Posts Tagged ‘inspiration’
something to inspire
Imagine the Angels of Bread – Martin Espada
This is the year that squatters evict landlords,
gazing like admirals from the rail
of the roofdeck
or levitating hands in praise
of steam in the shower;
this is the year
that shawled refugees deport judges
who stare at the floor
and their swollen feet
as files are stamped
with their destination;
this is the year that police revolvers,
stove-hot, blister the fingers
of raging cops,
and nightsticks splinter
in their palms;
this is the year
that darkskinned men
lynched a century ago
return to sip coffee quietly
with the apologizing descendants
of their executioners.
This is the year that those
who swim the border’s undertow
and shiver in boxcars
are greeted with trumpets and drums
at the first railroad crossing
on the other side;
this is the year that the hands
pulling tomatoes from the vine
uproot the deed to the earth that sprouts the vine,
the hands canning tomatoes
are named in the will
that owns the bedlam of the cannery;
this is the year that the eyes
stinging from the poison that purifies toilets
awaken at last to the sight
of a rooster-loud hillside,
pilgrimage of immigrant birth;
this is the year that cockroaches
become extinct, that no doctor
finds a roach embedded
in the ear of an infant;
this is the year that the food stamps
of adolescent mothers
are auctioned like gold doubloons,
and no coin is given to buy machetes
for the next bouquet of severed heads
in coffee plantation country.
If the abolition of slave-manacles
began as a vision of hands without manacles,
then this is the year;
if the shutdown of extermination camps
began as imagination of a land
without barbed wire or the crematorium,
then this is the year;
if every rebellion begins with the idea
that conquerors on horseback
are not many-legged gods, that they too drown
if plunged in the river,
then this is the year.
So may every humiliated mouth,
teeth like desecrated headstones,
fill with the angels of bread.
a guilty pleasure for a sunday night
more actual content shortly, i promise. but in the meantime: i know plenty of people have already mentioned this, but if you haven’t checked out what courtney wore today yet then you really ought to treat yourself. a mixture of magazine editorials, archive shots and blurred fash-blogger selfportraits of la love’s current stylings (hermes birkins and milk-white skin one moment, “upcycled vintage” confections the next) it never fails to entertain. me, i think i like the 90s riot-grrrl looks the best, simply because that’s the era when hole and courtney blasted into my life; what’s your favourite?
colours of newtown
something bright and cheerful to finish off a perfect weekend. you know, in wellington the suburb of newtown has a reputation for being a bit ragged and a bit rubbish. but its rough edges make it all the more interesting after the relatively low-key bohemia of cuba street etc. and there is colour. a lot of colour.
as (sir) paul smith says: you can find inspiration in everything, and if you can’t, look again. amen to that.
happy week, everyone xxx
the importance of beautiful packaging
as evidenced by my possibly-favourite-ever shoe manufacturer, melissa:
detail of the gorgeous box:
i have to say i am not *gagging* for the shoes themselves (although they could look pretty cute with jeans and a simple teeshirt) but the box is utterly precious. as the company themselves says, the total concept of a brand isn’t just restricted to the product itself but to the packaging .. because that’s the first impression a consumer gets of a product’s quality and its essence. i couldn’t agree more.
now, as for a pair of melissas that does make me go “ooh” .. check out these babies, the melissa ocean II (great heel height, right on trend, and i particularly like the bronze/gold combo, perfect for what the rockstar terms the perua rica or rich bitch look):
and then speaking of babies, well. this link may make you die of the cute, i warn you. but if you ever thought that vivienne westwood’s collaboration with melissa couldn’t get any better, it just has: dame viv + melissa for kids. check it. those miniature-sized lady dragons! eeeeee!!
(all images from the lojamelissa blog)
the lust list
the autumn/winter collections are in store, coincidentally at a time when i have (a) hardly any money to spend and (b) a need to equip myself with a slightly more corporate wardrobe than i’ve been rocking this past few years. (i did say slightly. there will be no navy suits for *this* bunny, unless martin margiela makes a deconstructed one).
so instead of spending actual money, i present you with things i would buy if i could, thus indulging my magpie-like eye for the sparkly and new (ooh, a shiny penny!) here are three things i really, really want at this point in time.
