fashionEphemera

Downton stars off screen

2012-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

http://www.papermag.com/2012/02/downton_abbey_stars_out_of_cos.php

I keep forgetting to post this. It's Downton stars on and off screen. Mrs. Hughes and O'Brien are especially interesting. I promise I'll post something non-Downton soon.

Dyson Air Blade

2012-02-14T07:51:00.000-08:00

This has nothing to do w/ theatre or Downton Abbey or fashion, but it's my blog and I can write what I want!

You guys have used Dyson Air Blades before right? It's a blade of air that dries your hands in like 10 seconds!!! Weber State, where my competition was had them in their bathrooms. BYU has them in their student center. I was first introduced to them in London in the Globe's bathrooms so they always make me think of England and Shakespeare. I hate any dampness on my hands after I wash them so they're just the best! Here's a tip: if you move your hands in opposite directions it stays on as long as you want!!!

Pet Peeve: Unattractive "Attractive" British Characters

2012-02-13T17:12:00.000-08:00

I'm sure all you costume drama junkies have noticed the phenomena of unattractive "attractive" characters. It's a tale as old as time: the Brits and the Americans disagreeing about pronunciations, vocab and what is pleasant to look at. Let's look at a brief list of characters that are written as so ravishing and unblievably attractive they inspire entire monologues and lead to hasty and rash decisions by the heroes.

Jodhi May in everything is beautiful enough to inspire proposals, rape and choosing her over Romola Garai?

Irene from The Forsyte Saga inspires rash proposals, affairs and rape bc she's SO beautiful?

Jane from Pride and Prejudice '95. NOT the prettiest.


Did someone forget to change the writing ab how hot the Doctor is after David Tennant left?

Angel from the newest Tess of the D'Urbervilles, named Angel bc he's so great...?

You all know Daniel Craig's face is actually not attractive right?

Downton Abbey series 3 dates (not definitive)

2012-02-13T16:29:00.000-08:00

Talking to friend Carter today and wondering when series 3 will start filming. Articles online say the beginning of this year, so probably right now. Series 2 aired in the UK in September and IMDB has series 3 starting on September 1st. Count on having series 3 air on PBS this time next year. I know, I know, you have to wait if you're like me and watch it on the TV and not beforehand on the interwebs. Consolation? Sherlock starts May 6th and Masterpiece still has the new Great Expectations with Gillian Anderson, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Birdsong (whatever that is).

Downton Abbey 2:6

2012-02-12T23:21:00.000-08:00

:-: BLERG!!!
:-: BLERG BLERG!!!!
:-:SUCH a heavy episode!!!!!!!!!!!!!~~!!!!!~!!!!!!!@@!
:-: I knew about Grantham and Jane. It was the one spoiler I stumbled upon in my not careful enough avoidance of spoilers. Grantham of course is on a slightly lower pedestal, but he did the honorable thing..?
:-: Matthew was just speaking out of grief at the funeral, he's fo' sho' not ok w/ Mary marrying Carlyle.
:-: Mixed mixed feelings about Thomas and O'Brien. Downton isn't Downton w/o Thomas so I guess I'm glad he's footmanly again.
:-: Carlyle is going to flip soon.
:-: Christmas episode next week!!!!!
:-: I really can't type out responses to this episode, there was SO much, but it all just seems too obvious!!!
:-: Still not convinced of Branson, but it's happening, so there you go.
:-: I actually want Edith to be happy now.
:-: Bates' hair is getting long.
:-: Glad to see Grantham and Thomas in suits, nice suits.
:-: I don't want to see Ethel again.
:-: Lavinia's last black evening gown is everything I love about obscure pre-1920 fashion.

Let's play a game!!!

2012-02-12T11:45:00.001-08:00

Alright friends! I invented this game and I want to play it! BUT I need your help! Go to either http://collections.vam.ac.uk/ or http://metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections or another museum's site w/ a clothing collection and find a dress with a very detailed description that preferably mentions material, line details, type of sleeve etc. As much info as possible. Then post the description along w/ garment name (evening gown etc.) and the date in a comment. I'll do a rendering of the article and see how close it is! I came up with this game a couple of months ago but haven't thought to ask you guys to help me play it yet! Does this sound fun? To me it does!

Also, I WON REGION VIII KCACTF BEST COSTUME DESIGN!!! So I'll be going to D.C. in April to compete and hopefully win! Do you think I'll ever stop rehearsing my PowerPoint presentation script during my commute? Probs not.

ACTF

2012-02-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Not to toot my own horn, but toot toot! I'm currently at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF, or ACTF) for my senior show, Peter Pan. I worked 40+ hours last week and then some to get my power point presentation together and my board and bible. I practiced a lot and was kind of freaking out, but then I put on my four inch suede Steve Maddens and walked slowly around the display room for about 10 minutes (mostly to intimidate everyone else) and I was good to go!

I wore my new(ly made) brown plaid pencil skirt, a ruffle shirt and my green cardigan w/ leaves from Peter's costume pinned to it. I looked amazing, I must say, and was told that I was just lovely, everything about me was lovely from a random girl. My presentation went SUPER well and the judges had nothing bad to say! They complimented me on my poise and my appearance and how well I presented myself, not just the material. They raved about my designs and one even said my renderings were so charming and beautiful he'd buy one and frame it!!! I was just too stunned to actually offer to sell him one! Weight off my shoulders after it was all done! Now I get to see Elephant Man and Xanadu and whatever else shows are here. I'll find out if I made Nationals on Saturday. Until then I have a hotel room in Ogden and get to go down to Salt Lake tomorrow for dinner w/ a friend.

Downton Abbey 2:5

2012-02-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

:-: I don't trust the new maid.
:-: Did Bates kill Mrs. Bates?!
:-: Matthew's going to walk again: it's an Armistice miracle!
:-: I still don't feel bad for Edith if that's what they were going for with that one.
:-: I totally called that that dude was supposed to be Patrick as soon as they said it was a relative.
:-: Somehow any conversation about the Titanic seems like a hyperbolic joke; "But he drowned on THE TITANIC!!"
:-: Matthew's going to walk and he and Lavinia can be together and Lady Violet's going to tell Matthew that Mary still loves him (duh) and then what? THEN WHAT?!
:-: I'm still confused about O'Brien and Thomas. Friend thinks she's his mom, there's something going on there.
:-:What ailment is Cora going to have? Cancer? It's cancer isn't it? You can't kill Elizabeth McGovern, William yes, but Elizabeth McGovern?
:-: A'ight, war's over November 11, 1918, Treaty of Paris June 28, 1919 (are you impressed yet?)...series goes through New Year's Eve 1919...what's left to happen?
:-: Series finale Bates and Anna finally get together?
:-: Who's going to replace Carson? Will there end up being a need to replace him? If Mary marries Carlyle this series had better go as far as The Forsyte Saga so he can die or divorce like 10 years from now.
:-: Really superb make up on the Patrick impersonator.
:-: Lord Grantham's black tie was very dashing, changing times!!!!
:-: How dare Isobel presume that she can say whether or not Downton remains in service.
:-: Looks like Branson's going to get his way. Still not convinced they should be together, but the under the car shots in his shirt sleeves were very much appreciated.

Stay tuned! I have a Downton treat for all of you tomorrow!

Too horrible by half: Nasty plastic, fake leather awful flats

2012-02-05T16:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry to the girl at church today who prompted this post, but I HATE man made material flats. HATE them. Yes, when I was a wee one and got my babysitting moneys I ran to Payless and got me some ballet flats, then I got a real paycheck and learned about real shoes; shoes that are made of natural materials. You know you've owned a pair of flats that make your feet sweat and reek. Guess what! That doesn't happen with leather shoes. That doesn't happen with real shoes. In the same category is fake leather boots that are that strange fibery kind of whatever that frays at the top. Fraying leather? That is not ok.

Project: New Opening Night Dress

2012-02-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

I'm SO tired! I've been getting ready for ACTF all week and am exhausted. I'm not really that in the mood to blog, but I remembered I haven't told you about the new dress I'm going to make for opening night! I found this hot little number on Modcloth.

I didn't go to the opening night party for USF last summer seeing as I left the next morning, but now I realize that opening night parties are kind of a big and fun deal and a chance to get spruced up, which is my favorite.

This dress is stretch poly/nylon, but I'm going to make it pretty structured and not like a sausage casing like it's meant to be. I've already draped it, need to make and true the pattern. Of course the neck's going to be a big higher and I'm gonna make it with elbow length sleeves.

Get me my spanks and some pearls and I'm good to go! The goal is to make the actresses look like crap.

Now I just need a dress for the crossover party between summer and fall and the fall opening party.

My Fair Lady 2012--more info

2012-02-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

A'ight, I've posted about the new My Fair Lady film already, due out December 2012. I got my info from one blog but yesterday I decided to look into it some more to see about any new info. I didn't find any newly published info, but I did find more about the project in general.

Interesting things from the above article:

"The new film will use the original songs of the much-loved Broadway show, and will not alter its 1912 setting, but Kenworthy and Mackintosh intend where possible to shoot the film on location in the original London settings of Covent Garden, Drury Lane, Tottenham Court Road, Wimpole Street, and Ascot racecourse. The filmmaking team will also look to adapt Alan Jay Lerner's book more fully for the screen by drawing additional material from Pygmalion - - George Bernard Shaw's play that served as the source material for the musical -- in order to dramatize as believably as possible for present-day audiences the emotional highs and lows of Eliza Doolittle as she undergoes the ultimate makeover, transforming under the tutelage of Professor Henry Higgins from a Cockney flower girl to a lady...

'My Fair Lady's extraordinary tale of a man turning a flower girl into a lady, and then falling for her, combines one of the most powerful narratives in world literature with some of the wittiest and most winning songs ever written for the stage,' said Mackintosh. 'People everywhere will fall in love again with Lerner and Loewe's miraculous songs set in a big, gorgeous film with contemporary stars, a more realistically achieved vision of Edwardian London, and a touch more Pygmalion at the heart of this powerfully emotional story of a girl's transformation. The classic story of a flower girl transformed into an instant sensation couldn't be more timely in a contemporary world obsessed with overnight celebrity.'"

Ok, I'm excited about the more realistic view they're taking. I'm very intrigued about filming on location and drawing more from Pygmalion, one of my favorite plays. BUT what's with Mackintosh (producer of MFL and also working on Les Mis) thinking that Higgins falls for Eliza? I've written an entire report on how Shaw's Pygmalion is different from Ovid's bc Higgins doesn't fall in love with Eliza. He becomes obsessed with her yes,“(a)s if I ever stop thinking about the girl andher confounded vowels and consonants. I’m worn out, thinking about her, andwatching her lips and her teeth and her tongue, not to mention her soul, whichis the quaintest of all”. He does not fall in love with Eliza. Comes to rely on her? yes, falls in love? no. Higgins is a confirmed bachelor and he stays that way. Read Shaw's epilogue people! It's a disservice to Eliza to think that she would end up with Higgins. She doesn't, she marries Freddy, supports him and stays a fixture in Higgins and Pickering's lives. I'll publish my paper on here if you want to hear more about this.This point of Shaw's Pygmalion is a real sore point for me.

Anyway, to recap: Carrie Mulligan is playing Eliza. Emma Thompson who is doing the screenplay wants Hugh Grant to play Higgins (I don't!) but he has not yet said if he's interested.

Les Mis--Eponine re-cast!!!

2012-02-01T07:57:00.001-08:00

All is not lost my friends! Taylor Swift WILL NOT be playing Eponine in Les Mis. Cameron Makintosh announced on the Oliver! stage that Samantha Barks, 21 year old West End actress and former Eponine will be reprising her role for the film. Collective sigh of relief....GO!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-isle-of-man-16829640

Shelby's childhood room + more

2012-01-31T18:25:00.000-08:00

Random post today about random, but hopefully comical and uplifting things.

I'm out of a real job until May. I have a competition Feb 7-12 for my senior show in Ogden so that's what I'm working on right now. After that I plan to stay in Utah until I have nothing left to do then drive home until my next job. A trip up to Boise to see a friend is also an option, time TBA. Today I went into my old hair and make up class to say hi to my Emmy award winning hair professor, making my own introduction as his "favorite natural finger waves!". We got to talking and he's doing a film in the area set in 1939 and mentioned I should be an extra since my hair's perfect, end of February-ish. Extra in a movie because I have fabulous hair? Ok :)

Talking about all my books yesterday made me want to post this picture of my bookshelf at home. I have another that's not as big, but has all my magazines, sketch books and other coffee table books on it. These are the books I didn't take to or buy in college. I have other boxes full of costume, sewing and theatre books I just had to bring to school.

I took the picture of my bookshelf right before I stripped my childhood room of its decorations. These are the closet doors of my formative years. On it you can count 7 Anderson Coopers, 3 Hugh Dancies (5 Burberry ads total), 2 Salinger covers, an article announcing Blair's banning of fox hunting (the negation of an entire historical costume), Steve McQueen, old Twiggy, 2 Vanity Fair and 2 Vogue covers. I was the coolest kid you knew!

And this was the best part about cleaning out my room this summer. Folder labeled "Shelby's Super Awesome Important Papers". What were these papers?

Pictures of David Tennant. I kid you not. I don't remember creating or filling this folder, but I did and am awesome because of it.

Barnes & Noble binge

2012-01-30T18:12:00.000-08:00

I haven't been in a Barnes & Noble for two years, to the day. The last time I went was for a blind date and we had hot chocolate and there was no book buying involved. Completely unaware at the time that today was my two year B&N anniversary I headed that way after I realized that I couldn't stand reading The Great Gatsby at the library everyday (bc my BYU card is no longer active). So off I went and got Gatsby and then made the mistake of checking out the bargain books....

Anything Erte must be mine, and Mucha is like my favorite to the max, plus Taschen is like the best publisher ever. Sad story: I have nowhere to put these books, nor do I know when I'll be using them, but now they're mine!! On the way home I thought of all the times I went to B&N with bestie Sarah and always got books and how my bookshelves at home are covered with books I won't have room to store for many many moons. Oh books, how I love thee.

