Diadems, Tiaras, and Crowns, Oh My!

April 06, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in English History, Just for Fun

Other Posts about Crowns and Tiaras:

Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part I) - Snow White, Alice in Wonderland (cartoon and live), Sleeping Beauty/Maleficent, Robin Hood, and the Great Mouse Detective
Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part II): Cinderella, Little Mermaid, The Princess and the Frog, and The Sword in the Stone!
The Medals, Sashes, and Tiaras of The Crown; Tiaras/Crowns Overviews: Season 1 ; Season 2

*The Diadem of Ravenclaw from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*

Princess Eugenie of the UK wearing the Greville Emerald Kokoshnik Tiara (1919)
(Credit: WPA Pool / Getty)

*The Crown of Saint Wenceslas (Bohemia, 1347)*

So I’ve been hosting virtual lecture parties lately, since we’re all self-isolating and cooped up. At the most recent one, I presented on Diadems, Tiaras, and Crowns - talking about the different types and specific examples of each type. I had a lot of fun pulling together this slideshow and included as many pictures from around the world as I could. My specific examples though, are all English/UK in origin, as that’s my passion and it’s frankly just a lot easier to find information on these than many of the other crowns and tiaras out there.

I will be putting all the information into blog post format at some point, but that’s going to take me a while because - lots of formatting and image upload! For today, I’m just loading up the slideshow so y’all can look through it at your leisure. Enjoy! If you have any questions, feel free to ask; I love talking about this sort of stuff!

Diadem of Princess Sit-Hathor Yunet (19th century BC, Egypt) — Diadem of Princess
Sit-Hathor Yunet
(19th century BC, Egypt) (Credit: Hans Ollermann)

Greco-Roman bust (100 BC-100 AD) — *Greco-Roman bust* *(100 BC-100 AD)*

*17th Dynasty diadem (1580-1550 BC, Egypt)*

*Diodotus of Bactria on a coin, (first century AD, around modern Afghanistan)*

Diadems:

• Diadem – refers to any circular piece worn on the head to symbolize status and power.

• Name originates from the Greek diadein - “to bind around”

• Early diadems were just ribbons or laurel wreaths.

• Crowns, tiaras, coronets, and other royal headpieces all fall under the diadem umbrella.

• Very few crowns are known by this title today. I could only find one modern one.

*Replica, Imperial Crown of Russia (1762-1917)*

*Holy Roman Empire (11th century – 1806)*

Crown of Japanese Emperor Kōmei (1846-1867) — Crown of Japanese
Emperor Kōmei (1846-1867)

*Crown from Kathmandu Valley (13th century, Nepal) (Credit: Sepia Times / Getty)*

*Silla (5th-7th centuries, modern day Korea)*

*The Iron Crown of Lombardy (4th-5th century, modern day Italy)*

Crowns:

• Crown – A full circle headpiece with an emblematic function associated with sovereignty and nobility.

• Open crowns, without bands overhead, are the oldest crowns, but closed crowns became the most popular ones in the middle ages and are the dominant type today.

*Margaret of York (sister of Edward IV and Richard III) (1454, England)*

Charles, Prince of Wales (1969, UK)
(Credit: Royal Collection Trust)

Coronets:

Coronet – Small crown generally worn by dukes and earls at coronations, and often worn by princes/princesses at formal events.

• These are standardized for various peers, with different designs for each rank (e.g., Duke, Marquess, Earl, Viscount, Baron).

• Very often seen in heraldry on coats of arms and shields

• I really couldn’t find evidence of actual coronets outside of Europe, so it may just be a weird Europe only thing. It looks like they’re more often used in heraldry, like on coats of arms, then in real life – I struggled to find any pictures of them.

• Charles’s coronet for his investment in 1969 was controversially modern and abstract. A new one had to be made after his great-uncle, the former Edward VIII, took his into exile after he abdicated the throne. The designer used electroplating to make the crown, which hadn’t been used before, and was unsatisfied with how the orb kept coming out until a technician suggested electroplating a ping pong ball. It worked.

*The Gandikj Diraja Tiara for the Raja Permaisuri Agong (1957, Malaysia)*

*A Pearl and Emerald tiara (420–589, China)*

*Queen Rania’s Boucheron Emerald Leaves Tiara (2003, Jordan)*

*Cameo Tiara of Empress Josephine (1804, France)*

Queen Margrethe II’s Aigrette (~19th century, Denmark)
(Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty)

Tiaras:

• Tiara – An open semi-circular headpiece that usually does not encircle the head, but perches on the top.

• Worn by royal and noble women at white tie events, formal state occasions, and weddings.

• Traditionally, the wearer must be a bride or already married.

• Some tiaras are versatile and have elements that can be switched out or worn differently, such as brooches and different types of brooches.

• Really haven’t found many dating to before 1800 except this one from china in the top right corner

• They’re not worn before 6 pm except for weddings.

• Though tiaras used to be brightly colored, modern tiaras tend to be neutral colored.

• Parure – a jewelry set which usually includes tiara, necklace, brooch, sometimes a bracelet.

*Queen Letizia floral tiara (1879, Spain)*

Princess Mary’s Midnight Tiara (2009, Denmark)
(Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty)

*Princess Lalla Salma’s Tiara (2002, Morocco)*

*Part of the Nine Provinces Tiara (1926, Belgium)*

*The Ruby Olive Wreath Tiara (~1870s-1880s, Greece) (Credit: Pascal Le Segretain / Getty)*

*Princess Hisako’s tiara (modern, Japan)*

*Princess Tsuguko’s tiara (modern, Japan)*

*Queen Sirikit’s traditional tiara (1960, Thailand)*

*Dutch Aquamarine Parure Tiara (1927, The Netherlands)*

*Kinsky Honeysuckle Tiara (1870, Liechtenstein)*

*Citrine and Pearl Tiara (~1980s, Luxembourg)*

A couple of specific examples! These are all English/UK in origin because that’s the history I know most about and frankly, it’s way easier to find details and information on these then most of the others.

diadem 2.jpg — Credit: Royal Collection Trust

George IV State Diadem:

• Made 1820 to be worn by George IV during his coronation procession.

• Traditionally worn by Queen Consorts at coronations and the state openings of Parliament, but Queens Regnant Victoria and Elizabeth II have worn it as well.

• Gold and silver frame, with strings of pearls, 1333 diamonds (over 320 carats), including a 4-carat yellow diamond, positioned on alternating crosses pattée and florals. The four florals represent roses, thistles and shamrocks, the flowers of England, Ireland, and Scotland.

• Crosses Pattee – type of Christian cross that appears very early in medieval art – extremely common in crowns in Christian countries

• Open Crown, in which the the head is open to the sky.

• Commonly appears on stamps and currency.

*Queen Victoria, Queen Alexandra, Queen Mary, and Elizabeth II (both young and old), all wearing the diadem.*

St. Edward’s Crown:

• First hereditary coronation regalia in Europe. The monks at Westminster Abbey claimed that Edward the Confessor asked them to look after his regalia for the coronations of all future English kings (although they probably just took it from his grave when he was reinterred there).

• A 1660 replica of Edward the Confessor’s crown, which was sold during the English Civil War. The medieval Crown dated to 1043. It was used in Richard II’s abdication in 1399, and was used to crown Anne Boleyn in 1533 (unprecedented for a consort).

• St. Edward’s Crown is 11.8 inches tall and 4.9 pounds. It’s made of gold, embellished with 444 stones, including amethysts, garnets, peridots, rubies, sapphires, topazes, tourmalines, and zircons.

•It has a closed Crown with high arches and a velvet cap trimmed in ermine

• From 1689-1911, monarchs chose to be crowned with a lighter, bespoke coronation crown personalized to each sovereign, while st. edward’s crown rested on the high altar.

• It’s currently used on royal arms of the UK, royal badges of England, the badges of the police forces of England and wales, the coastguard, british army, royal marines, royal airforce, and royal mail.

• This is a closed crown have bands around the temples and one or two bands over the head. Crowns with two bands or more usually for sovereigns; the prince of wales’ coronet only has one band. High arches in crowns are a symbol of sovereignty demonstrating that the king of England owed obedience to no one but God.

• The bottom is trimmed in ermine, which is very commonly seen in crowns, coronation cloaks, and peerage caps. Ermine comes from the winter coat of the stoat, which is a species of weasel with white fur and a black-tipped tail.

Imperial State Crown:

•Worn by the English monarch during the coronation when leaving Westminster Abbey and at the annual state opening of Parliament.

• A mere 2.3 pounds, compared to the 4.9 pound St. Edward’s Crown.

• It contains 2,901 precious stones, including the Black prince’s ruby and the Cullinan II on the front, St. Edward’s sapphire at the top, and the Stuart sapphire on the back.

St. Edward’s sapphire on the top cross is the oldest gemstone in the royal collection. Thought to have come from the coronation ring of Edward the Confessor from 1042.

Black Prince’s ruby – 170 carats = one of the oldest parts of the crown jewels, given to the black Prince in 1367. Henry V wore a gem-encrusted helmet that included this ruby. Mayyyy have been worn by Richard III on his helmet at the Battle of Bosworth, in which he died.
Stuart Sapphire on the back (lower left picture) – 104 carat - Probably belonged to Charles II and was definitely among the jewels that James VII took with him when he fled to France after the glorious revolution in December 1688.

• Fun fact: the arches are detachable, so the crown can also be worn as an open crown/circlet.

Queen Mary’s Fringe Tiara:

• The tiara’s diamonds came from an 1893 necklace and the tiara was made in 1919.

• Diamond fringe tiaras were incredibly popular after they became fashionable at the imperial court of the Romanovs. There are numerous fringe tiaras like this in the royal collection and many of them can also be worn as necklaces.

• Worn by both the Queen and Crown Princess Anne at their weddings.

Vladimir Tiara:

• Originally owned by Duchess Marie, a German princess who married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich in 1874.

• When the Grand Duchess fled from Russia in 1917, her jewels, including this tiara, remained in a hidden safe in Vladimir Palace. Later, her son and his friend disguised themselves as workmen, sneaked into the palace, and smuggled out the contents of her safe. This tiara was later sold by her daughter to Queen Mary of the UK, along with numerous other Russian imperial jewels.

• It can be worn with hanging emerald or pearl drops or it can be worn “widowed,” that is, without any drops.

Queen Mary, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge

Queen Mary’s Lover’s Knot Tiara:

• This tiara is commonly referred to as the Cambridge Lover’s Knot Tiara, but in fact, it was only based off of that tiara. Queen Mary had this tiara created as a copy of the Cambridge tiara, which was owned by her cousin, using elements harvested from several other tiaras in her existing collection.

• In 1981, when Prince Charles married Diana Spencer, Queen Elizabeth presented her with several pieces of family jewelry, including this tiara, as lifetime loans. Diana wore this tiara very often and it became highly associated with her. In more recent times, the tiara has been sported most often by Diana’s daughter-in-law, Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge.

Queen Mary’s Diamond Bandeau (left):

• The Diamond Bandeau was made for Queen Mary in 1932 and specifically was made to feature the detachable brooch in the center. This brooch was given to Queen Mary in 1893.

