18th Century Fashion

A few days ago I was browsing the web page of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I came across their gorgeous section of costume history. I've spent literally hours looking through pages with countless costumes dating from different historical periods. I was amazed by the beautiful materials and gorgeous embroideries of the dresses. I even made different scenarios in my head of countesses and duchesses sweeping the floors of their magnificent mansions with their beautiful and elegant attire. So silly, I know, but I must confess that I've never seen such fantastic creations in my life, and while I'm sure that they were not the most comfortable clothes to wear, they looked simply stunning.

Therefore, I decided to share with you a selection of costumes dating from the 18th, 19th and early 20th century. I'm sure you will understand why I'm so mesmerised after you are going to see them :)

So, today's post is all about 18th century fashion (I have a ginormous number of pictures and this is why I've decided to split them into three posts). Enjoy!

Robe à la Français (1760–70), made of silk and cotton

The description provided by the Met: "Women with coquettish airs were imposing in robes à la française and robes à l'anglaise throughout the period between 1720 and 1780. The robe à la française was derived from the loose negligee sacque dress of the earlier part of the century, which was pleated from the shoulders at the front at the back. The wide skirts, which were often open at the front to expose a highly decorated underskirt, were supported by panniers created from padding and hoops of different materials such as cane, baleen or metal. The robes à la française are renowned for the beauty of their textiles, the cut of the back employing box pleats and skirt decorations, known as robings, which showed endless imagination and variety."

Robe à la Française (1765) made of silk

French dress  (1775), made of silk.

These three dresses are my favourite ones...just look at those patterns and colours. Stunning!

Robes à la Française (1770), made of silk

 

Robe à la Française (1770) made of silk

Robe à la Française(1750–75), made of silk

French Dress (1750–75) made of cotton

Robe à l'Anglaise (1770–75), made of silk and metal

      Description:  "The robe à l'anglaise developed with a fitted back after the style of dress worn in England.They are renowned for the beauty of their textiles and the meticulous fit of their bodice back."

Robes à la Polonaise (1780), made of silk

Robes à la Polonaise (1780-85) made of silk de chine with hand-painted multicolored floral sprays

Description: "The polonaise gown first came into fashion in the 1770s. It was a style of gown with a close-fitting bodice and the back of the skirt gathered up into three separate puffed sections to reveal the petticoat below. The method of suspending the fabric varied. Most often the dress had rows of little rings sewn inside the skirt through which a cord ran from hem to waist. Alternatively, ribbon ties would be used, with the ribbons forming decorative bows. However, in some instances the skirt was held in place by simple cords sewn to the inner waist of the dress and looped over buttons attached to the outside waistline."

That's it for part one. I really hope you liked the dresses and this type of posts :) Stay tuned for the next post about 19th century dresses.

Kisses x

18th Century Paintings

Many of you may or may not know that I love history. I think it is absolutely fascinating...Yep, I'm a history geek :)) I bet you didn't see that coming, did you? Basically everything history related attracts me, whether it's a book, a film, a TV show, a documentary, you name it.

My favourite historical period, besides antiquity, is the 18th century and the historical figures whom I admire the most are Henry VIII, Elisabeth I, Louis the XIV and Marie Antoinette. I actually have a little obsession with Marie Antoinette and 18th century France. I believe she was a fascinating character who was and still is misinterpreted and misunderstood. As for France, there never was a people more sophisticated and elegant than the French. For me, both England and France have the most fascinating histories and I most enjoy  reading about these two great nations. If you are interested, you can check Madame Guillotine's beautiful blog, which is amazing and has the most interesting posts about Marie Antoinette and about different historical events and personalities.

Soooo, today, as the title of the post suggests, I want to show you some of my favourite 18th century paintings. What's with these type of posts you might ask? Well, on the one hand I just wanted to write about something different and on the other hand I thought I could share with you my passion for art and history.

I'm going to start with my favourite painting, which is one of the most beautiful portrayals of the queen Marie Antoinette.

