The Day When Bugsie Killed the Comments

Ladies and gentlemen, we need your help and patience. Since the comments in Blogger were getting hard to follow, with the lack of a threaded comments option and all, we have switched to Disqus. However, this means that all the old comments have temporarily disappeared. They are being imported into Disqus as we speak and it might take a while for them to be back (the worst case scenario: a couple of days).

In the meantime, please try the new commenting system and tell us what you think.

• Are the comments easier to follow this way? 
• Are you okay with the new login options (i.e. email required)?
• Have you encountered any problems trying to comment (page loading slowly/not responding etc)?

We can switch back to the old system anytime if people are not okay with Disqus/if the old comments never do show up *knock on wood*, so this is your chance to let us know what you think. 

Sunday Reading: Scarlett & Jo. Two Civil War Novels Compared

So, in case you didn't already guess it from the title, the article below is one comparing and contrasting Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind with Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, with a focus on their respective heroines Scarlett O'Hara and Jo March.  Enjoy! (And since I suppose at least some of you must be fans of Little Women, please feel free to tell us what you thought of this parallel.)

http://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2009/07/scarlett-jo/20557/

Rue de la Paix

Weekends were made for lounging. And so we offer you a collage of Scarlett kicking back in splendid style. Enjoy your own lazy weekend! 

Scarlett's Boudoir by carol@themovies featuring a corset blouse

Doppelganger Dresses, Part 4: Belle Watling's Orange Dress

Until now, our Doppelganger Dresses feature has focused exclusively on one Miss Scarlett O'Hara but as compelling as our green-eyed heroine is, she isn't the only character Walter Plunkett designed costumes for in GWTW. So today we are changing gears and showcasing a dress worn by Belle Watling. The dress in question is actually my favorite costume of Belle's in the movie: the orange dress, trimmed with red flowers and black lace,  that she wears when she advises a furious Rhett that it's best not to throw the baby out with the bathwater to return home and focus on Bonnie.

So which period fashion plates that have the unique distinction of resembling a dress worn by Atlanta's most notorious madam? You'll find them after the jump, along with some images of Miss Watling in her finery for comparison. As always, let us know what you think of the styles in the comments!

Poster of the Week

Rhett's departing kiss to Scarlett at Rough and Ready is a popular motif in GWTW poster art no matter which country you visit--and that includes this week's selection from South Korea (date unknown). Enjoy! 

Image from movieposterdb.com

Just a Light Lunch, Charleston Style

When I think of eating a light lunch, to me that means something like half of a turkey sandwich and an apple. Not surprisingly, our friends the Old Charlestonians had rather different notions about what constituted a light mid-day meal. After the jump, we've prepared another edition of Southern Cookin' for you. This time it's just a very delicate, sparse four course meal, with recipes taken from the invaluable Charleston Recollections and Receipts: Rose P. Ravenel's Cookbook.  (More info on the cookbook can be found in post one here.)

So if you're feeling just a teeny bit hungry around lunchtime, do be sure to check out the  following recipes. They are absolutely perfect for a small snack! 

Doppelganger Dresses, Part 3: Scarlett's Surprise Party Dress (Book Version)

"He was in her closet, going through her dresses swiftly.  He fumbled and drew out her new jade-green watered-silk dress.  It was cut low over the bosom and the skirt was draped back over an enormous bustle and on the bustle was a huge bunch of pink velvet roses."

--Gone with the Wind, Chapter LIII

Our Doppelganger Dresses selection for this week is a change of pace from what will typically be the main focus of the series: Walter Plunkett's costumes for the movie version of Gone with the Wind. But Plunkett isn't the only person in the GWTW world known for scrupulous attention to detail and historical accuracy--there's also Margaret Mitchell to contend with, of course. So this time, we have three fashion plates for you based on MM's description of the notorious dress Scarlett wore to Ashley’s birthday party. 

I admit I have always had a hard time picturing what this dress looked like in my mind ("an enormous bustle with pink velvet roses - huh?!").  So if this dress leaves you sartorially stumped like me, I hope these images help bring it into greater focus.

Check them out after the jump. Which one can you most imagine Scarlett wearing to Ashley's surprise party?