SuperRetroKitsch

kitsch: [kich] something of tawdry design, appearance, or content created to appeal to popular or undiscriminating taste.

I've always been a big ol' fan of all things a little bit silly and a little bit kitsch; one of my life ambitions to have a portrait of a very Western-looking Jesus Christ in the Sacred Heart style with a frame of seashells and bad latin phrases. It is no surprise, then, that retro brites and leopard print make several appearances in my wardrobe.


Like these guys. I apologize again for the pure shiteness that is my camera, but in the top pic is a bracelet whose beads have little pictures of street signs, kittens and so on. Next to that are two earrings; one in 60s monochrome/geometric design and the other a little plastic hotdog. on the far right is a brooch i inherited from my gran. They are all lying on a scarf covered in Mickey and Friends (TM! R!! ETC!!!) print. In the second pic is a pair of polka-dot slingback shoes, with little hearts on the insoles. In the last is a hair-ribbon with a SuperMario mushroom charm on it, which I bought last week from the Brighton Tattoo Convention (which was awesome, thanks for asking). Sadly I can source none of these things - they all come from weird and wonderful places so all I can suggest is to go through your granny's old stuff, don't disregard crap from when you were a kid, and if you see a pair of awesome shoes in Italy, buy them.

So what else have I got for you?
Well I have a rather spiffy collection of stuff thanks to polyvore which I think fits our theme:

Clockwise from top left: Skull-print hoodie, Asiajam.com; super-spiffy trainers, luisaviaroma.com; sparkly puppy and diamante ring, asos.com; pastel cardigan, forever21; bright pink Uggs, zappos.com; pacman boxers, webundies.com; striped toe-socks, shinyshack.com; supermario mushroom belt buckle, gkworld.com; cupcake bandages, kitsch.fi; flamingo umbrella, flamingo.no; girly purse, femina.ch.

Check out some more retro inspiration:

How AWESOME is this weird hoodie thing? And matching your eyeshadow to your clothes? Oh hells yeah.

Found via weheartit.com, photographer not known :(

How cute is this? I think it should be quite feasible to do at home as well, with some acrylic paint and a fairly sturdy pair of opaques. I'll get back to you on that...

dressaday.com

Check it out! Tetris dress! I love it very much. Sadly, the dress is not for sale BUT you can email this lady and she will GIVE you (as in, for free) the fabric print and then you can have it printed for yourself via spoonflower. Then make it into a dress, curtains, whatever.

(c) lost_Christy via weheartit.com

This is SUPERBRITE. Let's rave like it's 1992 people. Failing that, let's create a similar outfit:

Made via polyvore.com

Top and shorts are H&M, the blush is Bobbi Brown and the eyeshadow is Revlon. Earrings are kohls.com. Yellow socks are twincityknitting.com, tights and legwarmers are welovecolors.com, shoes are amiclubwear.com.

If you want to go kitsch, you mustn't forget that blue eyeshadow all the way up to your eyebrows! With maybe some pink blush, a beauty spot, and red lipstick?

That's what I'm talkin' about!

That is not.

'But Bob!' I hear you cry, for that is my name, 'How shall we do our hair to match all this fantastic-ness?' Fear not friends, for I have found the most spectacular hair in the world!

Found via weheartit.com

Imagine maintaining that - I can barely be bothered with one colour, let alone three. She looks AWESOME though, and if you look closely you'll see her nails are painted to match the flowers. So cute!

Monday Inspiration: Gareth Pugh I Love You!

So just to make this clear, this isn't meant to be a blog about high fashion, so I won't be dissecting every stick insect that comes tottering down a catwalk each season, but I will make exceptions for super super awesome designers. Like Gareth Pugh.
For those of you who have been living in a little hole recently, he is one of Britain's three current enfants terrible, the other two being Henry Holland and Giles Deacon. Both of these guys do pretty cool things but OOoooh Gareth Pugh's creations...

Just to give an idea, his first collection started simple (ha.) with white structuralism. However, his inspirations seem to have been clowns, body armour, and Elizabethan ruffs. Which are meeting each other in future. During an explosion. But luckily it's all in white so your eyes don't try to escape out of your head.


See what I mean? I love the random cape on the first model, the cocoon-like riffles on the second, the way the third looks like she's had a box shaped around her. The fourth messes it all up by being lovely and floaty and the clean lines on the fifth combined with the odd ruffles looks like classic fashion being booted up the behind.

So after you've created a vision of the future in white, where do you go? Oh right, opposite side of the spectrum, black!
Seriously if my boyfriend could pull off spiked boots worn with a ragged shirt and a funny hat, oh the things I would do... (well I'd wonder about his sexuality for a start, but still it would be AWESOME).
This collection looks more post-apocalyptic future. Kind of leather-and-ragged clothes sort of thing. I don't know, I just like it.