Downton Abbey 2:4

2012-01-30T18:04:00.000-08:00

:-: I told you William was going to die!
:-: Matthew's make up was real good, esp the shadows around the eyes, but why did he have a mangled "5" on his right cheek?
:-: As much as I want to dislike Lavinia I don't, except for maybe her too perfect bangs.
:-: Lady Violet working her magic to get William transferred was classic Lady Violet.
:-: Time seems to be a little off...didn't we just finish episode 3 in 1918 and Ethel already has a chubby baby boy by this episode?
:-: I'm glad William did die, for a second I figured they'd have him live to so's Daisy's story gets worse and worse.
:-: Mad props to Mary for taking care of Matthew, catching even a loved one's bile is not at all savory.
:-: As much as I hate Mrs. Bates, I love her voice. It's just so gravely and evil.
:-: Sir Richard is not going to be nice a/b Mary wanting to be with Matthew now that he's bent over backwards to shut up Mrs. Bates.
:-: Bawled my eyes out during the wedding.
:-: Branson is a total d-bag, like a lot. I'm not going to be convinced that Lady Sybil loves him when they inevitably run away together.

magazine collages

2012-01-29T16:37:00.000-08:00

When I was in high school I used to spend entire weekends in my room making artistic messes, working on the portraits that have been highlighted previously, amongst other projects. One of my favorite pieces that I've always wanted to revisit was a collage I did of a Winterhalter painting made entirely of magazine clippings, seen below. From afar it really looks like an oil painting!

original

my collage, I'd say about 20"x24"

I used a projector to get the outline onto the paper. I'm not against using a projector for a project like this. The whole thing had me shut up in my room collecting colors and cutting and gluing for probably around 20 hrs, which isn't bad at all I think.

Like I said, I've always wanted to pick up this technique again. As I'm between jobs in Cedar City at the moment I might just have time to do so! I've been told if I do collages of the Mormon Temples I might just have a paying market. Of course I'd do a collage of anything for moneys. What d'yall think? Would you/do you know anyone that would buy a collage like this? If you're underwhelmed by the Winterhalter remember that it's been nigh on five years and I'm pretty certain I could pwn that one by now.

Wedding Designs Winter 2012

2012-01-29T12:50:00.000-08:00

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! My annual "I sketched a lot over Christmas" wedding dress designs, modest but unique and beautiful of course!

I found this dress on Pinterest and thought it'd make a great simple but interesting dress.

I've always loved this Oscar de la Renta dress as a reception dress, so this is my take on it as a wedding gown.

I'm loving the idea of flesh under structures for the illusion of skin w/o showing it so you can still be modest. The top of this look inspired this dress.

Very simple with just a little touch of special.

Modest version of this dress.

Kind of random but could be very beautiful with tons of lace and chiffon for the skirt.

Very 1910s, you'd need a really swell lace for this with beading and all.

This one got a speck of crud scanned onto the face, but it's my favorite. Raised waist, same sleeve idea as the first. I just think it's so so great.

I had one more design but it didn't get scanned. Anticipation for later!

Men's shoes preview

2012-01-28T14:38:00.000-08:00

So, remember how I promised you a comprehensive illustrated source for mens shoes? Well I have been working on it. These are pencil sketches of two types of shoe, of the brogue or closed lace variety. I've started on open lacing and loafers. I need to pen outline these, scan them and really clean them up. Also, I lost my word doc of their official definitions, what joy. But it's coming along!

Why I love working in theatre:

2012-01-27T19:19:00.000-08:00

:-:You have new friends the first day you work.
:-:You have life long friends by the last day you work.
:-:There is no schadenfreude in theatre, seeing someone else struggle reminds you of your own struggles and vice versa. Everyone helps out.
:-:Watching an audience watch your work is just as great as watching the production.
:-:Actors, technicians, designers are all so different and speak different languages, but everyone's more than willing to translate and teach you.
:-:Some of the bossest people in the world work in theatre, utilikilts come to mind.
:-:Theatre makes beauty.
:-:Theatre is a world on stage for 2 hours. It isn't stop and go like film, you are taken to a new place by living breathing people (actors and others).
:-:Theatre people are some of the most respectful and understanding people around.
:-:Theatre has lots of meetings! I love meetings and collaboration!
:-:Theatre tuckers you out like nobody's business. It leads to the best nights sleep of your life.
:-:Rehearsals are great. I love every stage of them, first read through, blocking, dress rehearsals. I love watching actors grow and experiment through a character.
:-:Wearing black and going backstage makes me feel so important.
:-:Musicals are extra magical and make me cry.
:-:Theatre produces so many types and styles of stories that film doesn't.
:-:There are always attractive, charming people about because that's what actors are paid to be.
:-:Because everyone depends on everyone else you can feel infinitely helpful.
:-:Theatre makes me laugh, backstage, onstage, building costumes, having pie parties. It's always a riot!
:-:Theatre is full of people that watch the movies I watch, like the shows I like and have the interests I have.

(L to R) hemmed those pants, made that vest, made that skirt, made the trim, nothing (sorry Will!), altered that jacket, hemmed those pants (C) USF

I just got done as first hand for the Utah Shakespeare Festival educational tour, costumes designed by Scott Anderson. I got hired back for the summer and fall seasons at USF as a stitcher and dresser. I get to stay in Cedar City with old and new friends for six months! I'm getting so ready to hunker down and put up curtains!

Downton Abbey 2:3

2012-01-23T21:34:00.000-08:00

-Bates is back, ballin'
-Anna and Bates don't kiss now that he's playin' it safe about the divorce, it's rather endearing.
-Cousin Isobel has been warranting feelings that I once only reserved for Mary. I'm glad she's gone to France.
-Way to go Cora for telling Isobel off. Frankly I'm shocked at my character preferences these days.
-Mary and the Dowager Countess' hats in their outdoor scene were phenomenal.
-Branson is bordering on d-bag and needs to cool it! I've seen no recent evidence as to why on earth Lady Sybil should run away with him.
-Edith's telling Mary about Matthew was a very nice moment.
-Mary losing it over Matthew right after Edith tells her was heartbreaking and wonderful.
-Tomas hit it on the nose when he called O'Brien sweet and sour. What's up with her these days?
-Ethel is ridiculous.
-I'm just sayin' it. Matthew's last scene was smokin' and I was squealing w/ my roommate like nobody's business! He looks so svelt and handsome and finally has a jawline! When he started singing I lost my mind and just wanted Mary to run to him!
-Why do they say Richard Car-lyle?
-Soup kitchen, done.
-I've just got to say that overall the feelings that characters are engendering this season versus last are sometimes so starkly different from what they were! I love Mary, Branson's making me furious, Cora is becoming a favorite, O'Brien is just baffleing me, and Isobel is bugging the crap out of me. Such great writing!

And now a special treat. My journal entry from exactly a year ago:
"Sunday 23 January 2011
PBS posted Downton Abbey so I had to watch it! Oh Anna and Mr. Bates! Brendan Coyle is the most perfect man (bar Russell Crowe) to play the sincere, simple romantic. It makes my heart hurt. Also, Mary is awful and I don't think any amount of personal betterment will convince me that she and Matthew should be together."

Oh how things change! Way to go Mr. Fellowes, way to go!

Project Runway All-Stars: Dressing Miss Piggy

2012-01-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

I've loved the season of Project Runway All-Stars so far! The challenges have been rather subdued in subject, but awesome in result. All have been to make a dress, so I'm excited to get onto something else so the likes of Mondo can shine with separates, but all in all I've been ever so pleased with the challenges and results.

Episode 3's challenge was to design a dress for Miss Piggy to wear to the The Muppets premiere. All the designers were losing their minds about getting to meet Miss Piggy and went on and on about what an inspiration she is. At first I thought this was all rather silly, but Miss Piggy might as well be a real person with how popular and influential the Muppets have been. I harkened back to the Esther Williams bit from The Great Muppet Caper and remembered how much I love Miss Piggy and was totally on board!

Gordana is out. She made a shapeless but pretty dress that she thought would set her apart, which it did, but not in a good way. Gordana has always been an amazing sewer, but a second rate and off the mark designer.

While I'm glad to see Gordana go, and am a fan of Mila's asthetic in general she's a little poop when it comes to designing outside of her realm of mod color blocking. Her rationale for this challenge was basically that she wanted Miss Piggy to wear her line, not for her design to reflect Miss Piggy. Miss Mila, miss.

To speak troth I wasn't overly wowed by any of the designs for my taste, but certainly some worked for Miss Piggy. Rami came in second with this little number that while I think is a good Miss Piggy ensemble, I don't think it is so much a red carpet look for her.

Having had said that none were really favorites I know for sure Michael C's (still use the C even though there aren't any other Michaels) wasn't my favorite. They suggested Piggy would style it in pink, but even then I'm not a huge fan. The palette is too "dusty Great Expectations drape" for me. He won of course. He's shown great sewing skill so far despite the accusations during his PR season.

Photos from Second City Style.
Also, haven't been able to find any pictures of Miss Piggy in Michael's dress. She defs wore a white dress w/ red to the premiere!

Chocolate crock pot cake

2012-01-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

I found and tried this recipe for a chocolate cake in a crock pot! It's really easy and if you use a gluten free cake mix it's completely gluten free (jello-pudding is gluten free).

18 oz chocolate cake mix
1 pkg instant chocolate pudding
8 oz sour cream
4 eggs
1 cup water
3/4 cup oil
1 cup (or more...) chocolate chips

Grease crock pot and cook on high for 2-3 hours. I used my roommate's crock pot which I think was 4 quarts. You can scoop it out while it's still hot, but I love it the next day. It's very moist and dense and I don't even worry about frosting it. I like to use devil's food cake and fudge pudding. Yummy!

Sherlock season 2 preview

2012-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

If you like PBS on facebook you can watch a clip from the first episode of season 2 of Sherlock. Favorite quote from it:

"You look taller in your photographs"
Sherlock: "I take the precaution of a good coat and a short friend"

Benedict Cumberbatch is only 6' so it's working!

source

I'm so excited for season two and the anticipation of season three!

The decline of the British aristocracy

2012-01-18T14:03:00.000-08:00

William Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington, and Kathleen “Kick” Kennedy at their 1944 wedding, in London.

I found this article from Vanity Fair, January 2010. It's written by Charles Spencer, Di's brother and is an intriguing, well written and insightful piece about the responsibilities of British nobility and the decline of the aristocracy in Great Britain. For Downton fans it rings all too familiar with Lord Grantham's speeches about Downton. The stories of individual great families are staggering and heartbreaking. It's really a great read. It makes me angry as an avid Anglophile that knows I could have been the perfect trophy duchess and hostess of a grand estate.

Also, how great is Kick Kennedy's wedding dress? So simple, but so wonderful.

Sherlock third season

2012-01-17T22:01:00.000-08:00

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16573066

It's been a great couple of years for awesome British TV. Downton's got a third season, and now Sherlock! Reminder: Second season of Sherlock is on PBS May 6-20. First season is available on Netflix instant play. Can't wait to see the 2nd and the 3rd!

Golden Globes: The bad and the ugly

2012-01-17T18:14:00.000-08:00

A'ight, here's what I didn't like...I was surprised by how many there are because even though I have very strong opinions I usually don't actually judge too harshly, but you asked for it. Most of my grievances are for proportion and fit issues on dresses that could have been brilliant.

Elle MacPherson, entirely too much going on, puckering at crotch, bad jewelry choice, unflattering proportions, tulle is disjointed from the rest of the gown.

Freida Pinto usually wows me so much. I love her necklace and the material of this gown, but the waist is too high and the tiny ribbon needs to either go or be much more substantial.

Miss Fashion Police herself, Giuliana Rancic. She just has always kind of freaked me out. She is too overworked as a person and this gown is just a disaster.

I don't know why Guliana Rancic wore two gowns, but both were terrible. The high necked thing and extra junk didn't work for either gown, the styling is also a train wreck.

Oh Jessica Biel. Your head is nothing special and your body is unflattered and awkward. The gown is a bad color, cut and material.

I mostly just want Julianna Margulies' chest to look perkier. I feel like boobs in general were sorely neglected at the Globes this year. Since when is it formal wear to tape them down? I also have no idea what the material of this gown is, but it's not doing anyone any favors. Modest yes, flattering NO.

Again a Fashion policeperson in a dud. This gown is to die for and absolutely stunning in and of itself. On a petite girl like Kelly Osbourne it's terrible. I love a good structural piece, but the dress is just too much for Osbourne, and did no one think to hem it appropriately? I'm a sucker for 6" horsehair hems, but they need to be watched so as to not buckle.

Missi Pyle, while the foundation's color is not the greatest it's nothing to scoff at, however the cheap golden tulle over skirt and flower is. Hem length is also off.

Naya Rivera, a center front seam needs to be oh so carefully selected and in this case it should not have been. And where's the rest of the shaping? If it was supposed to be just a tube I could have lived with it sans center front seam. With the seam you get the feeling you need more. The hem and small train is divine though.

Oh Piper Perabo. I had to look up an interview to see why on earth every picture of her in this dress has her doing something dumb with the skirt. Apparently she just thought it was so great that it was nylon! So great she couldn't just let it be. I'm actually a fan of the color, and the skirt, just leave it the freak alone and wear a bra! 2012 at the Globes was not a good time to be a boob apparently.

Golden Globes

2012-01-17T17:33:00.000-08:00

Awards season! I honestly don't watch any show except the Oscars, but I watch the pregame for some. Seeing as I don't have a TV however I didn't for the Globes and am basing opinions off photos, e'en though I prefer to see the gowns in motion. Going through the photos on MTV I was just bored with pretty gowns so I basically picked the really unique, but still appropriate gowns as favorites. In no particular order...

I've always had a soft spot for Nicole Kidman, her being 1/4" shorter than me and all. Mad props for wearing heels and props to Keith Urban for looking so chill (or something...) about it. Her body is just absolutely rocking in this gown and the beading or whatever is awesome. Great styling as well.

Tilda Swinton always makes bold choices and if nothing else I applaud her for that. In this case though I love what she's wearing. The color is divine on her and I love the tailoring with the soft skirt. Her shoes are also killer.

I'm not a fan of Claire Danes as an actress, but her gown is simple but unique and modest. I have a feeling there is more to it than this.

Speaking of modest, sleeves are in and while some actresses totally miss the modest but beautiful train I really like Michelle Williams' dress. Simple simple silhouette but beautiful material. I could lose or change the headband.

The one bit I did see of the Globes showed Angelina Jolie sitting down and I knew I loved her dress. I don't think I need to even explain why this dress is so boss and makes my brain hurt just thinking about the work that went into it.

