Starring Sarah Bernhardt As Herself

I've always loved Art Nouveau. It's just such a gorgeous style, all delicate and graceful lines, filigrees and the flourishes. I don't think there are many people who can look at something like a Mucha painting and not be struck by the beauty of his work.

For a while now I've been wanting to get up early one morning, ride out by the lake, and do a sunrise photo shoot. I had a particular image in mind - the sky all in delicate shades of pink and blue, the water rippling, striking dramatic and graceful poses as the sun rose. And then I actually tried it, and everything went wrong.

I got up well before the sun did, but it look me a little longer than I intended to get my hair and makeup done. When I finally left the house I was in a bit of a rush to get down to the lakefront, and I was most of the way there when I realized that I'd left my tripod at home. By the time I actually got where I was going, the sun was well up, and I was a sweaty, frustrated mess.

I won't lie, I was tempted for a moment to go home and go back to bed, but I was already up, out, and slathered in war paint, and I wasn't going to let the effort go to waste.

I ended up spending a few hours walking around the Museum Campus, trying out different spots to see what would work. There were a lot of misses, but quite a lot of hits as well. Given how well the white marble and classical architecture work here, I'm certainly not disappointed with the final result!

The dress is vintage - Gunne Sax, from the 70s - and the floral headpiece is actually me-made. Well, technically it's more "me enhanced," but given how utterly basic it was when I started I'm going to take the lion's share of the credit.

I'm not particularly handy with DIYs, but this one turned out rather well. Starting with a simple flower crown on a stretchy band, I stitched on sprigs from fake flowers that I had lying around, as well as a pearl (faux, I think) necklace that I don't think I've ever worn. A giant pink bloom finished everything off, and my flower crown went tacky festival wear to something that I think is a little more worthy of Alphonse Mucha.

I wouldn't normally have this many photos in a post, but I really love how these ones turned out - this is my favorite set that I've done in a long time! 

Dress: Cut x Paste via Etsy
Flower Crown: forever21 (technically)
Shoes: Modcloth