A BIT OF LUXURY

THE marquise de la Tour du Pin worked as a plain farm woman in the US and, selling her own butter, added a touch of French finesse in the package by using the family monogram and a fine wrapping cloth!

Lucie de la Tour du Pin was a famous blonde French beauty, and a maid of honor to Marie Antoinette. Lucie and her husband had to flee France during the terror. They went to the US, where they bought a homestead. The husband did not adjust too well, but Lucie loved her new home. She worked, dressed plainly, and never put on aristocratic airs; this earned her the respect of her neighbors. Lucie had excellent relations with the Native Americans too, and was especially proud of her dairy. The aforementioned touch of luxury made her butter particularly popular!

I think women have, historically, been able to make a living through the business of luxury and pampering. Helena Rubinstein, for example, started her business by selling much-needed facial cream to the women of a remote Australian town. Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder also built empires on the business of luxury and beauty.

Traditionally, we women have been accused of love for luxury. In the Victorian era, a woman had to be modest; love of luxury brought ruin to her husband. I think that this accusation, which still exists today, is totally unfair. No husband was ever ruined by his wife's love of luxury: normally, business men or professionals are ruined through their own ill-thought manoeuvres. 

Plus, if we like a bit of luxury, what of it? We give birth to humankind -- I think we are entitled to indulge ourselves as much as possible under the circumstances.

The best thing is to be able to afford to buy yourself luxury! However, I wouldn't mind to have a Christian Grey buy some luxury for me! :-)

THE LIPSTICK PAPERS WEEKEND REVIEW

HELLO and welcome to The Lipstick Papers Weekend Review! Tonight we got the book Victorian Fashion Accessories by Ariel Beaujot!

This is a lovely book, which makes an in-depth study into four Victorian fashion accessories: the glove, fan, parasol and vanity set. Spanning the period from 1830 to 1920, the book also examines Victorian fashion and Victorian notions of luxury.

The purpose of Victorian Fashion Accessories is not only to study Victorian fashion, but also to inquire into how fashion helped women "create a sense of who they were", and "how they experienced gender, class, and race in the Victorian period".

This is because the Victorian is the period which developed fashion as we know it today, in the sense of fashion shows, shopping and advertisements in magazines. Fashion became cheaper and widely available and was thus democratized; a great Victorian worry was that "low class" women could pass for women of the middle and upper classes (a horrible prejudice to our modern ears). 

On the other hand, clothes (quality, for instance) could also be a class marker. Beaujot examines this link between fashion and class ideology; with gloves, for example, a fine and white hand denoted middle- and upper-class. The three parts of the vanity set (brush, mirror and comb) were essential in maintaining and signifying  a middle-class respectable appearance.

Another of the book's pros is that it contains numerous Victorian illustrations, pictures, advertisements, and even photographs.

I love this book, and I would totally recommend! It makes great reading for anyone interested in the Victorian period, the history of fashion, the history of beauty and history in general!

Have a great Sunday evening, always with beauty and a book! xxx

THE MINNIE MOUSE JOURNAL
The other day, I was surprised to notice that I have been writing in my book journal for two years! In fact, I started a book journal a decade ago, using a lovely, large book journal I bought from Waterstones in Exeter, UK! (My love for Waterstones book stores is well known). I wrote for many years in that journal, and I have now saved it on a bookshelf. The new journal is the Minnie Mouse teNeues Green Journal, and I love it very much! It hosts book reviews, plot ideas for my novels, clippings of pretty things and my own drawings!

So I was surprised to see that the first entry in the Minnie Mouse dates March 2013. How time flies!

Have a great afternoon and see you all soon for The Lipstick Papersweekend review! xxx

BUT YOUR LIPS ARE VENOMOUS POISON

THE POISON Romeo takes to kill himself in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliette is monkshood, which was also widely used to treat symptoms of malaria!

