Style Inspirations

I thought as some of my latest articles have been reviews or me venting my somewhat negative opinion on chosen subjects, I would write about the people who inspire my own style and influence me on a daily basis. Over the years like many people my age, my fashion and interests have changed and developed into how I am today and there are a (large-ish) handful of characters (somewhat eccentric) who have stolen my curiosity and affixed themselves to my mind.

Stevie Nicks

Stevie is one whose personal style has remained almost the same since the year she broke into the music world with Fleetwood Mac.
Her costume consists of floaty layers, shawls, long dresses, velvet, lace and silk, giving her an air of mystery. In her early days, she would often wear a Top hat and her clothes reflected the time, wearing bat wing sleeve tops, maxi dresses and flares. Later as her fame and stage presence grew, more long, floaty dresses made of crushed velvet, lace and silk were worn, with large baggy hats, with Elizabethan style plumes eminating from the top of them.
I've always loved Stevies footwear, huge platform boots made of suede to lend a hand to her 5ft 1inch frame on stage. Her hair, always blonde, in the earlier days straight with a fringe, later permed and layered.

Elizabeth Taylor

Elizabeth always had a sense of grandeur about her, even in her later years. Dripping in jewellery, expensive clothes and majestic furs. She was the ultimate Hollywood icon.
Her make-up was always perfect and her eyebrows deserve a websitie of their own.
Although I have nowhere near the same diamond and gold budget Elizabeth had, I do on occassion wear a disgusting amount of Jewellery, an amount so much that Coco Chanel would be turning in her grave.

Edie Sedgwick

As I have already written an in-depth blog of how Edie has impacted me, there is little left to say.
However, Edies make-up alone is something that I have adapted for myself. Once sporting a pair of inch thick eyebrows, I scaled down the look for something more suitable for everyday use. I still have the line above my eyelid and admittedly I still own eyebrows that are slightly thicker than my own. Unfortunately I now have to limit my use of shoulder dusters as the holes in my ears have stretched to a dangerous point.

Brigitte Bardot

As well as the simple classic French dress sense, Bardot also had "THE" hair. I confess, I have used Brigittes hair as a mould for my own (not literally). Her hair however, always looked ever so slightly more effortless. Brigitte Bardot, like Edie has iconic make-up. The smokey feline eye has been used timelessley by women in the limelight over the years. Sadly, I cannot pull this look off, it makes my eyes look small and tired.

 

Marianne Faithfull

Marianne Faithfull held a Dandy-esque, 60's, psych sensation to her wardrobe. She was often seen wearingt smart jackets or crombie style coats with flared or tight trousers and smart shirts. She also wore more feminine items like baby-doll dresses with large collars. Her hair, like Bardots had an air of effortless elegance, though less volumous than Bardot.

 

Jim Morrison

Not so much Jims early (more attractivge) days of leather trousers and blousey shirt, interestingly, Jim Morrisons few later years after he had gained weight and a beard. No, it is not the extra padding and facial hair I crave, but Jims revolutionized style. Jim Morrison adopted a more relaxed, casual look, with riding boots, military jackets and slacks. I'm sure I am just one in millions of people who have been influenced by Morrisons political, radical dress.

Amy Winehouse

Whenever I'm feeling daring or bored of vintage or ethereal dress, I reach for my gold hoop earrings, chunky bracelets and may accompany the jewellery with bigger hair than usual and a change in make-up. I do not however imitate - this would only result in "Oi Amy" as it did five years ago when I had black hair and definately avoided looking like Amy!

Grace Slick

Grace Slick as I mentioned briefly in a previous post is the Queen of psychedelic West Coast Acid Rock. She was hippie exemplified, vegan, LSD user, activist, rock star and her image embodied it. Grace would often wear long maxi dresses, Indian style suits, military jackets, flared suits, or plain beatnik turtle necks and black boots. Her hair, natural brown with a heavy fringe cut in. Her psychedelic print clothes mirrored her psychedelic lyrics.

 

Katie-Jane Garside

Katie-Jane, the lead singer of Daisy Chainsaw and Queen Adreena (most famously) has a design all of her own. Like her voice, her clothes have a child-like sometimes kinderwhore vibe, often ripped, exposing skin. Her hair however, once dread locked, is tousled, long and a dirty blonde tone. Katie-Jane habitually wears real flowers in her hair and with this combination, projects an otherworldly aura.