exhibit one: the dress
the karen walker bunting dress. isn’t it beautiful? the rockstar actually picked this one out of a magazine, believe it or not. there is something about colourful prints on a dark background that men really like, it seems. and i like it too. although it isn’t exactly an autumn dress, it looks so fresh among all the nude colours and ditsy florals — or big shoulders and studding — that it feels like i’ve been looking at for ever :-/ i think with a base layer, thick tights and boots, this would transition through a wellington winter just fine.
exhibit two: the accessorything
this belt harness hybrid from kate sylvester is calling me and i may have to succumb. i love the dark brown, the raw edges of the leather, the solid hardware. it stops it all from looking too dominatrix-y for everyday wear, which is often a problem with these harnesses, i think. this would look equally fabulous over a blouse and skirt as it does over this divine oversized coat. and the socks and shoes! i die. thinking about it, there is something a tiny bit reminiscent of an old-style girl guide uniform about it, which is probably why it appeals. the rest of my guide uniform was pretty horbz, but i loved the belt. wish i still had it.
(also, snaps to kate for the fabulous lipstick .. and for always, always having great gothy-post-punky music playing in her stores. she rules.)
exhibit three: the totally lush and rich scent
well, i ask you: if you could smell like daphne guinness, why would you not? according to the fabulous review on now smell this (my favourite perfume blog) daphne has notes of bitter orange, incense, saffron, rose centifolia, tunisian jasmine, tuberose, iris, patchouli, oud, amber and vanilla. it is produced by comme des garçons, who consistently make some of the most interesting fragrances around. i sprayed it on a card at mecca cosmetica, sniffed it joyously and put it in my bag. for the rest of the day, every time i opened my bag i was assailed by this rich, heavy, spicy scent .. oh my gosh, just gorgeous. i want this. it is the kind of perfume that turns heads .. like ms guinness herself, of course.
anyway. that’s just a little of what’s been rocking my socks. for now, i shall lust on ..
(images from karenwalker.com, katesylvester.com, doverstreetmarket.com)
in watermelon sugar
things i am really into today:
- watermelon juice. a brazilian delicacy and best made now in NZ while the watermelon is still fairly cheap, locally grown and plentiful. here’s my recipe: cut a quarter watermelon into large chunks .. seeds in (you can remove the seeds if you like, of course, but brazilian healthy types believe they’re good for the circulation. and also i am lazy). put into blender. add filtered water until it reaches 750ml on the side of the blender. (less water makes for a thicker juice, but it will be more like a smoothie and not so much like a suco brasileiro). blend. add a decent drizzle of honey (i usually add a two-count of squeezable arataki). blend again. pass through a sieve to get rid of the seed residue. serve. accept compliments.
- the men’s section in vintage stores. i scored a wonderful men’s dress shirt yesterday at fin in newtown. the whole front and cuffs is made of this fine honeycomb-weave cotton, and it was precisely the right size for me. another great score: men’s oxford bags from savemart in upper hutt. think laterally about men’s vintage: wide waists can be cinched, long sleeves or legs can be rolled (and in fact often look better that way). if the fabric is good and the drape works, you will look elegant. (yes, i need to do an outfit post. i will, i promise.)
- wednesday nights on tv3! new zealand’s hottest home baker (grayson, i love you! i so want you to win!) followed by project runway. you know, i am not sure this ever made it onto the main networks in the UK .. it was always buried away on some obscure satellite channel .. so i had never seen it. oh my god, best show ever. [edited: dayum, it's actually thursday nights! pox! but i have already set the mysky box, hehe]
- cute iphone apps! my current favourite is one called 30 kittens per second. cute and bonkers. and i’m kind of tempted by this. if only because the first line of the description made me LOL, as i believe the kids are saying these days. ”Does your iPhone need more kittens? We understand.”
fashion inspiration: miss olivia
oh, come *on*. like you’d have got any further than the title if i’d written “fashion inspiration: olivia newton-john”. so olivia-ya-ya is not someone you tend to think of, fashionably speaking, unless you have a secret childhood yearning to be sandy from grease, complete with so-tight-she-had-to-be-sewn-in spandex pants. (did anyone else kind of really hate the message of that film, by the way? like the only way to Get The Boy and Be Cool was to turn into some kind of skin-tight cigarette-smoking minxtrel? i guess there were enough teen films before and after that saying that the only way to win at life was to just be yourself, maaaan, but it still pissed me off. possibly because i wasn’t allowed to see grease when it first came out and i first saw it many years later at the age of 13. for realz, i am so cool. anyway.)
