Captions Anyone?

 I've seen a couple of blogs would have caption contests, so I thought I would give it a try here and see how it goes. Who knows: if it goes well, I may do this more often. I have two pictures here...

Picture #1

Picture #2

You can have a caption for one picture or both, but make sure you specify which picture you are captioning. And as always, keep it clean.


God Bless,
 

Sense and Sensibility Week Has Started!

Head over to Miss Georgiana Darcy for the start of Sense and Sensibility week! It's going to be a fun week! I can't wait to see what Maria Elisabeth has in store for us!

God Bless,
 

Mid-Voting Progress for Suggestions

 Here is the mid voting progress for the suggestions for the 2nd Period Drama Tournament! As of last night, the polls so far has been...

Esther Summerson (Bleak House) -- 28 votes

Bella Wilfer (Our Mutual Friend) -- 12 votes

Lizzie Hexam (Our Mutual Friend) -- 9 votes

Madeline Bray (Nicholas Nickleby) -- 7 votes

Kate Nickleby (Nicholas Nickleby) -- 9 votes
Lorna Doone (Lorna Doone) -- 5 votes
Mirah Lapidoth (Daniel Deronda) -- 10 votes
Gwendolen Fairfax (The Importance of Being Earnest) -- 5 votes
Cecily Cardew (The Importance of Being Earnest)  -- 5 votes
Dorothea Brooke (Middlemarch) -- 1 votes
Eleanor Tilney (Northanger Abbey) -- 18 votes

Meg March (Little Women) -- 18 votes
Jo March (Little Women) -- 19 votes
Beth March (Little Women) -- 15 votes
Amy March (Little Women) -- 15 votes

Marguerite Blakney (The Scarlet Pimpernel) -- 11 votes
Lady Violet (Downton Abbey) -- 10 votes
Anne Taylor Weston (Emma) -- 14 votes
Deborah Jenkyns (Cranford) --  6 votes

Helen Graham (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall) -- 2 votes

Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights) -- 3 votes

Tess Durbeyfield (Tess of the D'Urbevilles) -- 2 votes

Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing) -- 8 votes

Portia (Merchant of Venice) -- 3 votes

Diana Barry (Anne of Green Gables) -- 16 votes

Tzeitel (Fiddler on the Roof) -- 6 votes

Miss Browning (Wives and Daughters) -- 9 votes

Miss Phoebe Browning (Wives and Daughters) -- 10 votes

Sara Stanley (Road to Avonlea) -- 5 votes

Ada Clare (Bleak House) -- 13 votes

Edith Adelon (The Inheritance) -- 6 votes

Louisa Musgrove (Persuasion) -- 3 votes

Lucie Manette (A Tale of Two Cities) -- 3 votes

Agnes Wickfield (David Copperfield) -- 12 votes

Esmerelda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) -- 2 votes

Amelia Sedley (Vanity Fair) -- 1 votes

Catherine Linton (Wuthering Heights) -- 3 votes

Beatrix Potter (Miss Potter) -- 16 votes

Felicity King (Road to Avonlea) -- 4 votes

Cosette (Les Miserables) -- 4 votes

Peggy Bell (Return to Cranford) -- 8 votes

Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House On The Prairie) -- 15 votes

Emily Byrd Starr (Emily of New Moon) -- 6 votes
Bathsheba Everdene (Far From the Madding Crowd) -- 2 votes
Lucy Honeychurch (A Room With A View) -- 2 votes
Sara Crew (A Little Princess) -- 9 votes
Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden) -- 8 votes
Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI (The King's Speech) -- 4 votes
Dorothy Stanbury (He Knew He Was Right) -- 3 votes
Bessy Higgins (North & South) -- 11 votes

