Like Butter, Cream and Cotton

Oh Lord! I have been doing more in depth research about 1780's female french fashion. I can't wait to start putting this stuff in the comics. One of the best things I learned was that wigs, while still extravagant seem to have started chillaxing a bit. The height of the hair was no longer stupidly absurd (and I mean that in the 'dip your head ma'am, were entering a room sense). They seem to have become much softer.

I can already feel the soft, curving, lush lines resting inside my hand, waiting to be born through my pen unto the paper. Delicious.

See, here are a few examples.

Here is "The Ladies Waldegrave" by Sir Joshua Reynolds, from 1780-81.

For those of you who have read the first chapter of the text version I have posted on my deviantart account, this painting reminded me almost to a T of the scene in which the heroine is gossiping with her Versailles gal pals and then is interrupted by Marie Antoinette. Look how buttery that painting is. (And if you've ever seen any Rococco artwork in real life, it's just as sugary and milk-fat as it looks in pictures. At least to my mind.)

"Self Portrait in a Straw Hat", Élisabeth-Louise Vigée-Le Brun, 1782

So, in the as of yet unposted (and not likely to be posted anytime soon to avoid spoilers) fifth text chapter of the tale, this woman was meant to make an appearance. She still will be showing up in the comic, in roughly the same role she had in the chapter she was going to show up in. She basically makes a one spot cameo (a lot like the infamous queen who will not be showing up again after the first chapter.) She tells the groom character something that he gets to question later on.

As far as I am aware, she and Marie Antoinette are going to be the only two real world personalities who will show up in this tale. I had considered putting Robespierre in there at the end and at first that idea was really fun to play with. I mean, from what I know of him as a historic figure, he had such impossibly high morals at first and then ended up becoming so corrupted and dickish, yet still believing that he was doing the best. It was kind of a fun way to work with history...but you know really, that didn't work...it needed to be cut because it wasn't what the story was about. As far as the overall structure went it brought you back to a weird place. As things go on I want you to feel more and more detached from history, it's meant to start to feel as though you're slipping into dreams, nightmares and otherworlds. When you do wake from this illusion, it's meant to be a new world, but having Robespierre at the end just takes you back almost to the place it began. Even if you weren't going to be encountering him in a real world setting.

Oh, and for all those of you who don't know who Ms. LeBrun was, go check her out. She painted most of the famous court paintings of Marie Antoinette, the most well known anyway, and she was the official court painter during her reign. She escaped from the French Revolution with nothing, she had no other choice but to leave her entire life behind her. She worked in Rome, Austria and Russia for a time, but ultimately settled in England and she was one of the few women (very, very, freaking few) in her time who was admitted to any of the art academies in Europe. Definitely a nifty lady type!