but i want to put it out there that i think that olivia newton-john’s wardrobe deserves to be known for a little bit more than a rat’s nest of corkscrew curls and a pouty “tell me about it, stud.” she was a stylish dresser, you guys, for serious. as exhibit A, i refer you to this video. will you just look at that frock, kids, and the way her headband is invisible from the front but has this kind of cascadey thing happening at the back? and the black opaque tights? a more obvious person might have teamed that foxy dress and heels with fishnets or lace tights (especially in the early 80s) but olivia keeps it edgy with solid black .. a touch of solemnity just heightening the fabulousness of the frock. can the lady dress or what? i rest my case.
this next one, well it’s always sort of cited as the quintessential squeaky-clean-popstarlet-goes-sex video, innit. forget kylie: ONJ was years ahead. the tights! the headband worn just so! the colour combination in the first outfit, the clean white chic of the second! omg i’m having a fashion moment. and you can’t tell me dov charney doesn’t watch this scribbling down inspiration all the while.
(also, sidenote: i had forgotten how all the buff boys go off hand in hand with each other at the end! awesome. that’s got to be nearly a first in a rock video, surely?)
and then there’s this. the jumpsuit! the batshit crazy lyrics! i *loved* this movie, i had the tape and i practically wore it out. oh how i wanted to be kira, good at rollerskating and blonde, probably because in real life i am neither of those things, hee ..
(i tried and failed to take a screen shot of the jumpsuit but seriously, didn’t happen. this is from another HD version on youtube and dayum, this outfit is pretty good too. sequin strange half-leggings-half-harem-pants arrangement! yes and yes.)
anyway. from the excess of squealing (and hyphens) in this post, you may gather that ninetwelvetwentyfive is a big fan of olivia newton-john in her 80s starlet incarnation. forget grease, forget the laura-ashley-style frocks of the “i honestly love you” era: this is olivia at her fabulous best. now if you’ll excuse me, i’m going to try and get my hair to behave like that. it may take some straightening irons and enough elnett to choke an elephant, but dear *god* i’m going to try.
(all photos screenshots courtesy of youtube. obv.)
inspiration: vanessa bruno
this video, of the charming and graceful lou doillon modelling the vanessa bruno ss10 collection, has quite made my morning.
i love the black skirt she wears while she’s stamping around in the flour. long and floaty in the front, knee length in the back .. i can see that working great for a windy summer in wellington, moving into autumn with tights and killer boots. hmm .. thinking, thinking ..
going west
a charming and beautiful animation of a passage from one of my favourite books ever, going west by maurice gee:
sigh. so gorgeous. if you haven’t read this book, do take the time to seek it out — intricate, beautiful and sad, it’s sort of distilled essence of new zealand, for me.
(thanks for the heads-up, cal xoxo)
the off-courtenay film festival, part 1
so this weekend was very social. buzzcocks gig on friday night (where a mass of forty somethings relived their punk youth, moshing one minute, texting babysitters on their blackberrys the next) and then the football and an 80s-indie night on saturday .. after all that, sunday was a day for feeling slightly jaded and cuddling up in bed with DVDs.
i’ll do a separate post on the films we watched. but worthy of a special mention was that my all time favourite film wings of desire was on the rialto channel. just perfect, because when i thought about the berlin wall anniversary that’s the first film i thought about.
i find it very difficult to be objective about this film because quite frankly i think every single frame is perfection. i love it so. the beauty of the monochrome sequences, the angels listening benevolently and passively to the thoughts of the humans .. the unexpected charm of the scenes with peter falk .. bonus nick cave at his most tortured and beautiful, singing an ominous version of “from her to eternity” .. and of course, the aching yearning damiel feels for the trapeze artist marion, his conversion into a human and the joy he feels in the simplest physical pleasures.
(this is just after damiel has become human. cassiel is carrying him because they are behind the wall and suddenly he sees that damiel is leaving footprints in the sand. i think this is the most beautiful image in the film.)
ich weiss jetzt, was kein engel weiss. i now know what no angel knows.
oh how i love this film. even a few snatched minutes of it was enough to fill my heart with beauty. if you haven’t seen it, please please try. it truly is wim wenders’ masterpiece.
(all images are screenshots taken from the dvd)
