There is music. The cafe is filled with revellers. Their drunken laughter is loud, but the seasons slip away, and they need something to remember.
A year has passed, and I still light my candles for the window and hope fades like summer into fall. The mirror has no mercy, a reminder of all that has passed through these hands. There is no holding back the past or what lies ahead.
The night deepens as we raise our glasses to the seasons of honey and fire and the aching memory of lovers slipped away.
Snakes and Metaphors
suspended
At the top of the stairs the hours pass hurriedly, lovers flee the break of dawn. Subdued seduction , silhouettes in flickering candlelight.
In black tie and silk gowns, the bourgeoisie sip cognac , exhale circlets of smoke from cigarillos into the softly whirring blades of a bamboo fan.
The walls are thin and the wood floor is bare. Music drifts upward, slips under my door, “La Vie En Rose”, the sighs of desperate lovers , their bodies pressed against one another.
At my mirror I braid silver thread through my hair. Should the Frenchman return I am wearing the dress he likes. Last night he signaled with a stone at my window .
He has taught me how to say I love you and other endearing terms in his tongue. At the hollow of my throat I dab a bit of the perfume he bought for me in Berlin. I’m not sure that is true but I like the scent.
He wants me to follow him but he is not my kind. The weak can not survive love that is bound to die nor can they forgive.
Holly for contributing your luscious poems to this collaboration & to Gigifor being the hallway model (where the music notation is actually the first 5 bars to La Vie en Rose).
It was a nothing, no where, no how day. No one seemed to know who sent the invitation?
Up for adventure and treasure, Genevieve donned her favourite party dress. Arriving at the address on the back of the invite, she found herself in beautiful garden that lead to a porch with 2 cats on it.
Linens & laces inherited from great grandmother & grandmother to mother then her, became all mine; an Art Gown to share.
Her beauty holds memories of Victorian times, and the bright light of many tomorrows.
Victorian Sonnet is dedicated to Diana, her great grandmother Emilie, her grandmother Truly (Caroline), and and her mother Tineke (Dutch nickname for Anna Martine).
Sonnets from the Art Gowns
Structure
Iambic pentameter – 5 feet to a line – 4 lines to a verse – 3 verses & a couplet
Rhyme scheme – ABAB, CDCD, EFEF, GG
Third verse volta
I
Dear Diana your lace and your linen Great grand mother, grandma, mother then you Woven treasure fair sent passed on to begin Romance dance a dress white and blue.
Lace held, fabric draped inspiration gold Creation libation confusion strewn All threads gay with gathers theirs to unfold Ancestry, a love light shimmering through!
Yet should something arise break then the spell To find magic's construct tattered and torn Ere rendered fore tendered tossed into the swell Became fragments merely blithely left lorn.
Our memory painted lingers in mind, Inherited Victoriana's time.
When the fabrics arrived, I threw the lot on top of Lilac Fan Dance. There was also a fabulous mosquito net with cotton top.
There were various lace yardages2 delicate bed jackets
A huge lace tableclothLarge assortment of doilies & table covers
When the time came to begin, there was so much lace and linens, I needed to spread them all out.
All laces and fabrics were hand washed, and tested for tensile strength.
A bertha collar was formed from a bed jacket’s trim and lined with mosquito net.
An underskirt was cut from the cotton top of the netting.
Mosquito netting was added to the underskirt to make it full length. Lace cut from the lace tablecloth was sewn on top of the netting.
A blue linen jacquard tablecloth was formed into a corset shaped top with straps into a plunging back.
My friend Kat gifted me a new Judy, so I transferred the gown to her. She also sent massive yardage of new, but cut into, winter white synthetic curtain sheer, found for a pittance at the good will.
After washing, the sheer was cut into a 3 tiered overskirt, and trimmed with the lace yardages. The sheer makes a solid backing that fortifies the antique laces.
Two side tails were draped in bias from the sheer, then trimmed with edges cut from the lace tablecloth.
A third centre tail was draped from the mosquito netting on bias. This tail was trimmed with the last of the lace yardages. It was then filled in with geometrically placed doilies, table covers and bits of cut up lace edgings.
A bussel was formed from blue serviettes that matched the bodice’s tablecloth, and eyelet lace trim from the second bed jacket.
Vintage hand covered buttons adorn the bodice.
Voilà! Victorian Sonnet
She’s so beautiful, I went overboard taking pics.
OUTTAKES
Serendipity
November, 2023 – The 2 boxes arrived, from Diana. Lilac Fan Dance was still in the making. I knew Diana was mid book. In May, 2024 Victorian Sonnet was begun. 6+ months later, the gown and Diana’s book – Tale of the Seasons’ Weaver – were finished, more or less at the same time.
Dahlings, we are loving it up in Miami, Tim’s Magic Tree Sanctuary and around the world. I’m one radiating Ms. R., reporting from Ocean Drive, as I present Art Gowns for peace and love.
It’s an all out love fest, with special guest star Boogapony Holly, who will pony on down in roller skates. It’s a go-go like you’ve never seen! And now, from her special stage of TMTS* black bamboo, let’s all get down with MC, Art Director and palazzo pantonista , Rebecca Budd!
Thank you Rene!
