O beloved readers, I have been utterly remiss in my long absence... rest assured I have a good reason, which will soon be revealed. In the meantime, my band, Baby Seal Club, has been in full gigging and recording mode. We have two shows coming up with watery themes: a giant warehouse party called Sand by the Ton and the Rivertown Revival.
All this nautical goodness has caused us to decide we need a full suite of turn-of-the-century-beach-wear to don for these gigs, and so our research for inspiration has commenced. We unearthed so many great images I had to share, especially on this, the first day of summer.
I just adore the theatricality of these suits. The Victorians wore wool suits that covered them almost completely ~ knickers, puff-sleeved dresses, stockings, and all. You can find more delightful pictures and history here. Things lightened up considerably in the 1920's.
Having no desire to squeeze into a modern bikini bottom myself, I rather like the idea of swimming-bloomers. And ah, the utilitarian silliness of the "bathing machine" ~ those stripey booths for changing from your long woolen petticoats into your long woolen swimsuit and bathing-cape. 
And then there's the circus mood of these "Fancy Bather" cigarette trading cards. It appears that stripes and bathing suits go together... And it would seem parasols, oversized bows, and leg-ribbons are a must. 
Stripes are de rigueur for the gents as well... this rather serious beefcake of a chap looks like his wool may be chafing his tender bits.
We are fortunate to have the help of our incredibly talented artist friend Else Olava to put together these outfits ~ she spent all weekend sketching madly as the band began recording our very first album. So we shall certainly see what comes of it all. Happy longest day of the year!
6.21.2010
Saucy Swimwear for Solstice
5.20.2010
Chimera and Charm: The Art of Lesley Reppeteaux
I am captivated by imagery that tells a story. So I was quite transfixed when I happened upon the work of Lesley Reppeteaux ~ dark and dreamy paintings of fairytale characters with secrets in their solemn eyes.
And it's the eyes that are most distinctive and compelling in Reppeteaux's images ~ the exaggerated ovals make her women look sorrowful, as if filled with unbearable knowledge they cannot un-know. Often half-creature and half-woman, her lovelies are frequently trapped in some borderland between freedom and captivity, between innocence and experience.
In a recent show at Thinkspace in LA, Reppeteaux hung 22 paintings that told the tragic Greek myth of Persephone and Hades. It's a perfect tale for her sensibilities ~ surrounded by lotus flowers and pomegranate motifs, her pale maiden of the underworld wears pinstriped stockings.
I found this apt description from her: "My work reads like painted fables filled with strange characters telling sordid stories. I blend the worlds of literature and fantasy to create a peculiar world where pouty-lipped vixens and melancholy beauty resides, striking a balance between the lovely and bizarre, creating paintings with chimera and charm."
Her serpentine lines are Art Nouveau-inspired, her details lyrical in their unfolding of the songs of these forgotten heroines. She is a woman of many talents ~ some of her recent works include glass mosaic frames that become part of the artwork, and she is also an accomplished comic book artist. I am entranced by her vision.
To my dismay, there does not seem to be a comprehensive gallery of Lesley's work online ~ her own website features only currently available works, and there are a smattering of galleries with small collections.
Still, you may find her through her website, and her blog, cheerfully sub-headed "the happily out-of-date adventures of Lesley." There is also a good interview with her here, and a lovely video on YouTube that pairs her work with a PJ Harvey song. I will surely be keeping an eye out for more painted fables from her...
5.10.2010
Scents and Sensibility
I am, most decidedly, not a wearer of scents. I am the kind that runs through the perfume section of the department store holding my breath, the kind that finds cologne abhorrent, the kind that can't even use scented lotions. And yet, the emotional potential of the sense of smell, and the vivid language that describes it, draws me in.
As Diane Ackerman says in A Natural History of the Senses, "To begin to understand the gorgeous fever that is consciousness, we must try to understand the senses and what they can tell us about the ravishing world we have the privilege to inhabit." And so, a treatise on perfume.
The delightfully macabre German novel "Perfume: Story of a Murderer", which then became a captivating film, was endlessly fascinating to me. The tale is not for the weak-hearted; filled with gruesome descriptions and disturbing cruelty, it nonetheless features some of the most stunning passages I've ever read. I couldn't imagine how such a strange book could translate well to the screen, but director Tom Twyker brought it to vibrant life in all its bizarre glory.
The last issue of Coilhouse magazine had an interview with Christopher Brosius, who runs Brooklyn scent gallery CB I Hate Perfume, and has been called "the Willy Wonka of Perfume." The CB Manifesto sums up my feelings on perfume perfectly: "A lazy and inelegant concession to fashionable ego / Too often a substitute for true allure and style / An arrogant slap in the face from across the room..." Brosius escapes such trespass by creating the purest of accords, the most elemental single-note scents, that he combines to make his concoctions.
