Butterfly Dresses

 

You may already have seen this amazingly-gorgeous-wow dress by Luly Yang. Although I'm not really into high fashion this incredible dress caught my eye quite a few years ago and I haven't forgotten it.

 

(Does that magazine cover say '68??! It must have made a comeback in the early 2000s for me to have noticed it.)

Here's a slightly different version which is being used around the web. It appears to be designed after (ie. "in the style of") the Luly Yang dress but I don't know who the official designer is of this one or when it appeared.

2011 (as far as I can tell) was the first year a designer came close to making the same impact with an original take on the butterfly theme. You have to admit, the monarch butterfly is so striking all on its own. To have a dress that would make as big an splash not using the monarch design and colors would be difficult. One designer seems to have found a way to look beyond this (now) classic, still using the impact of the monarch but in a very different way.

The designer is Alexander McQueen, who has an incredible flair for the fantastic in his designs.

 

 

There are even matching shoes! (I'm thinking comfort isn't premium for these sandals, though looks can be deceiving.) 


Check out the Alexander McQueen website and click on The Experience - wow. The 2011 collection in particular all looks like it was designed for a modern court of Faerie, complete with those princess-hip-flares [hip bustles??] you see in King Louis the XIV court styles. The 2011 collection is definitely nature inspired too so, again, perfect for a modern Faerie court.

I only wish the dress were longer with a sleeker silhouette, rather than going for the hip-bustle (?) short skirt look. I think a long sheath version, perhaps with a large and long hem flare and train, would be incredibly elegant and regal.

This is a backstage shot but I love the natural looking lighting here. I'll have to search to see if they did a magazine shoot for this dress. Imagine the possibilities!

Normally you think butterfly dress = fairy queen or Midsummer Night's Dream and that certainly is fitting. I, however, can't help think of a butterfly dress being the perfect outfit for Cinderella. (Has anyone done that anywhere?) The metaphor is fitting and I even found a very different butterfly dress that would work for a Cinderella character too. This dress is now in a museum and apparently marks an emergence in the history of fashion design (although this reminds me of ancient Egyptian silhouettes...).

Charles James (American, born England, 1906–1978). "Butterfly" Dress, 1955. Smoke gray silk chiffon; pale gray silk satin; aubergine, lavender, and oyster white tulle. Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Mrs. John de Menil, 1957 

From the Brooklyn Museum:

This design invites multiple interpretations. The form alludes to the extreme bustles of the 1880s and at the same time can be imagined as a transformation of the female body into that of a butterfly with iridescent wings that shimmer when they move. References to the past aside, it was a form hitherto unknown in the history of fashion. Twenty-five yards of tulle were used in its making.

And since we're on the subject of butterfly dresses I had to include this art piece titled "While You Were Sleeping" by Su Blackwell (perhaps best known for her incredible fantasy paper cut work) which, again, feels very Cinderella-appropriate to me.

Little aside: while butterflies have married well with Cinderella in my brain for some time now, I hadn't thought to connect Cinderella and sleep before. I love that there are so many different ways to look at the tales!

The dress, and other pieces of Ms. Blackwell's work, reminds me of that last beautiful scene from The Corpse Bride (which is, as you probably know, based on a Russian-Jewish folk tale). I wonder if Tim Burton was inspired by Ms. Blackwell and her butterflies? The butterfly is the running theme throughout that movie and is used so beautifully.

"Il Etait Une Fois": A Pop-Up Book of Fairy Tales by Benjamin Lacombe

Today , yesterday (don't you hate it when your planned computer time just doesn't happen?), Heidi posted my Fairy Tale Favorite Things Christmas Wish List on her SurLaLune Fairy Tales Blog and the first two items had something in common: they're both by the amazing Benjamin Lacombe*.

If you don't know who this artist is, this is the best way I can think of to introduce you to the wonder that is Benjamin Lacombe.

