Ziegfeld Girls.

This may seem like a less than obvious source of inspiration for a series of children's illustrations...but different things inspire in different ways. Here, it is the artfullness of a pose, so evocative of the glamours of a certain era... the eloquent turn of a disdainful shoulder, a wistful and vulnerable ankle...something in the drape of the fabric, the deep shadows under a chair, the fragile facade of a painted screen concealing the harsher realities behind the scenes.

photos via pixdaus.com