Константин Маковский. Боярский свадебный пир в XVII веке. 1883

Konstantin Makovsky. The Boyar Wedding Feast in the 17th Century. 1883

It was customary for Russian brides to mourn the loss of their girlhood at their wedding, so the bride’s sad expression does not mean she is being forced into the marriage or anything like that.

Константин Маковский. Под венец. 1884

Konstantin Makovsky. Getting Ready for the Wedding. 1884

(Source: img-fotki.yandex.ru)

Корзухин А.И. Девичник. 1889.

Korzuhin, A.I. Devichnik. 1889.

A “devichnik” is a traditional Russian folk bachelorette party held on the eve of the wedding. The bride’s friends come to drink and play games, and to bid goodbye to the bride’s carefree maiden life.

Eclipse, by 安非他明.

(via symphony-of-a-survivor)

How To Make A Tea Latte

Several times now, including earlier today, I have gone into coffee shops and asked the barista on duty whether they could make me a tea latte. Several times now, they have said yes, and then proceeded to give me a completely unsatisfactory drink that was not at all a tea latte. So I’m going to explain to the world how to make a tea latte. (And I will stop ordering them at places that don’t have it on their menu, alas.)

First of all, a tea latte is not simply tea with steamed milk poured on top of it. It is not half a cup of tea with hot milk in it, and it is not a teabag steeped in hot milk either. Seriously, baristas, if that’s your idea of a tea latte, just tell me that you don’t know how to make one and I will order something else. I don’t expect you to know how to make one, I just expect you to tell me whether you can make me one or not.

Just like the espresso used in a traditional latte is more concentrated than your regular American cup o’ joe, the base for a tea latte is more concentrated than a regular cup o’ tea.

For the base of a tea latte, you take however much hot water you want (half a cup for one portion ought to be enough, but you can do a full cup for safety’s sake) and then you steep 2-3 times the amount of tea you’d usually use for it. And you steep it for longer—about 5 minutes instead of the recommended 3 for regular tea.

Pour yourself about half a cup (or you can do more or less to taste) of the concentrated tea mix. Fill to top with steamed milk.

Add vanilla syrup, simple syrup, or some honey. This is important. You need to sweeten this drink, or it will not taste good.

ALSO DO NOT LEAVE A TEA BAG IN THE CUP. I know when people make London Fogs they sometimes leave the tea-bag in, but ugh. It makes it hard to drink, and then if you want to take it out it takes half the milk froth with it. No thank you.

It is really very simple though. And it can be made with almost any kind of tea.

fyodorpavlov:

Illustration for Chapter 16 of G.D. Falksen’s first book in The Ouroboros Cycle, A Monster’s Coming of Age Story. This one was one of my favorites to do, not in the least because of the Victorian medical paraphernalia. 

If you’d like to see them all, as well as the illustrations of my husband, Lawrence Gullo, do pick up your own copy! 

steampunktendencies:

Jose Martinez and Toni Lozano.

(Source: steampunktendencies)

victory-candescence:

ACTING.

(Source: trekgate)

Woman’s festive dress. Tverskaya province, first half of the 19th century.

Actual photo of a traditional Russian sarafan.

Фирс Сергеевич Журавлёв (1836-1901) Боярышня

Firs Sergeevich Zhuravlev. Boyaryshnya.  (Young unmarried girl of the feudal noble class.)

(Source: afrenchladyinnc)

(via dieselsteamgypsy)

TORTOISE TORTOISE TORTOISE TORTOISE.

Photograph by Ирина Фурашова (Irina Furashova)

(Source: skavocado, via elegantbw)