Last of the Romanovs

Miss Ruth's Time Bomb dressing gown; Ross Tights; Forever21 shoes and earrings; vintage hat and jewelry.

Hello, dear blogger friends! I hope everyone had a merry Christmas! As promised a few months ago,  here is another Russian-inspired photo shoot, photographed by my friend Rebecca. As with the Madame Butterfly set of pictures, we were going for a delicate wintertide vibe, this time with a muted champagne color scheme, contrasting textures, and magical sparkling accents. I basically threw this outfit together two minutes before the shoot (we were running late) but looking back on it, it reminds me quite a bit of Anne Hathaway's September 2007 Teen Vogue covershoot. Inspired by Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov (the youngest last-generation "princess" of Imperial Russia), Anne's shoot combined practical, oversized knitted basics with glamorous jewels and fashionable accents, reminiscent of the historically inccorect yet much romantiscized idea that Anastasia escaped from Russia (dressed like a peasant but secreting jewels and valuables beneath her robs) instead of being murdered like the rest of her family.

Anyway, my outfit is composed of a vintage silky champagne pink dressing gown from Miss Ruth's Time Bomb, a non-descript black tanktop and pair of black shorts, lacey fishnet tights from Ross, shoes from Forever21, and a faux fur Russian hat from Salvation Army. The dangly earrings are from Forever21, and the rest of the jewelry is vintage.

Ungracefully moving on to a different subject (my, how my former English teacher would be shocked at my lack of literary integration!), my 18th birthday is coming up this Thursday! One of my best blogger friends, Amy of flyingakite, turned 18 last week. I think that her pre-birthday post is the perfect summary of my feelings towards next Thursday:

"My eighteenth birthday! The year that I grow wings. The year I walk alone, sign my own name, pay my own fare, drink my own drink.. I'm setting my alarm for 7 am, dressing in flowers, curling my hair, painting my lips bubblegum pink, and walking out the door happy."

Well, with the exception of  drinking that is. Alas, as an American-dweller, I will have to wait another three years before a taste of alcholic sweetness passes my lips. Aside from that, I plan to do just what Amy did: rise early in the morning (despite my fondness for sleeping in 'till noontide), deck myself out in fanciful faerie gauze and glimmer, and prepare to drink in the day's loveliness. I'm celebrating my birthday in the morning with my family, after which my bestie and I are driving to a  local vintage clothing store/piercing parlor, where I will get my ears piered. My parents have this weird rule that I have to wait until I'm 18 to "poke permanant holes in my body" (hello, they can grow closed again!) so hence the long wait. After that, we'll browse around and hopfeully conjure up some amazing yet inexpensive vintage adornments, then head off to lunch at a tantilizingly deliscious Indian restaurant. In the evening, I'm having a vintage birthday reception with my friends, which will consist of the lot of us dressing up to the nines and stuffing ourselves with scrumptious hor'dourves and delacacies.

ANYWAY, after that huge long ramble, I am very much looking forward to this birthday. Don't forget to check out the lovely Amy's blog! 

 Mwah! Mwah!

~Hope Adela