Hiss and Hearse

The last few days, I’ve been in a love-induced state of bliss,  with my head in the clouds and my hand holding Richard Wayne’s hand, going here and there. This, I hope, explains the lack of regular updates.

Favorite places we have visited this week include:

♥ Coca Coffee Lounge is a really adorable breakfast and brunch place located in a part of town called Lawrenceville, which everyone says is “up and coming.” Richard Wayne and I went here on my first day. He had this unique stuffed french toast [Richard says: It was herbed goat cheese-stuffed French toast], and I had a mushroom omelet. Scrumptious!

♥ Pavement is a shoe and clothing boutique, also in Lawrenceville. We went there to meet up with the adorable owner, Alissa, about future photo collaborations! The place sells shoes by many of my favorite brands: Pink Studio, Seychelles, and other indie designers. She also displays a white deer head, and the entire back wall is plastered in a black and white printed wallpaper (my heaven). [Richard says: While visiting Pavement, I purchased a really cool cuff bracelet made from a vintage tie, and it features a pearlized snap enclosure that reminds me of all those western shirts I collect. I've been wearing it every day since!]

♥ The Round Corner Cantina, right now, holds my title for favorite bar of Pittsburgh. It’s kind of 1970s meets old west themed, with delicious cocktails and amazing art deco wallpaper. Friday night, I met up with my Pittsburgh friends Eli and Sari (who stayed with me in California a month ago), and we had many cocktails, salsa, corn on the cob and conversation. [Richard says: The Cantina, as locals generally call it, makes probably the best taco I've eaten since moving back to Pittsburgh from California. Their drinks are pretty special, too, since they create their concoctions with fresh fruit juices. Oh, and they have a huge back yard where you can drink (and smoke) under the stars, giving the entire place the feel of a hip house party.]
♥ The Pittsburgh Center for Complementary Health and Healing is where Richard and I got our massages on Saturday. They have you lie on a water-cushioned tables and are super sweet and accomodating. It was incredible and the best massage I’ve ever had.

♥ Yesterday I finally got to visit the ModCloth offices while on my girl date with Lindsay Williams, who is a buyer there and also the lady behind the fashion blog, My Solitary Consignment. I got to meet the famous pug, Winston, and see where my honey goes to work every day! [Richard says: I've never seen Winston act with anyone else like he did with Kristin. Normally calm, cool, and reserved as he patrols the office, he ran up to her and jumped up on her lap as she knelt to pet him! I think Kristin really is an animal whisperer!]
♥ Big Dog Coffee is where I sit and type to you now, dear readers. It’s an independent coffee house recommended to me by Eli and is in a part of town called the South Side Flats. I have already consumed one delicious, iced americano, a huge perfect homemade chocolate chip cookie (something I have been craving all week), and iced tea. I am patiently waiting for Richard Wayne to be finished with work so he can pick me up and we can attend one of the many Pittsburgh, “cookouts.” [Richard says: You say "barbeque," I say "cookout." Put it together, and you get "cookeque." I think I've just coined a new term that will join east coasters and west coasters in culinary harmony.]

I have two days left here, but things are falling into place. And for the sake of all the people who have been good to me here: Go Steelers? Though getting used to being in a city obsessed with their football team might take me a little more time, I am definitely not ready to throw in the Terrible Towel just yet! [Richard says: It's true. We would commit major felonies for our Steelers. Yes, OUR Steelers. When they lose (which isn't often), the next day in workplaces all across southwestern PA, workers are more disgruntled then they'd be if you were to take away their vacation days and benefits packages. Another interesting note: Pennsylvanians often refer to the place where they live simply as "PA". Do residents of other states refer to their homelands in a similarly abbreviated way?]

How is your week? Care to share with us your favorite spots where you live!

Mr. Hiss and I would like to extend our sincerest thanks and well wishes to all of our visitors. Please tell us where you are visiting from, or what you like about our home on the web. Anything you would like to see more of?

I just arrived home from 24 hours in Vegas where my family was celebrating my little sister Kaity’s 21st birthday!  This last week, besides missing Richard Wayne, I have been coveting a variety of favorite links, including: a photographic look inside Grey Gardens from 1977 when the property was sold to Sally Quinn and Benjamin C. Bradlee.

“Ms. Quinn said she fell in love with the house as soon as she entered it. “There’s something magical about this house. You couldn’t walk into it without putting a handkerchief over your nose, but I thought it was just beautiful,” she said. “It just absolutely gripped me. I looked at it and I saw what the house could be like, saw what the garden could be.”

