Strangeness and Charm

What could be more relaxing than chilling out in some of my comfiest clothes and looking at inspiring images? Maybe if I had a little Florence and the Machine playing in the background or even a good cup of tea next to my hand to sip on occasion. Today I'm trying to avoid the 'idiot box' otherwise known as the television as much as possible today and purely focus on reading as well as writing in preparation for a cooler and more alternative live full of skull candles as well as hexagonal healing crystals and kooky framed pictures.

Egyptians: the largest and most prosperous race of hipsters known to mane who constructed large monolithic pyramids in a homage to their kings and their alphabet being comprised of pictures rather than characters. I'd love to travel to Egypt one day for a photography expedition of my own but there's so much turmoil in that area of the world I would never be allowed to go with my parents and I'm not sure how any partner I could be with in the future would be keen to be my own personal bodyguard.

New Zealand fashion label Twenty-Seven Names has this sort of charm about their photo shoots and model presentations, I especially love the clunky brown lace-up shoes with white socks and dainty long hair. Although the picture below is just a side profile of all the models staring at one professional camera, this unique photograph from the side makes the braids from the front of the crown all the more evident. It's like stumbling across a friendly cult of beautiful women with delicate dress sense is pastel tones.

Although there is no need at my age to walk in pairs of two and hold hands when roaming the streets with a group of girlfriends, I think it would be nice to belong to one of those notoriously bitchy cliques and dress similarly while walking around together, prowling the streets for fashionable shops in a tight pack. Unfortunately, this universe only exists in the world of magazines and there is no such place where brightly coloured shoes and wedges are worn while carrying vintage school girl satchels. I'll just have to be my own one-man fashion team and dress alone and brave the world without equally fashionable friends.

Maybe I would be better off dressing in a quirky hat bonnet and jumping out of windows than searching high and low of my fashion equals... yes sir, sure is lonely at the top but somehow I know I'll manage easily by myself. I'm sure that without events and parties to dress up for and attend my life will be better spent at home enjoying the comfort of a good book as well as commenting on beautiful photographs starring equally gorgeous people instead.

A strange curiosity I would like to collect one day is my own little cat and photograph them doing all manor of strange things but until I move out of my parents house, it appears I will be without furry companionship but on the plus side I don't need to worry about claws and sharing my bed. I can imagine it now, sitting amongst my desk of collectables including rosaries and candles shaped in skulls as well as hexagonal crystals. Ah, to be young and a being of magical powers.

An oddity I'm becoming a little more in love with is vintage nightgowns- they're like gorgeous thin dresses full of alluring frills and lace in single block colours. I imagine the two girls sharing a tender and romantic moment above are wearing the same sort of clothing but with frilly socks and loafers. If there were a little more modesty about the material of night gowns then you can be almost guaranteed I'd try to wear such a thing to university- or at least for fancy dress parties.

If I was any sort of master, or even novice when it came to the practiced and time-honoured approach of applying make-up I would love to have this shimmery grey eyeshadow swallow up my eyes. It's made all the more powerful with stone black eyes (a quality I am told I possess every once in a while) as well as small and prim, pouted lips and long silvery and dishevelled looking hair. The black cat is a cute touch to this sheer blouse and tassel scarf approach. It's a shame I don't have a paler complexion to get away with wearing black more often.

A strange and even more strangely becoming look is the popularisation of unusual bottled hair colours; my favourite being pastel shades of pink, purple and green. I usually make promises of one day dip-dyeing my hair when I become brave and full hardy but it appears I'm all art and no matter- that is, I'll never really go through with it. I love my hair the way it is and the trend is just so old now- there's also the damage from the last time I had streaks evident in my hair since some strands are left dry and brittle. It'll be a while before I ever reach for that bottle again.

Where Them Girls At?

Please excuse the grammatical nightmare of a title for this post- admittedly my best thinking does not occur during hot weather when I simply cannot be bothered to tie up my hair and also when I've been sitting at my computer work station for far too long.Since I've been stalking Tavi's blog as well as the tag posted under her name on Tumblr, I sort of wanted to pull together a vague compilation of school photographs. In black and white and first is an old photo shoot for New Zealand label, Twenty Seven Names which I love to death. For some strange reason, their awkward clunky Doc Marten style shoes in brown as well as mid calf socks in white reminded me of myself and really did it for me. I kinda wish I could go back to high school, just so I could wear those socks everyday again and also wear Doc Martens for my school shoes this time around.

