Macabre Mondays/Tableau Tuesdays - Draw This Dress and More

Please note that all artwork shown in this article is the intellectual property of Misses Carroll and Bee, and is used here fully crediting them as the creators thereof.

I recently stumbled onto a very, very interesting Tumblr: Draw This Dress, where the incredibly talented duo of Emily Carroll and Vera Bee get together and draw beautiful garments from bygone eras. Here are some examples:

Stunning. It's one of those things that just turns me green with envy at the sheer talent of these women, but I'm sure you're wondering why I called this "Macabre Monday" if I was just going to show you a bunch of pretty dresses - well, I'll get to that soon enough. If you have the time, also check out the sites they used for reference, such as Ye Olde Fashion or OMG! That Dress!. They have tons of amazing vintage and antique clothing for you to ogle, drool over, put into your swipe files, or what have you.

Like This one.

Or this one.

Or this one!

OR THIS ONE!!!

Vera Bee's website contains lots of beautiful artwork and a rather bizarre animation, but it was Emily Carroll's site that really dragged me down the rabbit hole of the macabre. Most of you are probably familiar with fairy tales, and because of movies like The Brothers Grimm or television shows like Once Upon a Time many of you will probably be familiar with the much darker origin of the fairy tale; stories told to young children to basically scare them into behaving. These were the original Goosebumps.

Wait for it. Here comes the macabre. If you know about these uber-macabre stories (for instance, how the Little Mermaid actually tries to stab her prince, or how Sleeping Beauty's mother-in-law was actually an Ogress who repeatedly tries to eat her grandchildren), and still enjoy them, I strongly encourage you to check out the Comics page on Carroll's website. However, these are not for the faint of heart or stomach. You have been warned. Check out Carroll's amazing comics here. Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Food For Thought - Beyoncé's "Countdown"

It seems that Mrs. Beyoncé Knowles-Z has decided that her entire career is going to be dedicated to providing fodder for my blog posts. I don't have a problem with that, I'm just sayin'... This time it's her new video for Countdown:

For me, the most obvious inspiration is right here:

Yes, everyone remembers that famous Gap commercial that features Audrey Hepburn dancing (but not wearing Gap clothing). Fewer people remember where that footage of Ms. Hepburn came from:

That dance comes from Funny Face, one of my all-time favorite movies, and clearly also one of Beyonce's, as she's drawn inspiration from it before. The outfits of the musicians match those of Hepburn's backup dancers, and even the layout of the bandstand shots mimics that of the nightclub set from the movie. The dancing, however, doesn't match. It clearly took me too long to write this article because just in the week or so since I began researching this article, there has been an explosion of press regarding similarities between "Countdown" and the choreography of Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. To see a side-by-side comparison of De Keersmaeker and the music video, click here.

"Achterland", left, "Countdown", right.

Left and right, Beyoncé is being accused of stealing the choreography from De Keersmaeker. So much so that Knowles decided to release an alternate version of the video that excluded all of the controversial footage. Even De Keersmaeker herself had some things to say  about the music video, though she seems kinder than most. This is similar to the criticism rained down on Lady Gaga every time she does anything that even remotely resembles anything Madonna has done. Because Madonna has never, ever imitated anyone herself, right?

Right?

If you're like me, you were incessantly lectured about plagiarism in school (if you're really like me, you worries about being accused of plagiarizing even after taking every precaution to avoid it). What were the things we were told to do to ensure we weren't plagiarizing someone else's work?

• Re-write the information in your own words.
• Use multiple sources.
• Credit the author(s) of the work.

Knowles has done all but one of those things- she took the parts of the dances she liked and changed the context; she set it to different music and put different bits of the choreography together. De Keersmaeker has pointed out that even though they are performing the same dance, what Knowles and her dancers are doing is distinct from the films they mimic because of their context:

"In the 1980s, this was seen as a statement of girl power, based on assuming a feminine stance on sexual expression. I was often asked then if it was feminist. Now that I see Beyoncé dancing it, I find it pleasant but I don’t see any edge to it. It’s seductive in an entertaining consumerist way."

"Countdown", left. "Rosas danst Rosas", right.

