Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes – The Vampire's Wife

Ballet Russes

My pile of Ballet Russes books are the most treasured books I own. The costumes of the Ballet Russes are what inspired me to become a designer - I learned from Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes that colours in costume inspire different emotions - lilac for longing, for example, so the subconscious effect of colour has a great deal to do with what I design. I love the idea of entering a room and that the dress itself elicits an emotional response. With Love, Susie x

YET WILL THIS PASS, AND PASS SHALL I?

‘A Popular Personage at Home’ was one of two poems Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) wrote about his beloved dog of 13 years, Wessex, who died in 1926, two years before Hardy himself. However, what makes ‘A Popular Personage at Home’ especially notable is that Hardy wrote the poem from the perspective of the dog, allowing ‘Wessex’ to speak for himself. It also hints at the erosion of nature itself! A beautiful poem about a dog.

I GIVE MY WISDOM AND EXPERIENCE TO ANIMALS

‘I gave my beauty and my youth to men. I am going to give my wisdom and experience to animals.’ I love this quote from the great Brigitte Bardot and I so admire how she dedicated her ‘second life’ to looking after animals. She also said, ‘Animals have the purity humans have definitely lost!’ A great, great woman.

A FROG LEAPS IN

I’ve been reading a beautiful little book of haiku poems I found at a second hand book dealer in Lewes. Such a gorgeous thing by Matsuō Basho, the poet-master of the Haiku. You can see the pond! You can hear the frog!