All posts tagged: 1890s

Friday Reads: The Prisoner of Zenda

OK, first off, I need to start this post with a confession. I found out about the Prisoner of Zenda from a comment on this blog. Yes, up until a few months ago I had never heard of it. I don’t know how I (historical literature obsessed freak that I am) managed to miss it. It’s had eight film adaptions after all, launched an entire literary genre (the Ruritanian romance) and added the term ‘Ruritanian’ to our language! Once I realised the dreadful gap in my literary knowledge, I was determined to fix it. No luck at the Wellington Public Library, no luck in any bookstore I popped in to in NZ. And then, in a secondhand bookstore just down the street from ThreadDen in Melbourne – success! And, best of all, it was the only book in the shop that wasn’t Au$20 (really, I thought that books were exorbitantly expensive in NZ, but Oz is even worse!). So, here is my copy of The Prisoner of Zenda, read from cover to cover …

Poppies for young women

Published by The Dreamstress

Today is ANZAC day, the anniversary of the first major NZ and AU action during WWI. Everywhere across New Zealand, Australia, and some of the rest of the Pacific, people will have little poppies pinned to their lapels in memory of those who served, and those who dies. Remember what happened, so that we never again let ourselves be led into a situation where such a tragic loss of life becomes inevitable.

Rate the dress: Fretwork evening gown, 1893

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week’s very red mid-18th century Rate the Dress was awash with confusion. Was Mr Howard really that round and pink? Or did Batoni have it in for his unfortunate sitter? Or was Batoni really quite kind in his painting, indicating that Mr Howard was even rounder and pinker in real life? I am surprised that no one brought up that roundness and pinkness were actually rather admired attributes in the mid 18th century! Perhaps Batoni made him rounder and pinker than usual, and flattered him. But that still left the mystery of why his suit was so very, overwhelmingly, red. Was it supposed to evoke a military uniform? The biggest mystery of all: what was that thing across his crotch? Despite this, red and 18th century most always win out, bringing in a reasonable 6.8 out of 10. Last week I picked red to contrast with the dull colours of the week before. Why this week’s Rate the Dress? Well, I’m in Melbourne, and all the houses in Melbourne are decorated with this amazing …