This is another post for my transatlantic friends (and one which I am bitterly jealous about and on which I have previously blogged). The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, are hosting an exhibition on Fairy Tale Fashion (15 January – 16 April, 2016). It looks beautiful and fabulous and stunning and makes me think of the amazing plenary by Catherine Spooner at OGOM’s The Company of Wolves conference.
(It also reminds me that I must buy a copy of Bloody Fabulous: Stories of Fantasy and Fashion (2012) edited by Ekaterina Sedia).
Not long ago I stumbled across a delightful article from 2014 in the Huffington Post about a women who dresses like a Disney princess everyday and this Tumblr on Disney Princess Fashion also has plenty of inspiration. Although Disney can be a little saccharine, the outfits for the evil characters are magnificent. When I was younger, I always wanted to dress as Maleficent and was very disappointed to find that the Disney store only stocked Princess costumes.
Going back to the Fairy Tale Fashion exhibition, if any of our followers on the other side of the pond would like to review this exhibition let us know. We can be contacted on the Facebook page or on Twitter (@BillBloodyHughe, @DrSamGeorge1, or @KajaFranck).
I never wanted to be a Disney princess either eww….I hope to do some deconstructing of Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast when we look at the novel ‘Beauty’ . Mckinley deliberately subverts the desire for the princess dress in a really clever way. I would recommend Zipes ‘Breaking the Disney Spell’ in Maria Tatar, ‘The Classic Fairy Tales’ as an antidote to any would be princesses too. I would rather dress like Anne Catherick from ‘Woman in White’ or HBC as Miss Havisham. Loving Victorian lunatic chic (thanks Catherine). I wanted to look like Kate Bush when I was growing up – especially liked her Wuthering Heights dresses…and her tail in Lionheart…..I still adore her.
I definitely didn’t want to be a Disney princess. But I did want to be a princess (and apparently She-Ra for a very long time) – but a princess as I imagined them which was significantly stronger and more regal. I wanted to be Maleficent; and following the most recent movie, I want to be Maleficent even more.
These links are really useful for the ‘Beauty’ week on the module Kaja. I am going to refer to the princess woman and the Disney phenomenon and tie it into the reluctance to wear the princess dress in the novel. Brilliant material thanks!