As beautiful as the bougainvillea she poses by, AGM Marina wears a strapless, fishtail gown made from a pink-tone ecru velvet & recycled Ribbons for Peace.
P PINK E EMERALD A AQUA C CLAIRVOYANT E ECRU
Boogapony relays her message of love ,with movement, as she glides through the bougainvilleas.
Let’s hear it for Boogapony!
That was fantastic and so is Gigi. AGM Gigi tied on BP’s extra pair of skates, tore a strip out of her strapless skin-tight turquoise gown and rolled on down to Wynwood Walls,
What’s a Love-Up without some fringe? AGM Dale shows in a red gown with heart shaped décolletage and asymmetric plunging v-bodice with fringe at its point. Watch out! With bougainvillea hearts, she’s going to “take you higher”!
Now, for an important message from Ms. R.!
Dahlings, there was a slight glitch trying to get AGM Shey over to Miami. DracGoth made yet another attempt to morph Shey into SheyGoth, and transport her to Otherworld.
While suspended in black between worlds, Tim's Roses of Love surrounded her. They gently guided her to Princess Blue Holly's Tangle-Heart. AGM Shey passed through the Heart in darkness, and surfaced by her golden tree in the light
Thank you Rene!
Wow, seems Shey’s tree sent her to Miami with some enchanted roses. As the roses change colour, so do the roses on her boho, sheer voile angel gown. This is Flower Power at its finest!
And now, from the Florida Room of her ocean view home: with the sand, ocean, sky and sea birds behind her and surrounded by one of Tim’s roses in many spellbound colours here’s RR with a parting message!
Dahlings, Sweet Dreams until Art Gowns & friends returns with another extravaganza! Until then, remember to Love-Up everyday, everywhere!
Here’s a FAB send-off featuring Boogapony skating a go-go through Ocean Drive! Check out those crazy high jumps
All of the AGMs had a dedicated Art Gown, except Dale.
The only way to quell the turmoil was to whip up a gown. I figured four, five months tops.
Seven months later, Lilac Fan Dancewas dreaming out of the Art Gowns atelier window.
The ruffly lace tail had become a total diva during its construction. What figured to be done in 3-4 hours took 3-4 weeks.
It was the same time consuming issues I’d encountered making the fans for Diane Lane in “The Big Town”.
It began with an 80’s floral print fabric draped on Judy. Surrounded with acetates, a sheer and lace harvested from “Atlantis Mermaid Love-In”, inspiration struck .
The harvested lace was not enough to fulfill my idea, so old lace curtain scraps were painted with acrylics inherited from my F-i-L. The dates on the tubes were from the 1990’s.
Once dry the paint was heat set, the lace cut into creative shapes and randomly gathered. The 3d lace pieces were strewn behind the gown, and it was evident backing yardage was required.
A strip of white curtain sheer left over from Belle Grâcewas blotch painted with the remainder of the purple paint.
Suddenly, the day became dark and filled with the peal of Thunder.
Memories flooded in and I could see…
Diane Lane waiting on my front porch. She’d come to check out her fans.
Romanticized by the idea of the Burlesque circuit, Lilac Fan Dance built a fan out of peach blossoms from Dale’s peach tree on Tim’s magic tree sanctuary.
Unable to dance due to that she had wheels instead of legs, no arms of her own and no head,
…. she borrowed some of Mae West’s jokes and did a stand-up.
Happy with her time as an entertainer, but tired of life on the road, Lilac Fan Dance returned home.
“Positive thoughts generate positive feelings and attract positive life experiences. You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” -Mae West
Hello dahling Kat! We’re here to say ThankYou for the wonderful gift of old fabrics, starting with a 40 pound box, that showed up in the mail one day!
Look! I just have to drape them over and around me, and it looks like a gown. Still, several gowns have been made largely out of the gifts you’ve sent.
Here to tell all about the creations is AG’s Art Director. Take it away Rebecca!
Thank you, Rene! Not only has Kat sent enough fabric to cover a few elephants, I’m standing here wearing and holding vintage clothing, scarves, pillow shams, lace and such that she has tossed in.
Check out the cat walk! Art Gowns Model Shey looks like one of her romance novel heroines in her dedicated Art Gown, Jade.
Jade is crafted from yardage of a chartreuse-esque poly silk-satin of sorts, 2 vintage decorator pillow shams & many metres of reclaimed ribbon.
On the runway, Μοντέλο Art Gowns Marina, models Belle Grâce. Belle Grâce, Tim’s dedicated Art Gown, is made from a mid-weight satin in pink & 2 shades of gold, with white curtain sheers.
AGM Holly, in Spring Rhapsody, holds the tail as she walks. The copper satin of the gown is strange… possibly upholstery goods, and is somewhat heavy. Spring Rhapsody is topped with a vintage pillow slip, and adorned with various cut cloth bits, scraps of fine lace and vintage gold buttons.
On this occasion, Holly has written a poem especially for Kat.
Modèle de robes d’art Gigi found out how much Kat adores the Chicklets. She sends a message!
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Displaying the main fabric for what will be her dedicated Art Gown, AGM Dale knows that there’s a lot to do to finish it, but that it is well under way!
And now back to RR for a parting message!
Thank you Rebecca! In closing I’m leaving these songs for Kat; one for being a mush head and one for fun.
Art Gowns 
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