Down the Rabbithole

As a child, I didn't much appreciate my meanderings through the underground world of Alice in Wonderland. The original Disney rendition was much like a Technicolour nightmare for my young self, with a bizarre set of characters that all seemed very loud and too overly moonstruck to be believable.  The book itself, to my commonsensical 5th grade mind, was without a head or a tail: rather, it was more like an odd assortment of bits and pieces that suddenly agreed to pull themselves together to form something vaguely ressembling a novel and was, by a very strange audience of critics, dubbed a classic.
However, it was only at 15, as I developed a discerning eye and a knack at seeing the hidden metaphor through the supposed madness, that I started seeing what a gem 'Alice in Wonderland' truly is. It is actually a lovely and elegantly written metaphor for life and growing up, so well written that it takes a skilled and cultured palate to realize what it is under the glamour. The fantastically whimsical crazy characters are no more crazy than the people we run into every day, the incredible transformations that Alice goes through are just like the growing-up process. And so began a beautiful friendship that resulted in many ramblings in Wonderland.
However, to the world outside several small 'in-the-know' creative communities, Alice in Wonderland was a perpetual fixture on the nursery-book shelf, only dusted off in order to make some new woefully inadequate cartoon version; that is, until Tim Burton got to it. With his new version that was grafted seamlessly into the other two books, the world exploded with Alice references, in music, fashion and literature. Pocketwatches were suddenly a sought-after accessory, and the gorgeous costumes inspired many a fashion house.
The world may have moved on, but the small crafting communities still recognize Wonderland's worth and find it a source of inspiration. Etsy still stocks dozens of pocketwatches, one of which I acquired for my birthday (fulfilling a lifelong whim), crazily patterned teacups can be found anywhere and so, the Caucus race runs on. Princess Ta-dam is also a part of this, featuring sturdy, functional yet fashionable totes, all with the dreamlike, colourful prints that just scream Alice in Wonderland.

the Rose