Hiss and Hearse

I know that I’m late on this, but I love the character of Vince Noir, played by Noel Felding, from the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh. I started watching Season 1 this weekend and am hooked because I want to see what he will wear next! Silver spandex, cowboy hats, furry boots, and the most perfect hair? My favorite scene so far is when Vince Noir paints a portrait of Bollo the gorilla dressed up as Julius Caesar, and then says that Bollo looks like a “naked, little squashed-up hairy boy.”

Low-fi living in a modern world?

A new Urban Outfitters contest asks you to send them three photographs that illustrate how you are living a low-fi lifestyle. Enter, and you could win a $300 UO gift card!

Recently I had the opportunity to watch a documentary called, “Beautiful Losers“. The films website says, “In the early 1990’s, a loose-knit group of like-minded outsiders found common ground at a little NYC storefront gallery. Rooted in the DIY (do-it-yourself) subcultures of skateboarding, surf, punk, hip hop, and graffiti, they made art that reflected the lifestyles they led.” It stars a selection of the leaders of this movement, artists like Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, Margaret Kilgallen (whose colorful paintings I have seen on the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District), and others.

I am still trying to figure out how to live in snow and bitter chill. Basically, with the the “high” temperatures being in the 20s, I’m cold all the time. I thought that I could get away with protesting the snow and wearing heels all winter, but each time I set foot on the sidewalk, I feel like I have to really focus or else I’ll fall down! Fashionable ladies who live in the snow, please tell me your secrets! Kid Congo Powers tells us about his shopping habits and twenty-five pairs of shoes (including four pairs of slippers). here.

In memory of Rowland S. Howard’s recent death, here’s a song by the Birthday Party for you. It’s one that I can’t stop listening to on this grey, snowy Pittsburgh day“Shivers”.

Pretty things that are helping me through this awkward art withdrawal:

Photographer Courtney Brooke Hall’s Tumbler, which is full of vintage tinted inspiration, diamonds, beautiful women, and more.

LouLou Loves You is having an exclusive holiday sale! Type in ‘CHRISTMASLOVE’ at the checkout to receive 15% off your order. Check out her new lace collars!

The song “Pretty Girl” by Canadian band The White Wires. “Pretty girrrrrrl, baby baby be mineeeeee.” Just enough pop to get me through a grey Pittsburgh day.

30% off Friends & Family event from Urban Decay! One of my beauty secrets is their primer potion. If you have ever had problems with eyeshadow creasing, use this magical potion and it will never happen again.

Drooling over pretty shoes like these studded Jeffrey Campbells from ModCloth. Daydreaming about my first Pittsburgh photo shoot, which will be a collaboration with stylist Leanne Ford, check out her work, she is amazing.

There is a new gorgeous typeface on the scene, check out Aphrodite Slim. Isn’t it lovely? This just in from the 1890s, a great NY Times article on how victorian inspired fashion is making it’s appearance in menswear.

Tell me what is making you happy these days.

I’ve had some fashionable fortunes recently, due mostly to my lovely ladyfriend’s thoughtfulness and to her internet shopping savvy.

This first photo features two of the gems with which Kristin has graced my wardrobe. On my finger, from the “Curio Cabinet” of Etsy seller, Iciernia, is a handsome gold and onyx signet ring, which reminds me of something you might see Elvis Presley – or his descendant of dapper, Nick Cave – donning on any number of his digits. Also note, just above my breast pocket, from the same Etsy seller, the stately and sleek, true-vintage Victorian mourning brooch. The way I wear it nods to a military-inspired approach – a kind of sartorial insignia, if you will.

I think we all know by now that my closet is stuffed full of western gear; but for a long time it has been void of a proper, period-appropriate tie. No longer! My sweetheart found a clip-on ribbon tie for me on e-Bay, and it is the huckleberry to any Doc Holliday-esque ensemble I may put together.

On my darling dear’s recent trip to visit me in the G-20 city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we stopped at a boutique called Pavement, in the Lawrenceville section of my home metropolis. While she networked with the shop’s owner, I took a gander at some unisex accessories and procured this piece – a vintage black tie with toffee-colored detailing re-fashioned into a bracelet with a pearlized snap reminiscent of the enclosures found fastening my western shirts.

And finally, this past weekend, my best friend, Tiffany, and I took a trip to the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh, where there resides a buy/sell/trade clothing store by the name of Avalon Exchange. This place is generally hit-or-miss when it comes to men’s clothing, but I tend to have good luck finding footwear here (during a previous visit, I walked out with a beautiful pair of authentic lizard skin cowboy boots). This trip was no exception, as I became the new owner of this pair of caramel-colored, crocodile print loafers for a mere $12.50!

Any of you other fashionable fellows score any good finds lately? Care to share?

Lots of gorgeous things to share today! One of my favorite photographers, Angela Boatwright, has updated her online portfolio. You may have seen her work for Urban Outfitters, or her amazing personal collection of portraits of metal kids. I wrote to her once, and she told me that you don’t need a photography school education to be a good photographer.

My most recent Etsy purchase, the beautiful Augusta Necklace by my friend Millie, the lady behind Heresy Designs.

A peek inside my friend Alexandra Tyler’s 15 years worth of vintage collecting. It’s like a mid-century boutique store in her Oakland home. Makes me drool at the thought that she might have a private, invitation-only sale!

My lovely friend and Owner of Bows & Arrows, Olivia Coelho, has a new line called Miss Chief of California. I love her elastic skirts, which are one of a kind and can only be purchased at Bows!

I swear, Richard Wayne is the cutest! Read his latest Unisex-y installment on ModCloth.

Accidental entrepreneurs a sign of the economy? My friend and business owner, Lisa Marie, is making it happen!

Finally, a little sneak treat at a happy accident that occurred in this amazing warehouse photo shoot I did with Amber Mortensen of PainfullyHip.com.

Do you have any favorite links to share with us?  Tell us the things that are making you happy!

Since the launch of Hiss & Hearse, there’s been a lot of Hearsin’ and not much Hissin’ (for anyone who hasn’t caught on yet, it’s a play on the phrase “His and Hers”). So here I am to inject a little male influence up in this joint.

I’ve been back from my trip east for just over a week now. It was an exhausting trip full of shuttling around the state of Pennsylvania to pay visits to my friends in Pittsburgh and my family in Williamsport in an attempt to see everyone I’ve ever known in such a short period of time, during which I was also trying to get some freelance work done. I was so jet-lagged most of the time, I wasn’t even sure if I was speaking English, so it’s a great wonder to me how I landed the job I went to interview for while in the Steel City.

Since being back, Kristin and I have worked on a photo shoot for Painfullyhip.com in Sacramento. Kristin did all of the photography, of course, while I did all of the light disc handling and hunger-induced moaning (note to self: always bring snacks to a shoot). One of the locations where we shot was this kind of imported world antiques store called Tasha’s. Here there was a bunch of Mexican Day of the Dead paraphernalia, including a mariachi suit with which I’m now obsessed. There was no price tag on it, though, which generally means I can’t afford it. Regardless, it looked much like this, only red:

Which reminds me…I’ve often toyed with the idea of sporting a Mexican poncho a la Clint Eastwood in his westerns. People have told me to go for it, but I’m concerned that posing off of a particular culture may offend those a part of it. But, damn, just look at how a poncho looked on this gringo!

Continuing on with the theme of the dead, at our next location, my eyes fell upon–via a show poster magneted to the refrigerator–the best damn band name I could have ever thought up but never did: Dead Western. I inquired about this band and quickly learned that it was a solo acoustic artist who possesses a deep, operatic voice. My interest piqued, I looked into him later on that night and found myself haunted by the bass timbre boiling out from this man’s throat as I listened to his music on Myspace. Recommended listening if low, resonating voices a la Leonard Cohen, Johnny Cash, Calvin Johnson, Tom Waits, etc. captivate you.

Kristin got a new BUST (the magazine, you perv) in the mail the other day and pointed out to me yet another feature in a major magazine touting rockabilly fashions as back in vogue. The article is titled On The Road and features a gentleman named Joseph Plunket (who apparently is a musician with a group called “The Weight“) wearing a gingham button down shirt, slim/skinny jeans, cowboy boots, and the most perfectly pomaded pompadour upon which I’ve had the pleasure of placing my greasy gaze in a long time. It’s as if the stylist for the shoot raided my closet and my medicine cabinet.

Is this classic, cool look now getting the respect it deserves in the “underground fashionista circles” (for lack of a better phrase)? Too often have I heard disparaging remarks directed at rockabillies and their music made by too-cool-too-care-how-I-look indie rock scenester types (I hate to break it to them, but making an anti-fashion statement is still making a fashion statement).

Recently, much to my delight, I have been noticing 1950’s/early 1960’s styles creeping their way into current fashion trends. Take, for instance, a recent DIESEL/DIESEL BLACK GOLD editorial from Flaunt issue 101 entitled “The Loveless” (a reference to one of my favorite movies–an identically titled biker flick, starring Willem Dafoe). Denim, leather, and gravity-defining pompadours appear prominently here as do plaids, cigarette pants, and a little bit of grit and grease, all recalling blue-collar, mid-century aesthetics.

Vice Magazine also recently ran their Global Trend Report 2009, which takes a look at fashion trends city by city, and rockabilly looks are making a comeback in New York.

Keeping with the vintage theme of this entry, I thought I’d also share my first attempt at embroidery! Thanks to my dear friend, Tiffany, I am now equipped with the tools and the know-how to do my own clothing embellishments. Eventually, I would like to stitch some designs onto some of my western shirts; but to start, as a birthday present for him, I embroidered my friend Jose’s initials in vintage tattoo lettering on a plain white handkerchief. The result:

I still have a lot of learning and practicing to do, but I’m pretty happy with it as a first shot.

Also, my mind is currently occupied with thoughts of my trip back to Pittsburgh, where I will be interviewing for a really cool copy writing job at a popular online clothing retailer! Not only that, but it’s been about eight months or so since I’ve seen any of my friends or family back east (with the exception of Rachel and Tiffany who both made their ways out to the Bay Area on separate occasions), so I’m eager to visit with my loved ones. Though, my excitement about this trip is somewhat tempered by knowing I’m going to sorely miss my lovely partner for a period of time.

Oddly enough, during the same afternoon that I booked my flight for my interview, I got two emails offering me work in the Bay Area! One offer was some freelance writing for the company Kristin works for. This I’ve accepted, and I will put the money I earn toward some of my air fare. When it rains, it pours.

The Japanese, as a culture, have a reputation for taking things to the extreme. Their social clubs are no exception. On Sunday afternoons in Tokyo’s Yoyogi park, the Tokyo Rockabilly Club gathers to flaunt their twisting dance moves and foot-high pompadours for curious passersby drawn to this whirling swarm of black leather.

I’m drawn to this group’s apparent ignorance of the golly-gee-aw-schucks, Chuck Taylor-wearing type of rockabilly and their adoption of a darker, more dangerous, more mysterious, motorcycle greaser look. They take a vintage look and slap a thin coat of modern polish on it. This is the same aesthetic I’ve been cultivating for years now. I’ve found my sartorial brethren!

More than just look hard, these cats dance hard. If you look closely at their winklepicker or cowboy boots, you’ll notice duct tape protecting them from getting shredded as they spin, slide, and shuffle on the pavement.  And where can I find those trousers?

I discovered in my brief internet research that the Tokyo Rockabilly Club once boasted an impressive 900 members. Today, sadly, that number has dwindled to only nine!

For those Tokyo ‘Billys still rockin’, I salute you!

So I have been obsessed with learning how to do two things: Learn how to cut my own bangs and figure out how to achieve the perfect smokey eye.

In my quest I have found plethora of video tutorials! My favorites being barbie after midnight, how to cut bangs, and smokey, grey and black.  Why did I never think of this before- I have the tools, I just need the practice. (Watch out Richard Wayne!)

Agent Lover has, in my opinion, the most perfect bangs and she cuts them herself!  Other ladies with perfect bangs include Betty Page, this model, and Rosie from Ipso Facto.

Does anyone else have tips or tricks for bangs or smokey eyes?