1998 was also the time when I started to dabble in fashion… before then, I was a thrift store queen, and never thought of buying designer, all the sudden I could afford it..and boy did I buy up all the Miu Miu shoes possible. It was also the first time I could afford magazines, therefore I quickly became a magazine junkie. My favorites at the time tended to be British ones like Dazed and Confused, I-D, The Face, and a little new one called Tank. I think I liked these in particular because the design of the layouts, and of course the fashion. It was so different from what I was used to thinking of a Fashion Magazine, something with a lot of ads and articles on how to please men. This new breed of fashion magazines were great because they didn’t patronize me… in fact they led me into a world I really didn’t know anything about, a world I could be interested in. If it weren’t for these magazines, I highly doubt I’d be typing these words today.

Tank is celebrating their ten year anniversary… here are some snippets from the special issue. Mary Kate photographed by Mark Hom… for the first time in my life, I want to recreate a skeletwin outfit.

More delicious stripes… Photography by Jurgen Teller

I hope Ipso Facto means wigs… if not.. it should. Photography by Cameron Smith

The Russians are coming!

Another magazine celebrating their 10th anniversary is Russian Vogue. To commemorate the anniversary, they’ve asked a whole slew of designers to decorate a Russian folk classic… YSL, Prada, Maison Martin Margiela… so cute, I totally want these…

Fashion journalism is so different today than it was 10 years ago… I almost can’t wait to see what it’s like in another 10 years.

Wear Pixels

I’ve been seeing pixels everywhere, heck as many hours as I spend on the computer, its uprising I dont’ dream of them. What started this off, is when I found Lina Karlsson on one of my Myspace excursions… She doesn’t have a lot written about her, but I really like how she has integrated the pixel aesthetic into the knits…

Pixel Paintings and Floors

Artist Tauba Auerbach, has done lots of interesting work with typography, and her gauche paintings of binary type are also really intriguing… the middle photo is of an installation, but I’m pretty sure someone can have this done to their floor. You just need a lot of tiles.

Have a Pixel Seat

Surprisingly enough, Christian Zuzunaga went to the same college (and degree course) I did, graduating a few years after me… he went on to RCA. He has quite an extensive portolio of pixel inspired environents…from wall panels to chairs and lounge furniture, like this Moroso sofa:

Before you get desert, you have to eat all your pixels…

Ever since I landed upon these pixel cookies by Eva Funderburg on flickr, I’ve been dying to make them. Maybe  not skulls, but definitely a pixelated Christmas treat. First I have to get my hands on a Play-Dough extruder (part of the Fun Factory), then I’ll find out if I’ve outgrown eating Play-Dough.

Step right up! Ladies and Gentlemen! Kids of aaaalllll ages! It’s the one… the only….

Ringleader in my closet.

I’m not sure why, but with all the circus jobs you can have, I’ve always been most fascinated by the Ringleader…  He’s always trying to look classy, but never quite makes it, a showman without a real show, a fraud, a loner. Maybe I just like the tophat and the whip. Who knows?

This is Part 3 in my Halloween series, of costumes found in my closet. So far, I’ve been a sailor, a can-can girl, and today a circus ringleader all with little or no additional cost. Every day I’ll post a costume made mostly of the the clothes I already own. Of course I’ll need accessories, but while we still have time (8 days) I’ll only post accessories you’ll actually be able to acquire before Halloween. Towards the big day, I’ll work entirely with my own pre-existing wardrobe.

Ringleader Essentials

Below are the base essentials of any ringleader attire… most of which many are basics we all  have in our wardrobe. Knee high riding boots… I have a pair of vertical stripe trousers, a button up shirt (I borrowed one from rocky) a blazer… bonus points if you have a tailcoat…. which I don’t have (and am sad about this hole in my wardrobe). In the picture, I have a tie, but in research I found a BOW tie works better for this costume, so I borrowed one from Alex, Rocky’s brother. And of course, white gloves are essential… because as a ringleader,  you’ll be using your hands a lot. Since I don’t own a whip… I used this leather strap, a dog leash or leather belt might work fine. I just rolled it so it looks like a whip. Remember with costumes, gestures and imagination can go a long way.

The Result

About that Tophat…

Apologies for the Lee Harvey  Oswald-eque cut and paste tophat. I don’t own one myself, and it’s essential to any ringleader costume. Tophats can be found anywhere, joke shops, magician shops, costume shops, party supply stores,  Amazon, so you can get yours in time for Halloween if you start now. Or you can find out about those Samantha Cole top hats, as they are darling.

