masquerade ball | Powerful Goddess Portraits

Carnival of Venice

05 Feb 2015 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Europe Travel, Family Adventures, Glamour Portraits Tags: Best Family Vacation Europe, Best Masks and Costumes, Caffe Florian Venice, Luxury hotels Venice, masquerade ball, Venice Carnival

If you can visit Venice

only once in your life,

make it Carnivale!

S. Birke

Share this link to watch on Youtube http://youtu.be/szPv4UIFFzg

Shouldn’t you be in Venice right now? What better place for adults to remember how to play and have fun than Carnivale–the world famous winter event that attracts revelers and tourists from every corner of the world. Before fasting and introspection, the ten days before Lent is an endless round of parties and feasts for the eyes anywhere you turn! How can you possibly keep a serious face when you’re surrounded by people who take costume even more seriously, preening strangers who revel in the anonymity of masks, robes and cloaks, cheerfully posing for any passing camera?

2015 Calendar

Events, parties and masquerade balls

http://www.venice-carnival-italy.com

Where to stay

The Gritti Palace

http://www.thegrittipalace.com

Hotel Danieli

http://www.danielihotelvenice.com

Aman Canal Grande Venice

http://www.amanresorts.com/amancanalgrandevenice/home.aspx

Where to see the most costumes

Masks and costumes congregate in various sites around Venice. Weekends are the busiest. They usually start the day posing in front of the gondolas outside the Doges’ Palace at St. Mark’s Square. You can follow the revelers when they change venues and stroll elegantly to the Arsenale, a church around the corner or take the ferry to San Giorgio and Burano Islands. Those who prefer the more authentic period costumes hang out at Caffe Florian for tea in the afternoons.

Venice Carnival 2015 runs until February 17. If you’re not the type to dress up, done a mask at least. This year’s theme “The Most Delicious Feast in the World” celebrates Italy’s culinary traditions and triumphs so if you insist that masks and costumes are really not your kind of eye candy, feast on delicious looking Italians instead!

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share how a mask helps you tell your truth. xoxox

201 697 1947

Sharon@PowerfulGoddess.com

www.PowerfulGoddess.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

Venice Carnival 2014

26 Feb 2014 6 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Boudoir Photography, Glamour Portraits, Italy Travel Tags: 18th century period costume, Best Family Vacation Europe, fantasy costume, masquerade ball, Venice Carnival

What happens in fantasy

can be more involving than what happens in life–

and thank goodness for that.

Roger Ebert

Among my favorites in posing, Nhaelle de France

If you can visit Venice only once in your entire lifetime, time it for Carnival and bring the kids! This annual winter festival of masquerade and fantastic costumes can be traced back to the beginning of the 14th Century when months before Lent, everyone in town wore masks to break down social barriers and playfully defy differentiation between nobility and the common people.

Today, an international crowd of 3 million revelers congregate and make time to dress up in their original and fantastic creations or an elegant wardrobe of authentic period pieces. Those in full regalia are so very kind and accommodating in holding a pose for your camera. Can you imagine the time and effort each costume takes to create and transport, never mind wearing them all day in heat or cold for the two weeks of the fabulous Venice Carevale. I’ll let the photographs speak eloquently for themselves. You bet it wasn’t easy choosing which creations to exclude here.

Click on “Leave a Comment” (above left) to share what your fantasy costume might be.

Christine et Eric Plas

followed the yellow brick road from France

Almost a kiss by Pierre and Dominique

If you were wondered “Where’s the party?”

Should we tell?

Anabella from Estonia checks her makeup

I just love how the background complements this ensemble

I’m a night owl who didn’t know

catching the rising sun could be such fun

with Jeanne of France

A rose and a serenade for mi amore

on Burano Island

Love the shadows matching the pointy hats on

Monika and Peter Gowitzke from Germany

The opulence of this flamingo theme

is one of my Carnival favorites

A most adorable party peeper

xoxox

201 697 1947

Email me

www.PowerfulGoddess.com

Glamour Portraits of the Goddess in Every Wife & Mother

xoxox

Myth Masque

29 May 2013 2 Comments

by Powerful Goddess Portraits by Sharon Birke of DoubleSmart LLC in Fashion and Style, Glamour Portraits, LA Nightlife Tags: costume party, LA Myth Masquerade Ball, LA What to See and Do, masquerade ball

If one is lucky,

a solitary fantasy can totally transform

one million realities.

Maya Angelou

xoxox

Erin Layne, the glamorous organizer of the Myth Masque

Just got back from an incredible weekend in LA catching up with family and friends, reflecting on our life journeys, leaving me shaking my head in amazement as we recounted stories of improbable synchronicity that had blessed us in dire straits.

After watching The Great Gatsby movie on Saturday night, I felt like I stepped straight into a more fantastic version of a Gatsby party when I chanced upon the 2nd annual Myth Masquerade Ball. I thought I was headed for The Edison club downtown, but my curiosity drew me to the church behind it with purple lights and loud music streaming through the windows. A queue of people in fancy whimsical dress at the gate and a horse carriage ride circling the block roped me in even further.

“Is this party open to the public?” I inquired. A fairy godfather appeared with a spare ticket to sell–then he gave me a mask, too, in case the party police required one. How lucky can a Goddess get?!

Myth Masque was my dream come true of a party, an enchanting mix of high fashion and high fantasy. I was thrilled to be swept into a sea of elaborate gowns, headdresses and costumes, each more ornate than the next from space age to renaissance to fairy tale. Polling those with the most fantastic ensembles, many were proud to say they had created their own outfit. It was a glorious celebration of divine imagination–for where would civilization be without this? Thank you to all who made that unforgettable evening happen, a most richly satisfying visual dessert that had me smiling all night and long after.

Click on “Leave a Comment” to share how you’ve embraced the impossible–like I did using my iPhone for very low light photography here.

xoxox