• Meghan Markle wore the tiara for her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018. It was the first time the tiara had been worn in public in over 50 years.

• There are actually several tiaras in the royal family’s possession that haven’t been seen in public for 50-100 years!

The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara (right):

• The Girls of Great Britain and Ireland Tiara is one of the Queen’s most commonly worn tiaras.

• This was given to Queen Mary for her wedding in 1893 by a committee of women, which is where it gets its name. She presented it as a gift to then-Princess Elizabeth on her wedding day; the Queen still refers to it as “Granny’s Tiara.”

Cats, as Explained in Memes: Why Cats are Liquid and Have Nine Lives

January 12, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in Just for Fun

I gave this talk at my recent lecture salon birthday party! : )

Why cats are actually liquids

The definition of a liquid is "a material that adapts its shape to fit a container." Although we commonly think of liquids as items like coffee and beer, all observations seem to indicate that cats are also liquid. But how do they fit into spaces that they're larger than? How do cats seem to compress into whatever shape?

There are a few anatomical and physical reasons.

First, cats are super flexible. A cat’s front legs are attached to their shoulder via a very small, free floating clavicle (collarbone) by only muscles, not bones. This allows them to fit their bodies into tiny spaces, because their neck and shoulders can literally be squeezed to spaces tinier than you'd imagine and can be compressed through a hole or a tunnel. Cats are designed to want to hide in small spaces for safety and hunting reasons; then, when they spot their prey, they immediately race to catch them.

Cats also have very elastic spines, which contain more bones than human’s. Where humans only have 32-34 vertebrae, cats have 52-53. Although the majority of these vertebrae are in the tail, there are extra ones in the lumbar (between the hip bones and pelvis) and thoracic regions (between the cervical, or neck vertebrae, and the lumbar vertebrae) which also allow for more movement. They can rotate their spines more than most other animals can and the disks in between their vertebrae have a flexible, elastic cushioning.

Their flexibility and extra spiny spines allow them to reach and groom every part of their body. This is actually a survival technique, as they need to groom every part of their body to remove their scent, as that could give them away to other animals (predators or prey). Thus, there's an actual reason your cat is capable of licking its own butt.

Their flexible spines allows cats to contract and extend their backs in order to run faster, up to 30 miles per hour (but they’re sprinters, not marathoners). They can stride at three times their body length or more. (they can also jump up to nine times their height from a sitting position). Cats’ paws can turn in and out, which helps them climb, balance, and pivot. Cats walk and run on their toes (this characteristic is called “digitigrade”); this helps them run quickly and allows them to move silently. Their claws also help them run very quickly, acting like spikes to give them traction.

Cats are also known to be quiet and watchful. This again, ties into their natural abilities and need to hide in small spaces and then run very quickly and quietly to capture their prey. This is part of the cat habit often called “If I fits, I sits.”

It's also said that cats have nine lives and "always land on their feet." This refers to their "righting reflex," or ability to often survive falls from a great height, which derives from a number of unique evolutionary advantages.

In a 1987 study of 132 cats brought to a New York City emergency veterinary clinic after falls from high-rise buildings, 90% of treated cats survived and only 37% needed emergency treatment to keep them alive. One that fell 32 stories onto concrete suffered only a chipped tooth and a collapsed lung and was released after 48 hours.

First, cats can rotate their bodies 180 degrees to the right or the left. Humans can only rotate our hips around 90 degrees to the right or left. They also have the ability to turn their head and front legs in one direction and their hips and back legs in another direction. This allows them to turn and change direction very quickly, including while they're falling. This rotational flexibility allows them to quickly re-align their bodies and land safely.

Their tail in particular helps with this, as acts as a counter-balance that helps them adjust their weight around. The way they move as they fall also more evenly distributes impact throughout their body instead of on any one particular part.

Fun fact: The maximum speed of a falling cat, or its terminal velocity (the constant speed that a freely falling object eventually reaches when the resistance of the medium through which it is falling prevents further acceleration.) , will always be 60 mph, vs an average sized man’s terminal velocity is about 120 mph. Their small size, light bone structure, and thick fur decreases their terminal velocity. They also create wind resistance by spreading themselves out like a parachute, slowing down their speed.

Their actual instinct to right themselves comes from their inner ear, which acts as a compass so they always know when they’re right side up. Kittens have this righting reflex as early as 3-4 weeks (which is pretty amazing, considering kittens are born blind and without the ability to pee or defecate on their own, so they're...pretty damn helpless about everything for a while).

Cats' muscles and bones in their legs help them land in a way that decreases their chances of being hurt. Their long, muscley legs that divert energy into decelerating when they land rather than breaking bones. Their flexible, springy legs, increase the distances over which the force of the collision with the ground dissipates and increase the collision time over a longer period, reducing the overall impact force. Their bendy joints and the positioning of their legs, which are angled under their body, rather than extending downward (like a human or a horse's legs), allow their legs to bend instead of breaking.

Alas, they’re not invincible – about 90% of cats falling from tall buildings survive, but most sustain serious injuries. Cats that fall from 7-32 stories may be less likely to die than those that fall from 2-6 stories, but it's hard to tell, as studies indicate different results and these results may derive from survivorship bias, in that instantly fatal falls would not be taken to a vet.

All these abilities probably were evolutionary adaptations resulting from their need to be able to survive if they fall out of trees, where cats hang out A LOT in the wild, for safety and hunting reasons.

One of my favorite memes relating to this is the "the buttered cat paradox" - cats always land on their feet, buttered toast always lands buttered side down, If one attached a piece of buttered toast (butter side up) to the back of a cat, the experiment will produce an anti-gravity effect. This buttered cat can thus be used to produce energy.

I hope y’all enjoyed my silly cat post. :)

Throwing a Lecture Salon Party (with Aluminum Chef Cooking Competition!)

January 12, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in Around the House, Just for Fun

I just turned 32 on January 11! I actually really love hosting parties and having people over in my home, but I've found in the past that these things often work better with a theme and a plan, rather than just a general "come over to my house and we'll do whatever" invite.

So this year, I decided to throw a salon party and Aluminum Chef competition! John and I were very pleased with how it all turned out and agree that this was our best party yet; we're thinking of making it an annual tradition! Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves and even my quieter friends came out of their shell a lot when they were talking about topics they care about!

1. Salon Party

This isn't a salon party as in, do your hair or makeup, but more of a lecture salon where people discuss different ideas and topics. Historically, salons were pretty popular, but they haven't been as big in the past century or so. The word "Salon" derives from the Italian word salone, which refers to sala, a large reception hall found in Italian mansions). These gatherings first started in Italy in the 16th century and were super big in France in the 17th and 18th century. Plenty of great minds of the past were involved in regular salon nights in their friend groups; Gertrude Stein's Saturday evening salons were very popular and drew people like Pablo Picasso, F. Scott Fitzegerald, Ernest Hemingway, Sinclair Lewis, and Henri Matisse (one of these salons was depicted in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which is an excellent movie made by a horrible human being [I still feel guilty about watching it, but I realllyyyy was curious about the topic and ended up really loving it. I also think it's important to be able to distinguish great art and beautiful creations from the actual quality of a person's character, as society's inability to believe that people who do terrible things can also create great art has resulted in seriously fucked up victim blaming in the past. So there's that. But also, fuck Woody Allen. Questions about why I say that? Read this.).

Salons have been organized in different ways throughout history, and it is really interesting to read about all of them, but I decided I needed to have a more structured set up for my party.

- First, I set up a facebook event for my party and sent out invitations over a month in advance, so people would have a chance to think over what they wanted to do for it and prepare. I set up a google spreadsheet for sign-ups and just monitored it regularly to gauge interest (I love google drive and its system of document and spreadsheet tools so much. I used them extensively for planning my wedding and even wrote about my use of it as a layout tool here).

I originally said that people would have 9-10 minutes to speak on any topic they wanted, but after like 12 people signed up, ended up shortening that time to 5-6 minutes. At the actual party, I wasn't too strict about this and people's talks generally went about 10 minutes, which was perfect (I was afraid that if I said they could do 10 minutes, people would end up with like 15-20 minutes of content, which would be difficult time-wise).

Because I invited more people than Husband John wanted me to (he is /much/ more introverted than I am), I let him talk for pretty much as long as he wanted about different types of beer (although I did lovingly heckle him and encouraged him to move quickly). He recruited one of my friends to be his "Beer Czar," and Tony poured out beer samples for anyone who was interested (we handed out plastic shotglasses for this). John ended up going about 40 minutes.

I was very pleased by how all the timing worked out! The party started at 6 but we didn't end up starting the talks until 6:50, when more people had arrived. John talked about 40 minutes, and then speaker went for around 10 minutes each, with very little time in between talks, just to keep things moving. We ended up having 13 people total talk and finished up the talks before 10 pm. At that point, we then broke for board games and card games and such.

For administrative ease, speakers went in the order they signed up in, but I made sure to check whether anyone was on a time crunch and needed to go earlier than their original slot. We had such a wonderful variety of topics, from The Booth Brothers (of John Wilkes Booth' infamy), what it's like to be an identical twin, a comparison of the different Biblical gospels and their possible sources, Shakespeare-contemporary playwright Ben Jonson, Golems, a Swedish Christmas tradition involving a giant straw goat which is generally burned down every year, how the Appalachian mountains affected history, why Rotten Tomatoes is dumb, basic self defense moves, and the russian second fleet expedition! I myself spoke about the anatomical aspects of cats that make them totally memeable (I'll post this up as a separate blog post soon - I also think it would make a really wonderful youtube video. I've wanted to get into making videos of some of my blog content for a while and just haven't had a change to sit down and figure it out yet!).

We had some great audience interaction! Gentle friendly heckling and trolling, questions, etc. Generally, that interaction seemed to add to the presentations rather than take away from them. John got a little irritated by all the non-beer drinkers talking during his presentation, so at that point, I just strongly encouraged them to go hang out in the basement and chat there instead; that helped a lot!

Administrative aspects:

- Visual aids - I originally didn't want anyone to try to use a powerpoint presentation because I've been through too many meetings or classes where technology failed us, but friends coaxed me into it. My friend Sarah brought her laptop, hooked it up to our TV with an [hdmi?] cable, and then we had people email their powerpoint presentations to her. This actually worked really well, without any problems! And even people who didn't end up using slideshows benefited from it, as Sarah was able to pull up maps to use as illustrations and such. One speaker also brought some handouts comparing the different gospels he was talking about, which was cool!

- Signs - I'm kind of a nut for signs and put them and various post it notes all around the house, explaining where the talks where taking place and how it was going to work. I also posted the signup sheet so we could refer to it to see who was going next.

- Seating - I moved in chairs and stools from around the house and positioned them in a semi circle facing the TV/speaker. I also had chairs positioned further away, around the kitchen table, so people could listen but be a little away from the crowd if they wanted. This room is also conveniently situated near a staircase, where people could sit if needed. Several people did end up standing, but it always seemed like they had the option of sitting if they so chose.

