A Bronte Sister Summer

I bought this dress for the shop intending to hem it slightly below the knee, but pulling it out for alterations and photos, I kind of fell in love with the length! My informally appointed photographer, German and I had so much fun taking pictures and he did such a great job that I thought I'd share some.

It's just oh so Victorian Summer with its fullness and girly ruffles (though an authentic dress from this period would be a bit more modest with the skin on top), and I like to picture my favorite sibling authoresses in similar garb as they stroll the wild moors of Haworth.

(photo by Abigail 709b)

The long standing "Bronte Myth" has popularized the image of Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Bronte as country bumpkins raised in the wild moors and cutoff from society. This began with the very first Bronte biographer, Elizabeth Gaskell who wrote during Charlotte's lifetime, and even Charlotte herself somewhat encouraged this myth in her introduction to the second editions of her late sisters' works, claiming that any flaws in the novels were due to their innocence and lack of worldly experience. However, the truth is that Haworth was deep in the throws of industrialization in the 1840s, and the girls lived only a few miles from a bustling urban center. Closer to reality than a walk in the country, perhaps, is a walk in the city!

I feel very Catherine in Wuthering Heights here!

Even in their home, the Brontes were far from sheltered from the social and literary movements of their time, being avid readers of many popular journals and magazines from childhood. This exposure informed their "Juvenilla," the name for their collection of childhood writings including their brother, Branwell's contributions.

I love the contrast of old and new, and the pictures we took of this dress capture the contradiction nicely with the whimsical style of the clothing and the backdrop of urbanization.

Do you ever have fun dressing up like your favorite literary heroes or characters?

Zombie Lace -- Not Completely Dead!

As it happens, I had to admit to myself that as much as I love fashion following and blogging as a hobby, I can't let it get in the way of my concrete goals for life. I had to back off the blog for many reasons, from losing my digital camera, to feeling plain uninspired about writing about outfits. There's something to be said for dressing from the subconscious, without analyzing or over-thinking my choices in context of blogging. Not having a camera aided this, and I actually think the respite was liberating in a way!

I did get some random snapshots of outfits here and there. To update you, here is kind of what I dressed like over the colder months.

I suppose I sort of oscilated between glam-loving granny and Victorian school girl. Lots of colorful skin tight bottoms and oversized sweaters. I altered some sequin pants from a dance costume long ago, and I pretty much lived in these leopard gold leggings I found in the ghetto-fabulous treasure chest known as Underground Atlanta. Seriously, the best cheapest place to fulfill your blingtastic needs.

I found these 80s lace-up boots at an awesome little Antique store off Highland Avenue and I got a ton of use out of them this Winter. I think my Victorian looks were inspired from taking my very last class of my college career, the works of the Bronte sisters.

Speaking of my very last class of my college career, I guess now is a good time to reveal my post-graduation plan. In August, I am moving to China to be an English teacher!

And so brings me to the new direction of this blog. I know I'll probably lose some people (and I so hate to lose you, but I understand this is a FASHION blogging community so it only makes sense!) but this blog is going to evolve to reflect my journey. I'll be facing a unique set of challenges, and I plan to be dressed well while facing them and to continue to gush about clothes and antiques and insane bargains, but Zombie Lace will become less geared towards fashion and more towards Teaching Abroad.

My last few months in Atlanta, I will cross all my i's and dot all my t's and say my farewell to the Atlanta scene. I'll also record my experiences as a young Western graduate preparing to ship overseas and hopefully my awkward disasters and mishaps will serve as wisdom and guidance for the voyagers who come after me. Once in China, I will be unable to use Blogger.com, and will then switch to some platform acceptable over there. I hope I can bring some of you with me along for the ride.

Thank you so much for reading and sticking with me this long! I can't wait to start getting reaquainted with your blogs and stealing your outfit ideas.