Evan Rachel Wood, not so thrilling silhouette, but those feathers! Black dress taken to the max. Where the construction part of my brain hurt thinking about Jolie's, my meticulous "yes I've pinned on thousands of pieces of chiffon onto a costume" brain bleeds over this dress.

I pick my boys based mostly on classic menswear. A tux has to be oh so special for me to like it despite its veering away from convention. Clive Owen's tux is classic and he's handsome. His (an many others) pants break entirely too much, but knees up is good. I'd prefer a cummerbund or waistcoat bc I hate seeing the white shirt.

Colin Firth, Mr. Well Dressed Englishman himself. Pants too puddley, but still grand. His French cuffs stick out just right.

Leonardo DiCaprio, way to show everyone how it's done. I personally don't like three buttons, but I won't hold it against him. I could leave the watch, but his lapels and bowtie and studs are great.

Downton Abbey 2:2

2012-01-15T23:14:00.000-08:00

It's so late and I'm so tired, but here it is...

-Thomas has a weird chubby/babyface but super handsome thing going on.
-Isobel is cheesing me off, even though she probs shouldn't be.
-Has Edith finally found a noble way to be out of everybody's way?
-Mary has redeemed herself from last season x10.
-I wish there was more dirt on Lavinia.
-Dame Maggie had some great great lines in this one.
-I do feel like we are keeping track of so many characters by now we spend very little time with any one of them.
-If you agreed to let your house be a hospital I don't know that you should be so put out by your house being a hospital.
-Aunt Rosamund is so obnoxious.
-I really want to webcam my roommate and I watching so you can see our reactions, esp to the "up next" part at the end.
-Bates is a good good man.
-Matthew is getting so so handsome.
-I still think William is going to die.
-Oh poor Mr. Lang. But when he leaves Mr. Bates has to come back!
-I'm so confused by O'Brian. She's trying to find a way to live with what she did to Lady Grantham by keeping her in charge of the house, but she's bringing Thomas back and it's all so strange.
-William hugging Daisy is a like Gandolf hugging Frodo.
-Branson needs to cool it so he can be with Sybil, but she's totally above the whole romance thing. Even if she does consider going away with him, I don't think she will.

Leading men should be good at...pt. 2

2012-01-14T17:42:00.000-08:00

standing

V&A: woman's jacket 1600-1625

2012-01-14T09:17:00.000-08:00

If you go throughout the entire museum there is probably as many costume pieces in other exhibits as there are in the fashion exhibit. Finding them is a real treasure hunt! Forgive the photo quality, it's hard through glass! I think this jacket is absolutely charming and I'd love to make one for myself! I love the bow, the stripes, the C-sleeve, the cuff, the buttons, the sleeve caps, everything. It would be such a comfy casual shirt!

The white t-shirt

2012-01-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

As much as I love men in tuxes if I had to choose a second for best ensemble I'd choose the white t-shirt with a good pair of dark washed jeans. A suit can go wrong in so many ways if the man isn't an uber consciencious one, but the white tee is very hard to mess up. It needs to be clean and lean. Baggy t-shirts are not attractive, too tight is also not appealing. V-neck or crew, it doesn't matter to me. This is also one of my favorite outfits to wear for myself as well.

also hair and glasses, yes yes yes please

source

War Horse

2012-01-11T22:14:00.000-08:00

how cute are you Captain Nicholls?

I just got back from War Horse which I went to by myself while the actors were at rehearsal and the other costumers went to Sherlock Holmes. I saw the play in London as a part of my study abroad which forced me to read the play first. This ruined the ending for me which I didn't appreciate and I feel took away the emotional impact of the ending. I felt like seeing the play did the same for the movie. I knew what was going to happen and even though they threw a little twist in at the end I figured they couldn't change the bare bones of it. If I'm remembering the play correctly they changed and added some characters to make it more movie friendly, but overall it was basically the same plot.

Major change: no puppets. No puppets, no magic. The horse actors were phenomenal, but I just wasn't really drawn in. Honestly I never connected with the schpeal about a boy and his horse so it was the puppets of the play and the music of the Song Man that really got me. Without the spectacular puppets and eerie songs a lot was left to be desired. The score by John Williams was pretty, but nothing special, not like we've come to expect from him, although he does know how to use his French horns. While Joey the horse was beautiful I felt that he wasn't showcased enough. This might seem strange since he's the star, but the way it was filmed or something just didn't have the impact of how amazing these creatures were. The same goes for Topthorn who's the bad-a giant black horse that Joey befriends. In the play his puppet is remarkably bigger and differently built from Joey. The first time we see Topthorn in the film this is the case, but Topthorn's physical prowess is lost for the rest of it. Overall the horses just seemed tiny. Considering 14 horses were used for Joey it's no surprise that the changing of their size and build was distracting throughout. I just longed for the all encompassing theatre experience with the lighting and sound and live actors and all the audience members sharing the experience with you.

Highlights? Benedict Cumberbatch of course. I was grinning like a fool when he entered as Major Stewart even though he looks so dopey with a mustache. I was surprisingly taken with handsome Tom Hiddleston as Captain Nicholls who's getting better with age (even though it's only been 3 years since Cranford). Other than those two it was sort of a who's who of not too terribly famous British actors (Emily Watson, Peter Mullan, David Thewlis). The full length shots of the riding was of course a major highlight, even if you could tell it wasn't always Cumberbatch and Hiddleston doing their own riding, but sometimes it was, and you know how I love a good gallop.

Of course I was mortified by the war scenes and the barbed wire, but I wasn't really moved all that much. I went hoping to weep through the whole thing as others I know have done, but honestly I only got emotional during the Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close trailer and during the credits when it said "Based on the play by So and So, first produced at the London National Theatre".

Topthorn is a boss.

I think as a movie those who haven't experienced the magic and charm of the play won't mind it and will probably even like it. It's sentimental and patriotic in a "isn't war horrible, rah for getting through it" kind of a way. Albert wasn't nearly as terrible as he is in the play, that's something the movie has. It also kept the goose.

Original entry on War Horse the play (bottom of entry).

1830s corset

2012-01-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

I rewatched Wives and Daughters right before the final semester of my undergrad so the 1830s informed most of what I did for those four months. I've already posted about the 1830s wig I styled for my hair and make up final. I trimmed the wig to match the 1830s corset I made for my corsetry class that semester. I certainly learned a lot, but I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt. The 1830s is a good starting point for a corset bc if pressed I can use it from 1800 to the early 1840s.

Kyoto Costume Institute corset

Using research from the Met, V&A and Kyoto Costume institute, and Doyle's Waisted Efforts, Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines, and Salen's Corsets I draped the corset on a size 8 form which was a little big for me. Against my better judgement we fit it like a bodice rather than a corset, and even though I took quite a bit out the back still ended up meeting instead of having a 2" gap. I guess this is alright because I'm the smallest I'll ever be, but I would have preferred a little more cinching w/ the shaping the corset gave me. I fit it while wearing a bra bc if I hadn't I wouldn't have even needed bust gussets! I have plans to sew in bust pads so it can be worn alone, but have yet to do so. I also tell myself I'll remake the straps someday so they're longer since the ones I made are entirely too short, but I'm pretty sure none of this will ever happen.

embroidery inspiration

I embroidered the bust gussets and the CF over the busk in blue. I had a heck of a time at Home Depot getting the right piece of wood for the busk, and then at the scene shop getting them to cut it in half depth-wise and then sanding it to round of the edges and to make it thinner. I can't for the life of me find the pictures I took of the busk, but of course I put my name on it all pretty with the date seeing as I had no lover to do it for me. Someday I hope to make a white and blue 1830s summer ensemble. I think white and blue are so romantic.

9 pattern pieces in the coutil, 7 in the fashion fabric (hip gussets only in the coutil)

some bumps and wrinkles, but not a bad fit overall

the busk forces the tummy in nicely, but it makes it very hard to drive.

not laced entirely right, but it works

looks like the museum corsets!

I didn't make the chemise, I did make the petticoat, but that's for another entry.

24 Hour Catwalk preview

2012-01-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

Hulu+ posted the premiere of 24 Hour Catwalk early. I started it last night and finished it today, mostly because the first half was kind of a snooze, but I was pleasantly surprised by the second. Since it hasn't offically premiered yet I won't give away names and winners, but I will tell you the basic of the show and some high points.

James Laforce, Cynthia Rowley, Darek Blasberg, Alexa Chung

The show in general is sort of Chopped meets Project Runway meets something with a deadline between the two. The show starts with four designers that must make a cocktail dress in 2 hours after which two will be cut and the remaining two will do the 24 hour catwalk challenge. The element of Chopped is the mystery trunk with contains an inspiration item that they must incorporate into their look. The 2 hour challenge is made only for a form and must use some sewing.

The 24 hour catwalk challenge has inspiration items in a trunk as well. The designers sketch three looks and have three stitchers (they call them sewers when really they're drapers, first hands and stitchers all in one) to help create their looks. This is where I got really interested because one of the designers has some major issues with one of this stitchers, or rather the reverse. The stitcher knows the designer is being dumb about his process and causes her to basically waste 10 hours. As a stitcher I can't say I'm as confident as this stitcher was, but I trusted her rather than the designer about his process. I believed her method made a lot more sense (he basically had her make the design too big so they could take it in which is dumb and way more work than necessary when you have an experienced pattern maker, draper and sewer). At the end of the day he blamed the stitcher for his dissatisfaction for a design that looked exactly like his rendering.

Alexa Chung as the host is fine, she has a nice repore with the designers. The other judges, James LaForce, Darek Blasberg and Cynthia Rowley are all very knowledgeable and I don't mind any of them.

Downton Abbey 2:1 reflections

2012-01-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

SPOILERS (duh)

My roommate and I started rewatching Downton series one thinking we wouldn't be able to watch the series two premiere until PBS posted it the next day, but lo and behold they posted it on Sunday night! We watched it in the dark of our kitchen and squealed and freaked out and cried the whole time. I couldn't calm down for an hour and it took me another 45 minutes to fall asleep.

Series 2 Episode 1:

handsome handsome Mathew.

:-:Mary still is entirely too narrow and square and has crocodile teeth, but I've liked her more in this episode than any other.
:-: I'm so happy there are so many uniforms. I love WWI uniforms, I love British uniforms, I love British WWI uniforms.
:-:Lord Grantham is my favorite character. Yes Bates is a close second, but he falls on his sword too often and quickly. Lord Grantham is a noble, upstanding and caring boss (as in "he's boss"). He's such a stud.
:-: I want to play with Hugh Bonneville's (Lord Grantham's) hair.
:-: I'm always a little startled by how attracted I am to Matthew considering his chin is almost nonexistant, but his eyes are so blue and his hair just gets better and better. He's been losing weight, his tux is more flattering this season.
:-: Thomas is so so evil, but so so handsome.
:-: I'm confused by O'Brien's relationship with Thomas and Lang. She seems mildly redeemed from last season. Does she have a mother/son or aunt/nephew relationship with Thomas or is she a tragic cougar that will never get her cub?
:-: So happy the chauffeur talked to Sybil, but what's the matter with her? She's always been rather disconnected from the romance of the show, which needs to end.
:-: Bates calling his wife a bitch might have been one of my favorite things ever, even though it's not very nice.
:-: Mrs. Hughes listening to Bates and Mrs. Bates was a good move. I'm glad Lord Grantham knows the sitch, but shouldn't someone tell Anna?
:-: Poor poor Anna.
:-: OF COURSE Mary wouldn't tell Matthew she loves him after she talked to Lavinia.
:-: Edith and the farmer make me furious. She should go drive ambulances and be really useful and not a home wrecker.
:-: Violet and Isobel actually agreed concerning Sybil. War is doing the Dowager good I think. She's a boss.
:-: Ya gotta wonder what the former Earl of Grantham was like to marry Violet and be Robert's father.
:-: Sir Richard seems a lot like Mr. Preston from Wives and Daughters, played by the same actor. I hope he ruins Lavinia so Matthew can be with Mary. I hope Matthew isn't noble enough to stick with her if she is ruined.
:-: Why do I want Mary to be happy all the sudden?
:-: William is going to die. Someone has to.
:-: Freshly styled wigs, I like.
:-: Carson's loyalty to Mary is always endearing.
:-: Pray that Anna's conversation with Mary about never getting over Bates will keep her from accepting Sir Richard. Of course they won't get married, but I don't even want them to get engaged.
:-: Lord Grantham yelling at Bates made me sadder than Matthew asking Mary to take care of Lavinia.
:-:Mosley makes me angry. I certainly wouldn't want to go to war and I feel bad for judging, but he's kind of a coward isn't he?
:-: Lang's a handsome dude, but Bates needs to come back.

dashing men

:-: New maid annoys me, but of course Mr. Fellowes has redeemed her by the end of the episode, mostly.
:-: Did I mention how much I like Lord Grantham?
:-: Lady Cora's way of talking still bugs me.

Here's a fun "likabilty" chart from the Masterpiece website. My feelings towards these characters are much more extreme than the chart of averages.

Great on set photos.

favorite picture: Eiffel Tower

2012-01-08T14:54:00.000-08:00

When you go to Paris on your own it gets pretty ridiculous to see site after site and have no one to share them with. So I'm sharing some pictures I took of the Eiffel Tower. I have every intention of printing or painting these some day for my home. I think they're pretty great.

Les Mis film casting

2012-01-07T10:50:00.000-08:00

Thanks to friend Shannon for bringing this article to my attention that announces the addition of Taylor Swift to the Les Miserables cast in the 2012 film. Quick review of the cast...

Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean
Russell Crowe as Inspector Javert
Anne Hathaway as Fantine
Amanda Seyfried as Cosette
Helena Bonham-Carter as Madame Thenardier
Eddie Redmayne as Marius
Sacha Baron Cohen rumored as Thenardier
Aaron Tveit as Enjolras

Jackman as Curly in Oklahoma!

And now Taylor Swift as Eponine. First this makes Eponine and Marius nearly the same height as Redmayne is average and Swift is tall. I've been excited for this project all along considering I'm a huge Russell Crowe fan and love Hugh Jackman nearly as much. Jackman of course is a tour de force Broadway triple threat with many great musicals under his belt. One need only to harken back to the Oscars he hosted to recall his bad-a ness on stage. Anne Hathaway's Oscar hosting also showed her musical prowess. The more I think of it however other cast members might leave something to be desired. Crowe has his own band and has a nice voice that leans toward country, but does he have chops? Dunno. How will "Red and Black" be with Tveit as Enjolras? He's played Fiyro in Wicked, and has also been in Rent and Next to Normal. Will I be devastated when he's sprawled dead on the barricade? I'd better be. One need only to remember Mama Mia to imagine how Seyfried will do as Cosette. I'm just getting much less certain about this film. Remember Nick Jonas as Marius in the 25th Anniversary cast? He stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the classically trained. I'm afraid this might be the case for the film putting Jackman and Tveit against Swift and Seyfried. Les Mis is just such a bear of a score. I'm praying the musical director is great.

