Wear Something Pink Day

In honour of my niece, Rosie Cheeks, who has created an ‘Other – Festival’ event on Facebook titled ‘Wear Something Pink Day’ because she, er… just likes pink, I have donned a very fluffy wool scarf that looks like fairy floss, and some (cotton) candy pink lippie.

However, it cannot be said that I truly need the excuse, as I have discovered over the years – I’m sure I must have mentioned it before – that quite an unhealthy quantity of pink garments have somehow snuck into my wardrobe. These include, but are not limited to: dresses, blouses, jumpers, scarves, shoes, hats (four, two winter, two summer), a silk raincoat, a velvet coat with attached scarf… oh, and one pair of velvet jeans that have since sadly been donated to charity.

Dear me. That is quite a list. And I probably could go on if I got up from my desk and went to my closet to see what else is buried there.

I am quite embarrassed.

I am in fact WORSE than Rosie Cheeks. And to exacerbate my mortification, I am now going to remind you of a few of them. Please scroll down.

But before you do, go put on something pink. It’s Wear Something Pink Day, for heaven’s sake.

(Click on the images to go to the original post.)

The waterproofed silk raincoat… and look ma, pink suede shoes!I need say no more. Except: pink tulle and parachute silk.The infamous pink velvet jeans, and how I love that ombré wool jumper! I feel happy just wearing it. Oh, and it's warm (of secondary importance).Yes indeed, I first wore that dress when I was a teen. It is actually coral pink with white polkadots, as if a balloon skirt wasn't enough on its own.

What I Actually Wore #0034

Serial #: 0034
Date: 12/12/2009
Weather: a mild 22° during the day; cool by night
Time Allowed: 10 minutes

I was heading out to farewell drinks for a friend who was moving from the city to the country. It was summer, but the day had been only mild, so I suspected it would be even cooler by nightfall.

The wrap dress I picked out to wear was made from 80% silk, and 20% wool. That should keep me warm enough, I decided. As an afterthought I grabbed an old wool pashmina and stuffed it into my bag. Being in a hurry, I didn’t have time to consider that the turquoise shawl was too matchy-matchy. Of course, by the time I arrived at the bar, the wind had picked up and a chill had settled in the air, but it was too late to consider the problem then.

Still, the fabulously-coloured dress wowed everyone, and I was totally thrilled with my new black heels – the slingback straps are trimmed in patent black bows. They are even comfortable to walk briskly in, as I invariably do to make up for lost time.

I don’t often wear bangles during the day, but for this evening party I wore a carved red jade bangle I had bought as a souvenir in Vietnam; it has a matching ring. The earrings are sterling silver hoops woven with turquoise chips, and a grey pearl dangles in the centre.

Luckily we eventually got out of the cold wind and made it indoors… to a Vietnamese restaurant called New Wind!

Items:

Dress: French Connection
Pashmina: eBay
Earrings: from Portobello Lane
Rings and bangle: Vietnam souvenir
Shoes: Zoe Wittner

Turkish Music in My Ears

I have always loved studying history, and particularly the art and culture of the ancient world. As a young teen I was particularly drawn to the jewellery of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Ottoman empire, fascinated not only by their design, but by their sheer age. I used to like to imagine the young women who would wear these pieces: what life must have been like for them, how they must have felt.

Nowadays I am still drawn to antique jewellery, or modern replicas of them. When I travel overseas, I always find myself spending a lot of shopping time looking at (and buying) ethnic jewellery.

I hankered after these earrings for a couple of weeks before I finally bought them, from Palm Beads, a Melbourne boutique I have been shopping at for nearly 20 years. They quickly became favourites. Abdul, one of the staff, informed me that they were made with replicas of Turkish coins. They are quite heavy, and dangle like a cluster of grapes from my ears, jingling gently when I walk…

Exotic music in my ears that makes me long to walk once more through the bazaars and souqs of the East, with foreign coins jingling in my purse.

Life, what is it but a dream?

What serendipity! Today – I learned by chance – is the very day, 158 years ago, that Alice Pleasance Liddell was born.

It was she who begged Lewis Carroll to write down the story of Alice’s adventures that he first entranced her and her sisters Pre-Raphaelite looks: I have always loved Julia Margaret Cameron’s photographs, and immediately decided to do one in homage when I first started my Alice series last year. with whilst rowing down The Isis (part of the Thames) from Oxford to Godstow for a picnic. Several months later he presented her with the manuscript of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground. (Read more of the history here.)

Carroll himself maintained in later life that the Alice of the story was an entirely imaginary character, and certainly Tenniel’s drawings do not resemble Liddell, although the book is set on her birthday, the 4th of May. Liddell however has inspired a number of other books, poems, films, and even an opera. Yet how extraordinary to have been the muse – however inadvertent – behind one of the world’s most famous children’s tales!

On this anniversary of her birthday, I’ll leave it to Lewis Carroll to have the last word, in his acrostic poem from Through the Looking-Glass.

Alice Liddell, age 7, photographed by Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) in 1860.A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July—

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear—

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Alice Liddell as a young woman, photographed by Julia Margaret Cameron.Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream—
Lingering in the golden gleam—
Life, what is it but a dream?

Don’t forget to check out the Out-takes & Extras gallery for more homages to Julia Margaret Cameron.

A great resource with a biography and more examples of her work can be found here at Artsy.

Wonderland’s Wardrobe

NB Flash animation views best in Firefox or Safari.

Absinthe and personality crises notwithstanding, Tatiana finally makes it out into the marvellous garden glimpsed through that tiny door at the bottom of the rabbit hole…

I’ve very much enjoyed my little sojourn in Wonderland, but like Tim Burton’s grown-up Alice, I can’t promise I won’t be back. I just might take a leaf out of costume designer Colleen Atwood’s book though, and make my comeback in some new finery.

I finally saw the film only a few weeks ago. Leaving behind too high expectations (after reading middling reviews), I found myself thrilled most with the brilliant art direction and various costume changes Alice made. Why limit our heroine to one blue dress indeed? I particularly loved the scene where, accompanied by the sound of dressmaking scissors, the Mad Hatter – in fond reminiscence of Edward Scissorhands – swiftly fashioned a tiny gown for the shrunken Alice to don.

Check out the various incarnations of Alice’s classic LBD (Long Blue Dress) – and one red – below. (My own blue dress comes courtesy of Melbourne label Ammo, and the half-apron is a 1920s original.)

Alice, fresh from her engagement party, in ladylike powder blue.Deliciously en déshabille; precariously robed in Grecian folds, Alice nevertheless manages to run in this beribboned gown.A little snippet of a thing, Alice slips into a creation worthy of Wonderland's own couturier, the Mad Hatter himself.Scarlet befits the Red Queen’s court; back in blue, and back in the real world where shipboard adventure awaits.Many thanks to my cat Hero, who graciously consented to model for me.