Stormy Sub-Zeros

- Isabella S.

A bomb cyclone hit over two thirds of the US, with more than 240 million inhabitants being placed under an extreme weather alert on the 23rd of December. The devastating temperatures caught the attention of the president, who warned the country, saying: “This is not like a snow day when you were a kid, this is serious stuff.”

Floridians were warned to watch out for iguanas falling from trees, as the freezing temperatures have a tendency to immobilise the cold-blooded creatures. Temperatures dipped to a painful -45.6°C in Montana, and to -52.6°C in Canada. More than 1.5 million American customers lost power in their homes, with over 100 000 households in Maine, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina each experiencing power outages.

This disaster, paired with spiking energy prices, left many Americans exposed to the elements. Along with homeowners, the 600 000 homeless people in the US (as of January 2022) were hard hit by the storm, having to brave temperatures that could cause frostbite within minutes. "Severe weather exacerbatesthe cruel reality of homelessness in America," said Donald Whitehead, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless. At least five deaths were caused by this storm, some caused by exposure.

Transportation in the festive period was also obstructed, with over 6 000 flights cancelled and more than 20 000 delayed, according to FlightAware. Interstates in Iowa, South Dakota, and Oregon have shut, with a driving ban being put in place in and around Buffalo. These closed motorways left cars stranded, and motorists were evacuated to via ASSOCIATED PRESS

protect them from the deadly temperatures. Warming centres were subsequently opened around the country. Festive deliveries were unsurprisingly halted, with companies like USPS closing 89 post offices across the Midwest.

This meteorological disaster is being named the storm of the decade, let's hope it doesn't spend its holidays in Paris!

Queen Victoria ' s wedding dress, a garment analysis

- Laia B.

A fashion icon breaks royal tradition and creates a lasting western bridal tradition

Nowadays, most wedding dresses are white. In the past, however,weddingdressesvariedgreatlyincolor.Brown was a very popular choice for one’s wedding day, and often,thebridewouldrepurposeherweddingdressafter the event, so it would have to retain some form of wearability,whichitdidinasimplecolorsuchasbrown. Although a white wedding dress was not by any means shocking,whenQueenVictoriaoptedforthiscoloronher wedding day, she formed a lasting tradition that persists today.

Unlike the usual image of a forced or arranged royal wedding, entries from Victoria’s diary show her excitement for her “special day”, as well as the love she felt for Prince Albert who, unsurprisingly, was her cousin. She is quoted as saying that “[T]o feel [she] was, and [is], loved by such an Angel as Albert was too great a delight to describe!”.

A woman so smitten and so enthusiastic about this wedding would want her dress to beperfect and carry meaning, and so it was and did.

The dress is highly structured, its bodice alone being composed of eight parts. Although the general public traditionally assumes 19th-century fashion is synonymous with modesty, Victoria’s wedding dress features a wide, open neckline andoff-the-shoulder puffed sleeves. This silhouette was meant to depict her virginal and pure side, not only to her fiancé, but also to her subjects. The choice of the color white not only reinforces this virginal, pure, innocent image, but also highlights the beautiful and intricate lace. Thus, the wedding dress itself as well as the color white became synonymous with innocence and romance.

via The Royal Collection Trust