Another Lolita Blog Carnival coord prompt! And despite not
being massively into paintings or painters – I get by with the little I learnt
in school and I recognise probably most of the most famous works – I got very
much into this prompt. So much so that during my work trip to London earlier this
week I specifically went to the National Gallery just to look for inspiration.
I came back with inspiration galore. Even though I only
managed to visit one floor (and not in the most thorough fashion either), I
took loads of photos and it was actually tricky to scale back. However, one
painting spoke to me and I kept going back to it, both specifically for this
coord challenge and in general.
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| You can read the tag on the National Gallery's website. |
Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun’s Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat dates to the late 1700’s, but
somehow feels so contemporary. Its author, also known as Madame Le Brun, was a
portrait painter to Marie Antoinette (couldn’t have picked a more lolita painter if I tried, could I?) and after looking up some of her other works,
they all capture me just as much as this one. The way she paints people looking
directly at the viewer commands attention, but also makes the subjects, particularly
women, more human to us, like friends. It’s like looking onto a photograph
rather than a painting and feeling that connection with the past – which in
this case is further aided by Madame Le Brun’s clothes being simpler, a little
less Rococo and a little more Neoclassical, which feel more modern and less
historical.
As I was inspired to create a coord that would mirror this
particular outfit, I could only achieve that by doing a collage, since I don’t own any pink main pieces. And since I
wanted to use specific pieces, this involved using stock photos and other ones
that I had simply found online, rather than the neat and easily collage-able
Wunderwelt pictures, so apologies if the quality of this is much lower than
what you’re used to.
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| | Innocent World Boat Neck Tuck Flare OP | BtSSB Mon Chouchou Hermitage tights | Triple Fortune hat | Peppermint Fox Explorer's Journal Snow-in-Summer Frame brooch | Iris Corolla Marie Antoinette Version A shoes | |
Although I know that there are loads of lolita dresses with
similar styles to the one pictured in Madame Le Brun’s self-portrait, I decided
to go with this Innocent World OP. Not only does it give the overall outfit a
more modern, lolita feeling – it also seems like something Madame Le Brun would
have worn nowadays. As a painter, she would have been aware of staining clothes and white
laces and cuffs getting in the way. This OP is 100% polyester, this making it easier to care for and remove stains off of, if need be. It’s simple and
practical, yet feminine and with nods to the original (such as more neckline on show
than in most lolita dresses).
The hat is the next important aspect, since it’s one of the
few items of clothing we see Madame Le Brun wear in her self-portrait. I was
immediately drawn to Triple Fortune’s Rococo hats, which may be a bit more
extravagant than what the painter is wearing, but evokes that historical feel perfectly and
works better with lolita fashion in terms of balance. The shape of this
particular one is also evocative of the one on the painting, and it also features a feather. So even if it is more pink, it works well in terms of it
being a lolita outfit, whilst retaining that nod to the original.
Now, we only see Madame Le Brun from the waist up. We know
that her dress would’ve been floor length and that she probably would’ve had
light stockings and shoes from the period, but that doesn’t necessarily make
for the most exciting lolita coordinate. However, as my trip to the National
Gallery has taught me, paintings are extremely heavy with symbolism. One of my
favourite classic lolita looks is contrasting simple, non-printed dresses with
bold patterned tights. Those here would both balance out the big hat, as well
as symbolise the painting-inspired nature of this whole outfit, since they feature
frames. However, I did pick a more Rococo-esque heel to tie in with the Rococo
hat. Let’s ignore the fact that these pinks probably don’t match.
Last but not least, although the painting only shows
earrings, I would add a frame brooch as an accessory as well as a further, less
subtle hint at the painting theme. Peppermint Fox have had some truly stunning
ones and I feel that one like this reflects both the frames on the tights and
the flowers in the hat, balancing the whole outfit. Having said this, you don’t have to be extremely crafty to create a painting frame brooch and I think it’d be great to have one with one of Madame Le Brun’s own works in it. Because symbolism is like Inception: we need to go deeper. A brooch like this could probably hold that black shawl in place, which I left out of the coordinate for collage layout reasons.
I keep looking back at the coordinate and the collage and am pretty happy with the result. Especially considering how until Tuesday I literally didn’t have a clue that this painting even existed. My trip to the National Gallery also taught me that when looking at paintings I tend to be most drawn to bold colours (extra points for gold and for realistic portrayal of fabric textures on rich garments) or to portraits with energy (like in photography). That and still nature, for whatever reason. So I’m pretty proud of myself for having been able to find just the right painting for this prompt and put something together just in time. I hope that you like it.
And of course make sure to check out what the other participating bloggers have created for this prompt challenge!
A good choice, I am big fan of Le Brun, and she can mix skin colours as very few, and not only that, she used quality pigments, that doesn't fade much, unlike many artists of the time, so they are just as bright as they were painted! She were more than Marie Antoinette's painter, she potrayed a huge chunk of the European aristrocrancy and elite. A thing I would add, would be a lace shawl or scarf, as it is she wear in the potrait.
ReplyDeleteThat is fascinating to know that not everyone used quality pigments. Given that painting (not sketching, but actual painting) was still reserved for those in better material circumstances, you would think that all painters would've gone for the better stuff. Though I guess if you're only just about affluent enough to afford to paint, you probably would go for slightly cheaper materials just to be able to do it. I didn't want to overcrowd this post with Le Brun's story, though it was really interesting when I was reading up on her and to how many places she's been. The portraits she painted in Russia were particularly stunning, I would happily hang them on my own walls. And like I said, I didn't have space to squeeze the shawl in without making the collage look lopsided. (That's also why I love using Wunderwelt's stock pictures, you can add more things whilst still keeping the overall collage neat - it's much harded when you're working with different stock photo sizes.)
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