On the plane I read the latest issue of Interview Magazine from cover to cover, pick it up for yourself, the interview of January Jones (who plays the fashionable housewife Betty Draper on Mad Men) by Jack Nicholson is worth a look! Oh Veer, thank you for Adios Script by Alejandro Paul.

Unisex-y: Wild West to Whimsical, aka, Richard Wayne’s new ModCloth feature.

These suede shoes, “Bonnny” by Steve Madden are gorgeous. In Vegas I scored my first pair of Wolford tights and they are divine.  Mad Men casting call!

I am also continually impressed by Richard Wayne’s product descriptions, does anyone know the reference of The Black Lodge Dress?

My Prince obsession continues and I have a present for you, download, Prince, “Baby I’m A Star”!

Happy Monday, I hope everyone has a fantastic week, tonight I am going to meet up with L.A. photographer Chloe Aftel (again) for photography talk, and picture taking of each other! I can’t wait!

PS. Because of Chloe Aftel’s advice and influence, my photography now has it’s own home on the web!

Grandpa, Grandpa and me on my sixth birthday.

Today I turn twenty-eight and I am writing to you from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I have been visiting Richard Wayne! I plan on spending the day at The Warhol Museum and then finish it up with dinner at Cafe Du Jour and dancing!

Congratulations to reader Millie Munsey, who won our first giveaway contest with Good Friday Designs. I enjoyed all of the entries, so I ended up putting all of your names in a hat and Millie won!

Sunday night, I took pictures of my San Francisco musician, animator friend Gooby Herms, not only did he show me a really gorgeous pet cemetary, he introduced me to a band called The Vanity Set, which is led by James Sclavunos, the drummer from Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds!

This week Richard Wayne blogged about PJ Harvey as a style icon. One of my favorite artists, Jordan Crane created a beautiful new piece called, “You Still Think Of Him Sometimes”.

Tomorrow I get to tour ModCloth and interview Buyer, Lindsay Williams, I can’t wait! But first, I need to drink more coffee, get dressed and brave the Pittsburgh bus system, The Warhol is waiting!

Last I night watched the John Waters documentary, Divine Trash. It was so amazing to me, not only as an artist, but as a person in general. John Waters glorifies misfits, weirdos, outcasts and makes them into stars. It was just a good reminder that beauty is in most every person–fashion model or not.

Spencer’s blog:From Robbie Teddy boys and girls shot by Ben Toms. The love child of E.C. Star and All-Mighty Clothing is Dainty June, which emerges with their pretty “She’s Like A Rainbow” collection.

Photographer Sandra-Freij who was introduced to me by Mavera from “She Hearts Vintage” (who I shot with this weekend). Completely amazing and gorgeous work.

Nubby Twiglet is a woman making history. Read her interview here. Had a cake date last week with LA based photographer Chloe Aftel, (who I will be interviewing soon!) who was wonderful and told me that Hiss and Hearse is great, but I need to get a photography portfolio up too. So I am working hard on that. Just today a favorite Australian illustrator of mine, Caitlin Shearer said she would design my logo! It is really hard for me to put my real name out there- I am always an alias, the girl who hides behind her camera. It’s even difficult for me to put my name on my work! Well, I desire to potentially take pictures that can grace pages of the magazines you read, so here I go!

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.

Last night, I had a dream about swimming, according to a dream dictionary it means this, “To dream that you are swimming, suggests that you are exploring aspects of your unconscious mind and emotions.” This is definitely true, there are a lot of thoughts going on up there, mostly daydreams of change, art projects and not wasting any time!

Spring is my second favorite season after Fall, it’s not too warm or too chilly and the world feels new. Some of my favorite spring things are: cherry blossoms, April showers, baby animals, people in green grass photos, and Cadbury Creme Eggs!

In honor of this lovely season, I made a mix just for you. Download it here, sip some iced coffee and enjoy. All lovely vintage images courtesy of superbomba.

I’ve only made about four or five friends in the Bay Area since moving here from Pittsburgh, PA a few months ago, and Jose Reyes is one of them.  I’d seen pictures of this early-twenty-something Hispanic guy prior to our meeting, and my first impression was that this guy must be a snotty little hipper-than-thou punk brat.  You know–one of those guys you love to hate, yet something inside of you secretly envies his youth, his full head of hair, his ability to be seemingly able to pull off any look with ease.

Then I met Jose and found that he is undeniably hip, undeniably youthful, and he undeniably possesses the kind of long, pin-straight, silken hair that women would kill for.   But it also turns out that Jose–or Kid Jeffrey Lee Congo Pierce-Powers, as I’ve affectionately nicknamed him–is a harmless pup with a good, warm heart beating in his chest.  We share a love of many bands and an affinity for turquoise jewelry.   I am happy then, that Jose–with idiosyncrasies in full effect–was willing to step into the Men’s Style Spotlight.

