One of my favourite blogs The Year of Halloween alerted me to this DIY apothecary table on blog Seeing Things That Aren’t Really There.
Here’s the blog link on Year of Halloween (tell me if this gets confusing. It’s like the quest within a quest on those adventure games where I was always commanding my character to wee on the wizard, which was always met with “request not understood.”
Want your Christmas to be the ultimate in odd? Feast your face on these DIY projects and present ideas. You still have time before the last post day tomorrow!
Firstly is this selection from Year of Halloween, Needful Things (13 things to get horror fans). Pop over and roll your eyeballs on this lovely selection. I’m weirdly drawn to the Taxidermy Art Diorama…
Next up is this Weeping Angel (from Dr Who) Christmas Tree topper tutorial from blog The Creative Crossing. Joy to the world!
Follow the link here to peruse RDSPress’ book suggestions for every kind of strange person you know. Though I’m no goth, I myself am the proud owner of illustrated book Haunted Homes and Gardens, it’s very pretty.
The site Ophelia’s Art sells gifts, spooky holiday cards and t-shirts as well as art, all spooky and pretty. I believe the shop is currently under maintanence but it looked worth waiting for so I’m adding it here and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Except perhaps threaten me or something. But I probably won’t listen cause I’m a right nutbag.
Artist Beth Robinson’s custom made Strange Dolls are very pretty in a very disturbing way. Not really recommended for children, unless your child is unlikely to weep at the very sight of it. She also does brooches and pendants:
Well, there we are. Have a merry Christmas and remember, Santa’s watching every move you make…
Want to make zombie cupcakes? How about a monster? Or just want to look your spookiest? Here we are with a platter of enough gooey gore to keep you satisfied on All Hallows Eve.
1. Zombie fingers.
Over on one of my favourite blogs, The Year Of Halloween, is a recipe for zombie finger cupcakes by Amy, Queen of the Muffin Pan. The Halloween site is a wealth of spooky custumes, art and films so I suggest you have a peek.
It was my birthday recently and I am now the proud owner of several new nail varnishes from Barry M. I love them so much it turns me back into the child who preferred playing with make up rather than wearing it. One of them is the Limited Edition Cobweb design. Hurry up, those nails won’t scare people themselves!
Below are a couple of how-to videos and spooky make-up tutorials. Merry Halloween and may the Night of the Walking Dead be a pleasant one. Or at least one where your face isn’t eaten. Farewell!
Gracing one of the posts of a blog I like to partake of are photos of La Isla de las Munecas (The Island of the Dolls). Never seeming afraid of death, Mexico is indeed a fascinating country. Have a look and a read about the history of this macabre place. While you’re there have a read of the other things on The Year of Halloween blog.
Audrey Kitching on Jared Gold’s runwayApnea (model)
I watched a rather peculiar documentary today called Party Monster, The Shockumentary. It’s quite a deliberately bad taste film about the Club Kids in late 80s New York – young people who dressed outlandishly and included fashion designer James St. James– and their party organiser Michael Alig who ended up murdering someone and putting the chopped up body in a trunk. Obviously it got me thinking about fashion. And murder I suppose but that’s no change.
I love art from Francis Bacon to Lempicka to photographers of the unusual like Diane Arbus, but I also love fashion. The outfits at the Bizarre Magazine Ball for example are truly bizarre and great, so here I shall include some of the things that make me weep with joy and perhaps you will find something of interest.
Most people complain that catwalks are full of designs people would never wear in the street, but to be honest that’s the thing I enjoy seeing, mainstream or underground. Regular fashion bores me but anything a bit fantastical, gothic, odd or grunge I love.
First off I have to include my favourite online shop, Joe Brown’s, as its something people will actually be able to afford. There’s some regular stuff but look around, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised.
Gothic Lolitas in Tokyo
The fashion pics of artist Man Ray are beautiful – as shown here on author Matthew Revert’s blog. They’re very imaginative of course.
Newish designer Jared Gold’s gothic and historical clothes are great, they have a similar Alice in Wonderland feel to Bill Gibb.
Tokyo is known for its ‘avant garde’ fashion and I’d love to go there. I particularly like the punk and Gothic Lolita styles.
Keeping in the fantastical realm I definitely recommend looking out for alternative models/designers out there such as Ophelia Overdose and Audrey Kitching. Also have a look at Bizarre magazine’s alternative model website Ultra Vixens for more ladies of the odd and artistic variety, or become one of them if you like. Plus Spitalfields market in London is host to the annual Alternative Fashion Week (presented by Alternative Arts), 16-21st April. Exciting! Colourful! Imaginative!
The model known as Scar
I have a book I love containing alt glamour/pin up pictures (piercings, tattoos etc) taken by Octavio Winkytiki and Lithium Picnic (my favourite). They’re pretty and unusual, but be warned, some of the content on their sites is not for children’s eyes.
My good friend Emma Bailey is a photographer in Brighton and has done a number of burlesque shoots. Burlesque is fun, the women often have normal sized bodies and I love vintage glamour. Fancy Chance is very funny to watch live and Banbury Cross is lovely too.
I like how bananas high fashion can be, including the designs of Alexander Mcqueen and the photos of Tim Walker. Feast your face!
I’m not hugely a fan of Andy Warhol but I love some of the Factory types like the Velvet Underground, and there was something very interesting about his model Edie Sedgwick.
I’m also drawn to the pictures of a model known as Scar, they’re creative and apparently she makes headresses too, which is nice. Another artistic model is Allison Harvard, who reminds me of a Tim Burton character, and gothic model Apnea is jolly too.
Warhol’s model Edie Sedgwick
Finally, I know it’s such a cliche that a person who likes Neil Gaiman and alternative models such as the Suicide Girls would also like the outfits in Tim Burton films but I do, so there. I’m not a goth but Alice in Wonderland and the White Queen had me searching for my dark lipstick, as did Lilly Cole in Terry Gilliam’s Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
Here’s a video of a creepy mechanical doll themed photo shoot by Tim Walker for Vogue Italia 2011
Here’s a video of a Jared Gold fashion show in 2008: