Tea at Trianon: House Dysmorphia

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

House Dysmorphia

It seems many are becoming depressed about their cluttered houses, but most of us have houses which do not resemble homes in the magazines. From Homes and Gardens:

In light of her comments about embracing garage clutter, we asked Breegan if she thinks we're too hard on ourselves when it comes to decluttering and organization. 'I think we're extremely hard on ourselves,' she responds. 'What did somebody call it... Let me think of this phrase because I loved it so much – "house dysmorphia," much like body dysmorphia.' And, you guessed it, she says it's coming off Instagram. 'Much like we used to compare ourselves, or we still do, but we've gotten a little better at knowing the supermodel on the cover of the magazine isn't a realistic projection of what you should be aiming for with your body,' she says. 'We're doing this with our houses. And as a designer, all of my colleagues, we're posting our work, but what you don't see is the pile of mess in the other corner.' For example, she and other designers she knows all unplug all of their phone chargers before taking a photo. (Read more.)