The Contessa Papera Ephemera - Halloween Decoration

Gather around children, for I will tell you the tragic story of a dear friend of mine, the Contessa Papera Ephemera, known to me as Poppy. I first met Poppy in a previous life, when I was a Parisian and owned my fashion shop. She would travel long distances every year to visit my shop and order dresses, mantels, wigs, purses, fans, shoes and everything else a beautiful aristocrat’s heart desired. She was a happy and carefree person - lots of fun to be around, but France was, in contrast, a very angry place at the time. The year she died, I had warned her not to come, but vanity and the lure of fashion proved to be too strong. She died in 1789 - guillotined. She still visits me every year (in two separate parts). We have been friends for the last 230 years. She much prefers the Dusty Victorian to my Vancouver condo. For Halloween, she thought it would be fun to show off her latest dress and welcome ‘trick or treaters’ at the Dusty Victorian’s door.

The Contessa will make her appearance on the front porch of the DV a week before Halloween. All materials used to make the Contessa's dress and wig were recycled. Different types of sticky tapes and glue were used to put it together. Of course, the Contessa believes that all is made of silk and wool. To meet a real expert and artist in paper dress making visit Isabelle de Borchgrave.