Via Heather Thompson. HAIL.

Tracy Widdess is currently accepting custom orders for her sublime horror and sci-fi inspired knitwear, but queue up quick! Undoubtedly, she’s about to be inundated with weirdos clients.

More images after the jump.

Read the rest of BRVTAL KNITS by Tracy Widdess

Post tags: Adornment, Cthulhu, DIY, Fashion, Geekdom, Grrrl, Horror, KVLT, Sci-fi, Uber

Witness the nerdy buffoonery of the trailer for Frank Miller’s commercial for the new scent from Gucci, Gucci Guilty. Certainly, this is not the first director-driven television spot we have featured on Coilhouse, Nadya having previously spotlighted David Lynch’s sixteen minute ad (Film? Vignette?) for Christian Dior. Gucci, however, is playing this one up as an event. The actual commercial hits a little under a month from now at the MTV Music Awards, no doubt preceding the long awaited Lady Gaga/M.I.A. Fish Slapping Dance Battle to the Death.

Entitled “Friendly Fires” “Frank Miller’s Gucci Guilty”, it stars Evan Rachel Wood and Chris Evans in a wire-frame world of imposing, CG skyscrapers and a distinct lack of color. Wood plays a femme fatale in a slinky outfit piloting a futuristic Jaguar XK120 on fire while Evans plays a gentleman involved with the aforementioned seductress. It is all very tried and true ground for Miller, a man whose greatest crime has been to take his credit as a director on Sin City seriously enough to convince people with money that he actually is a director. No doubt I will be accused of various degrees of hipster posturing due to this bit of nerd rage but Miller’s green screen chicanery is truly a film-making nadir — managing to take a style that produced some excellent comic books and turning it into a tired, vapid cliche. On the other hand, those same qualities might work well for pimping an over-priced, designer fragrance and indeed “Guilty” seems to share many of the same qualities that made Calvin Klein Obsession ads from the 1980s so absurd (and, some would argue, effective). It may be that Miller has finally found his niche.

Update: As BaggerMcGuirk notes in the comments, the ad’s title is not “Friendly Fires” as originally written in this post. Friendly Fires is responsible for the music in the ad.

Update the 2nd: The full trailer is online. Not much longer than the teaser, really.

Via Super Punch

Post tags: Advertising, Fashion, Film, Geekdom, Serious Business, Television, Why

Last month marked the 150th anniversary of the birth of Czech artist Alphonse Maria Mucha, father of Art Nouveau. In celebration — and to advertise some, no doubt, absurdly priced wristwatches — photography studio Mierswa-Kluska put together a shoot chock full of decorative borders and swirly, tendril-like hair entitled “Temp Nouveau” for Plaza Watch a magazine dedicated, obviously, to the aforementioned timepieces. It’s mostly successful in replicating Mucha’s ornate style though when juxtaposed with a flesh and blood person some of his trademark design elements can seem a bit jarring. Mucha’s figures always felt integrated with his decorative flourishes and that feeling is lost here. Still, niggling criticisms aside, it’s a wonderfully imaginative concept. You can see these images and the rest of the set at a much higher resolution at the link below.

Via Wicked Halo : NOTCOT : Super Punch

Post tags: Advertising, Art, Fashion, Photography

Every year, the the North American Hairstyling Awards competition brings forth a new crop of rainbow-colored, architectural, retro-inspired, hair-spirational eye candy. This year’s recently-announced winners and nominees pushed the envelope more than ever before. There are multiple images form each nominee in each category, so click on each entrant’s name below if you want to see more images from that particular series. Be sure to check out the before-and-after images in the Haircolor category – it’s amazing what professional lighting and a great styling team can do. An array of sci-fi heroines, snow queens, robots and circus starlets, after the jump. [Via amazing hairstylist Holly Jones, who's been providing hair help to Coilhouse editorials since Issue 01].

See also:

• Tumbleweaves
• The Higher the Hair the Closer to God
• Three Feats of Hair Engineering
• Your Totem Animal: With You At All Times
• Hairport
• Portraits of Hair Warriors

Heather Wenman – 2010 nominee, Master Hairstylist of the Year category

Read the rest of HAIR-GASM! The Best of the 2010 Hairstyling Awards

Post tags: Adornment, Cyberpunk, Faboo, Fashion, Hair, Silly-looking types

(Via Siege.)

The concept for “Ritalin” (a Dancing Pigeons music video directed by Tomas Mankovsky) is based on Diesel’s theme for their spring jeans collection, Fire & Water. It’s easy to see how the gonzo style of the short dovetails nicely into Diesel’s recent, polarizing “Be Stupid” commercial campaign. Still, “Ritalin” stands on its own as a feisty, snarling gem of a short film.