Just have a look at this amazing book trailer, which is for the second "most wanted" item on my wishlist:



The book is a brilliantly realized and beautifully printed pop-up and although there isn't a whole lot of text, you really don't need it (which is extra fantastic if you don't know much French). Take a closer look at some of the pages.

Peter Pan

Bluebeard

 Mr. Lacombe is not only talented in illustration,  he writes, was very particularly involved in the process of creating the cut outs and design for the pop-up and if I understand correctly, he was not only intimately involved in planning and designing the animation for the trailer, he even tried his hand at the actual animation himself (with amazing results!). It helps, of course, that he's obviously very drawn to fairy tales and even his other illustration that isn't based on fairy tales still has a fairy tale feel to it. I haven't found anything he's illustrated I don't like yet. :)

Red Riding Hood

Thumbelina

I'll write more about his many talents and the variety of his work another time but for now you may have noticed I wrote this amazing book is not Number 1 on my list but Number 2.

Why?

Because Mr. Lacombe has also illustrated his own version of "Blanche Neige" (Snow White), which has been on my must-have-as-soon-as-possible list since I first saw it and has been my number one wish item for the entire year...

Amazing, no? And the cover has this illustration wrapped around it.

Although Snow White (or Little Snow White) has been a favorite tale of mine since I was small (for different reasons at different times) it's not the only reason I'm drawn to this book. Wait until you see how Mr. Lacombe handled the telling (showing) of the story and oh-so-familiar scenes and you'll see why. This beautiful book is something even those skeptical about the Snow White tale seem drawn to.

I will (hopefully!) add another post just for this amazing book tomorrow (also known as the very next time I get some computer time to put the finishing touches on my post and make it live!). Stay tuned!

*Yes! Benjamin Lacombe IS on Facebook (that's where the link goes). And you get to see lots of lovely previews and extras if you 'like' his page. :)

Red Riding Hood Cosplay: Are You Afraid?

 

With all the attention to cinematic loveliness focused on some of the more popular fairy tale characters this year and last I'm not surprised to see people getting even more creative with their cosplay (short for "costume play") and photography.

Even though the examples here are clearly inspired by Catherine Hardwicke's recent Red Riding Hood movie adaptation, that doesn't take away from the final images. I really like the titled photo as a mock-book cover.

The title "Are You Afraid?" makes it clear the idea was to show a wary Red Riding Hood. Perhaps the apples are to represent temptation?

The cosplayer is GarnetTilAlexandros and the photographer is Мокрушина Оксана✪[MAD.CREATIVE.CHARACTER] aka mokrushina.

You can see even more photos from the cosplay shoot HERE.

Source: HERE

"Only Make Believe" Pageant of the Masters 2011 Fashion Shoot

 

A few days ago I posted about 2011's Pageant of the Masters: Only Make Believe art/performance and thought you'd like to see this related photoshoot.

The life sized paintings are fantastic backdrops for the creatively minded and, in this case, perfect for a fashion shoot.

I like that the model was required to pose in such a way as to become part of the picture rather than just in front of the work, which would have cheapened the idea. While the fashion and photos are beautifully done, somehow they feel a little... conservative, as if there's a more creative way they could have used these gorgeous 'settings'.

Check out the knight in the photo. Her name is Katie Moore and I'm guessing she was one of the official performers.

 I'm surprised this sort of shoot, incorporating the Pageant of the Masters paintings and sculptures, hasn't appeared in a print magazine yet. Maybe, until 2011 the themes were too traditional to play around with. Or maybe it's just that no one had had the idea until this year.

I'd love to see all the beautiful artistry and hard work by volunteers have more 'lasting tributes' (for example, by being professionally shot for magazines or books and available for purchase).