Knowles also took inspiration from all kinds of other sources: Op art, Pop art, Mary Quant, Whtiney Houston... even Gap commercials! All of these things together created a unique work that is separate from all of its inspirations yet tied to them at the same time.

Now, I do believe Knowles and her team should have credited De Keersmaeker since they did borrow so heavily (and directly) from her, especially since they credited Boyz II Men after sampling from their song "Uhh, Ahh". However, according to a GQ interview with the video's director, Andria Petty, it was the team's intention to credit her but they overlooked this due to the tight deadline.

Can you say Andy Warhol?

This isn't the first time Knowles has borrowed heavily from others, nor will it be the last. This is also not the first time this sort of happened in the music video industry, nor in the music industry at large. Paula Abdul's "Rush Rush" is basically "Rebel Without a Cause", and Madonna's "Express Yourself" is basically "Metropolis". Music sampling has existed for decades. "Ice Ice Baby" sampled from "Under Pressure", "Rapper's Delight" sampled from "Good Times", "U Can't Touch This" sampled from "Super Freak"... The list goes on and on... If artists can't borrow from each other or imitate or build upon the work of others, then art cannot advance.

Knowles in Thierry Mugler

In addition, Beyoncé used the choreography to a different end than De Keersmaeker. The original footage was a work of choreography. It was a dance film. Knowles was presenting a video for her song. She was not presenting a dance, she was presenting a music video.

Finally, I think this whole climate of ideas as property contributes to rise of dangerous legislation such as CISPA. If we continue to consider artistic ideas as property in every context then we will be left with major corporations holding a monopoly on creativity because they're the only ones with the money to consistently defend "their" properties. We need to chill out about these kinds of things and start worrying about bigger problems.

Hope I haven't completely chewed off your ears!

Historic Lols

I'm sure you've all heard of 'lolcats' by now: those infamous pictures of cats with humorous captions. Well, some of you may not know that besides lolcats there are many other internet "memes", as they are called. Among these are vintage and antique images with funny captions, collected here in "Historic Lols". Here are a few examples:

Hope you have a weekend full of "lols"!

On the Third Day of Christmas...

The more erudite among you will definitely enjoy today's "12 'isms' of Christmas". The less erudite will probably have to look up most of these , along with the meaning of the word "erudite". I'm just teasing - I actually had to look up a few of these myself:

(Just FYI this video does contain some strong language)


As your gift for today, I'll add an "ism" to that list: Symbolism. Hands-down, my favorite artist of this movement is Gustav Klimt. The following are photographs from "AE" magazine, via Kattaca (who I believe did the Art Direction for this shoot) on Behance Network. Click the image to see the rest of the photo shoot. They are absolutely stunning.

Klimt's original

The stunning photographic take (click for more)

Fuck you!
Nostalgically Yours

A Whole New Look

I'm sure you've noticed the complete over-haul to my blog. I'm still trying to make a few tweaks, but I think I'll be able to stick to this look for quite some time. I just hate stumbling upon blogs that look exactly like mine... So, I've customized my blog even more.

I must give credit where credit is due, though - the illustration I've used as my new header is by famed Illustrator Rene Gruau. He's one of my favorite Illustrators of the 20th century, and I didn't even know it until I realized how many of the fashion drawings of the 50s and 60s I've admired for years and years. He's even influenced my own illustration work. Here is a sample of his work, followed by some of my drawings following his lead:

Probably his most famous illustration

He even dappled in menswear... sort of.

Finally, here are some of my illustrations inspired by Gruau's work:

Velvet and Sequins

Leather and Suede

Lace

Now onto a bit of administrative stuff. I'm not going to post again until next week. I have final projects due Tuesday so I'll probably prepare some stuff for Monday so I don't have to skip it again. School ends on the 18th, but the family comes in four days later for Christmas, which means my house is going to be bedlam until the 31st. I'm really going to try my hardest to post lots of interesting stuff over the holidays, but I'm not making any promises. Besides, I'm sure most of you will be too busy with your own lives to read my little 'ol blog. In any case, we shall see each other multiple times before the end of the year.