And then there's the sheer beauty of For Strange Women ~ almost enough to tempt me into giving scent-wearing another chance. Like Brosius, Jill McKeever is a different kind of perfume-maker ~ independent, innovative, and terribly strange. Scents like "Sweet Androgyny" and "Decadence and Debauchery", her breathtaking imagery, and packaging that hearkens back to an Edwardian apothecary are all incredibly appealing to me. Absinthe Lip Balm, enough said.
In her Kansas City lab, Jill uses natural essential oils and plant absolutes to fragrance her goods and tinctures ~ which include lip balms, bath salts, and perfume oils. She "combines antiquated styles with pagan sensibilities" to make her lavish potions, and describes how the different scents blend like harmonies to create the music of the perfume.
I am also intrigued by the quirkiness of alt perfume house Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs, with their Neil-Gaiman-novel-themed collections and full moon open houses. Perfumer Elizabeth Moriarty, who was (so fittingly) trained by a Voodoo practitioner in New Orleans, certainly has a nose for the odd and enticing. In an LA Weekly article, she says she loves “using scent for atmospheric purposes, for triggering Proustian memories and for inspiring emotion. Scent is such an underrated sense, and perfumery is such an underrated art.”
I am most pleased that there are perfume-makers out there looking at scent in a new way. When done right, a scent can evoke a feeling, a location, a time, a person... and transport us instantly back to that emotional place via our most basic chemistry. So what aromatically moves you?
4.28.2010
Things That Please Me: Good Bourbon
Having been on a self~imposed dry spell that has thus far lasted almost three months, I thought now would be a perfect time for an ode to my libation of choice ~ bourbon.
Though I'll happily down the more common top-shelf stand-bys like Maker's and Bulleit, it's when the craft labels start pouring that I really get feverish. Noah's Mill and Woodford Reserve are favorites, though in researching this post I realized many of my loved ones are the small-batch labels of larger breweries - Knob Creek, Basil Hayden and Booker's are all owned by (shudder) Jim Beam, and Buffalo Trace makes Elmer T. Lee and Hancock's Reserve. 
Considering my deep and abiding love of bourbon, it's positively shameful that I have yet to visit San Francisco speakeasy Bourbon and Branch, known for its period decor and password-only-entry. 
It's also a mystery why I do not yet own one of these awesome vintage decanter tag bourbon necklaces I've been drooling over for years, by Dust Design Co. on Etsy. 
If it must be mixed, my very favorite libation is a whiskey old-fashioned ~ but only the version made by our local country bar, the Underwood, which involves Guinness-marinated organic bing cherries ~ none of those unholy-red maraschinos. And on a cold night I might be convinced of a bourbon toddy...
But truly, I'm a simple woman. Straight-up, no ice please, that's my drink. O sweet brown medicine, though we are apart right now, we shall one day be together again, and once again your sinfully rich toffee-kissed balm will soothe my savage soul.
4.20.2010
The Candy~Colored Glory of 666 Photography
What better occasion than a new Facebook fan page and an upcoming large-format book to celebrate the amazing artistry of 666 Photography?
The first image I discovered by Austin photographer Gayla Partridge was a portrait of a petulant corseted beauty holding a pygmy goat. I was new to the world of neo-Victorian costuming and had stumbled upon the picture while looking at the fabulous hats of Topsy Turvy Design. I was instantly besotted.
Burrowing into the colorful website of 666, I found pinup girls and drama queens, harlots and virgins, burlesque beauties and high concept art. Gayla makes all her own props and often hand-paints her backdrops, which gives the sets a timeless tintype feel.
Like pages from a story-book, her photos speak of stolen moments and hidden treasures, epic display windows in the most delectable shop ever.
Gayla delights in technicolor gloss and vintage va-va-voom. Truly, you have to love an artist who constructs five-foot mushrooms for her shoots and recreates period sets and moods ~ but with a campy modern twist.
Most recently, her breathtaking series of "Muertos" photographs, with longtime collaborator Lisa Naeyaert as the model and make-up artist, graced the glossy pages of my beloved Coilhouse.
Gayla's love of the female form is clear, and it must be as joyful an experience to model for her as it is to behold the images. Peek behind the scenes in a recent interview with Gayla from Austin's Rare Magazine.
See more of Gayla's delicious pictures and keep up with her on her blog, her mySpace page, or Twitter, as well as her website and new FB page.
Bonus temptation: the cephalopod-lovers won't be able to resist clicking this link to see Gayla's perfectly odd portrait of a little girl on the Cephalopod Tea Party blog...
