Sunday, September 1, 2019

Modish Matrons #39: We Run Away with the Circus!


Welcome to THE CIRCUS!
I bet you didn't expected Modish Matrons would go so far as to run away with the circus, but thanks to Beate, we did! I bet that it would make most of you scratch your head if you were faced with a style challenge like this, and I admit, I did scratch my head. But then I thought, I've done outfits which would fit this theme nicely before (most recently in APRIL 2019, and earlier in SEPTEMBER 2018, JUNE 2017 and MARCH 2017 to name a few), and then an idea came to me... 


Visit my darling and daring friends BEATE und TINA!


My idea took me back to April when Justin and I shot this colorful outfit which I wore that day just because I felt it. You have seen most of these items before: my matching pants and top suit a-la Issey Miyake (only much cheaper) which I wore in APRIL 2018 and APRIL 2017 (it's always a puzzle to me how I manage to pick the same or similar outfits year after year, exactly or almost exactly on the same date ... this year, I wore this suit on April 25!). The silk scarf is thrifted, the jewelry is old, gifted or bought on sale, and the only new item was this black and white cardigan which made me fall in love with its pattern. 




And just on time for our September MM theme, I decided to play with the pleated suit because I've realized that I haven't really shown to you what it's capable of! Circus drum roll... 

Photo credit - Tina's Pink Friday



TA-DAAA!!!  This pleated suit is capable of some crazy things! It's a transformer suit - it can totally transform its shape and the perception of proportions...which is precisely what clowns do for a comic effect. My favorite part of the circus has always been clowns, and they don't have to wear funny colorful hats and clothes, or have an obvious make-up and red nose! I'm not sure who was the first funny person who started this trend, but clowns can be even funnier when they appear as "normal" everyday people in "normal" everyday clothes, with subtle make-up, wearing slightly out-of-the-ordinary proportioned suits - of course, Charlie Chaplin and The Tramp, his most lovable character, immediately come to mind!


Inspired by Chaplin, a Russian comedian Mikhail Rumyantsev, who later became famous under his stage name Karandash (1901-1983), created his own character, an everyday person with a little Scottish Terrier. His character was beloved in the USSR, and he is considered a teacher of other world famous Russian clowns, such as Oleg Popov (1930-2016) who needs no introduction (I wrote a little bit about him in JULY 2017) and Yuri Nikulin (1921-1997) who was not only a genius clown, but is also one of the most beloved Russian comic and dramatic actors and director of the Moscow Circus from 1984 till his death in 1997.

Vintage Soviet poster of Karandash, the beloved Russian clown and his Scottie


Karandash (the left photo) and his students, Mikhail Shuydin (1922-1983) 
and Yuri Nikulin (the right photo) who often worked as partners


Little Horses, a famous act by Mikhail Shuydin and Yuri Nikulin:




That's all for now, sweet friends.
See you at the comment section, and of course at TINA'S and BEATE'S for their unique takes on this unique theme!

Join us if YOU dare to run away with the circus!

And also, please visit my new MODISH MATRONS page where I gathered all the themes and collages I've been creating since July 2016. Enjoy! Become friends with us on Facebook as well!

Photos by Justin

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9 comments:

  1. wonderful! your post, this romantic boho look and the magic suit!!
    russian circus and the clowns are legends in my book. i knew you would come up with a fabulous posting for my crazy theme :-D
    whats about going on the road as a storyteller & writer in such a cute wagon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byYtC5G4hDM ???? ;-DDDD
    much love, my dear friend! xxxxx

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  2. A great an humorous post! I love it and your look too.
    Best regards
    Sieglinde

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  3. What a magical post, Natalia. And not only because of the magical, special powers, suit ;-) I would have been stumped what to do with this theme, but you really came up trumps, with your colourful, mix 'n match outfit and your reference to Russian circus and its famous clowns. Oleg Popov, of course, is legendary. Hugest of hugs xxx

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  4. Oh Natalia you look great and I was immediately remindet of Issy Miyake and then circus and clowns :) Love you in this outfit. In your post we can see how old the circus traditon is.
    Thank you very much :)
    A huge hug and much love Tina

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  5. Hihi, dearest Natalia,
    I definitely would scratch my head! :-))) But you dit a really great job - your convertible suit may not look like a clowns costume, but it does remind of great comedians. And on the one hand, the jacket has beautiful ornaments reminiscent of imaginative artist costumes, on the other hand, thanks to the black and white look, I also have to think of zebras performing their tricks in the arena.
    Hugs my dear and Happy September!
    Traude

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  6. I love the proportions of that suit, it's so cool and the colour is perfectly you. I'm the same, I'll often wear an outfit and realise it's been a year to the day since I last wore it.
    That Russian circus poster is so lovely, I'm not a fan of clowns but I'd happily make an exception for that! x

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  7. Before we start talking about language and culture, I have to tell you that you look so happy and confident in these photographs, I'm getting such good vibes from these shots and I'm happy to see you happy:). This was shot around my birthday (I'm an April baby) and my favourite month in the year and it is such a lovely styling. This set looks gorgeous on you and I love your colourful details and accessories, I feel like they all have a story to tell. The beautiful colourful scarf, the ring, the shoes with the floral embroidery (that make me think of European folklore), the printed cardi. Everything speaks to me about the joy of life and reminds me why I love to have fun with clothes. It is a great way to express our creativity, wearing the clothes that are meaningful to us. I know you understand what I'm trying to say! Moreover, I greatly enjoy your cultural overview of the clown phenomena. I always learn something new on your blog. I agree with what you said about clowns, it's an art really. You're truly a natural teacher and a storyteller Natalia!

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  8. love your colorful outfit and the versatile shape of this suit, which is amazing!. Love your accessorizing and those cute shades!.
    And I've enjoyed particularly to read about those famous clowns and how fabulous they were, I think this is Art! they were so expressive!
    besos

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