Divine decadence, darling.

Have I mentioned that Sally Bowles is pretty much my inspiration for life?


I only saw Cabaret for the first time three years ago, but of course I fell in love with it immediately and wondered what took me so long to discover it. Liza is beautiful and so freaking lovable (my favorite thing about her) and I adore the stylized version of cabaret portrayed by the film. Everything about it is so gorgeous-- the characters (Joel Grey as the emcee!), the makeup, costumes, language, and most of all the picture of what it must have felt like as a young person in Germany during the Weimar Republic, when the city was alive with creativity but the Nazi Party was a steadily growing threat.

German is the only other language that I've ever felt I could actually learn (unlike high school French, which was terrifying). I took an intro class during my last semester of college and actually enjoyed it, and it's a goal of mine to continue studying and become fluent at some point. After class one day, my German professor let me borrow her book called The Cabaret by Lisa Appignanesi and I liked it so much that I bought a copy for myself. It's a great resource for anyone interested in the history of Cabaret; it begins with Le Chat Noir and the Moulin Rouge in Montmarte and goes into the spread of cabarets throughout Europe-- Moscow, Vienna, Budapest, and (of course, my favorite) German Kabarett.


Program from Cabaret Fledermaus, 1907, Vienna.
The Weimar Period is one of my favorite artistic eras; it was full of sex, drugs, lust, doom, glam, and decadence-- what's not to love about that? It was a huge influence on David Bowie and Iggy Pop when they were exploring Berlin in the '70s, so of course it always reminds me of them. If it were up to me to write a lovely anachronistic film about Weimar culture à la Marie Antoinette, I could see Iggy's "Nightclubbing" and "Fun Time" fitting right in amongst the seedy clubs and avant-garde performances.

A few favorites:


Otto Dix, Grosstadt Triptych (right panel), 1928.


George Grosz, The Lovesick Man, 1914.


Christian Schad, Maika, 1929


Otto Dix, Sylvia von Harden, 1927


Christian Schad, Two Girls, 1928


Christian Schad, Count St. Genois d'Anneaucourt, 1927

*Program from Cabaret Fledermaus, Grosstadt Triptych, and The Lovesick Man from The Cabaret; all other images from Google.

STRIPES!

via trendhunter

Oh Lula. We all love you but you are so elusive. I'll be going on another hunt for the new issue in a few days, but right now I'm content to look at the stripey stockings and glossy candy heels. My green '60s heels were the best I could do while searching for candyish things in a Lula-inspired frenzy-- I found them last year at a flea market in Alabama for $6, and they are so lovely. Definitely one of my favorite thrifting finds ever!

Jovovich Hawk for Target dress
Sock Dreams stockings
'60s heels

Earlier this week we took our first spring trip to the nursery for new flowers and herbs. Yay gardening! I'll be posting about those soon enough-- last year my little garden was so ridiculously fun and I can't wait to do it again. Yesterday was spent watching Eddie Izzard's documentary Marathon Man, in which he manages to run 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief with no particular past running history. I love him so much and it's definitely inspired me to try and become a runner this spring and summer (and trust me, I've never been motivated run, ever!) But if he can do forty-three marathons, certainly I can build up to doing one!

Much needed shop update!

♥ ♥

Outfit posts to resume shortly!

And the mome raths outgrave..

I do love a themed outfit.

Friday we went for sushi and Alice in Wonderland with the bro and sis-in-law. The movie itself was lovely--the visuals were gorgeous, especially the White Queen's court (kind of a washed-out Marie Antoinette vibe!) and the tea party, which was alike an abandoned 1920s party with tired guests and faint Victrola music in the background. The Cheshire Cat was especially creepy and perfect. He's always been my favorite. I have such an emotional attachment to the story; I wrote one of my favorite ever (giant!) papers for my Madness in Literature class about Wonderland being a metaphor for adolescence, and when I was a kid I wore out my VHS tape of the Disney version.

And of course I love Tim Burton forever and ever and was very excited to see his interpretation. The movie felt a bit light overall and I didn't love it overwhelmingly, but it was fun and pretty and Alice was strong. (Although the Mad Hatter does a dance at the end that made me want to crawl under my seat from embarrassment.)

Ignore that my necklace is falling all wrong in these!

Urban Outfitters dress
Forever 21 cardigan
Seychelles heels
Sock Dreams tights
Bunny ring from Modcloth
Mad Hatter necklace from Paraphernalia

I'm also wearing OPI's Mad as a Hatter nail polish but of course I'm terrible at photographing it. I think it's my absolute favorite nail polish to ever exist in the world. It reminds me of a sparkly (un)birthday cake!

Be like the squirrel, girl, be like the squirrel

Yet another outfit with my favorite color combination. The rainy coldness ruined my outdoor photo plans, so I was forced to turn to my little white room.

Cut up your hair
Straighten your curls
Well, your problems
Hide in your curls

Haircut coming soon, honestly! I didn't chicken out. I'm trying to grow out my root situation a bit.

Urban Outfitters dress & tights
Forever 21 cardigan & boots
Thrifted little girl's coat
Necklace from Aroha Silhouettes
Pansy ring from New Orleans