Unicorn Hair Braiding

I had the pleasure of attending another class hosted by the School of Fabulousness, an initiative sparked by Melbourne's own mermaid, Lady Petrova! I've visited Petrova's boutique a lot this year and am always welcomed by the most delicious assortment of tea and cupcakes. The classes are no different, but for two hours a group of women learn new skills such as how to start a fashion business, draping for design or how to make your own flower crown! This time I attended the Unicorn Hair Braiding class taught by the lovely Theresa Winters of Braidance where we learned to braid each others hair. I finally was able to master the fishtail braid but also learned how to rope braid (as seen on Lady Petrova) and create "the waterfall". It was so much fun- and at the end we used hair chalk and glitter as well as fake flowers to achieve the desired dreamy unicorn affect. If you live in Melbourne and are interested in attending the next School of Fabulousness class, I recommend you check them out on instagram. If you're really passionate about hair or are a mad Game of Thrones fan and want to recreate Daenerys Targaryen's hairdos visit the Braidiance website.  

Wearing: Vintage dress and coat, Disneyland sweater, Asos Heeled sandals (available here), Asos faux fur scarf.

Attending the School of Fabulousness I also got to debut my newest purchases from Asos! This outfit is my own homage to the wonderful women of Advanced Style who have shown the world that to age gracefully does not mean fading into obscurity. The scarf was on sale and has now sold out, but the shoes are new and all sizes are available now. This vintage dress and coat are my go to outfit but I cannot wait for the weather to get a little warmer and to be able to go outside without wearing multiple layers and thermal tops. 

Caitlin Price Fall 2014

London Fashion Week is nothing without a bit of controversy and it seems that Fall 2015 was unfortunately not an exception to the rule. The collection which had the most lasting affect for me was Caitlin Price. From the outset it looked wonderful and the clothes were this amazing blend of sportswear luxe and runway carpet dress but ugh, we just have to talk about the gelled baby hairs first. Now, Susie Bubble defended the creative choice and mentioned something along the lines of white people doing this long before it became the Internet sensation that it has now but when I tried to research about styled babyhairs in a historic context, I couldn't find anything. Which leads me to believe that it's all bullshit and in any case, its very clear what aesthetic Price used as her inspiration. In any case it does not seem correct for someone who is white to profit off a subculture or hairstyle which was created out of necessity by women of colour. It's also worth mentioning that the opinion of someone who is Chinese, regarding cultural appropriation or the social struggles of black women is inconsequential.

While I was impressed with the pleated silk ribbons and intricate spirals on tracksuits and dresses alike, I can't help but feel guilty about liking this collection. I am in love with the idea of Princess Leia out jogging in some of these crazy outfits with her signature buns. However, I'm disappointed that not more people were calling out cultural appropriation for what it was, and that people were willing to actively defend it. If you are confused about this, or do not see what the issue is I highly recommend watching this video by Amandla Stenberg. Also, just on a final note, I was also grossed out when scanning the comments section on instagram that two users were arguing over who could do the best babycurls? Like literally two girls were stroking each others egos, AS IF YOU SHOULD COMPETE OVER WHO CAN PERPETUATE CULTURAL APPROPRIATION, LIKE WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU???

*Images via Fashion Glossary UK

girls! girls! girls!

Last month I went to see the Girlhood Art Exhibition at the Union Club Hotel in Fitzroy with Kelly from glitterous clitoris, possibly the greatest named blog ever, since she made two of the works on display there. I really wanted to go since it had been ages since I last saw her and I was extremely mad at my boyfriend and needed to surround myself with lots of art made by awesome girls. For anyone who cares he did apologise to me for that thing. Like the name would suggest there was lots of pink, my favourite piece being a small child-size tent (OK that sounds super creepy but it was magical, I promise!) decked out in Where The Wild Things Are sheets, pink tablecloths and paper doilies with secret messages on them. The tent floor was also covered in glitter which was an added bonus, so after we got up there was a glittery trail following behind us like a pair of snails. I preferred seeing the exhibition with someone else because as always Kelly wore an amazing outfit and I got to photograph her interacting with the other works.

What I found really interesting was the sheer amount of nature referenced by a number of different artists, whether that be portraiture in the woods, flowers or sketches of beetles. The more I research insects for my university project, the more critical I am of how they appear in art. I was unable to enjoy some of the more stylised interpretations and could only think within the parameters of a scientist, instantly dismissing that which was not anatomically correct. It's interesting to not how my brain is changing because I very much doubt I would have cared about that kind of stuff when I was studying insects for zoology. 

While it probably would have been better to attend the exhibition's opening on a Friday night, I enjoyed getting to mill around and view each piece at my own leisure. Also the mid-afternoon sun tinged each of my photos with a certain nostalgia which I then exaggerated in post-production. The various holes in the walls from the last girlhood exhibition and slightly tacky flooring (which I was totally into) had nuance all of their own. The muted noise from the punters downstairs were constant reminders of the exhibition's location above a pub, but I much prefer it over tonnes of people. There were only a couple other people on the Sunday that we went, one girl who was taking pictures on her Nikon was also wearing black Dr Martens. Kelly and I were also wearing the same shoes which was super cool. The only thing left is to pick which pet animal you need to join our witch cult. But seriously you guys, it was like being surrounded by all cool feminist blogs and instagram accounts.