Starlight

I’ve always been a little wary of the hippie headband, made famous by Nicole Richie pre-baby mama days. She made it into such a trend, it just sucked all the individuality out of it. The only time I can really remember wearing one is in middle school when I dressed up as a hippie for Halloween, and that was while Nicole Richie was still in grade school. So there! 

Anyway, I’ve come across fun ones here and there, touting feathers from understated opulence to theatrical glamour. More recently, New York-based designer, Sasha Samuel, came out with a new collection of headbands that Refinery 29 described as “part Ginger Rogers and part The Childlike Empress from The Neverending Story.” Eh, Ginger Rogers doesn’t come to mind when I think glamorous headband, but the mind does conjure up fantasy worlds in galaxies far, far away. 

Queen Amidala

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I was scouring the net for images of The Queen, I never knew how freakin stylish her wardrobe was! Never having been a fan of Star Wars –in fact, I could care less– it never occurred to me in the slightest. But some of her costumes are so runway-worthy I wonder if designers should be taking cues from her stylist. I definitely see some ties between her less out-there headdresses and the equally stunning ones made by Raven Eve Jewelry. 

 

 

 

 

  

  

I seriously wanna buy all these headdress with the chains and the drape-y fabulousness. After receiving them in the mail, I’ll probably have to figure out where to wear them all as chain headwear in the office are only appropriate during Halloween, as are all other hippie headbands feathered or otherwise. Maybe it’s time for a career change…

Send In The Clowns

I’ve always been enamored by anything Tim Burton-esque with it’s dark sense of humor and ironic mix of goth, wizard-of-oz technicolor and almost evil sense of debauchery reminiscent of the painted faces and masks decorating Mardi Gras. But never has Tim embraced my moody mood than he has in the past few months. It’s a lovely refreshing contrast from the neon hipster trends as of late, splashed obnoxiously all over everything in sight.

This post was inspired by reed + rader’s portfolio of GIF images. Three words: creepy clown fun.

A modern portrayal similar to that of porcelain harlequin dolls.

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How I imagine Marie Antoinette would look if I were on on acid.

These are probably two of my favorte reed + rader pieces depicting a cross-reference of distressed futurism and a day at the circus. The animated harlequins are surreal images straight out of my dreams.

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click for animation

Despite all the negativity in my life, I have to keep a smile on my face. Having some sense of humor is the only think maintaining my sanity. My current outlook on life reminds me of Outkast’s song, “The Whole World.”

So you can only imagine how excited I am for March 2010 when Tim Burton’s next cinematic masterpiece hits theaters!

It’s the perfect recipe for fantasy and realism. You could either take it for what it looks like on the surface which is a fantastical mess, or, you could take the route of someone mesmerized by the effects of marijuana and think a little more philosophically.

Perhaps that’s why Pushing Daisies is one of my favorite TV shows even though it’s only 2 seasons long. Every time I near the end of the 2nd season, I get mad that it got cancelled; they could’ve done so much more with the show!! It’s supposed to continue as a comic book, which I’m skeptical about, but we’ll see.

Water For Elephants is a book where my dark clown imagination runs wild. I think 1920’s era with drunken clowns, adulterous acrobats and murderous animals.

For those with an even darker palatte, A Clockwork Orange is a classic favorite of mine. The little touches of clown memorabilia like the lone row of false eyelashes resting devilishly under Alex DeLarge’s  right eye, the bowler hats, shock pink and blue wigs that remind me of cotton candy and my raver days. It’s all a bit disturbing when combined with rape, murder and psychopaths. Personally, I can only take Orange in small, infrequent doses, preferring Tim Burton’s striking balance between goth and charm to anything too close to reality.