Marlene Dietrich

Many People would regard Dietrich as a style icon because of her ostentacious mink coats and diamonds. I deem her a style icon because quite frankly, she used to wear mens clothes. Marlene was one of the first women to start wearing masculine cuts in shirts and military style mens hats, without looking neither like a man nor a woman in mens clothing. She has influenced people like Madonna who also played with gender identity and left the door open for the rest of us to toy with androgyny.

Aunty Kim

Unless you watch the mind-numbingly simple soap-opera, Eastenders, it is unlikely you'll know who I'm talking about. Kim or 'Aunty Kim' is the comical, confident, often brazen sister of Denise. Kim adorns herself in faux-fur coats, tight fitted dresses and shoes suitable for the Jewish Princess. Kims hair is asymmetric, coloured and modern. She too wears a little too much inexpensive jewellery. Much like myself, Kim seldom dresses appropriately for occasion. I love her!

There we have it, the top eleven people who have encouraged the final outcome of how I dress now. I would love to know if anyone else has a list like this and who's on it?!

Ciao! Manhattan

Has anyone ever had a strange love affair with a film that in some aspects is interesting, artistic and thought provoking, but in other ways is exploitative and causes you to feel uncomfortable and disgusted by the film makers intentions? Well this is what the 1972 picture Ciao! Manhattan is to me.
For those of you who are unfamilier with the film, Ciao! Manhattan is an avant-garde, semi-biographical film about the life of Edie Sedgwick. The film starts Edie as the ex-model Susan (Edie) who has suffered brain damage due to the copius amounts of drugs she used in the 60's. Susan talks of her time at The Factory, her time as Susan Superstar, It Girl, with a famous Artist, (Andy Warhol). The story also follows a young travelling man, Butch, who finds Susan stumbling along the side of a road hitch-hiking. He takes her back to her mothers house, where she lives in an emptied pool area and tells him her life story as 'Susan Superstar'.

The film was originally put into production in March 1967, so it is compiled with a cocktail of new and old footage. Much of the film imagery was taken during the time that Edie was involved in the Factory. The black and white footage is used during the flashback scenes when Susan is talking about her days in New York. The later footage which is the backbone of the film consists mainly of an array of unconventional characters, Susans pool hideaway and Butch learning of her past. The finished picture can be confusing and dis-jointed at times and this had a lot to do with budget problems but also drug use between cast and crew members off camera.

Ciao! Manhattan allows the viewer to have brilliant insight into what was going on in New York in the late 60's and has rare footage of Edie at the time which would not otherwise be accessible, (there are actually lost Ciao! Manhattan tapes floating around with hours and hours of unseen footage). We also have original footage of Allen Ginsberg, Brigid Berlin, Paul America and Baby Jane Holzer, all huge names on The Factory scene.The film also has scenes of the infamous Dr. Robert administering his 'vitamin shots'. These black and white films paint Edie as a young, intelligent, articulate actress with a lot of potential. Sadly in the later, colour 70's footage, it is clear that Edie had become another car crash product of the 60's.

At first glance and general assumption, the film appears to be tackling issues of drugs, alcohol, fame and addiction. The character Susan demonstrates quite pointedly the downfall of an icon dependent on the current phase and if there was a 'story' to stop anyone from taking class A drugs, this is it. Susans slowed speech and motor skills is seemingly down to the drug addiction she struggled with for years and Edie acts this very well. What they don't tell you is that Edie isn't acting at all.
Edie did in fact suffer long term brain damage after overdosing on heroin and it left her with slurred, slowed speach and little motor control. Her brother, Jonathan, describes her state when Edie's mother finally took her out of the the hospital and back to the ranch in Santa Barbara in the late fall of 1968: "She couldn't walk. She'd just fall over... like she had no motor control left at all. The doctor did a dye test of some sort and it showed the blood wasn't reaching certain parts of the brain... She couldn't talk. I'd say, "Edie, goddamn it, get your head together... She'd say, 'I... I... I... know... know... know... I... I... can but it's ha... ha... hard...' "

Edie still fought against the alcohol and drug dependency she had aquired during her time at the factory and the character Susan couldn't have been further from fiction.
During filming, it was not unusual for someone to have to hold Edie up if she was sitting or lift her up onto something to sit on. She had lost the ability to remember any of her lines and therefore had to be shown cards for her to read instead. Much of the time whilst filming she had been drinking and became increasingly difficult to work with. Edie was in no fit state to be filming an auto-biographical account of her life.

