Boiler Room

Wearing: Country Road dress, POMS earrings and Dr Martens boots.

Things are starting to heat up! And I mean that both with my impending deadline (I'm as cool as a cucumber) and weather-wise. Melbourne seems to have skipped breezy, romantic transeasonal weather and dived headlong into Summer. It's forced me to delve deep into my closet and find my comfortable cotton dresses. It seems within the last year I've grown up a little and none of my dresses really screams out at me the way it once did. One of the first things on my to-do list once I finish is a wardrobe clean out and some eBay listings. I did however, want to show off this cute button up dress which I've had for a couple of years now, but never worn on the blog. They look wonderful with these fuzzy earrings, and I decided to go with my trusty Dr Martens, but I definitely need to invest in some espadrilles and sandals for summer.

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.

Marc Jacobs Spring 2016

 
"When teenagers complain that they want to be treated like human beings, it's usually because they are being treated like human beings."

"We'll just concoct ourselves a little hangover cure that'll induce her to spew red, white and blue"

"You were nothing before you met me. You were playing Barbies with Betty Finn."

"You wanted to be a member of the most powerful clique in school. If I wasn't already the head of it, I'd want the same thing."

"First you ask if you can be red, knowing that I'm always red."

"Transfer to Washington. Transfer to Jefferson. No one at Westerberg is going to let you play their reindeer games."

 

"Heather Chandler is one bitch that deserves to die."

  

"Killing her won't solve anything. I say we just grow up and be adults. But before that, I'd like to see Heather Chandler puke her guts out."

 
"No, my life's not perfect. I don't really like my friends."

"Great pate, mom, but I gotta motor if I wanna be ready for that party tonight."

"I don't really like your friends either."

"If you were happy every day of your life you wouldn't be a human being. You'd be a game-show host."

"Trust me, she skips the Saturday morning trip to Grandma's even when she's not hungover."

*Marc Jacobs runway photos via Gianni Pucci / Indigitalimages.com
Quotes and screencaps from Heathers (1988)
Photography by Petra Collins
and Best Friends Forever, shot by Eleanor Hardwick for Rookie Mag