The excitement for the musical Les Mis to be put on film is I think that it will be equivalent to seeing it in New York or London for those who can't make that ticket. I'm getting more certain as I look at this casting that while the acting will be phenomenal or passable the singing looks to be a mixed bag between musical theatre singers, pop singers and other--not the Broadway or Westend performance I think people will expect.We'll see! We've got Les Mis and My Fair Lady to look forward to!

Russell Crowe sings

Aaron Tveit as Fiyro

Anne Hathaway

Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway

Project Runway All Stars

2012-01-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

A'ight here we go. I'm an avid PR fan. I haven't seen every season as it used to be on Bravo back when my parents only had network TV, but I've been a fan since I could catch marathon's at my sister's during babysitting. PR All Starts aired last night with the 13 most controversial past contestants. You've got--

Anthony
April
Austin
Elisa
Gordana
Jerell
Kara
Kenley
Michael C
Mila
Mondo
Rami
and
Sweet P

I recognize everyone but Kara and Elisa. In the first episode we learn that the host, mentor and judges will be entirely new. My sister and I texted about this before I'd seen the episode and I told her I'd post my opinion on here. While PR w/o Heidi and Tim Gunn does seem strange the rationale behind this is sound in my opinion. Having an entirely new panel is the only way to get a new and fresh look at the designers. Heidi, Michael, and Nina know the designers well. The new group- Isaac Mizrahi, Georgiana Chapman, Angela Lindvall and Joanna Coles will work just fine. Isaac's like Michael Kors but crazier. Georgiana is the straightforward Nina but Angela as the host is rather awkward and seems to be thinking too hard. Joanna is a girl version of Tim, subdued, deliberate and encouraging. I don't mind the new people.

The episode opened with a fashion show of one piece from each designer. Elisa's was a disaster. She's a disaster. The only other look I took major issue with was Kenley's which was a totally awful Joann's prom contest reject (photo left). Of course Mondo's was a favorite. I'm rooting for him to win it all. He's my favorite, probably from any season.

The challenge was fan favorite "make a look from unconventional materials from the dollar store" and the spin was that it had to coordinate with their first look (not spinny enough for me). Mondo was my favorite of course. Rami also had a great look (the winner). Sweet P's was a disaster but I'm glad Elisa got voted off with her "half a circle story telling piece of art". Of course Mila color blocked, snooze. Anthony's look he brought for the first fashion show was phenomenal. Of course in the runway at the end Gordana over designed, surprise surprise. As of right now the designer's are sticking to their normal guns but Mondo and Rami have definitely expressed their intention to stretch themselves. I'm predicting they'll be in the final two right now.

Rami's winning look, made from shopping bags.

Cumberbatch in Star Trek and Sherlock dates

2012-01-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

I know I've been gone so I should be very in the mood to blog, but I'm not. I'm rather tired from work and kind of just want to Netflix all night because it's been three days since I've had internet. Heaven forbid. Now I do have interwebs though and I'm very excited about the new January shows!

I'm down at USF building costumes for the educational tour and LOVE being back with theatre people. I don't know that there are many other jobs where you know you'll have immediate friends as soon as you get there. Tour is especially nice in this regard because it's such a small group. I've already made a skirt and took notes for all the fittings today. I love being in fittings. I like being in the loop and I love writing fitting notes.

Anydoctorwho...here is an article I found on my regular perusal of BBC News' entertainment page.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16423899
Benedict Cumberbatch has been announced as a cast member for the second Star Trek movie. He is most likely going to play a villain. Star Trek, Sherlock, The Hobbit. So many opportunities to watch Cumberbatch! I won't pretend his eyebrows aren't too light for his face, or that he doesn't look sort of like an alien fish with his ethereal Sherlock cheekbones, but the man can act and has the most beautiful voice. I'm excited to get to watch him and Zack Quinto for two hours in space. Also in Star Trek is Mickey from Doctor Who. Also also, check out how cute Cumberbatch is via satellite talking about Sherlock with Rebecca Eaton (exec producer of Masterpiece Theatre). http://www.flickr.com/photos/pbs_press_tour/6643992101/in/set-72157628726267539/
Also also also, Sherlock series 2--May 6-20 on PBS.

Thank You!

2012-01-01T17:35:00.000-08:00

A BIG thanks to all my friends and random readers that have shown so much support as I've started blogging again. I've had a lot of fun coming up with topics to blog about and love getting comments. As 2012 starts I plan to keep on blogging about random things and continuing segments such as Too Horrible By Half.

That being said, I'm starting a job tomorrow back down in Cedar City at the Utah Shakespeare Festival where my internet access will be questionable. I will blog as much as I can, but January might be sparser than recent months. I will of course keep you abreast of my opinions about the new Downton Abbey season starting in a week.

Thanks again, the positive feed back I've gotten is really appreciated and I'm moved by the continued rise in my readership. December had more than twice the page views of November!
And now two questions for you! What was your favorite entry of 2011? Hopefully I can deliver more of the same, and any requests for 2012? If you haven't yet and you feel so inclined I'd invite you to follow me. You can also follow my Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/belbcorinne/.

A Timeline of Shelby's Celebrity Crushes

2012-01-01T16:35:00.000-08:00

My family is an obsessive one, just ask my brother's elephant collection (and he and I aren't the only ones and you know it!). Being a fan and devourer of period drama my obsessions tended to lean towards the leading men in the films of the hour. This makes sense right? Every girl crushes on celebrities from movies. What's different about me? Maybe nothing, but I don't know many girls whose first legitimate celebrity crush was on a 50 year old...when she was 12.

First we have Gabriel Byrne, from Man in the Iron Mask. My very vivid memory recalls drawing pictures of Musketeers in church and daydreaming about D'Artagnan's luscious silver streaked locks and his Musketeer uniform. Byrne was 50, and I was twelve. A friend of mine was obsessed with the Scarlett Pimpernel at the time so we wrote fan fiction, passing a manuscript back and forth writing the adventures of some sort of Pimpernel Musketeer amalgam. It just so happened that almost immediately after having discovered him he starred in an ABC Friday night comedy called Matigan Men in which he used his real Irish accent. That just sent me over! I remember watching the premiere after I'd put the kids to bed during a babysitting job. I'm pretty sure I put the kids to bed a little earlier than necessary to make certain I could get their TV working. And so it all began!

Second of course, as my close friends can't forget was Josh Groban. I bought his debut CD with money from my 13th birthday and was lost. Groban was almost 20 at the time. He took up most of my mental free space from 7th, 8th and the beginning of 9th grade. I had Josh Groban parties, his website's fan forum was my first source of social media. My parents should feel lucky his fans are so wholesome. Josh Groban's Closer tour was the first and only arena concert I've ever been to. My dear parents drove me to Ames, IA and back the same night so I could see him. It was a big deal. With Gabriel Byrne I remember drawing Musketeers, but with Josh Groban I began my celebrity portraiture. By far the Groban period was my most prolific. I have many Joshes in pencil, a rather large piece in pastels and some in water color, the one on the left done when I was 14 and still one of my favorite works.

I can't say exactly what made my love for Josh dwindle, but the void he left was the perfect size for Masterpiece Theatre and Daniel Deronda, the film I credit with not only making me realize I could design costumes for a living, but that also introduced me to Hugh Dancy. Isn't he adorable? Oxford educated, Burberry spokes model and English. Daniel Deronda aired at the end of my Freshman year and Dancy lasted me through the first semester of Sophomore year. I'm fairly certain I did this portrait at a later date and in rather a hurry, but it's still pretty good I think. I'd just turned 15 and Dancy's 13 years older than me.

Dancy was dethroned by the Phantom of the Opera himself, Glasgow born Gerard Butler. With my new found calling as a costume designer Marek from Timeline and the guy in the second Tomb Raider was my new best friend in a black cape. I was most in love with the Phantom, but kept an eye on Butler and followed him to Dear Frankie but that's about as far as I got. Mainstream Butler just doesn't strike my fancy despite how dreamy he is and the fact he talks to the side of his mouth. I was barely 16 at the time and Butler's 19 years older than me.

While trying to figure out this timeline it comes to my attention that I had an overlap with Phantom and Master and Commander. And so entered Russell Crowe. Oh Mr. Crowe. I got the M&C soundtrack for my birthday and that's all I listened to on my portable CD player. I saved the TIME magazine that had Captain Aubrey on the cover (portrait left). I got the Patrick O'Brian books for Christmas and even special ordered the autobiography of Lord Nelson Russell Crowe read as research. When the DVD came out I bought it the first day. When I realized I had bought a copy with no extras I bought the special edition version the next day and watched the film every night for a week. Obsessive personality? yes. I was outraged when the last Lord of the Rings movie stole all of its thunder at the Oscars that year.

I'd still keep Russell Crowe as an active celebrity crush. I've been collecting his films one by one and saw Robin Hood in the cinema in London, twice and bought the UK GQ bc he was on the cover. I watched RH about five times within the first month and a half I got it and Russell Crowe on a horse is on a short list of things I can't not bust out smiling at. I'll fight anyone who says he was fat in that movie. You can tell me he's a terrible person and try to convince me he's not a good guy, but if Gladiator is on TBS you'd better believe the next three hours of my life are booked. Russell Crowe is a winning 24 years older than me.

Back in the day the BBC had a specific drama website that linked to the sites for all their period dramas and updated fans on upcoming dramas, hence my knowing about the BBC's North and South 18 months before it aired in America. I spent the summer between my Sophomore and Junior years working in a costume shop in California. North and South aired on BBC America the week I went away to girls' camp. I had my sister record it on VHS and send it to me. I opened her package the day I got back from camp and watched it straight through right away. Needless to say it changed my life and Richard Armitage as Thornton was my new number one. How could he not be? It took some months for it to come out on DVD and when it did of course I rushed to Barnes and Noble and bought it with birthday money. Like Gerard Butler I think I was in love with the character more than the man because sadly Mr. Armitage didn't last long, but I am happy that he's landed other roles in British and American film (although I don't appreciate him in the BBC's Robin Hood as much as some assume I naturally would).

Now my obsession with Anderson Cooper had a strange and different flight path from the others seeing as Mr. Cooper can be seen nightly on TV rather than in a film. I have distinct memories of watching him on CNN while babysitting my niece when she was an infant, so about 7 1/2 years ago, BEFORE Hurricane Katrina. And I know I would watch him while I lived in California, I insisted on it, which was right before Katrina, so when Katrina hit and everyone took notice of this silver fox I felt like they'd been rather blind not to see him before. Of course I bought and read his book. He has the best portrait because my Senior year I finally had the time to take an art class and used him as my subject for my free choice painting. I'd say it's more than rather good. I still admire Mr. Cooper and will pause on AC360, but he really only lasted about a year and a half. Don't let the silver foxiness fool you! he's only 21 years older than me! And I know he'll never be mine for more than one reason.

And bring on the Doctor!!! Again, my obsession with David Tennant started rather oddly. I started watching Doctor Who during the Rose and Tennant season because I fancied David Tennant, but I honestly can't say what got me really into him. He was the spineless vicar in He Knew He Was Right but now I don't really see that role as such a draw. At any rate I credit Tennant with getting me obsessed with Doctor Who, I'm sure the case for many a young girl. I still pine for him. I will pine for the tenth Doctor until I die and that's not an exaggeration. I will have been married for 50 years with grandchildren and when I make them watch Doctor Who I'll get a far away look in my eyes and they'll all know I'm pining for Tennant. It will never stop. Of course I also adored his Hamlet and was heartbroken I went to London the year between Hamlet and Much Ado. I didn't get far on his portrait as Tennant saw me into my college years and don't ya know I've had no time. He's 17 years older than me. I would also categorize David Tennant as an active crush.

And then there was Bollywood. After seeing Krrish at the end of my Sophomore year in college I became rather obsessed and watched some 50 films in three months. At roughly three hours each that's quite a time consuming phase. I made my coworkers listen to Bollywood music and that's all I blogged about (on my other blog). I of course started crushing on Hrithik Roshan after Krrish, but quickly moved to Shah Rukh Khan, his films making up the majority that I watched and Swades being one of my favorite films overall. I still love SRK, but my Bollywood consumption has dwindled immensely. SRK is 23 years older than me.

Other minor crushes:
JJ Feild
Tom Selleck
Toby Stephens (whom I've MET)
Colin Firth
Ioan Gruffudd
Prince William

a devoted group on my study abroad to London that met Toby Stephens after The Real Thing at the Old Vic, May '10

If you've read this ENTIRE post, 100 points to Gryffindor and Happy New Year!

Looking forward to January

2011-12-31T13:40:00.000-08:00

With January comes the return of my stories (House, New Girl, Bones, Once Upon a Time, Castle) but also the premieres of other shows I'm excited about!!

30 Rock!!!January 12th YAY! I've watched 30 Rock off and on since it started, but spent about 2 weeks watching it all on Netflix this fall and I'm excited to have it back! Tina Fey, my idol, is back with a well deserved post baby tummy and James Marsden as Liz Lemon's boyfriend. Avery is still in North Korea. TGS is starting mid-season since its January, I bet the writers didn't see Kim Jung Il dying coming. Wouldn't it be BOSS if they reworked the whole season around Kim Junk Un not liking Avery and sending her home?

Downton Abbey, starting January 8th and going for a TWO MONTHS, get EXCITED!!! It's already aired in the UK and some friends have seen it already and died over the second series. Of course the Christmas episode has aired already as well, and it's been slated for a 3rd series. The BBC reported that some say the plots are getting rather ridiculous leading to some criticism, but do I care? No, as long as Mary gets what's coming to her, and Sybil gets the Irish chauffeur, and Bates and Anna get together.

Project Runway All Stars (Jan 5th) on Lifetime. I just want more Mondo, and more PR since last season was THE WORST, worse than the L.A. season. I mean it was BAD. I avoided blogging about it bc the ranting that would have been produced would probably have given me ulcers.