Olivia King Dale (Road to Avonlea) -- 5 votes

Hetty King (Road to Avonlea) -- 2 votes

Roxanne (Cyrano de Bergerac) -- 3 votes
Wenneveria (Pendragon: Sword of His Father) -- 1 votes
Buttercup (Princess Bride) -- 14 votes
Caddie Woodlawn (Caddie Woodlawn) -- 3 votes
Charlotte Lucas (Pride and Prejudice)  -- 9 votes

Danielle De Barbarac (Ever After: A Cinderella Story) -- 9 votes

Maid Marian (Robin Hood) -- 13 votes

Caddy Jellyby (Bleak House) -- 4 votes

Lady Dedlock (Bleak House) -- 9 votes

Miss Buck (Upstairs Downstairs) -- 8 votes

Lady Maud Holland (Upstairs Downstairs) -- 9 votes

Lady Agnes Holland (Upstairs Downstairs) -- 7 votes

Lady Persephone Towne (Upstairs Downstairs) -- 2 votes

Mrs. Thackeray (Upstairs Downstairs) -- 6 votes

Rachel Perlmutter (Upstairs Downstairs) -- 3 votes

Ivy Morris (Upstairs Downstairs) -- 9 votes

Mrs. Isobel Crawley (Downton Abbey) -- 3 votes

Gwen (Downton Abbey) -- 3 votes

Daisy (Downton Abbey) -- 5 votes

Mrs. Elsie Hughes (Downton Abbey) -- 9 votes

Mrs. Patmore (Downton Abbey) -- 11 votes

The Top Ten Contestants So Far!

Esther Summerson (Bleak House) -- 28 votes

Jo March (Little Women) -- 19 votes

Eleanor Tilney (Northanger Abbey) -- 18 votes

Meg March (Little Women) -- 18 votes

Diana Barry (Anne of Green Gables) -- 16 votes

Beatrix Potter (Miss Potter) -- 16 votes

Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House On The Prairie) -- 15 votes

Beth March (Little Women) -- 15 votes

Amy March (Little Women) -- 15 votes

Anne Taylor Weston (Emma) -- 14 votes (tied)

Buttercup (Princess Bride) -- 14 votes (tied)


Don't see your favorite contestant in the Top 10 and haven't voted yet? Go and vote for your favorite!

God Bless,
 

Poll Results (Non-Tournament)

 I really should have put these up sooner, but here are the results from the two non-tournament polls.

Would you be interested in following a blog dedicated to the Period Drama Advice Column?

Yes - 28 votes

No - 8 votes

Thank you for voting in this poll. I've decided not to start up an entire blog for the Period Drama Advice Column, but I might do an event here at Elegance of Fashion for the Period Drama Advice Column. Stay tuned for that!

Which decade did most of your favorite period dramas come out?

70s - 2 votes

80s - 2 votes

90s - 37 votes

2000s - 34 votes

2010s - 2 votes

Thanks for voting in this poll!

I might not put up a non-tournament poll for a while due to the tournament, but maybe one day in the future!

God Bless,
 

Suggestions Poll Up

 Sorry it took longer than I thought to put up this poll. It was a bit of a busy day today. Because I put it up so late, I extended the polling time until November 9th. Go and vote!


God Bless,
 

I'm An Inspirational Blogger Award

I was awarded the "I'm An Inspirational Blogger Award" by three bloggers! Thank you Miss Laurie from Old-Fashioned Charm, Miss Dashwood from Yet Another Period Drama Blog, and Abby from Newly Impassioned Soul.

Rules

1. Be sure to post the award on your blog, for all of your readers to admire!

2. You will need to link back to the person who nominated you!

3. Make sure you tell your readers 7 random facts about yourself!

4. Also mention your favourite hobby, colour and food!

5. Pass this award on to your 10 inspirational bloggers! (You can choose the person to nominated you!)

Got #1 done, since you all are reading this post :-D

I'll redo #2. Thanks Miss Laurie, Miss Dashwood, and Abby! Be sure to visit their blogs!

