April 05, 2011

The Era of Elegance

Oh, take me back to the time when...
People had chandeliers in their house. {I know I will! Someday.}
~When...
Women wore beautiful dresses everyday :)
 ~When....
Flower gardens decorated your home.
~When...
Ballet was respected and admired. {all right, it still is by some,
but many people have a stereotypical image of ballet}
~When....
All houses had grand majestic staircases
~When....
Forests filled the land
~When.....
Every woman had a boudoir
 ~When...
Wearing whimsical, pink jewelry was not sneered at.
~When...
People had beautiful mirrors :)
 ~When....
People had dresses for every occasion: tea dresses, day dresses,
evening gowns, cocktail dresses, afternoon dresses... etc.
 ~When....
People lived on mountains covered with snow :)
~When....
There were secret passageways and stairs =)
~When...
People had vases full of flowers :)
~When....
Chivalry existed. {think: Mr. Knightley}
~When....
Women carried parasols. :)
~When....
People lived in mansions {this particular one was Mr. Darcy's}
~When....
Men wore suits. And ties. Frequently.
~When....
There were fields of untouched wild flowers :)
~When....
People took the time to write hand written letters... 
~When....
Girls were witty and sweet like Miss Lizzie :)
~Yes... I know... I love parasols! :)
~When....
Men fought for worthy causes, and did so with honor.
~When....
There were balls. Wouldn't that be SO lovely? 
~When....
Women wore hoopskirts and ballgowns...
~When....
Chess wasn't dorky. {All right,  I admit it, I don't like chess. But
I HAD to find a reason to put this photo up here... he is so *cute*}
~When....
Elegance and beauty reigned freely {don't you
just love her hair?}
~When...
Femininity was admired :)
~When....
Men looked like this ^ (along the lines of Mr.
Darcy, Mr. Thornton, and other notable heros :)
~When....
Love was pure 
~When....
Little boys wore neckties :) 
~When....
Little girls carried parasols and looked their age!
~When....
You were introduced to people, and conversation was actually interesting ;)
*Screeches to a halt* You have got to see this quote....
I know this is off topic, but isn't he SO sweet? His looks.... well,
that is another story ;)
~When....
People were educated and read *good* books
~When....
Tea was a normal, beautiful affair with teacups, strawberries,
biscuits, cake, bread, and jam :)
~When...
British dandy was a popular look :)
~When...
Women wore gloves, and Dior's New Look was popular :)
~When...
It wasn't only little girls who had tea parties
~When...
You could wear ballgowns everyday.
Weren't those the days? My favorite era would have to be the Edwardian Era, when the Gibson Girl look was popular. The pompadour, beautiful dresses, and gorgeous hats captivate me. However, the 1950s runs a close second, while the Regency Era is third. Which era is your favorite? :)
Blessings!

13 comments:

Michaela said...

Nice post! Only Balls are still alive and breathing today. ;) I attended one over the weekend. In fact, there are thousands of people all over the county that have kept the tradition of Balls- good old fashioned, normally English Country Dance based-a part of regular social life. :D My friends and I normally don't get together without dancing!

Anyway - had to get that out of my system. ;) hehe. ECD is the dance form you'll see in the Jane Austin movies, and is oh so easy to learn! - if you were/are home schooled, it shouldn't be hard to find a group of young people in your area that dance...or would like to try. ;) I encourage you! (of course there are non-home school people who dance as well...its just not as popular. ;) )

Blessings to you,
Michaela

Southern Belle said...

Really? They do? Oh, that sounds so lovely!! Thank you so much for telling me, and I think I will just have to find one of them in my area! {this is so amazing... I just don't understand how I didn't know about this! ;) }
God bless you, and thank you for your sweet comment! :)

Virginia said...

YES to all of the above in your post! :D I think it would be charming to use parasols nowadays in the hot summer months, as well as pretty fans for practical cooling purposes. :) I already enjoy wearing gloves out (not to mention they protect you from germs!) and I've started using hankies. I adore the 1950s. The fashions are so feminine and elegant! LOVE THIS POST!

Southern Belle said...

Thank you so much! :) I completely agree with you about the 1950s... they were a lovely, beautiful time in style =)

ashley tahg said...

I awarded you on my blog, http://akhunter-fieldnotes.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-bookshelf-and-award.html

Southern Belle said...

Oh, Ashley, thank you so much :)

Melody said...

In case you didn't check the 'follow-up comments' box -

I am very glad you've found my blog, too, and I am happy to have you following! =)
~
Your result is: Miss Charlotte Lucas.
Thanks for taking the quiz, and you are quite welcome. :)
~
By the way, I ADORE that cherry teacup in that post. ;-)

Southern Belle said...

Ooh, thank you for telling me! It is *really* funny that I should get Charlotte; I am as unlike her as anyone EVER could be. haha :) But thank you for telling me!

Melody said...

Well, you really answered questions to go with nearly everyone in the quiz. ;) And there's more to Charlotte than just her marrying Mr Collins; she's obviously a good and loyal friend since Lizzy liked her so well, and she's sensitive to other people's feelings, etc, etc. ;-)

Southern Belle said...

Oh, I see :)

Susannah said...

Your. blog. is. lovely. :) I can't help but follow.

So many beautiful photos in this post! That British dandy is an awesome photo. :)

Southern Belle said...

Thank you so much Polka Dot!!! You just made my day :)

Vicki said...

First, thank you for following my blog!(:

Second, I ADORE your blog and all your lovely posts...I've spent quite a while now poring over them with all their gorgeous pictures...(:
& I agree to all of the above - can we please return to times like those?

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