It feels like the brief here was, “Victorian Barbie, but designed by a person who read, like, a lot of Anne Rice in the ’90s.” To be scrupulously fair, I sincerely do think Emily Brontë would have privately enjoyed Interview With a Vampire and there is something to be said about sourcing a dress that has such powerful Dark Valentine’s Day vibes for the premiere of a film based on a book that people sometimes call a romance if they have not actually read it. (It is, to my mind, more about obsession than love — although the Laurence Olivier movie version is highly romantic, because the filmmakers chopped out like two-thirds of the book.) (I technically love the Olivier version, having said that.)
I do dig the necklace, which is beautiful and weird and a little twisted on its own:
It absolutely fits the vibe of the dress, and it’s fun to see a big necklace that isn’t just a string of honking jewels — no disrespect to strings of jewels. But this is not just some random necklace. This belonged to Elizabeth Taylor — courtesy of Richard Burton, of course — and it is extremely major, in terms of Taylor’s jewelry collection. (Avon even knocked it off at the time!) To quote Elizabeth Taylor.com:
The pendant’s surface bears an inscription in Parsee that reads, “Love is Everlasting,” along with the name of Nur Jahan, the first woman to receive the jewel as a gift from her husband, Mughal Emperor, Shah Jahangir. The diamond was then passed down to their son, Shah Jahan, who gifted it to his most adored wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Four years later, when she died, the emperor commissioned the iconic Taj Mahal mausoleum as a tribute to her. The monument inspired the naming of the diamond, which found its way to Elizabeth and Richard — another couple whose legacy of love still lives on.
I love the words “found its way” here — Burton just bought it from Cartier like a normal rich person who didn’t like to be constrained by a budget. Interestingly, this necklace was sold in the 2011 Christie’s auction of Taylor’s massive jewelry collection, but the person who bought it returned it and sued Christie’s because they alleged questions of the jewel’s provenance. Christie’s took it back, and then the Taylor estate sued them for doing that and the whole thing turned into a whole big mess — at one point, at least, Christie’s was holding some of Taylor’s other jewelry hostage! I have no idea how that suit eventually shook out but…someone loaned it to Margot and now we, blessedly, get to eyeball it. But someone get me those jewelry logistics, let’s focus on what’s important here!
