BABALON

Holy! I had no idea Terry Richardson shot this awesome editorial for Paris Vogue until I stumbled across it randomly on Google. It's from... 2007, I think?






(pics from Soul Jerky)

KNUCKLEBUSTERS

How great are these? My favorites are the pyramid studs and diamond, and the gold crown (both by Cathy Waterman, $1,550 and $3,100 respectively).

(pic from the New York Times)

LOS MUERTOS

This awesome image accompanied a good, hard-hitting opinion piece on the present political condition of Mexico in the Times. Is it wrong to look at it purely as an attractive sugar skull, though?

SASSY SAVED MY LIFE

I was never much of a Nirvana fan--I was too young when they first blew up, and besides I preferred Bikini Kill and riot grrl (seriously) to grunge--but I did just coerce my roommate into buying a flannel shirt the other day. And even though it was about 35 degrees out today, I continue to brave the elements in a floral dress and thick tights (covered up by my lovely leather jacket, of course). When I saw the preview pics of Erin Wasson-styled Frida Pinto from April's Elle online, I was under-impressed, but the rest of Wasson's editorial is actually really good, even though it's been prompting me to leave the house in mini dresses despite the ridiculous cold and wind.



There is a line that must be drawn when it comes to belly shirts, though.

(pics from lamodelsblog.com, elle.com)

SHADY LADIES

New front page at Oak.

POISON MIND

Style.com has a pretty cool little "Beauty Icon" piece on Boy George today.




I'm not so much into his cloth-wrapped faux-dreads, but I do love porkpie hats!

They're even better the Sonia Rykiel way:



...and in fact I'm wearing mine right now, the same as almost every day...



This is actually from a few days ago. Same hat, same mutant head, different day.

4 A.M.

Sorry for the total lapse in posts! I've been not exactly busy, but feeling stressed and kind of mentally on the fritz for the past few days... much improved now!

One thing I still haven't gotten a handle on yet is a good night's sleep. I keep getting to bed around 5 a.m., waking up at 11... unhealthy. Last night might have finally been worth it, though--Blade Runner/Blue Velvet double feature anyone? It was precipitated by hearing about a friend of mine's the new music project, Love Theme From Blade Runner and the music is indeed tender. I wish LA were really like this now, although I guess there's still about ten years to go before we're past due to be living in a filthy skinjob-ridden post-apocalyptic hellhole. But I for one can't wait!



I haven't made the plunge and bought those OctopusMe earrings yet (but I am going to as soon as I get the cash), but these are some other ear decorations I'm into right now. I actually already have the skeletons (full articulation! I love these things, in fact I'm wearing them right now), but the other ones, especially the linked ear cuff, are tempting me to pull out my wallet...

HBIC

Head Bitch In Charge, Omahyra Mota. This pic of her modeling Jasmine diMilo last month reminded me just how fucking fierce she's always been:



Yeah!



(pics from iamfilthy, Style.com, Garance Dore)

VERSACE AND LINEN

Man, it's almost spring and I'm getting a little excited! Sorry for the scarcity of posts recently, I've been too busy tramping around in fields and enjoying the all-too-brief (because of course it will probably snow at least once more before winter is really over with) moments of actual sun.

Anyway, while I've been wearing black pretty much nonstop every day, as is my wont, I'm kind of feeling the urge for color and pattern. These dresses from ASOS are all relatively cheap (under 70 bucks apiece) and would look pretty sweet layered under a leather jacket, at least until it's really warm enough to throw on the sleeveless denim or something. I'm kind of sad that the one on the far left is sold out in regular sizes (because I can't figure out if UK petites are measured), but if the weather continues in its current vein much longer I will almost certainly have to break my black habit and buy one of 'em.



But then there's this black dress from ASOS, much more fitting for my current wardrobe and with some nice zip detailing...



Decisions!

24 KARATS

I forgot about this, but here are six things that I'm not mad at...

1. Alchemical symbols:


2. Lil' Kim


3. Wolves in the Throne Room


4. My awesome friends! Dan here shows you how it's done


5. Sterling silver... I'm in love with these earrings from OctopusMe


6. Staying up all night to catch some skin-on-skin. But right now I think I'm going to try to get some sleep, finally.

I was tagged by the genius Foxy Man, and I don't know who's interested in filling out these things, but... Dan & Whitney, Ragamala, The Search for Chic, Rackk and Ruin, if they haven't done it already. (And if you haven't been to any of these killer sites, check them out with a quickness!)