Old-Fashioned Charm

Yet Another Period Drama Blog

Newly Impassioned Soul

#3. 7 Random facts about myself! (With pictures)

1. I enjoy Christmas at any time of the year. As a matter of fact, I really want it to be Christmas right now! I like the overall feel to Christmas: it's a joyous time in which we come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus, the Christ.

2. I'm planning on double majoring in Computer Science and Accounting. I really enjoy helping people out with the computer, and to me Accounting is like a big puzzle that I enjoy doing.

3. I love historical fashion (as if you all couldn't tell!). I like to study it in my free time. I've studied fashions from 1700 to 1900, though I'm becoming more and more interested in Edwardian fashions. My favorite fashion era has to be the Regency Era!

4. I started to play the piano in January of this year. I'm currently trying to learn an easy version of Moonlight Sonata, but I also try to go into my Jane Austen music book and try to play some of the songs in there.

Tatting

5. I enjoy puzzles. I really enjoy Sudoku puzzles, but I also like crossword puzzles. A couple times when I was sick, my parents would buy me a book of puzzles to help pass the time; it helped!

6. I taught myself how to sew, embroider, tat (a form of lace making; see picture to the right), cross-stitch, and some crocheting. For sewing, I watched my grandma sew one time when I was younger and I picked up on it quickly; so my mom bought me a kid's sewing craft book and I've been sewing ever since (though now I sew clothes and historical costumes instead of craft items). For embroidery, tatting, and crocheting, I just found books in Hobby Lobby or JoAnn Fabrics and taught myself through the books without observation.

7. When I do watch TV (which is getting less and less often now-a-days), I like to watch older shows. One of the shows I like to watch is Bonanza.

#4. Favorite Hobby, Color, and Food

Hobby - I have a number of hobbies, so I don't think I can pick just one. I'm just going to list my hobbies here:

* Computers

*Sewing

*Video Games

*Embroidery

*Tatting

*Blogging

*Historical Fashion

*Photoshop

*Reading ("I am not a great reader, and I have pleasure in many things." - Elizabeth Bennet)

Color - I really like Blue. It's a very mellow color and easy on the eyes. It's not wild, but mild.

Food - I really like half of the Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich and a cup of French Onion soup from Panera! Mmmmmm!

Hey! Someone had the same idea as me!

#5. Nominate 10 Bloggers

Here we go: 10 Blogs to Nominate.

1. Austen Efforts

2. Austenitis

3. Beautiful Blank Pages

4. But when a young lady is to be a heroine

5. Elegance of Drama

6. Miss Georgiana Darcy

7. Newly Impassioned Soul

8. Regency Delight ~Jane Austen, etc.~

9. Story Girl

10. Yet Another Period Drama Blog

 God Bless,
 

Review: The Young Victoria

I've heard quite a bit about The Young Victoria around the blogging world. I kind of wanted to see it, but never bought the DVD or seen it on TV. When I came home one day, I saw that it was on one of the movie channels. I missed the first couple of minutes of it, but I got to see the rest of it.

DVD Box Art

Synopsis

The Young Victoria follows the life of Princess Victoria, who eventually becomes Queen Victoria, and how she met Prince Albert and fell in love with him. She became queen at age 18 and was seen by many as inexperienced and not ready for the job.


Characters
There are a couple of actors/actresses that you may recognize in The Young Victoria. Emily Blunt has recently come into the limelight, but also there is Rupert Friend (Pride and Prejudice 2005) as Prince Albert, Mark Strong (Emma 1997) was Sir John Conroy, Harriet Walter (Sense and Sensibility 1995, Little Dorrit 2008) was Queen Adelaide, and Morven Christie (Lost in Austen) was the servant Watson. The screenplay was written by Julian Fellowes, who also created Downton Abbey.

