Last night was Twelfth Night, or the twelfth day of Christmas, or Epiphany, or Three Kings Day.
Twelfth Night is also a play by William Shakespeare, with a screwball comedy plot.
Judi Dench and Gordon Reid in a 1969 production of Twelfth Night
Here in New Orleans Twelfth Night is celebrated as the official start of Carnival season leading to Mardi Gras. A Krewe named The Phunny Phorty Phellows ride the St. Charles Avenue Streetcar, and heralds the start of the season. Starting today houses are decorated, costumes pulled together, king cake appears in the super market, and the big countdown filled with parties, balls, and parades commences.
Merriment and madcap antics take over the entire population including a tango dancing couple you all know.
Can you guess who this tango dancing couple is behind the masks?
Recently Courtney of Style Court did a nice little piece about Twelfth Night HERE
Though this croquembouche is grand, for us in New Orleans there is nothing that says Carnival like King Cake. King Cake dates back to 17th century France and Spain. It's basically a coffee cake, that gets a purple, green, and "gold" sugared coating. A tiny baby is hidden inside the cake, that is meant to symbolize the baby Jesus. Getting the baby in your piece of cake has meant different things at different times. Once it was the way to choose a Carnival king and queen. In fact The Phunny 40 still use this method to choose their queen. But for most of us, getting that baby means you're expected to provide the next King Cake at the next party.
from a very cute blog: Granny Smith Green
Some of you may have figured out that I am no longer a dead beat tango bum ha ha. I've started working for Julie Neill as the Director of Marketing. I get to do alot of interesting stuff, including styling and taking photos in her store to use for various PR and marketing things.
So I wanted to do a Twelfth Night shoot as a way to kick off Carnival season for me and Julie, and to share some very beautiful things with you from her store.
The store has so many perfect things to represent Carnival. Lots of crowns!
Julie's logo is the crown, and I asked her how this came to be. She told me that she thinks it's a rather mundane story, but I disagree. When her daughter was younger, she made all kinds of crowns for her because she was her little princess. She collected crown images, and they were just a part of their everyday life. She also says that everyone in New Orleans, whether you're a man or a woman, adult or child, thinks they're royalty, thinks (and acts like) they're a queen.
With all the faux Carnival royalty and rituals here in New Orleans, I quite agree. Plus Julie is very much influenced by French style, where crowns are always used decoratively.
A beautiful "sister" store up the block, Leontine Linens, provided all the exquisite linen pieces and pillows you see. They are famous for their monograms, and the large runner has a seeded applique integrated into the fabulous monogram.
I chose shades of purple, gold, and green. These are the traditional colors of Mardi Gras: Purple (symbolic of justice), green (symbolic of faith) and gold (symbolic of power). The accepted story behind the original selection of these colors originates from 1872 when the Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff of Russia visited New Orleans. It is said that the Grand Duke came to the city in pursuit of an actress named Lydia Thompson. During his stay, he was given the honor of selecting the official Mardi Gras colors by the Krewe of Rex...thus, did these colors also become the colors of the House of Romanoff. The 1892 Rex Parade theme ("Symbolism of Colors") first gave meaning to the representation of the official Mardi Gras colors.
I used little crowns as napkin rings, and the napkins are luscious tea towels from Leontine Linens. The bejewelled initial is the place card and Carnival favor.
The white pottery is Italian, done by a company called Abigails, and it has a raised Fleur de Lis on the edge of it.
Don't you love this pale pink chandelier? It looks like a crown, so I placed it in this fabulous urn to create a centerpiece. The star and flower metal crown hanging on the wall (and also used on the table) is Carnival perfection!
The Angelena Sconce (made by Julie Neill) in the back is the JN version of the King Cake baby. I love the drapes in the store. They're heavy ballgown silk. I like the way they're hung in this small window. I know many homes have small windows cut into the wall up high, and I think this is a good solution to dealing with window treatments for them.
The tall candelabra on the table is a Julie Neill piece.
Julie Neill is happy to ship anything in her shop. Just contact Director of Sales Julie Ponze at juliewebmail@gmail.com
All Julie Neill images were styled and photographed by Valorie Hart.
Wish List!
Star and flower crown -$108.
Small crown used as napkin ring - $20.
Jeweled initial - $13.50
Pink tear drop chandelier - $90.
French dining chair - $600.
Antique gold chair - $500.
Julie Neill tall Candelabra - $1000.
Julie Neill Angelena Sconce - $1000.
Abigails Italian pottery $20. - $70.
Faux stone urn - $108.
Vintage silver plate flatware (all 6 pieces) $87.