Nostalgically Yours

The Young Victoria - Nostalgic Film Review

I don't consider this review to contain "spoilers" because the historical people and events this film is based on are common knowledge. If you do not wish to know what happens in the movie, you can skip the synopsis.

I have only recently discovered the wonders of Netflix, and I've created a sizable dent in their classic film collection since I joined a few nights ago. The first film I watched was "The Young Victoria".

Emily Blunt plays Alexandrina Victoria

Unlike the young, inexperienced queen seen in this film, most probably remember HRM Victoria as the dowdy and somewhat cross-looking widow Queen of England, whom you learned about in history class:

HRM Queen Victoria on her Golden Jubilee

The story begins with an overview of Victoria's youth, oppressed by her position as the only living heir to the throne. Her day-to-day life is completely controlled by a set of strict rules - called the "Kensington System" - designed to keep her safe but ultimately extreme in nature. The young heiress presumptive was not even allowed to go up or down stairs without holding the hand of a servant or companion.

Victoria exchanges sideways glances with Sir John Conroy (Mark Strong), who helped her mother, The Duchess of Kent (Miranda Richardson, in green) develop the Kensington System. He was also allegedly her lover.

Victoria's 18th birthday arrives and a Regency is avoided, just in time for the death of King William IV a few short months later. Just like that, the young woman found herself queen. In the midst of political intrigue involving questionable advice from Lord Melbourne (then Prime Minister of Parliament), and her family vying for political favor, she is introduced to Prince Albert of Germany. The connection was almost instant, and historically genuine, which makes this film all the more compelling.

Blunt and Friend as the infectiously charming Royal Couple.

Both Emily Blunt ("The Devil Wears Prada", "Sunshine Cleaning") and Rupert Friend (The hunky military officer from "Pride and Prejudice") did an excellent job portraying the Royal couple. The entire cast played out the time period very well, avoiding the somewhat contrived period settings in some movies. Screenwriter Julian Fellows is known for creating authentic but natural period dialog - he also wrote the screenplays for "Gosford Park" and "Vanity Fair". My only complaint regarding the authenticity of the film has to do with the scene in which Victoria goes to inspect the "newly-built" Buckingham Palace. Well, the palace looked pretty much as it does today. I would have liked to see some digital magic to make the stone walls look new.

Blunt wears a fabulous suit in this scene. I also love the top hat!

Needless to say, the costumes were phenomenal. Sandy Powell ("The Other Boleyn Girl", "The Aviator", "Shakespeare in Love") won a BAFTA award for her designs - I've found rare concept art for the costumes in the film. Finding these is always one of my favorite things. I've shared some of them below.

All credit for this work goes to Sandy Powell and/or her illustrators. These images are not my work and are used here for educational purposes and not for profit.

The character of Queen Victoria is an easy subject to lend interest to, since she has so much draw already. Aside from her role as Queen, Victoria singlehandedly shaped the fashions of the later 19th century. When she married Albert in 1840, she wore a white gown. This seems quite normal to us, but at this time the white wedding gown was not the norm. Women wore a variety of colors to their weddings. Victoria's choice of color, though, suddenly became the most popular choice for the nobility and now is the traditional wedding color.

Victoria and Albert's wedding, painted by Sir George Hayter

She and the Prince Regent worked to draw attention to the working and living conditions of the lower classes, and the more "sober" fashions of the 1840s onward reflect this move from romantic idealism to realism. Hemlines dropped back to the floor and long sleeves and high collars became commonplace. Furthermore, when Albert died in 1861, she entered a state of mourning that she would keep until her death. Her black, modest wardrobe influenced Victorian English fashions and lifestyles. If you think the English are sober now, imagine what they were like under a widowed queen.

Victoria with three of her grand-daughters. I can't imagine spending time with her as a child would have been much fun...

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of the costume drama genre. It is also a greatly romantic film, but without the excess of mush that some of these period films have. The story and dialog are light and genuine, despite the often tense political and relational conflicts going on on-screen. A+!

From left to right: Paul Bettany as Lord Melbourne, Richardson, Blunt, Friend, and Jim Broadbent as King William IV

God save the Emily Blunt!
Nostalgically Yours