Redhead74

this is Jacobean

and this is fantasy. or modern reinterpretation

How is that different from the TV promo pic? Aside from the neckline which is square in the TV pic and scooped in the portrait and the position of the collar? Both shapes were widely used in that period and all the other elements are there: sharply pointed bodice, light gauze collar, hanging sleeves.......

I suppose it depends which country you are talking about here, because in the Northern European countries (Germany, The Netherlands, Scandinavia) it was still common to have a collar close in at the neck as opposed to the open décolletage more common in France, Spain and England after.

Magdalena Duchess of Neuberg (1613)

Yet these are also Jacobean and look completely different again. Mostly in the lack of a collar at all, the wider more voluminous sleeve and the softer hairstyles. (1630s)

And here is Elizabeth with a very open décolletage way back in 1600.

I think it's one of the most interesting periods of clothing history because of the frequent changes and the diversity from country to country. I actually see the early beginnings of 'fashion' here, especially from a cultural perspective, as opposed to the uniform styles of dress that tended to be pandemic across all the continent and the British Isles for the periods beforehand.

Anyway, I'm absolutely dying to one day be able to wear any one of the above dresses. Bring back the lace ruff I say! Here's me in my best attempt so far (again drinking cocktails). So very Frans Hals. Cheers!

What are this kind of dresses called? What's the style/era?

i think they are mostly from "fantasy" era as well as the rest of the show

but i can totally imagine girls wearing some of those dresses to prom

That particular dress above is actually pretty spot on Jacobean.

The hair is all wrong but the dress isn't.

£198

I've never heard of COS, must be a London-only thing here

Yeah, that's not exactly cheap but it probably represents reasonable value. If it fit you well I imagine you'd get a lot of wear out of a dress like that. You could wear it for day and evening occasions. I love a good dress like that. Multi functional and modern without being super trendy. It would be that 'go to' dress in your wardrobe that never let's you down. I have a few like that and even if they seemed a little pricey at the time they turned out to be much better value in the long run than most of the cheaper things I've bought.

Renaissance era but being quite broad as that covered three centuries those specific styles were the most prominent with the Elizabethans and Jacobeans.

Sorry for answering that netcat, I couldn't help myself.

That's lovely ARQ. How much is it?

Also wondering if you shop at COS? We don't have it here in Australia and apparently it's just about to open in New York. It's a sister shop to H&M and a lot of the stuff they sell is like that dress you posted but everything is under the US$100 mark. They're London based, so not sure if they have stores in the UK outside of London? I know they're in Paris so I'm thinking they might.

Out of curiosity, any of you guys ever shop at Ross or Marshall's? They can be hit or miss but usually, you can find some sick deals on just about any type of name brand clothing and shoes. I bought a pair of Doc Martins there a few years ago for about $30....insanely cheap.

No, I live in Australia. We don't have Ross or Marshalls.

I do love a bargain so I have to scour the Internet for good deals. Asos.com and eBay tend to have the best deals, although you have to be careful these days with eBay because there are so many sellers with fake merchandise.

It's good to see a lot of American retailers now shipping to Australia (like Saks, J Crew, Neimen Marcus and Nordstrom) but there really aren't any bargains to be had. I'm waiting for Zappos to start international shipping but its not looking likely at this stage. They did it once for about 6 months and I bought a Dooney & Bourke bag at a great price, but they stopped shortly after I bought the bag. And it was a pain in the ass, you had to make the order by phone and due to time zone differences I had to do it at like midnight and the delay made it hard for us to understand each other. Don't get why they can't just do it all online like everyone else does.

I was thinking about starting a small eBay side business selling designer brand clothing. I know if I spend a solid day searching my local clearance outlets I could easily find plenty of apparel that I could triple my money on. It would come down to shipping costs overseas, etc. What type of range would say a 2 or 3 pound package cost to ship from the US to Australia?

I don't remember to be honest, I know that most eBay sellers just work it out on the USPS postal calculator and put the rates up for every country they're willing to post to, based on delivery to any metro area (not country, regional areas) but its the one thing about US to Australia eBay purchases that is expensive compared to other parts of the world. I don't know why but postage by International Priority is rather up there. I only ever purchase with tracking too because I'm usually buying bags and shoes that aren't cheap and I'm not going to risk it getting lost in the mail. But that hasn't stopped me before. I've bought some really nice Kate Spade bags, a Tory Burch bag, a Tod's bag and a Cole Haan bag for much less than I could buy them retail here and that was including the shipping costs. You can tend to get good prices for brands that aren't available here too, that's always a big draw.

What kind of brands are you able to get?

Soulmonster would be head of science constantly bickering with the head of religious instruction.

Magisme would be the cool teacher taking the piss out of everyone that deserves it.

McCoy would be the only guy without a girlfriend, getting bullied by nearly all the boys (and some of the girls too)

Broski would be on his third suspension, seconds away from being expelled.

