The Von Furstenbergs
American 'New Money' recently arrived in London. Mr Von Furstenberg enjoys collecting cigar cutters while Mrs Von Furstenberg spends her days sipping tea, eating cucumber sandwiches (without the crusts) and gossiping with the ladies.
A hasty immigration...
Newly arrived from America, Wilhelm Von Furstenberg had made his fortune on the railroads. Starting off as an interior decorator, he quickly turned his hand to designing the carriages to run on the new railroad tracks. He became well known for his luxury cars for the rich and famous to travel cosseted in the fine surroundings that they had become used to in New York and Washington.
He offered well bred young ladies his personal ‘rock and roll’ attention in his widely acclaimed Furst class carriage promising them an experience that they would never forget. He became the inspiration for the hit song ‘Locomotion’ which was widely played in all the fashionable and up market bars and dance halls of the East Coast. As a result many well-known young ladies owned up to their amazing experience travelling with the attention of dear Wilhelm.
Unfortunately one article that appeared in a popular magazine received more attention than the von Furstenbergs bargained for. After the headline ‘Riding the Rails with Puffing Billy’ was splashed across newspaper stands poor Wilhelm felt it better to migrate than suffer the humiliation of a less than flattering nickname for ever more.
This story written by Judy Davies
Inspiration for this snobbish, aristocratic couple came from a well dressed pair I saw on Pinterest. I often reference costume ideas on Pinterest as well as poses and then make an interpretation from a few images I like.
It was the pose and the shape of Lady Von Furstenberg's dress that most closely resembles the main image I referenced. The couple in question were wearing a fair bit more latex however...
These two remain one of my favourite drawings to date. Duchess van der Park has recently overtaken them as my ultimate favourite, but I still keep them on my wall as a huge A0 sized print.
Nicola x
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