Wow! Ive discovered the best soap ever ........ and I'm in love ........ with SOAPY LOVE. If I had to dream up ridiculous fun, cute cosmetics it would be this......... ice pop soap on a stick, cupcake bath bombs...... They all have excellent names too eg. see here 1. Bath Blaster 2. Peace, Love, & Soapiness Soapy Pop 3. Lemonade 4. Dreamy ....... oh so dreamy!!! Check out the whole selection here, including Orange You Cute, Peachy Keen, Candy Carousel etc.......... Each piece is still hand-made in San Diego having started up as just an Etsy enterprise when Debbie Chialtas dabbled in the craft whilst pregnant. The hobby soon became a small business and now stocked in stores internationally spreading the soapy love! You can head over to her blog to see what inspires the designs ....... such as Battneberg Cake......... or teach yourself how to make your own colouful Glycerin soaps with their books.
Here is the amazing London city made by set designer Helen Macintyre for The Guardian feature on the city's mayor Boris Johnson. I love it so much - it reminds me exactly of the little wooden building blocks I had as a child. The perfectly constructed cars were just cut off the final edited shots so Helen has sent over some snaps of the props back at her house for us to see. Its not every day that you can fit St.Pauls Cathedral, the BT Tower, Tower Bridge, Big Ben AND The Eye in your kitchen!! To see more of Helen's card creations head over to her site. (If you google Helen's name this site comes up first ........ and the second result brings up the other Helen Macintyre who was embroiled in the paternity riddle 'Is Boris the father?" The irony of this is just incredible. Needless to say Helen kept her full name under wraps on set of the shoot!!)
The first single to come from ROWDY SUPERST*R's debut album on Accidental Records has just been released via a video directed by Danny Sangra. The pair have previously collaborated when ROWDY composed the soundtrack to the Fanny & Jessy fashion film "Valioquence" that Danny filmed last season. Here the two joined forces to full effect to establish ROWDY's aesthetic which encapsulates his unique energy .......... I asked Danny how it came about.....
"I got to know ROWDY through my friend Ollie ............ This is actually one of a few video projects I've done with ROWDY. It started when I shot a little experimental video for Brave (which will be out soon) I prefer to improvise and make things up as I go along. ROWDY has so much energy that it makes it easy for us to make something out of nothing The Shizzit video was closer to what I do when I make fashion film pieces. Especially the second verse. It is more like a fashion magazine story. Neither of us wanted anything conventional."
Its important to see how ROWDY performs live, to grasp the initial inspiration for the finished polished promo, so have a look at this excerpt from his single launch at 93ft East on Record Store Day. Ive also included the behind-the-scenes documentary from the shoot so you can see Danny ........... and a closer look at the different looks doned during the day. You can also catch a glimpse of Thom Ticklmouse responsible for the incredible makeup........
Susie Lau (a.k.aSusie Bubble) came to visit me at Mouse & De Lotz today for tea and a complimentary taste of their mixed berry cake with rose petals. Whilst sampling this local delicacy we discussed the surrounding area and its burgeoning hot spots of interest and independent business. It transpires that her bus route into E8 runs straight past Pelicans and Parrots so I whisked her up Arcola straight into the the beautifully stocked boutique. Here are snaps of the mix of items that make up the homeware and fashion range which I covered when the store opened in September. On today's visit the rails were rife with dangerously gorgeous garms I wanted to run away with. Susie eyed up a tree bark print Moshchino jacket and I cooed over a coral silk jumpsuit and these cosmic white shorts with spectrum detail. Aside from the stock of colour blocked leather hot pants and polka dot sundresses ............ check out this record player side board which is possibly my favourite item!!!! Watch this film by HUH magazine to get more of an insight into the vibe of Pelicans & Parrots World.
To appreciate this music video all you really need to do is watch it and enjoy it on its own merit. Its that good. You'll see for yourself. But as usual, I had to dig a little deeper and get the background on how it came about - especially since another forum called it "Michel Gondry-esque " which I think is a lazy comparison akin to mistaking a Chihuahua for a Great Dane. The two animals are clearly from the same category but hardly the same breed. This unique promo directed by US stands on its own, bang on the money - which is serendipity as Wiley's lyrics loop "I wanna see dollars, I wanna see pounds". First off you'll notice that Wiley replicates, a little like Neil in that scene from the Young Ones when he stands in the compost heap. Then you'll look closer and realise each one has a different number emblazoned on his t-shirt. These continue to emerge each representing individual tracks within the song denoted by the number finishing at 32 ...... the first beat begins as a basketball bounced on the floor. Stepping out onto this marked floor strides a player with the slogan "lip sync" on his shirt, to take up the vocal element and occasionally peep out like a game of Where's Wally. The overall vibe captures the artist's humour contained in his rhymes and its this catchy element that taps into your cheeky childish intrigue. That, and the fact that Wiley can moooooooove. Oh yes. His subtle dance device is demonstrated in his own home-made video to advertise the album and played on by Us in this first single release with ........ 32 versions the fella boppin. Another technique possibly employed from Wiley's original promo of a hand written sign "its just an advert" translates into placards held up at interval breaks. Here are US's photos of the various props from the shoot along with initial treatment sketches and inspiration. You can see loads more images and read further into the project on their expansive site............ and see all the other work they have done within the industry for the likes of Dels, Tinie Tempah and Thom Yorke........
"Inspired by the stripped back production in Wiley's new single we have created a stripped back performance piece, exposing elements of the music-video making process and keeping a bit of a humorous behind the scenes aesthetic, the video includes a total of 32 Wiley's throughout (34 if you count Lip-Synch Wiley and Clapper-board Wiley). Described by the grime-don (and current Ustream celebrity) as "the best video I ever done" We made full use of Wiley's charismatic and energetic performance all the while lobbing boxes at his head."
A few of my silver S/S 2011 pieces have mercurially materialised in this month's Italian Vogue shot by Miles Aldridge with set design by Anna Burns. Thanks to Patti Wilson for calling in the collection "Phosphorescent Omni-Present" and using a cuff in the opening DPS, the main show piece hat and the ear pieces by Rosy Nicholas. COSMIC!
You can watch a brilliant behind the scenes / on set film over on Vogue.it which shows more of the collection including a large dahlia hair piece......... which you can see in these screen-grabs.
On Thurs night the members of Steven Miesel's current cast of Calvin Klein models assembled in the "village underground" for a party to launch the new CK One campaign. Lara Stone, Aaron Frew, Pixie Geldof, Alice Dellal et all grouped together to host the event which was a massive event put on in conjunction with MTV PUSH. Katy B and Wretch 32 played which was a highlight as I am a (not so) secret fan of Katy B - especially her song "keep on moving with the lights on" ........ which is exactly what I did when Jerry Bouthier hit the decks. Earlier in the proceedings Princes Julia was playing out to the party and here she is in a group of photos lent to me by Daniel Lismore. Whilst snapping the East End London contingent in attendance, he himself was wearing a multi-colour bike helmet statuesque look which helped mix up the atmosphere and amalgamation of genres represented by the extensive guestlist.
Check out more from the world of Daniel Lismore at the blog http://www.daniellismore.blogspot.com/ and Twitter. Check out the motley crew of magnificent models for the campaign here And see the live box entries from the night here.