- Places to escape - Because of my own ADHD and depression issues, I really try to be aware of people's mental/emotional need to escape somewhere quieter at a party. We had both our basement and our upstairs landing set up with chairs, board games, and blankets for anyone who wanted to use them. I'm not certain how much our upstairs setup was used, but at least our set up of it means it got cleaned up!

2. Aluminum Chef contest! (I failed at taking pictures of any of the food or most of the Aluminum Chef set up, besides the signs and sign-up sheet, alas. This is also the only photo I got of the magnificent sparkly spoons I handed out as awards, while I was spray-painting them)

The party also included a cooking contest! I specifically called it Aluminum Chef as an ironic reference to "Iron Chef" (because we're amateurs and just having fun). I looked through the wikipedia article about Iron Chef, made a list of all the secret ingredients that have been used in the shows, and then John and I, taking our friends' allergies and food sensitivites into account, chose the ingredient which had to be present in every dish in the competition - Citrus Fruit!

Participants could enter in three categories: appetizers, entrees, or desserts (both John and I made dishes, but we decided beforehand that we couldn't win). I set up a sign up sheet on Google Drive for participants, but also allowed people to bring something to the party even if they didn't sign up. At the party itself, I used physical signup sheets for each category that assigned each dish a number and asked people to tape a label (which I'd already made) to each of their dishes to help with voting. I made voting ballots and throughout the night, encouraged people to try all the dishes and vote. At the very end of the night, during the last lecture, I tallied up all these votes and gave an award in each category! The awards were sparkly blue painted wooden spoons.*

We have a pretty tiny kitchen, so I specified that people really needed to make their dishes at home and bring them along (I allowed one friend to finish up their chicken in the oven and another to heat up their soup on the stovetop, but I didn't mind those minor situations; I just didn't want 10 people trying to cook in our shoebox sized kitchen at once). We also set up a big table downstairs for "overflow" food that didn't fit in the kitchen or on our dining room table; I specified that this food needed to not have any cat attracting meat or liquid milk in it; anything with that in it, really needed to stay near the big group of people in the kitchen so we could guard it.**

- Signs - I'm kind of a nut for signs and put them and various post it notes all around the house, pointing to where everything was. Because of our tiny kitchen size, I often have to get a little creative with storage for parties; the plates, silverware, and napkins lived on our microwave and the cups were situated on john's speaker system. I placed several big soda bottles in the fridge, along with a big water filter dispenser, and had seltzer cans in boxes down the hallway [all of these items had signs or post it notes].

I also used this occasion as an opportunity to pull out our beer coaster collection, and positioned those around the main room for peoples use and amusement (since we had some beer nerds in attendance, they seemed to be accepted well).

I set up a little hot drink station for anyone who wanted some hot cocoa or tea, but no one seemed interested. It was super easy to put together though, and I will totally do it again in the future. I literally just put out a variety of tea bags and a container of hot cocoa mix next to the hot water kettle, along with a mug full of spoons, a bag of marshmallows, and a sign pointing to where the mugs live din our cabinet.

As I've mentioned before, I really am trying to reduce my environmental impact, so even though I used disposable products for this party, I specifically bought compostable plates and napkins made from recycled paper. Our cleanup from this party wasn't actually too bad, all things considered! We filled up a few bags of recycling and trash, but it was pretty good overall.

And that’s how I put it all together! If you end up planning your own salon party or aluminum chef contest, please let me know! I’d love to hear about it all.

*which were a headache and a half to make just due to Amazon delivery shenanigans [my order was completely lost and they didn't bother to tell me that until like, saturday morning, so I had to go to Target and buy spoons that were much more expensive than I planned to use, but like, I was determined to make this sparkly spoon award thing happen. I bought three cans of blue glitter spray paint on clearance ages ago. Unfortunately, two out of three cans could not be encouraged to spray or work AT ALL, even with copious amounts of mineral spirits. So I had to finish up my spoon painting with a blue glitter marker I fortunately happened to have around (I used a red sparkly marker from this same set to fill in flaked off paint on my flower girls' baskets for my wedding, so these sparkly markers were clearly a good impulse purchase).

**The cats themselves were very wonderful during the party and seemed very happy to get lots of pets and adoration from my friends. They didn't try to eat any food, my good boys!

The Classic Disney Influences in the Costumes of "Descendants"

January 05, 2020 by Rachael Dickson in TV and Film, Just for Fun

Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part I) - Snow White, Alice in Wonderland (cartoon and live), Sleeping Beauty/Maleficent, Robin Hood, and the Great Mouse Detective
Disney Crowns and Tiaras: Historical and Modern Inspirations (Part I) - Snow White, Alice in Wonderland (cartoon and live), Sleeping Beauty/Maleficent, Robin Hood, and the Great Mouse Detective

The main characters of The Descendants, Carlos, Evie, Mal, and Jay, posing with pictures of their parents, Cruella DeVill, The Evil Queen, Maleficent, and Jafar.

The Descendants is a series of three movies following the lives of four teenagers, the children of classic Disney villains, who have been picked from the magicless Isle of the Lost to attend school in Auradon. Specifically, the movies follow Mal, the daughter of Maleficent (from Sleeping Beauty), Evie, the daughter of the Evil Queen (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Jay, the son of Jafar (from Aladdin), and Carlos, the son of Cruella De Vill (from 101 Dalmations). Their boarding school is filled with the children of heroes and heroic characters from other Disney stories.

The movies themselves are about the level of the High School Musical franchise, including lots of songs and dancing, and a decidedly junior high level of maturity. However, although the plots are thin and not fully developed, I find them interesting, and the costuming and theming of each character includes loads of callbacks to the original story from which they’re derived. For a big Disney fan like me, it can be super fun to find all the different references. A lot of the characters in the movie have costumes, accessories, hair, and styling very similar to their parents' looks in their original movies (or in some cases, their parents' famous nemeses).

Kara Saun is the costume designer for The Descendants and she is BRILLIANT. I've combed through her instagram and through a lot of Tumblr posts, youtube videos, and various disney social media accounts to find a lot of this information.

I've read that the aesthetic of "The Isle of the Lost" was intended to evoke "dirty candy," like bright colors that have been run down and messed up by life. In addition, since they've been trapped on this island for the past twenty years and don't have wifi (which is explicitly stated in the intro to the first movie), the idea is that the island's fashion is a bit dated. Their parents' clothes are hard to date, because they're based so much off their looks in their original movies, with their various different locations, cultures, and time periods; most of these settings and times are not explicitly stated, but over the years, viewers have made educated guesses based on the costumes, language, and items present in the movies. Sleeping Beauty dates to medieval France, probably around the 1300s. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is set in Germany in around the early 1500s (although the Evil Queen's look is actually based off of a medieval statue dating more to ~1040). Disney's Aladdin is set in the fictional Agrabah in the 800s or 900s, but before the Persian Gulf War occurred, Disney planned to set it in Baghdad, in modern day Iraq (although fun fact, in the original 1001 Arabian Nights containing the story, Aladdin is said to take place in China). 101 Dalmations is set in England in the late 1950s-early 1960s.

The kids on the Isle of the Lost though, have solidly 70s punk style. They wear lots of leather and denim with many rips, shreds, and holes, spike and stud accents, fingerless gloves, asymmetrical zippers, and biker type clothes. They also sport big, bright, bold hair and outfit colors. The Villain Kids' clothing silhouettes tend to be pretty fitted, which was a characteristic of 70s punk clothes that specifically retaliated against the loose, drapey, hippie styles big in popular culture at the time (and the peace and love ethos that went along with them, naturally).

The kids at Auradon Prep, in contrast, tend to be dressed in mostly preppy styles, lots of feminine and flowy blouses, cardigans, bows, pencil skirts, and delicate floral patterns for the girls and sports coats, sweaters, and letter jackets for the boys. Their outfit colors tend to overall be more muted than the Island kids, like pastel versions of their parents' chosen colors. The big exception to this is seen in blue and yellow, the high school colors which are seen on every athletic, cheerleading, and band uniform. These are based off of the Beast's blue and yellow coat look and Belle's own yellow dresses; Prince Ben (the son of Beauty and the Beast) dresses in blue and yellow almost exclusively.

Note: All the photo galleries in this post scroll to the right! So just press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Mal (Dove Cameron), the daughter of Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty (Kristen Chenoweth), has bright green eyes and generally has purple or purple-pink hair. When she turns into a dragon, she’s a purple one with bright green eyes. Like her mother, who is shown to be THE leader of the VK's parents in the few scenes we get of them in the first movie, Mal seems to be the de facto leader of the Villain Kids and pushes herself more to be the most evil she can be than the others do. She's shown to have great artistic talent as a graffiti artist, but despite Ben suggesting that she join the art club in the first movie, she doesn't seem to pursue this hobby outside of her own personal fashion styling and locker and room decorating.

She almost always wears purple, green, and black, like her mother (who wears purple and black and possesses green skin in the original film. The Descendants version just has green eyes instead of skin). You can see other Maleficent elements in the ragged sharp edges and “aged” look of Mal's coats throughout the series, which resemble the ragged, distressed edges of Maleficent's original robe and sleeves. She also wears coats with high collars, which resemble Maleficent's own iconic purple color.

Mal's makeup isn't super obvious, but she seems to wear lavender eyeshadow a lot, and her cheekbones usually seem emphasized, like her mother's.

She also wears some pink and blue tones, which may be a reference to Sleeping Beauty herself or perhaps her father, who is revealed as Hades (he of the blue hair) in Descendants 3 (she definitely does pick up more blue tones in that film than previously).

Each of the villain kids has a personal icon relating to their family's history which features in a lot of their clothing and accessories. Mal's is a dragon, which is emblazoned on the back of her coat (note: I’ve had a LOT of trouble finding pictures of the coat backs so I’m using a lot of pics of costumes for sale online to actually give you an idea of what they look like). She also wears claw earrings at times and has carried purses with dragons on them.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Mal does have blonde hair (with light purple tips) and wears different colors at the beginning of Descendants 2 (the colors of Sleeping Beauty!) but that’s specifically noted as a time when she’s denying her true self and trying to be something she’s not. Her dresses during this time are mostly blue, pink, and white, but the cotillion dress Evie’s making for her is yellow and blue, the colors of Auradon, rather than Mal's own colors. However, this yellow and dress changes into a much punkier style by the time our VK heroes' adventures are done, and after Mal turns human again after morphing into a dragon, the dress is purple and pink, with singed edges and holes in the cape to refer to her dragon self.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Evie (Sofia Carson), the daughter of the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Kathy Najimy), has blue hair. Evie is initially very focused on finding a nice prince and going to live in his castle, but is shown to be very intelligent and resourceful, making her own clothes and accessories. This seems like a much more Snow White trait than Evil Queen trait, right? The Disney cartoon version doesn't have Snow White live with the Dwarfs long enough for clothes-making to be relevant, but I've seen other versions where she stays there for years and has to continually remake her clothes to fit her; it also fits with Snow White's general traditionally feminine house-keeping skills (no sign of Evie having Snow's glorious animal hypnotizing abilities though, alas).

