by one of the coolest books ever written, not only is it being made by one of my all-time-favorite-can-do-no-wrong directors, but the cast are my top actors and actresses of all time (Helena Bonham Carter has been winning my heart for decades, and Johnny Depp, well, no more needs to be said). Mia Wasikowska, who plays Alice, is new to me, but I already love her. I mean, she is Australian, she didn't dumb down her last name, and she has a face that is beautiful and intelligent. And the costumes, especially Alice's dress? Hello Dreamy!

Okay, eye candy I promise you and eye candy I deliver:

Mia Wasikowska as Alice

Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter as the Mad Hatter and the Red Queen

Anne Hathway as the White Queen

Does Alice acquire this awesome dress mid-movie or something? We'll have to wait and see, I guess!

Okay, can't resist one more pic of Mia, from her shoot for Teen Vogue:

I hope this means that more fairy-tale-esque and romantic dresses will be hot in popular culture this year. You know me, never a fan of Modern and Boring. Tulle, lace trim, and the flouncy skirts: yes please!  Continue Reading... (297 words + 5 images, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

I've spent the last week in a shopping frenzy, and I have a pile of gorgeous dresses to photograph for the shop! Now for some inspiration… I spent a very indolent Sunday hiding from the blazing sun in my blacked-out living room, poring through an issue of Vogue from this May that a friend had lent me. This was possibly the best issue ever, since it focused on the models, complete with Juicy Model Gossip! If they were all like this I would have continued my subscription. Natalia Vodianova did a photo shoot where she channeled famous models from the past several decades, and I was so happy to see that Penelope Tree was included in the tribute. Her outfit was the best, by far:

…but then I like things pretty Dramatic.

The real Penelope Tree does not disappoint, in fact I think she trumps Natalia and all the modern models for the fact that she was one of the very first to carry off that "I'm sorry, I was communicating with aliens, did you need to say something to me? How terribly dull" expression whilst wearing her entire closet inside out on top of her head. I heart a good juxtaposition, and this girl had it down.  Continue Reading... (339 words + 6 images, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)