Silly Poems

I wrote these two goofy historical fashion poems last January when I was bored. I looked up some of the rhymes, (i.e. "what rhymes with 'picnic',) on the Internet, and I suppose that's sort of cheating, but...I was having fun!

A Hoopskirt:

A lady in a hoopskirt went out one day,
With the brisk breeze blowing in from the bay.
Her bonnet, tied on with tightest of strings,
Was blown away as if only a grass ring.
Her beau comforted the distressed belle,
But only fate could tell,
Whether Mademoiselle,
Would escape the horrible pell-mell.
The wind gets more brisk,
My lady is at risk!
Nevertheless, they sit down for a picnic,
Oblivious of the wind so breakneck.
Then all of a sudden, Miss Hoopskirt shrieks!
Her petticoats are exposed, what a society breach!
But that is not all, now pantaloons too! What shall Mademoiselle do!?
The horror of which,
Her beaus protect the dish,
As lovely blue silk,
Tips over the milk.
And then with a cry,
Miss is swept into the sky!

The Flapper:
A flapper,
So dapper,An excellent tapper,
She is not a napper,
More like a snapper.
On nothing will she not dare,
Even to cut her hair.
The sleek stylish bob,
Is no watch fob.
In glitter does she dine,
Everything is very fine,
For no one does she pine,
No, she is a modern maid!
Without qualm she drives a car,
Going ever so very far.
Her long necklace is of gold,
Miss It Girl is ever so bold.
Long skirts are passé,
She shows her knees today!She may be called rash,
To the Charleston party does she dash,
But in this new society,
The forward new personality,
Is really quite the style,
Everyone she beguiles,
So only stiff dowagers are hostile!

Rather silly, eh? The rhymes always make me crack up. Let's see...
Here is the Hoopskirt Lady and a friend:

and the Flapper and some companions, at their Charleston party:




Slightly Annoying Heroines

Sometimes I get fed up with heroines of books who detest balls, fancy clothes and romance, and prefer to be riding horses, or, in the case of the newest novel I've started, Bewitching Season, practicing magic. The start of this book reminds me immensely of a novel I read a while back, called, (very similar title, too...) The Season. Both set in the early 1800s, both about a society girl who is not looking foward to the coming social season, wishes she doesn't have to marry some stuffy suitor, and then suddenly a handsome childhood friend arrives and changes that! But--once I get further along in Bewitching Season, I am sure it will change, because the central plot aspect is supposed to be something to do with a plot to harm Princess Victoria, who would one day become Queen Victoria. Based on my love of The Young Victoria movie, which the beginning involves her last year as a princess, (same as BS,) I'm sure that I'll get around to enjoying it more.
      However, back to my original complaint. I'd just like to read about a heroine who actually is interested in fashion, society, etc. In fact, I can't think of any book which featured a character like that, off the top of my head! And ach, the historical fashion lover in me can't help criticizing the cover of Bewitching Season. The model is wearing a very costume-y outfit that looks very Spanish.  At least it's better than the cover of The Season, those models were supposed to look Regency, but they just ended up looking like very modern-day girls in high-waisted, backless (for goodness sakes!) dresses! Ugh!

As for the long-ago, (well, not so long,) promise, (well, sort of promise,) of a review of The Fool's Girl, I still have not finished it. Yes, I very often read several books at once. But that particular novel is just not that interesting! I mean, it is, but it's very heavy reading, and not very captiviating. It doesn't help that the text is very crammed close together.
Francis Bacon, (whoever he is,) once said:

Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested.

Sometimes some books just have to be left as "tasted".

Marking Books in Style, Unfinished Writings

My three "fashionable ladies" bookmarks:

Left to right: 1890s, 1910s and a combination of 1920s and 1950s, which is kind of strange, but I love the autumn flavor of it.


I don't have any stories today because I don't have many 1-2 page stories. It's very frustrating having so many ideas for new stories when I have over 20 unfinished works! I attempted to whip up something but it's not half as good as I'd like it to be, so I abandoned that--for now. Perhaps the August breeze will inspire me for a poem or two.

Weekly Characters

Since I was not able to do last week's character, due to having been on a trip, I will profile two characters today.
The one to make up for last week's:

Margaret, Elizabeth and Wilhelmina, from left to right. Three sisters, though one, (Wilhelmina,) by marriage. It is in the 1770s, and they are being painted to commemorate two events: Margaret and Wilhelmina's brother Nathaniel's third wedding anniversary, and Elizabeth's engagement to a young merchant by the name of Jack Hastings. The secret they are all inwardly laughing at is that the real-life backdrop of this portrait is in fact not what you see in the completed picture, but a simple room in the painter's home. Elizabeth, however, wishes that they truly were by a great window in a stone castle with burgundy drapes, for she is a dreamer who loves adventure, romance and daring. Practical Margaret thinks she is silly to dream of such things "when they can never come about". Both sisters encourage their sister-in-law to pursue her talent at embroidery, (which she is doing in the painting,) by selling her masterpieces of stitchery to an upholsterer's or some other such trade which could put Wilhelmina's work on public display. However, she is not vain about her talent, and does not wish to exhibit it in such a fashion. "Giving my embroideries as gifts to my family is enough to satisfy me," Wilhelmina often tells her sisters-in-law. Elizabeth was at first shocked when she heard Margaret suggest the idea that her husband's sister should sell her embroidery, for Margaret would never even think of doing such a un-ladylike thing as "selling her art, scandalous idea!" herself, but this shows Margaret's nature of apreciating other's artistic works so much that she would even suggest such a thing!


This week's:

Mimi Jacquard, one of the many models for a fashion house in New York City in 1951, pauses at the stair of her apartment building and is rapidly sketched by a young artist, Henri Glederé living above her.
        Mimi was born in Paris, France in 1930, and before she had even graduated from high school she was working as a fashion model there. When she was ninteen, her way with fashion was spotted by the head of a New York City fashion house visiting Paris to search for new models, and was hired on the spot. Mimi's sophisticated and somewhat haughty demeanor was just the thing the designer wanted to demonstrate his new line of clothing.  Mimi loved New York from the moment she stepped off the ship, immaculate in her oh-so-stylish traveling outfit of a full, flowing navy blue pleated skirt with a matching jacket cinched tightly at the waist, pumps dyed to match, and an also matching hat with a large, stiff, skyward-pointing feather. 
          Henri is secretly smitten with the elegant Mimi. However, until she can overcome her distainful, cold air towards the financially struggling Henri, his infatuation is hopeless. If only Mimi would find out that his name is spelled with and "i" instead of a "y", her heart might soften towards him upon realizing he is a fellow Frenchman! How Henri would be devastated if he were to find out that Mimi was on her way to dinner with her beau Digby Hardey!
          If only he could break through her cold exterior to find the warm, wholehearted instead of distant person which Mimi does not even seem to notice is there.
               
(Disclaimer: the stories above are completely fictional and all the characters are of my own invention. The paintings are not of the characters in the stories, nor was the sketch done by Henry Gledere.)