[You know, it's literally never stated whether Mal and Evie's original hair colors are natural or not. No one else in this universe has rainbow hair color (except Audrey in Descendants 3, when she takes on bright pink and blue hair as she goes "mean"), and Mal does get her hair dyed purpley pink again in Descendants 2 after getting sick of her magicked blonde hair, but there's no sign that the girls actually dye their hair from the start. ANYWAY.]

Evie generally wears a lot of blue, with touches of red and yellow, matching her mother’s original colors (although I’d always read the Evil Queen’s primary color as dark purple? maybe I’m blind or just misread it. I dunno. but I’m finding photos showing it as blue so….yeah. Guess I was wrong.). Anyway, the box that the Evil Queen gives to the huntsman to put Snow White's box in is definitely bright red, blue, and yellow; when the VKs arrive at Auradon Prep, Evie's carrying a purse that is clearly based directly off of this box (I also mayyyy have finally bought this purse for myself after lusting after it for like a year). And in The Descendants, the Evil Queen’s outfit is clearly rendered in red, blue, and gold.

Evie's makeup is clearly based off of her mother's, as both tend to sport bold lips (sometimes red, sometimes more of a pale pink) and smoky eyeshadow (Snow White also wears bright red lipstick).

It's funny, by looking at these characters, I'm realizing how similar the Evil Queen and Snow White's outfits really are in some ways. They both wear high collars, strong central accessories in their hair (the Evil Queen's crown vs. Snow White's red bow headband), black capes with red lining, and bright, bold lips. Evie almost always has a gold and/or red accessory in her hair, usually positioned centrally. This is often a tiara or a mini tiara, but she also has headbands and clips. She wears a blue cape with a contrasting red lining to start off the first movie, and often wears a cape like detail in her outfits- like loose or flowy sleeves. She often wears a necklace with a red pendant, just like her mom. Evie also sometimes wears a red belt or waist accent similar to the Evil Queen's.

Evie's signature insignia is a red heart, which she often wears in her hair, around her neck, or pinned to her clothes somewhere. She sometimes is shown holding an apple in promo stuff and the Descendants logo actually features an apple with a bite taken out of it, but this seems to be more a reference to the "Rotten to the Core" song from the first movie rather than to the Evil Queen's temptation of Snow White with an apple; Evie doesn't seem to actually wear any apple accessories.

Evie’s costumes occasionally borrow other more obviously Snow White only elements, particularly the short puffy blue and red sleeves in her casual t-shirt look. She also is usually wearing some sort of red hair accessory, which calls back to Snow White’s red bow.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Jay is the son of Jafar (from Aladdin). Jay starts off as a big thief and a very physical kid who's constantly rough-housing with the smaller, nerdier Carlos, but quickly turns his energies to being amazing at sports at Auradon Prep as well. He's not the brightest kid around, but he's happy with his new life and seems to generally want to help out his friends.

Jay is usually shown wearing a mix of blue, red, and yellow, although once or twice, he’s shown wearing his father’s original red, black, and yellow/gold. In The Descendants, though, just like the Evil Queen, his father is shown wearing a costume of blue, red, and yellow. I really don't know where this color scheme comes from, honestly, as Aladdin wears a lot of purple, red and white. The only character in Aladdin rendered in blue, red, and yellow, is Iago the Parrot. Is that what they're referencing here? Jay has long dark brown hair, which doesn’t seem to resemble anyone’s hair in the original Aladdin.

Jay’s outfits tend to very closely parallel Aladdin's, as he wears a lot of vests and/or sleeves shirts and hats in a contrasting color. His athletic skills and general personality also seem to more closely resemble Aladdin than Jafar.

Jay's signature insignia is the gold cobra of his dad's staff, and is often found on the back of his coat or shirt.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Carlos De Vil is the son of Cruella De Vill (from 101 Dalmations). He's kind of got an innocent vibe to his personality, and is the one who's often hanging back looking at things while the others yell at him about needing to leave. Although it's specifically said that the island doesn't have wifi (and presumably wouldn't have access to a lot of software and technology then), Carlos shows major tech skills within just a few days of coming to Auradon Prep. He also thinks on his feet very well. He starts off the series absolutely terrified of dogs and under the thumb of his somewhat hysterical mother, who actually forbids him from leaving the island, as someone needs to stay behind to touch up her roots, fluff up her furs, and scrape bunions from her feet. One of my favorite elements of this series is how Carlos actually becomes REALLY attached to the campus dog super quick and learns that his mom was totally just lying to him for years about how dangerous dogs are.

His hair is platinum blonde/white with black roots and he wears primarily white (sometimes silver or grey) and black, with accents of red, just like his mother. Although in the original movie, Cruella De Vill is portrayed wearing a black dress and a solid golden cream colored fur coat, in the Descendants, her fur coat is all black and white, with more patterns and juxtapositions of black and white throughout the whole ensemble. Carlos's clothes generally follow this trend, and include lots of juxtaposed patterning. His clothes in Auradon seem to remain much more punky than the others do; although Mal and occasionally Evie retain some punky elements in their clothes, Carlos is the only one showing up at like, the cotillion in formal punky shorts and combat boots (of course, all of them revert to their former leather and punky styles on the island itself). Jay's clothes quickly take on more athletic and preppy elements, like double stripes and sleeves that evoke shoulder pads, while also going in a huntsman type direction?

Carlos's signature insignia is a design of crossed black and white dog bones, which can be seen on the back of a few of his coats and jackets.

Sadly, actor Cameron Boyce died from an epileptic attack in his sleep shortly before Descendants 3 released. His family has formed a foundation in his name to support causes that were important to Boyce, namely, spreading kindness, ending gun violence, clean water, and epilepsy awareness.

*All of the notations on Uma’s photos and any other photos in this post are from the Instagram profile of Kara Saun, the costume designer for the Descendants.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Uma, the daughter of Ursula, shows up in Descendants 2 and plays a big role in that and Descendants 3. She works in her mother's fish and chips shop. Sadly, we only get a brief glimpse of some of Ursula's tentacles and don't get to see her in all her glory (Whoopi Goldberg cameoed as her with a super brief line!). Uma is the leader of her small pirate group on the island and basically has taken over as queen of the teenagers on the island now that Mal is gone. She also has a major chip in her shoulder about the whole "they left us and are living a great life out in Auradon while the rest of us are struggling back here" thing.

Since purple is already Mal's color, Kara Saun based Uma's costumes off of Ursula's dragalicious teal eye makeup. Uma's gorgeous teal braids and the fringe on her dress totally evoke water and Ursula's tentacles. Uma also always wears a shell necklace like the one her mother used to capture Ariel's voice in the film. Her outfits also include a lot of seashells and trinkets on them, as the designer wanted to make her look as if she had been dragged across the ocean floor. Her formal look at the end of Descendants 3 is INSANE and includes just so many of these elements.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

King Adam (Beast) and Queen Belle (Beauty) always wear their distinctive blue and yellow colors from their movies, which as I mentioned earlier, are adopted by Auradon Prep as their school colors. Prince and then King Ben (how does this system work?? Who makes teenagers kings when their preceding sovereign parent is still alive? This is a stupid set up) always wears blue and usually wears yellow with it as well. I love that it’s Ben that initially wants to bring the villain kids to the island; it ties so much into the theme of his parents’ fairy tale, that not everyone who looks bad is bad, that there are layers to the world and it’s not always as simple as black and white, hero and villain.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Doug, the son of Dopey (from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), generally wears green and sometimes wears purple with it, when he’s not dressed in his Auradon Prep band uniform. HOWEVER. Doug gets to break out of his color scheme more than anyone else seems to; at the coronation he wears burgundy and at the cotillion, he wears yellow and black. Perhaps these are references to some of the other dwarfs? Burgundy would be…what, Grumpy, and yellow would be Bashful or Happy? I don’t know. I’m just guessing here.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Chad Charming is a delightful and arrogant dunce who pretty much always wears the light blue of his mother Cinderella accented with his father Prince Charming’s light yellow. His color scheme is similar to Prince Ben’s but more pastel. His hair also is sometimes coiffed in the distinctive slicked back coif of Prince Charming.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Audrey, the daughter of Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), always wears light pink and white dresses and skirt outfits, but sometimes light blue is incorporated as well. This is a fun reference to the “Make it pink! Make it blue!” dress debate in Sleeping Beauty. Her hair is magnificent and totally follows the swooping profile of her mother’s. Her clothes occasionally feature 50s touches like big a-line skirts, cardigans, and wide collars (Sleeping Beauty came out in 1959) . In Descendants 3, she embraces her “mean” side; she starts off the movie with blonde hair with blue and pink highlights, her hair goes FULL blue and pink when she decides to be a villain. It goes back to the lighter highlights by the end.

Press on the right of the graphic above to see more photos of that character from throughout the series!

Harry, the son of Hook (Pete Pan), clearly owes a lot to the depiction of Hook in Once Upon a Time, with lots of red and black, leather, short hair, and black guyliner. He does wear a fluffy shirt in the third movie though, going back to his dad’s original roots in Peter Pan. He wears skull insignia trinkets.

Gil, the son of Gaston (Beauty and the Beast), has embraced the pirate lifestyle with Uma and Harry, so he’s got a lot of pirate touches in him, but his costume still pays homage to his famous villain dad, specifically in the v-neck cut of his shirts with collars, short sleeves that emphasize his big arm muscles, and big belts. His costumes are yellow, pulling off the secondary colors of Gaston’s outfit, probably because he’s always with Harry, who wears red.

Jane, the daughter of headmistress Fairy Godmother, always wears a light blue dress with pink bow accents, just like her mother’s Cinderella outfit (Fairy Godmother herself seems to just wear light blue these days). Her formal dress at the cotillion is my single favorite dress in the entire series.

Lonnie, Mulan’s daughter (hopefully with Shang?), wears the pale pink, light blue, light green, and pale orange colors of her mother’s costume and usually wears at least one Chinese-inspired floral fabric. She often wears a thick obi belt of contrasting fabric She wears a jumpsuit to the cotillion and is the one girl who tries out for the fencing team.

And I just included a photo of Cheyenne Jackson as punk rock Hades because he’s brilliant in this role.

Dr-Facilier-His-Daughter-Celia-Descendants-3-Photos.jpg

Dizzy, the granddaughter of Lady Tremaine (Cinderella), has one of the cutest costumes, with wild paint colors and trinkets all over. I love seeing how Kara Saun pulled inspiration from the villains of Cinderella to design her.

Celia Facilier, the daughter of Dr Facilier (The Princess and the Frog), has the burgundy and purple colors and the fun suitcoat of her father, along with a lot of other New Orleans-style bright colors.

Squeaky and Squirmy, Smee’s twin sons, dress basically exactly as their dad, just a little punkier then Smee appeared in the original Peter Pan. Lots of light blue and white stripes, red hats, and white-blonde hair.

I hope y’all enjoyed this post! I had a ton of fun creating it. :)

All the photos on this page are the property of Disney or Kara Saun and are used for purposes of commentary and critique only.

