Earlier today I tumbled out of bed, slapped on some stilettos, a dress, made sure I looked semi-proper, and skipped out the door to do a photo shoot. This shoot was with Walker, Syd, and Nora of Acrylic Nails at an abandoned house’s backyard on Beachwood in Hollywood. I had to remind myself at one point that these young darlings were only fourteen and in eighth grade, because their maturity exceeded their age. During the photo shoot, my six-inch studded patent leather shoes ended up becoming the focal point- and each of us switched off with wearing them! If you’re interested in seeing more, look no further, here’s the link: Acrylic Nails Photography’s Blog. P.S. Hopefully we’ll get a bit more from Walker over the next few days, definitely need to get a few more frames for this site!
Here’s your educational thought for the day: Sociologists attribute a societies’ physical standards of a woman directly correlated to their economy. Thusly, when the economy is thriving, thin is in; when the economy is down, chunky is chic. When a woman is heavier she seems well taken care of, healthier and more fertile. Perhaps, as the economy suffers, this is the reason that so many designers and magazines are flocking to “real women” and “plus-sized” models for their campaigns.
Mark Fast jump-started the plumped up trend by sprinkling plus-sized models in with “regular” models in his Spring/Summer 2010 collection in London. Fast felt that voluptuous women would fill out his body-con knit dresses better than the typical size 0 models most designers pick. Fast stuck with this notion, even though it drove two members of his design team to quit, citing “creative differences.” We applaud Fast for his initiative, and are even happier to hear he plans to continue using plus-sized models in his future collections as well.
V Magazine jumped on the hefty honey bandwagon with their issue devoted to curvier cuties. Many felt that V, known for pushing the boundaries of fashion, was exploiting these women instead of embracing their size due to the unflattering styling and over-emphasis of fleshy folds. The responses to the editorial ran the gamut; comments online range from “Great story. Sexy. I love the pic with the naked girl on the floor. F-ing sexy!” to “This has nothing to do with curves…this is just overweight! awful so much fat, not healthy! Now if I feel like that, I don’t want to eat anymore, I don’t want to become like them.” It’s worth noting though that the models pictured in the shoot are only a size ten to twelve, which, while immensely larger than the typical model, is actually smaller than the average American woman.
So what does the recent use of plus-sized models say for the future of the modeling world? Should we expect to see size 10 glamazons stomping down the catwalk next to the typical size 0 bony beauty? Or is this just a trend that will surely fast away?
Based in Los Angeles, but with a major popularity in Europe right now, is a band called The Polyamorous Affair. Taking modern disco beats and a hint at a sound of isolation, this married couple brings a bit of glam and slight darkness to their music. With an upcoming addition to Manimal’s tribute album for David Bowie alongside the re-issue of a deluxe version of their current album, they have a lot to offer their listeners in the early months of this year.
Their video for “New York City” was released this month on Dazed Digital, and is one of their most popular songs alongside “Would I Lie to You” which was number one in the UK.
Find out more about The Polyamorous Affair by checking out their website.
Want to know what’s going on with the Editor, and have all your questions answered about Defying Mainstream frequently? Then submit one on Formspring: Click.
So we’ve added a few new contributors this week, have you taken notice? They’re quite brilliant and they are a wonderful addition to the team. First we have the one who calls himself “Pablo” from the bodacious blog, Funkism. He’s here to get into the depths of praiseworthy music and spread it around by his own column in our upcoming E-Zine, and whatever he intends to post on the blog. Our next contributor is Syd Lynch, where her last name may speak for itself, but she’s by far the most intriguing person alone, and besides being just fourteen years old, a person of character whom I’ve discovered amongst my voyage for a crew. She’s our new Junior Director, but the titles may change when we start working, for everyone has involvement on various degrees. The third person that has been added this week is Liz Black, who you may of come across on the Huffington Post’s Style blog or for City Magazine. She’s our contributor for fashion, and maybe a bit more, depending on what she chooses to share. Lastly, we have Walker Bunting who is quite a talented photographer at fourteen to add to our fabulous team. With these new contributors in mind, take note of their locations: London, Los Angeles, and New York City, to divulge Defying Mainstream in an international mindset on all levels. We’re looking for more contributors currently, and will look into whomever is interested, if you may drop us an email. (team@defyingmainstream.com)
A magical tale of a group, called Dark Horses, goes along with seduction and fine, enigmatic tunes. Their “Once Upon A Time” is decrypted as so:
Mummy what’s a DARK HORSE?
