Holiday Story: Sisters and Their Cats Do Homage to White Christmas
Category Is: White Christmas
Raise your hand if you’ve seen White Christmas? If you haven’t—shame on you! You have missed out on the most glorious feather fans of all time!! After seeing those fans, one could only dream of owning such a glorious thing.
Inspiration: The Hanes Sisters!
Both: Sisters, sisters,
There were never such devoted sisters.
Never had to have a chaperone, no sir.
Linda: I’m here to keep my eye on her.
Both: Caring, sharing
Every little thing that we are wearing.
When a certain gentleman arrived from Rome,
Bette: she wore the dress and I stayed home.
Both: All kinds of weather, we stick together,
The same in the rain or sun.
Two different faces, but in tight places
We think and we act as one. Uh-huh!
Those who’ve seen us
Know that not a thing can come between us.
Many men have tried to split us up, but no one can.
Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister,
And Lord help the sister that comes between me and my man.
All kinds of weather, we stick together,
The same in the rain or sun.
Two different faces, but in tight places
We think and we act as one. Uh-huh!
Those who’ve seen us
Know that not a thing could come between us.
Many men have tried to split us up, but no one can.
Lord help the mister who comes between me and my sister,
And Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man.
Sisters!
Sisters!
Sisters!
Word.
Tactical Breakdown
- Fans
- Lace/Sequins
- Hair: Forties styling
- Poses
Fans
Found these somewhere online. True ostrich feathers are a mark of class for sure! We went with purple because, that’s what was available!! But they looked pretty good too. And a good story is a twist on the original—an homage, so to speak and not an exact match.
The cats want them. We know you do too.
Lace/Sequins
We started out looking for lace. I was pretty sure we were just going to shoot the photos from the waist up. Can you imagine full length retro dresses? Those would take far, far longer to sew. Some day.
It’s surprisingly hard to find affordable lace, with that dimensional and textural quality that you can see the Hanes’ sisters wearing. When we saw this sequined fabric, we both agreed that it was the thang.
The sequined fabric also had an awesome quality in that you didn’t notice if it wasn’t hemmed. Neither of the tunics we are wearing have finished necklines or hems!! Now you know!! Never done such sloppy work in my life. But it looked decent…
Hair: 40s Style
Hair Stylist: Kellie Peacock of the Dam Salon
Poses
I think we shot 200-300 photos, both with our phones and with a digital SLR on a tripod. Trying to align lighting, cats, and couch was a challenge. Plus, have you ever tried posing with 3-ft fans! Respect my friend, respect the feathers.
Cover Versions
And, we must be gluttons for punishment, ’cause we did two versions…
The Inside Story
We also kind of got carried away with a huge story sprawling across three areas, cover, inside front, inside left, and back.
The typographical choices were inspired by text options in the stories feature in social apps.
The Credits
It was all such a production that we though some credits on the back were in order. Plus we were going with that retro/film inspiration.
We’re Born Naked, and the Rest Is Drag.
We also took some hers-spiration from that gender-bending Ru-velation RuPaul! Jaelynn’s dearest dream is the over-the-top glamor that is drag. Check it out! You might enjoy it.
*Did you know that Madonna basically stole Vogueing from drag queens? Watch Paris Is Burning and tell me what you think.
Thanks 2019. That’s a wrap.