24 Hour Catwalk, (Jan 10th) also on Lifetime. Designers have 24 hours and a team of professional stitchers to make a collection. I don't know who any of the judges are and the commercials look totally spazzy, but I'm excited to see the stitchers do their thing.

Awake on NBC with Jason Isaacs. Ok, so NBC won't say when this one's airing, just Coming Soon, and Jason Isaacs uses an American accent, and this show might prevent more seasons of Case Histories but I can still be excited about it. Also, has B.D. Wong ever played anything other than a psychiatrist? Oh yeah, he was Shang in Mulan.

Stephen Fry and QI

2011-12-30T20:58:00.000-08:00

Mr. Fry and Lady Gaga

I just got back from Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows which was fantastic. In SH Stephen Fry plays Mycroft, Sherlock's brother. I love Stephen Fry, he's great. He's so so British. I'm not really sure what you'd know him from, not knowing your specific tastes, but he's one of Hugh Laurie's best buds as they were in school together (also a good chum of Emma Thompson). Amongst his British comedic credits are A Bit of Fry and Laurie, Black Adder and Jeeves and Wooster (he's Wooster). He's also the narrator of the British version of Harry Potter on tape and the Cheshire Cat in the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland. He's had a series called Fry in America and on top of all this he was made a millionaire by his rewrite of Me and My Girl before he was 30! I'm sure if you IMDB him you'll find even more lovely things about Mr. Fry.

Mr. Laurie and Mr. Fry

I can't say I have a favorite incarnation of Fry, but I've certainly watched him the most as himself on QI or Quite Interesting a sort of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me plus. Fry hosts this quiz game of comedians and personalities that aired starting in 2003 on the BBC. The point of the game is to give the most interesting answer to questions whose answers are rather impossible and unguessable. On top of his acting credits Stephen Fry is a genius (he saved Emma Thompson's Oscar winning script of Sense and Sensibility from the bowels of her computer), making his hosting this show a no brainer. The series are organized into themes based on letters of the alphabet starting with series A and I think going through H. To Fry's right is always Alan Davies, the ridiculous foil to Fry's genius. The whole thing is just delightful (and rather saucy sometimes). Hugh Laurie has been on, Emma Thompson too and David Tennant. There are Christmas episodes and oh so much Britishness. If you're not acquainted with British humor in general, or vocab or sensibilities you might not like QI too much, but I really think it'll grow on you and if your British IQ isn't great you probably won't be nearly as offended by some jokes as you should be! For lovers of random and frankly useless information this show is the bees' knees.

To watch QI I would give you a great YouTube channel with all the series, but it's been in trouble recently so contact me and I'll get it to you, or search "QI series A" or just QI and have some fun watching short clips, decide if you like it and find a whole episode. I can't tell you how many I've seen, I started at the end, watched some in the middle and then worked through A and B...

Here are some highlights that are just great to wet your appetite.

^Brits as villains and John Sessions impersonates Alan Rickman.

^Stephen being smart, putting Alan in his place and Bill Bailey's Wonderful World of Knowing

^David Tennant looking great and the inevitable Doctor Who jokes.

Leading ladies should...

2011-12-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

not be obnoxious. Yup, that's about it. Really women don't watch girly movies or boy movies for the women, hopefully that's obvious. All we ask is that they don't annoy us and distract us from the men in the film. This topic came to mind as I watched The Holiday last night and was reminded of how obnoxious I always find Cameron Diaz and how unobnoxious and wonderful Kate Winslet (but not in Titanic...or Sense and Sensibility) is.

SO likable

This doesn't mean that an obnoxious leading lady necessarily ruins a movie, think Margaret Hale from North and South never trusting Thornton even though he's the best man alive. North and South is still and amazing movie. Obnoxious women that do ruin movies? Cameron Diaz in The Holiday of course. Jude Law finds her spazzy over-sharing ways so charming and alluring, barf. Meg Ryan back in the day, basically in Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail, was great at being the girl that you didn't hate and kind of liked, even full on liked sometimes. Sandra Bullock is also very likable.

I think it should also be said that 4 hour films with semi-annoying women are ok because usually by the end of 4 hours they've changed, like in North and South and Pride and Prejudice. 90 minute rom coms on the other hand need to be quick about it so great writing is required to either create a likable leading lady from the get go or a believable arc to make her likable and worth the man by the end. I think more than anything I can't stand a leading woman that's obnoxious but fought over. Not only does one man see past her grating personality, two or three men do.

:-:Other female leads I can stand: Julia Roberts, Cate Blanchett, Ginnifer Goodwin, Amy Adams, Reese Witherspoon, Emma Thompson, Carey Mulligan, Tina Fey
:-:Other female leads I can't stand: Megan Fox, Katherine Heigl, Julia Stiles, Ellen Pampeo from Grey's Anatomy, Famke Janssen (Jean Grey from X-Men), Rachel McAdams in The Notebook (really just hate The Notebook),
:-:Don't really care either way: Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Aniston

Favorite picture: Louvre at night

2011-12-28T20:25:00.000-08:00

After I spent a term in London in the spring of '10 I went to Paris, Switzerland and Germany by myself to do research. The wonderful woman I stayed with in Paris insisted that I see the city at night and I'm so glad she did!! I wish I had a better camera, but I got some good shots and below is one of my favorite photos ever.

The actual picture quality is not great, but it just glows! You can see the French flag and the still still water and best thing: The guy sitting and looking to the left, I LOVE that guy and his being there was a happy accident I'll cherish forever.

Old unpublished wedding designs

2011-12-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

I have a facebook album of wedding dress designs I've done, however by now I'm not a fan of most of them, but I do have a couple I haven't posted on here yet that I like. I have quite a few new ones I'll post, but they need to be cleaned up etc before I publish them. If you're not familiar with my wedding dress philosophy review this entry.

I did this design years ago as a sari-style wedding dress. The idea would be that the stripes would be in silver or at least a satin and weave variation from the rest. Looking at it now I'd want to actually have a pallu in the back.

The left has kimono sleeves with a gusset and the design on it is in bugle beads and others in a sort of ombre skyline type design.

The right is a take on this dress worn by Olga Chekhova (sitting with Hitler). It'd be in white with super heavy embroidery and glitz at the hem and waist and sleeves (two options shown).

Left is an alteration of a summer dress I found in Vogue w/ glitz a the bottom (I love glitz, but I guess you don't have to have it). I imagine it in a natural white Georgette.

Right has kimono sleeves with gussets and is covered in bugle beaded scallops, probably in champagne or even a really light gold. It has an option to be split to reveal accordion pleated silk.

New Skirt

2011-12-27T09:23:00.000-08:00

I got some navy twill weave wool from LA last February and made a vintage patterned skirt out of it a week and a half ago. Took me about 6 hours. The size was 11.5 which had a 24.5" waist so I just added an 1/8" to each side seam piece and that's it! Instead of altering the waistline for my high left hip I just used the hem puffer and raised the right hem, not the most legit way, but it worked fine. I've made the same pencil skirt pattern 3 times in a row, and still have another wool to make it in, but I'm LOVING my A-line skirt with my gold buttons. I wore it to two wedding receptions and Christmas church. I think I might be going A-line and full for awhile.

I need a Sexy Sunday shot in this, I know.

I need to make other skirts! Skirts are my favorite, they're so fast and somehow seem to add more than other pieces to your wardrobe, and full skirts with tights are so wintery and fun.

alexa chung for madewell


love the sheer look

pleats and yoke.

Leading men should be good at...

2011-12-23T22:38:00.000-08:00

kissing

riding horses

fighting (w/ and w/o weapons)

shooting guns

wearing clothes (including hats)

being charming

smiling

not smiling

looking at home on a boat

walking in sand

And with that I leave you for the holidays. While I wouldn't mind posting over the weekend I've noticed that people tend to be paying attention to their families and not the blogosphere.

Click for part 2

Men's formalwear classifications

2011-12-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

I dream of men in tuxedos. I dream of marrying a man that needs to own tails, a tuxedo and a dinner jacket, dream of it. So what's the deal? Here's the skinny on the best ensembles a man can ever put on. Most of this info comes from my general knowledge and my memory of reading my favorite menswear resource Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style (a designer must have).

WHITE TIE:

Tom Ford workin' it like the boss that he is.

White tie, evening dress or full evening dress is the (obviously) most formal ensemble a man can wear. An invitation will say "white tie" if it is required (and they mean required). Unless you're a diplomat, politician or other some such incredibly high powered man you will probably never have occasion to wear white tie (schade) as formal occasions in today's society are becoming fewer and farther between. White tie is only worn after 6pm. Day equivalent is morning dress, which is usually only adhered to in the UK.

White tie consists of...
:-:A tail coat, or swallow tails in black or midnight blue (not an option for me personally) with silk satin lapel facings.
:-:Matching trousers with two braids (satin stripes) along the outseam held up by white suspenders.
:-:White winged shirt (detachable stiff winged collar most desirable) with French cuffs and pique or tucked front
:-:Conservative cufflinks, shirt studs optional
:-:White pique bowtie (do I even need to say that you tie it yourself?)
:-:White deep cut pique waistcoat
:-:Black knee high socks or stockings
:-:Black patent shoes, either oxfords or pumps (the kind w/ the bows)
:-:Black overcoat for weather
:-:Black silk top hat (if you insist on head wear, but nowadays no one but the coat check will see it)

BLACK TIE:

double breasted black tie

Bradley Cooper opting for a waistcoat

Black tie is a step down from white and is the most common formal classification, think red carpet.

Black tie consists of:
:-:Black or midnight blue tuxedo jacket with satin facings, usually single breasted. Known as a dinner jacket in the UK.
:-:Matching trousers with one braid, worn with suspenders.
:-:Black cummerbund or low cut waistcoat
:-:White plain shirt with French cuffs and turn down collar. I'm saying that you cannot wear a winged collar with anything but a white tie. We shouldn't see the tie band, it's a HUGE pet peeve of mine.
:-:Conservative cufflinks, shirt studs optional
:-:Black self tie bowtie
:-:Black knee high socks or stockings
:-:Black patent oxfords

jacket looks a little pink, can't tell, but everything is so right.

Dinner jacket is the North American term for a white tuxedo jacket. Dinner jackets are worn for black tie in open air after 6pm events. The black tie elements are all in common, except a white or ecru (between natural white and light beige) tuxedo jacket is worn.

When in doubt reference Tom Ford. He's the bomb at menswear.

Born Yesterday

2011-12-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

Instead of going to bed I ended up watching the last hour of Born Yesterday (1950) with William Holden and Judy Holliday on TCM last night. I'd heard of it but had never seen it before and I was more than pleasantly surprised. Paul is hired to educate Harry's, a junk tycoon's, uncouth lover Billie. Of course Billie's got the most grating voice, but Paul is patient and they bond over the constitution and Tom Paine. Billie's eagerness to learn is endearing and by the end of it they're both wearing tortoise shell glasses. William Holden was absolutely wonderful and their chemistry and comic timing was honestly some of the best I've seen between two actors. It was absolutely wonderful. Billie's wardrobe was just to die for as was Paul's delicious Brylcreemed 'do.

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so handsome

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g lasses, and shoes (his)

the glasses! the GLASSES!

I'm baffled to this day why Sabrina picks Bogart over Holden, I mean really! I would pick Harrison Ford of course...although Greg Kinnear has aged remarkably better than Ford...

O.P.I.

2011-12-21T14:31:00.000-08:00

O.P.I Nail Lacquer is the only way to go. There might be more high end nail lacquer that's good, but O.P.I is readily available and once you try it you won't want to go back to Revlon or Wet-n-Wild (heaven forbid). The brush is fantastic, the colors amazing and the names charming. I'm generally a cold weather nail painter, reflected by my collection. I'm also a no glitz girl at the moment. High shine, bold color. I have a sexy dark red with glitz but it leaked and I can't open it anymore, schade.

Ski Teal We Drop, Siberian Nights, Your Royal Shyness, Suzie Says Feng Shui, Florentine Fuchsia, Houston We Have a Purple, Road House Blues

My hairs recently

2011-12-21T12:30:00.000-08:00

I found some photos of a braided circlet I did this summer and last week I blew out my hair and straightened it (which I do about twice a year) to get a gauge on how long it's getting. Here are the photos.

The style was three braids, this one really shows the (natural) blonde streak I have at the base of my neck and my curl Shirley at my temple.

I really was just experimenting, so I it's hard to tell how I went about doing this.

Hopefully I ended up tucking that tail in...Lots of bobby and hair pins. I do my braids wet bc my hair's really sleek. I then hit them with a butt ton of hairspray while wet so they stay bc as they dry they shrink and can fall out.

This was me Freshman year of college. The original haircut was shorter of course, and I usually didn't comb it this way, but you get the idea of how short my hair was.

My hairs now, after 4 years. I'm growing them out another year then will donate. I don't normally part down the center as it is much darker since my natural highlights are on my side parts.

trendi: Suspenders

2011-12-20T13:43:00.000-08:00

Suspenders are in. Men wear them, women wear them (but shouldn't unless they're flat as a board), guys at church think they're being cute when they buy a pair of clip ons. So, what do I think of suspenders? I love them, worn correctly.

dumb dumb gross no

Clip on suspenders are the equivalent of clip on ties and pre-tied bowties: lazy and juvenile. Suspenders are a classic part of menswear. They hold up your pants first and foremost. Clip ons are for show and are no good. Button tab or nothing. Yes, you may have to have suspender buttons sewn in, boo hoo. I will sew them in for you, just so you have them! Clip ons are disgusting.

you better believe Bond's braces are white

Suspenders done correctly are so classy and sexy. I love movies with men in white tie when their white suspenders can be seen. White suspenders always for tuxedos. Paisley suspenders are always classic with a brown neutral suit. Suspenders sans suit coat can be done, but carefully.

suspender buttons spaced incorrectly

spacing perfection

Bottom line is do them right or not at all. Don't trust celebrities in clip ons, they don't know what they're doing. You better believe the classiest guys you know wear button tab to hold up their pants.

a thousand times yes.

My future movie collection

2011-12-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

Everynowandthen I think of a movie that I need to have in my collection because I either love it or because I know that my children will need to have a knowledge of it, usually both. I figured I better start getting these titles down so I can have a real list. I'm sure I've missed some so let me know. We'll see if I already have them.

