Who said Marquises only belonged to the 18th century ? I recently encountered one strolling in the streets of San Francisco… It is said she fell in love with its colorful murals. Wanna meet her ?
Non cheesy costume photos
We tried to imagine what a person of that time would have thought of San Francisco if she visited it. Of course this is satirical. I do like to look at reenactors far closer to historical accuracy that my photoshoot setting (obviously!) or my dress. In one of the next post I will point out what is and is not accurate and why. But we thought it funny to show you a different side of costuming ;-).
We could have found closer photoset but those colorful murals were so very tempting… and a good way to show contrast.
What to expect when walking around in a costume ?
Reaction are always unexpected. I was called Marie Antoinette, Cersei (?) and Saint Patrick. No I am kidding for the last one. I can only clap at the courtoisie of San Franciscans. Either they discreetly eye from the corner of their eye or they compliment your attire in a very nice way. Yes, even in Tenderloin, the somewhat bad neighbourhood. A few St Patrick pub crawlers on Polk Street asked us what it was about. Ok they were certainly drunk but still, very gentle approach. As an ex-parisian I am not yet used to this. And making people smile is an incredible feeling.
One beautiful mural after the other
I knew about the street art in San Francisco and had spotted a few murals in Mission. But I was far from covering the extend of the thing. As soon as you look for them, they are in every hidden corners and back alleys. We did not even reached Mission since we found all we needed around Polk and Post Street. They are constantly evolving, tags being added forcing to renew them.
I could tell you exactly where all those walls are but really that would spoil the surprise. Aim for one and keep your eyes open along the way as we did, you will treasures ! I can only encourage any visitors to go hunt for them…
And if you really want a map, you will find one here from the excellent blog Studio DIY
Practical stuff :
Here are the restaurants and boutiques we showed you :
- An american style restaurant : Toast
- A trendy clothes shop : Hero Shop
- A “find anything” hardware store : Brownies hardware
- Ze best donut of your life : Bob’s donut
- A parc with a view : Lafayette Parc
What about you, wanna become a Marquise in your own town ?
Next time I will tell you how I recreated the look : underwear, dress, hairstyle, makeup…
Subscribe to see more ! Share as you like !
La bise
Alicia
Note : all the pictures of this website are copyrighted (c) Marquise Electrique and should not be reused for commercial purpose without my explicit permission, thank you
Superbes photos, on retournerait bien à l’époque de Marie-Antoinette !
ah ah merci 😉 Enfin j’avoue que déjà avec une machine à coudre, c’était long alors la même chose tout à la main… La modernité a du bon aussi !
Magnificent !
Cela donne envie de revenir au temps de Marie-Antoinette, mais pas à celui de la Terreur …
Thank you ! Yes this is pretty much what a “bourgeoise” would have worn in the decade before or during the French Revolution. I will tell more in my next post explaining the construction of the dress 😉
Looks like you had a lot of fun – and you look awesome! If you ever need any period appropriate jewelry – let me know! http://www.kwaltersatthesignofthegrayhorse.com. 🙂
Thx ! Yes it was a looot of fun doing it. The hardest part was keeping the pose without giggling every time ;-). Nice jewelry by the way !
I love the fantastic murals and shots of interesting architecture. It looks like the marquise had quite a day in San Francisco!
yup fun times in SF, as always in this crazyyy city 🙂
this cracked me up! So funny! And being called Cersei from GOT is a compliment 😉
Ah ah ah Yes I took it that way too (who doesn’t love a mean, machiavelous lady ?)