Ashba would be head of the anti bullying campaign that no one pays attention to.

Gia would have to repeat a year because pregnant teens aren't allowed in class.

Arnold would wag every class and still end up graduating top of his year level.

Gracii would be in charge of the coolest ever, most stylistic school newspaper.

Dazey and JD will ALWAYS be found in the cafeteria.

Glow would be the French exchange student with all the suave moves on the girls, infuriating the school jocks.

I would get in trouble for adapting the school uniform to the latest fashion trends.

I really loved the dress Angelina Jolie wore to the Maleficent premiere. I've seen it compared to a trash bag, but I thought it was very rock n' roll and that she wore it well. If I ever become rich, I want a closet full of Versace.

Jess

The dress is amazing. It has classic 1950s shape (a la Charles James) but the fabric (or PVC, more like it) makes it modern. It's great for a public event, I imagine if a non-celebrity wore it anywhere it would be more appropriate in a black Duchess silk satin. That would be stunning as well, but the event she was wearing it for is a perfect match. I love the gold studded cuffs as well. I bet she had strict instructions to keep her wrists away from the skirt. You can tell by the way she is standing that she was thinking about it. Haha!

I'd have preferred to see the neckline dipped a bit in the centre front though. It would have been more flattering for her bust line.

Reminds me a bit of this gorgeous leather Lanvin number:

there's this TV show, Reign, it's about Mary Queen of Scots and it is awful almost in every single way: script, actors, historical inaccuracies, etc.

also it is said be a fashion catastrophe and it's heavily criticized for costumes that have very little do with Renaissance epoch. but i absolutely love those dresses and they are the only reason i watch the show from time to time. i see it like a kind of a 16th century steam-punk fashion

and this is how real Mary used to dress up

Yeah lol! The dresses are nice but tulle definitely didn't exist during Mary's reign.

And sheer bodices and slim skirts (like on the red dress) were a definite no-no. People need to realise too that these shows are made for entertainment not as an accurate historical document. It looks like a bit of fun to me.

I don't see why a guy can't stand with the bridesmaids, if he's closer to the bride than another girl she might choose It's not like he'd have to wear a dress or anything

Exactly, and it's not like its 1854 either. I don't think it would be much of an issue here where I live. It's definitely not the 'norm' and some people might be surprised, but I doubt anyone would be shocked. It wouldn't even really warrant discussion and nor should it. It's no weirder than people acknowledging that homosexuals exist and families of single parents, gay couples adopting children, multiracial couples, etc.

Funny how some things in society become accepted, yet others remain so entrenched in tradition it's like we are still living in the age of horse and carts. In fact I'd probably put money on the idea that the people who would scoff or be alarmed at a bride or groom having a member of the opposite sex in their wedding party would probably not have gay friends or acquaintances. By not interacting with and embracing the uniqueness of people it's easy to maintain a staunch traditional view on what is and isn't acceptable.

Out of curiosity, any of you guys ever shop at Ross or Marshall's? They can be hit or miss but usually, you can find some sick deals on just about any type of name brand clothing and shoes. I bought a pair of Doc Martins there a few years ago for about $30....insanely cheap.

No, I live in Australia. We don't have Ross or Marshalls.

I do love a bargain so I have to scour the Internet for good deals. Asos.com and eBay tend to have the best deals, although you have to be careful these days with eBay because there are so many sellers with fake merchandise.

It's good to see a lot of American retailers now shipping to Australia (like Saks, J Crew, Neimen Marcus and Nordstrom) but there really aren't any bargains to be had. I'm waiting for Zappos to start international shipping but its not looking likely at this stage. They did it once for about 6 months and I bought a Dooney & Bourke bag at a great price, but they stopped shortly after I bought the bag. And it was a pain in the ass, you had to make the order by phone and due to time zone differences I had to do it at like midnight and the delay made it hard for us to understand each other. Don't get why they can't just do it all online like everyone else does.

People say call or text me tomorrow all-the-time casually....I say it to my friends, family, etc....and vice versa....if we happen to skip a day... even two, it's really no big deal....and it shouldn't of been in McCoy's case. Like I said, if they really want to talk to you that bad, they can just as easily text or call you....it really is that simple and not nearly as complicated as you all are making it out to be.

He didn't text her first...so he held off long enough...that was my entire point....and it worked.

I get what you're saying but when it's a romantic interest you take that a little more seriously than a casual remark made to a friend, family member and generally someone you've known for a long time. And with a new relationship whether its romantic or a friend means you still need to prove your integrity with that person IMO.

Wearing pre-torn jeans to me has an equivalent effect as walking around with a big sign saying 'IM A CUNT'.

I absolutely hate torn jeans. And I can't understand anyone buying them already torn. If you look at all the pairs hanging on the rack they're all torn in exactly the same place. How fucking pretentious and lacking imagination is that? And the people who buy them are even worse.