Details, Themes, and Foreshadowing in Frozen II (and some stuff about the first movie too)

November 28, 2019 by Rachael Dickson in Just for Fun, TV and Film

I just watched Frozen II last night with some friends and it was such an incredibly powerful movie. I cried a few times, I think. So now I’m going to analyze it, as I do everything. :D Obviously this is going to be full of a shit-ton of spoilers, so don’t read this if you don’t want that.

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, and Sven in Frozen II

I should start off with a brief discussion of what the first movie meant to me. I watched Frozen with a friend in law school and Let it Go immediately spoke to me. Yeah, I know, everyone’s sick of it and it was ridiculously overdone there for a while, but the lyrics very specifically evoked my own issues with embracing my own disabilities - depression, ADHD, and chronic pain. It was all about letting go of your shame and fear, letting go of other people’s expectations, throwing away the need to be perfect, and loving yourself on your own terms. I have been that person afraid to show the world who I am before, so I identify with this song very strongly. The one ironic thing is that I actually HATE the cold with a passion (and particularly snow and ice).
I’m not the only one either - plenty of people have called it a disability anthem, a coming out anthem, and a song about growing up and becoming an adult. My friend Michael wrote about its meaning for his own life here.
It’s also pretty awesome that it shows Elsa transforming her outer look purely for herself, not for anyone else.
I’ve heard some people criticize it for a nihilistic worldview, and some argue that a specific scene in Frozen II is anti-Let It Go and shows its worldview as something not to be emulated or admired (I’ll discuss that later), but I think it’s extremely empowering for what it is. It’s not a song intended to speak all situations; it’s a song about embracing yourself just as you are, in that moment. And that’s really wonderful.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn't keep it in, heaven knows I've tried
Don't let them in, don't let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can't hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don't care what they're going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway

It's funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can't get to me at all
It's time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I'm free

Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You'll never see me cry
Here I stand and here I stay
Let the storm rage on

I love that the first imagery you see in both movies (once you get past the production credits) is something from nature; in the first film, you see snowflakes, and in the second film, you see autumn leaves. The leaf seems to symbolize a big theme of the movie, namely, change. In the beginning scenes, a lot of people talk about how difficult change is, how hard growing up can be, or about how things are perfect they way they are; yet just as the leaves change color each fall, change happens in our lives and we just have to deal with it. As Olaf says, “How I wish it would stay this way forever. Though, change mocks us” And Elsa sings, “Is something coming? I'm not sure I want things to change at all These days are precious, can't let them slip away I can't freeze this moment, but I can still go out and seize this day.” This theme will come back throughout the movie, including in Olaf’s song “When I am Older.”

Honeymaren, Ryder, and Chief Yelana of the Northuldra in Frozen II

Frozen II starts off with the same song that was used in the first movie. This gorgeous acapella song is called “Vuelie” (which translates to something like “song”) and is based off of an older song called Eatnemen Vuelie (Song Of The Earth). This song is specifically jolk, an indigenous form of music that was actually historically outlawed in Scandinavia. From what I’ve read online, the remaining “Na heya” words don’t mean anything and are lyricless sounds, like “la la” in English.
The second movie does a LOT to try to remedy the overwhelmingly white nature of the first film, which used a song from the indigenous Sami and put blonde Kristoff in a Sami-inspired outfit, but didn’t involve any consultation with the Sami and featured no diversity whatsoever (if you’re someone who’s ranting about how there were historically no non-white peoples in Scandinavia, one, you’re wrong, the Sami have lived there for over 3,000 years and African immigrants started coming to Scandinavia in the 17th century, and two, this is a friggin’ fairy tale movie, it’s not like there was historically a woman who shot ice from her hands either).
For starters, Disney actually partnered with representatives from Sami communities on the movie, bringing experts to their headquarters to talk to the Frozen II animators. They signed a benefits declaration with the representatives stating that the Sami would receive proper representation in the movie and a Sami language version of the film will be released.
The Sami are represented as the fictional Northuldra in the movie, led by their chief Yelena. They have been trapped in the enchanted forest for the last 34 years. They, like the Sami, appear to be reindeer herders. We meet and know multiple of the Northuldra by name during the movie and see several of our main characters interact with them. They’re treated like actual people, not just props. It’s pretty awesome.

Queen Iduna, Anna, Elsa, and King Agnarr in Frozen II

Next, we get an adorable flashback, with a scene of Anna and Elsa as children with their parents, just like the first movie. This scene takes place before the earliest flashback in Frozen, as Anna still knows about Elsa’s magic and they’re playing together with ice figurines Elsa has made. The girls appear to be the same approximate size/age as they are in the first movie, and they’re wearing the same nightgowns and hair accessories, so it’s possible that this scene actually is meant to take place immediately before the events of Frozen that lead to Anna’s memories of her sister’s magic being taken away.
When they ask their parents about enchanted forests, their father King Agnarr tells them the story of how he became king. From his viewpoint as a child, his father built a dam for the Northuldra people who lived in the Enchanted Forest and during a celebration of the dam between the two peoples, violence unexpectedly broke out. In all the hubub, he loses consciousness and someone unknown carries him to safety. The magic of the enchanted forest covers the entire area with an impassable mist.
Their mother Queen Iduna is pretty quiet throughout all this, which makes more sense later when we find out that she was in fact, Northuldra, and was the mysterious person who saved Agnarr. They never explain /why/ she didn’t tell Agnarr about her past, and this leaves a pretty big hole for the future that could be a good jumping off point for another sequel.
Sidenote: Has anyone else ever noticed that Anna and Elsa almost exclusively wear green, blue, and maroon/lavender shades, aka, colors we see their parents wearing? Anna wears a light creme dress for “Some Things Never Change” but other than that, this rule seems to hold true until Elsa transforms into her “snow queen white” dress.
After the story, Queen Iduna (as portrayed by Evan Rachel Wood, who has one of the warmest and most comforting voices ever) sings “All is Found” to her daughters, about a magic river called Ahtohallan with all the answers. There is SO much foreshadowing in its lyrics, which I’ve annotated below.
Where the north wind meets the sea (This tells us where Ahtohallan is, in the North across the sea)
There's a river full of memory (this ties into the “water has memory” theme of the movie)
Sleep, my darling, safe and sound
For in this river all is found

In her waters, deep and true
Lie the answers and a path for you (This is where Elsa discovers her ancestors’ misdeeds and finds her and Anna’s destiny)
Dive down deep into her sound (Elsa literally follows the sound of the voice)
But not too far, or you'll be drowned (This happens to Elsa, when she goes too deep into the glacier and freezes)

Yes, she will sing to those who hear (Elsa hears the mysterious voice calling her to go North)
And in her song all magic flows
But can you brave what you most fear (In “Into the Unknown” Elsa says quite frankly that she’s scared to follow the voice)
Can you face what the river knows

Where the north wind meets the sea
There's a mother full of memory (Elsa literally sees her mother in the ice cavern and sings with her in “Show Yourself”)
Come, my darling, homeward bound (In “Show Yourself” Elsa talks about how she feels like she’s coming home)
When all is lost, then all is found (Elsa has to temporarily give up her life to find out the truth and find her true purpose)

Anna and Olaf during “Some Things Never Change”

When a courtier startles her, Elsa accidentally freezes her hands to the banister. This is similar to how Elsa accidentally freezes the window sill in the “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” sequence right before her father gives her her gloves and how she accidentally freezes the fountain when she reflexively grabs the ledge while backing away from the crowd. Ledges are just…tough for Elsa, aren’t they?
This scene also demonstrates how shy and introverted Elsa still is. Pretty much every time we see Anna, she’s interacting with lots of people, but Elsa tends more toward looking out windows and walking down halls dramatically. People still startle her easily. She’s definitely interacting with people more than she used to, but it’s not her comfort zone. This is also evident in the Charades scene, in which she looks just hideously uncomfortable at putting on a performance, even just in front of her family and closest friends.
We also see her in a purple dress in the beginning and a dark purple nightgown during “Into the Unknown.” She seems to wear a lot of colors that her mother wore when she’s trying to act in the queen role. Once her people are safe though, she changes immediately into a light blue outfit and is light blue or white for the rest of the movie - taking on her “true colors,” if you will.
The story proper starts off with essentially a harvest festival scene, set to “Some Things Never Change,” which continually demonstrates the false hope in Anna’s words by showing how things keep changing around her. This continues the trend from the first Frozen movie of playing with expectations and irony. In the first movie, for example, we hear a father talking to his son about how he can’t wait to see the princesses and bets they’re just beautiful, and then the film cuts to a shot of Anna sleeping very heavily, with extremely messed up hair and a very ladylike drool spot.
There’s a lot of ironic foreshadowing in “Some Things Never Change” but it really is mostly a stage-setting song, so I’m not going to analyze all the lyrics in depth, but we definitely have some typical “Thanksgiving” style lyrics in it. “It's time to count our blessings beneath an autumn sky. We'll always live in the kingdom of plenty that stands for the good of the many.”
And can I just say, the moment they said “And I promise you the flag of Arendelle will always fly. Our flag will always fly,” I just KNEW that flag was going down super soon. Sure enough, after “Into the Unknown,” the flag falls and the kingdom erupts in chaos, forcing its people to run away.

I really love that at the end of that song, Anna is carrying her heels and walking barefoot back into the castle. I feel like every woman I know has done that at some point, but it’s not something you ever see in movies really. It’s also a fun call back to the first movie. After Anna dances with the hopping Duke of Weselton, she comes back to Elsa rubbing her feet and they have this little exchange: “Well, he was sprightly.” “Especially for a man in heels.”

Next, we get a cute Charades sequence (which seems to imply that Kristoff lives at the castle now? Although it’s a really big castle and I’m sure he and Anna have separate rooms, it still seems like the most firmly established “living together before marriage” relationship we’ve seen in a Disney movie before). This scene (which you can see here) pokes fun at many of the moments we saw in Frozen, including Elsa’s hip popping swagger at the end of “Let it Go” (she just nods “yup” when Olaf imitates her, while Anna glares at Kristoff), the villainous Hans, and the eccentric shopkeeper Hans (yoohoo!).
Elsa hears the siren call and gets upset, Kristoff tries to propose and fails miserably, then Anna follows Elsa and notes that she can tell her sister is upset because she’s wearing Chekhov’s scarf.

