Madame Guillotine

annis · Post by **annis** » Thu May 19th, 2011, 4:37 am

Madame Guillotine's blog is always worth a look, with posts about interesting odds and ends including French fashion and reviews.(A while ago I posted a link to her piece about the rather morbid fashions of the post-Revolutionary period with my review of The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner)

Here's her drool-worthy post about Worth gowns of the late Victorian/early Edwardian period. Delish

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Thu May 19th, 2011, 6:34 am

To Annis thank you for that link it was a fascinating review of macabre fashion during the French Revolution and unfortunately gave me the idea for another novel! Damn, as if I had the time!

Regards Greg

Blogging on the Tudors at http://rednedtudormysteries.blogspot.com/

The Liberties of London- Smashwords The Liberties of London- Amazon Kindle

annis · Post by **annis** » Thu May 19th, 2011, 6:44 am

Sorry about that, Greg! The curse of the plot bunny strikes again

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Thu May 19th, 2011, 7:20 am

Yum! Love the butterfly dress and the ivory one with the apple-green sash and the yellow and lavender flowers. Oh, and the foaming gauze - I've always had a soft spot for foaming gauze. Alas, it has never been in style in my lifetime.

annis · Post by **annis** » Thu May 19th, 2011, 7:04 pm

They're gorgeous, aren't they? I have a soft spot for the red evening dress- very striking.

Although I love her spangled foaming gauze, I can't envy the Empress Elisabeth. The great beauty which made her a favourite Winterhalter subject brought her no happiness and she died quite young, assassinated by a mentally disturbed young anarchist who just wanted to kill a royal- he didn't care which one.

Misfit · Post by **Misfit** » Thu May 19th, 2011, 7:25 pm

I love it when she posts about the old gowns. Gorgeous stuff.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Fri May 20th, 2011, 4:31 am

The assassination of the Empress Elizabeth is an incident in a murder mystery by J. Sydney Jones, The Empty Mirror, which I quite enjoyed (see review). The main focus of the mystery is on Viennese artist Gustav Klimt and the fictional Jewish lawyer who is the sleuth. But there was enough about the Empress and her son, the Crown Prince Rudolf, to make me curious to learn more about them. They were both quite scandalous in their day.

annis · Post by **annis** » Fri May 20th, 2011, 7:22 pm

Empress Elisabeth was a bit of a Princess Diana - married as a young and rather naive girl into a grand family who treated her quite badly (she had the mother-in-law from hell.) Elisabeth became estranged from her husband and reacted in unsuitable ways which made the royal family even more convinced she was a liability. One way she tried to keep control of her life was by slipping into anorexia, though the condition wasn't documented as such then. And of course she died a violent death relatively young.

Margaret · Post by **Margaret** » Sun May 22nd, 2011, 4:51 am

She should be a candidate for the list of historical people who need a good novel written about them!

Alisha Marie Klapheke · Post by **Alisha Marie Klapheke** » Sun May 22nd, 2011, 7:59 pm

Thanks for sharing. I wish we could sometimes wear such lovely things. Perhaps not today though. It's ninety degrees and balmy here...thanks again.

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Madame Guillotine

Madame Guillotine

Revolutionary Fashion