For me by far the most fascinating period in the history of costume is the Elizabethan era. The skill involved in making these dresses, not to mention the collars and the highly crafted embellishments is just extraordinary. The costumes for Elizabeth with Cate Blanchett show this best as portraits often lack a 3 dimensional quality that is important to understanding the details.

I thought she asked him to text him the next day and that McCoy said he would. Of course he should then follow up on both his promise and her wish. You don't start off a relationship by not holding promises or being considerate. Not if you want the relationship to last. Take it from a guy who got it to last.

I agree. It's basically disrespectful to say you'll do something and then not do it. Even something as small as a text message, and when there's a romantic interest involved its even worse. I would perceive someone like that as having little integrity and being so self absorbed that I didn't really matter to them.

I mean c'mon guys, it's a FUCKING TEXT MESSAGE! No one is that busy that they can't find 30 seconds to send someone a text in the space of 24 hours, and especially someone that you're romantically interested in. Deliberately playing hard to get can be appropriate at times but also really 'try hard'. I hate it when people play games like that. It's not the basis for a good relationship.

Women like to be woo'd, not treated like 'you should be lucky I'm even sparing the time to send you a 15 word text message'.

I think the designers are just looking for something different. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I know the whole lace and beading thing has been going on for a long time now, it's getting pretty boring, but the mood is still for textural detail.

Feathers are a bit of thing in France too. Maison Lemarie is a Parisian feather specialist who originally started in the 1880s working in millinery. With the decline of millinery after the 1940s they had to change their direction and started working with a lot of the big fashion houses on garments. Chanel bought them out in the 1990s (along with 9 other specialist artisan ateliers) to preserve the craft and prevent them from falling into collapse. As a result they tend to always have a few pieces in the couture collections that include the work of Maison Lemarie.

Both of those dresses above are Chanel.

Unless your name is Rolf Harris, then yes of course it's entirely possible for a man to not want to fuck every female he lays his eyes on.

So I genuinely want these

I want to buy this shirt and wear it ironically

Fine. Don't be the fashion king (small f, small k).

Sorry, anti-monarchy y'see

Fuck you then. Fashion Queen was already taken.

But i wannabe the fashion Queen

Not with shoes like you posted on the last page.

Magisme is crowned Fashion King.

(Whether he likes it or not.)

Thinking of buying these. Don't need them but I really like them and they would work with several things I have in my wardrobe.

Fine. Don't be the fashion king (small f, small k).

But i wannabe the fashion Queen

You can be the Fashion King.

The kittys are cute though, upon close inspection What would you even wear those with?!?!

Nothing that wouldn't make a young female look like 'lonely old cat woman'.

Jeez, they're a bit of fun, calm down

Fun for cat people.

The whole 'cat' graphic is not particularly visible from a reasonable distance, so unless you're talking to a dwarf, the fact that you have cats on your shoes will not be particularly apparent. And from a distance they just look really messy. I was going to say 'pukey', so maybe like a cat or a dog vomited on your shoes. Not really seeing the fun in that.

The kittys are cute though, upon close inspection What would you even wear those with?!?!

Nothing that wouldn't make a young female look like 'lonely old cat woman'.

I used to cry a lot when I was younger but I've had some pretty eye opening experiences in the last few years that have just made me toughen up and I only cry now at things that really move me right to my core. The last time I cried uncontrollably was when my dog died just over a year ago. I cried many times over the course of two weeks and it was a real grief that I don't want to experience again soon. I don't even like to dwell on memories of him too much because it just fills me with sadness that he lived such a short life.

I've had two really unexpected bouts of tears in recent memory. The first was when I was living in Amsterdam. My apartment was directly across from the Anne Frank house on the Prinsengracht and I read her diary again before I went to visit the museum. There is a description of what happened when the family was discovered and were loaded into a truck never to feel freedom and never to be a family together ever again. The description literally explained that they were lead out of the house they were hiding in, into a truck which then crossed over the nearby bridge and passed right outside the building I was sitting in at that moment. I literally looked out my lounge room window to where this happened. I just broke down and cried. After reading such a heartbreaking account of a young girl experiencing what all of us have a right to experience (first love, hopes for the future, love for family and contrastingly, frustration and sometimes anger towards family, creative stimulation, a desire to love and be loved) and to then know that it would all be taken away and to see before my very eyes exactly where that happened, was one of the most emotionally disturbing experiences I've ever had. I have never been so humbled by any person that ever lived as I have been by Anne Frank.

So no, I didn't feel like an idiot after weeping tears unexpectedly.

The second time I cried unexpectedly was when I reached the end of 'The Book Thief' by Markus Zusak. I was reading it on my kindle in the car while I waited for someone and I just lost it. I could see people walking past the car looking at me wondering what was going on, I didn't care. It was just so sad and so emotional that it was an appropriate response to such an amazing book. Books are supposed to affect us and this one did for me. Big time.