Post tags: Advertising, Art, Better than coffee, Fashion, Music, Silly-looking types, Testing your faith, Uber

Via MAKE:

No, it’s not a comic-book sound effect! Igaaks are a modern version of traditional Inuit snow goggles (Wikipedia), lovingly handcrafted by Paul Celmer of Raleigh/Durham, North Carolina, in a range of contemporary materials and finishes. Like their arctic forebears, Igaaks help prevent snow-blindness and improve the focus of distant objects, whether you’re at the pole or on the playa.

Put these on and party like it’s 1999.

Post tags: Adornment, Cyberpunk, Fashion

So… any Mad Men fans in the ‘haus? No spoilers in the comments, please, because I’m not sure if Mer and Zo have had a chance to catch last Sunday’s Season 4 premiere. But without giving away any plot points, I just want to ask: what was up with Don Draper pulling a Dov Charney with his horrible Jantzen pitch? Our colleague Copyranter eats this kind of American Apparel shit for breakfast. The Portland-based swimwear company was portrayed as a stodgy, conservative business to whom Draper declares angrily, “you’re too scared of the skin your two-piece was designed to show off.” I guess he (and/or the show’s writers) never saw Jantzen’s Vargas-inspired campaign, which ran in LIFE in 1947 (below). Dear readers, I proudly tag this post “Stroke Material” and present you with my stash of vintage Jantzen advertisements from the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Sun-kissed beauties with Bettie Page smiles and space-age swimsuits – as well as a few clever parodies – after the jump.

Read the rest of Vintage Jantzen: The Pin-Up Powerhouse

Post tags: Advertising, Fashion, Stroke Material, Ye Olde

If Joseph Merrick had solved the Lament Configuration.

“Dear Coilhouse,

My name is Katarzyna Konieczka, I am an avant-garde fashion designer from Poland. I have been browsing through your website and while reading the blog I came across photos of Joseph Merrick’s head sculpture. I would like to take the opportunity of inviting  you to consider some of my work which took his inspiration from his life and condition. In particular, one of my models from the ‘Very Twisted Kingdom’ collection. The costume depicted in the attached illustration consists of a metal ruff and other elements resembling orthodontic medical equipment in reference to his illness which had not been diagnosed at the time.”

SOLD. Ten minutes later, I’m still picking my jaw up off the floor after perusing Konieczka’s site. Many more images, after the jump. In addition to the images on Konieczka’s page, many more images can be found in Marcin Szpak’s portfolio.

Read the rest of Orthodontic Medical Elephant Man-Inspired Fashion

Post tags: Adornment, Art, Fashion, Fetish, Medical, Surreal

Most of you remember Manuel Albarran from photographer Gustavo Lopez Manas’ cover shoot for Issue 03, as well as multiple mentions on the blog. Recent updates to Albarran’s portfolio include the stunning shot below – a graceful companion to the portrait of Joshuadavid Reno by photographer Spencer Hansen featured in Issue 05′s article on the late Tiffa Novoa. After the jump, a couple of other shots from interesting recent Albarran collaborations, including a series called “Another World,” shot by Manas and featuring model/performer Johanna Constantine (you can find the extended set on Manas’ site), and a collaboration with an uncredited photographer featuring model Polly Fey. [via Aiko273]

Read the rest of Manuel Albarran Redux

Post tags: Adornment, Fairy Tales, Fashion, Hair, Photography

Photo by Audrey Penven.

Last spring, while Zoë was still finishing up the album (and still pregnant with her beautiful baby boy, Alex, born May 13!), she granted Coilhouse Magazine an extensive, giddy interview. We discussed all manner of things both whimsical and practical– from the spirit of old growth forests and her biological imperative to counteract those proselytizing Quiverfull weirdos to the advantages of musicians self-producing and releasing their own albums, from the joy of nerd solidarity, to stage fright, to Tulip Mania. The article, titled “Into the Trees With Zoë Keating,” will be running in our upcoming issue #05, and features photography by our own dear Nadya, as well as Peter Hinson (the pictures you’re looking at are outtakes from that shoot), typography and illustration by Teagan White, and an exquisite custom-crafted wardrobe courtesy of Gibbous Fashions.

More photos after the jump.

WORD.

Photo by Peter Hinson.

Read the rest of Zoe Keating’s New Album: “Into the Trees”

Post tags: Blogroll, DIY, Faboo, Fashion, Flora & Fauna, Music