More thoughts on the royal wedding
Clothing is a powerful symbol. Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s modern, romantic wedding dress by Givenchy was a nod to the goddesses he dressed – Princess Grace of Monaco, Audrey Hepburn and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, among them – as well as to the woman who now heads the house, Clare Waight Keller, its first female artistic director. The columnar effect of that simply elegant dress …
In the end – after all the melodrama about in-laws and outlaws, race and clashing cultures – it was both a deeply personal moment and a global event brimming with cultural meaning.
A justifiably proud, almost wistful mother seeing her daughter off into a new life; a father-in-law stepping in to escort a bride who might’ve represented the daughter he never had; a self-possessed scion supporting his adored, rougher-around-the-edges kid brother on his big day; and oh, that kid brother – like a hero out of Jane Austen – waiting, craning his neck, hoping almost against hope, as it were, for “her” to appear. Then, finally, yes, it was she, of course, poised at the entrance of the church, but then, who else would it, could it, be? Looking like a goddess …
Read MoreThe Bookends column of The New York Times Book Review – which each week poses a provocative question that two writers then answer in essay form, often offering diametrically opposed viewpoints – had a goodie for Thanksgiving weekend: “Are domestic responsibilities at odds with becoming a great artist?”
It’s a question I’ve wrestled with periodically but particularly at holiday time when gathering with married family members makes me acutely aware of my singleton status. I often suspect that the invitations are accompanied by a tacit, “Poor thing, what else would she do, where else would she go?” as much as by a genuine desire to see me. And, indeed, if this were the 19th-century such a woman would be an object of pity, Jane Austen notwithstanding. ...
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At a time when the news – foreign and domestic – seems so terrible, here’s something to gladden the heart of many a lady (and more than a few gentleman):
Mr. Darcy’s shirt is coming to America.
Yes, the shirt that is for women what the wet T-shirt contest is for men will be part of “Will & Jane: Shakespeare, Austen, and the Cult of Celebrity,” an exhibit opening in August at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. (And, I need not add, we are so there.) The show will feature the shirt – one of several used, given the need for a fresh one for each take – that Colin Firth wore as Mr. Darcy in a key scene in the 1995 smash BBC miniseries of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” ...
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I remember the moment I became enamored of Maureen Dowd. For along time I resisted the pull of this Iris, goddess of discord, always willing to toss in the apple of discontent and see what happened. I can still remember her portrayal of the “Titanic” era Leonardo DiCaprio as a featherweight. Ouch.
I know men who prefer Gail Collins,The New York Times’ other prominent female columnist. The difference between Gail and Maureen is like the difference between Jay Leno and David Letterman. Like Jay, Gail seems nicer. But nicer can be more devastating. (Right, Mitt Romney?)
And then it happened. Maureen wrote about a guy coming up to her in a bar and saying, “You’re just an embittered spinster.” And I knew. Just as Jackie was said to have made the world safe again for brunettes, Maureen has made the world safe for embittered spinsters. Like me. Read more…
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