One thing we know is that it begins with the source…LISA ELLE the exterminating angel, the Swedish sonic siren…How many sailors will deliriously drown mistaking her voice for safe harbour? On her nocturnal dérive’s along the shores of Seagull City, SHE finds such like; FIVE drowned LEATHER boys, shivering under the pier. Nourishing them with spells and drones and words and melodies, she baptizes them DARK HORSES.
Listen to “Alone”:
And Download their free tunes here: read more…
With the exposure of the web, and a market that looks to the youth, many entrepreneurs under twenty have taken full advantage. From Tavi to Bryan Boy, and various others, they have come to terms of asserting themselves via the internet. As hardly acquaintances, I came across the site “Acrylic Nails” with the mere mention to check it out, because apparently we have a lot more in common than our parents! The site is of photography, with the photographer/stylist as Walker Bunting (14), and hair/make-up by Syd Lynch (14). Located in Los Angeles, three other people are apart of their team: Jack Karaszewski (13), Zara Ferro (13), and Nora Mathison (14). With a passion for hinting at darkness in their project’s photos, and formulating a story that leaves one in wonder, they give way to an ultimate path of teenage expression which is beyond their years.
read more…
The statement “Print Media is Dead” tends to be repeated over and over again every year. The idea of “New Media” in the digital era seems to lead everyone to believe that is the future. Now, it has been a slow adaptation in truth, but many continue to think ahead as the press sales decline. A few people have created what they believe to be the future of digital media, and we have been embracing and debating which ideas are truly the ones that we may use, and that we are aspiring to look to with every step.
Here’s a video showing the “Mag+“:
Here’s an example of the magazine adapted to the upcoming Apple pad and future tablets:
And here’s an example of a digital magazine: Click.
Since we are not going to be a traditional magazine, we’ll be adapting to a digital version to be able to link you to blog posts, and various websites via our future site. Currently what we are determining is the future of media on the web, not necessarily of print. Therefore that is why we are creating an “E Zine” and quite truly not trying to be a magazine, as we are an experiment after all too.
Update: Our new layout for the magazine will not be a flip page, but something quite different. It will be flash, but look forward to something more adaptable.
The aftermath of a party, where anything goes, and no one can determine what’s behind those closed, private doors. A video directed by Yu Tsai, revealing a sensuous preview of Lindsay Lohan’s shoot for MUSE magazine, was released in December for the January issue. When watching the stunning short, you may have wondered what that dark and amorous song was. The band who created the melody is called “Stereo Alchemy” and the name of it is “A Rapture.”
Conformed of the poem by Thomas Carew, the lyrics go:
Come, then, and mounted on the wings of Love
We’ll cut the flitting air and soar above
The monster’s head
and in the noblest seats
Of those blest shades quench and renew our heats.
Love and innocence.
Listen:
The band contains two members, Christopher Tin (composer), and Shoji Kameda aka “Kametron” (mulit-instrumentalist and producer) who are currently based in Los Angeles. They plan to release their first album sometime this year.
Find out more about them by checking out their website and following them on Twitter.
On the subway, New Yorkers have to be on pause for those few minutes till their next stop. Here, we can absorb the people around us, or ignore them like they don’t exist. The stations give way to performers of cultures from Chinese to Jamaican or even to the slight murmurs in silence of those who are wandering. The first outfits contain a model and a filmmaker, who you may assume to be. From her black Alaïa heels, to her shades of lilac and plum by her Versace dress and makeup, she giggles in glee. He wears a velvet coat with black down to his toes, and his hand is firmly grasping an umbrella due to the slightly wet weather. Next, during the late afternoon, a young girl mix and matches yellow, black, and white: by her jacket smudged with something yellow, pom pom hat, and her laced-up shoes. For popular snow-treading shoes, people seemed to wear the water proof Ducks, or anything inspired by. When getting off at a stop, a lady with a wooden cane proudly paraded in her gorgeous fur, like many woman feel about such a luxury. During the evening, people began to drift off on the subway. A middle-aged woman, who looked to be asleep, matched her entire outfit, with the domination of white with black details and finished it off with dark brown boots. On the other side of the train, a black-leather adorned couple cozied up to each other, with one sporting his gold high tops and the other with his laced up shoes.
While I’m plowing away at emails to get situated before this upcoming New York Fashion Week, I’m taking a break to let you know what I’ll be conducting for the blog from the tents, and further endeavors in relation to:
* Live Tweets from @DefyingMnstrm.