A number of poisons are medicines also, if used carefully and with measure. Foxglove is an excellent medicine for the heart, but it is also deadly. Henbane is a painkiller, but can kill an entire human being too. Belladonna (Amaryllis, Αμαρυλλίς in Greek, I think) is poisonous and known as "deadly nightshade", but can also be used in treating asthma and rheumatism!

Apart from our beloved Romeo, another user of poisons and chemicals in literature is evil Count Fosco in The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins's famous sensation novel. Fosco is an expert in chemistry, poisons and drugs, and has a huge monologue in the book, where he tells us that, (a) there is nothing chemistry cannot do, and, (b) we should count ourselves lucky that chemists are nice people -- if they set their mind to it, they could poison us all with great ease.

Though he is abominable, Count Fosco reflects Victorian fascination with the power of science (the Victorian was the age that gave us the literary genre of science fiction). Moreover, the Count stands for the sensation fiction's attention to the evil that lurks behind someone seemingly cultivated and respectable.

Romeo and Juliette belongs to a different age, and has a different theme. It is all about the power of love, and how old and narrow minds and attitudes can destroy the beautiful and the new. 

Have a good afternoon for mid-week! :-)

THE MERMAID POSES A QUESTION

ALEXANDER the Great, the legendary Greek king, had, according to legend, a mermaid sister! Again according to legend, the mermaid sister is immortal and you can still meet her in the open sea.

When she encounters a human boat or ship, the mermaid poses a question. "Is King Alexander still alive"? If the sailors or captain reply, "Yes, he lives, prospers and is still King," (ζει και βασιλεύει), the mermaid will make a calm sea and the journey will be safe. If the sailors or captain reply, "King Alexander? He's dead," the mermaid will cause a terrible storm, and everyone will drown.

I read this story years ago, and I don't remember now very well how Alexander ended up with a mermaid for a sister. However, the most important thing, I believe, is to know the right answer to the question. It's not at all improbable to meet the mermaid one day on the high seas!

Have a good afternoon and be well! xxx

THE LIPSTICK PAPERS WEEKEND REVIEW

HELLO and welcome to The Lipstick Papers Weekend Review! Tonight we have The Victorian Governess by Kathryn Hughes!

The governess was an important figure in middle- and upper-class life in the 19th century. Many children from those classes were home-schooled, especially girls; the home teacher was one of the few professions allowed to women.

To be a governess was tough, as the work was hard and a lot depended on the kind of family the governess would find herself in. Sometimes conditions would be ideal, as in Jane Eyre. Even so, the governess herself had to be strong and ready to teach and deal with young children. Jane is an excellent teacher, and has a tender relationship with her pupil, Adele. In Agnes Grey, Anne Bronte's horrid first novel, I totally disagree with the few critics who have bothered to look at the book. These critics all pity Agnes for the problems she has as governess -- yet the truth is that Agnes is in no way fit for the teaching profession. Simply, she can't teach and has no talent with children.

The Victorian Governess is a great book for anyone interested in the figure and life conditions of the home-teacher. It provides excellent historical research and all the necessary information, together with original photographs and illustrations. Moreover, the book is well-written and easy to follow, covering everything about the governess's life, from social context to appearance, from real-life diaries to the presence of the governess in literature.

I used this book in my PhD study, and it is definitely appropriate for any student or researcher writing on education and professions for women in the 19th century. Also, I think it is good for anyone from the lay public who likes history books.

Have a good night, always with beauty and a book! xxx

THE ARTIST/MODEL DYAD

BEING an admirer of Lizzie Siddal, I found and read her letters -- they are available online, I think in LizzieSiddal.com. It is there I found a description of the weird 19th century French procedure for receiving money sent from abroad!

Lizzie had gone to visit France and, being out of funds, she wrote to her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti to ask for money, which he duly sent. She wrote back to confirm that she had received the money, describing the official process by which this was done.