Overall, I thought the cast did a very good job. Emily Blunt I thought was a good Queen Victoria. I don't know very much about Victoria's life, but I found her likable in this movie. A little rebellious, but likable. I found that Emily Blunt acted well in her role, though there were a couple of spots where I thought she acted a little silly as a queen and for the time period, but overall she did a good job. I also enjoyed Rupert Friend's Price Albert, though I was a little skeptical of his German accent (something about it didn't seem perfectly right, but not bad).

I did have a hard time with remembering all the members of the royal family, but that could be due to my missing the first couple of minutes of the movie. When I rewatch this movie, I may have to pay closer attention to the characters with titles.


Scenery
A feast for the eyes! Between the gorgeous houses and the outdoor scenery, there cannot be want of pretty scenes. The colors are very lively and bright.


Costuming

Wow... This must be some of the best costuming I've seen. The dresses are very lively and bright (except for the mourning dresses, of course). There were a number of lovely dresses that Victoria wore. And the bonnets! A number of them had sheer fabric on them, which made them interesting. The dresses were from the 1830s and a little into the 1840s.


Overall: 4/5
Overall, I liked it. There were a couple of scenes that you may want to skip after Victoria and Albert get married (two or three scenes, but they are very close together), but other than that, I don't believe there was anything bad in there. There were two assassination attempts made on Queen Victoria, one which no one was hurt (though many were shocked) and the second where someone was injured, but nothing is shown. I think I would watch this again to pick up on some of the smaller details, though I've read that there are some historical inaccuracies, but that's not unusual for biopics.

The Young Victoria is available on DVD and Blu-Ray. It is rated PG and runs for 105 minutes.

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

Happy Halloween

Yep, I had to make it! Two days ago, I got the idea to carve a pumpkin, which I haven't done in years, and yesterday, I bought a pumpkin and carved it. Being sick of how graphic and scary Halloween has gotten lately ("...but are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?"*), I decided that I would go with a Jane Austen approach.

And here it is in action!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

*Quoted from Northanger Abbey


 God Bless,
 

Last Day For Suggestions for Suggestions List!

First of all, I've gotten a couple more suggestions for the list!

Caddy Jellyby (Bleak House)

Lady Dedlock (Bleak House)

Miss Buck (Upstairs Downstairs)

Lady Maud Holland (Upstairs Downstairs)

Lady Agnes Holland (Upstairs Downstairs)

Lady Persephone Towne (Upstairs Downstairs)

Mrs. Thackeray (Upstairs Downstairs)

Rachel Perlmutter (Upstairs Downstairs)

Ivy Morris (Upstairs Downstairs)

Mrs. Isobel Crawley (Downton Abbey)

Gwen (Downton Abbey)

Daisy (Downton Abbey)

Mrs. Elsie Hughes (Downton Abbey)

Mrs. Patmore (Downton Abbey)

Here is the list so far!

Esther Summerson (Bleak House)

Bella Wilfer (Our Mutual Friend)

Lizzie Hexam (Our Mutual Friend)

Madeline Bray (Nicholas Nickleby)

Kate Nickleby (Nicholas Nickleby)
Lorna Doone (Lorna Doone)
Mirah Lapidoth (Daniel Deronda)
Gwendolen Fairfax (The Importance of Being Earnest)
Cecily Cardew (The Importance of Being Earnest) 
Dorothea Brooke (Middlemarch)
Eleanor Tilney (Northanger Abbey)

Meg March (Little Women)
Jo March (Little Women)
Beth March (Little Women)
Amy March (Little Women)

Marguerite Blakney (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
Lady Violet (Downton Abbey)
Anne Taylor Weston (Emma)
Deborah Jenkyns (Cranford)

Helen Graham (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall)

Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights)

Tess Durbeyfield (Tess of the D'Urbevilles)

Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing)

Portia (Merchant of Venice)

Diana Barry (Anne of Green Gables)

Tzeitel (Fiddler on the Roof)

Miss Browning (Wives and Daughters) -- both?

