I’m working on making it possible to upload a little avatar next to your name when you post a comment. Stay tuned! In the meantime, I bring you one of my favorite modern fashion photographers: Eugenio Recuenco. I chose to post about him now to counterbalance my Decline of Fashion Photography post: see, it’s not all doom and gloom!
There’s just so much to see on his site. I love this noir alien encounter story, and this one about matadors, and this creepy hotel shoot with elements of The Shining. I love his nautical themes: there’s one story about shipwrecked passengers who make it to the shore, and another about Titantic, with a gallery each before and after the collision with the iceberg. There’s a sexy story about fencing (the only sport I ever liked!), and tons more. Visiting his site is like re-reading a good book; every time, you find something new.
On the left is an image by Irving Penn shot in 1951 for Vogue. On the right is an image from a recent issue of Paper. What happened? In a compelling, troche easy-to-follow “argument in pictures” on Slate.com, viagra Karen Lehrman delineates the decline of fashion photography through the past half-century, arguing that modern fashion photography forgets to create art in favor of commerce (hence the sterile, cataloge-looking images you see in American Vogue), or alternately forgets commerce in favor of attempts at art (above, right). Walking you through 60 years of fashion photography with compelling examples to support her various points, Lerhman discusses how focus groups, misogyny, the changing role of the fashion photographer and other factors have all done their part in bringing about the downfall of the craft.
Thanksgiving is a stupid holiday, I’m not going to post anything relating to it! Instead, I bring you the following list of fashion aliens, in which we count down the most fragile, bizarre, unusual specimens of beauty to be found in the mainstream modeling world. The countdown begins with…
# 7: Lily Cole. Lily almost didn’t make this list because she’s more doll-like than alien. I envision her more baking gingerbread cookies than stepping out of a flying saucer. But there is something about her. And she is weird! I look forward to her starring as Alice in the Marilyn Manson-directed horror film Phantasmagoria: The Visions of Lewis Carroll.
This picture made me hungry! Gazing upon this delicious image I googled “insect recipes” and believe me, friends, the Internet does not disappoint. At eatbug.com you can find a lovingly-compiled list of recipes, including Mealworm Chocolate Chip Cookies, Ant Brood Tacos and more. This Thanksgiving, surprise your family with a home-prepared meal that they won’t soon forget.
I realize the fog machine/polyester armpit vapors of my last post are still fresh in your nostrils. Apologies if the following clip is officially too much of a good thing. Then again, can’t everyone can use one more reason to love this man?
Yep. That’s Richard Pryor fronting a deadly funk/metal band that looks like Sunn O))) on national television in 1977. This is indeed a strange and glorious universe.
Sometime last spring I vowed to only buy dresses to simplify shopping and slow closet growth. That’s all been forgotten now, though I did faithfully stick with the plan all of the summer. But, as with any drastic regime, there were side effects.
Once I finally realized just how sick of dresses I’d become, I began purging anything frilly and light-colored along with most dresses I’d accumulated. Now I actually need to get a flashlight to navigate my closet, like in the olden times of Zo-spookiness. This means muted colors, layers back in effect along with pants paired with heels. Less overt girlyness with a lot more attention paid to interesting construction and detail, even when I’m wearing skirts or dresses. A new era?
My mantra’s become “quality over quantity” this season. I’m not really shopping and am donating a lot to Goodwill thus leaving myself with fewer, better options. Though in all likeliness this is simply hibernation and my shopping appetite shall return, ravenous!
Breaking news! I realize this is very last minute and only applies to our brethren in Northern California, but tonight Jesse Hawthorne Ficks is hosting a “Disco Extravaganza” at the gorgeous Castro Theater in SF. They’ll be showing prints of The Wiz, Staying Alive, and best of all, everyone’s favorite futuristic spiritual disco rock opera cult classic,The Apple.
Wait, what’s that you say? You’ve never seen The Apple before?
Mister Boogalow disapproves.
The Apple is a steaming Midas turd of a film baked in massive amounts of tin foil. It’s a glitter-encrusted, mylar-ensconced acid trip. It’s Jem and the Holograms’ flea market jamboree. It’s… it’s…. oh I have no idea what on earth these people were thinking, but the result is utter crackpot genius.
Degenerotika Clothing is a new alt fashion label by Slovenian artist/videographer/designer Tea Bauer. The clothing is gothic for sure, but there’s nothing pensive or frou-frou about it: the sharp, angular, textured garments look like they’re designed for dangerous people, people with unnatural reflexes and ambiguous morals. I can see Aeon Flux wearing this for a violent date with Trevor Goodchild, or Molly Millions donning this for a rare night out dancing on the Killing Floor.
The Degenerotika portfolio can be here, and I’ve included my favorite pieces after the jump. I’ll admit that some of the pieces are hit-or-miss for me, but when it’s a hit, it’s a stab straight to the heart. Tea has a clear voice and a unique perspective on alternative fashion. Definitely one to watch.
The great art of films does not consist in descriptive movement of face and body, but in the movements of thought and soul transmitted in a kind of intense isolation. ~ Louise Brooks
On this day 101 years ago, Louise Brooks, patron saint of unrepentant flappers, was born. By all accounts, she was a fiercely intelligent and complicated woman who would not suffer fools in an industry that consists of nearly nothing but. She made only 25 films before being blacklisted walking away from Hollywood at the height of her career, and remains one of the most iconic, (in)famous starlets of all time.
Although she is perhaps better known for the trademark black bob that launched a thousand Red Hot Mamas, Brooks also happens to be one of the most remarkable actresses, um, well… EVER. Onscreen, the one-time Ziegfeld dancer carries herself with effortless grace. Brooks understood that great acting was more about reacting than anything else. In stark contrast to many of her mawkish, mugging co-stars, she seems more comfortable, more real, somehow.
KariwanZ is the name of a rubberwear designer couple from Japan. They create intensely elaborate outfits for themselves with themes ranging from Rococo to the space age to marine life, employing layers of ruffles that look like cake decorations, detailed appliqués and inflatable portions that transform their limbs into claws or unheard-of appendages.
The outfits are not for sale, and seem to be made purely for the couple’s roleplaying and creative pleasure. No matter what style the outfits, they all have one theme in common: the lady, named Karin, is always the mistress dog-keeper, and the man, named Wanco (“doggie” in Japanese), always appears as her pet.
There’s a lot of exuberance here; the smiling eyes peeking out of the masks, the comic book format in which they tell the story of why they began to make clothing, their willingness to share the steps of their creative process (they even publish the formula for their latex glue, a jealously-guarded trade secret of every latex designer in the West), all these things point to a genuine love for latex and their desire to share their creative fetish bond with the world. They also sell cute latex teddy bears, all of which are currently sold out.
On their “about us” page, they write “We can create costumes we want to wear, and can create anything that we want to have!” Good for them!
