The Untameable Abbey Lee Kershaw

I've been overtaken by a sort of fierceness today, I best the description is desire. Abbey Lee Kershaw is one of the hottest slices of model property at the moment and I'm proud to say that she came from the land down under. At the moment I need to meet new people and make new friends and I know that if I felt as beautiful as she looked than I would have no problems about letting my personality show. It's a bit of a fine balance really, and I wouldn't mind getting something pierced like my nose to put myself out there as a force to be reckoned with but I've already been cautioned against it this year.

I adore anyone putting themselves in the shoes of Max from the children's book 'Where the Wild things Are' and wearing a crown as well as a fluffy jumpsuit. It's a photo shoot I plan to tackle myself one of these days when I get the guts as well as a fluffy grey hood to pull over myself.

Abbey Lee's got a few piercings including several on her ear as well as her nose and nipple. It really works well to this effect when her fingers are covered in silver rings and there's a wild and rugged setting sitting behind her. She seems to take it all in her stride though and looks empowered by her wild environment. That's what I need to do really, be empowered by my new setting of university and be friendly and out-going.

When I had envisioned my Summer holidays and break in between high school and university I had thought of sunset soaked beaches as well as sand in my sheets and water leaving my hair with a dreamy curvaceous twist. I got a few things right but the photograph above could only be captured with fingers built for precision as well as the gorgeous Abbey Lee featuring in the photograph. I would never be game enough to wear such a swimsuit but I do like the use of gathered elastic intertwining across the stomach as well as the peach colour in the sunset light. From this angle you can see just how skinny this supermodel is and I would love to have that kind of body- unfortunately my stomach trumps my mind when it comes to wars over food and eating.

I hadn't quite anticipated the influence Abbey Lee Kershaw would have on my life when I first clapped eyes on her photograph in an edition of Vogue about two or three years ago- seeing her without a top as she is in the photograph above mildly inspired this spineless wonder to dream about getting her nipple pierced. The plan never came to fruition since I don't have anything except my first ear piercings done but it's always been a secret piercing I've wanted to have done ever since seeing the image. Just because it's in Vogue, doesn't necessarily mean it's classy, though the piercing was a simple bar bell with ball bearings in a silver colour.

Maybe a part of her appeal as a model comes from her shameless and often scantily clad body, although I will admit does make a girl feel jealous as well as  sorry for herself when staring at the pages of magazine covers and editorials all day and then dismally comparing her own body to something as gorgeous as Abbey Lee Kershaw. The side profile photographs of her stomach alone are enough to put a girl to shame, not to mention her gorgeous hair whether you were a fan of her long light brown locks or the new peroxide blond Abbey.

I love the background and setting for these black and white editorial photographs of Abbey; the contrast between light and shade creates spooky shapes and shadows on drift wood and sand and she knows how to channel the dark and mysterious look perfectly. I'm getting a little better at focusing my eyes and attention on a camera but it will take some minor miracle to focus my attention in such a beam-like manner. I never really had the ambition to become a model, knowing that I wasn't quite the required height, didn't have the looks and needed to lose weight so being photogenic was never a real concern of mine- although my mother was disappointed with a few bad school photos as so many mothers are. I'm practicing a little bit on occasion now for outfit posts and finally getting on track with my New Years Resolution blog-wise.

It's still Summer and only halfway through and I've already got Autumn and Winter on my mind- I can't wait to wear layers and rug up and carry a thermos around the campus with me. I'm eagerly awaiting more additions on an online website in terms of fur jackets but I think I'll settle for amazing vintage kimonos and wearing long sleeve shirts and tights under jeans. For the first time in my life I won't be restricted by a uniform but I'll probably get bored with picking out what to wear each day within two weeks. I was a little inspired to see a girl wearing Blackmilk leggings in cathedral stained glass window style with a top for red bull despite my gripes against caffeine energy drinks. I have great ideas sometimes but execute them often poorly.

There's a variety of facial expressions

Your Crowning Glory

I was left feeling very inspired after seeing 'Where the Wild Things Are' movie- which i felt represented the perspective of an outsider and the difficulties of maintaining a relationship. A key motif of the film was the symbol of a crown used to enforce order and something that empowered the key protagonist, Max. It's interesting the kinds of crowns you get, Alice in Wonderland by Walt Disney features a small crown for the overbearing Red Queen while her husband had a large crown. I guess the choice was to mismatch them and make them look more as a couple and give a sense of unity to the wedded duo. Still, as you can see you can have tall or shallow crowns and all manner of spiked arrangements, even for the simple paper crown or crown crafted from cardboard.