The Mustache… I just drew it on using a black eyeliner. it’s a little more difficult than I thought it would be, and the eyeliner tends to smudge which is good for smokey eyes… bad for mustaches… so if you own the Handle Bar Mustache Tatty Devine necklace .. you may be off the hook… or  you can get a temporary tattoo for $3.50 on Etsy. Just hope it doesn’t have staying power… not something you’d want to keep unless you’re going to participate in mo’vember.  Or now that I think of it… a pen might last through the night.  If you’re going to do that, i would suggest practicing, because my first ’stache  was really crooked.

I have a lot of ideas of what I can do for Halloween, and I can only post a few of them, and please let me know if there is any one you might want to see, or if you have any suggestions… please leave a comment:

Halloween in My Closet:

1. Circus Ringleader (second by Nikki)
2. Sailor (done! click here to see!)
   
3. Natasha from Bullwinkle & Friends (second by Anna, and Cammila)
4. Can-Can Girl DONE! (second by Kate and UND)
5. Pirate or …
6. a Founding Father… same base costume as Pirate.
7. The Mad Plaider
8. Beetle Juice
9. The See’s Candies Girl (only makes sense in California… but Jeanne would like to see it!)
10. Evil Babydoll (second by Mette)
11. 60’s Housewife (second by Aidan)
12. An East German DDR protester (may be offensive… but Tres Plus Cool would like to see it)
13. A superhero
14. Dawn Davenport (suggested by Imelda Matt)
15. Cat Lady (suggested by shopfair second by Casey)
16. ?????

If you look to the left, you’ll see me as a can-can girl circa 2004. I borrowed a striped evening gown from a friend and wore a corset over it. Underneath I wore the biggest red petticoat… and between the squeezing for the corset and the layers of the petticoat, even at night in the autumn I was boiling hot.. .and the next day I was in pain… goes to show, if you’re going to do corsets, go custom, ask Ashe Mischief, she seems to know a lot about corsetry.

Here is the the second part of my Halloween series… yesterday I was a sailor… every day I’ll post a costume made mostly of the the clothes I already own. Of course I’ll need accessories, but while we still have time (9 days) I’ll only post accessories you’ll actually be able to acquire before Halloween. Towards the big day, I’ll work entirely with my own pre-existing wardrobe.

Can-Can Girl Essentials

Below are the base essentials I found in my closet… to be a can-can girl, you’ll need a tube top, here I have a sequin one, two skirts one for the top, a second one to give volume and look like a petticoat-luckily I had a lace skirt that works perfectly. Gloves… all I have right now are leather gloves and vintage tea gloves, but opera lenght gloves will work even better. Lace or fishnet tights. A choker… I made one out of black bias tape, and sewed it on with a single stitch… but some of you may have more substantial chokers.

The Result

If I had no time… this would be my end result, some improvements would be getting a pair of opera length gloves, or feather fascinator… like this, this, this, or this.

I put my hair up in a bouffant, which can also be handy for other costumes revolving around the 60’s… liquid eyeliner is handy for giving lovely cat eyes, and a beauty mark. I used lipstick to make more exaggerated blusher and for red lips.

Since I have a lot of ideas of what I can do for Halloween, and I can only post a few of them, and please let me know if there is anyone you might want to see, or if you have any suggestions… please leave a comment:

Halloween in My Closet:

1. Circus Ringleader (second by Nikki)
2. Sailor (done! click here to see!)
   
3. Natasha from Bullwinkle & Friends
4. Can-Can Girl
5. Pirate or …
6. a Founding Father… same base costume as Pirate.
7. The Mad Plaider
8. Beetle Juice
9. The See’s Candies Girl (only makes sense in California… but Jeanne would like to see it!)
10. Evil Babydoll (second by Mette)
11. 60’s Housewife
12. An East German DDR protester (may be offensive… but Tres Plus Cool would like to see it)
13. A superhero
14. Dawn Davenport (suggested by Imelda Matt)
15. Cat Lady (suggested by shopfair)
16. ?????

As a kid, my mom would always insist on making some cool costumes, like the one she made for my sister and I back in 1980. Like a brat, I wanted the fake plastic costumes all the other kids had. These days, I tend to like costumes that integrate clothes I already have, they tend to be better quality, more comfortable, and most of all cheaper.

Here is the first part of my Halloween series… every day I’ll post a costume made mostly of the the clothes I already own. Of course I’ll need accessories, but while we still have time (10 days) I’ll only post accessories you’ll actually be able to acquire before Halloween. Towards the big day, I’ll work entirely with my own pre-existing wardrobe.