Right so we've done white, we've done black, logically where should we go next? Oh right, black AND white:In a collection which, frankly is a little bit scary. Most people will see a gimp mask and a chessboard and go 'huh. Ok, gimp mask and a chess board, I think I'll play some chess/indulge in perverse acts.' Not Gareth Pugh. He sees chessboard and gimp mask and goes INSPIRATION!! Then he adds to it with tribal-looking tufts of hair, a silver trench coat (which honestly looks like something a futuristic prostitute, or Vince Noir, would wear), some latex and a mask which is modeled on a fly's face (seriously, look closely at the second one from the left).
Yet somehow it works. I actually quite like how the super-high shoulders make the fourth model look like a child-catcher, and the angles on the fifth make her look like a giant mosquito. Hell I even like Lego-clown-features on the end there, though I wouldn't invite her to a party.

After black, white, and black-and-white? Where do you go next? Well according to Gareth you make a collection based on samurai outfits, which was certainly cool, but not actually very exciting so I've missed it out. So after that you get to the newest collection, which is Grey.


Look at the boots! I swear if the gods could wear shoes, they'd look like this. Incidentally, I have no idea where you can get these from, but I DO know that currently Forever21 has shoes like this which is probably as close as we'll come without selling our kidneys.
Isn't it a gorgeous collection though? Look at them, floating down the catwalk like so many balls of mist. Of the lines so far, this would probably be the easiest to wear, because oh yeah, i forgot to point out that all these lines are part of his READY TO WEAR. Yes! Now you too can wear a diamond-pattern gimp mask every day! That said, I would sell my soul for the chain-covered skirt in the Black collection and the super-gothy ragged dress in the Grey collection (that is, if they did these things in size chubby).

Want to get the look? Well because I love you I created a simulation of it made from cheap(er) more normal clothes on polyvore.com

Clockwise from top left:

House of Holland: Get yer freak on Giles Deacon tshirt (as created by Henry Hollan, as worn by Gareth Pugh. Hello biggest trend of 2008)

White Doc Martens £70

Black Glittery lashes amiclubwear.com

Ruched Leather Mini – charlotterusse.com, £14

Winter Heather scarf, $15 ae.com

Optical illusion badge, 99p, bigcheesebadges.com

Checkerboard oversize tshirt, £26, asos.com

Black&silver padded structured dress, £20, desireclothing.com

Black lipstick, $16, amiclubwear.com

Black sequin dress with square padded shoulders, £90 adhoclondon.co.uk

I went out to dinner last night, and being insane I thought it might be a fun idea to see how much of this look I could channel without spending any money or looking like a crazy person. Succeeded on one count, may have failed on the second:

Without coat/gloves

With coat/gloves and an unintentionally evil expression. I think that's cuz my camera kept dying and I was pissed off.

So there you have it folks; my largest post ever and a designer-centric one at that. All model photos are from style.com

Charity Shops and Zero Awesomeness

If i go into uni at the moment it's like a creepy zombie ghost town. The odd tumbleweed blows past, a distant door bangs. Freshers wander around looking bewildered while older students huddle in quivering groups in the caf, the library, and the smoking area. In short, it's exam period, and pretty much everyone's concession to fashion is a slightly different stained hoodie.
Obviously this doesn't give me much to work with in terms of documenting awesome. I'm no better actually; indoor wear is 4 jumpers (we don't really 'do' heating) and a pair of pyjama bottoms. Outside-world clothing is some variation on cardigan+dress+faux-fur coat (the snow may have finally melted, but it's still hella cold and faux-fur keeps me niiice and sweaty in its nylon embrace).

This brings me in now way to charity shops. Did you know their amazingness holds no bounds? No, me either. They were the kind of places I'd go shopping when i was pubescent and 'quirky,' aka 'with no fashion sense.' But actually, actually, I paid them a visit while waiting for a bus recently and... well... did you know they have half-price sales? Again, me neither. But £20 later and I had in my grubby paws a skirt, 3 dresses, 2 blouses, a waistcoat a cardigan and an Indian scarf. Consider that even at Oxfam a dress can cost up to a tenner and you will understand my joy. And they are all very nice, slightly odd things, which is just how I like it:

Teehee it looks like I'm looking up my skirt in the second photo. Pretty much everything I'm wearing in these pics is thrifted/gifted/salvaged/inherited from friends' great aunts, apart from the top under the cardy in the second pic, which is a Gogol Bordello merch tshirt and also the necklace from the same pic, which is Accessorize.
That's me done for now, as I must get back to writing a big fat essay. Hopefully after next week the cool people will start poking their noses out from under their duvets (I'm especially looking at you, third-year insane clothing girl who i usually run into).

So, y'know how I haven't posted since Monday?

Yeah, I feel really bad about that, I mean to write daily but I cleverly started this blog right before exams. Which was stupid. So now I'm swimming through huge piles of paper covered in essay notes (seriously my bed has been lost to stacks of paper and dirty plates) but I will soon flounder to the surface dragging some cool charity shop finds behind me :D
It might be later this afternoon, I don't know, but I hope so.
Bis spaeter Lieblings!

