Thursday 20 January 2011

Coverlicious: Beautiful Cover Dresses #2 Envy and Splendour by Anna Godbersen


Coverlicious is a feature that I post here spontaneously where I feature anything to do with covers from covers I love and cover trends to look-a-like covers and cover reveals.

In my last Coverlicious post I featured the covers of The Luxe and Rumours, the first two books in the Luxe series by Anna Godbersen. If you missed the first post, here's what I had to say about the cover design of all the series and a summary of the plot (if you read the previous post then just skip down to the purple title!):
I adore these covers- they are just simply gorgeous! Anna Godbersen is so lucky to have such amazing cover art as I have known many fans of the series to have originally picked them up because the covers are so eye catching. I would just love to try on one of these dresses and go to a ball in it for one night. Wouldn't you just feel like a princess in one of them? I have to admit that they would be pretty hard to walk in though let alone dance in but a girl can have her dreams!I have since found out that the dresses are actually inaccurate to the time but even though I think it historical detail is important, especially inside the book, their beauty gives it a good excuse.

Summary of the Luxe series (from the publisher's (Penguin) blog:

Glittering with jewels, brimming with secrets and loaded with eligible young men, The Luxe is the most delicious, tantalising and completely addictive read. Think The O.C. meets 19th century New York. High society, beautiful debutantes, buckets of scandal – in short, it’s just completely irresistible!

I read the series very quickly around Easter time and the divine covers didn't disappoint me. The summary above describes it very well, it really is addictive with characters that I grew to care about. It might not be historically accurate but it's a fun romp in the past and I really enjoyed it.


Envy and Splendour by Anna Godbersen



At first I thought my favourite of the cover was the pink Luxe dress but since my last post, this one has really begun to grow on me. It's really elegant and pretty without being too 'girly.' It does look a little bit like a wedding dress though. However the orange swirls on the cover to the left make it look less so like that.
I also like the position that the model is in as it looks like she is running away from something and glancing back. It gives a really good view of the dress as it sweeps behind too.







This is my least favourite of the cover/dresses. It's not that I don't like purple, it's just that lilac colour and the layers of silk don't go as well for me as the others do. I still like the dress though and in the last post, some people commented it was their favourite one. The model looks so much how I imagine the character of Lina who it is depicting to look like and the dress fits her personality too.  I MUCH prefer it with the swirls on the cover, it gives it a softer and prettier look. That is the only one out of the series that I actually own.

I found a really good video on You Tube featuring the Splendour cover shoot- I loved having a look behind the scenes to see how they reach the final product. It features two dresses: the purple one that you see on the final cover, which is dubbed 'Lovely in Lavendar' and an alternative 'All That Glitters is Gold Dress.'  I would prefer to wear the gold one myself and it fits with the time period better but I think the lilac works better for Lina's character. It's really worth watching it!

Which one do you prefer?



7 comments:

  1. I really like the Envy dress - the two-tone effect makes it more interesting and very elegant, like you say. Not a fan of the orangey swirly design on that one cover, though...I think it just makes it look too 'busy' and detracts from the simple beauty of the dress.

    On a completely different note, I was just wondering - did you get my e-mail? :)

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  2. I love these covers. Even the gold dress that didn't get a cover is beautiful. I also like the contrast between the white and red on Envy.

    I agree with Danya, though. I don't like the swirls on the covers. The dresses are so pretty on their own. The swirls just detract from them and make the cover look too busy to me.

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  3. The gold one seems much more beautiful to me then the chosen lilac one, but both are simply divine. Envy is my current read and my favourite so far, and I agree that the dress is simple but perfect for Diana as a character. The idea of the model 'running away' on the cover is so appropriate, and gives a feel of mystery to the whole novel from the outside! Kx

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  4. Thanks for your comments everyone!

    Hmmm.. I agree about the swirls detracting from the simple beauty of the dresses. Whilst I'm usually a fan of swirlson covers, it doesn't really work that well here.

    Danya- Yes, I did you're email and I've replied to it now :)

    Kate- Yes, I think so too. I'm glad you're enjoying Envy, the series gets so addicting by that point. The running away illusion really shows that the cover artist has thought carefully about relating it to the plot and characters, which is great!

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  5. I LOVE THIS POST STEPHANIE!
    Ahh, you really have a nack for giving us wonderful posts!

    Hmmm, I aswell, am not a fan of the swirls, it's a little OTT in ky opinion. The beauty of the dresses is enough I think.

    As for the gold and lilac dress... I love the lilac one! I think thats probably because I am a huge fan of purple though!

    Thank you for watching my 'Book Haul' video! I cannot wait to read 'Revolution!' I'm so intrigued to see how she piceces to completley different time periods together!

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  6. Anonymous13:54:00

    I really like the dress on the cover of runaway! It makes the book only more intriguing.it really looks like a great book! :)

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  7. Anonymous13:57:00

    I mean rumours! Sorry hard to read.

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I love comments, they make me smile! So thank you for taking the time to write one, I read all of them.
I try my best to reply here or on your blog :)

Stephanie x