The Sailor

Well, this may not be a particular sailor, kind of a mix between French and Russian… and a little Gautier.. Here I’ve comprised an outfit with a nautical tee.. pretty much everyone I know owns in some form or another…and my knickerbockers… which can be an easy DIY project as simple as cut off black trousers with a rubber band if you’re lazy, or you can sew a ribbon hem and tie the bottoms so they are pull in below the knee. I decided to wear just normal brown Oxfords, just because it just seemed right.

The hats, I photoshopped in (like you didn’t notice) there are lots of sailor hats you can buy online for pretty cheap, the sailor hat on the left is a $5 and the beret with the pompom is more detailed at $19.

I actually have a lot of ideas of what I can do for Halloween, so I’m going to post a few of them, and please let me know if there is anyone you might want to see, or if you have any suggestions… please leave a comment:

Halloween in My Closet:

1. Circus Ringleader
2. Sailor
3. Natasha from Bullwinkle & Friends
4. Can-Can Girl
5. Pirate or …
6. a Founding Father… same base costume as Pirate.
7. The Mad Plaider
8. Beetle Juice
9. The See’s Candies Girl (only makes sense in California)
10. Evil Babydoll
11. 60’s Housewife
12. An East German DDR protester (may be offensive)
13. A superhero
14. ???

While I know everyone and their mother has been posting about Gareth Pugh’s incredible SS09 collection… I just couldn’t let this one go by without posting about it either. It’s amazing how he pushes the envelope by choosing form over function. While I do believe there are pieces in this collection that are by far some of the more wearable pieces he’s ever designed… gorgeous as anything I’ve seen.. there are his more experimental pieces going between science fiction and Elizabethan references. I do believe that there is a lot of Star Wars in this, with the light side and the dark side.. and of  course the white armored look which I can’t help but to think of a storm trouper.

Science Fiction in Real Life

Gareth Pugh SS09 on the runway, and a couple of Stom Troupers calling collect… photo by Steve Schofield in his series about people who dress up as (science) fictional characters.. it’s a great photo series.

Life and Legend

Elizabethan revival, in the most modern of ways… of course you know I can’t help but to post neck ruffs.

Maybe, just maybe, someone will put these two together in a film as successfully as Gareth Pugh so Rocky and I can agree on a movie…. we’ll see.

Mad Men, in case you haven’t heard is a television series on AMC about an advertising agency in early 1960’s New York.  It’s a show that doesn’t do any rewriting of history, where the gender lines are well defined, smoking, drinking, infidelity, smoking, drinking, and driving around without seat belts. While all the characters have depth to them, none of them flawless, I’ve come to be most fascinated with Betty Draper, the house wife and Peggy Olson, the female copywriter. I know, I know, Joan… but for some reason I’m just captivated by the repression of these two ladies, nothing is obvious, perhaps it’s a character trait I wish to have… but then, what good of a blogger would I be then?

She’s a Betty

From the beginning, I knew I would love Betty Draper. She kind of reminds me of my grandmother, only my grandmother is very vocal… but they have certain perfectionist tendencies. Betty’s ascent into cabin fever, caged madness under a very well presented classic Grace Kelly exterior.

Peggy didn’t get married…

Career girl by fate, she’s interesting because she doesn’t go by the rules, per se… but she doesn’t break them either. She’s innocent looking, a girl, but a woman. I’m so interested to see her thirty years later. My favorite outfits of hers are her church suits and now she’s starting to wear suits to work, like this checkered dress… it’s so lovley with the buttons down the side. Very femme.

Stills via the AMC photogallery, and the Betty in the Butterfly Blouse, and Peggy in the checkered dress are from the Chicago Tribune.

For those of you who aren’t living stateside, I’ve found this site helpful.

Don’t you dare call me a smatter hauler!
(hanky thief)

[Slap]

I’m much more of a bawdy basket.

Visit the SORT Shop on Etsy.

*

Petal Pusher

So… now that fall is settling in, florals are no longer part of the trend equation? Well, I don’t know, as the flower and female personae have gone hand in hand for as long as the human race can remember. Looking at these two pieces first by Valentino, check out the cuffs… it’s sculptural genius and Jil Sander does a similar thing in a more clean, modern way with the collar mimicking a budding tweed rose. These petals are just gorgeous, and personally I’d like to move the Valentino blouse over to the Jil Sander tweed coat. I know it’s over the top, but I’d swoon over it anyway.