Describe your style in your own words.
The tribe.

What kinds of things influence your style? I’d say you have quite an LA glam/punk kind of look. Did the time you lived in LA have a big effect on you?
Haha. The LA glam scene is kinda of a joke, but thanks.  I can’t say LA influenced me a lot because a lot of the kids are into hair-metal and always hangout at the Rainbow or Whiskey.  It made me not want to be like them, so I guess it didn’t have any affect on my style.  As for music, I’d say a lot has attributed to my style, from bands like the Gun Club, the Joneses, the Dogs D’Amour, Hanoi Rocks, to more simple tastes like Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Little Richard.

Do you have any style icons?
Jeffrey Lee Pierce [of the Gun Club] and, ummm, Andy McCoy [of Hanoi Rocks].

There is often a social stigma placed on highly stylish men by ‘normal’ society that we must be weak, effeminate, or even homosexual. Have you run into this problem having long hair and dressing the way you do? If so, how have you dealt with or responded to this?
Hahaha, yeah many dudes yelling “fag!” I just ignore it until it gets serious, then I’m knockin’ heads. Just because I got style, have long hair, and wear jewelry don’t mean I can’t defend myself.

How do you find the things you wear? Do you shop mostly second-hand, for example?
Thrift stores, vintage stores, friends, friends of friends. Sometimes stealing came in to play, but that’s more how I was a few years ago.

Besides looking cool, what else is it that you do? Do you have any sort of fashion–or otherwise artistic–aspirations? You might have a promising future in a Gun Club cover band, ya know.
Playing music would be nice. [My past usage of] heroin blocked a lot of me wanting to do anything positive, so I’d say these days I would pick up the bass and jam with some cool cats. I’d say you and me have a good chance of starting up a Gun Club-sounding band. Or maybe I could so some modeling, but I doubt I’m good lookin’/skinny enough.

Speaking of Gun Club, can you make a list of your top five or so favorite bands?
The Gun Club
Sick Pleasure
Dogs D’Amour
The Joneses
198x

Do you pay attention to any fashion/style media to collect ideas?
Not really.

When did you start paying close attention to how you look? Has this current version of Jose been a long, slow evolution process, or have you gone through your share of fly-by-night fashion phases?
Maybe when I was, like, 11, I got into thug style. Haha. But yeah, that’s like the only over-night change. At 14, I was into punk and hardcore. At 16, I got into more old-school rock-n-roll, and I just slowly progressed, never making an over-night change. I hate that poser kids in LA will go clubbing all ghetto scene, then the next week they’re metal Motley Crue wannabes.

Do you have any final words, advice, philosophy, etc. you’d like to share?
What’s that smell? Smells like punk.

…And I imagine that smells a little something like B.O., hairspray, and spite all wrapped up and conveniently packaged in a studded leather jacket. Thanks, for the interview, Jose!

As any fan would know by now, this week saw the passing of a music icon, Lux Interior, of The Cramps.  And inevitably, it seems, we have also seen the passing of a great band. Great entertainment. A SHOW. Something to be seen as well as heard. Some people don’t seem to ‘get’ that aspect of music, but I like mine to come with some mystery. I like musicians to have myths surrounding them. I like having an image of the band, or a spectacle, or a style to go along with what the musicians are playing. For me, it completes the package. The Cramps, indeed, possessed the whole package (and I’m sure that in Ivy’s opinion, she possessed Lux’s whole package, too, if ya know what I mean).

I won’t spout off all of the biographical information about Lux Interior that’s been repeated in every news article since his death.  But I will say that this sexual Frankenstein’s influence has trickled its way into my system like an IV of straight strychnine.

In college, I went to THE cool hairdresser in town–a gothabilly woman named Wiggy.  The first few visits, I would describe to her how I’d like my hair cut, which basically was a down-do (unlike my current back-swept hairstyle) with lots of points and angles.  This was also the same time I was dying my hair black. Eventually, then, these haircuts evolved into what we called “the Lux Interior.”  Each time I’d return, Wiggy would great me with a “Hey Lux!”

A hairstyle is not the only thing I stole from this human fly. I’ve been the singer in a number of bands, and I admit to copping his fellating-the-mic move. It’s a great and dangerous act of showmanship. One wrong move and you can step on your mic cable, then out fly your teeth like a chomper full of Chicklets. Not to mention the distorted sounds achieved with this maneuver send daisies up your butterfly.

So, thanks for the music and for the inspiration, you goo goo muck, you! May you not rest in peace, but instead Zombie Dance and Cramp Stomp your way through heaven and hell.