David Bailey & Jean Shrimpton

It takes a lot of imagination to be a good photographer. You need less imagination to be a painter because you can invent things. But in photography everything is so ordinary; it takes a lot of looking before you learn to see the extraordinary. David Bailey

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So a few weeks back, I watched BBC Four's "We'll take Manhattan" illustrating the developing romantic & working relationship, in the early 1960's between beautiful model Jean Shrimpton ( played by Karen Gillan) and pioneering photographer David Bailey ( and Aneurin Barnard).

It proved to be a great watch, a carefree & youthful adaption of Bailey's talents and his fleeting love affair with Shrimpton, even though he was already married, from the sounds probably unhappily. 

The drama entwined with subculture and famous real life scenes from Bailey's work, gave a lovely incite into his passions and unconventional approach to fashion photography. I can ashamedly say I've never really known much about him or his work, I now feel I know a great deal more about Bailey; the creativity, humour and history behind his work, which is nice. 

Great to discover a new icon too, Jean Shrimpton, who I can thankfully say I have actually come across before. She has one of those beautiful memorable faces and a kind of innocent aura that surrounds her. Something different to other models that Bailey picked up on early. 

"She was magic. In a way she was the cheapest model in the world - you only needed to shoot half a roll of film and then you had it." David Bailey

All images featuring Jean Shrimpton were taken by David Bailey in New York circa 1962

Viv, Malcolm and some teddies...

Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm Mclaren in their shop 'Let It Rock' circa 1972

I have been such an avid fan of these two for as long as I can remember. They are probably two of my most favourite people, perfectly embodying youth and eccentricity, an incredible partnership completely ahead of their time. 

Malcolm showing off some snazzy attire in their shop, which paid homage to American culture and 1950's Rock & Roll. Originally this was a lucrative idea to rebel against the hippie culture and fashion of the early 70's.

Vivienne; an icon in the making. Loving the kitsch decor in the shop and her fluffy yellow jumper. 

Malcolm showcasing the shops stock surrounded by 1950's American rock & roll memorabilia.

Venus; An early design by the duo combining unusual materials such as horse hair, rubber tyre trim and studs. 

Rock : Bolied chicken bones, leather and chains.

Some ace tattooed teddies

Most probably a late 70's Teddy boy judging by the bright attire; brilliantly sticking out like a red thumb.

Teddy wedding, some ace suits and quiffs, not to mention the leopard lapels.

Such a bunch of dudes xxx

Happy January...

Image courtesy of mydelineatedlife.blogspot.com

January is a month

Of cold and ice and sleet,

But don't you worry, brother,

We're turning on the heat!

I love this vintage calender insert painted by Peruvian pin-up artist Alberto Vargas. Dating from 1944, it certainly brightens up the post-christmas blues. Vargas was one of the best of his time, demonstrating a flawless technique usually with watercolours and air-brushing. 

The poem is great too, I've been trying to figure out why in place of the 15th there is a funny little squiggle. Any ideas? 

I can't quite believe this is my first post of 2012, I had a busy month back, moving house, with an unfortunate non-existent network connection whilst working lots over the festive retail period- has not left a great deal of time for posts. Lots more to come!

Happy January everyone! x

Check out our stock for...CHRISTMAS MARKETS AT THE SOUP KITCHEN MANCHESTER 10/12/11....

Ello! December greetings guys & dolls! Now you may have already heard on the grapevine that there are some ace christmas markets this weekend...in fact there is one you shouldn't miss tomorrow... its @ The Soup Kitchen (basement) in Manchester. (see flyer) I thought I'd give you a small preview of our stock we're selling...

Me and two of my fellow creatives will be there with a table full of goodies ranging from bric-a-brac, hand-made & costume jewellery, books, bags, scarves, shoes, screen-printed, illustrated & collaged christmas cards.

We also have two rails generously filled with Barbara's customized apparel, ranging from lovely lace trimmed vests, jersey skirts and shift tops handmade from eclectic fabrics, including a pink shimmering oversized floral jumper thats amazing!!!

Hannah has created some beautiful scarves on her knitting machine using only the finest yarns and mohair. Varying in lengths, widths and colour-ways... they really are the perfect gift for christmas! 

I'm selling a collection of vintage and second-hand one-off items. Coats, knitwear, jersey, polo-shirts dresses and scarves with plaid, paisley, florals, polka-dots, beading and mohair. Amongst my stock is an original Mary Quant rain mac in a kaleidoscope of red, blue, black, yellow and green!

Be sure to find something unique in our Aladdin's cave of a stall! 

Bring some friends, have some mulled wine and get our your pennies! It should be a brilliant day!

