gwendolyngrey: (Dreaming)
Gwendolyn ([personal profile] gwendolyngrey) wrote2011-01-10 11:30 pm

Wishful, wistful thinking

 Hit play, close your eyes, and let the music just wash over you...


I have been listening to this nearly nonstop for the last two or three days... and even though I am dutifully sticking to my current projects and plans, this song has filled my head with dreamy images of turn-of-the-century lace gowns and foggy English mornings and walled gardens and early spring.



I've never before had a piece of music so thoroughly inspire me for any sort of art or sewing.  I don't know quite what it is... perhaps Chopin somehow wove a bit of magic into his nocturnes and it's infected my dreams. 

Granted, I've always had a soft spot for this period due to my rapturous love for Anne of Green Gables and childhood favorites like The Secret Garden and A Little Princess.  I don't know if or when I'll actually make something from this period, but it's bound to happen sooner or later, perhaps with a little push from Mr. Chopin.  



Then there's this blue dress (1905-06 from the collection at the Met) which, while perhaps a little bit "frothy", seems like exactly the sort of thing that Anne would have in 'Anne's House of Dreams'.  Imagine wearing it to a picnic on the grounds of a lovely estate, or simply strolling along a wooded path with the sunshine breaking through gaps in the branches...

[identity profile] jubilima.livejournal.com 2011-01-11 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
I'm listening now...*sigh*

[identity profile] aylwen.livejournal.com 2011-01-11 04:42 am (UTC)(link)
I love this music and the outfits. Once I've finished making my current projects I'd love to make a version of the blue dress!

[identity profile] tayloropolis.livejournal.com 2011-01-11 05:19 am (UTC)(link)
Oh! That blue one! Be still my heart!

[identity profile] idlewild-grey.livejournal.com 2011-01-11 11:19 pm (UTC)(link)
I know! That blue dress is to die for...

[identity profile] miss-elisabeth.livejournal.com 2011-01-11 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
Aaaaaack. Ten episodes of Edwardian Farm and I'm pouring over house designs from the period, and then recreating them in 3d using Google Sketch Up. I even started looking at patterns today.

And all of this while a semester of 1830s-40s stares me down.

The Edwardian bug must be going around. I think it's time for the ultimate cure - yet another viewing of Young Victoria. Maybe some Bleak House.

[identity profile] myladyswardrobe.livejournal.com 2011-01-11 12:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh my, I can admire these dresses (white lingerie styles WON'T ever suit me) but I'd not be interested in making one. Except that blue one!!

[identity profile] idlewild-grey.livejournal.com 2011-01-11 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure I could find the right materials to properly make a white, lace dress no matter how much I may admire them, but the blue one is more and more solidly worming its way into my mind. The more I look at it the more I want it!

[identity profile] tayloropolis.livejournal.com 2011-01-12 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
You need to make it. For reals.