“Into the Unknown” is insanely gorgeous and another example of Idina Menzel’s inhuman singing abilities. As songwriter Kristen Anderson-Lopez said in one interview, “With Idina, if you’re given a Stradivarius, you write to a Stradivarius.” The song starts with a very “Do You Want to Build a Snowman” intro, as Elsa wanders through the castle looking at paintings on the wall, just as Anna did in the first movie during the snowman song. This is a classic “I want” song but more adult and mature than “Let It Go”; Elsa feels like she knows who she is now, someone who deeply loves her family and friends, and she doesn’t want to throw that away, but there’s something inside her that’s pulling her away “into the unknown.” She also talks wistfully in this song about wondering if “there’s someone else like me” out there; she clearly still wants a friend who can understand her magical powers and her struggles with them. And of course, at the end, we get that amazing moment where she just lets her magic out and ice diamonds appear magically in the sky all around Arendelle. These fall and wake up everyone, including the enchanted forest spirits her father talked about, and triggers the fire, water, wind, and earth to drive the citizens out of Arendelle.
Elsa actually reminds me a lot of Vanellope in “Ralph Breaks the Internet” here; she knows there’s something wrong in her life but she can’t put a finger on it. The wrap up to the movie is actually VERY Ralph/Vanellope, as the sisters end up in separate places living their destinies, but they’re still obviously very close and “holding on tight” to each other, just as Ralph and Vanellope are in their movie sequel.
Sidenote: The original is spine-chilling but the Panic at the Disco! cover of this song is also ridiculously amazing.

Baby Agnarr being adorable in Frozen II.

Anna has some of the best, most common sense filled quotes in the entire movie. “Excuse me, I climbed the North Mountain, survived a frozen heart and saved you from my ex-boyfriend. So, you know, I’m coming.”
“If you don’t want me to follow you into fire, then don’t run into fire!”
The scene where they’re driving off to the Enchanted Forest and Olaf is spouting off stupid facts (most of which are…inaccurate. Although apparently some turtles really can take in oxygen through their butts, although I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “breathing”!) reminds me a lot of Shrek II when Donkey is harassing Shrek and Fiona on the ride to Far Far Away.
The Enchanted Forest reveal with the four stones in front is really beautiful (and reminiscent of the funeral stones for their parents that were shown in the first movie). Although Kristoff and Olaf just bounce off the mist (really hysterically), it just takes a touch of Elsa’s hand to part it and clear the way through. This may be because of their Northuldra heritage or may be because of her greater destiny as the “fifth” spirit intended to bridge the worlds of magic and humans (did anyone else get some MAJOR Fifth Element vibes in this movie?)
I really enjoy Olaf’s “Samantha? I don’t even know a Samantha.” then “SAMANTHA!” shouting down a mysterious hole in the earth moment. Also, his song “this will all make sense when I am older” was little and tiny but was probably the most relatable lyric in the entire movie! Who hasn’t felt that way?
I love that Anna recognizes Lieutenant Matthias from his portrait at the castle, framing his face with her fingers to help her place him. This calls back to her “friendship” with all the portraits and paintings there, developed during her lonely childhood when Elsa kept away from her. This was also slightly foreshadowed earlier when we saw Elsa singing to various paintings during “Into the Unknown.” The frame fingers also seems to point to the end of the movie, where Matthias is reunited with his sweetheart and showing off a photograph they took together.

When Elsa somehow freezes memories in the forest (which is…never quite explained - were the memories just hanging out in the fog this whole time?), the sisters discover that their mother is Northuldra by finding Chekhov’s scarf on a young girl, who’s carrying their father to safety. There’s then a really beautiful sequence where the Northuldra sing Vuelie again and form a spiral with their arms, until the chief reaches out to the girls to ceremonially welcome them to the tribe. Later, all our heroes befriend various members of the tribe, in a lovely scene that reminds us that people in cartoon are capable of having friends outside of their immediate circle. Also, Olaf is still asking the big questions about life while the kids of the tribe decorate him with various things
So presumably their mother Iduna never told their father that she was Northuldra or that she saved him. Whyyy???? That doesn’t seem healthy for a marriage, and she probably could have helped them figure out answers for Elsa if she had ever mentioned that and told him about her background.
A lot of Elsa’s actions in the initial sequence in the forest are explained later as “calming” the spirits. She definitely manages to calm down the adorable fire salamander by befriending him, after initially blasting all the fire with lots of ice (his name is apparently Bruni, but is never mentioned in the movie). “Gale” as Olaf names her, calms down at some point after Elsa blasts her with power, but I didn’t tie those things directly together when I watched it (will have to check for it again when I watch it a second time).
Elsa does later “calm” the water by managing to ice power her way through the sea and lassoing a friggin water horse in one of the coolest sequences in the whole film. But I never did see a moment where Elsa calmed the earth? She just stayed away from the Earth giants and hid. Did I miss something there? I don’t think anyone ever “calmed” the Earth giants at all, Anna and Olaf stayed quiet to keep from waking them and then Anna woke them up to break the dam, but nothing ever seemed to actually get them to stop being destructive forces in the forest.
Kristoff’s song “Lost in the Woods” is both one of the funniest songs I’ve ever seen in any cartoon ever and also deeply moving. You just don’t really see male love interests sing about their love like this these days. All the lyrics are basically designed to punch apart toxic masculinity, in the most 80s-tastic, Queen and Whitesnake referencing way possible. Having Jonathan Groff sing Kristoff and also all the reindeer chorus voices is also a really funny answer the “Why didn’t Broadway star Jonathan Groff have a full song?” complaints about the first movie.
The scene where Anna and Elsa found their parents’ ship actually made me gasp aloud. I did not expect that. When Elsa uses her powers to see their parents at the time of their death, I just was like - nooooo whyyyyy - this is only going to upset you forever. But the sight of their ice selves holding each other as they perish is dreadfully romantic, if horrible.
However, how did they ever find out their parents’ ship even was destroyed if the ship wasn’t anywhere near where they thought it was when it went down???
I was nearly crying throughout all of “Show Yourself,” as it was so gorgeous and heart-rending. Elsa’s eagerness to find her destiny is so identifiable. It also is possibly the queerest song Disney has ever put out, as she appears to be singing a love song to a woman for 75% of it, until it’s revealed that she actually is the fifth spirit and “the voice was inside her all along.” MAJOR MOANA VIBES. But also seriously, these lyrics are really intimate and personal and almost sensual, just look at them!
And then she had strong emotions and did a wardrobe and hair change because that’s just what she does. But I love it. I love it all. I love that she gets to sing with her mother again, I love that she ends up at the center of the snowflake like in the “Let it Go” sequence where she’s building the castle, and I love that at the very end of the song, she basically becomes the siren call herself.

Every inch of me is trembling and not from the cold
Something is familiar like a dream I can reach but not quite hold

I can sense you there like a friend I've always known
I'm arriving and it feels like I am home

I have always been a fortress, cold secrets deep inside
You have secrets too but you don't have to hide

Show yourself - I'm dying to meet you
Show yourself -It's your turn
Are you the one I've been looking for all of my life
Show yourself - I'm ready to learn

I've never felt so certain - All my life I've been torn
But I'm here for a reason - Could it be the reason I was born

I've always been so different, Normal rules did not apply
Is this the day, Are you the way, I finally find out why

Show yourself - I'm no longer trembling
Here I am - I've come so far
You are the answer I've waited for all of my life
Oh, show yourself - Let me see who you are

Come to me now; open your door
Don't make me wait one moment more
Come to me now; open your door
Don't make me wait one moment more

(Where the north wind meets the sea)
(There's a river full of memory)
Come, my darling, homeward bound
I am found

Show yourself - Step into your power
Throw yourself into something new
You are the one you've been waiting for all of your life
Show yourself - Ah, ah, ah, ah

Kristoff is feminist partner, reindeer-riding goals.

How perfect is it that Ahtohallan is a glacier, a “river of ice”? I don’t know how we could have ever expected anything different. When you think of how it’s described really, it’s the only thing that makes sense.
In the memories cavern in Ahtohallan, Elsa sees her younger self singing “Let it Go” and gives a chagrined look, hand over her eyes. I think that’s really an indication of her own more mature outlook on life now rather than a flat out rejection of the themes expressed in Let It Go; her priorities are different now that she’s learned to live her life without fear by loving her family and friends. This also HAS to be a little shout-out to all the parents out there who got so ridiculously sick of the song.
Elsa also sees a scene of her mother and father interacting as young children. Her father says he’s reading a book by a Danish author (and apparently it features a picture of a mermaid on the front, although I missed seeing that at the time). This is an obvious call out to Hans Christian Andersen, who wrote The Snow Queen, which Frozen is extremely loosely based upon.
To summarize a long, multiple-part story, in very few words, a magic mirror breaks in the sky and spreads across the land, falling into the eyes and hearts of various people and making them only see bad and evil in the world. It falls into the eye of Kai, a young boy, and makes him hate his formerly close friend Gerda. The only thing that’s beautiful to him now are snowflakes. Kai ends up running away with the magic Snow Queen to her ice castle, who kisses him twice, to numb him to the cold and to make him forget Gerda and his family (a third kiss would kill him). Gerda goes on a very long journey to find Kai and goes through many Odyssey-style adventures. She eventually finds him in the Snow Queen’s domain, trapped in the middle of a frozen lake, where he is trying to form ice chips into a word; if he figures out the word, he will be freed and given a pair of skates. Gerda weeps to see Kai and embraces him; her warm tears and love remove the mirror splinter from his eye and he remembers her and loves her again. They dance, which makes the ice chips turn into the word he needs to escape from the frozen lake. And then they leave. You can read the whole Snow Queen story here.
There are lots of similarities in the stories, but obviously, Frozen is very very different. The mirror splinter in the original story gets into people’s hearts and freezes them, just like ice gets into Anna’s heart. The sudden break between close friends Gerda and Kai when the splinters get into Kai’s heart in the story resembles the sudden break between Elsa and Anna as children when Elsa accidentally hurts her sister while playing. Friendly reindeer and a snow queen living in an isolated ice palace live in both. Gerda goes on a journey to rescue her friend Kai when he disappears, just like Anna journeys to rescue Elsa. Her love rescues Kai, just as Anna’s love rescues Elsa.
Okay, so Olaf’s disintegration obviously has to be a reference to the “snap” in Avengers: Infinity War, right? There’s no way that wasn’t purposeful.
It’s incredibly heart-breaking to see such a positive character as Anna reach her lowest point, after she believes both her sister and her friend Olaf are dead. The song “The Next Right Thing” addresses suicide and depression more straightforwardly than any other kid’s movie I’ve ever seen; it’s truly impressive, particularly since Kristen Bell (who voices Anna), has been very open about her own struggles with depression and anxiety.
The reparations plot line in this movie, in which Anna determines that the dam her grandfather built to trick the Northuldra must be destroyed to free the enchanted forest, even if it means the destruction of her own kingdom, is really deep and dark and I’m honestly wondering how many kids in the theater actually understood the ramifications of it. It’s a deeply radical idea in many ways.
To be fair though, it had already been established that Elsa, Anna, and Co. couldn’t leave the forest either, so this was also their only way of going home, and Anna was sure that her people were out of the kingdom and safe (as one of the last orders Elsa gave before they left on their journey was “don’t let them go back into Arendelle.” Who did she order to do that, by the way? Was it Oaken? It felt familiar but now I can’t recall).
Kristoff is feminist goals. He runs up to save Anna from the earth giants and immediately says “I’m here, how can I help?” instead of trying to stop her or take over the situation. When she later apologizes for leaving him to follow and try to protect Elsa, he simply says, “It’s okay, my love is not fragile.” I already REALLY loved Kristoff for breaking the Disney “prince” mold by being tall, broad-shouldered, and scruffy, with a big nose, but he is just such a genuinely good person that I can only love him even more now.
The ending where he, Olaf, and Sven dress up for Anna’s coronation and he says “You get this for one hour” before Anna ruffles his hair and says “I prefer you in leather anyway” both illustrates how perfect they are together as a couple and also is possibly the most sexual double entendre ever in a Disney movie.