 

Another feminine feature I'm mildly obsessing over is 'Chanel' advertisements and to a lesser extent, the Marc Jacobs ones too. It's sort of gotten to the point where the actual content of the ad in question is pretty or not, but when I see that word or combination of words my mind instantly assumes that the 'innards' so to speak will be pretty too. I think I have one or two magazine extracts on my wall for Chanel and Marc Jacobs but none of them are set up in this manner but they've certainly cracked the market and gotten a following of girls online. Evident from the fake advertisements people create with say, a volcano erupting instead of a girl holding perfume.
 

 

At the moment I'm tossing up whether or not to join the photography club at my university but the outings they listed for last year are only really suitable for landscape photographers and I'm more keen to capture interactions between humans or get into a studio space and do a little old-fashioned film shoot. Nothing says romantic more than a gorgeous girl dressed properly as well as soft focus photography.

 

I'm usually not that big a fan of blond but on the model shown here the peroxide shade looks quite charming and becoming- then again, I do also have a fondness for model Amanda Booth who now has light purple hair and tan skin in a similar shade to this model. Maybe I'm jealous of their legs and how stick thin they are, I referee once a week and previously played basketball twice a weak but I never did manage to slim down my thighs and calves. I know my calves are all muscle but my thighs are just a let down in comparison to this shining beacon of hope.

Seeing an image like this makes me more inclined to get my eyebrows professionally down but they look natural and I'm happy with how they are plus changing them can really drastically change the way a person's neutral expression look. I'm also in a long-term relationship and going something like that may certainly change things in a bad sort of way so without the old ball-and-chain I might but for now I'm all good. The models who have striking and thick eyebrows are usually the ones with the most delicate facial expressions and features so I may not be able to pull off something as well as they can.

Twenty-Seven Names

Twenty-Seven names has been one of the more elusive brands to find cheaply on eBay but I'm always impressed when I see their campaigns for collections and can't wait until I can own a little slice of their brand. There's something so alluring about the New Zealand brands I find, they seem aimed at the younger set and I know of many impressive brands from across the Tasman Sea compared to my own country. Maybe I should relocate for a year and come back with an entirely New Zealand wardrobe- I do think that if I went on student exchange for university though it would be a disappointment to travel such a small distance to study. I'm thinking of going to Paris or maybe even New York...

Speaking of Paris how about a matching blazer with shallow collar and a shirt underneath? I do hope the shirt collar and bow tie are included with the shirt worn underneath- it seems very chic and Parisian and I know the perfect camera to wear with the ensemble. That camera is named the Parisian and is a Diana F+ clone that was limited edition and sold on Urban Outfitters but there don't seem to be any left. A real shame.

Although the pattern of dark green and navy tartan is itself nothing that special, the chameleon charms of the photo shoot is really growing on me as well as the structure and presentation of matching clothing in such a way. I'd love to get my hands on that trucker cap, it's rare that I see one in an attractive print and pattern but with the slight tilting of the models head, she may as well be wearing a crown with such ferocity in her eyes. The row of cute, neat and black little buttons down the middle seam of the coat as well as the Peter Pan collar is something I would love to get better acquainted with in person.

I love the pallet of colours used for this Twenty-Seven Names collection- all the photographs have been sourced from the Blogspot of the Paul Maloney Fashion Agency but I wanted to write in my own little foot notes as well. Mustard yellow isn't a colour that immediately grabs me but at the moment it is growing on me. The simple colour blocking effect of this outfit as well as the high neck, thin material and rectangular blocks down the middle makes for an interesting combination.

The strong 1960s influence is one if my favourite eras of notoriety at the moment- the crochet and structure of shift dresses and Peter Pan collars is enough to send me in a frenzy. In my searching for authentic pieces on eBay though there doesn't seem to be quite the same impact as the new generation of inspired clothing. That's fine- I know where to find this lovely Twenty-Seven names dress in horizontal stripes of all colours and that makes me plenty happy. I love the gather at the waist to create pleats at the skirt as well as long sleeves. It's not often you see a long-sleeved dress with crochet Peter Pan collar, although you could most certainly add in your own separate collar to a vintage looking dress.

Apart from the trucker caps I make a guess that the garment within my price region would be this diamondpatterned top with curiously sheer sleeves. The use of a different material for such a small detail of the blouse and in the same pattern is a bit of a puzzle but perhaps there's a matching slip in dark blue under the main body of the blouse. I can see this chic little top making it's way into my wardrobe very easily and worn with my Forever 21 skirt in a frenzy of patterns to clash and make a bold statement.