DESTRUCTION OF THE EMPTY SPACES

A lot of people can design a decent leather jacket. As long as the materials are right, most of the battle is already won--you could pretty much take a good skin straight off the tanning rack, add a zip and I'd wear it, as long as whatever animal it was ripped off made sure to moisturize and wear sunscreen. As long as the leather itself is thick and sexy, most of the pleasure of wearing the jacket is in breaking it in and molding it to your shape, not any extra design-y features.

Maya Yogev, who designs the label Grai, apprenticed under Rick Owens, and it shows. Now Rick Owens is one of my favorite designers, not to mention a total killer, but I think his 'look' is kind of seeping its way into other people's clothing, and coming out kind of watered-down and half-assed in the process. Yogev was clearly influenced by her time working for the King Goth, but her designs are still nicely simply, the leather looks pleasingly supple, and although some of her pieces have a little unnecessary frippery (like hooks and eyes going down the backs of some jackets... no thanks), I would definitely wear the ones above, especially the leather vests... layering perfection!

Although I read on Stylefile that Grai was one of the lines showing at LA Fashion Week, I wasn't really that into it until I looked up Yogev and found out she designed a special jacket collection for Black Sabbath! Dude, way to catch my attention. I hope this becomes a trend... young designers making their names by putting together collections for, like, Electric Wizard. Plus, the jackets are pretty amazing in their own right. You can check out some pics of them here. How could you not feel a little inspired when you think of these beautiful guys, though...

BEHIND THE VEIL

Happy Friday the 13th!

(pics from livejournal, Morbid Anatomy, google image)

THE FAST SHOW

(click pic for awesome details)

Swinton is completely working these Mark Fast pieces! I think that's two dresses layered up into one outfit. The rest of the scans are here, check them out! I never get this magazine (sadly we don't carry it at my bookstore), but it looks impeccable.

(Another Magazine scans from ONTD)

LOVER, YOU SHOULD'VE COME OVER

So my... not-boyfriend (you know how it goes) has been out of town for the past few days, and I am getting the itch. Which itch? Oh, I think you know.





You know when you're hooking up with someone you shouldn't be, and it's fucking obvious, but you just can't help yourself? Yeah... Maybe I should have a friend round my place for some coffee and relationship chat.



Not likely! Although I might possibly be going up to Montreal this weekend to hang out with a friend, but I kind of have my fingers crossed that if I do it's going to be more beers and listening to rap than teapots and girltalk.

(pics from iamfilthy.blogspot.com, weheartit, livejournal)

DIRTY BOOTS

High, high, high heels are never going to be uncool, obviously. But I think the incredible Nina Ricci anti-gravity boots represent the absolute pinnacle. It will be interesting to see other designers trying to catch up with Olivier Theyskens, to cobble together some even crazier, more unearthly footwear, but to be honest I just don't know if I think it can be done! These shoes might just be IT.





Fortunately (or possibly unfortunately; my cred as a justifiably stylish lady-type person tends to fluctuate and not being able to wear heels doesn't really help), I am already prepared for the inevitable global heel shrinkage. Creepers might be gaining traction as one alternative to the regular cantilevered heel (which I am psyched about, to be honest, because not only am I still kind of emotionally a perpetual 7th-grade Goth with a penchant for stompy platform shoes, I also like clomping around without killing my arches), but I am currently kind of obsessed with shorty western boots, as the above photos show. Oh man I love them! I think Givenchy's spring show (aka the "Western Bondage" collection) might have flipped the switch in my brain a little bit.

I might have to keep the switch from getting flipped too much, though... lest I turn into a bad parody of the Ministry UK (who really deserve their own post ASAP--best Goth-themed western-wear creeps ever, in my opinion).

DESERT MOTHERS

(pics from google image search, wantedcowgirls.com (?!))

Paula Romo, former go-go dancer, making her only known film appearance in Alejandro Jodorowsky's El Topo, one of the greatest movies of all time.

BLACK QUEEN

(pics from ASVOF)

FUCK YES! Gareth Pugh makes me want to summon the elemental forces immediately. Like I needed another excuse to go cast some evil spells! This show is amazing, but THE FILM just makes it ten times more intense. So so so so so psychotically good!