Miss Havisham

Most of the time when models approach me and want to do cosplay I say no. The idea of cosplay to me most of the time brings up images of people in costumes with a boring white background. Nothing against it, but it is not my cup of tea. However, when my friend Bonnie Erin brought up this idea to me I was more than willing to listen. Bonnie is the same model who I did the bathtub murder scene with in Dec 2018 and so I knew that she would put as much energy into the planning and execution of this photo shoot as I would. I was not wrong.

The idea for this photo shoot began with Bonnie telling me that she could still fit in to her wedding gown from her wedding 35 years ago.

Bonnie wanted to do something fun with her gown, but could not bring herself to do a trash the dress shoot, as is the current trend in post-wedding photography. She suggested to me that we do a photo shoot based on the character Miss Havisham from the Dickens book “Great Expectations.”

Miss Havisham, as noted earlier, is a character in the Charles Dickens novel Great Expectations (1861). She is a wealthy spinster, once rejected at the altar, who insists on wearing her wedding dress for the rest of her life. She lives in a ruined mansion. This photo shoot went beyond cosplay, this shoot was the actress Bonnie acting in character with the entire scene set up in her living room. Instead of telling you the story, I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Miss Havisham lived with her dining room table set up as it was for her wedding party, unchanged, in her wedding gown for the rest of her life.

Naturally, when you live like she did and do not change things at all, dust bunnies are going to appear.

She was very wealthy.

Every wedding has flowers. Flowers don’t last forever.

How can you have a wedding without cake?

The clocks in her house were stuck at 8:40 AM, the time her would be husband left her at the altar.

And so she just left things exactly as they were at that time for the rest of her life. Except you can’t prevent dust from settling over time.

She lost her shoe, so she only wore one shoe.

Perhaps she had hoped to honeymoon with her husband in Moscow?

Eventually we all run out of patience and need to let a little stress out. Imagine living with in the memory of having someone leave you at the altar and never getting past that point in your life.

Do you blame her for wanting to try a small piece of that delicious cake?

By far this was one of the most extensive preparations that I have been involved with for a photo shoot, but just like the previous Bathtub Murder Scene, it was a resounding success! Bonnie is not only a beautiful model, but a very talented actress and very adept at setting the scene for amazing photos. And, any woman who can still fit in her wedding gown 35 years after her wedding gets major respect from me! The next great project which we have planned is the Cat Burglar.