This is the hour. Ours is the magic. Ours is the power

Pink and gold is giving me strength right now. I can't tell you what it means to have the sun still up when I come home at 7pm each night, and having to wear my pink Karen Walker sunglasses when I leave home in the morning, and again in the evenings. I sense a change in myself, generally spurred on by watching Man Repeller's youtube videos. For the first time I want to become a simpler human being. But I'm still attracted to very pretty things, and want to buy all the strange and unusual objects I once did. But now, I think styling them will become slightly more reductive than before. I also want to know what looks good on me- and before I didn't really care I just wore what made me happy. But maybe this is important, to understand more about myself. And does that make me a sell out? No. I don't think people would look at how I dress and sneer that I am doing this to seek the attention of men. I want to wear things which make me happy and look at my reflection in shop windows and feel good about myself.

1- Meadham Kirchhoff, 2- unknown, 3- Kailey Flyte, 4 & 5- Flossgloss Baby Baby Lookboo, 6- photo by christinawinkelmann, 7- unknown.

Mary Benson Spring 2016

Lately it's been easier to aesthetically cataloging various fashion collections instead of exhaustively reviewing them. The words aren't coming easily. I've put a lot of pressure on myself to maintain this blog and make it as good as I feel it can be. But doing all that whilst still trying to write my thesis/ apply for a PhD/ apply for jobs isn't easy either. While I've always had the opinion that blogs which don't, at least sometimes have a strong written component I'm beginning to see visual expression as valid as written content. To celebrate Mary Benson's Spring 2016 collection, I searched for images from Rookie Mag but some Hole references for good measure. The motifs on her clothes, emphasized using glittery holographic foil, as well as crystal embellished sunglasses celebrated emotional outpourings. I love her fantastical designs, and to see someone celebrate gushing tears down models faces gave validation to every time I had to run to the bathroom and cry. 

This collection also served for the best moodboard of all the makeup looks I need to try out as soon as I can blog on a regular basis. I'd love to be a little more experimental with how I wear makeup, without the marginalization of certain groups through cultural appropriation. Basically it seems that wearing glitter and celebrating all things synthetic and plastic is the best way to go. I have lots of book contact which would be perfect for removable tears running down my cheeks and onto my neck. It's certainly a lot easier than trying to perfect my makeup using permanent markers or texta when I still struggle to make my winged eyeliner symmetrical... But I suppose the point is to not conform to unrealistic beauty standards (including perfect symmetry) but to dress in a way that matches how I feel that day or channel a certain energy. Yes it's cliche, but the alternative is to just throw on a clean shirt and pair of jeans for the rest of my life and live within a cookie cutter mold. 

Aside from the tears and glitter, another motif from this collection were the creepy eyeballs. It almost exists as an extensive of the land of Oz, populated by living forests. This time each eyeball pertained to a globular flower or bush. Since it's October (and Tumblr has become one big advertisement for pumpkins and skeletons), I can openly appreciate things which are both beautiful and creepy. It seems that cartoon lips and eyes will continue to be popular with fashion designers and artists on etsy and I for one couldn't be more excited. Unfortunately it seems that noses aren't as popular, in fashion or on instagram but I'm going to keep hoping I see them up there one day (!!) Anatomy aside, it was cool to see bell sleeves and raw denim jackets with a difference, amongst all the 1970s hysteria that the fashion world seems heavily tied up on. It was cool for the first couple of months, but I'm wondering what Topshop will stock once the gravy train is over and people are looking for The Next Trend.  

Backstage at Mary Benson SS16, photography Chloé Le Drezen.
2- Courtney Love 'Miss World' video, 5- Courtney Love. 9, 17, 21- Stars in my Eyes by Rachel Louise Hodgson.
12- Rookie Yearbook Three.

Pilgrimage to Witch Mountain

I normally pride myself on my ability to look at fashion inspiration from around the world and synthesize it into something new, but perfection cannot be improved upon. And so, I humbly hope you enjoy this photo shoot styled by Shirley Kurata shot at Salvation Mountain. Two of my favourite things in the world artfully combined together and showcasing the best designer couture pieces with vintage treasures. The affect is simply too stunning for words.

Photography: JUCO
Styling: Shirley Kurata
Hair and makeup by David Tolls with Workgroup
Photo Assistant: Tom McKenzie
Stylist Assistant: Sue Choi
Model: Nora at Muse Management

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.