Aside from this, some aspects of the script involved Edie speaking very closely of her drug problems, her strained relationship with her father 'Fuzzy' and upsetting accounts of how she was often treated unfairly by her old friends at The Factory. The majority of footage of Edie saw her exposing her upper half, stumbling around appearing unaware of herself.
On top of this the film replicates a scene in which Edie has electric shock therapy, which she wrongfully underwent back in 1962 at Silver Hill hospital at the request of Fuzzy who claimed Edie was dilusional when she discovered him having an affair. This time was very traumatic for Edie and in my opinion unneccessary to the stroyline.

Edie died in 1971, before the film was completed and so released a year later in 1972. The film was then dedicated to her memory, the last motion picture she made. Ciao! Manhattan premiered in Amsterdam due to critical aclaim. It continued to have further success in Germany, London and San Francisco. A great deal of the success was down to Edies death.

Edie Sedgwick was very much exploited in the making of Ciao! Manhattan. Her near total inability to handle herself, act and even speak begs the question of whether the completion of the film was even an appropriate venture to begin with. Some may argue that Edie agreed to do it but was she really in a fit state of mind to question what was happening? The later footage of her is undignified and cruel. The success of Ciao! Manhattan at the time of release only demonstrates once again the fascination the world has with the demise of an icon, present day, I think although the viewer is faced with these issues, the film has wonderful footage of Edie in her prime and makes her a little more accessible.

Nothing like her old self

Tresor Paris

One trend that I have come to have a rather strong opinion about is the Tresor Paris beads that have become very popular over the past year.
Just before Christmas 2011, I noticed some excited talk of this jewellery range amongst what first seemed like a couple of people at work. It appeared that a bracelet seen on a few celebrities had hit the front line of fashion and a few (as I originally thought) were buying into it.
I asked someone what they were talking about and I apologise if I offend any fan of this jewellery, but I was presented with something that to me looked as if it had dropped out of a Christmas cracker. The bracelet was made up of a few bright blue balls, which I 've since learnt are a collection of magnetite crystals. The earrings are the cheapest consisting of just two studs and the necklace is the most pricey. It appears the more tacky, coloured balls you have on your peice of string, the more money you have to spend. Apparently, one bracelet can cost up to £300, or as I heard yesterday £80,000 but I believe this is heresay. Impressive? Well only if the peice actually resembled the cost.
That day, all people talked about was these bracelets and matters were only made worse when the instigator returned from his lunch break with more of the product. Everyone was crowding around looking at it, asking where it was from, the price, etc, (I just want to add here, that I currently live in Bedford. Bedford, you may not realise is not exactly known for it's fashion houses. It is better known for its large Asian community, John Bunyan and stabbings. So quite frankly, I would not get over excited by a peice of jewellery so accessible to H. Samuel). At this point, I made the utmost mistake of asking what the big commotion was about. I was met with a rush of dead end answers such as "everyone's wearing them" (well I'm not) and "it's the trend". I asked simply and non-judgementally "why do you want something everyone else is wearing?" and the response was a pointed, unintelligent attack on my own choice of style and how I follow trends as well. Not untrue, however, when the argument is in fact based on my use of hair extensions it loses all validity. I wore hair extensions because I was too impatient to let my hair grow, not because everyone else is and I want people to say "oh wow! I love your hair extensions, where did you get them?" This would be undeniably devastating and I would probably have removed them immediately.
By this point, it had become fairly obvious that nobody was going to shed much light on the beads. Maybe because they were all too busy comparing and competing items, maybe because they actually didn't know much about the beads themselves.
After a quick search online, I found that the bracelet and necklace design is based on Shambhala beads.
Shambhala is a hidden, mythical kingdom thought to be around inner Asia according to Tibetan and Indian Buddhist tradition. It is mentioned in various ancient texts, including ancient texts of the Zhang Zhung culture. Shambhala is seen as a Buddhist Pure Land, a kingdom whose reality is visionary or spiritual as much as physical or geographic.
Upon these findings, I think even the most religiously ignorant of us are aware that the whole basis of Budhism is to be non-materialistic, not greedy, not selfish or competitive. So where exactly in the ancient Tibetan script does it say, "make a line of jewellery soley based on making money. Charge people £300 for it and make sure it becomes a commodity amongst the rich and stupid". The small print would say something like "do not educated the customer on the meaning or origin".
It's amazing what people will buy into and even more amazing that people aim to look identical to the next idiot standing to the right of them. Where's the soul in that and where's the soul and meaning in Shambhala? I'm sure the Tibetan monks would be very proud.




All money, No class



JLS record sales are clearly booming



This is my favourite ;-)

The real Shambhala

Creepers

Last July when I first saw Rhianna sporting a pair of Brothel Creepers on stage at the X-Factor, I have to admit I was surprised and a little dismayed at what could only be the next fashion craze advocated by the singer. At first I took a double take, I didn't actually believe at first glance that she was wearing them, but she was.

