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Welcome to the world of Tiger Swallow Tales, where everything is hand-made with special care and attention for special occasions, outings, and play. Please visit my Etsy shop to place a custom order or browse through the specific links to view projects already completed. Thank you for celebrating your special occasions with TST.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

INSPIRED BY DOWNTON ABBEY -- ART IMITATING LIFE OR IS LIFE IMITATING ART?

Quite often, I feel truly blessed to be a visual person.  No matter how much I read and how many times I read the same thing over, words and letters never resound in my memory as crisply and vividly as do images, colors, and sound.  I have always been able to remember time periods and places with color codes etched in my mind and I always seem to find things in the biggest piles of mess, as long as I know what color I'm looking for.  I LOVE colors and how well they pair up with each other ... or not, and I simply can't imagine life without color, especially during times of renewal and the coming of Spring seasons!  This is one of the main reasons I await, with great anticipation, each new episode of Downton Abbey!  Not only are the characters and story lines riveting, but what a feast for sore eyes when one sees the details in costumes, home decor, and the impeccable taste embedded in every pixel on the screen!  

Of particular note to me, in the most recent episode, was the beautiful Lavender or Antique Violet dresses the ladies wore at baby Sybil's Christening.  Quite coincidentally, while I was watching the show, I was also custom-smocking this little dress, in the exact same color combination, for a little girl's upcoming dedication. I love working on custom orders where customer's choose color and offer their own ideas in the creation process and I was particularly excited to work on this one.






As in everything Downton Abbey, there is so much to learn from the history behind every scene and I was very curious why the Dowager was still wearing black during a period of mourning, while the other ladies wore Lavender for "light mourning" and still, Lady Crawley, was wearing a deep blue.  You can read all about it and enjoy the great details here:   The Culture Concept Circle