Musicals
An American in Paris
Singin' in the Rain
Brigadoon
My Fair Lady
The King and I
Top Hat
White Christmas
The Nutcracker
The Court Jester
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
Thoroughly Modern Millie (even though I like the stage show better)
Not on the Lips

Kids
Beauty and the Beast
Aladin
The Lion King
The Little Mermaid
Cinderella
Sleeping Beauty
Mulan
Emperor's New Groove
Snow White
Monster's Inc.
Finding Nemo
A Bug's Life
Toy Stories
Hook
Swan Princess
Enchanted
Tangled
The Santa Clause
Mr. Kruger's Christmas
Quest for Camelot
Big
Blank Check
Wallace and Gromet
Muppet Christmas Carole
Great Muppet Caper
The Sandlot

Costume and/or Chick Flick
Anna and the King
Downton Abbey
Wives and Daughters
You've Got Mail
Sleepless in Seatle
While You Were Sleeping
Bleak House
Daniel Deronda
Branaugh's Much Ado About Nothing
Remains of the Day
Howard's End
Little Women (Christian Bale)

Elizabeth the Golden Age

39 Steps (Rupert Penry-Jones)
Cranford
Return to Cranford
Lost in Austen

Classics (as in Classic Hollywood)
Charade
Arsenic and Old Lace
Cool Hand Luke
The Quiet Man
Bullit
The Towering Inferno (Newman and McQueen)
Vertigo
Manchurian Candidate (Sinatra)
A Man for All Seasons
North By Northwest
Psycho
Tarzans (Johnny Wisemuller)
39 Steps
It's a Wonderful Life
Roman Holiday
Modern Times
Duck Soup
McLintock!
The Seabeas

Bollywood
Kabhi Khuchi Kabhie Gham
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai
Don
Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge
Swades
Chak De India!
My Name is Khan
Main Hoon Na
Kal Ho Naa Ho
Sholay

Other
Strictly Ballroom
True Grit (2010)
Batmans (Christian Bale)
Lord of the Rings
Law and Order: SVU
Alias
Better Off Dead
One Crazy Summer
Can't Buy Me Love
The Baxter
Rockies (not 5 or 6)
Firefly
Serenity
Sherlock
Doctor Who Series 1 and 3-present (I have 2)
Harry Potters
Back the the Future
Indiana Jones
Star Wars IV-VI
Arrested Development
Quigley Down Under
Hamlet (RSC w/ David Tennant)

Iron Chef Zakarian

2011-12-18T22:01:00.000-08:00

Yeah baby! My culinary crush Geoffrey Zakarian is the new Iron Chef!! Like David Tennant with Doctor Who, Chef Zakarian is the reason I started watching Chopped and now I can watch him on Iron Chef America. Let's be honest, he's a complete and total boss. His technique is perfect, his composure is unparalleled, and his attitude is fierce. I think he's going to be so great to watch on Iron Chef because while I know the draw of Kitchen Stadium is the pressure, Chef Zakarian is so deliberate and professional he'll calm it down for me.

Iron Chef Zakarian, that's right, eat it up.

Also, silver fox w/ a beautiful wife and like six different pairs of super preppy glasses.

too horrible by half: pleated pants

2011-12-18T15:50:00.000-08:00

I know I've blogged about my love for flat front pants, but I don't think I've harped enough on the amount of shuddering pleated pants causes in my soul. The average man should just not wear them, especially at my age. A fit young man has no business in pleated pants, even if "my mom does all my shopping" (true story, actual excuse).

just so so bad, and the belt doesn't help!

You might say: I like the room! boo, get over it. Only people who live in board shorts can't get over any other type of pant.

You might say: I need the room! There's no way a trouser is so constrictive that you need pleats for everyday. If you are a giant thighed dancer that needs the room, I will give you pleats, I do give you pleats, but if you're just going about not doing sports in your trousers you don't need the room. If you still fight me on this I am seriously shocked and we can discuss other solutions to your problem, but you won't like them.

Cary Grant looks great in pleats, you don't. Also, the shoes.

You might say: Cary Grant rocked the pleats! He was a) Cary Grant and he is b) dead. Yeah, I said it. Pleats are a thing of the past. At many points in time they were the be all end all in mens trousers, but they're not fashionable right now. Get over it. For White Christmas that I recently worked on we put Bob in quite a few amazing period pleated pants that made him look super handsome, but they were for a man from the 50s. You, I assume, are alive now and shouldn't want pleated pants.

now those are pleats. 1934

Also a thing with pleated pants is that they're always the fall back Wal-mart variety which are just awful anyway. Inevitably they're too long and puddle because they don't get hemmed and the men wear them too low. It's just gross, I hate them, so so much.

I've seen some blogs with some uber stylish European type men in very deliberate and well tailored pleated pants and I can almost give them that, and might for some, but I still prefer flat fronts and I'll give you three wishes if you can make me concede my preference. I dare you.

Best Dressed: Roman Catholics

2011-12-17T15:13:00.000-08:00

Ralph de Bricassart

I've said it once and I'll say it again, Roman Catholics have the market cornered on religious dress. I've thought this since I saw The Thornbirds in high school, and was reminded of this while watching Angels and Demons last night (better than the Da Vinci Code).

sash, yes.

It's probably because Ralph de Bricassart is such a boss, but cassocks are the bomb, and totally handsome, in my humble opinion. Even better than the plain black ones? Cardinal cassocks (red trim and sash, I love the sash!). And of course Ewan McGregor in a cassock ain't so bad either.

so so pretty

I like to see handsome celebrities in cassocks, but hate to see real handsome priests in them. To this day I remember one of the most handsome men I've ever seen was at the grocery store in Lincoln one summer day in a cassock, bummer.

aaaand, we got nothin' on the Catholics

Roman Catholic vestments fascinate me. I'll have to do more research.

Things I'm going to watch over Christmas:

2011-12-16T09:51:00.000-08:00

Christmas break is a great time to rewatch favorites and watch movies you haven't seen before. Here's my short (haha) list of my Christmas plans.

Jane Eyre 2011 (just bought it with birthday money)
Lark Rise to Candleford (friend Jane is on the 2nd season!)
Emma 2009 (just bought it used)
Om Shanti Om (friend Jane needs an intro to Bwood)
Harry Potter 7.2 (just decided I need to see it)
Doctor Who (series 1, never actually seen the Chris Eccelston series...)
Robin Hood (Russell Crowe, because it's been...a couple of months)
Pride and Prejudice 2005 (just feel like it)
Downton Abbey (I know PBS is reairing series 1 before series 2 but I can watch it on Netflix!)
Star Trek (this is a maybe, I have a hankerin' for Zach Quinto)
All my stories (I'm almost caught up with all my shows)

Alice in Wonderland Ballet

2011-12-15T15:05:00.000-08:00

More ballet, maybe for awhile.

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I happened across The Royal Ballet's Alice in Wonderland. Here are some highlights (I'd recommend going to YouTube to watch the videos as they don't enlarge here).

The cards: The projections on the scrim are phenomenal in setting the mood and the ballerinas' tutus are the card shapes, their hats the numbers!

The Caterpillar: gorgeous black man in harem pants with his ballerinas also in gorgeous ensembles a la the Ballet Russe.

The Red Queen: it's just funny. I laughed out loud, at ballet.

The White Rabbit: I just love his tails.

The Nutcracker

2011-12-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

No matter how old I get I always dream of being a ballerina and by accident I end up watching The Nutcracker on PBS almost every holiday season. I couldn't really tell you which ones I've seen besides Nutcracker: The Motion Picture and The Nutcracker at Lincoln Center that was on PBS tonight, choreography by Balanchine. The Balanchine was beautiful and over the top and the costumes were magnificent, but the story was off. In this version Clara is Marie and she's 10, as is the Nutcracker. They were rather great as children go, but they stayed children. I like Clara to magically mature and dance with the Prince in the magical kingdom or where ever. As it was, the pas de deux was with the Sugarplum Fairy and her Caravel and was very very good with Megan Fairchild as the Sugarplum Fairy.

The flowers have THE MOST amazing skirts. In this photo Megan Fairchild is the Dewdrop Fairy.

I've been told I should watch the San Francisco Ballet Nutcracker and after looking it up I might have seen some of it, again, I'm not sure which Nutcrackers I've seen, but 'tis the season!

San Francisco, concept: 1915 World's Fair

New York Ballet

San Francisco Ballet, this looks familiar

how amazing is this?! Totally Ballet Russe pants, and sparkles!

San Francisco, how beautiful is this?

This is the San Francisco Pas de Deux, I prefer the Balanchine (below).

This Friday the SF Ballet's Little Mermaid is on Great Performances on PBS.

need to design again

2011-12-14T10:04:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting my designing and esp my bridal designing. I've been meaning to bang out some wedding dresses so hopefully I will do that soon. I was told by NCSA that I need to draw everyday and they're right, but I'm not, so that's a goal.

This is the only dress I've ever really liked from the BYU bridal magazine.

2011-12-13T20:47:00.000-08:00

I just started a Pinterest account. I haven't gotten too far, but check it out if you want to see what my computer is full of.
http://pinterest.com/belbcorinne/

1830s wig

2011-12-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

inspiration

While we're on the subject of wigs I figured I'd post pictures from my advanced hair and make up final I did last April. I was in an 1830s mood all semester after watching Wives and Daughters so I have a corset and petticoat to go with my hair. The stiff hair loops are a wig, as are some of the ringlets, then I pulled my own hair through and brushed them together and used my own ringlets as well. The wig had a very bad latex front which is why there's a giant leaf in the front, but looks fine to me! I loved this wigs so so much. It's a little messy in the back, but you try doing something this intricate on your own head! Upper body workout!

1970s: a great decade for wigs

2011-12-11T12:32:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago I watched Poldark and skimmed through Fawlty Towers on Netflix. Poldark is set in the 1780s but was made in 1975 so it has some rippin' wigs. Fawlty Towers, a comedy series with John Cleese was also made in 1975. I realized the wigs from Poldark were bad, but never realized to what lengths hair was done in the '70s! Of course I took the liberty of capturing some stills for you. Aren't you grateful?

From Poldark. How amazing is this wig? and she wears one like this all the time. So terrible but great.

so great right? ug.

Prunella Scales from Fawlty Towers. The hair is great, esp the streak, but I'm really in love with her suit, not sarcastic at all.

Who knew the 1970s echoed the 1770s? I guess it makes sense bc of the bicentennial

check out that profile!

and from behind

Best Santas

2011-12-10T16:31:00.001-08:00

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I've been watching quite a few Hallmark movies recently and I gotta tell ya, there are some terrible Santa Clauses. Cheap costumes, bad wigs, awful beards, you name it. The thing with Santa is that he has a white beard and white fur. If you get the whites wrong it just looks terrible. It's also hard to reinvent the wheel so Santa's suit can be hard to reinvent, but the quality of velvet (velvet is a must) needs to be good and the hat can't be ridiculous. Also, no shoulder-length hair, that's the worst thing I've been seeing recently. Gross. Good Santas? Tim Allen, Edward Asner and Edmund Gwenn.

mittens!

My all time favorite Santa Claus for looks is Tim Allen, from The Santa Clause movies. He has absolutely amazing hair and make up. His beard is a good length and just curly enough and I love his short hair! He's got rosy rosy cheeks and his costumes are fantastic, from him red union suit with Slavic suspenders to his suit in amazing velvet with lots of details sewn on and a really nice belt and leather mittens (I love his mittens). I also like the stages of Santa in these movies and he by far has the most casual Santa ensembles.

love the beard and hair


the sweater!

I mean come on, so great!

Edward Asner is from Elf and probably has the best sleigh of any Santa I've seen. He's also bald and has the same union suit look as Tim Allen's Santa. He's older of course, and some think he's kind of a meany, but I think he looks jolly and it's nice that his bowl of jelly belly looks like it might be all his. He has my favorite suspenders.

suspenders!

Edmund Gwenn of course is Kris Kringle form Miracle on 34th Street. The movie's not in color so I can't speak too accurately to the beard/fur coordination but it looks like if it were in color I wouldn't like it, but he's just such a nice Santa with a short beard and a very simple but classic suit. He doesn't really have too much of a tummy, but he's great all the same.

so cute

If you want to discuss Santa suits sans Santa I'd have to put a plug in for the Finale costumes from White Christmas. I just can't pass up velvet with glitz!

Edith Head being a boss.

Yul Brynner with hair

2011-12-10T11:38:00.001-08:00

Yul Brynner could only grow the quintessential cul de sac of hair around his bald top. When he was cast as the King of Siam in The King and I he asked the costume designer what to do about his hair and she told him to shave it all off without really even thinking about it. I don't have the book with me that tells the whole story, but that's the gist of it. Aren't we glad? He looks just like everybody else with hair.
Also, totally plan on naming one of my sons Brynner.

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Austenland movie

2011-12-09T08:45:00.001-08:00

I wanted to make sure you know that Jerusha Hess is making the book Austenland by Shannon Hale into a movie. Yes, Jerusha Hess of Jared Hess fame. Yes Austenland the only non-Austen Austen fiction I've ever actually dared to read, and LOVED!

Austenland is about a woman who inherits a trip to an Austen-themed resort from her aunt as an attempt to fulfill her Austen dreams and wean her from her Colin Firth Mr. Darcy Pride and Prejudice addiction. Of course there is romance and all. Keri Russell plays Jane Hayes the heroine and JJ Feild (!!!) plays Mr. Henry Nobley, the Darcy character (he literally plays the Darcy character at the resort). I'm a little concerned that the costume and hair and make up designers have only done contemporary work, but that's just film. Here's hoping I won't have cause to die over the production elements.

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you know him as Mr. Tilney

I shy away, and/or reject the Austen fan genre of "what happened to the Darcy daughters", "what was Mr. Darcy's side", "Jane Austen: detective" because I've found I kind of barf in my mouth when modern authors try to write Austen dialogue, BUT I liked Austenland, probably because it's not supposed to be real Austen characters. The idea is that it's all an act to give you the experience, so I forgive any overdone dialogue, which I'm sure there was, but seeing as I can't remember being particularly offended it couldn't have been that bad.

What does get me about the whole people traveling back in time, or being placed in a different time (Lost in Austen), is that these women who are supposedly obsessed with these books and movies are somehow shocked at the way life is in Regency England and are absolutely indecorous and completely baffled by men standing up when they enter or exit a room, don't get that they need to wear gloves to a ball, can't talk to someone until they're introduced etc. Again, as in my previous entry I realize that this is to further the plot by creating issues, but I for sure would make a smashing Regency lady, but then again I like to embroider and would love time to actually draw and paint and sew and do my hair all nice and wear stays.