Anna’s new Frozen II outfit at Disney World.

At the end of the movie, Matthias reunites with his sweetheart and they show off a photograph they’ve taken together, which Matthias specifically says he didn’t know about before he was trapped in the enchanted forest. I felt this insertion of such an obviously modern invention takes the viewer out of the fairy tale atmosphere a bit, but it does help date the movie. The earliest photographs came out in the late 1830s, so I’m guessing the events of Frozen are around the 1840s or so. This is supported by sandwiches being mentioned in the first movie, as sandwiches weren’t really around under that name until the 1760s or so and they didn’t gain popularity outside of pubs and taverns until the 1800s.
In addition, we know Arendelle is probably in Norway or Scandinavia somewhere, not just because of all the cultural references evident in the movies, but because in “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure,” a woman literally mentions that she makes a giant cookie map of Norway every year for Christmas. That definitely seems like something you would only do if you actually lived in the country somewhere.
There’s so much symmetry between the movie. Frozen II’s starting structure is EXTREMELY similar to Frozen. First, we get an intro flashback with the main characters as kids with their parents and some sort of heavily foreshadowing song (Frozen Heart in the first, All is Found in the second), then a stage-setting song where a lot of characters sing as they set up/celebrate some big event (For the First Time in Forever, Some Things Never Change), then some accident happens with Elsa that instigates trouble or danger for the people in Arendelle (she freezes the kingdom accidentally, she accidentally awakens the enchanted forest spirits which chase all the people out of the kingdom), then our main characters start out on a journey to solve the problem.
Frozen’s main plot really gets underway when Elsa freezes Arendelle accidentally out of fear; Frozen II’s main plot ends with Elsa saving Arendelle with her ice powers out of love. Elsa believes Anna is dead towards the end of Frozen and Anna believes Elsa is dead towards the end of Frozen II; both of them are completely crushed by the loss of their sister.
The post-credits scene in Frozen II features Olaf telling the story of the movie in his ridiculous abbreviated style to Marshmallow (the giant snowman from Frozen) and all the tiny snowball creatures from Frozen Fever (which for SOME REASON is not on Disney+, what the heck).
Apparently the day Frozen II came out, the characters of Elsa and Anna at Disneyworld were immediately changed into their movie-ending outfits, Elsa’s snow queen dress and Anna’s queen garb. Seems a little silly to do it that quickly, as it probably spoiled people on vacation who hadn’t seen the films yet, but - at least the outfits are pretty?

Elsa’s new Frozen II outfit at Disney World.

Stray Thoughts: Frozen has some deliberately obscure references in it. I had forgotten how many Arrested Development references are in it! And I just noticed a new cultural reference I hadn’t picked up on before! While watching it over again today to help with this post, I noticed a specific exchange in which villagers in Arendelle argue over whether firewood should be stacked with the barn side up or down. I googled this, and apparently it’s a reference to a big debate in Norway from earlier in 2013 (frozen came out in November 2013) on this very topic. You can read all about it here!
Fun fact: Frozen II is the first official sequel to a Disney Princess movie and only the third official sequel in the Disney canon (after The Rescuers Down Under and Ralph Breaks the Internet). The many direct-to-video sequels of the 90s and early 2000s apparently were made by a slightly different arm of Disney that isn’t operating or recognized today. You could read ALL about it here.
ADDED 11/30: I just learned from listening to an episode of “Into Frozen II” which features Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez, the songwriting power couple behind both movies, that the grief in “Do the Next Right Thing” was partially inspired by the experience of co-director Chris Buck, whose son Ryder tragically died during the press junket for the first movie when he was hit by a car, and music producer Andrew Page, who lost his daughter Esmee in the years between the two movies. In addition, there’s a Northuldra character in Frozen II named Ryder (who helps Kristoff with his reindeer proposal attempt); I have to believe that’s an intentional tribute to Ryder Buck.
ALSO, I just read in an article that the four note siren call in Frozen II is based off of the Dies Irae, a Latin hymn best known for being used in the Catholic Mass for the dead. This hymn is apparently rather famously quoted or used as inspiration in various songs, including bits of Rent, Phantom of the Opera, and Sweeney Todd! And the siren call is also based off of a Scandinavian form of singing “kulning,” which is a shepherdess’s call.
UPDATE 12/2: Y’all, my brother made a youtube video discussing Elsa’s “Superman problem” and it’s really interesting! You can go watch it over here!
UPDATE 12/25: I’m re-watching the first Frozen now and in retrospect, Anna’s final fate as Queen of Arendelle was foreshadowed in the costumes from the very beginning.

Elsa: In the first movie, Elsa almost always wears light blue, except on coronation day. On coronation day, her dress is green with accents of gold, blue, and pink, and she wears a long magenta cape; her blue color is still there, but it’s overwhelmed by other priorities. She’s also more covered up with more thick fabric then ever before or since; when Elsa actually is feeling comfortable with her magic, she tends to wear much lighter fabrics, likely to indicate her comfort with cold (“the cold never bothered me anyway.”). She wears a very light blue nightgown as a child until she’s told to hide her magic, at which point she still wears blue, but in heavier fabrics and layers. After her magic is exposed at her coronation ball and she runs away, she changes her dress to a light blue with sheer fabrics.

In Frozen II, she never wears anything as heavy as her coronation gown and wears light fabrics, but starts out the movie in a purple dress and a purple nightgown, which seems to indicate her trying to balance her true self (light blue) with her queen self (pink/magenta). Once she starts off on the journey “into the unknown” she wears light blue again. In the end, she’s in a light, very sheer white dress with purple diamond accents.

Anna: In the first movie, Anna ALWAYS wears shades of green and pink/magenta, although the amount of each color in her outfit varies. Green tends to be he main color, with touches of pink, but as she sets off on her adventure portion, she changes into a magenta cloak, a blue skirt, and a black bodice with just a few green and gold accents to it. The blue is an unusual color for Anna, and seems to indicate her focus on finding Elsa (who usually wears blue).
In frozen II, Anna herself wears pink/magenta throughout but doesn’t wear any green until the end of the movie when she’s crowned Queen of Arendelle, at which point she’s covered in it, indicating that she’s reached her true place.
From looking at pictures of the castle servants in Arendelle, the castle, and the banners and flags hung up at Elsa’s coronation, it appears that Arendelle’s main color is actually green, with purple accents. Thus, it was always Anna’s destiny to become Arendelle’s queen, just as it was always Elsa’s destiny to become the fifth spirit and the snow queen far up North.

#ShakespearesPlaylist: The Taming of the Shrew

September 09, 2019 by Rachael Dickson in theater, Just for Fun

This is part of the #ShakespearesPlaylist series! You can read all of those posts here!

So I LOVE finding songs to fit the mood of #Shakespeare plays. Basically every time I hear a song I love on the radio, I think about how I could fit it into a production. I can’t help it. My brain just does that, which is funny, because I’ve only directed one production (my own one-act) and questioned myself and my abilities the entire time, so I don’t necessarily see myself directing anything else any time soon, but I just like to dream about the music anyway.

The Globe Theater cast of The Taming of the Shrew from 2013 - photo from https://thehoneycombers.com/singapore/the-taming-of-the-shrew/

I’ve decided to play with this habit of mine more and make full-fledged Spotify and Youtube playlists for each play by Shakespeare, under the umbrella name and hashtag #ShakespearesPlaylist .

Quick Wikipedia summary: The Taming of the Shrew depicts the courtship of Petruchio and Katherina, the headstrong, obdurate “shrew” in the title. Initially, Katherina is an unwilling participant in the relationship; however, Petruchio "tames" her with various psychological torments, such as keeping her from eating and drinking, until she becomes a desirable, compliant, and obedient bride. The subplot features a competition between the suitors of Katherina's younger sister, Bianca. who is seen as the "ideal" woman. The question of whether the play is misogynistic or not has become the subject of considerable controversy, particularly among modern scholars, audiences, and readers.

I chose Florence + The Machine’s Kiss with a Fist to represent the domestic abuse prevalent in Taming of the Shrew. This is the part of the play that makes everyone uncomfortable, but it’s such an integral part to the plot that you really can’t remove it or gloss over it without changing the story completely. This is one of those problem plays that I think needs to be done carefully and respectfully, with a lot of conversation and care. Sure, perform it, but make sure to discuss the problematic aspects of it in your program or in a post-show discussion.

Husband John and I saw a version of it at The Globe in London in 2013 that featured an all-female cast; that choice retained the original story while portraying it in an explicitly feminist way that helped me see it in a really different way. It was very affecting. Because of those problematic aspects though, I personally have never been involved in a production of it nor have I seen many productions of it. One study (reported on Priceonomics) found that it was the fifth most popular Shakespeare play (in terms of professional performances by major theater companies between 2011-2015; this kind of surprises me? It is quite possible though that I’ve just happened to live in areas where it’s just not commonly performed. Plus, I mostly work with and am around community theater productions, and they seem to be slightly less willing to put on controversial plays (just my observation, not sure why).

I should note- Kiss with a Fist is not actually about domestic violence. Florence Welch explained the meaning of the song on her blog: “It is about two people pushing each other to psychological extremes because they are fighting but they still love each other. The song is not about one person being attacked, or any actual physical violence, there are no victims in this song. Sometimes the love two people have for each other is a destructive force. But they can't have it any other way, because it's what holds them together, they enjoy the drama and pushing each other's buttons. The only way to express these extreme emotions is with extreme imagery, all of which is fantasism and nothing in the song is based on reality. Leona Lewis's ‘Bleeding Love’ isn't actually about her bleeding and this song isn't actually about punching someone in the mouth." (I grabbed this explanation off Wikipedia)

Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation is a bit of an obvious choice for representing a woman who refuses to conform to society’s expectations of her, but I love this song and had to include it anyway.

Yeah, that’s a really short explanation of that, but I really can’t think of anything else to say. Joan Jett is awesome.

Etta James’ It’s a Man’s Man’s World addresses the gender dynamics of the play, as ultimately Katherina has little choice when it comes to her husband. Although Katherina does ultimately “agree” to marry Petruchio when he shows himself willing to counter her sharp wit, she has no ability to stop the ceremony when Petruchio hits the priest and drinks the communion wine and is completely helpless when Petruchio abuses her by withholding food and gaslighting her until she does his bidding. He shows off her “tame” self at the end to the other men. The setting of this play truly is “a man’s world” and Katherina is trapped in it.

Finally, since these songs have mostly been pretty dark, I’m ending on a lighter note with Letters to Cleo’s I Want You to Want Me. This cover was prominently featured on the 10 Things I Hate About You soundtrack. 10 Things is a loose adaptation of Taming of the Shrew and also coincidentally is one of my favorite romantic comedies of all time, probably because it came out in 1999 when I was 11 and thus was one of the first modern romantic comedies I ever actually watched.

