 |
| Wallis Nail Lacquer, $14 by butter London |
I had read a while back that Wallis was all the rage during London Fashion Week--and one look tells you why. I have yet to see a color quite like this one, and that's really saying something because I get my nails done a lot. Back in the summer, I was all about gold glitter polish on my toes, but Wallis is more than basic gold. Rather, to steal the words straight from butter's website, Wallis is a tarnished metallic olive gold that heralds from butter's Fall/Winter 2011 collection. According to butter's Founding Creative Director and color trend expert Nonie Creme, the collection as a whole was designed to “reflect the 'luxe-grunge' moment, and burst of new era, ‘dirty’ jewel tones prevalent on the catwalk for Autumn/Winter 2011.” Indeed, there is a certain rich darkness to Wallis that makes it sophisticated yet irreverent--and I absolutely love it.
The butter website's description of Wallis adds that the color is as mysterious and regal as its namesake. This got me thinking, what namesake? Not being a Brit myself (shame--I would love the accent), I thought that maybe there was some trendy royal that I didn't know about. After some investigation, it turns out that there's a good story behind the name of this amazing nail lacquer, and I'm so thankful that a nail polish--of all things--pushed me towards a juicy little history lesson. It also turns out that my original suspicions weren't totally off the mark...
 |
| The original Wallis: The Duchess of Windsor in 1936 Photo thanks to Wikipedia |
Born Bessie Wallis Warfield in 1896, Wallis was was an American socialite whose life story reads practically like an episode of Gossip Girl--though I venture to say that the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite have got nothing on Wallis. Her first marriage to US naval officer, Earl Winfield Spencer, Jr. ended in divorce, though she soon married again. It was during her second marriage, to shipping executive Ernest Aldrich Simpson, that Wallis was rumored to have become the mistress to Edward, Prince of Wales. It wasn't until two years later, after Edward's ascension to the throne as King Edward VIII of the United Kingdom and the Dominions, that Wallis divorced her second husband--and Edward proposed to her.
Of course, Wallis's checkered marital past was a red flag for those proper Brits; that is to say, the King's intention to wed a woman with two living ex-husbands threatened to cause a constitutional crisis in the United Kingdom and the Dominions, and so lucky husband number three ultimately abdicated the throne to be with his lady love. Following the abdication, the former king was titled Duke of Windsor by his brother George VI, and after their marriage, Wallis was formally known as the Duchess of Windsor (not quite the same ring as "Her Royal Highness"--but still). And then they lived happily ever after. Okay, maybe not--but they did hop back and forth across the pond, living the high life as society celebrities, surrounded by controversy and intrigue. If US Weekly had been around then, I'm sure they would have covered the story.
I never thought I'd learn all that from a bottle of nail polish, but knowing what I know now, the glittery darkness of butter's Wallis lacquer seems totally befitting its namesake. So thank you, dear Annie Rose, for my amazing nail color--and for the opportunity to learn a thing or two about history and scandal. Love it.
FYI: Nonnie Creme quote from butter London's website. Information on Wallis from Wikipedia--so feel free to correct any unintentional historical inaccuracies!
No comments:
Post a Comment