In response to why Alix always looks so sad, I'd say it's because she was a serious-minded person who, though she could laugh and have fun, approached situations--such as the milestone of her coming out party--with gravity and a sober demeanor.
From the time I was a child I was always encouraged to "smile for the camera" but felt intensely uncomfortable doing so . . . and years later feel the same way. My friends know that I laugh a great deal and can display an ironic and sometimes zany sense of humor . . . but, again, that's after you get to know me. I'm not wired to be an "on cue" type of person.
When I first read about Alexandra and her tendency toward shyness and intensity of feeling, it felt as if I was reading about myself. And when I see her serious expression in any number of photos, I am reminded of my own high school photo, and how some yahoo wrote across that photo in my
own yearbook, "Smile!" Sorry, folks, but some of us just don't smile perfunctorily . . .