Sara Stanley (Road to Avonlea)

Ada Clare (Bleak House)

Edith Adelon (The Inheritance)

Louisa Musgrove (Persuasion)

Lucie Manette (A Tale of Two Cities)

Agnes Wickfield (David Copperfield)

Esmerelda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Amelia Sedley (Vanity Fair)

Catherine Linton (Wuthering Heights)

Beatrix Potter (Miss Potter)

Felicity King (Road to Avonlea)

Cosette (Les Miserables)

Peggy Bell (Return to Cranford)

Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House On The Prairie)

Emily Byrd Starr (Emily of New Moon)
Bathsheba Everdene (Far From the Madding Crowd)
Lucy Honeychurch (A Room With A View)
Sara Crew (A Little Princess)
Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden)
Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI (The King's Speech)
Dorothy Stanbury (He Knew He Was Right)
Bessy Higgins (North & South)

Olivia King Dale (Road to Avonlea)

Hetty King (Road to Avonlea)

Roxanne (Cyrano de Bergerac)

Wenneveria (Pendragon: Sword of His Father)

Buttercup (Princess Bride)

Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden)

Sara Crewe (A Little Princess)

Caddie Woodlawn (Caddie Woodlawn)

Charlotte Lucas (Pride and Prejudice) 

Danielle De Barbarac (Ever After: A Cinderella Story)

Maid Marian (Robin Hood)

Caddy Jellyby (Bleak House)

Lady Dedlock (Bleak House)

Miss Buck (Upstairs Downstairs)

Lady Maud Holland (Upstairs Downstairs)

Lady Agnes Holland (Upstairs Downstairs)

Lady Persephone Towne (Upstairs Downstairs)

Mrs. Thackeray (Upstairs Downstairs)

Rachel Perlmutter (Upstairs Downstairs)

Ivy Morris (Upstairs Downstairs)

Mrs. Isobel Crawley (Downton Abbey)

Gwen (Downton Abbey)

Daisy (Downton Abbey)

Mrs. Elsie Hughes (Downton Abbey)

Mrs. Patmore (Downton Abbey)

This is the last day to suggest contestants for the 2nd Period Drama Heroine Tournament!

I'll accept suggestions until 12:00 AM Eastern Time Zone. Then tomorrow, I will put up the poll sometime during the day. You can vote for as many heroines/female characters as you want. The poll will last one week and the top ten contestants from the poll will be entered into the 2nd Period Drama Tournament.

 God Bless,
 

Sense and Sensibility Week Over at Miss Georgiana Darcy

From November 6-12, Maria Elisabeth at Miss Georgiana Darcy is holding a Sense and Sensibility Week event! There will be numerous events going on during the week, all that have to do with Sense and Sensibility. I will be participating in it; I hope you will too!

God Bless,

Change in Extras Page

 I made a quick change in the Extras Page. There are now individual HTML codes underneath all the extras, not just one that you paste the URL into the code where it said to. Hopefully, this will make putting up extras up on your blog easier!


God Bless,

More Icons!

There are 15 more icons made! Enjoy!









 God Bless,
 

Latest Additions to Suggestions List (Updated 10/28/11)

 I've gotten a very good response for suggestions for the 2nd Period Drama Heroine Tournament. Been a little quiet the past couple of days, though. Here are the latest additions!

Danielle De Barbarac (Ever After: A Cinderella Story)

Maid Marian (Robin Hood)

Current List

Esther Summerson (Bleak House)

Bella Wilfer (Our Mutual Friend)

Lizzie Hexam (Our Mutual Friend)

Madeline Bray (Nicholas Nickleby)

Kate Nickleby (Nicholas Nickleby)
Lorna Doone (Lorna Doone)
Mirah Lapidoth (Daniel Deronda)
Gwendolen Fairfax (The Importance of Being Earnest)
Cecily Cardew (The Importance of Being Earnest)
Dorothea Brooke (Middlemarch)
Eleanor Tilney (Northanger Abbey)

