Poster of the Week

What can we say? Between Rhett going shirtless, Scarlett ditching her custom red wrapper for a green one (Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!) and the useful circle in the right corner informing us that this is not suitable viewing material for children, this Australian poster,  date unknown, kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it? And if ever the adult industry decides to attach itself to Gone with the Wind, they don't need to look far for a poster either...

Image from moviegoods.com.

More Glister than Gold? Exploring Scarlett O'Hara's Engagement Ring

"The ring Rhett brought back from England was large indeed, so large it embarrassed Scarlett to wear it.  She loved gaudy and expensive jewelry but she had an uneasy feeling that everyone was saying, with perfect truth, that this ring was vulgar.  The central stone was a four-carat diamond and, surrounding it, were a number of emeralds.  It reached to the knuckle of her finger and gave her hand the appearance of being weighted down.  Scarlett had a suspicion that Rhett had gone to great pains to have the ring made up and, for pure meanness, had ordered it made as ostentatious as possible."

--Gone with the Wind, Chapter XLVII

Did you ever wonder about the infamous engagement ring Rhett bought for his beloved? Being sure as we are that this topic did keep you up at night, we thought we'd round up a few period rings that could fit the description and let you be the judges. With a few exceptions, we tried to stay as close to the range 1860-1870 as possible. Word of warning, though:  not all of the rings we found fit the description color-wise (or gemstone-wise, for that matter), so, for the ones who don't, you will just have to use your imagination and picture them in the right color. 

So now it's time for you pick your favorite and let us know about it in the comments! Which number is the winner?

Ring 1

Image from rubylane.com

Date: 1860-1870

Stones: Old mine cut diamonds

Material: 18k gold with black enamel engraving

Carat Size: 2.5 carats total 

(0.75 carat center stone and 8 side stones of 0.15-0.35 carats each) 


Ring 2

Image from rubylane.com

Date: 1876

Place of Origin: Birmingham, England

Stones: Cushion cut diamond and garnets

Material: 18k gold

Carat Size: Approx. 2 carats total

(0.4 carat center diamond surrounded by 8 slightly smaller garnets)

Ring 3

Image from rubylane.com

Date: 1890-1900

Stones: Pear-shaped emerald and old mine cut diamonds

 Material: 14k gold

Carat size: 1.5 carats total

(0.75 carat center emerald and 15 diamonds of 0.5 carats each)


Ring 4

Image from langantiques.com

Date: 1865

Stones: Oval cut Burma ruby and old mine cut diamonds

Materials: 18k gold

Carat size: 4.5 carats total
(2.75 carat center ruby and 13 diamonds totaling 1.75 carats 

  
Ring 5

Image from graysantiques.com

 Date: 1880
Stones: Emerald and diamonds
Material: 18k gold
Carat size: Unknown

Rue de la Paix

This week's collage brings us a celebration of Gone with the Wind and old-school Hollywood glamour. It's a pairing that's as perfect as, well, Rhett and Scarlett!  

Gone With The Wind by pappilon♥ featuring heart earrings

Poster of the Week

This week, Poland offers up a monochromatic interpretation of Rhett and Scarlett at the Atlanta bazaar. Oh Polska, why must you come up with the gloomiest Gone with the Wind posters ever? 

Image from moviegoods.com.

The Quotable Rhett Butler: The Giant Antaeus

Well, friends, long time no see, isn’t it? Come to think of it, I should have probably started this post with “How We Do Run On has the pleasure of featuring yet another guest blogger today, one you might remember from many months ago. Please welcome Bugsie, the girl who doesn’t really know fashion!” In my defense, it was not (only) laziness that kept me away from you and our favorite heroes. Moving to a country that values beer above all other things helped too.

But now that I am back, and now that everyone’s favorite series, Doppelganger Dresses, reached its end, I am afraid you will have to put up with my endless analyses of Mr. Butler’s every word again. For those of you who are not familiar with it, The Quotable Rhett Butler is a series that tries to highlight and explain some of Rhett Butler's lines with a focus on the references (historical, literary or mythological) he uses. You can have a taste of the quotes we covered so far here.

The quote I selected for this week belongs to chapter LVII and was a suggestion from our reader Bella:

"'Yes. Tara will do her good,' he said smiling. 'Sometimes I think she's like the giant Antaeus who became stronger each time he touched Mother Earth.'" 

--Gone with the Wind, Chapter LVII

This comes from Rhett's conversation with Melanie after Scarlett's departure to Tara after the miscarriage. Since Scarlett's leaving for Tara had already been described by Mitchell in  quite similar terms in a previous scene ("As she had once fled Atlanta before an invading army, so she was fleeing it again (...). It seemed that if she could only get back to the stillness and the green cotton fields of home, all her troubles would fall away and she would somehow be able to mold her shattered thoughts into something she could live by."), we could say this is a case of a character making its author's symbols transparent.

Antaeus - the character Rhett compares his wife with - was a mythological giant with a passion for wrestling (and killing) innocent passersby. His secret weapon? A privileged relationship with his mother, Gaia, aka Mother Earth. In other words, he drew his invincible strength from the soil. So when he had the imprudence of challenging Hercules to a wrestling match, all the famous hero had to do was keep him flailing above the soil for enough time to drain him of strength and then it was game over for Antaeus. 

It is easy to see how the reference to this legend functions as a good comparison for Scarlett's character. For, while she loses everything or almost everything on more than one occasion, as long as she still has Tara as a refuge, she can survive. But this also raises a question that I want to pose for discussion today. Antaeus'  dependence on one source of strength proved a disadvantage to him in the end. Similarly, while her relationship with Tara certainly had its advantages (both material and psychological), could Scarlett’s attachment to the plantation also prove a weakness in some ways?  What do you think? Consider the period after the war and the lengths she goes to to keep Tara. Wouldn’t it have been easier and perhaps more profitable for everyone if she let go? 

Rue de la Paix

This week's collage continues our look at bridal splendor on the blog--although in the absence of Rhett-and-Scarlett wedding footage from GWTW (sniff, sniff), we revert to Scarlett's first wedding to Charles Hamilton. But unfortunate unions aside, Scarlett still makes a lovely bride, doesn't she? 

Scarlett's first wedding by ~Lotti~ on Polyvore.com

A Slideshow of Bridal Fashions from the Gone with the Wind Era

Although we wrapped up our Doppelganger Dresses series last week, that doesn't mean that we're done covering Victorian fashion here at How We Do Run On! We'll still be bringing you plenty of fashion tidbits from the Gone with the Wind era. Up first is a slideshow of 11 full-color bridal fashion plates, all circa 1867-69, to go along with our earlier look at Scarlett's bridal style for her wedding to Rhett. You see, although that post was chock-full of information about circa-1868 wedding fashions, it had one glaring weakness we needed to correct: the absence of many full-color fashion plates! 

Joking aside, we hope the slideshow below gives you a better insight into the many beautiful dress styles that Scarlett could have worn to become Mrs. Rhett Butler. Check them out and let us know what you think. Which dresses can you see Scarlett wearing?