Monday Inspiration: Ghostworld

So it's Monday. Blaggh. Actually I have the day off today cuz of the snow, but I still have to write essays and stuff. Boo.
Anyway, to perk myself and everyone else up, I found some stills from the film Ghostworld (probably one of my top 5 favourite films). The lead girl, Enid, dresses pretty out-there and goes through like a phase a week. But it's cool because she always wears the same stompy boots and trudges around being all bored and stuff. It's a film about teenage girls, but not crap, so that's nice. Also the cinematography is ace, but being a film student I would say that.
I tried to screenshot the scenes with outfits in, but apparently that's not allowed so we'll just have to make do with official stills. If you like the pics, watch the film (or read the graphic novel, which is really good and one of Lisa Simpson's favourites), seriously it's awesome.

All images copyright Advanced Medien/Capitol Films/Granada/United Artists

Just a quickie

So I've ordered this camera online, but what with England being covered with snow I still don't got it. And what use is a fashion blog documenting regular awesome people without any photos of said people? Very little use, that's how little.
But I do have one little tip that I'm posting so I don't forget to write daily. This one's for the ladies, and it is a little thing, that is nonetheless important. It helps frame your face, make the most of your eyes, and generally look a little prettier and well groomed than before. Ready?

Pluck. Your. Eyebrows.

Seriously, whether you have fair, thin little brows like me, or eyebrows that, as a friend put it, scare small children, a nice, neatly shaped brow will always look good.

Tips: Pluck from the lower side of the brow, as that way you get a more natural shape. Thin the hair out more towards the outer ends, but don't be tempted to go too thin, as that can look pretty odd. Similarly, unless you have a monobrow, don't pluck too much from the middle.

Tip for gothy girls: You may be tempted at some point to shave off your brows and draw on cool severe ones or fun arty ones a la Amanda Palmer but a word of warning: unless you do this without fail EVERY DAY you will look like a weird alien. Or very angry. It varies.
Also, you always see girls at festivals with drawn-on brows which they've clearly done in a less-than-sober state, which gives them very off expressions.
If you fancy the drawn-on look, try the glue stick method (yes it's a real thing, there are full tutorials on youtube) to slick down hairs, giving you that hairless-face feeling.

Pick 'n Mix: Under £30

Sorry about the cheap-ass photoshopping, but I had to get these all together somehow.

Anyway! Here's a bunch of tasty treats from various high-street shops, each costing under £30! How nice!

Clockwise(ish) from top left: Topshop cardigan, £28; Figleaves tights, £12; Monsoon/Accessorize scarf, £15; Peacocks Tshirt (with MJ on it, woo) £14; Monsoon/Accessorize bando headband with bow, £10; Ebay/HellBunny dress (seller name SceneDead), £26,50; Monsoon/Accessorize bag, £25; H&M Shoes (Sorry I forgot to note down the price for these! Now I can't find them! D'Oh!).

Phew, thats a fairly Accessorize-heavy post! But I can't help it, I love them so very much. Also those tights are so fabulous, they are in fact designed by Henry Holland as well. Cool no?

Creature Feature: Beth Ditto

Beth Ditto, Beth Ditto, spokeswoman for fatties and lesbian ladies everywhere. Her flab speaks to mine, and encourages it to get on the cake; it’s looking a bit undernourished. Thusly she is the perfect place to start a blog devoted to the view that everyone can look icy cool and amazing, no matter where, who, what size, what gender or what sexuality they are. People who put that extra effort in every morning deserve to be celebrated, and I’m going to be the one to celebrate them.

So, to Miss Ditto. I’m a somewhat fan of her music, but that’s fairly irrelevant in a style blog. Her views on fashion are what I love, her screw-it-why-can’t-chubbers-wear-acid-washed-hotpants-and-get-naked-on-stage persona. Anyone checked out her collection at Evans? You should, it’s like a retro scenester and a highlighter pen had a baby, so pretty cool.*

Also, she gets naked:

On the cover of NME

Often:

On the cover of Love

And everyone needs a body-confidence boost now and again.
See, someone could say that she succeeds despite her fatness, but rather she makes it work for her. Her figure makes me think of scoops of icecream, which have been dipped in chocolate, and then instead of a cherry on top there's a pretty face, with a little swirl of hairdo on top. She looks larger-than-life, and like if you met her you’d feel overwhelmed by her charisma and fun, but in a good way. You go girl!**



*That said, when I put on several pounds and said to a friend ‘Oh well, at least there’s still Beth Ditto’s collection at Evans’ he responded with ‘Yes… but I don’t want you to have to shop at Evans, it makes me sad’ and after a moment contemplating it, I kind of agreed. I mean, have you seen the cut of their ‘jeans’?

** Everyone please read that in an ironic way, not in a lol-English-girl-using-Americanisms-what-is-she-insane? kind of way. Thanks. Also I really want some icecream now.