Meg March (Little Women)
Jo March (Little Women)
Beth March (Little Women)
Amy March (Little Women)

Marguerite Blakney (The Scarlet Pimpernel)
Lady Violet (Downton Abbey)
Anne Taylor Weston (Emma)
Deborah Jenkyns (Cranford)

Helen Graham (The Tenant of Wildfell Hall)

Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights)

Tess Durbeyfield (Tess of the D'Urbevilles)

Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing)

Portia (Merchant of Venice)

Diana Barry (Anne of Green Gables)

Tzeitel (Fiddler on the Roof)

Miss Browning (Wives and Daughters) -- both?

Sara Stanley (Road to Avonlea)

Ada Clare (Bleak House)

Edith Adelon (The Inheritance)

Louisa Musgrove (Persuasion)

Lucie Manette (A Tale of Two Cities)

Agnes Wickfield (David Copperfield)

Esmerelda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

Amelia Sedley (Vanity Fair)

Catherine Linton (Wuthering Heights)

Beatrix Potter (Miss Potter)

Felicity King (Road to Avonlea)

Cosette (Les Miserables)

Peggy Bell (Return to Cranford)

Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House On The Prairie)

Emily Byrd Starr (Emily of New Moon)
Bathsheba Everdene (Far From the Madding Crowd)
Lucy Honeychurch (A Room With A View)
Sara Crew (A Little Princess)
Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden)
Queen Elizabeth, wife of George VI (The King's Speech)
Dorothy Stanbury (He Knew He Was Right)
Bessy Higgins (North & South)

Olivia King Dale (Road to Avonlea)

Hetty King (Road to Avonlea)

Roxanne (Cyrano de Bergerac)

Wenneveria (Pendragon: Sword of His Father)

Buttercup (Princess Bride)

Mary Lennox (The Secret Garden)

Sara Crewe (A Little Princess)

Caddie Woodlawn (Caddie Woodlawn)

Charlotte Lucas (Pride and Prejudice) 

Danielle De Barbarac (Ever After: A Cinderella Story)

Maid Marian (Robin Hood)

There are only three days left for suggestions! If you have a suggestion for the poll, make your suggestion now! (or soon)

 

God Bless,
 

Some Layout Changes (Reactions and moving things around)

 No, I didn't make any drastic changes like change the banner/background. I just made a few changes that I thought I would bring to your attention:

 

First of all, I've finally got the reactions to work! I've been trying to add them for months now, but for some reason, Blogger just wouldn't take them. But I looked it up the solution, remedied the problem, and now you can click on your reaction to a post.

Secondly, I switched the followers and Pride and Prejudice Wardrobe widgets on the left side bar and I moved the Elegance of Fashion linking button to the right side bar.

And lastly, I finally noticed that I could enable commenting on my blog pages. So the Banners page, the Extras page, the Icons page, and the Tournaments page, you can leave a comment. You can comment on those pages as you could on a regular post, so if you have an idea for a banner, extra, icon, or tournament, you can leave a comment there.

Nothing too terrible, I hope. Hopefully these changes will make Elegance of Fashion more enjoyable to you!


 God Bless,
 

More Artwork for Northanger Abbey the Comic

Remember how at the beginning of the month, I mentioned how they've started to make Northanger Abbey the comic book? Well, I happened to look it up and there are some more cover art pictures.

Part 2 Cover

Part 3 Cover

The artwork looks promising (the artwork for the Sense and Sensibility comic could have been improved, and the artwork for the Emma comic wasn't what it could have been), but I'm still a little concerned that it'll be too dark for the tone of the story. I guess I'll find out when they preview a page or two from the comic. The first comic will come out on November 9th. I have a feeling it will be in four parts (but it's just a feeling going off reading the synopsis for the parts), and each part looks like it is released once a month. It may take a while before it comes in a hardcover book, but still I'm looking forward to it.

 God Bless,