 

Soon after this sighting, creepers started to crop up frequently in the pages of Vogue and on shop shelves like New Look. I found it quite interesting that no more than two years ago, I had been wearing Brothel Creepers for around five years and at times was laughed at for my unusual footwear, I recall one comment in which the person asked if I was wearing orthopaedic shoes.

Fashion is shallow, we all know that, sometimes some of the silliest trends have hit it big time because one person in the limelight percieved to be 'cool' is wearing it.

Brothel Creepers first came about in the second world war for soldiers in the desert in North Afirca because of the climate, however, in the 1950's, they became popular with Teds or Teddy Boys. The crepe sole and leather design soon became very fashionable and creepers were worn by much of the mainstream as a smart, stylish shoe. Recognised by the apron of different material or patterned design, Brothel Creepers were no longer just a subculture hit.

Creepers were worn by the Rockabillys of the 1950's, Rockers of the 1960's, Goths and Punks of the 1970's and the Psychobillys of the 1980's. The Creeper was so popular amongst future youth subcultures most probably due to their original Teddy Boy origin. Even the likes of Paul Weller was seen wearing a pair in the days of The Jam...and wasn't he supposed to be a Mod?

Teddy Boys

I remember my first pair of Creepers. I'd been living in London a few months, I'd recently ditched my punk attire and had begun to venture into other areas of music and my dress followed.

I'd started listening to more Rockabilly music, wearing leopard print coats and short tartan skirts. My hair was long and black, but I'd cut myself a short fringe. Unbeknown to me, I'd started to morph into what could only be described as someones confused 1950's nightmare.

I'd spotted a pair of Creepers a while before this, in a shop window on Camden High Street. I decided to buy a pair, so one Saturday, I went in the shop and came out ecstatic with a pair of size 5, black and pink leather Creepers, with about a 2 inch triple crepe sole wedge on them. The apron was lined with a pink rim and smack bang in the middle of the apron was the head of a female hellcat in - yes, pink.

Unfortunatly the only picture I could find

Painful as they were when I first started wearing them, they were very loved and worn to such a degree that eventually the shoe started to move away from the sole and I could no longer wear my favourite shoes.

About a year after mouring the loss of my Creepers, I decided to get a new pair. That years development had well and truly got me addicted to Psychobilly and anything Rockabilly and 50's Rock 'n' Roll. I was ready to upgrade to a new sort of Creeper and these were my absolute favourite. These Creepers were black suede leather, with the same two inch crepe wedge sole. This time though, as well as being suede, the apron was a gorgeous leopard print fur. Again, very sore the first few times worn but eventually the most comfortable shoe in the world. Sadly, these shoes ended up going the same way the first ones did, only I attempted to glue them back together, which didn't work. The D-ring also fell off so the laces looped through a safety pin for the remaining six months of their life. These shoes ended up with a friend.

The final pair of Creepers I owned and still have were quite different to the other ones I had. This pair are slightly more masculine than the previous pairs and have a lower sole. The sole is black and the shoe was white and leather and the apron is a white with a black rim and inside has a black dashed design following the line of the apron shape. Surprisingly, these shoes had no breaking in pain at all considering how hard they felt. These ones are similar to the ones worn by Paul Weller in the late 70's.

As someone who has worn this style of shoe for some time (and I'm only 25), you can imagine my shocked reaction that Sunday evening when Rhianna strolled on stage in them. I have nothing against Rhianna, but I do find it difficult to understand that a shoe style that has been around for over 70 years, worn by teenagers and adults alike, the fashion industry and highstreet has suddenly gone beserk for them, just because a popstar, who probably has no idea where the shoes come from has started wearing them. It's the underground Punk label 'BOY' all over again. Worn by Jessie J and Rhianna, this has also been catapulted into the mainstream, a label that has been around for almost 40 years.