First, Lizzie had to go to the local post office, and take the letter containing the money. Then she went to the police to report this. There, she had to spend A FEW HOURS IN JAIL, before finally the money was given back to her and she could walk out.

I found this hilarious, though I am sure it was highly uncomfortable and unpleasant for travelers!

Lizzie was a famous 19th century artist's model, and an artist herself. The picture above is her self-portrait. If you think that she is not too beautiful, have a look at how she was painted as Ophelia by John Everett Millais (her most famous portrait). The Pre-Raphaelites were not interested in classically beautiful women, or pretty women. They liked unusual women.

Though the Pre-Raphaelites called themselves a brotherhood, there were women in the movement as well, including Lizzie herself, Jane Morris, Christina Rossetti (Dante's famous sister), Emma Sandys, and others!

Despite her tragic life, Lizzie was an artist and a poet, who is now being rediscovered by feminist scholars. 

For me, Siddal looks like Kate Moss, especially in the Ophelia painting. I find her fascinating and mysterious. Most of all, Lizzie intrigues me because she straddles the notorious object/ subject, artist/model dyad.

Have a good Saturday evening, and see you all tomorrow for The Lipstick Papers Weekend Review! xxx

EXCITING AND EXOTIC

I HAVE started reading the Voyage of the Beagle, which is the Penguin edition of Charles Darwin's journal of his famous and life-changing journey to the Galapagos islands!

Opening the book, I thought, "this is certainly one place where I will not find references to women's fashion". Darwin was in the totally masculinized environment of a ship for five years, with only sailors and the captain for company -- right?

You can imagine my surprise, when I find a passage on women's fashion right on the second page! The journal begins on an island in Cape Verde, and Darwin writes admiringly of some village women's beauty! He was impressed also by the beauty of their white clothes, which contrasted marvelously with the ebony of their skin!

The journal promises to be exciting and exotic, and I will keep you posted. I hope for more references to fashion!

Have a beautiful time for mid-week! xxx

THE SONGS OF SPRING

THOUGH it was chilly, I left the window open while I cleaned tonight -- spring is in the air! 

I love summer, but there is nothing like the smell of spring in March. Spring is coming, she may be already here! "The songs of spring," my beloved John Keats called it <3

Being a nocturnal person, I do most of my work during the night. So far tonight I have done: house-cleaning, clothes folding, my teaching notes. And I still got: teaching notes (to finish), dish-washing, laundry.

Yet spring is in the air, and nothing can beat this. In the winter, I am in hybernation; now I have started to wake up. 

Enjoy the springtime -- it only comes once a year!

THOUGHTS ON DICKENS

I ALWAYS love to read the scene which introduces Mrs Rouncewell, in Bleak House by Charles Dickens! Mrs Rouncewell is housekeeper to the manor house of Lord and Lady Deadlock; she started working there as soon as her husband died years ago.

I am not sure why I love the scene so much. Maybe it is because it is so full of Victorian notions and ideas (and I am a Victorianist by training). Maybe it is because Mrs Rouncewell is so essentially reassuring and good. Most importantly, I love Dickens's assertion that Lord Deadlock respected his employee housekeeper so much that, if he ever found himself in a compromising situation, he would ask for Mrs Rouncewell to be brought to him and she would make things right again, and restore Lord Deadlock's dignity.

Many "good" characters in novels are not very well designed; eventually, we tend to lose interest in them, or simply dislike them outright. I think some goody characters in Oliver Twist are like that, also I can add Pauline in Charlotte Bronte's Villette (I hate her personally: if she is good, please give me BAD), Agnes in Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte (ditto), Fanny in Mansfield Park -- it's a long list!

Mrs Rouncewell is not like this. Dickens took care to make her essentially honest and good, but also believable and close to reality.

Reading the scene I mentioned in Bleak House always makes me feel content and at ease. It's part of the magic of books, the magic of words and, also, the magic of Charles Dickens!

Have a beautiful start to the week :-)