Saturday 19 February 2011

Ten ...clear bottles hanging from a tree

At university I'm currently doing a project on detail. Our research for this project should come from an object you can collect (have I blogged this project before? Having blog-ja vue), I've been collecting bottles, which isn't very challenging when you live with students. 

Researching the history of bottles (shut up) I found a few stories that say it was believed bottles caught evil spirits because of the whistling noise that's made when air passes over the top of a bottle, you know like when you blow the edge of the lip? So people, probably women lets be honest, left them on their doorstep to prevent evil spirits entering their household. QUITE INTERESTING.

As part of my research I hung bottles from a tree and my mate Will took pictures of them for me. It was actually pretty windy, I wonder if I caught any ghouls...





Photo's taken by Will Stabby Lakin

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Alt pin up girls






From the early 1840’s burlesque to late 19th century cheesecake pin ups to the movie stars of the 1950’s, pin ups have evolved into many different aesthetics over the decades HOWEVER they all carry a few of the same themes;
  • Sex appeal
  • Fabulous attire
  • A penchant for glamour
  • Flawless beauty
In my opinion the modern day pin up is the alternative pin up. Most often seen wearing vintage fashion (think 1950’s housewife in an American car ad) into their look, cat like eyes, strong eyebrows, painted lips and well groomed hair. Alt pin ups differ from those of previous years with their body modifications, these can come in the form of piercings, coloured hair and tattoos, usually nautical ‘Sailor Jerry’ styles. 


You can see these vixens watching, and commonly performing, burlesque at a swish venue, attending 50’s style gigs, trawling vintage shops and frequenting tea shops, the key to an ideal pin up hot spot is retro although it’s not uncommon to see such girls in rock bars and gigs. Music tastes may include; Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, Johnny Ace, Little Richard and Johnny Cash aswell as a mixture of punk, metal and rock. 


 Photo by Jayne Emsley







To open my eyes to this glamourous-not-a-hair-out-of-place world I interview Daisy Cutter, a tea guzzling/cake munching/burlesque dancing/costume making/modelling wonder of a woman all squeezed into a petite and beautifully decorated body;


Name/profession:  
Gemma Haigh aka daisy cutter
Costume maker extrodinere 
Home:  
Is where you feel safe (or Huddersfield) 
Favourite animal:
Meow
What are you currently working on?:
An outfit for skin two, rubber ball, for myself and morning star (my other limb) 


Do you have a party trick?: 
That funny thing I do with my fingers, when I bend the tip, where it doesn't bend on regular folks.....
 If you could only listen to three bands for the rest of your life who would you pick?
Rancid, because there my fave EVER! Horrorpops, cheer me up, no end
Johnny cash, the king 
What was the last book you read?:
I'm reading pride and prejudice and zombies right now
Favourite place to shop?:
The second hand markets!!
if you could visit anywhere in the world where would you go and why?:
Japan, it looks exciting and fun!
The most amazing person in the world is?
 There are sooooo many!!! but if I had to name one.....Gypsy Rose Lee, I'd love to have met her.
Favourite place to go out?
A burlesque night, fetish club or some other such nonsense place!
What makes you smile?
Simple things, like my kittens waking me up, walking the dog in a pretty place or being told I'm loved.
What makes you frown?
Hahahahaaha, ignorance and stupidity
Whats the naughtiest thing you’ve done?
Now that would be telling!!
What are you most proud of?
All the things I've achieved in the face of adversion.
Who would you raise from the dead?
Tura satana!
Tell me something I don’t know about you?
This is hard cos I think you know most things about me silly!

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Carlos Arroyo Galaxia

Carlos Arroyo Galaxia's series 'I wish you were me' gives me goosebumps all over, there's something about it that feels very personal and the colours work together so well. Read more here.













The Red Shoes

Everyones been banging on about Black Swan for my entire life. I saw it recently and I felt like it had been completely over hyped, costumes are alright but not AMAZING, expected far more from Rodarte. Also, Mila Kunis blows Natalie Portman out of the water. Blaah.
ANYWAY
Enough about Black Swan, all that nonsense reminded me of The Red Shoes, which I feel is much much better. The costumes are beautiful, that colour palette of nudes, reds and light blues combined with Jean Short's (what a babe) amber hair give the whole film a really surreal, dreamy feel. Also, Brian Easdale composed the music for the film and it compliments the storyline beautifully. Oh yeah and it's Tim Walkers favourite film so it's obviously much better than Black Swan.








Monday 7 February 2011

Girl Power Forever

I've got really into music again recently after last years late night zombie sessions to radio one dubstep (if it's not live don't bother). Today I've been sewing frantically to female fronted bands. These are my favourites.













From top: Blondie, Transvision Vamp, Bikini Kill, Garbage, X Ray Spex, Hole, Juliette and The Licks, The Slits, Siouxsie and The Banshees aaaaaand The Raincoats.


Tuesday 1 February 2011

punk/hippie/pin up

So, last week at University we basically had a whole afternoon to walk around East London playing dress up which was AWESOME. Here are some pictures of my mate Emma dressed up, such a good sport!

Punk

A combination of studs, leather, tartan and docs make this outfit scream punk, if only it was all as beaten up as the docs it would be (almost) perfect.








Hippy

The term hippy for me conjures up images of men in flares playing guitars and women dancing in super long maxi dresses, flowers plaited and matted in the hair and psychedilia. Our take on modern hippy included flower printed hareems and a knitted vest (which isn't actually very hippy at all but we really liked the combination)





Pin up

From a cheeky cheesecake picture (google it) to burleqsue to just capturing the style, pin up has creeped up over the last few years in a big way, blame Dita Von Teese or the Mad Men craze. A modern day twist on this look is tonnes of tattoo's (usually nautical) and coloured hair. This dress with its halterneck tie, cutesy print and figuire hugging top is a classic pin up piece.




(as per all pictures from google images except my own, if you own any then holla)