Marie Antoinette with the Rose by Elisabeth Vigée Le Brun (1783)

Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire painted by Thomas Gainsborough

The Swing painted by Jean-Honoré Fragonard in 1767

Love Letter painted by Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1770)

Both paintings depict Madame de Pompadour painted by François Boucher

Carl Herpfer, The Love Missive

Self-Portrait with a Harp, Rose-Adélaïde Ducreux (1790)

And last but not least, since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, here is one of the most romantic paintings in my opinion:



Romeo and Juliet by Frank Bernard Dicksee (1884)

That's it for today. I hope you've enjoyed this selection of my favourite paintings from the 18th century. Be sure to check my next post because you will no doubt love it!

Just....plain random

Hello boys and girls! I hoped you had a pleasant weekend somewhere warm and sunny. It's snowing in my beloved Bucharest....again! For the 100th time in the past 3 weeks!!! I'm so fed up with all the cold and snow (yes, I know I'm moaning again about the weather but it's absolutely horrible). For the past weeks the word "style" is not in my vocabulary anymore. All I've been wearing lately are Uggs and jumpers since it is impossible to wear something else given the circumstances. I'm so bored to wear the same stuff over and over again while my beloved shirts, dresses and boots are resting in my closet. Damn you crappy weather!

Sorry guys, but I had to get that out of my system :)) Since OOTDs are out of the question because there's nothing interesting about Uggs and jumpers, I must bore you with a random post about Ikea. I was looking for some decorations and since I had nothing better do do at home or anywhere else, I decided to browse the store a bit. I fell madly in love with some bedroom furniture and a vanity table but since at the moment I don't have where to store any of them, all I can do is dream about my perfect house where I can cram everything I want :)

Gorgeous! The perfect bedroom :)

This is the vanity I've fallen in love with. So simple and elegant

 Even in Ikea, there were hearts everywhere :))

This is a lace dress I've found over at Peek & Cloppenburg. I don't know whether to buy it or not...my bf said it looked like a drapery :)) But I still like it a lot. Any advice?

So these were today's highlights. Yesterday I've browsed all day the web page of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and I've found some beautiful and interesting things. This is why my next few posts are going to be rather different from the usual ones. I'm going to surprise you with something truly beautiful and amazing.

Take care x

Benefit erase paste & some bits and bobs

Not only it's weekend but I'm also almost done with my exams! But since for the time being I'm living in the North Pole, probably in the next 2 days I'm going into indulge in some indoor activities. Honestly, after this stressful period I can't wait to just relax and do nothing. I have a pile of DVDs waiting for me, some good books to read and my favourite magazines to flip through. A well deserved rest I may add.

Moving on now, I'm so happy that I finally found a great concealer. It took me a while, but the wait was worth. I've heard for quite a while about Benefit's erase paste, but I was a little sceptical and preferred to buy other concealers instead. But since I wasn't fully satisfied with them, I decided to finally give the famous erase paste a try. Aaaaand...I love it! For once, the rumours were true, so to say.

What I love about it:

- its great coverage (my dark circles are history)

- its creamy texture which doesn't dry out my under eye area

- brightens the under eye area

- it blends really well

- it also covers blemishes

What I don't like

- it tends to settle into the thin lines under my eyes

You only need a tiny amount of product to do the job. Use the spatula to take the product out of the pot, then apply it under your eyes and simply dab it with your fingers until it blends completely. I  like the idea of the little "instructions manual" with the 3 lessons on how to use the product. They do know how to sale a product, don't they? Will I repurchase it? Definitely yes! It is the best concealer I've used up to now.

Here's a swatch of the erase paste (I have the medium shade).

I've also swatched my new Sephora liquid eye liner in shade prune aubergine. I love purple eye liners because I have green eyes and purple tends to make my eyes stand out more. Not much to say about it, except the fact that it has a good staying power and a lovely pigmented shade.

The last thing I want to show you is this beautiful diary I bought a few days ago. Its art deco design attracted me immediately. It looks so sophisticated and the woman seems so mysterious and exquisite. Love it!

Have a beautiful weekend and stay warm!

Ramblings from the North Pole

Hello lovelies! What have been up to lately? The weather in Bucharest is awful, there are -15 degrees outside and it's snowing...again! It is horrible, it feels as if I were living in the North Pole! Today, while I was going to work I had the impression that I was going to turn into Frosty the Snowman. And I heard that the worst is still to come...

Fortunately, I'm home now where is nice and warm, but the downside is that I have to study for my last exam which is tomorrow (I still have another 2 essays for next week, but at least no more studying after tomorrow!!)