The Only Make Believe theme would have been a wonderful setting for some scenes in a film too. Consider all the backstage areas, the hubbub in the make-up and costume rooms, the construction and incorporation of the two dimensional and the human/three dimensional aspects as well as the "performing artwork" in front of crowds at night. How much fun would that be to write into a film? [Is anyone in Hollywood listening? ;) ]

Photographer: David Jakle
Fashion Director: Julie French
Model: Laurel Stovall; LA Models
Hair and Makeup: Jeffrey Paul; Exclusive Artist
Hair and Makeup assistant; Nong Tumsutipong
Photo assistant: John Teichert
Fashion assistant: Crystal Janke
Knight in St. George and the Dragon: Katie Moore

You can see a few more photos - and all the fashion information - HERE. There's more information about the Pageant itself HERE, which is part of the annual Laguna Beach Festival of the Arts, and the official website for the event is HERE.

Snow White by Jasmin Darnell

Snow White by Jasmin Darnell a.k.a. yasahime

After my little rant about bad illustrations in my previous post I simply had to put up something beautiful. I found this lovely illustration quite a while ago and it immediately came to mind as a gorgeous contrast and an example of how the illustrations mentioned could have been handled, inspiring kids and grown ups everywhere to go find beautiful fairy tale books of their own to read. This illustration isn't even considered complete, according to the artist's notes!

This Kiwi artist is only just getting going in her career and I wish her the best of luck in her plans to illustrate anthologies of children's literature. I'd love to see what she comes up with. While we wait for that to happen ;), she has a small Etsy shop HERE and a gallery on deviantArt HERE.

And speaking of beautiful illustration, here are just a few of my favorite illustrated collections of fairy tales (as one might suspect, I have many!), other than my Lang and multiple Dover collections, which I adore (H.J. Ford is one of my favorite illustrators of all time). These covers are in no particular order and are really just the first few I pulled off my (currently very mixed-up) shelves:

This I like because there are so many world tales in the book & the illustrations are like complete story murals all by themselves.

What are some of your favorite illustrated fairy tale volumes?

Once Upon A Time "The Book" Available For Pre-Order (& Some Notes On Henry's Book)

You may have noticed in a previous post I mentioned there was a fairy tale collection book coming from ABC's Once Upon A Time creators. That book is now available for pre-order.

It's available both through ABC.com or Amazon.com, though the ABC site's release date says 12/20 while Amazon says 12/27. (Interesting note - the ABC link has cafepress as part of its HTML address - very odd.)

Although the Amazon website makes mention of an ebook, the ABC site implies a print book with shipping dates. Perhaps there's an ebook version as well and it's the only version with the pilot script? Not sure.

 Here's the blurb:

This eBook features a special enhancement: the full pilot episode's script from the hit ABC show, Once Upon A Time. This beautifully illustrated collection of 30 tales from far and wide includes... Snow White, Hansel and Grethel, Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Rumpelstiltskin, The Bremen Town Musicians, The Elves, Little Red Cap, The Fisherman and His Wife, The Sleeping Beauty, Tom Thumb, Rapunzel. . . and many more.

"Once upon a time . . ." Four simple words that, after more than two centuries, still have the ability to transport readers to lands of mystery, intrigue, and betrayal, life and death, love and abandon. Timeless are the tales of the Brothers Grimm who, in an effort to preserve native folklore, unwittingly crafted a cornerstone of Western literature.

With this book of fairy tales, beautifully illustrated by artist Kevin Tong, reacquaint yourself with the stories and characters you know and love. Run through the forest with Little Red Cap. Attend the ball with Cinderella. Eat an apple with Snow White. From witches to fairies, evil queens to kindly kings, frog princes and sleeping beauties, the Grimm tales are classics that are truly meant to be shared with young and old alike.

With a foreword written by the creators of ABC's show Once Upon a Time, we see that these classic tales continue to endure and inspire more storytelling. The series brings some of these classic characters to life in a bold reimagination of the fairy tale world. 
We invite you to reacquaint yourself with these magical stories and be transported once again with Once Upon a Time.