The Best Long-Lasting Lipsticks: If You Love the Look but Hate Reapplying

September 07, 2019 by Rachael Dickson in Just for Fun

So some friends asked me for long lasting lipstick recommendations and I'm happy to oblige! These lipsticks work well for anyone who loves makeup but hates spending more than a few minutes applying it.

Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink Liquid Lipstick, Lover, 0.17 fl. oz.

Maybelline

So currently, I telework full time from home and don’t even put on makeup most days. I just use my basic skin routine of cleanser, toner, acne products, moisturizer, and Vaseline petroleum jelly at night (on my forehead and lips) - I really keep it super simple. And my skin generally looks great as a result! So when I /do/ leave the house, I generally just put on some lipstick and peach blush, perhaps a little concealer if I’ve been stressed out lately. If I’m feeling ambitious, I’ll put on some eye shadow and mascara, maybe eye liner. But I definitely have more lipstick than any other product and wear it most often!

I /only/ wear long-wear lipstick because I despise smudgy lipstick and leaving lipstains on glasses. I’ve honestly tried using fancier lipsticks before; I’ve prepped my lips with a sugar scrub and used a lip primer and lip liner and blotted three times and used a setting powder. It never works for me! And it’s way more work than it’s worth for the final result. So now I just stick to the long-lasting lipstick I know and love.

Two tips on long-lasting lipstick:

1. Use Vaseline petroleum on your lips at night to keep them moist and happy. These products can often be drying. Vaseline can also help remove the lipstick!

2. The secret trick to keeping lipstick off your teeth- After you apply, just put your thumb in your mouth, close your lips around it, and then pull it out. You have to wipe your lipstick off your thumb then, which is annoying, but I’ve literally never found anything else which works better.

So my most commonly worn lipstick brand these days is Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink (pictured). The colors shown here are: Pioneer, Heroine, Artist, Romantic, Explorer, Philosopher, and Protector.

I love this brand! It runs under $10 and comes in a lot of different colors - from classic or bold, to neutral or more out there shades. I should have even more than are pictured here, I just can’t find one or two of them right now, as I usually always have one in my purse when I’m out and about.

I have gone to dentist appointments wearing these shades before and they don’t budge; my dental hygienist has actually asked me what brand it was. They’re great! And you can also mix them together for an in-between shade if you’re careful - I apply the shades directly over each other on my lips and then rub it together to mix it and cover all the lines. I of course use a cloth to sharpen all my edges.

In addition, this brand has a great applicator that has a sharper edge than most do; i find it easier for making a sharp line. It also smells AMAZING. I think they put vanilla in the formula or something.

I also recently tried out the Maybelle Super Stay Ink Crayon Lipstick but honestly, I wasn’t impressed. It didn’t last nearly as long as the regular formula.

This pic shows my favorite lipsticks and most commonly worn AFTER my Maybelline:

First: my Rimmel Provocalips (upper left corner). These colors from left to right are Play with Fire, Heart Breaker, Kiss Fatal, Little Mink, and Dare to Pink.

Next going counter clockwise: the shorter purple lipstick is Maybelline 14 hr in Wine and Forever (my darkest lipstick!); then two Maybelline Superstay 24 Colors - All Day Cherry and Timeless Toffee.

Upper right: CoverGirl Outlast All Day Two Step Lipcolor in Eternal Flame.

Bottom Right: Lipsense by Senegence long lasting liquid lip color in B. Ruby with Glossy gloss.

Next to that on the left is Revlon Colorstay Ultimate in Buffest Beige (my go to nude lip color). I use this one if I’m wearing stage makeup and playing a dude.

Next to that: Revlon Colorstay in Unlimited Mulberry and Forever Scarlet.

Finally, bottom left is Kat Von D everlasting liquid lipstick in Backstage Bambi.

I would recommend all these brands with different levels of caution; all of them will last longer than your standard cream lipstick. Almost all of these can be bought at a drugstore or Target and honestly those tend to work best for me (I think my lips just adhere better to cheaper brands?). The Kat Von D is the most expensive by far; this shade lasts maybe half a day for me, but I've been told that this particular color is the hardest to work with from that line so I'm hoping to try another shade in the future to get a better idea of its quality.

The Lipsense is very different from the rest; it dries very quickly and requires lots of thin layers and a gloss to work. It's a bit tricky but I've found with regular lip scrubs that it withstands most of the day. It can only be bought from independent sellers and not from retail stores; if you're interested in it I can give you my contact. :)

As always, let me know if you have any questions! I'm happy to help!

Easy No Heat Hair Styling For Fine-Haired Girls

September 03, 2019 by Rachael Dickson in Around the House, Just for Fun, beauty tutorial

Half dry hair in low buns at top, lower left shows the hair immediately after several hours drying in the low buns. lower right shows the final look after it’s all dried post-makeup.

Since I bleach my hair before i dye it all the colors of the wind, I try to really baby it at other times.

I rarely use heat styling on my hair- maybe once a month I’ll use a curling iron and a blowdryer maybe once every two months. But my hair tends to lie rather flat if I don’t do /anything/ with it, so I use a lot of no heat styling tricks. Usually, I just style it by waiting until it’s half dry after a shower, and then putting it into one of a few hair styles so it can gain some shape and texture as it dries the rest of the way. This doesn’t work on everyone, but if you have naturally straight hair with a similar medium-fine hair diameter like I do, it works great! (If you’re not certain what type of hair you have, this article on Headcurve can be really helpful! I have a 1b hair type, meaning it’s fine and generally straight, but not so fine that you would see a lot of scalp showing through.)

My current favorite no heat style is two low buns in the back. I specifically also twist the hair as I’m putting it into the bun. I then either sleep on it or chill for a few hours while I’m working.

Once I take it out- voila! Fun curls and texture. As you can see in the picture, it’s still just a little damp when I take it out, so I finger comb it and zhush it a little. By the time I’m done with my makeup, it’s all dry and looks great! It’s really simple and I quite like it. :)

I personally don’t tend to use a lot of product on my hair unless it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t even usually use frizz free serum on my hair, as it can look greasy really quickly. I’ll often just put a little lotion on my hands at the end of my prep, rub it in, and any small amount that’s left, i’l just lightly finger comb through my hair - ends first, than just a very light hand on my roots.

#ShakespearesPlaylist: Comedy of Errors

September 01, 2019 by Rachael Dickson in Just for Fun, theater

This is part of the #ShakespearesPlaylist series! You can read all of those posts here!

I’ve decided to play with this habit of mine more and make full-fledged Spotify and Youtube playlists for each play by Shakespeare, under the umbrella name and hashtag #ShakespearesPlaylist .

Quick Summary of the Play from Wikipedia: “Set in the Greek city of Ephesus, The Comedy of Errors tells the story of two sets of identical twins who were accidentally separated at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant, Dromio of Syracuse, arrive in Ephesus, which turns out to be the home of their twin brothers, Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. When the Syracusans encounter the friends and families of their twins, a series of wild mishaps based on mistaken identities lead to wrongful beatings, a near-seduction, the arrest of Antipholus of Ephesus, and false accusations of infidelity, theft, madness, and demonic possession.”

I actually acted in a minor role in Comedy of Errors earlier this year! It’s an extremely silly play, and probably one of my least favorites, but the director and assistant director had a really fun vision for it that included lots of slapstick and physical comedy, plus a prominently featured rubber chicken. I got to wear a lovely costume and a ridiculous mustache and got to do some really fun comedic acting just reacting to the shenanigans aroudn me! Here’s a publicity pic of me for it (pre-mustache):

Plus I just got to work with the best people. Here are a couple of us in a ridiculous cuddle pile on the floor backstage, lol.

ANYWAY, when I think of this play, I tend to think of exceptionally ridiculous songs or songs about “double vision” or confusion. So I’m putting in Yakety Sax, the classic slapstick song, Double Vision by Foreigner to refer to the Twins/mistaken identity plot, and One Week by BareNaked Ladies to evoke the shenanigans feel of the whole play. I’m also throwing in Crazy by Gnarls Barkley (a cool slowed down version!) in here to refer to every character’s mutual feeling of “What is going on here? Am I going mad?” by the end of the show".

What songs would you add to this list? You can suggest them here or on Twitter at #ShakespearesPlaylist :D

#ShakespearesPlaylist: King Lear

August 22, 2019 by Rachael Dickson in Just for Fun, theater

This is part of the #ShakespearesPlaylist series! You can read all of those posts here!

I’ve decided to play with this habit of mine more and make full-fledged Spotify and Youtube playlists for each play by Shakespeare, under the umbrella name and hashtag #ShakespearesPlaylist .

The incomparable Larry Yando as Lear in Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s production in 2014. Photo from https://www.chicagoshakes.com/plays_and_events/lear

Quick Summary from Wikipedia: King Lear is the tale of a king who bequeaths his power and land to two of his three daughters, after they declare their love for him in an extremely fawning and obsequious manner. His third daughter gets nothing, because she will not flatter him as her sisters had done. When he feels disrespected by the two daughters who now have his wealth and power, he becomes furious to the point of madness. He eventually becomes tenderly reconciled to his third daughter, just before tragedy strikes her and then the king.

I’m starting with King Lear because I just watched Kurosawa’s “Ran” with my husband, which is basically King Lear set in feudal Japan, so it’s on my brain anyway.

Here are a couple songs on my King Lear playlist. What would you add to this list? :D

Both Viva La Vida by Coldplay and Pompeii by Bastille fit King Lear’s “former leader watching his world crumble” theme, IMO.

Okay these two are a little more specific and require some explanation.

Frank Sinatra’s Where Do You Go? - I went to law school in Chicago and lived there for a few years after, so then-boyfriend/now-husband John and I went to a lot of shows at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. They have a great under-35 program that allows younger adults to get discount tickets and it was AWESOME.

In 2014, they did a friggin’ astounding version of King Lear that portrayed Lear as someone who really loved Frank Sinatra and used Sinatra’s music throughout the play to illustrate his growing madness. This specific obscure Sinatra song was used to illustrate how lost and alone Lear was and was mixed and looped to show his growing distortion. Right before the intermission, this one house set that had been standing up the whole time came toppling down over the actor playing Lear, who stood in just the one hole for the window so he wasn’t actually crushed, with rain and thunder and this haunting song in the background.

So clearly it made an impression. I definitely think of Sinatra whenever I think of Lear now.

Ravel’s Bolero is my pet choice and something I would include if I ever had the opportunity to direct Lear in the future. There was an amazing Radiolab episode a while back which discussed how the repetition in Bolero and in one woman’s paintings were a strong symptom of their own mental illnesses. It fascinated me and ever since, I have wanted to use Bolero as a metaphor for Lear’s madness.

What obvious songs am I overlooking? Do you have any choices that might seem odd without further explanation? I want to hear them all! Use the hashtag #ShakespearesPlaylist to get them to me. :)