Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte

July 8, 2017The Glambassador 4 Comments

Dress ~ The House of Foxy
Shoes ~ Rocket Originals

Living so close to France (about 45 minutes to the French border), we are fortunate enough to be able to travel to some of the most amazing places in France. For the 4^th of July weekend, we decided to see two chateaus we’ve not yet been to and of course visit Disneyland Paris again.

There are a number of châteaus in the Île-de-France region, and we will certianly be visiting more in the future. But for this trip we decided on Vaux-le-Vicomte and Fontainebleau (stay tuned for that post). See below for a short history of this château.

A little history about the Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte…

It was constructed from 1658 to 1661 for Nicolas Fouquet, the superintendent of finances for King Louis XIV. He was young, 26, and very ambitious, and the king was quite suspicious of this. At the inauguration of Vaux-le-Vicomte in 1661, a Molière play was performed, along with a dinner event to include the King himself, as well as an impressive firework show.

However the celebration had proven to been far too impressive and the superintendent’s home too luxurious. Fouquet’s intentions were to flatter the king: part of Vaux-le-Vicomte was actually constructed specifically for the king, but Fouquet’s plan backfired.

Shortly after the fête, Nicolas Fouquet was arrested by the famous d’Artgnan, lieutenant of the king’s musketeers, and placed in prison. This is due in part to the fact that Jean-Baptiste Colbert led the king to believe that his minister’s magnificence was funded by the misappropriation of public funds. Fouquet died in prison in 1680.

It is believed that the magnificence and splendor of decoration was a forerunner of the Palace of Versailles and where he brought together three artists that the King would later take up for Versailles: the architect Louis Le Vau, the painter Charles Le Brun and the garden designer André le Nôtre.

Springtime Blooms

April 8, 2017The Glambassador 2 Comments

Blouse ~ Martha Blouse from Heyday Vintage Style
Skirt ~ ModCloth
Belt ~ Target
Shoes ~ Penny shoe from Remix Vintage Shoes
Brooch ~ The Jewellery Cloud
Lips ~ Cherry Lipliner by MAC Cosmetics with Victory Red Lipstick by Besame Cosmetics
Sunglasses ~ A.J. Morgan
Purse ~ Trashy Diva

Spring is in full swing here in Germany. The flowers are blooming and the sun is shining. We spent the morning at the Saarbrücken Flea Market. Unfortunately we only picked up a few new scarves, but it was a lovely walk along the river in the shadow of the old castle walls.

I recently purchased this blouse from Heyday Vintage Style and I can already tell that it will become a staple in my wardrobe. I’m in love with these “feedsack” type prints, they are so happy and bright. And the cut of this blouse is just perfection. It’s based on a vintage pattern and some characteristics such as the strong pointed collar and darted shoulders show up in sewing patterns from 1941 – 1946.

I hope you are all enjoying the coming of this wonderful new season.

Dragonfly in Amber

September 17, 2015The Glambassador 3 Comments

I am in love with the book series Outlander by Diana Gabaldon! This series currently has 8 books and the author is working on the 9th book now. Last year the series was made into a TV series on STARZ and it’s absolutely amazing. They really cast the characters well and it’s beautifully filmed. The second season will start next year and it’s based on the second book, Dragonfly in Amber.

Last week I read on Diana Gabaldon’s Facebook page that she was going to be in Germany doing a USO Tour with two other authors. I was over the moon to find that the event was happening only 15 minutes from my house, so we made plans to attend.

Of course I had to dress thematically, so I wore my amber yellow dress and dragonfly brooch.