Carnivore

Last week, I saw Paddington (truly a delight!) and was pleasantly amused by the ominous wardrobe choices chosen to portray Nicole Kidman’s villainy as the maniacal taxidermist. In every scene, she’s shown wearing some kind of animal print (with the implication that she made them herself from her defenseless prey) or colonial inspired safari attire. To introduce to you what I could only consider a chicken-wire netted hat (made with two joined mink tails), I thought I would draw on her sinister aesthetic.

While I remain conflicted on the subject of fur, I have only bought vintage pieces. Perhaps my rationale that “I am ensuring that the animal did not die in vain” does not carry appropriate weight, but it does give me some validation most of my pieces have not been commissioned since about the ’60s.

Outfit Details: Fascinator: Union Made | Jacket: Vintage Oscar De La Renta

Then We Open Again, Where?

As I’ve mentioned, I’m a few weeks behind on updates from my trips (look out for Budapest and Morocco). I got lucky on my outfit here, despite the delay, since cheetah print is booming right now. I’ll try to be better about upcoming Christmas posts!

I arrived in Venice the night before Halloween. When I made the booking, I didn’t mean to plan it that way, and to be honest, I completely forgot (although people in England celebrated way more than I anticipated, adopting it as a veritable week-long festival rather than a single night). But in this case, fate interceded on my behalf. For as Romantic and dreamy as the canals and bridges are in Venice, the ambience of the night could have invented the meaning of phantasmagoric. It is no accident that Poe set “The Assignation,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Masque of Red Death”* here. Walking through the darkened alleys at night they seem to grow narrower and deeper. You pass the same bridges, walking in a circle fueled by the frenetic energy of despair, suspicion, and above all fear. Meanwhile, in glass windows all around hang ominous masks in a variety of shapes, their darkened eyes glaring eerily in the moonlight. With this collection of photos, I’ve tried to capture a bit more of the creepy vibes, but I also included just some of the general beauty of the change to Autumn which November brings. 

Outfit Details: Jacket: bought on a LadyBirdLikes Instagram sale (vintage) | Lipstick: Chanel | Shirt: American Apparel | Necklace: thrifting find | Leggings: The Row | Shoes: Primark (and on sale now for 3 pounds in leopard print and black) | Purse: Kate Spade

The title of this post is taken from the song “We Open In Venice” from the musical Kiss Me, Kate. Here’s the Rat Pack’s rendition of the song. Also, while I was in Venice, I had the pleasure of meeting Louise, the amazing mind behind Pandora. To see her interpretation of Thomas Mann and the Marchesa Casati, see here.

*The exact setting of “The Masque of Red Death” is in a castle and nothing else is described specifically, but as it doesn’t disclude Venice, and the story has a Venice-esque feel to it, I included it (possibly erroneously) in the list.