One of the things I most like forward to about creating some space to take photographs is to find some cosy, fluffy grey jumpers or jumpsuits and do my own little 'Where the Wild Things Are' shoot and create a crown made of metallic gold cardboard. I'm sure if I did more searching I would find some toy scepters from the time in which I was into princesses and dress ups but it wouldn't be as much fun and wouldn't really suit the crown I would wear. Also, I am fairly certain in the movie there was no ruby gem in the middle of Max's sceptre.

Not only reserved for the most noble of bloodlines, crowns can also be worn by everyone's drunk and dorkiest uncle at Christmas day dinner after pulling apart a few bon bons and telling several bad jokes. The theory behind why bad jokes are told is that it turns everyone in the room against the joke in all its awfulness and that they are all joined together in their hatred against the corny pun. Therefore a sense of unity is created- so I have heard on intelligent quiz shows.

 

I am proud to be able to identify the runway show and season which this gob-smacking photograph came from. Emulating and imitating the classical Grecian/ Roman wales came many long and flowing dresses that were all red carpet worthy as well as gold tinted make up and props such as this crown used to mimic the life-giving sun. The collection was from Jean Paul Gaultier and was part of the Spring/ Summer collection in 2007. How do I know for sure? When first getting an interest in Vogue and magazines I borrowed a copy which contained a runway report of that season and neatly plucked it from it's bindings using a very sharp pair of scissors. It's the closest I've come to thievery and I proudly display my trophy above my bed using blue tack to keep it in prime position for when I sit up in the mornings. Mind you, I haven't had a lot of strength or motivation to sit up in bed, I do end up lying about for about an hour and a half or so though.

 

I leave you with Australian model Abbey Lee Kershaw in her earlier days minus the peroxide blond hair and sporting the iconic wolf costume and crown that Max from the popular children's picture book 'Where the Wild Things Are' is depicted wearing. If she ever did command I kingdom I would gladly join in an attempt to be adopted and taken under her wing.

Pamela Love X Opening Ceremony: Where the Wild Things Are Jewellery

I was interested in the 'Where the Wild Things Are' movie and the very adult take on such a simple children's book- it was the story of an outsider from many different view points and the struggle to reconcile relationships and how we relate to everyone else in our family. Amid the hype of the adapted novel and movie came the collaboration of Pamela Love's jewellery range and crafting of dark, gritty, oxidised jewellery as well as the alternative design and fashion Opening Ceremony brings across the globe to fashion hungry young people. I loved the motifs in the collection which remihnd me of the scenes of the movie.

There were the feathers from Douglas, in either a broad and artistic cuff or shaped in a crown reminiscent of Max's first encounter with the wild beasts and his clever wiles which save him from becoming their dinner. I'm not a fan of broad cuffs myself, there's too much restraint on my wrist movement and too much of it rubbing into and cutting softly into my skin. Still though, it's a lovely and rare design to see in jewellery especially in a cuff with such width to it. Pamela Love has made many lovely dark and earthy pieces of jewellery from silver such as rings, necklaces and bracelets and although I have not yet been lucky enough to own or even have a play of her pieces I trust her craftsmanship and her name affiliated with any piece of silver jewellery. The fact that it's a collboration with Opening Ceremony and they've taken inspiration from the children's book 'Where the Wild Things Are' only sweetens the deal.

This cuff is more my style, not as thick and broad and a better more usual shape in a strip with a claw scratching and carving into it. There's a lovely scene in which Mac uses the claw of one of the monsters to draw a love heart into wood with their initials. Reminds me of all the times I wished I had a sweetheart's initials to carve into trees or write on foggy windows. Now that I have one I haven't had time to do any of those activities but I'm sure that it's now not as important as I once thought. There's nothing more gruesome than a clawed hand carving and cutting the tought bark on a tree sitting on your wrist and seemingly trying to cut at that too.

My favourite and most coveted piece of the collection is a charm bracelet featuring the gold crown Max wears when adopted by the beasts, natural things such as trees, claws and feathers as well as the boat he uses to sail to their land. The links on the bracelet are much thicker and oval in shape then your everyday bracelet and there's a rough texture to them as well. My favourite charms are the crown and boat. I've seen so many photographs of youths wearing crowns made of cardboard on the micro-bloggins site Tumblr and it always reminds me of Max and Where the Wild Things Are. One day I'll but a A2 poster of metallic gold card just to make a fantastic crown. Then sooner or later I'll make my own wolf jumpsuit. If only I could find this charm bracelet on the internet to buy then my life would be completely immersed in the tale.