Cottagecore Inspiration

So I've been intrigued by the "Cottagecore" look ever since the Nap Dress became a thing started by Nellie Diamond's Hill House company where the floral prints are the same as the bed sheet prints. 

It's girly and sweet, and reminds you of the country life, and I wasn't sure if it's for me...

Until season 3 episode 3 of Victoria, the PBS Masterpiece Theater's show that I'm currently hooked on...

This is my favorite Queen Victoria outfit from the show! Purple-ditsy print! Ah! you have my heart. And her bonnet is just perfect! Since the royal family is somewhat vacationing in the seaside escape at their home in the Isle of Wight, I would definitely consider this resort-wear for the Victorian times! 

It's hilarious that Prince Albert wears the classic Breton stripes too: 

Other views from the show on her gown:

So now I'm on the lookout of trying out this style in modern day form, and at affordable prices...

From Walmart:

From Forever 21:

Best Period Shows to Watch Now

So before Bridgerton became a hit, I was all up on PBS channel's Sanditon.  I love period movies and shows, especially the 1800's because I basically lived in Jane Austen's world as a teen (this is what happens when you have no friends to eat lunch with in high school and you are trying to read books to improve your vocabulary for SAT scores). So naturally, I had to watch these shows. I was literally blown away on how good Sanditon was with the plethora of scandalous plots and twists that kept me glued to the screen. I also love the old-time beach resort feel of the show and the classical-esque string music in the background. I was a huge fan! And I cannot wait till season two comes out March 20th, 2022! Save that date! 

Then a few months later, when Bridgerton came out on Netflix, I felt like that show was trying too hard to make it appear relevant to today's times. My favorite thing though from Bridgerton was actually how they used our current top hits music and turned it into 1800's classical sounds, which was pretty cool! Other than that, I thought the plots paled to the scandals of Sanditon. 

Right now, I am totally hooked on the The Gilded Age from HBO Max. Woah, this show nailed it on the costumes and set design....I literally feel like I'm watching a live version of the Victorian-esque paintings that I love so much from the likes of Jean Beraud, James Tissot, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Gustave Caillebotte, John Singer Sargent, etc. This show is definitely eye-candy if you like antique fashion and art. The plot so far is somewhat slow and boring and cliché, but I got to say, my favorite character is actually Ada Brook, portrayed by Cynthia Nixon. Wow oh wow, I cannot believe the sophisticated lady from Sex in the City, is the same actress playing this sweet, nice old aunt that we all wish we had. She totally looks and acts the part for that Victorian character! Someone please give her an award for this acting talent! 

Are you loving these shows? 

What other Victorian-esque shows should I watch?

The Power of Feminine

1. Dream Dress: When I first started joining this blogging community, I only followed a few petite-style bloggers to help me figure out what to wear with a petite body. Then of course, I became curious who my favorite bloggers followed and obtained inspiration from. A commonality I noticed was that almost everyone listed Atlantic-Pacific in their blogrolls or mentioned Blair Eadie at some point in a post. Once I clicked into Atlantic-Pacific, I was hooked! Blair's style is like the epitome of all girlish dreams! No wonder so many revere her blog photos. Some of her outfits can be too crazy for real life, but man, they look like what dreams are made of if we lived in a fantasy world where everything is really pretty. Naturally, if Blair has an obsession, I am obsessed with it too because we girls dream the same...like this dress I spotted on her Instagram Stories/Instagram:  

Elizabeth Kennedy RTW Fall 2017 

2. Currently Watching: Victoria. Here are the reasons why I love this Masterpiece TV show:

     - I've always been inspired and obsessed with Victorian era costumes

     - Queen Victoria was only 5' 0"?  Yay for powerful short women! 

     - Great classical music and art references. The theme background songs are also fantastic. 

     - Can't believe all the drama and scandals are for real (I had to google if these crazy events really happened, and they did! Anyway, this show made me want to learn more about the history of Queen Victoria, which will probably spoil the plot for me though.)

     - Full of witty and snarky lines that keeps me snorting.

     - We can all relate to being annoyed at our parents, wanting to be loved, and having major hormones. 

  

3. Life Inspiration: "The Person You Really Need to Marry" from Tracy McMillan. Totally agree we should all learn to love ourselves first and forever. If I had seen this video long time ago, it would have saved me a lot of disappointments. I don't know why we are conditioned to believe that getting married to the "right" person would make us whole or happier someday. We can live happily being single, married, widowed, abandoned, whatever destiny throws at us, as long as we don't expect others to make us happy, but rather, we love ourselves that we can make others happy. That is deep stuff! 

4. Wardrobe goal: Back to pink. For a time, I wanted to be more mature and taken seriously and decided to cut out everything pink in my style. But ever since my Grandma fell seriously ill last winter, being by her side at the hospital and helping her recover from surgery, I felt the urge to surround myself with more pink, the color of life, caring, hope, and love. (More inspirations: here, here, and here) 

5. Trending on my radar: Multi-color stripes for spring.