See you there tomorrow, 

Kate xxx

THE H E A R T B R E A K S @ Night&DayCafe *20/11/11*

Hello all, 

I can't quite believe this is my first post for December, let alone how long its actually taken me to write about The Heartbreaks amazing gig I attended last month! For those of you who may not know, I'm moving house pretty soon with my folks so I've been delving through all my stuff, clearing loads out and packing my life into boxes, which I really haven't been enjoying.

Anyhow, here are some pics I took last month of The Heartbreaks's at the Night & Day Cafe in Manchester... if you've not heard their ace sound yet... they're a lovely bunch of four talented lads from Morecambe; who write humorous, romantic and yet truthful musings about love, life, and experiences. A key inspiration in songwriting is their beloved home and seaside town of Morecambe, the places, characters and nostalgia. 

The Heartbreaks, highly anticipated debut album is out next spring (I literally cannot wait for it!), up to now they've released some brilliant singles, of which you can listen to here... The lads have only just finished touring Europe a month or so back, supporting fellow Northerners Hurts and recently embarked on a small UK tour before Christmas supporting The Ordinary Boys along with The Courteeners. 

All in all they were great, I thoroughly enjoyed their acoustic set at the Sunday Sessions.  It was a really cool gig, ace crowd lots of mod types, desert boots, parkas, Northern Soul loving lads and tassle loafers to feast my eyes on. They have quite a strong following in Manchester. I had the pleasure of meeting them after the gig too, managed to get a quick photo with all the boys individually. Looking forward to seeing them again sometime soon. 

Have a gander...

Matthew Whitehouse wearing an excellent polka dot shirt. Note; Pete Moser accordionist in the shadows

Sunday Sessions flyer Bob Marley style

Me and Laura one of my lovely bezzies pre-gig

  

The boys and a cheeky grin

Matthew going to grab a cuppa

 A hint of blue

Trying to avoid a sea of heads

Matthew and Ryan on their lonesome

Having a shout out 

Meeting... Joseph. He's so blummin tall, ace fringe too. 

Ryan was lovely. Said he's growing his hair out, he had a Rockabilly vibe. 

I had a lovely chat with Matthew about touring, tweeting and his tea drinking on stage. This beautiful boy enjoys a good brew of Camomile followed by Licorice. 

Deaks was really lovely, he was wearing some pretty nice loafers and a grandad cardie. We had a good chat and just like the others he politely thanked me for coming to the gig. Such a nice bunch xxx

I did record a few songs on my video camera that evening, I will definitely put them up on another post. Jealous Don't You Know is one of my favorites. Spinning good times. 

MOD girls

Photo by Peter Anderson: Mod girls 1980

The Mod Generation.co.uk

ModCulture.co.uk

The 60's twist tumblr.com

Ooh I do love a good MOD lass.

Watching Quadrophenia last night has got me in that nostalgic frame of mind again. If you haven't already seen the film, I'd highly recommend you check it out (depiction of the feud between Mod's and Rockers in late 70's) there isn't a great deal of women's fashion in it as the focus is mainly on working class lads... lots of boys in Parkers and deserts, scooters galore and a young Sting too. Which is just brilliant. 

I love these black & white photographs, young down-to-earth mod girls with a penchant for fun & dancing. I'm tempted to have my hair cut drastically by the looks of the pixie styles. I'll try and hold out a while longer. 

Good day xxx

CLARA BOW

Ain't she a beaut!

A month or so back, Stylist Magazine in celebration of their 100th issue, publicised a call for creative contributors to help make their next installment really special. I entered only one of the competitions; to help them style several fashion pages and shoots. I had to fill out some little snippets of information about myself as well as write about one of my favorite fashion icons. 

After debating for some time, I didn't want to state the obvious kind of savvy girls, I had the intentions to write about someone genuinely interesting.... I chose Clara Bow. Unfortunately I didn't get shortlisted, but I did however receive a lovely email from Stylist with a little thank-you for entering. 

Nevertheless here's what I wrote about Clara, what I love about her and why I chose her as my style icon. Hope you enjoy reading xxx

My fashion icon is a girl who paraded around in the twenties rocking silk stockings and heavily embellished cocktail dresses. She goes by the name of Clara Bow, with heavily lined dark doe eyes, a tousled brunette mane and a perfectly plump Cupid’s bow pout.

Her fashion sense is no less than the epitome of sultry glamour. Usually seen decked from head-to-toe in romantic ensembles of sumptuous chiffon, flowing frills and fur stoles; she was one of the original reigning and importantly most stylish roaring flappers to have graced silent cinema.

Looking back, I admire her eclectic personal style and characterization in cinema as it exuded a lady-like-chic quality crossed with 1920’s androgyny. Clara made drop waist dresses and masculine tailoring look effortlessly savvy and seductive.

Fascinatingly beautiful to look at, with unique decadent style to match, Clara Bow has an incredible legacy and is my fashion muse.