Alice Roosevelt - 1902
Theodore Roosevelt’s beautiful eldest daughter, who not only cut her wedding cake with a sword, defied all the conventions of her day regarding women and carried a dagger in her pocketbook, but who also had a pillow embroidered with her most famous quote on her couch; “If you haven’t got anything good to say about anybody, come sit next to me.”
Alice Roosevelt with her dog Leo - 1902
She smoked cigarettes in public, chewed gum, placed bets with bookies, rode in cars with men, stayed out late partying, and kept a pet snake named Emily Spinach, which she often wore wrapped around one arm and took to parties. Her father President Theodore Roosevelt once said of her “I can either run the country or I can attend to Alice, but I cannot possibly do both.”
Ballet Costume
Léon Bakst. 1900’s. Sequins, goose feathers & white net.Anna Pavlova’s Swan Lake ballet dress. This white net tutu sewn with sequins and trimmed with goose feathers was worn by Pavlova in her most famous role. First performed in 1907 The Swan was ‘a landmark in ballet history’. Its innovation lay in the way Pavlova and her choreographer, Michel Fokine, created a mood of deep emotion. The intensity of The Swan, also known as The Dying Swan, made it a great favourite with audiences. Pavlova danced it many times in London during the 1920s. [sources: here & here]
More pictures of Anna in her swan lake costume here
