Mark Allred – whole lotta Holga

Mark Allred has been having a low-fi renaissance of late. While the rest of my workplace (including me) is getting caught up in megapixels and the basic science of digital photographic reproduction – Mark is wielding his Diana F+, clicking, hoping and waiting till the shots get processed and posted back.

maybe I’m just a control freak and would prefer to do this kinda stuff in photoshop – but then again, i don’t ever get around to it. In that spirit -  Mr Allred, I salute you. Beautiful shots too.

check out more on Mark’s flickr page

the perfect boob

Now this is an odd blog – no name, no contact details – excellence in anonymity.  The perfect boob is home to a lady illustrator and graphic designer based in London who publishes (nearly) a doodle each day – and yes, often that doodle is actually a doodle… sometimes it’s a breast.

Each illustration features off-beat quips and observations about life, love, loss and well.. rude bits. Equal parts hillarious, true and disturbing. The first one reminds me of lady worthington.

take a peek:  http://blackksheep.wordpress.com

Triptych Tuesday: Patrick Hruby, Lord of the Flies

I was just about to press ‘publish’ on a post about Patrick Hruby’s other work, when I stumbled across this on his blog.

They’re working roughs of the cover of his favorite book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. While just 3 independent mock covers, when placed together they show an evolution of style and treatment that not only makes a great triptych, but inadvertently conveys the transformation that occurs to the characters in the book. Great when things accidentally fall in place.

Patrick has the Conch.

Chloes twenty shades of brown

I’ve been a bit of a Chloe fan recently, their last few collections have been so inspiring for me. It’s so refreshing to see a whole collection which is so strong and that oozes style and sophistication. Twenty shades of brown = yes, drab = no.

Here’s a few of my favorite looks.

Nico XX

Follow Alice down the 3D rabbit hole

We’re baaack. Lady Worthington and I have just spend a most wonderful week skiing in Italy. Can’t recommend it enough. So, sorry about the dire lack of posts but, a laptop on a chairlift didn’t seem like a good idea.

anyway, before we left mydeco.com went all Alice in Wonderland gaga. Stylist Jenny Cooper designed fantasy interiors featuring over-sized furniture and accessories, using the mydeco 3D room planner tool.  Each ‘look’ was created using 3D models of real furniture and accessories, from retailers including John Lewis, Heals, Barker and Stonehouse and independent designers such as Blaue Blume and Love Eco.

I’ve always been a big fan of messing with scale, so these creations are right up my alley. or down my rabbit hole… or in my tea cup.. or something :)

mydeco.com

What would Edward Scissorhands do?

A: He would totally wear these threads.

Another amazing collection from Ann Demeulemeester

Ann Demeulemeester A/W 2010

Nico XX

happy caturday!

lay like a kitty in a sink!

it’s caturday! you can do what you like!

cats in sinks from cats in sinks

Sneak peak Page shoot

Here’s a sneak peak at the shoot I styled a couple of weeks ago for Page Magazine. The magazines next issue will be available online from April 1st.

Photographer: Junichi Kikuchi
Stylist: Nicole Freeman
Hair: Akio Nishiyama
Makeup: Louise Dartford

bird is the word

I love birds; those fluttery, flappy fellows of flight. In their natural form they come in a zillion different shapes and colours – pass those variations through the creative prism of man, and BOOM you’ve got a whole flock of wonderously beautifully creations.

I guess that’s the idea behind the vogelsang blog. or perhaps it’s curator, Ellen just really, really, really likes birds.

Anyway, here’s a couple of my faves – you’ll have to check the site proper to get the sources for each (I’m feeling a lil lazy)

New spice

Loving these old spice ads, loving the remake even more though. Absolutely American and weird and a little creepy.

The original:

A strangely funny homage:

via spreadingjam

dolce & gabbana- ready to have and to hold

dolce and gabbana, i usually bemoan your creations, passing them off as trashy solutions for women who want to look cheap, sassy and snag a rich man… or indeed any man. i don’t like.
but this, THIS!!! this i LOVE!

i confess! i am completely in love with the a/w  2010 ready to wear collection. i have never felt such affinity with a collection.

i just wish it were ok for me to go out on to the pavement in big knickers and transparent skirts. maybe it is? tomagotchi? may i?

oh i thought you’d say yes! of course i’ll hold your hand.

how do you say tres chic in italian?!

“bella!”

thank you vogue for all your wonderful covergage of milan fashion week.

It’s hobo chic…I think

When Ashish said “I saw a gypsy girl outside the Gare du Nord in her pyjamas and a granny knit… I just thought she looked really cool.” in regards to the inspirations for his latest collection, he wasn’t joking.

Maybe that’s where I’m going wrong. When I see a gypsy girl outside the Gare du Nord in her pyjamas and a granny knit I think, “what would your mother say?”.

Nico X

Triptych Tuesday: Alastair T. Willey

The professionally named Alastair T. Willey sent us some shots to feature in this week’s triptych Tuesday.

When I first recieved them, I wasn’t sure – too much negative space, too dark, too ethereal. But, like a good album that takes time to become aquanted and find the nuances – these shots have warmed to me.
In his note, Willey professed he’d been “contemplating methods of printing, framing and how they will become more than digital files.” I guess that transformation happens in a personal sense too.

check out more of Alastair’s work (along with a very cool way of displaying a folio).

Subscription drive 2010

We post stuff all the time. new stuff. cool stuff that we’ve specially selected from the worlds amazingly large volume of stuff that’s a bit crap. we find the cool stuff, write about it and post it on here.

The good news for you is that you can keep up to date through the magic of technology – here’s how:

1. Facebook – you can become a fan of us on facebook. the good bits from here will get posted there, along with the odd facebook-only rambling.

2. RSS – this is a bit geeky. click it and see what happens. It’s an easy way to get notified of new posts.

3. Twitter – all the posts from here get spat out into the twittosphere. If you’re on it, follow us

4.  By Email! drop your email address in the box below and we’ll send you a roundup of the latest posts once a week. easy-peasy (and we won’t send you spam or junk or stuff – or sell your info for gold bullion)

the transformation of whistles

i used to be a fan of whistles. i was a fan when i was about 21 and had penchant for quirky, lady-like pieces and everything had to go with my boot-cut earl jeans. (EVERYTHING went with jeans back  in 2001, remember?) and then i think somehow i decided that i wasn’t really a yummy mummy from wimbledone and i didn’t aspire to be one either so i stopped going in there. besides, i remember all the little eccentric bits i would have flexed the plastic for weren’t in stock anymore and all i was left with were the yummy mummy bits. i realised whistles had no edge. it was all a bit blah.

well, after jane shepherdson left her chief exec position at topshop in 2007 after 20 years (and transforming it into a crack-fashion empire) she has since been employed as chief mastermind of whistles, after a brief trip over to oxfam as a volunteer advisor. and boy is she breathing some new life in to the declining british boutique chain!

instead of boxy jackets and wide cut trousers, whistles seems to be taking it’s inspiration from the east (that’s shoreditch, not china, just to clarify) and suddenly the collections are awash with patterned playsuits, tuxedo jackets and a youthful, independent confidence. and these changes follow through to every detail of the whistles chain. from the store facade, store interiors, to the website, everything about whistles is hipper, more self-assured and well, just a whole lot cooler. think less cutsy, but with oodles more charm.

all images via whistles. first 3 from s/s 2010, last image from a/w 2009