four outfits inspired by princess and the pea

storybook style inspo

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Princess and the Pea Illustration by Edmund Dulac (1911)

I recall 2021 as the year everyone was preoccupied with “personal style.”

A cohort of stylist-creators rose to prominence at this time, taking the algorithm by storm with tips on how to find your style words. Are you modern? Romantic? Witchy? (I’ve never been able to pick just three words).

This was around when I was sharing my outfit musings on social media. I remember the first time I did an interview with a small magazine and spent a week ruminating over how I would answer the question: “what your are style adjectives?”

I hate this question.

But I understand why people ask it. (I have also asked it).

My answer was something like…whimsical, vintage, and storybook, which is more of a noun than an adjective so I wrote up a blurb trying to explain what I meant. I take style inspiration from childhood storybooks, the foundational texts that taught me to enjoy visual pleasures.

Even before outfits were on my radar, I just loved the look of unique art styles and bursts of colors. Rainbow Fish’s glittery scales, Hungry Caterpillar’s paper mache-esque ice creams and holey cheese slices, Goodnight Moon’s flat kelly green walls.

Illustration by Eric Carle

Now, even as a 30 year old woman, I adore the inimitable charm of storybook style.

Today I’m sharing a lookbook of four outfits inspired by one of my favorite storybooks—Princess and the Pea.

Originally published in 1835 by Hans Christian Anderson, it’s a story about a princess proving her ‘nobility’ by sensing an hard pea under a stack of 20 mattresses. As an impressionable child, I remember dragging every comforter in the house to my twin size bed, piling them on top of each other, and placing a pink pencil eraser underneath as a makeshift pea so I could test it out myself. I didn’t feel a thing, but I told my siblings (and myself) that I definitely sensed the eraser.

What made the illustrations charming, in every iteration of the book, was the towering stack of mattresses with a ladder to get to the top. Like a tiered cake, every layer was carefully decorated in a unique way—zigzags, stars, floral brocade, polka dots, harlequin check.

This imprinted on me. My love for color and pattern is evident in my clothes, but also in how I like to dress my bed.

I am not one of those people who cares about having matching duvet covers and pillowcases or ironed bedsheets (um, who has the time?). Give me mismatched patterns and lived-in fabric wrinkles.

I don’t care that science advises against having *red* in the bedroom because it makes your mind overly active. My giant red cotton quilt is like a spring jacket in bedding form and makes me feel like I’m sleeping on a superbloom field of poppies. I love how cheerful it makes the room look.

Now, onto the outfits!

Faux-snoozing on my flock of down pillows (I like my pillows how I like my tofu—firm).

If I were to try to dress like a literal pea, this is what I would wear.

This embroidered silk dress is a secondhand Nanette Lepore piece I snagged for literally $20. The fabric has a princess-y quality because of the taffeta weave, which gives off a slight sheen. For the legs, a pair of funky granny smith apple green tights and floral mod print Carel Kinas from a very old season (white pair on sale here).

Here is my most princess-y dress, a old pink silk Ulla Johnson dress!

This is an example of a wedding guest dress I bought a few years ago when I didn’t imminently need one, and I’m excited to style her more this summer. This is more feminine and frilly than I usually go for. I need an element of weirdness, so that’s where the green tights come in (again) with clear MNZ Olympia wedges. Way less expected than a typical heel. And my Elsa Peretti jade bean is the obvious jewelry choice here—basically a pea on the neck.

If Princess and the Pea were a 2000s romcom, this is what I think she would wear to her unrealistic fashion magazine job. I can’t resist a green silk vintage cami—this one is old Guess—with my bubble print Escada skirt. Side note, if you don’t like lace trim camis, consider a frill trim! It’s a little less “lingerie” looking. Pointy heels are old Prada. Pink and green is probably my favorite spring color combo.

Ending on another all-green ensemble. The hero piece is an old Prada skirt with little green and silver heart balloons on it—they kind of look like peas. I color matched with an old Gil Rodriguez bodysuit and Suzanne Rae fur-lined mules.

What is your favorite storybook for style inspo?

xoxo viv

Thanks for reading. If you’re looking to ID something I wore on Instagram or Substack (that isn’t secondhand) you’ll find it here.

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