Category Archives: Fashionista Friday

Fashionista Friday – the Capel Sisters

Posted on December 7, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

Fashionista Friday – the Capel Sisters The Countess of Carnarvon is so fashion-forward she has an iPad… I kid! But the sisters Capel certainly do look picture-perfect in this mid-seventeenth century portrait, don’t they?  On the left, Mary Capel, later … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday – Madeleine Vionnet’s Roses

Posted on November 30, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

Every once in a while, the influence of a particular designer seems to permeate the fashion industry all at once. These days, it seems like everything is coming up roses—Vionnet roses, that is. Madeleine Vionnet (1876-1975) was a pioneer couturiere … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday – the Turkey

Posted on November 16, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

While the roasted turkey may be the star of the American Thanksgiving table next Thursday, turkey feathers have had a steady supporting role in the fashion world for centuries.  Last spring, Karl Lagerfeld introduced his Autumn/Winter 2013 Ready-to-Wear collection for … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday – Hélène Fourment

Posted on November 9, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

History has given us plenty of silly headdresses.  But what, exactly, is that thing on her head? In this drawing, currently on display at the Frick Collection, Hélène Fourment is depicted in perfectly period attire, with a devotional prayer book … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday – Women Suffragists of the United States

Posted on November 3, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

Although this image is from the English women’s suffrage movement, the message still pertains to its American counterpart: as unbecoming as an old fashion is, so are asinine outdated social rules.  Just as fashion progresses, so does society, and in … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday: Alice Vanderbilt in Fancy Dress

Posted on October 26, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

Halloween is fast approaching—do you know how you’ll be dressing up?  Perhaps you’ll take a cue from Alice Vanderbilt and go as Electric Light. Or follow the lead of this young lady, who “daringly assumed the character of a ‘lady … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday: Anna Maria Garthwaite

Posted on October 19, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

Save for a few biographical tidbits, very little is known about the life of Anna Maria Garthwaite (1690-1763), the daughter of a clergyman who left home in 1726 to live with her widowed sister.  In 1728 the pair moved to … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday: Marquise de Miramon

Posted on October 12, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

At the Getty Center in Los Angeles hangs this painting by Jacques Tissot.  The subject, Thérèse-Stephanie-Sophie Feuillant, the Marquise de Miramon (1836-1912) is painted in a pink velvet ruffled dressing gown.  The Getty’s records for this painting are remarkably complete, … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday: Shirley Temple

Posted on October 6, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

Shirley Temple (b. 1928) Without a doubt, Shirley Temple was the most famous child of the 1930s.  Precocious, bubbly, and an embodiment of “cuteness,” Shirley began her film career at the tender age of three, but by puberty she was … Continue reading →

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Fashionista Friday: Eleonora di Toledo

Posted on September 29, 2012 by J. Leia Lima

Undoubtedly, when a state portrait is painted, a little propaganda sneaks its way into the work of art.  In this portrait by Agnolo Bronzino, c. 1545, Eleonora of Toledo wears a dress of striking brocaded velvet.  Although the sumptuousness of … Continue reading →

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