Oh my goodness. You’ve just reminded me. Embarrassingly, when I was young, I was OBSESSED with Pierrot. I used to draw him, collect Pierrot dolls,dress my little sister up as Pierrot and drag her round the neighbourhood. At the Christmas Party for my first Saturday job (I was 16) I even went dressed in a Pierrot inspired outfit - white ruffled blouse, jodhpurs, a pale face with dark eyes and even a little hat at a jaunty angle - it wasn’t a costume party! I have no idea what that was all about. I grew out of it thankfully. Loving your Substack by the way xx
I loved your reflections of Pierrot across the various spectrums and centuries. Inspiring - with a dash of history, a delightful colour palette + a playful mood board. Merci beaucoup!
Loving this! David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes costume also comes to mind (although not such a classical interpretation of Pierrot)...Also Marcel Carné's film "Children of Paradise" and its telling of the story of the mime Debureau who was famous for playing Pierrot in 19th century Paris.
Love your mood boards so much - always a visual delight. I would love to hear your process for creating the mood boards, how you pick a topic, where do images come from, do you photograph and print them out or is it fully digital? I’m inspired to try my hand at it.
I just pick topics whatever themes I see coming up in the images I save to Pinterest and my Instagram saved folders—a lot of times I can see that I'm gravitating towards an idea, material, color, etc. and I'll build the mood boards around that. The images come from hours and hours and hours of digging through archives, falling down rabbit holes, and flipping through books. And I print them out, pin them to a physical board, then shoot that board for the newsletter!
I'm constantly thinking about how the theater (where I learned to be a clown) used to feel like spending time in another world, never knowing that it would prepare me, more and more, to live in this one. Which I realize is a very sad clown thought.
Chelsea tracked down one of the original menus for me last year — I should have taken some photos for this newsletter but I forgot. It was a wild wild place.
Lou Doillon has a harlequin outfit that she dons occasionally and has even drawn pictures and had reproduced. Think it may be Gucci when Alessandro was there....bien sûr. 🥳🙌🫶👏 your inspo has me spiraling! Merci🤡
There's a candy brand in France called Pierrot Gourmand that sells in a ton of boulangeries around the country. Their displays are a little ceramic Pierrot head filled with lollipops. Every time I see one in the wild, I probably look like a huge dork smiling at it. It's so strange!
this is so spot on! i wrote about the rise of Jester-core a while back, but Pierrot (isolated and sad clown) core makes so much more sense given the current cultural mood.
OMG OMG! years ago,(25 years ago) my husband and I were designing our little boutique hotel in San Luis Obispo. I was determined to name one of the rooms "Pierrot" because he was just so sad and charming and his love was unrequited. An amazing artist painted a mural in the room and I had black and white polka dot bedding and a few Pierrots from Au Bon Marche in Paris. The room was tiny but adorable. We sold Petit Soleil 2 years ago. I think they painted over the mural but little Pierrot is in my heart and memory forever. Thank you for the reminder!
Oh my goodness. You’ve just reminded me. Embarrassingly, when I was young, I was OBSESSED with Pierrot. I used to draw him, collect Pierrot dolls,dress my little sister up as Pierrot and drag her round the neighbourhood. At the Christmas Party for my first Saturday job (I was 16) I even went dressed in a Pierrot inspired outfit - white ruffled blouse, jodhpurs, a pale face with dark eyes and even a little hat at a jaunty angle - it wasn’t a costume party! I have no idea what that was all about. I grew out of it thankfully. Loving your Substack by the way xx
I am dyyyyyying—this is a perfect comment.
I was obsessed with Pierrot too!!!!!!
I loved your reflections of Pierrot across the various spectrums and centuries. Inspiring - with a dash of history, a delightful colour palette + a playful mood board. Merci beaucoup!
Loving this! David Bowie's Ashes to Ashes costume also comes to mind (although not such a classical interpretation of Pierrot)...Also Marcel Carné's film "Children of Paradise" and its telling of the story of the mime Debureau who was famous for playing Pierrot in 19th century Paris.
Love your mood boards so much - always a visual delight. I would love to hear your process for creating the mood boards, how you pick a topic, where do images come from, do you photograph and print them out or is it fully digital? I’m inspired to try my hand at it.
I just pick topics whatever themes I see coming up in the images I save to Pinterest and my Instagram saved folders—a lot of times I can see that I'm gravitating towards an idea, material, color, etc. and I'll build the mood boards around that. The images come from hours and hours and hours of digging through archives, falling down rabbit holes, and flipping through books. And I print them out, pin them to a physical board, then shoot that board for the newsletter!
thank you thank you!!!
So good. Thank you for the effort!
I wanna know too! It’s a beautiful style 🖤
I'm constantly thinking about how the theater (where I learned to be a clown) used to feel like spending time in another world, never knowing that it would prepare me, more and more, to live in this one. Which I realize is a very sad clown thought.
Anyway, I love this.
A VERY sad clown thought!
Hahaha. P.S. Need to hear more about The Gaiety
Chelsea tracked down one of the original menus for me last year — I should have taken some photos for this newsletter but I forgot. It was a wild wild place.
Ooh excited to see whenever it’s their time to shine
Recently discovered your Substack and loving your moodboards 😍
Clowns and sadness make sense as inspo right now. Beautiful moodboard.
Lou Doillon has a harlequin outfit that she dons occasionally and has even drawn pictures and had reproduced. Think it may be Gucci when Alessandro was there....bien sûr. 🥳🙌🫶👏 your inspo has me spiraling! Merci🤡
I always adore your mood boards!
There's a candy brand in France called Pierrot Gourmand that sells in a ton of boulangeries around the country. Their displays are a little ceramic Pierrot head filled with lollipops. Every time I see one in the wild, I probably look like a huge dork smiling at it. It's so strange!
Also, wait, did you see this recent Valentino piece?? It feels fashion clown adjacent! https://www.instagram.com/p/DFgfoUCIlfU/?img_index=1
I did see that piece and I was devastated to have already built and shot the mood board without it!!
Will have to keep my eye out for Pierrot Gourmand on my next trip to France!
this is so spot on! i wrote about the rise of Jester-core a while back, but Pierrot (isolated and sad clown) core makes so much more sense given the current cultural mood.
also that Bode meme is hilarious!
Loved this - love a dive into something weird and different that also feels very much relevant.
Very apropos 💫
Got a Pierrot tattoo last year from Hailee who's known for doing a series of them for her clients - https://www.instagram.com/mousteeth/
OMG OMG! years ago,(25 years ago) my husband and I were designing our little boutique hotel in San Luis Obispo. I was determined to name one of the rooms "Pierrot" because he was just so sad and charming and his love was unrequited. An amazing artist painted a mural in the room and I had black and white polka dot bedding and a few Pierrots from Au Bon Marche in Paris. The room was tiny but adorable. We sold Petit Soleil 2 years ago. I think they painted over the mural but little Pierrot is in my heart and memory forever. Thank you for the reminder!