Well, it seems Easter is on the 31st of March this year, which is earlier than I thought. Lucky I’m here to tell you what to do. Remember, if you don’t listen, its the stick again…
First off here’s a couple of recipes for spooky treats for the family visit. They should know what you’re like by now, and if not they soon will when you offer them a tray of creepy cupcakes including brains, spiderweb cupcakes and this assortment of goodies including spiderweb eggs. See, eggs! It’s seasonal.
Here are some easter egg decoration ideas for geeks, and some ‘peep dioramas‘ (what’s a peep diorama? Check the second video below) featuring scenes of rabbit massacres, aliens and pole dancing. How can you resist trying to recreate those?! And let’s not forget these Halloween Easter eggs.
Finally here are some videos for those who need inspiration. Enjoy!
Ooh, colours!
Peep dioramas
Spider eggs count, right?
Killer rabbit makeup. You know, for the egg hunt later.
I’m obsessed with tea parties, probably because I don’t really drink anymore. But, of course, no boring parties for me. Here’s a few unusual things you could bring to proceedings:
First off I love psychedelia, not sure why I just always have. Why not get some mugs to match, or for an extra boost of weirdness how about one of these Day of the Dead sugar skull mugs? I’ve got mine!
And let’s not forget there will be those that don’t like tea (weirdos). Here’s a quick how to on serving blacklight lemonade.
Of course no mad hatter’s psychedelic party would be complete without rainbow cupcakes, get the recipe here.
If something a little more disturbing is your thing, and let’s face it why wouldn’t it be, try these. First up is a savoury centre piece treat, Zombie Head Cheese.
Next is a recipe for melting witch cookies. Rather timely with the release of this new Wizard of Oz movie.
It’s the New Year! OK it’s been the new year for a little while but I heard lots of birds today and it made me think of spring, therefore it only really became new year properly for me today. You know what I mean. And a new year means a new look. Sometimes. Well, the magazines keep telling me this and they wouldn’t lie, would they?
Anyway… after you’ve read the article I posted a while ago on looking and feeling vintage, here are various tutorials you may find useful. From everyone’s favourite make up muse Edie Sedgwick to modern gothic, from 20s flapper to hippie/metal/whatever dreadlocks, punk to steampunk and blacklight parties it’s all right here. Hooray!
First, because I used to have dreadlocks and I still love them, is a how to:
If real dreads are too much of a frightening commitment, here’s how to do them in wool:
Next up some gothicness. Here is MissChievous’ make-up tutorial:
The ‘Tim Burton’ look from Michelle Phan:
Antimony and Lace is a site dedicated to tutorials on do it yourself goth clothes, and Goth.net is a community site for sharing clothes tips and the like.
Quite a sweet tutorial for rock types on making shredded leggings. My favourite part was the cat:
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!
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:
stick again…
cupcakes including brains, spiderweb cupcakes and this assortment of goodies including spiderweb eggs. See, eggs! It’s seasonal.
Madeleine Swann 