While I'm not very impressed with how the cover looks (first impression is of quick and cheap digital-for-web-only work) I'm hoping it will look much better in print. The illustrations are supposed to be lovely and include the poster artwork being released by Mondo and created by artist Kevin Tong (as shown in this post HERE). As you can see from his website, Kevin Tong has done some incredible and beautiful graphic/poster/print and illustration work so I have my fingers crossed for good things. :)

I'm sure you're just as curious as I am as to which version of the text they've used for each story - a Grimm/Dover version or their own based on one of the Grimm volumes. You can download a preview of the Rumpelstiltskin story/text HERE right now to see (scroll down for the PDF link).



Since we're on the subject of books and the ABC show, I'm going to add an aside here about the fairy tale book Henry is obsessed with in Once:

 

What the heck is going on with that??! There's a fantastic opportunity for a gorgeous (or at least classic looking) fairy tale book and all the key pictures/'illustrations' are digital frame captures/stills that have been put through a poster filter. These, quite frankly, look nasty.

Especially when, in turning a page on screen to get TO that image we flip past gorgeous Arthur Rackham prints.

(Sacrilege! Travesty! Yes, I'm being dramatic but I have quite a gut reaction to this key prop!) 

Why, oh why have they done it this way? There are so many incredibly talented artists (ie. hundreds in LA alone) who could easily draw and render beautiful and appropriate book illustrations representing the show and characters, let alone create a beautifully bound volume that every kid with an imagination would be drawn to opening. It's so badly done I actually cringe every time the book comes on screen. :/ For such a key item for the whole series I think it's worth a revisit and a bigger budget. (Plus think of the marketing potential!)

Back to the subject of Once merchandise, there's a lot more now available, t-shirts, mugs and more. My favorite would have to be the Snow White "wanted" poster. I wish there were more pieces like this, using items from the show itself, or perhaps with the Storybrooke sign/logo on it instead of just the series title.

 You can see and order all the goodies, at quite decent prices (at the moment anyway- collectible conscious people will be stocking up!) HERE.

The Princess Bride @LACMA Live Read Event

 From G1988:

We've produced another poster for the ongoing Film Independent @ LACMA Live Read Series w/ Jason Reitman and this is the best yet. Matt Owen has done it again, getting even more love from Entertainment Weekly this time, as Reitman has recast the classic movie "The Princess Bride," and this new generation of actors will perform a table read of the script live and in person on December 15th. The tickets sold out in about 15 seconds flat, but there will be a stand-by line that night, and this time, WE'LL BE SELLING THESE POSTERS THERE! There were only 100 made, and they are beautiful. Past live read events have included The Breakfast Club (where Jennifer Garner, Aaron Paul & James Van Der Beek took roles) and The Apartment (where Pierce Brosnan, Natalie Portman & Steve Carrel joined). Jason keeps the cast a mystery until the last minute, but he has announced Patton Oswalt (in the Vizzini/Wallace Shawn role) and G1988 homie Nick Kroll (in the Count Rugen/Christopher Guest role), so this one will not be a let down.

We will be outside the auditorium before and after the read, so even if you don't have tickets, you can purchase a poster if you like.

 You may be aware that there was a cast reunion of The Princess Bride recently which included much ad-libbing and fun photos (yep, the Princess Bride cast are Princess Bride geek fans too! lol). The only sad thing from the reunion seemed to be that André René Roussimoff a.k.a. André the Giant couldn't be there with them (he died in 1993).

The Princess Bride cast then...

 

And now...

 Click the image above for a larger view. You can also see additional contemporary single portraits of cast members from the reunion event HERE.

This G1988/LACMA live read event on December 15th, follows on from that - finding a new generation of actors who can wear the shoes of Princess Buttercup, Wesley and all our other favorites.

This sounds like a lot of fun. And what gorgeous posters. (Only 100 made? I do not want to guess how much they will be selling for!) Here's hoping someone will tape the event and release some of it for us this week.