We just moved Marcelina Sowa out of the naughty widows file.

When an editorial is named “Being Báthory’, we feel compelled to follow the knowledge trail. Marcelina Sowa, lensed in this dark, moody, seductive editorial by Sinsong and styled by Emily Bess could be donning her knickers and garter belt to pay homage to the Hungarian Elizabeth (Erzsébet) Báthory, a formidable woman who was a young widow but also accused of the sadistic, blood-thirsty killing of 612 women. images via FGR

Elizabeth Báthory became known as “Hungary’s national monster”, who finally died in 1614, under house arrest. All records about her life were sealed for more than a century and her name was forbidden to be spoken in Hungarian society. It’s disputed whether she was the model for Bram Stoker’s Dracula.