Bramwell

2011-12-08T16:22:00.001-08:00

I've been sick for the past couple of days so I've been watching the mid-nineties British drama Bramwell. Set in 1895 and starring Jemma Redgrave, Bramwell follows Eleanor Bramwell, woman doctor. She starts a hospital for the poor and trials ensue. I really like it. The costumes are phenomenal as are the hair and make up. Bramwell of course faces the challenges of being a woman doctor and a doctor in general. Every illness and situation is a new learning experience for Dr. Bramwell and she doesn't always make the correct decisions. It's on Netflix instant play and I'd highly recommend it.

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NOW, here's an issue I have with series or movies like this i.e. ones with strong, driven female leads (Bramwell, Lark Rise to Candleford, Cranford, Anne of Green Gables, My Brilliant Career). What's with these women going through men like water? The best and hunkiest of men always fawn all over these outspoken and beautiful women only to be rejected for usually one of two reasons: the woman doesn't love them (fine by me) or they could never imagine giving up their career which is oh so dear to them for a man. In more than one of these cases the guy promises they can have their career still, some even share the profession. I just get so mad! I think this emotion is heightened when one watches a series straight through so the men only last a couple hours at most. I do understand that yes a woman's life will change if she has a child, especially back then, but wouldn't that just be another challenge for such a supposedly gifted woman? I just get frustrated that these fictitious women are so careless with love. I get even madder when they're engaged and call it off. How cruel. Of course this is all pretend and I wouldn't keep watching if there wasn't hope for another fellow, but by golly it makes me so mad. Rant over.

Wedding dress horseshoes

2011-12-07T11:36:00.001-08:00

While doing my recent collection search entry I happened upon this wedding dress which has a horseshoe sewn into the hem. I thought that was kind of odd bc it didn't register as a horseshoe in my mind, but put two and two together when I found this dress, which also had a horseshoe. Of course I looked this up and it's a bridal tradition to sew a horseshoe into the hem of your wedding dress for good luck. Isn't that a nice little tradition? I read something that a whole horseshoe used to be used, but it has since been reduced to a manageable size. I searched the other dresses for horseshoes, but to no avail, which doesn't necessarily mean they don't have them.

1941, made from curtains bc of fabric rationing!

1969 worsted wool, mildly in love

horseshoe w/ something blue

My Fair Lady 2012

2011-12-05T14:24:00.001-08:00

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While trying to figure out titles for best costumes for the Academy Awards in February (entry to come) I happened upon Enchanted Serenity, which I occasionally trowel for costume drama news. Seems there's to be a new My Fair Lady! Adapted by Emma Thompson (a lady and a scholar). I'm assuming since it's called My Fair Lady and not Pygmalion they're keeping it a musical and am also assuming they'll keep the Lerner and Loewe score and lyrics. The latest news on the cast has Academy Award nominee Carey Mulligan (P&P '05, Bleak House, An Education) as Eliza and Hugh Grant as Thompson's pick for Higgins. That's right ladies and gentlemen, we've reached the time that Hugh Grant is old enough to play Henry Higgins!

I think Mulligan is a fine choice for Eliza. She's one of my absolute favorite new (if you've just discovered her as America has) talents and I'd love to see her play both sides of Eliza seeing as until now she's been rather prim and proper. I have no idea if she can sing, but here's hoping.

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Grant as Higgins? Granted (haha) he is only Thompson's pick and there is no evidence that he's actually interested in the project, but doesn't he seem a tad inarticulate to play famed linguist Henry Higgins? I mean that's the schtick right? Bumbling but adorable (?) Hugh Grant. I don't know about this one. Enchanted Serenity has a list with its article of other possible Higgins including Daniel Craig, Colin Firth (role reversal from The King's Speech?), Hugh Jackman, Hugh Laurie (personal fave), Jeremy Northam etc. Who'da thunk we'd see the day when our favorite heroes mature into the role of Henry Higgins? Yes they are the right age, but Rex Harrison just seemed so much older than any of them ('sides maybe Hugh Laurie). I only know that Hughes Jackman and Laurie can sing so...not that Higgins actually sings per se. Rex Harrison invented talk singing for My Fair Lady, so maybe I shouldn't rate them on musical ability...

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And my opinion on the project in general? I'm leaning toward "cool!". I've always longed to see the original cast with Julie Andrews i.e. an Eliza that did her own singing. I love Audrey Hepburn to bits, but in My Fair Lady she just doesn't do it for me as much as her other contemporary works. She's too waify for Eliza and for that period. I'd be excited to see a new face and form take the role. As for Rex Harrison, loved him and he IS Higgins to me, but again, I'd be excited to see a new take. Don't think I've forgotten the mess that was made of The Music Man w/ Matthew Broderick, but here's hoping under Emma Thompson's keen eye this project will be a nice reinvention, not replacement for or blotch on the original. I'd also be excited to see a new take on the costumes. With so many iconic pieces (the flower girl dress, the ascot and ball dresses) I'd love to see them turned on their head.

As a child My Fair Lady was my stay home sick movie and the ending always confused me and my mother couldn't explain it to me. Were they in love? weren't they? What on earth happens after she comes back? ****SPOILERS****I was actually pondering Pygmalion this morning oddly enough and how if you read Shaw's epilogue he's very adamant that Eliza and Higgins are not in love and do not get together and that supposing they are and do is dumb and is insulting to Eliza. She marries Freddy and has a relatively unremarkable life as she supports Freddy and becomes a fixture in Higgins and Pickering's lives. What will Thompson do with this? My high school had Higgins and Eliza kiss at the end which gave my childhood a lot of closure, but looking back I agree with Shaw (who wrote it, so you should too). While My Fair Lady is excellent at leaving the end very ambiguous I wouldn't mind Thompson making up our minds for us, siding w/ Shaw and myself of course.

V&A and Met collection searches

2011-12-04T15:45:00.001-08:00

I wanted to make sure you are all aware of the immense store of costume (and other research) available from The Victoria and Albert Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art collection websites. I myself spend hours searching and saving costume photos.

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V&A Collections website
I prefer the search format of the V&A's site. If you click on "more search options" a group of fields will appear that help you narrow down your search quite nicely. I would search say "dress" from 1910-1919 to get the dresses of the 1910s. I also always click "only records with images" because it does me no good to see 25 pages of "no image available". The results will usually span a larger time period than you typed in as you can see. Because the V&A has an extensive Eastern clothing collection a lot of articles from outside of Europe will also appear, but I don't mind this.

What I really love about the V&A collection database is the descriptions of the articles and the fact that most have multiple views of the garment that you can enlarge and save. Let's take this beautiful little day dress that I may or may not be in love with and use in a show later in my career...


V&A page

The dress' page as 18 views which is wonderful! Not all garments have this many, but lots do, and later garments might even have accompanying photographs of the owner wearing them. Reading the "Summary" of the garments usually will either describe the garment in detail and/or the person who donated and/or wore it, giving a lovely glimpse into personal and specific history. I especially love the summaries for the wedding dresses (which are easily found by searching "wedding dress").

Fun fact, the "museum number" or accession number is the number that tells the museum what they specifically want to know by looking at it. In most cases it includes numbered or lettered codes that usually tell what department it's kept in or the category of item if you have a collection of only something like clothes, the donor, and the year in which it was donated. There is no standard order or way all museum's use, but once you know the basics you can pretty much guess what the museum/accession numbers mean. For example, this day dress' museum number is T.17-1960. From its website we can see that "T" is for the Textile and Fashion Collection, that 1960 is the year it was donated and by reading the summary we could guess that 17 is the number assigned to Heather Firbank (her credit line). Fun? I think so...

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Now, the Met also has a great costume collection, they have a huge gala for it every year that celebrities and fashion world giants attend and the pictures always end up in Vogue. Their collections search site I do not like as much as the V&A's, or much at all. It used to be much more like the V&A's, but has since changed to its current incarnation, much to my chagrin.

You still type in "dress" to get dresses. As you can see the results are displayed nicely, but narrowing down the results is obnoxious. Where we could search within any amount of time at the V&A, the Met restricts us to what categories they think we would like. Under "Who" it gives us possible designers, which is fine if we have one specifically in mind. I usually don't use this tab. "What" can help sometimes, I usually choose "Costume" because the other options don't tend to make sense if I just want dresses from a certain time. "Where" is actually nice because when you type "Europe" into "Place of origin" on the V&A site nothing comes up, bc I assume they want something more like "England". On the Met site clicking "Europe" under "Where" is rather helpful and narrows down the results very nicely, however you can't choose say "Europe" and "North and Central America". The tab that really gets my goat is "When" because it only offers centuries. An ENTIRE CENTURY?! Good grief, that's efficient. Blerg. The "In The Museum" tab give you options of different categories of the museum collections and in some searches give you the option of some the Met's off-campus locales. I suppose if you have a very specific item in mind that you'd like to find the Met would help you get there very easily, but for as a research tool it gets rather cumbersome.

zoom in on this one!

The garment descriptions can be very good, but some are almost nonexistant. The photography is much more consistent than the V&A and the garment photo is very large to begin with and zoom is available which is very nice, but not as many views are offered. When we compare numbers The Met has 4,329 result for "dress" from 1900-present with pictures while the V&A has only 742 under the same search parameters. If we take out the pictures only clause the V&A has 1065 results, the Met still has 4,329. I'm pretty sure this means the Met has a better online collection, but I sure wish it was easier to use!

Well, whether or not this was an interesting or a fun entry for you to read, I had fun writing it!

favorite picture: 1920s wedding

2011-12-03T21:09:00.001-08:00

I know I've done a lot of favorite picture entries lately, and they're kind of a cop out bc they require very little thought, but I just found this one and have to share it.

Three things: the veil, the haircut and the parrot (?)

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W.E. trailer and American accents

2011-12-03T09:58:00.001-08:00

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2921176601/

W.E. trailer! Looks absolutely stunning. The woman who plays Mrs. Simpson is English, but her American accent seems fine. I've found it interesting that when a British person doesn't do an American accent particularly well (David Tennant) it ends up sounding dated, like from the 30s or 40s, which is perfect for this movie. But Ms. Riseborough does a fine job from what I can see. She's just a waif of a thing and tall which makes her perfect for the clothes.

Speaking of bad American accents, I love David Tennant to bits, but he stinks at an American accent. In modern America it's just laughable.

But if we take it back about 80 years somehow it's ok...

And lest we forget that David Tennant is Scottish and a snappy dresser...(we'll talk about the show's he's on later).

The best American accenters? Hugh Laurie and Kate Winslet, hands down.

Mr. Darcy in review

2011-12-02T09:09:00.001-08:00

I've got it into my head that I want to "review" the Mr. Darcies of our time from four main sources and by doing so perhaps start a series of Austen reviews. Of course one has to start with Darcy considering he is, I think with no contest, the most recognized and swooned over hero or character in Austen. This can be debated based on favorites, but as a whole Darcy is the man. We can debate the heroes later (I'm a Tilney gal myself, or Wentworth...or Knightley).

What are to be my Mr. Darcy sources? Pride and Prejudices 1995 (Colin firth), 2005 (Matthew Macfadyen), 2003 (yes, the Mormon one-Orlando Seale) and Lost in Austen 2008 (Elliot Cowan). I have not included the Greta Garbo/Lawrence Olivier P&P because I don't feel I've seen it recently enough to give a fair account. I have included Lost in Austen because it includes all the P&P characters, is I think, one of the best modern Austen interpretations and you can't just ignore Elliot Cowan's scrumptious Darcy.

And so, here we go, in a very particular order starting with none other than the reigning champion of Darciness, Academy Award Winner Colin Firth.

Firth is Darcy. I defy anyone to dispute this. Each Darcy has his special qualities that the others mightn't, but Firth is just Darcy all over. He's got the looks, the height, the hair and the glances and stares. Who doesn't get giddy when Elizabeth goes to turn Georgiana's pages and Darcy looks at her so perfectly? We all pine to be looked at like that.

yup, like this

And of course we can't forget The Lake. I recently watched this version over Thanksgiving and was with quite a throng of 15-30 year olds who all lost it when the music swelled and Darcy busted through the woods.


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As for horse riding, Firth is pretty great and as far as I can tell does all his own horse work. Also, he fences. FENCES! When Elizabeth finds out about Lydia he's so concerned and takes her hand. Ug! He's just so Darcy. I don't really know what else to say! As costumes go he's one of my favorites, second only to a Darcy that's yet to be discussed. Favorite? His green coat with green patterned waistcoat, although I have seen his formal "tux" in person. Yup, jealous?

He only smiles once, and they only kiss once (the only part of Elizabeth and Darcy's stroll at the end I'd change), but both smile and kiss are worth it. Oh Mr. Firth.

Ok, so I have a rather hard time picking my second favorite Darcy, between Macfadyen and Cowan. I don't like Macfadyen's face as well as Cowan's, but I love Macfadyen's beefiness, which isn't to say I don't absolutely adore Cowan's cutness (saw him in Macbeth at the Globe, he is cut)...Which to pick next?! I'd say it's a tie but that will never do. Ok ok ok, don't kill me for picking a Darcy that isn't in the real narrative but...

Elliot Cowan comes in second. I know, I know, Lost in Austen isn't a true telling of P&P and therefore we miss some of Darcy's best Austen written lines, but Cowan explores a completely new take on Darcy and I think successfully so. Also, even though I abhor both of their hair compared to Firth and Seale, I despise Cowan's less. Cowan has his great glances at Amanda and has his own lake scene. Granted there isn't the emotional build up to it like Firth's but in this conversation we return to Cowan's cutness. So so cut, such a thick waist (truth be told Firth is a bit slim for me...). Cowan's voice I like much better than Macfadyen's. True story: the only thing that triggered any recollection of Cowan from Lost in Austen (which I saw about 18 months prior) when I saw Macbeth was his voice and absolutely square jaw.


not the best quality, but I had to take it myself from Netflix to show how absolutely defined and thick he is

Cowan is much more grumbly and scowly than any other Darcy, but he's oh so soft when he needs to be. I didn't like some of his coats, mostly his double breasted ones, mainly his burgundy which is cut too high and shows so much waistcoat. Cowan also has an amazing riding coat (not as great at Macfadyen's). And of course you get the end of the movie smile...sort of.