However, right now I'm relaxing a bit while reading one of my favourite magazines.

I'm so happy that tomorrow everything is going to end (for the next 4 months); I just hope that after the exam I'm going to be just as happy and positive as I am today :D

There's not much more to say now, since all I did these past few weeks was study, write projects, moan about the weather and freezing my butt off.

Ah, yes, there was one little interesting thing I did do this week: I went to buy my mother a present for her birthday, but I also ended up buying some cosmetic bits and bobs for myself (helpless, I know). I'll probably talk about them in one of my future posts since I was so happy to finally found some of the things I bought.

One more article and I'm off to studying!

Xoxo

New in: Nine West Black Leather Boots

I'm swamped with uni work at the moment and I barely have time do do anything...2 more weeks until it's over. Seems like forever! Meanwhile my social life is basically on hold and, as usual, in this period I feel like going out daily and doing all sorts of stuff...except studying or writing projects. Like now for example, I'm supposed to do a portfolio with a huuuuge number of translations....but I'm blogging :D

As I mentioned in my previous post, I went sale shopping last week and among the things I bought was a pair of black leather boots! You've probably noticed my love for Nine West shoes, but unfortunately they usually have humongous price tags. So this is why the best time to shop from them is during the sales. This particular pair of boots caught my eye around October or November but I decided to wait for the sales because 1. they were ridiculously expensive, 2. I had just bought my pair of brown Zara boots and 3. I have enough pairs of boots (says the rational part of me). So when I entered Nine West last week and saw that they had a 50% discount I knew I was right to wait for them! The main reason I bought them is because they have the most comfortable heel ever; and also because they are another classic piece I should have in my wardrobe: simple, black, relatively small heel, plus they go with everything.

So here they are: Nine West black 'Mora' boots!

 This New Look t-shirt is another recent purchase. I couldn't resist the photo it has on its front side!

Also, I wanted to add that my special package arrived this week! It is amazing! Unfortunately, I had to put it away because I only have access to it in February :))

What could it be? ;;)

Recess over :( Time to go back to my 'wonderful' translations.

Good luck to everyone who is going through the exam period!

Lots of kisses

New in...H&M blazer

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you had a lovely weekend! I can't believe it's January and there are 8 degrees outside. It's so warm and sunny! It makes me feel like spring is just around the corner...but sadly, it isn't. I just hope that the warm weather will continue to last in the next weeks :D

On Friday I went on a little shopping spree because I wanted to check the sales but came back with a little more than I expected.

Blame it on the sales!

Besides the good bargains I managed to find at Zara and Nine West I also returned with some spring/summer pieces.

Over at H&M I found the most gorgeous blazer ever. It's so stylish and while I'm sure it's more proper for an elegant attire I think it will look also look great with a T-shirt and some flats. It's just one of those classic pieces that it's good to have in your closet and I think it is really a good investment.

I also purchased a silk printed shirt which I can't wait to wear...too bad it will rest in my closet for the next 3 months. As I said, both of the items are part of the spring/summer collection, therefore they weren't initially on my list, but not everything goes according to plan, right? :)

 I've put this pic from  H&M 's on-line website so that you can see how beautiful it really is (it looked awful on the hanger).

In other news, I'm so nervous right now because I'm waiting for a very important package to arrive. I don't know why it's taking so long for it to arrive. I'm so anxious because it's my birthday present (even though my b-day is more than a month away, but I just wanted to make sure that nothing is going to go wrong). So finger crossed that it will turn up okay!

I wish you all an amazing week!

xoxo

Quick Hello!

Hello everyone!

It's been almost a month since I last posted, but I guess I was in a post-holiday depression :)) I mean it was great during the Christmas period, I had a lot of fun, but after the whole thing was over I had many projects for uni since thevery first day...sad times. I still have a lot of uni work but this weekend I decided not to do anything. It is more like the calm before the real storm of exams and project begins :(

So today I just wanted to say a quick hello and post a few pics from my brief trip to Sighisoara, where I spent New Year's Eve. It's a gorgeous city and it is the only medieval fortress in the world which is still inhabited.

I hope everybody had a great time during the holidays and that the new year will be filled with happy and special moments!

xoxo