The Tales of Squirrel Nutmeg: Pretty Ponies

Sweetest M,

Inspiration can come for the most unexpected of places.

Lately, I have been hooked on certain ideas. As mentioned in a previous post, I have an enduring fascination with Spring. I also adore Rococo styling and My Little Ponies.

Due to a passion for anything pretty and ornate, it follows that I would adore anything even slightly Rococo. Thinking about it, it is likely that this adoration began during infancy, when was borne a most ardent fascination and adoration of My Little Ponies. This happened when I was gifted my first little pony – Lickety Split, who came on many adventures with me and stood patiently through many hours of dressing, hairstyling and general playing.

These candy-coloured ponies are most certainly ambassadors of the Rococco – pretty pastels tempered with coloured neutrals. Their innocent expressions, overriding feminine design and sweet auras would leave them very much at home in the apartments of Marie Antoinette – that most vocal supporter of this particular school of style.

As an extension of this, I love the pale (and dark) hoof-life shoes we have been seeing on the catwalk over the past few years. Flattering to the legs and overall shape of any girl, these shoes are especially eye-catching with a silky coiffured mane swishing about and a pretty whinnying laugh. What kind of prince charming could resist such a potent and disarming combination – and who doesn’t want to look as pretty as a My Little Pony! I was spoilt this last birthday when Bear gave me pretty lilac Jeffrey Campbell Litas. They are, in a word, fantastical and neatly meld together my love of the Rococo and pretty pones. I most certainly high pony step in them, and turn heads wherever I go.

As I explore my love of anything pretty, fine tuning what it is that really makes me pop, the childhood adoration of My Little Ponies has returned stronger than ever. I find their colours are a great source of sartorial inspiration – and their eye-makeup! What prettier than big eyes enhanced with a decent lick of black eyeliner and generous helpings of mascara.

Being the impatient person that I am, when I rediscovered this ardor, rather than patiently wait till such time I could search for all my childhood pony friends, I went hunting on ebay for vintage ponies with great success. Now, I have Bowtie and Curly Locks keeping watch over my desk. They definitely elicit smiles, even on the most arduous of days. I do intend on reuniting with my childhood ponies, and then I will have a veritable herd of candy coloured equines inhabiting my desk space, much to the mirth of any who enter the rabbit burrow.

I couldn’t resist a little photography session the other afternoon, with the lovely Spring sunshine pouring through the window and across the floorboards. The scene was set for a showcase of the latest additions to my pony family, and of course I couldn’t help but pop in the Litas. The diorama wasn’t Rococo enough for me, so I added in a delicate teapot spoon for good measure. You can never have enough Rococo.