* Blog posts with pictures and video whenever there’s a break in between shows.
* Behind-the-Scenes footage.
* Insight into Fashion Week events and parties.
* Short interviews with fabulous people we run into.
* AND much, much more surprises!
Hope you’re as excited as I am, because this is the first Fashion Week of the year 2010; a year that just feels extremely bright and full of adventures just waiting to happen!
April, the birth stone is a diamond, but what do I crave? Moonstones and Crystals. Moonstones have this milky hue, with hints of blues and metallics afloat inside, stuck like pixie dust in resin. Crystals or Quartz, may come in pink too, but preferably the original and proud: clear skies but with thick mist undertones frozen in all it’s layers. Scratched and chipped by it’s ancient growth patterns, only to scream to be polished if necessary, or to be left in their natural state for pure character. These stones have a bit of magical quality too, from possessing a great significance in history’s pagan rituals, to being defined as something with each own’s specific meaning. On my venture for such wondrous jewelry with these stones, I stumbled upon Eddie Borgo’s spring collection:
read more…
So, in class they taught you about Japan. They told you that everyone has to look the same, a woman has to follow behind a man, and they prefer suicide? Well, hello to your classroom stereotypes, America. Japan is probably one of the most ahead countries, with the instincts of keeping their traditions, but still moving into the ever-evolving world. From mystical green that covers their land of fantasy, to Tokyo’s concrete jungle with eyes always to the future, they’ve got a good head on their shoulders along with the Yen. Now, in Japan they even have a large some of government money dedicated to creative endeavors. Especially in Fashion, which still resides mainly on their side of the world, but gives awe to our side. They can keep their culture, and they can express themselves. They can take westernization and modernization, devour it, then make it into their own so they don’t loose their identity as being Japanese. This land where a bit of fiction seems to be possible, has shown me light since the single-digit age of four. I self taught myself Japanese, and still am doing so. I took classes on it’s culture, I read it’s literature. I even took in Japanese Buddhism and went to Temple every Sunday, but ended up developing a longing to study Shinto. As a result, I’ve come to terms that that will be my next spiritual venture. As for the craziness that comes with Japanese expression, Trippple Nippples is a band that has taken advantage of an outlet to outrageous creativity, and as Tokyo Dandy has stated they are “in a Fairy Tale Land somewhere between Tokyo and Nirvana.” Here I will share you their past photo shoot, some fashion from Japan, and encouragement to go check out this post about them if you haven’t already. read more…
For Spring, Cynthia Rowley designed some very playful pieces. She made it a priority to embellish the innocence of adolescence within the collection, but give way to the beauty of a young lady. On her website, the video introduction captures her clothes thoroughly and in quite a fresh manner by a simple game of hide and seek. Watch this short piece by clicking the picture:
Who doesn’t love dawning the rich and lush fabrics of winter fashion to beat the chill in style? But, with the holiday season over the cold just heightens the anticipation of the light and effortless garments of spring. The candy-colored face paint hitting the runways is just the beginning of an infusion of youthfulness and flirtation in fashion. The Spring 2010 ready-to-wear runways not only embraced escapism in trying times, with designs fit for a European getaway, but also clearly took inspiration from the archetypal literary character, Nabokov’s Dolores Haze, better known as Lolita. The idea of the seductive underaged girl is more than ever a pop culture phenomenon 65 years after the novel’s original publication.
Along with the vibrant color palette for make up juxtaposed with delicate pastel textiles, hairstyles featured high pony tails, over-sized bows, side braids, those classic updos that you never wanted to sit still long enough to let your mom finish constructing, and as seen in our last post, the ruff and tumble pig tails flaunted by Prada models.
Going along with the theme of mixing art, culture and fashion, if you want to do a little Lolita research while it’s still too cold to go outside, I highly recommend the Japanese film Kamikaze Girls, the story of a Rococo-obsessed high school girl and her unlikely friendship with a swearing, spitting biker chick. The babydoll fashions of the lead character are an aesthetic treat to go along with an amusing plot and unique cinemagraphic style.
Here’s a little preview:
So cut your cut-offs a little shorter, start brainstorming your next brilliant DIY bows, petticoats, ruffled bloomers and go grab that pastel sweetheart neck-lined dress from your local vintage store, this season adolescence is the essence of chic.
You can see a full slide show of some of the most outrageous Lolita fashions at Style.com
Runway photo credit: Marcio Madeira
