our words cut & thrust

illuminations:

…the Circassian was Sonya, with mustache and eyebrows drawn from burnt cork…Sonya’s outfit was the best of all. Her mustache and eyebrows were remarkably becoming. Everyone told her that she was very beautiful, and she was in an animatedly energetic mood unusual for her. Some inner voice told her that her fate was to be decided that night or never, and in a man’s clothes she seemed a completely different person.

…

It seemed to him that it was only today, for the first time, owing to that cork mustache, that he had known her fully. Indeed, that evening Sonya was merrier, livelier, and prettier than Nikolai had ever seen her before.

—War and Peace, Vol. II, part four, chapter XI

[photo: Vivienne Westwood fall/winter 2010)