Secret S*T*ASHH: Fairy Tale

"It seems obvious to say that fairy tales have a fantastical element- in other words, magic. This important ingredient often comes in thanks to magical beings like fairies." -Ken Mondschein, PhD

I absolutely love fairy tales! Growing up my grandmother always read classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales to me. To this very day I still remember a lot of them, as I hold them close to my heart. I have always wanted to do a shoot inspired by them but I still have yet to do so. I did however, do a shoot recently that reminded me of them and I was very pleased with the end result. The idea actually started with an orchid print lingerie piece I picked up on sale at work (Victoria's Secret). One of my all time favorite flowers is an orchid so as soon as I saw this print I wanted it. But of course I waited for it to be marked down in price first, luckily we still had my size :) it was meant to be at that point! It sat in my closet for quite some time but I decided I wanted to use it for fairy concept so I crafted a matching floral crown and did just that.

Makeup inspiration I found via google image search...

I started chatting with Steve Rydgren of ImaginEssance and he was very interested in this concept. He said he had a green screen that we could shoot on and he would then edit the photo up all magical-like. This sounded like a grand idea to me because it is still very cold outside this time of year in Seattle, so we went forth with our planning and he told me about his friends basement he really wanted to shoot in. He described it to me and I decided to throw together another look that would fit better in a creepy basement setting. I even made a neat little pair of gloves to go with it!


The Gloves! Made from ripped up lace & watch parts...

"In English, we tend to get 'fairies' mixed up with the other world of Celtic mythology and with elves, brownies, and other spirits and picture them as tiny, harmless winged beings. However, this is far too narrow of a reading: fairies could also be terrible and scary." -Ken Mondschein, PhD

All the makeup, hair, and wardrobe styling was done by myself, photos taken and edited by Steve. This was our very first time shooting together and I had a blast. He's an amazing photographer to collaborate with and I plan to do it all again very soon! Hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do <3