4.06.2010
Noble Beast, Indeed
I fall in love with some albums the same way I fall in love with people... immediately, with abandon, and with all my heart. And I've got a serious crush on Andrew Bird's 2009 release, Noble Bird.
I've known of the quirky Chicago song-crafter for quite some time, but was most familiar with his early music, as a collaborator with the great Squirrel Nut Zippers and then with his genre-confounding outfit Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire. His solo work is a departure from the old-timey jazzy stuff, and wanders instead to shoegazing indie, but is just as pleasing.
An accomplished classical violinist trained from the age of four, he seems equally at home juggling four instruments and a loop pedal as he is with his trademark astonishingly lovely whistling. He often collaborates with fanciful artists for his album covers and tour posters ~ this one by Diana Sudyka is particularly incredible, and she has prints in her Etsy shop.
A chameleon of a songmaster, Bird's lyrics tend towards the nonsensical, chosen more for poetic aural cartwheels than meaning. Extra points for penning lyrics like this ~ "No peace in the valleys, malarial alleys, where the kittens have pleurisy... Donning our goggles, Valerian ogles, to see microscopically." In this video, he manages to conjure up an amazing maelstrom of swirling sounds by himself, in a church.
On the amazing resource Internet Archive, a simple search for Andrew Bird yields audio from more than a dozen live shows, interviews, and more. I highly recommend pursuing them, and letting Mr. Bird take you on an audio journey.
I mean, the man wears stripey socks in his press photos. How can I not adore him?
3.28.2010
La Fée Verte
The poet in his attic room paces by the dim glow of the oil lamp, fevered ~ again he is walking the thin line between genius and madness, waiting for his muse, a faceted goblet of potent green liquid in his pale hand.
But La Fée Verte is a capricious and cruel mistress ~ she murmurs promises of glorious lucid visions in your ear... but then overwhelms her acolytes with feverish passion for ever more until one sip too many ~ and she is gone in a vaporous flurry, leaving them muddled and weak. Still, the poet drinks… and dreams…
I am beamingly proud to introduce my newest design ~ Absinthe, with model shots by the brilliant Revel of Aesthetic Alchemy. Every time I look at this photo-set I fall in love again ~ the lighting, the mood, the grace and glorious beauty of the model, Ariel Collins... 
I've had this one dreamed up for quite some time. In fact, the whole concept of Adornments for Tarts was born from an absinthe-themed gown ~ I made it for myself, and then needed really spectacular, unusual accessories to go with it... so I invented them. And thus it's extra special to me that I was able to use that very gown in these phenomenal images.
Some other bits and bobs of news: my Web site now has a Facebook "share" feature on nearly every page, courtesy of my impossibly talented Web designer husband, of Sassy Monkey Media, so you may easily share links to your favorite adornments. There's also a new interview with me on the lovely Gale's Tattered Rouge blog, where more details of the Absinthe gown story are revealed.
So... drive them mad in the Absinthe adornments, now available in my Etsy shop.
3.23.2010
Tarts Love Dollymops
Among the many lovely new things to be discovered at the Nova Albion Steampunk Convention where I was vending a few weekends ago, there was one towering standout, in my estimation: the new steamily-themed collection, from corsetier nonpareil Dark Garden ~ Dollymop Designs.
This glorious new line was unleashed upon a reverent crowd in a fashion show leaning more to performance art than catwalk. A parade of proud and ravishing creatures ~ gorgeous women, dashing men, and one capering child ~ made their way through the crowd in a sort of serpentine formal promenade.
And then, to various snippets of delightful sepia-chord style music, they arranged themselves into playful tableaux, in pairs, triplets, and quartets, as if they were allowing us a glimpse of an elaborate pageant. The effect was nothing short of breathtaking.
The vision of Dark Garden seamstress Kalico Delafey, the Dollymop collection was simply stunning on every facet. The muted tones of browns, khakis, blacks and grays made one feel one was looking upon antique portraits.
The whisper of military stylings, along with the structure of the corsets, lent a regal air to the models, tempered by elegant touches like feathered hats, ruffles, and furs. And there were skirts with big pockets!
The designer describes the line thus ~ "Inspired by the natural world, Dollymop designs are reminiscent of a bygone era with a whimsical nod to the subversively romantic." Dollymop also happens to be Victorian slang for an amateur lady of the night... not terribly far off from a tart, I'd say... which might have accounted for my instant and unfaltering adoration of the line.
See more images of Dollymop Designs here, including some from the very fashion show I attended... All lovely images on this post used with kind permission from photographer jules cisek, taken at various shows and events.
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