The Gossip Guides' 3rd Blogiversary Celebration!

Psssst PSSST! *Touches finger to tip of fan* Did you hear? *raises fans*  It's The Gossip Guides' blogiversary!

The colors may have stayed the same
but the blog certainly hasn't

Three years ago Lauren and I began our blogs.  Were any of you reading when they looked like this?  Yikes! Look at that moldy oldy!  Since that time, so much has happened with this little internet project and I've met so many wonderful people thanks to all this 18th century gossip.  Thank you so much, all of you!


*Snaps fan* But enough of this sentimental hoo-ha! How have you all been doing with your fan challenge?  Have you been practicing your fan language?  Yes, no? Well, perhaps there's a good reason for that....and perhaps Lauren and I could help you in your fan culture *Snaps for champagne* No one should attend a party without a fan, especially our blogiversary celebration so Lauren and I want to do our part by having a fan giveaway to our fans!

The Prizes

Participating in Georgiana's Gossip Guide 3rd Blogiversary Giveaway qualifies you to win one of five fans!  Four of the fans are sandalwood; perfect for snapping at rakes or making into a mildly harmful weapon when smacking those attempting to put their hands on your cocktail.  One lucky reader will win a white silk fan which comes with this cute Too Face Marie Antoinette cosmetic bag, but in order for that lucky reader to win they mustn't be a stranger to this blog (ie: I will recognize their name from their history in leaving comments- Yes, I pay attention!).

How to Enter

Leave a comment on this post explaining a situation where you have needed a fan (or leave a picture, how cool would that be!). 

Example: Have you found yourself grabbing for a magazine in order to whisper something to a friend?  Perhaps a playful swat at your guy-friend turned out more violent then planned and a closed fan would have been a safer bet?

Five comments will be chosen at random a week from now (Friday the 13th, yikes!) and announced.  If you are chosen you have 5 days to write back to me with your address before you forfeit your rights to your fan.  Good luck!

Happy Cinqo de Mayo

Happy Cinqo de Mayo to all Mexican gossipers! What better way to celebrate than with an 18th century Mexican artist, Miguel Cabrera.

Miguel Cabrera, Spaniard and Indian Woman, 1763

Miguel Cabrera, Mexican Family, 1763

Miguel Cabrera, Spaniard and Octoroon Woman, 1763

Miguel Cabrera, Spaniard and Mulatto Morisca, 1763

Miguel Cabrera, Spaniard and Black, Mulatto, 1763

Name That Gainsborough

Eugenie, or Men Suck

Before Pierre Beaumarchais wrote his most famous play, The Barber of Seville, centering around the famous character of Figaro and his antics, he had created a play of almost equal popularity with a female lead.  The play, Eugenie and centered on the popular 18th century theme of a moralistic woman battling against an immoral world.

Wales must have been considered the country of naive country girls in the Georgian age.  Georgiana's heroine from The Sylph, Julia, and Eugenie both share a commonality of being from Wales and getting mixed up with rakes.  In the play, Eugenie has secretly married the Earl of Claredon and is pregnant with his child.  She leaves Wales to visit him in London and is perplexed when he is a difficult man to get in contact with, despite her husband's knowledge of her visit.  What Eugenie doesn't know is that her wedding to the Earl was staged and that he is in the midst of planning his upcoming nuptials to the daughter of the Duke of Winchester (doesn't that sound like a grand family).  The result of this mess is webs of lies, duels, and risks of estrangement from fathers culminating in Eungenie's near death from the Earl's betrayal.

When the play first premiered it was a bit long-winded, creating a few yawns in the audience.  Baumarchais and the cast noted this and then quickly made alterations so the play wouldn't be as long which did the trick.  Instant success!  Although the play took place in England it took a while to adapt to English due to Baumarchais messing up many facts about British culture that certainly would set English audiences talking during the play.  It was Elizabeth Griffith who managed to create an adaption for the play in 1769, renaming it The School for Rakes.

If you would like to read Eugenie, a new translation has just hit the shelves of Amazon.  Talia Felix, whose amazingly illustrated version of Fanny Hill I enjoyed, put together this new edition of Eugenie.  If there aren't enough rakes or rakish antics in your life you might just have to check this play out!