Pearly King Jack and Queen Meg
Posted June 19th, 2007 by
maitreya
As a lover of both the White Stripes and buttons, I was intrigued by their costumes on the cover of their new CD, Icky Thump.
Nylon magazine satisfied my curiosity: their outfits are “pearly suits” made by a seamstress friend with 13000 buttons on each of them. Apparently, there’s an English tradition of pearly kings and queens making these outfits and going on parades. A Google image search for “pearly kings and queens” has all sorts of intricate costumes.
I think the White Stripes’ inspiration is familiar to many crafters (quote from Nylon article): “It’s all sort of about the idea of creative people as garbage collectors. Taking other people’s junk and trying to make something useful out of it, I guess.”
June 19th, 2007 at 1:02 pm
there’s more about pearly kings and queens here too:
http://www.pearlysociety.co.uk/history.htm
I love this! We need to bring this kind of thing to the States! ;-)
June 19th, 2007 at 5:47 pm
I think there are two inspirations at play here: the Pearly King and Queen, which you’ve identified, is one, and the other is the Button Blankets made by the First Nations on the Northwest coast of British Columbia.
“The button blanket is eye-catching, prestigious and treasured — one of the most spectacular embellishments to the Indian culture of the Northwest Coast and a unique form of graphic and narrative art. The traditional crest-style robe is the sister of the totem pole and, like the pole, proclaims hereditary rights, obligations and powers.”
Meg’s hat is also very reminiscent in shape of the bark hats from the region. I wonder if this is a subtle nod to Canadian culture, given their tour of small-town Canada that’s associated with the new album?
June 19th, 2007 at 11:37 pm
The White Stripes are endlessly inspiring to me. The looseness of it all–the way they make a record in three weeks–reminds me that being creative doesn’t have to be obsessive. And the way they pull from so many musical traditions and styles is exactly what I want to do, in my world of knitting, whenever possible.
Gah, that sounds dorky. But it’s true! If I could knit the way Jack White plays the guitar, wowee.
June 20th, 2007 at 7:25 am
Reminds me of the band in the Animated part of Mary Poppins… How silly is that reference?
June 20th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Just a quick note from England about pearly kings and queens. It’s a kind of east end of London thing, more of a tiny community, passed through the (very few) families. Even when I was a child it was considered quaint and old-fashioned! A bit like London fog, it’s pretty much all gone. (Of course, there may be a secret revival, just to make me a liar, but I’ve not heard of it!)
June 25th, 2007 at 3:41 am
If you want more inspiration on the artist/garbage front, I highly recommend Agnes Varda’s film The Gleaners and I. best, B.
July 2nd, 2007 at 2:24 am
You can see pearly kings and queens every now and again as we found http://www.flickr.com/photos/kirstywh/56924413/in/photostream/ showing some friends around London town. Gotta love whoever sewed on all those buttons!