Too cute not to share!
For their Spring 2010 collection Hermés Paris have chosen a fairy tale theme. 
Photographer Paolo Roversi shot the currently 'hot' model, Karlie Kloss, in what appears to be Greece (or the Greek Islands) with quite a fresh approach to the theme. The men's campaign also draws on fairy tales (a couple of pics of which you can see HERE if you scroll down the page).
Karlie is dressed as Cinderella, Alice (having tea), the Genie of the lamp, the Little Mermaid and the Princess (who managed to sleep despite the pea!). I'm not sure about the headshot with the flowers but it puts me in mind of Tinkerbell.
What a lovely campaign.
Inspired by the collection of Susan Hancock, this exhibition reflects the interests of an international group of artists over the past ten years, taking as its theme, fairy tales, and it's contemporary expression, fantasy.
The Never Ending Story: Fairytale, Fantasy, Obsession focuses on the singular trait that can be identified in a vast majority of contemporary art produced in the U.S., Europe, and Asia over the past decade, which is a renewed interest in narrative and the depiction of recognizable objects to tell a story. The exhibit draws on the Surrealist tradition, but also equally important, on popular cultural traditions, including book illustrations and comics, showcasing contemporary artists who create works that are accessible and familiar, yet at the same time, gothic and out-of-the-ordinary.
The Never Ending Story's curator, Laura Hoptman, is Senior Curator of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, NY.
YOU'RE INVITED!
The Never Ending Story: Fairytale, Fantasy, Obsession
Opening Reception at Royal/T
8910 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA, 90232
Thursday, February 4th, 6-11 pm
"Fall down the rabbit hole" and emerge in an Alice in Wonderland-themed opening event!
**Complimentary Absinthe cocktail!**Alice and Rabbit characters, oh my!**Full cash bar**Themed tray-passed hors d'oeuvres**Renowned Artist and DJ Dave Mueller!**The exhibition continues till August 4th 2010, so there's a little time to plan a visit if you can't get to the fairy tale themed opening. I'll be keeping an eye out for reviews (and please feel free to link me to any if you see them).
Royal/T is a playful blending of café, concept shop and art exhibition space. The space reflects the interior realm of fantasy that strongly influences the artists included in owner Susan Hancock's collection. Royal/T Cafe is inspired by the meido kissa (maid café) phenomena of Akihabara--Tokyo's electronic district. Recontextualizing the underground culture of Japan that celebrates cosplay (costume play) waitresses dress in maid uniforms, with a Lolita-esque touch and the café serves a fusion of French and Japanese cuisine with local and organic California style.You can find more information and learn more about the fairy tale extras in the Alice-themed opening HERE.
This article came to my attention a few weeks ago and the subject is very different from the usual sort of fairy tale content so rather than try to summarize I'll just give you the idea and point you to the URL in case it interests you.
What would Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland be without the Cheshire Cat, the trial, the Duchess's baby or the Mad Hatter's tea party? Look at the original story that the author told Alice Liddell and her two sisters one day during a boat trip near Oxford, though, and you'll find that these famous characters and scenes are missing from the text.
As I embarked on my DPhil investigating Victorian literature, I wanted to know what inspired these later additions. The critical literature focused mainly on Freudian interpretations of the book as a wild descent into the dark world of the subconscious. There was no detailed analysis of the added scenes, but from the mass of literary papers, one stood out: in 1984 Helena Pycior of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee had linked the trial of the Knave of Hearts with a Victorian book on algebra. Given the author's day job, it was somewhat surprising to find few other reviews of his work from a mathematical perspective. Carroll was a pseudonym: his real name was Charles Dodgson, and he was a mathematician at Christ Church College, Oxford.
You may have guessed by now, this article isn't for the faints-at-the-sight-of-maths person but if you're an Alice fan and can peruse even some of it, it may give you a whole different way to appreciate Carroll's work.
You can read the whole article HERE.
And if that whet your appetite for more there's another article HERE and discussion of a book that concentrates on the mathematical side of Carroll/Dodgson.
Just a little note to say I'm running behind - way behind! - in answering email.
The Hot Topic website seems to be struggling under the workload of lots of traffic but this may one of the reasons why: they have nice stuff. And that includes for people who love fairy tales.
I love the whole disappearing cat thing. Very clever. Plus it looks awesome.
These are completely adorable, perfect for a Mad Hatter's tea party... and there's no way I could ever eat them.
I love the presentation with the Mad Hatter's Hat too - gorgeous.
Natalie Bode a.k.a. Obliviousfire on Flickr is the 'cupcake artist' has a lot of cupcakes on their Flickr photostream, including these lovely Christmas ones below. The Alice and the Christmas ones are her most recent cupcake themes and were posted this week, but she has many more - all beautifully made.
You can see many more lovely cupcakes, including more close-ups of the Alice ones, HERE.
I found this really great set of photos on deviantArt by a Cosplay group who really thought about what they were doing with the costumes, the props (yes, they made them too), the concepts and the photography. This was an entry for AFA 2009 (Anime Festival Asia) at the end of November.The Beginning of a beginning
"Off with her head!", the heartless Queen commanded.
And heartless was right - for to rule with fist and scepter, to command both fear and respect, the Queen had her own heart locked up in a secret dungeon somewhere beneath her castle's winding shadowy halls.
But all secrets find their way out.
With the help of a whispered clue from a mischevious Cheshire Cat, a defiant Alice freed herself from the grasp of the royal guards, dove into the darkness of the castle dungeons and stole the Queen's heart.
The furious Queen and her soldiers chased after her. And Alice, desperate to escape, leapt into the Rabbit's time portal and found herself in a world and time completely different from hers - one where clockwork constructs roamed the streets and steam powered engines reigned supreme.These guys did a really great job of their own retelling of the Alice in Wonderland story. It's nice to see such a professional approach.
They even made a little film:
Here are s0me different and lovely 'skins' for your various electronic items. From iPods to laptops, Anne-Julie Aubrey, who creates fairy tale themed paintings under the banner "Nebulous Kingdom", has made a few of her designs available as 'skins' to put on your portable electronics. 
You can find the pieces and see a preview of them on various items HERE. (Amounts are in Euros but you can also pay through PayPal.)
There's also an Etsy shop with a large and lovely range of fairy tale-type prints (I've included just a few in this post), cards, notebooks and more HERE.
Just a note: Ms. Aubrey is closing the shop for a vacation from December 17th through to the first week of January, so if you're ordering for Christmas be sure to do it soon.
NOTE: As usual, please note I am not affiliated with any of these stores or products. I do not receive any commission from any visit to the site or any purchase. These are just items I thought may interest people as fairy tale themed gifts for the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Yuletide/Holiday Season. :)
