" She’d had it painted, and planted, and primped, and festooned, and draped to within an inch of its very long life. But it was asking too much of the poor thing. The result was something akin to dressing a bulldog up like an opera dancer. Underneath the tulle, it was still a bowlegged bulldog. "

― Gail Carriger , The Parasol Protectorate Boxed Set: Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, Heartless and Timeless