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!
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