'The gold-flecked fil coupé fabric is printed with calligraphy artwork — hand-painted ‘As’ and ‘Ts’ are interwoven with music scores, finished with sequinned vine-like motifs, inspired by the Tudor Rose.'
Temperley London dress (Speak Now album photoshoot for “Mean”)
Lulu’s dress (“Mine” music video)
Valentino gown (Speak Now Tour)
Reem Acra gown (2011 American Music Awards)
This is not the first time that I've had to make a post like this. If you've been around long enough, you'll recall the masterpost I made of all the archival outfits seen on past Taylor's in the "LWYMMD" music video.
Shirt: ROZIE corsets Cotton Corset Shirt ($350.00) | Waistcoat: Temperley London Clove Velvet Waistcoat ($425.00) | Pants: Co Tailored Cotton And Wool-Blend Tapered Pants ($895) | Boots: KHAITE Diego Leather Boots ($1,380.00) | Handbag: Dorothy Perkins Tan Whipstitch Cross Body Bag (£25.00) | Hair bow: Chanel Satin Bow Hair Clip ($145.00) | Ring: Post Medieval Sapphire Gold Fleur-de-Lis Ring, circa 16th Century ($102,060.43)
This time around, I had to create an American Revolution outfit for Alice (my HPHM OC). As I basically had nothing that fit the female fashion of that time, I decided to make an outfit that would take its inspiration from the American Revolution, which I could totally see Alice wearing to go see a certain musical.
Let’s start with the shirt. While men wore loose white shirts during that time, women wore corset-like undergarments, so I decided this ROZIE corsets shirt was a perfect combination of the two. Next up, we have the purple waistcoat. Waistcoat were also commonly wore by men at the time, but the one I have selected for this outfit has a bit of symbolism to it. See, purple is a colour associated with royalty as it is a colour that is very difficult to find in nature. This means purple dye was expensive to produce, hence it’s association with wealth and nobility. Purple therefore represents what the Americans were fighting against. But do you know what two colours are needed to create purple? Red and blue, the two colours that are predominant in the American flag. So, in a way, purple represents both the monarchy and the revolutionaries.
The beige pants were selected as most pants I have seen in paintings representing that era were of this colour or another pale colour close to this one. Lacking low buckled heels in this virtual closet of mine, I decided to go with boots, and these KHAITE boots really looked like boots I had seen in American Revolution paintings. The handbag was also selected for its similarity to the crossbody satchels men carried at the time, while the bow was chosen because men used ribbons to tie their hair in a ponytail.
Finally, the ring. It is a fleur-de-lys to represent France’s involvement in the American Revolution. It is no secret that there was no love lost between England and France at the time, so it comes as no surprise that France decided to help out the Continental Army of the Thirteen Colonies. While this helped the US a lot, France ended up debts that strained its finances, which eventually, along with other factors, led to the French Revolution.
The Great British Countryside. This weekend, we celebrated the opening of @blenheimpalace's Icons of British Fashion exhibition.
Embark on a journey through British fashion history where this showcase seamlessly integrates clothing, accessories, drawings, photography and archival materials to create the largest fashion exhibition in Blenheim's history. We're honoured to be sharing the space alongside iconic names of British fashion, such as Vivienne Westwood, Alice Temperley, and Zandra Rhodes.