Victorians - Death Chic - Mourning Jewelry, Basic Black Dress, and

Queen Victoria lost the love of her life, her consort Albert, and so great was this woman's influence that she took her whole country into mourning with her. Black reigned supreme in the well dressed Englishwoman's wardrobe for more seasons than would seem possible. Unless you were a young, unmarried female, your formal day and evening wear was all in classic black. Granted, if middle, upper or titled, the material range, velvet, organdy, satin, heavy to gossamer silk, fine wools, serges, crepe, garbedine, gave you some options but not many.

Even jewelry was influenced by the mourning of their queen. Locks of hair would be cut from the dearly departed and woven or braided into intricate designs. These fantastical creations were made to fit into glass framed lockets, pendants or brooches. Jet , a fossilized coal, was used to make shiny black stones and beads. These were made into jewelry and used to accent clothing or accessories.

Some women even took daily doses of arsenic to give them pale, translucent skin so conducive to a melancholy air. In other words, the whole style became so popular that you not only dressed as if in perpetual mourning, you also wanted to physically look the part.

To some the Victorian era of style is one better forgotten. Furniture
incorporated design details from several centuries the result was mostly overlyornate pieces with no style of their own. To top it off, it they weren't even comfortable to sit on. Decor tended to be in umber shades with dark, dark jewel tones. Too many, too much of, too fussy, and too totally overdone were the catch phrases for
interior design. Fashion was elaborate both in style and in the number of things one ended up wearing to be properly dressed. The saving grace was that, as noted above, almost everything was in black. Which backs up my belief that if you have quality wardrobe basics in black, you can get thru anything, even a fashion era as bad
as the Victorian one.

There are three results of that era I really like. Number 1, they made something for everything. For every single thing you might use or eat, they had a dish, serving utensil, box, holder, and so forth. These "things" were often quality made, with fine attention to detail. Seen standing alone, relieved of the Victorian clutter, they are often beautiful. The Victorians made fantastic smalls and I love smalls -
you got to give credit where credit is due. Number 2, they loved gadgets, simple things compared to today, but you could consider them the first techies. If it was mechanicized, they wanted one. Even though it took longer and was more difficult than doing it manually!

Number 3, they were the founders of goth fashion. I am not a goth myself, but like the style. Using the basic colors and theme of constantly acknowledging death introduced by the Victorians, it has evolved a much more attractive look. Like the Victorians, it incorporates other eras. Unlike them, it has restraint. And I hate to keep beating the same drum, but I'm back on the black basics of quality theme. Think about it. Those who go thru a Goth phase and do it well will have a lot more wardrobe items that will turn out to incorporate well into any new look. I mean, how much of that hip hop, rockabilly, emo, grunge, surfer, hippy, leather studded stuff hanging in your closet is going to look good at the office?

Why My Shabbi Chic?

I had to come to terms with the nomenclature of My Shabbi Chic before starting a blog. The results of my figuring out how in the sam hill I got myself stuck with that moniker will be the first post to my first blog. The fact that it is my first blog, and my first real stand alone presence on the web, really made me not want this as a blog name. Really wanted something with "old broad" in it combined with "musings", "rants", "chronicles", etc.. You know - mouthy old lady with attitude, heart of gold, philosophical, witty, warms the cockles of your heart while making you snort with laughter. But Google search changed all of that.

It wasn't that the dozen or so fabulous names I toyed with had been taken. It wasn't that the names flagged any obscenity no-no's. It was due to a whim that made me Google myshabbichic and the realization that I already had a web presence. Once I got over the thrill of that - and I'm sorry, it was a thrill for me, so sit on it, I realized the shabbi one was here to stay. A name picked to sell on ebay, chosen partly from pique, partly to save myself from loved one's suggestions for names and partly cause no one else was using it.

The resentment was probably menopausal reaction, but the lady who made all the cash on the whole shabby chic thing? well I had photos of my apartment in the early 70's, all white washed old wood and bamboo furniture with upholstery recovered in barkcloth cabbage roses and tropical ferns, distressed wood and gesso framed mirrors on every wall, candles in unusual glass holders, seashells and quaint old leather covered books laying around - and I didn't make millions off it. Then of course there were the charming names friends and loved ones kept coming up with, from the too cutesy and overly used types like Granny's Attic to the who would want to buy anything from soomeone named junkedouttrasher. With a sniff at English blondes and well meaning buddies, I decided it was my particular brand of shabby as in charming chic style that I was trying to sell - hence, the name.

Whether I'm just a glass half full type or one that always sees the silver lining, the name is finally growing on me. And truth win out - I've surrounded myself, dressed myself, educated myself in, the used, passed on, discarded, items of times past. Even when I don't need them or particularly even like them, I bring them home cause I can't stand to see them just trashed. Style is timeless and I like things with style - I love to dig thru boxes and crowded shelves for those special things that catch my eye - I love saving a beautiful pot or silk scarf from the landfill.

The photo at the beginning is a collage of items I have bought and have or will be selling or bartering in the future. Going from left to right starting in the upper left corner: A Florenza letter holder, an unglazed African folk art contemporary sculpture, a 1940s aluminum perpetual calendar, a Fornasetti box, a marked Mexican sterling silver turquoise inlay question mark pendant, Bjorn Winblad playing cards, a 1950's carpet bag purse, a 1970s 80s Kliban cat coffee mug over a mid century lucite paperweight with a full blown dandelion encased and a one edition 1980s deck of tarot cards, a ceramic spaghetti spaniel made in Italy, three older cameos over a very funky 1920s 30s made in Japan character ashtray, a ceramic sculpture by Fantoni, a handpainted silk tie on the naughty side, a made in Italy with pottery marks rooster pitcher, an engraved metal peacock with a 12 inch clam shell body, a 3D tooled leather purse with cowhide border made in Mexico from the 1950s 60s, a mid-century modern Mexican silver cuff signed, a Nagel mug and last but not least, another Florenza piece, a small double frame made out of an old locket on a stand up base of faux gems.

All in all, it really is a perfect name - my shabbi chic.