Pretty little lady with her pretty frilly fashions

I'm thinking rustic, innocent, whimsical, reflective.
.... speechless.

Oh my god, it's like a dream. If only that romantic beige bodysuit could be here when I woke up.

Photographer: Mario Testino
Model: Sashe Pivovarova

Source: Girl Whimsy

Circus Chic

Can anyone guess where my inspiration for this look came from?

If you guessed Erin from Cali Vintage, you're right. I fell in love with her "Kurt Cobain meets Mary Poppins" look earlier this year (with it's lacy collar and self made hem) so much so that I couldn't get my mind off it. The grunge element thrown in with something so girlie and sweet was perfect to me and the fact the dress could be remixed made it even better. I kept my eyes out for a similar silhouette, and when I saw this dress at Charlotte Russe for $30 I knew I had it. Instead of taking it down the 90's highway, I thought 'd change it up and send it to an older era. Goodbye Doc Martens, hello mini top hat. I felt like a circus star in the 30's, like I should be balancing myself on one leg while juggling bowling pins and standing on a horse! I guess the bubbly skirt and mini top hat really entertained that idea, but it's always excited to be a character for the day.

Dress: Charlotte Russe $30
Cardigan: Thrifted $6
Tights: Walmart $2.50
Shoes: Rue 21 $30
Hat: Forever 21 $8
Vintage Purse: Thrift $5

And just for fun, look at that frilly skirt from a 30's circus.

Source: Rodger Kingston

Lula scrapbook

Why, oh why, is Lula so good to us?

As if the magazine wasn't enough inspiration, Leith Clark and her two best friends also have a Lula blog to keep us going while we wait for the next issue. It's sort of random but equally charming with guest posts from Alexa Chung, Clemence Poesy, Tennessee Thomas, Gia Coppola, and Kirsten Dunst. And honestly, the name couldn't be more perfect: Lula Scrapbook

My Aunt Ida is holding the kitten.
She was in early theater and Hollywood movies.
She acted and danced in films from about 1912 to the
late 1920's, performing on Broadway and other
venues across the nation. She would travel to Hawaii
many times by cruise ship and air, with big groups of
her friends. In her later years she lived with us.
She was born in 1894 and died in 1981.
She was a very nice person.

Hollywood, California.
By DAVID W. BAILEY
Third of January 2010



Mermaid melody.

A village with just one road, Germany
By MARIE HOCHHAUS
Thirtieth of December 2009



A rainbow whilst shooting on Mull - the sun sets here at 4pm;
so you have to love the dawn....

7.30am, Ardvergnis
By NATALIE PRESS
Sixteenth of December 2009



From Ellen Von Unwerth's solo exhibition 'Fräulein' showing at Michael Hoppen Gallery, 3 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TS, until Twenty-first of November 2009

Photo by ELLEN VON UNWERTH
By LEITH CLARK
Third of November 2009



Ghost Family Portrait

New York City
Photo by NICOLÁS HENDERSON
By KIRSTEN DUNST
Thirty first of October 2009



Tennesseed. My apartment. Just after she came back from filming with you.
I made her swing her head so it would blur, I'm very happy it did.

New York City
By ALEXA CHUNG
Twenty seventh of October 2009

What is the creation process of Lula magazine like?
Leith Clark: As much simplicity as possible. Instinctually. We keep our heads down and get into the world we want to create for that issue, and don't come up for air until it's done. We work together comfy, with sushi, a bottle of wine, the three of us (Becky, Lula's creative director; Charlotte, Lula's features editor; and me) -- usually at Becky's flat or at a pub. My dog is there too. It's three good friends. I ramble about God-knows-what, then we all work to make it come to life.

Quote Source: So Much To Tell You

More stop action film & stills

Below are some of my favorite stills from the pitch black/strobe light shoot we did the other day and one more new, (and yet again) pointless video I made in my spare time. It's silly, but fun. I feel like a video-makin' machine these days. I just wish I had more footage so they could be longer than a minute. I want to fill a whole song!

Damn you vertical photos. Your nearly impossible to see in movie format, but you'll have to do.

Ellen Von Unwerth Film & Photography

I finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up.

Ellen Von Unwerth. Or at least as much like her as I possibly can be. I don't mean to sound creepy by admiring her work all the time, it's just that all her videos are so perfect. They have sun rays and fluffy dresses with stockings and garter belts. Bike adventures. Rabbits. It's all so magical and carries such a Virgin Suicides sort of mood, the kind that's infectious and likely to embed summer seeds in your soul. And even though most of her videos are real sexual with a burlesque feel, they're still so tasteful and romantic. She's found a perfect balance between femininity and sexuality, and she's by far my biggest inspiration on this whole film (and photography) wave I'm riding right now.

She does a lot of work with Christina Aguilera too which is probably no surprise since leaving her X Tina days and moving on to the vintage, burlesque girl she is now.

Since the cold, rainy weather and my lack of spare time have prevented me from taking any photos lately, I've been living vicariously through my flickr photostream. I find it interesting to look back and see what I've accomplished in a year. You know, goals met, goals forgotten, all those dreams you were gonna make real.

In the fall of '08 I was gung ho about opening a vintage shop. I did a whole lot of buying with constant trips to the Goodwill and Salvation Army here in town. I had this vision where all I wanted to do was style and coordinate editorial type photoshoots with my pretty girlfriends as the models and my talented gay friends as the photographers. For one time and one time only, my vision took form. 4 models, 2 photographers, 1 makeup artist, and me, the stylist. Oh, what a fun day we had.

I had everything so organized. Looks were styled per girl with very close attention to who was wearing what shoes and necklace at what time to make sure nothing interfered. There was a dress rack for the clothes and a pop up tent for changing. We made sure to make it a big 'ta do'.

Here are some of my favorites:

Betsey Johnson dress (looooove)

I was so proud of this pocket. I made it from the hem of the dress using the stripes!

Oh, I miss it.
Perhaps I should do something similar soon. What ya think? Lord knows I got plenty of clothes still hanging on the dress rack ready to go somewhere.

All photos by Cody Henslee & Stephen Forrest.
Models: Kristi Duff, Danielle Green, Hannah Keen, & Diana Portilla
Hair & Makeup: Mollie Booth
Stylist: Moi!

Stop Action Clip to Animal collective

I guess it's noticeable I haven't kept up with blogging like I used to. When I started college again I thought for sure I'd be able to keep my daily routine of blogging and outfit pics, but I think it's safe to safe to say I severely underestimated the amount of time lost to school. I say that in a good way (kinda). I do miss blogging and still wish I could be here everyday, but I also really like the stuff I'm learning, not to mention all the other curiosities I'm starting to explore.

I'm still here though. Even if I don't get around to taking outfit photos or finding flickr beauties I'll try to post at least a peak of what I'm up to.

What I'm showing today is a very short and almost pointless stop-action video I made with my friends last night. It was mostly experimental with an attempt to capture a sort of creepy, airy kind of mood (more on that in a later post). To capture the stills my friend Cody used a digital camera on continuous shoot in a pitch black room with a strobe light on high. You'll have to forgive me for the funny loop in the video. The footage was short, and the music was long; I had to make it work somehow. Once I get Final Cut I'll be able to do much better edits with multiple clips. And trust me, we have lots, lots more stuff from last night that I can't wait to put together.

I think Caleb putting on the my mickey mouse cap was the most genius move ever, just added to the creepiness.