No Such Thing As A New Idea

Anyone who has ever paid even the slightest bit of attention to fashion has probably noticed that almost everything "new" takes some kind of influence from something in the past. For example, at the time of Jane Austen, the early 1800s, there was a style called "Empire waist", it looked a lot like this:

Fashion sketch of an Empire Waist

You'll notice that that dress looks an awful lot like the ones in this image:

This, however, is not a fashion sketch from the around 1815. No, this is an illustration of women in Ancient Greece. Now why do these two sketches look so similar? You guessed it rockstar! The fashion leaders of Jane Austen's time were influenced by the Ancient Greeks. In this case, Napoleon Bonaparte's wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, had a particular affinity to Ancient Greece and thus introduced this style, and being rich and french and famous, she was able to get everyone else to follow her–just like how our good friends over in Hollywood are able to convince the rest of us poor sheep to follow their style advice, whether or not it is actually good. 

Anyway, the same thing is happening today. I have been scanning through all the different fashion shows that are part of New York Fashion week and London Fashion week and Paris and Milan and whatever other city is having a fashion week (Tangent: really, they should stop adding fashion weeks. It's just getting ridiculous. Next thing we know Wonderland will start having fashion weeks!!) and I have been noticing how many times a look comes up that just reminds me of some other time. Believe me, it is quite frequent.

Why is this happening? Is it possible that designers have run out of new ideas? I don’t think so. I’m sure they have plenty of creative juices left. It is my belief that there is a pervading sense of nostalgia infecting society today. Now this is just my individual belief, but I think that because we are so unsure of what the future holds and what with all the new technologies that seem to come out every day (like the colored iPhone! What is this madness??) many of us wish we could return to a simpler time. We wish we could return to a time pre-internet, pre-cell phones, pre-the-impersonality-created-by-today’s-technologies. However, that is impossible. We don’t have time turners and can’t go back in time. So we have to compensate in any way that we can, and in the case of designers, they do it in the form of designing clothes that are inspired by the past. Who knows? Maybe when they get bored of reintroducing the past century, they’ll bring back corsets and bustles? Or maybe in a few years we’ll be wearing leaves and loincloths. That I would love to see.

So, really there is no such thing as a new idea, because every "new" idea is simply just a reinterpretation of an old idea, but really it's all the same in one way or another. Just like all those movies and books about two people from different families and they aren't allowed to love each other but they do anyway and then people die. Yeah, they're all the same. 

xoxo

Justice

Would you like a cuppa?

Once upon a time there lived a young girl who, while living in 21st century America, always felt as though she was truly a princess of a far away kingdom. If not a princess, then surly a member of the French court under Louis XIV, or maybe best friends with Jane Austen, or maybe even a turn of the century New York socialite. As this girl was not really any of these things, she had to settle with living those lives in her heart. And so, while living in 21st centric America, she often play acted her other lives to the best of her abilities.

"Sometimes I do pretend I am a princess. I pretend so that I am a princess so that I may try to behave like one"

--A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett

Well today was one such day when this young girl's play acting became real. For what could better portray the life of a young romantic better than a tea party? 

The young girl invited all of her best friends and the enjoyed authentic teas, delicious sandwiches, scrumptious scones with heavenly Devonshire cream, and many delectable treats, all served on antique glassware. 

The table was set to its full glory with plates and food and, of course, peonies 

The guests arrived in their most appropriate afternoon tea attire 

And the food was enjoyed to the greatest extent possible

After enjoying a day of much festivities and play acting the life she likes to pretend she has, this young girl is much worn out, but is extremely happy. While she may live in 21st century America, she can play act at the life she dreams (while having the luxury of 21st technology to clean up the mess of such a classy and enjoyable party). She would like to encourage all of the dreamers, the romantics, the princess wanna bes out there, that it is perfectly possible to create a life tailored to your dreams, even  if it is only to a small extent, like throwing a tea party when you wish to be having tea with the queen of England (and that probably your best friends are better company than the queen of England).

And so, with that she leaves you to skip off to the gym to work off the luxuries of the day.

The end. 

The marvelousness of today

Not every day is perfect. Not everyday works out just as you planned. Not everyday is worth remembering forever. So when you do have a perfect day that works out just as planned and will be stuck in your memory forever, it just makes you glad to be alive. I woke up at 6:30 this morning, worked out, ate a delicious breakfast of strawberries and an omelette, and then went off on an adventure with my best friend in the whole world, my mother. I do not think that I can adequately describe the marvelousness of this day with my limited vocabulary, and so that in order for you to take a glimpse into the window of my life, I shall share with you a picture timeline of the last seven hours.