Louise Alsop 2013

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to be a "cool older girl in high school"- not in a creepy way but to kind of monitor how teenage girls suddenly experiment with how they look and what they wear. There was a moment in Inside Out where Riley transfers to her knew school and mentally takes note of who she should be friends with, singling out the "cool girl" in the room with half black and half blue hair. I always aspired to BE the cool older girl, and when I help out kids in high school I know from work or those who are at the university for work experience I kinda try to give off those vibes but. Yeah it never happened for me. At most I will wear ripped tights underneath a cute skirt or dress but that's as far as I've ever gotten. On the other hand, Louise Alsop totally understands and her designs embody this wild energy with her simple monochromatic and heavily frayed designs. It appears many of the Westminster Graduates were encouraged to reconstruct and subsequently deconstruct their designs for the purpose of *fashion* but none did it quite as well as she did. Plus she created health goth BEFORE IT WAS EVEN A THING!! These clothes are way better than the traditional health goth and minus the Adidas slide sandals.

*Images via Westminster Fashion

Brooding

I'm really looking forward to finally seeing the David Bowie exhibition at ACMI in Melbourne, and as a consequence of that I've of course created a moodboard. It features some of the photographs that accompanied Grimes in her interview with The FADER magazine (which I highly recommend), as well as Kate Bush and Beth Ditto. Basically the unifying theme is transformation viewed from the eyes of a teenager. It is those years which seem the most pivotable, informative and malleable in terms of who we are and who we will become. It is less easy to transform ourselves in our twenties, and then into our thirties and forties without it being labelled as a mid-life crisis. Despite its difficulties it is always worthwhile to reexamine and have the courage to re-imagine ourselves but is fraught with the social perils of alienating our loved ones and those around us. This narrative is something that I come back to time and time again, which makes me think these feelings are part of the human experience in general but more closely associated with youth. Seeing someone else's life chronicled through outfits, but also the makeup they wore onstage will help inform these thoughts, but open many more questions. 

1- Kate Bush performing “Babooshka” on the Dr. Hook Show, 1980. 2 & 3- Grimes for Fader Magazine Issue #99 August-September 2015 by Ben Grieme. 4, 5 & 6- YSL.com. 7- unbenannt by Czar Kristoff on Flickr. 8- Marjan Jonkman by Greg Kadel for Numero. 9, 10 & 11- sadkejawaan. 12, 13 & 14- Exile on Prince St by Susan Meiselas. 15- Damaris Goddrie shot by Bryony Wright. 16- Cry BB by Hannah Kristina. 17, 18, 19, 20 & 21- Beth Ditto in POP Magazine (2007), “Size Zero” by Steven Klein. 22 & 23- Chloë Sevigny releases No Time for Love, a photobook filled with snapshots from photobooths and candid images of the men in her life, from her father to her first loves. Available on InnenZines.com

Beat it, creep!

Lately I've been intrigued by the 1950s greaser girl aesthetic in which women were just starting to appropriate what had been traditionally masculine elements as part of their outfits. I've made similar moodboards in the past, however, without the mugshots these *bad girl vibes* are less explicit. The female characters in John Waters movies who dress feminine but are either tough or trashy or both have also been a source of inspiration. Shot outs to Wanda Woodward for having the most bomb hair throughout Cry-Baby! The commonality across the broad spectrum of fashions which emerged during this decade was impeccably styled hair. I'm in desperate need for a change with my own do' but I'm a little stuck for ideas. Ultimately the most influential factor will be how my haircut will affect later outfit posts and how I express personal style, but for now I am content to be stuck in this informative period. Hair dye is also a possibility in terms of a personal transformation, hence all the photos of Tavi hanging out with cool older girls.

1 & 2- Dorothy Bradley (left), photographed for LIFE magazine by Martha Holmes. 3- unknown. 4- Tessa for The Pulp Zine. 5- Tavi Gevinson. 6 & 7- unknown. 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22- Sixteen and Spring via Style Rookie. 10- North Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills street in the 1950s. 12- Photo by Joseph Sterling, Stephen Daiter Gallery. 13- unknown. 15- via vintagedressups.17 & 19- unknowns.