Now as we all know, the second something becomes current, the price goes up.
I've had friends in their late 30's, early 40's, who have said Fred Perry polo shirts once cost around £10, Ben Sherman shirts used to be £2. These days you'd be lucky to find anything by these two makes for under £50. What I'm interested in finding out is what people are now forking out for a pair of Brothel Creepers. I read something recently on one of Sian Conways pages stating that she had spent 57 Euros on her pair. My first pair cost me £20. My second cost £30 and the third pair cost £35, the price increase just due to the quality of the shoe. I wonder if these particular make of Brothel Creeper have gone up in price as well, or if Creeper lovers worldwide are being ripped off by larger companies like Topshop. Here's something for you, a link to Underground where I got my creepers from and my god how the prices have gone up. Try ebay! Happy Creeping!

http://www.underground-cybershop.co.uk//acatalog/creeper_shoes_roundtoe.html

Bohemian Or Not Bohemian...that is the question

We see many celebrities today, adopting a "bohemian" sense of style, scarves, hats, tight jeans and vintage looking, loose fitting shirts are just some of the items you may find these stars adorned in. But what really is Bohemian and are these people "Bo-ho" at all?
First of all, we need to establish what bohemian actually is.
The original Bohemians would practice an unconventional lifestyle, usually in the company of like-minded people, often with a musical, artistic or literary pursuit. Bohemians lived a nomadic lifestyle, they were wanderers and adventurers.
There were different types of Bohemia identified, although Bohemian is not easily pigeon holed, these were the five main mind-sets established:

• Nouveau: bohemians with money who attempt to join traditional bohemianism with contemporary culture
• Gypsy: drifters, neo-hippies and others with nostalgia forprevious, romanticized culture
• Beat: also drifters, but non-materialist and art-focused
• Zen: post beat - focus on spirituality rather than art
• Dandy: no money, but appear as if they have it by buying and displaying expensive or rare items

The bohemian life was seen in the 1940's hipsters, the 1950's Beat Generation with writers such as Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg. The 1960's and 70's brought about the much more widespread hippie counterculture.


1940's Hipsters

1950's Beat Generation or 'Beatniks'

1960's Hippies

 

From as late as the 60's and 70's we can see that Bohemian has always been a way of life, a state of mind. All I can see of Bohemian now is in fashion. How many of us heard the phrase 'Bo-Ho' thrown around about five years ago by highstreet shops? The likes of New Look and Topshop stocking whole 'bo-ho' ranges instore? This is where our celebrities come in. Are people like Kate Moss and Sienna Miller for example dressing as themselves or are they 'adopting' a style that just so happens to be very fashionable. A style that adorns itself so well to influential people like these? One thing is certain, they did not invent the look, they are no more individual than the Punk who places himself on Camden Lock bridge each day for a £1 per photo.
The image has become particularly popular in recent months, the 70's Prarie look has thrown up on many a pop star and actress. Take Pixie Lott for example, doesn't she look pretty in this picture. Her blonde hair tied loosley off her face by an aztec style headband, the 70's, gypsy style jumpsuit she's wearing, the greenery around her, a picture that could be from a time capsule:

Well, let me just remind you that this is the same girl who sings: "Put the plug in the socket give me all your power, when you turn it on"

Wow, such depth. It begs the question, what has Bohemian become in the eye of the masses? Just a fashion statement. Nothing more, nothing less.

Kate Moss is a well known bohemian/rock 'n' roll styled model, business woman and fashion designer. The woman who was the second highest paid model ever, but prefers to be associated with musicians and actors (Johnny Depp and Pete Doherty ex love interests) has been a known festival go-er, sporting denim shorts and Hunter wellies or a floaty gypsy style dress and - yes, Hunter wellies may I add, the fashionable, expensive make of Wellington boot, not the best value. The thing about Kate is, she pulls it off, she does look cool and stylish. However, her style is not her own, there were so many before her who embodied such uncanny style resemblence, it's hard to believe Kate did it herself. 

Looking rather bohemian inthe first photo, festival wear - which was the name given to the following summers clothing range, highstreet teaches us in 2008 how to dress appropriately for Glastonbury because without Kate Moss we had no idea? Hmmm.

Aside from this, I do not only see Kate Moss in these photos. I see Stevie Nicks in the fourth picture, I can also see Brigitte Bardot, Pamela Coursen and Marianne Faithfull:   

 

Stevie Nicks

Marianne Faithfull

Brigitte Bardot

Pamela Coursen

Ms Moss or Mrs Hince, whichever she is known as these days is not the only famed one, borrowing a fashioned lifestyle from past true owners. There are many celebrities I have seen in magazines and on websites who have also bought into this style of dress. I must say they always look beautiful, but then you always would if you had the money to look top notch bohemian?

MK Olsen

Lindsay Lohan



Sienna Miller

Nicole Richie

They do all look wonderful though don't they? However this is not what Bohemian is about, not what it was ever about. Bohemian is a lifestyle, a lifestyle that cannot be bought, no matter how much money you have. It is a state of mind and a way of life and as we all know, Money and Bohemian never really went very well together anyway.... 

Janis Joplin

Jimi Hendrix

Edie Sedgwick

Pamela Coursen

Jim Morrison