The Young Victoria

I'm going to keep my second review (already?!) short and snappy this time. "The Young Victoria" is my Costume Drama of the Month (January 2013) so it makes sense to review it for the Period Drama Challenge at some point this month.
For anyone who hasn't seen 'The Young Victoria", it isn't difficult to know what it's about: Queen Victoria when she was a young woman. Emily Blunt gives a lovely portrayal of Victoria, and Rupert Friend is a wonderful Prince Albert (may I be a fangirl here and say I think he makes Prince Albert adorable? And I'm not even a Rupert Friend fan at all). The music used matches very well. I don't know much about this time period or history involving Queen Victoria, but I have read that there are some historical inaccuracies, although a lot of people are quite pleased with the film.
In terms of costuming it isn't a time period I'm particularly familiar with however they looked beautiful. I have read that the clothes Victoria wears before she is queen make her look more childlike and when she becomes queen they look more sophisticated, as matches part of the storyline of the film - being told what to do like a child, then being able to do things herself as queen. The costumes for this film were designed by Sandy Powell.
Overall I enjoyed this film very much, and would recommend it to most people as it has something for everybody: a sweet romance, politics, history, and overall a wonderful film. On IMDb it is rated as PG "for some mild sensuality, a scene of violence, and brief incidental language and smoking".

Other Reviews: Les Misérables (2012); The Phantom of the Opera (2004); Marie Antoinette (2006)

As Promised...

...here's the interesting present and the item I bought whilst in Shropshire!

 My cousin gave me a framed newspaper sheet from 1889. The side seen is above, which displays sketches of the costumes worn by women to a 'Fancy Ball... On behalf of the Chelsea Hospital for Women'. The back of the sheet has the article about the clothes worn to the ball lists what each costume was of. Although I don't like Victorian clothing nearly as much as earlier fashion - Rococo up to Romantic are my favourites - it's still a wonderful source and an amazing Christmas present!




On the day after Boxing Day, we ventured into the nearest town, Ludlow. One visit to Ludlow is always necessary when we visit this set of relatives, often to look at Ludlow Castle and to have tea in DeGrey's. We also have a look-around at all the shops and they're mostly always the same. However, this time round we went to a part of Ludlow that we don't normally go to (I guess because we never have time). There we found a shop full of vintage and antique clothes and items (I saw a Regency watercolour painting that I thought about getting but decided against as our walls are already full of paintings and photos in this house). My mother found a late Victorian blouse so I bought it! As I said above I'm not that much of a fan of Victorian clothing but I really liked this. The woman who was working in the shop then talked to us (my mother mentioned I'm into historical fashion and costuming), and she also told us that the blouse was probably made near the end of the 19th century, but changed around the beginning of the 20th to match the Edwardian fashions.

Sorry for the photo quality - I only have a compact camera. I had to toggle the settings on it every now and then to get the best photo quality but avoid using flash.

I hope you enjoyed looking at these things and if you have any questions, I'll try to answer them! I didn't want to make the post too full of text (also known as me being a bit lazy) but I'll add anything people think I should add.

On another note I hope everyone had a good new year's eve and day and that 2013 is working out well for you already.