Endicott House

Yesterday, I took a midterm, ran to lab, and then got on a bus for a science retreat. We went to Endicott House, a really beautiful mansion now turned into a hotel-type-thing. MIT owns it and rents it out for conferences and things. The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers once did an event there. The house is really lovely.
But the grounds are incredible! I'd never seen them before. It was night time when we held a ball there, and last year at my science retreat we weren't there long enough to explore. There were just so many little stone staircases and benches and sundials and arbors and ponds and a water tower. Too many beautiful photo opportunities to count. This would be an incredible place for picnics and swanning about in pretty dresses. Apparently the guy who assembled the grounds (bought the various tracts of land originally) was a major horticulturalists, and there are MIT gardeners who keep things up. So I imagine that when flowers are in bloom it would be even more incredible for picnics.

Basically, the science was really interesting, and the food was delicious, but I am in awe of the beautiful surroundings.

Muppets!

Alright, the Muppets may not be elegant, but they are cool. One of my classes always starts with a totally unrelated music video. Really... they choose something completely random to play before class starts. I guess it is to get our attention.

For one of these, my professor choose this, which he found hilarious. I must agree. Start with the actual music video for Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen.

Ok. Now watch this version.

Have you noticed how excited I am that I've figured out how to put youtube videos into blog posts? Yes, it is ridiculously easy, but I am so technologically inept that I count this as a great victory!

Also, that last comment about video conferences makes me think of most meetings. I wish all unproductive meetings were that much fun to watch. For that matter, I wish all science classes were that much fun to watch.

More Diabolo!

Mother sent me another Diabolo picture, this one from The Illustrated London News. If I had any free time to spare I would learn to do this. They look very elegant indeed, playing in the road. Here is the picture, and the caption."Photograph showing four women playing "Diabolo" at the side of the road, while waiting for their male companions to fix their broken-down motor-car, 1907."

Blanche d'Antigny And Her Velocipede

Am I in love with the outfit, or the bicycle? Surely both. According to wikipedia, because I don't actually know anything about her, Blanche ran away from home at 14 with a lover, but then joined up with gypsies. A good start, no? She worked in the circus, dance halls, became an operetta singer, collected wealthy lovers, and eventually went off to Egypt to avoid scandals in Paris. Then she died a miserable death. But up until that point, it sounds like she was having a grand time. She is famous for having a character in a novel based off her, but as I don't really know the novel this is less fascinating to me. Also according to wikipedia: "When Blanche was asked why she had taken along to Cairo not only her chambermaid but also her coachman although she had neither horses nor a coach there, she is reported to have answered: 'What the hell! I owe Augustine twenty thousand francs, and Justin thirty-five thousand; they wouldn't let me go without them!'" Oh my.

So perhaps she was a little too much for my tastes, but at the very least what a great outfit for riding a bicycle! One day I want both a bicycle and an outfit to wear with it. How funny is it that my first though was "How impractical. It would be much more sensible to spend that time making a ballgown. Now that I would have opportunity to wear!" I lead a strange life, you know.

Playing Diabolo

This is a 1868 painting by Cesare Felix dell'Acqua called, "Angel and Devil," or "Playing Diabolo The-Devil-on-Two-Sticks." Cool, right? I don't have a diabolo, but when I was in a contact juggling phase and buying acrylic spheres in New York, my parents got one for my little sister. To the best of my knowledge, she's never practiced with it enough to do anything particularly cool, but it would be a worthy endeavor. This is not something I know much about, but apparently you can do very impressive things. Go look on youtube... this is some guy on Japanese television, and I can't even understand what he is doing.

Georges Barbier, Farewell at Night

Well, early 20th century clothing does not generally appeal to me. For one thing, it does not generally suit me - too many insubstantial sleeveless sheath dresses... I demand waist-definition! But I would wear this. Maybe just to have sparkly decorations in questionable places. Isn't it crazy fun?

Post-Steampunk Ball, and 1960s Clothes

The Steampunk Ball was lovely, and all sorts of wonderful people came. I ought to be more on top of things and take pictures of wonderful people in good clothing, but that did not happen. Perhaps I will find some pictures to steal from somewhere, because a lot of the outfits were really great.

Then today I spent some time with some very nice friends from Sarah Lawrence who had come down for the event. We went to the garment district, and I bought a fantastic beige dress. It is very late 1950s to early 1960s, and has a little jacket. When I have my midterms a little more under control I will have to take some pictures of it. A little while ago, I watched the movie An Education. It had serious plot and serious messages and all that, but I just kept seeing pretty clothing and hairstyles (it being set in the 1960s). What beautiful things to look at! Seriously, I usually go for the earlier fuller skirts, but this makes me want gorgeous 1960s clothes and hair.

Sisi's Dress - Deja vu all over again

By the way, if the famous Sisi dress looked familiar too you, take a look at the "Think of Me" dress from "The Phantom of the Opera."

Familiar, no? It looks like she has ten points with no pearls, though I can't really tell. I wonder where they came from. I will admit to liking the proportions on her stars. The dress, while obviously inspired by Sisi, can't possibly be as good as hers. But I guess I can give credit for stealing from the best. I think I will officially steal from Mrs. C.W. Stoughton, though.

Steampunk ball tonight! See you there!

Sisi Stars Everywhere!

Vienna is covered with pictures of Empress Elisabeth, commonly known as Sisi. She was a tragic and romantic character, and her life is actually pretty interesting if you look into it. But to be entirely superficial, she is well known for being beautiful. She did a great deal to preserve her beauty, and had ridiculously long hair. Which is where the stars come in. Here is the most famous painting of Sisi, painted by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (she only sat for portraits at the height of her beauty... there aren't that many in total).
See the hair stars? From what I can tell, although the information about this is inexplicably difficult to find, she had at least two sets of 27 - one set with ten short points on a larger body, made of gold and silver with diamonds and a big pearl in the center, and the other set with eight longer points on a small body, silver with graduated diamonds headed out to the points. Anyway, clearly the rest of the world does not think this is the most important thing about her, but I find it very exciting. Here is a picture of what I think is an original, of the ten point variety.
The official museum gift shop in Vienna (for the Sisi part of the Hoffburg, and also at the Schonbrunn palace) sells ten pointed stars, but I think the proportions are wrong (not sharply pointed enough, and the points are too long relative to the body), and they have no pearl. They are pretty, though. Outside of the museum shop there are a couple other versions, including a very very sparkly eight pointed version, which doesn't look so much like her eight-points, so much as it looks like a better proportioned 8-point version of the 10-point stars, but with a large crystal in the center rather than a pearl. I have one of each and adore them, but they are far too expensive to get 27 (not that I even need that many... she had a lot more hair than I do). I am currently looking into a cheaper alternative, because I don't need name brand Sisi stars to have an excuse to fill my hair with sparkly things.

Case in point, this portrait of Mrs. C.W. Stoughton, painted by Richard Buckner. I wish I could find out more about her, or the painting, or at least the artist. But even so, I intend to join the sparkly hair doo-dad bandwagon!

Steampunk Ball!

I have noticed that a lot of my posts lately have been about art. I think this is because art is prettier than organic chemistry midterms, and there hasn't been much else going on in my life lately. But this weekend, all that will change! This Saturday in Harvard Square:
Information is as follows:
Dance Workshop 5-6pm.
Ball begins at 7pm.
Where the Dancing that was meets the technology that was not!
Enchanting Music by Spare Parts.
Registration is $25, or $15 for students. No additional fee for the workshop.

I will be there, and you should be there too!!!