Now, Matthew Macfadyen. Truth be told I'm not wild about this version in general. The cinematography is stunning, as is the attention to detail in costuming, but the hair and make up was just too distracting, and I don't care for Keira Knightley. However, Macfadyen's own brand of Darcy does redeem it on some counts. Macfadyen plays Darcy as a shy and awkward guy that's rather reluctant to be in society. He'd rather stay home because it's not the less refined he particularly despises, but just having to talk to strangers in general (watch Macfadyen's interview on the DVD).

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His hair is terrible. It just hangs there during the proposal (Darcy should have curly hair!). Macfadyen's main draw for me is his incredible breadth and broadness. He's so large, and we all know I have a thing for beefy men (or you know now).

The above photo shows one of my favorite little moments in the film, next Darcy turns around and almost elbows Collins. Also from this scene we see how broad his shoulders are and how thick his waist is and, look at the cut of his coat! SO fantastic.

Which leads me to another point: I like Macfadyen's costumes the best, probably because I prefer the late 18th century coats more than the double breasted of the later period that the others are set in. His colors are also fresher by the end and go through a very nice palette transformation. AND he's got the best riding coat that billows so greatly in Macfadyen's immense amount of horse riding (although I think they used a stunt double for some of the more rigorous riding, think during Darcy's letter). And lest we forget Darcy's mist scene, this version's answer to The Lake Scene.

thick waist, billowy riding coat

And of course Macfadyen smiles so nicely.

And lastly, Orlando Seale, who is modern Darcy. He's got the accent and the hair and the attitude and some very endearing parts, but he's a rather petite man and you just can't beat the costumes.

Maybe the best hair, which is a miracle considering the rest of the hair in this film is a disaster.

And he smiles.

Project: V&A Lucile 1910s dress

2011-11-30T17:46:00.001-08:00

Do you remember this little number that I'm in LOVE with?

Well, on 11 November Cecile Pelous (page 6), the former first draper at Dior during the best Galliano years, came back to BYU for her third year. She stops by because she's friends with one of my costume professors and she works with students who bring in sketches of what they want to drape. In general if you bring in a really interesting sketch (or in my case my soulmate dress) she'll basically drape it for you. With this dress she had a lot fun (I hope) figuring out the bodice. She went on about how you should really drape in jersey for a dress like this, but it worked out. I learned a lot from watching her and she would have us pin and mark when she went to help other students.

starting with the skirt

the bodice and "sash" are in one piece, the CF really takes a drastic turn to make this happen

Sadly we had to drape on a size bigger than myself because that's the only form we have an arm for.

I did drape the back skirt, so hard, I know.

absolutely every detail needs to be marked bc it's a big fat mess once you take it off the form

DEV is French for CF (center front)

so gratifying and artsy

I have taken the muslin off the form and done the pattern for the bodice and sleeve. It is still a big fat mess. I'm anticipating needing to redrape once the general shape is cut out. I'll post another entry about patterning. I also just got back from the L.A. area and purchased two jerseys from Michael Levine's to do a "mock up" and a final dress. I figure I'll make a dress from the pattern I get then see about scaling it down for my size. Right now I'm just going to make a cocktail length dress bc everything is on the bias and I'm anticipating needing 8-10 yds just for a short dress. Plus, I'm going to struggle to find an occasion to wear it short, where would I ever wear it long? My wedding? yes, but that's awhile off still.

Historically accurate Disney princesses

2011-11-30T08:58:00.001-08:00

I thought after my first time at Disneyland on Monday I'd do a Disney post. I happened upon the article below through a facebook friend a couple of months ago and just absolutely love it. Claire Hummel, an LA-based illustrator, has researched the Disney princesses approximate historical times and has rendered them accordingly. Her illustrations are beautiful and her explanations for each are great and very well educated.It just goes to show how much costume knowledge many disciplines need.

http://flavorwire.com/195401/reinterpreting-disney-princess-costumes-through-a-historical-lens
more current princesses can be seen here...
http://shoomlah.bigcartel.com/

Ms. Hummel has also captured some of my other favorite character...
http://shoomlah.bigcartel.com/product/an-awful-lot-of-running
http://shoomlah.bigcartel.com/product/fish-custard

rules of engagement [photos]

2011-11-28T21:20:00.001-08:00

As a twenty something person surrounded by similarly aged people in a culture that is rampant with marriages I have seen my fair share of engagement photos. These are my rules of engagement photos followed by examples from commercial photography which is allowed to be avant garde bc no one's getting married.

-No touching of stomachs, mostly the lad touching the lass', we needn't be distracted by whether or not we are being invited to a shotgun wedding.
-Both bride and groom need to be fully visible. The biggest violation of this law is 'candid' whispering shots where the groom is being oh so secretive and is completely obscured by the bride.
-No looking pissy. You're getting married, you're in love, even if it's super hipster or trendy to look super pissed at everything the announcement of your intent to marry should not cause your loved ones to walk on eggshells around you.
-No piggy back rides. Groom carrying bride, bride carrying groom (original), this is just dumb and awkard.
-As few props as possible including signs, umbrellas, balloons, flowers etc.
-The photo is not about the ring. Showcasing the engagement ring as the focal point of your photo is tacky and unnecessary. He bought her with a diamond, whoopty doo. If your guests want to see the ring they need to buy you a present and come to the reception.
-Coordinate outfits but don't be matchy matchy. Just look good people.
-Be careful about on the ground/lap poses. These just get dicey when there are too many knees, groins and elbows in a shot.
-Pick a relatively neutral location. Pretty meadow, great. Waterfall, perfect. Abandoned junkyard with a tire fire? Distracting.
and lastly
-ABSOLUTELY NO KISSING. seriously, I mean it.

be very careful about awkward poses.

pissed, not in love and too trendy.

can't see their faces

no kissing!

The morale of the story is that an engagement photos should...
a) show how attractive you and your fiance are (meaning fully visible shots of both w/ normal faces)
b) show that you are in love
c) look great on someone's fridge and not attract negative attention

"look how attractive and in love we are"

appropriate way to showcase the ring b/c the rest of the necessities are present

All in all an engagement photo should look like a Brooks Brother's ad. If you choose to do any of the above shots for a personal collection that's fine, but an engagement photo serves a very specific purpose and therefore should be as simple and straightforward as possible.

favorite picture: Liberty ties

2011-11-27T20:30:00.001-08:00

Michael Levine's in L.A. carries Liberty of London cotton prints for $35/yard that are beautiful. Seeing them yesterday made me remember fondly my trip to Liberty while in London. Martha and I dedicated a whole day to Liberty of London, Savile Row and SOHO. It was one of my favorite and most fondly remembered days.

Here are Liberty of London ties. Great? yes.

favorite picture: vintage dior

2011-11-26T09:31:00.001-08:00

I've had this photo in my cache for ages and am still hopelessly in love with it.
the hat, the waist, the blouse, the make up, the skirt, the jacket (which I'd die to see more of) and just the staging overall. This is one of my dream outfits on a very long list that I need to make for myself.

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My melancholy playlist

2011-11-23T20:44:00.001-08:00

For when you want a good cry.

I'll Be Seeing You-- Rosemary Clooney
Smile-- Nat King Cole
When She Loved Me--Sarah McLachlan
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas--Judy Garland
Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me-- Rosemary Clooney
And So It Goes--Billy Joel
Hallelujah--Rufus Wainwright
Somewhere Over the Rainbow-- Judy Garland
Sentimental Journey--Doris Day
La Vie En Rose-- Edith Piaf
Somewhere--Connie Fisher
I'll Be Home for Christmas-- She & Him
Moon River-- Henry Mancini and his Orchestra
Someone Like You-- Adele
Cavalleria Rusticana, Intermezzo--Pietro Mascagni
Les Avions en Papier--Bruno Coulais, Les Choristes
How Deep is the Ocean-- Ella Fitzgerald

V&A: sculpture gallery, bust with great hair.

2011-11-23T20:00:00.001-08:00

I loved the sculpture galleries in the V&A. They're so bright and long and have beautiful tiled floors. Also a lot of artists sit in the galleries and sketch the sculptures (and me sometimes, I could tell). I took pictures of many of the nudes for figure drawing and many of the busts for hair styles. This was one of my favorites for hairstyles.

trendi: beards

2011-11-22T16:42:00.001-08:00

With two of my very good man friends now sporting beards I thought it an appropriate time to discuss them. Now it might just be that beards have been almost non existent in the last four years of my life, but I find a well trimmed beard rather dashing and distinguished. I personally prefer a shorter beard than one the length of Mr. Beard himself Zach Galifianakis, but his is indeed well trimmed.

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In general these are the characteristics of an ideal beard...

- is of an even consistency aka not mottled or splotchy
- has "the connection" between mustache and beard. While this is not always a necessity it is very much the preference.
- is well trimmed= no neck growth (that's scruff, not beard), no creeping onto the cheeks, well defined beard lines
- is short to medium in length, Mr. Galifianakis is a bit long for me. If your beard has started to curl, it's too long
- is well conditioned: a beard is hair men, it needs to be washed and conditioned appropriately

I realize that an "ideal" beard may be out of the genetic grasp of some men, for this I am sorry, but that was the hand you were dealt.


a bit too long, but wellkempt nonetheless.


Mr. Quinto walks a fine line between beard and scruff. At any rate he's got too much neck growth.


Why yes Mr. Efron, you are beautiful, but you have neither "the connection" nor adequate or consistent coverage.

Mr. Levi, near perfect. Just needs a neck touch up.

Now, while nothing is technically wrong with Prince William's beard he sadly falls into the "just doesn't look good with a beard" category.

Mr. Clooney, perfect.

One more thing, if you have hair other than red and you grow a red beard 5 points. I have a huge soft spot for men with red beards and currently have a mental list of celebrities and friends that grow ginger beards. Want to freak a guy out? If he has red sideburns ask him if he grows a red beard, for some reason they never think that you can tell by their sideburns.

Ginger sideburns...


ginger beard. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that Fassbender dyes his hair and is in reality a ginger.

So, the verdict on beards, Yay oder Nay? Yay when the above rules are adhered to, otherwise NAY! (think Brad Pitt's beards, blech).

Lambert Wilson

2011-11-21T20:24:00.001-08:00

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In the Silver Fox category is Lambert Wilson. The general American public might know him best from the Matrix series and mostly as the bad guy in general, but I was introduced to Monsieur Wilson in Pas sur la Bouche (Not on the Lips) my sophomore year of college. In this charming French musical Monsieur Wilson plays an American that speaks and sings French very badly. He was hilarious! I later saw him in whichever Matrix happened to be on TV about a year later and I just got done watching La princesse de Montpensier (The Princess of Montpensier) which I would only recommend for the costumes and Monsieur Wilson bc other than that it's just another obnoxious movie where all the men are in love with one beautiful but dull woman, also the French love naked women FYI. In Princess Monsieur Wilson plays an absolutely noble to a fault count and only wears delicious black doublets and breeches and the first seven minutes or so is Wilson fighting and riding a horse like he's Russell Crowe. Overall sexy voice, sexy hair, sexy face and FRENCH.

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Also, like our fave Anderson Cooper he had quite the delicious dark locks before his Silver Foxness.

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thbh: bedazzled and bedecked jeans

2011-11-21T09:04:00.001-08:00

As a costume designer I LOVE glitz and glam and any excuse to put sparkle in a show. If you saw BYU's production of Peter Pan you know that Captain Hook is evidence of this. In my personal life however I think that glitz and doo-dads and what nots on clothes should be heavily regulated a la the Coco Chanel rule. It is in this spirit that I abhor the trend of ridiculously decorated blue jeans.

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Things that fall into this category? butt pocket jewels and gems, heavy embroidery, those giant yarn type stitches, whiskering and of course unnecessary holes and fraying, basically anything you can find at the Buckle.


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And sadly this trend is not just in women's jeans.

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I understand that there is a culture of 16 year olds that adore these jeans, mostly everyone in my high school, but I just think for a high functioning adult in a college type or higher atmosphere these jeans have no place in society. Projecting my bias and conservative style views on the world? Most definitely, but that's why it's my blog.

V&A: instruments in the sky!

2011-11-20T11:16:00.001-08:00

I lived in London for 6 weeks between my junior and senior year of college (spring 2010) and studied Shakespeare and theatre there. We had our classes at the Hyde Park chapel which was very close to the Victoria and Albert Museum. To see just how close, here's a link to the Google map of the V&A's general area. See the London Family History Centre on the NW corner of the block the V&A is on? That was my school. Jealous yet? Hopefully needless to say I spent a lot of time at the V&A. The first day of course I spent in the permanent fashion exhibit, then I started going through the entire museum. All told I think it took me about 4 or 5 afternoons to go through every exhibit in the museum. Along the way I looked for any and all costumes and clothing resources and took pictures of all that I was allowed to. Sadly, some/most of my early pictures are rather awful because I didn't know if I could use a flash or not and was too shy to ask so lots of blurry photos of clothes, BUT I did get the hang of it and have ended up with a rather nice collection of more or less detail and wide shots of what I found interesting in the V&A. Honestly, if I lived in London I'd probably go to the V&A more often than the Temple...and I'd need a V&A book budget bc their bookstore is phenomenal.

Anydoctorwho...I went through my V&A photo folder last night and got all teary and nestalgic and decided that I'd share my photos with you! It's hard to pick the first photos to share, and I hope you're not disappointed, but I figured I'd start with two that aren't of costumes. The first is of the outside western facade of the building about a half a block from the main entrance.

Of course dumb me saw the scars from WWII before I saw the sign and thought that something was terribly wrong with whoever was in charge of building maintenance, then I was incredibly moved when I saw this inscription. As an American it's easy to forget that European cities were terrorized during WWII and that the blitz affected London deeply, my beautiful beautiful London.

Next is something I stumbled upon through my meandering and fell in love with. I wasn't smart enough to find and take a picture of the description that goes along with this, but it's pretty self explanatory. These instruments were crushed and hung by basically fishing line above this study room in a perfect plane. It just cracks me up and blows me away. Such a pleasant surprise and one more thing to take my breath away in my favorite museum!

SO much more to come in future entries!

favorite picture: 1930s wedding

2011-11-19T09:37:00.001-08:00

Today's just one of my favorite pictures. Isn't this absolutely fantastic? I mean the VEIL for starters, the dress, the top hat, the morning coat, the French cuffs, the cravat, the bouquet, the gloves, and the background. If I get married in Nebraska this is sure to happen and I will revel in it.