Heart Breaker

Wearing: Saddle shoes by Ati Lin, Dangerfield dress, Target sweater, Nasty Gal faux leather jacket (handpainted by Esther Kim of estherlovesyou) and Meadham Kirchhoff X Topshop handbag. 

I can't believe I've had this jacket for months now and haven't worn it once! Well that's not completely true I wore it once but hadn't looked at it since then. However, it's the first time I've featured it on this blog and I bet you're all dying to know where it came from! The jacket is faux leather made by Nasty Gal and the back panel was hand painted by artist Esther Kim from estherlovesyou. Esther ran a competition on her instagram several months ago now and lo and behold- I was the winner! This outfit was actually meant to go with this moodboard but I kept putting it off. I was worried that it might feel too cliche or whatever, but I also felt like my old hair wasn't really on par with the whole outfit. Since having it cut and colour I feel much more confident in my own body, but also my ability to create outfits which aren't for the male gaze and are purely an escape from the mundane. Hence why this outfit is more like an exaggeration of the final scene from Grease (1978) with some Cry-Baby (1990) thrown in for good measure but movie nostalgia aside this look was inspired by real women.

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.