Wednesday 28 July 2010

New goodies?.. Oh of Corset is

As any other vintage/rockin girl will know, ebay is a god send for all our vintage and burlesque goodies and as I've been working my butt off over this summer I thought it was about time I treated myself (good enough reason I should say) because being at uni does have it's restrictens especially in the ole bank department so what perfect timing as I have plenty of shoots coming up so of course a girl can never have too many outfits!
    I'd been wanting a new corset for a long long time now as I do have a little obsession with them and I seem to wear the same ones in past shoots all the time. I managed to get a beauty and a bargin off ebay the other day of which was an over bust dark green brocade corset, ohhh its stunning, as soon as I opened it I fell in love and with a little help off my lovely mother I was soon laced up in it! It's such fine quality for how cheap it was and with free postage!!! It fits like dream too which if you get the correct corset size for your waist there is no reason why it shouldn't, if buying your first corset you should measure your waist in inches and take around 2-4 inches off (or if you're feeling really brave 4-6!) , it does take some time to adjust to these but if worn often you can train your waist down inch by inch  All of my corsets are different sizes and the smallest is a 20", this one however was a 22" because my shape changes so often, I'm never quite know which size to get, but this one I think is perfect for my size because it still gives me room to move and is comfy but bending over in it is a wee bit tricky!
      Now all us ladies know that corsets are pefect for either pin up shoots or burlesque(especially the second) and look great with a pair of stockings and frilly knickers, however they look beautiful worn out at a rockin weekender such as the Rhythm Riot for a bit of glam, team it up with a super tight pencil skirt to give you extra wiggle or if you want a bit more movement a pair of capri pants and you'll have all the guys heads turning as you walk by.

      For now, I'm planning on using mine for an upcoming shoot I have soon of which I'll be posting up pictures of course but I'm sure I'll be wearing it out soon enough, keep your eyes peeled!!

Tuesday 27 July 2010

The beautiful city that is... Norwich?!

A friend and I took a trip to Norwich today so I could find some location shots for possible photoshoots as part of my project for University and even though the weather was pretty grim (well it is the British summer people!) and we had to take shelter a few times because I didn't wear the correct attire for the rain, I found some beautiful shots all around the city and we kept saying how we had forgotten how beautiful parts of Norwich are, even the subways that are covered in graffti art work, I find them stunning, now I know a lot of people don't like it because it is ruining of public buildings but the people who do this are very talented artists and surely some could be the new Bansky? We also found a wall full of it which seemed that it had been put up especially for artists such as this and it was so colourful and would make the perfect setting for an alternative glamour or punk photoshoot with models wearing drainpipe jeans, leather jackets, tartan tops or it could go the opposite and fluroescent outfits,bikini tops and shorts.
We also went around the old part of the city near the Cathedral and the riverside and its so lovely to see that people have still kept their houses in keeping with the history of the city, I certainly would love to live in one of these houses, it was amazing to see as well that it is so peaceful and had very few people around so we could just walk around and take in the scenery even though if I'm completly honest I did feel like a tourist taking so many photographs, but as I once heard, it's nice to be a tourist in your own town sometimes (even though Norwich isn't my town but that is besides the point!).
   These images I took would be perfect for the style of photo shoots I specialise in, 1940s and 50s ones because the scenery is spot on for it, they would also make fantastic locations for Victorian (of which I haven't seen many shoots in this style) or gothic with the model wearing classic corsets and long velvet skirts. I will certainly look into shooting in this part of the city before I go back to university.


Monday 26 July 2010

Something a little different

I did a photo shoot a couple of weeks back now, and I was looking to do something a bit more... modern I suppose, if that's the right word? So luckily enough I found a photographer from Norwich to do the shoot with and he had found an old derelict farm to shoot at just outside Norwich and wowee it was fabulous! I'd been looking to shoot somewhere like this for a while now because I find I get turned down by photographers because I specialise in Pin up, so I think they think this is all I can do?? Noooo its not!! So since then I've been wanting to try some more alternative work and this shoot worked out well for it because of the location, I couldn't have asked for anything better, there was burnt out buildings, graffiti and it was really picture esq, not quite sure I could ever say a derelict farm was picture esq but it was I can assure you! 
      I had my hair styled quite simply, with just a curled fringe and the rest of my hair was straight ( I very rarely straighten my hair nowadays and it felt strange! Considering I was once a girl who couldn't live without her straighteners!!) I kept my make up the same as I have it for pin up shoots and I wore my trusty black corset that has been with me through the good, the bad and the down right ugly, a black shirt and leopard print drainpipes which I kept from my punk era pre 18 years old and I still fitted in them!!! Only just thought but I was still happy, even though I forgot how uncomfortable drainpipe jeans are!! I  also wore my reproduction 1950s leopard print pencil dress from the American company Stop Staring so I felt I still had a 50s feel to it.
      Anyway the photographer was a great guy with a good sense of humour (which trust me is always handy to  break the ice at photo shoots!), and I thought the photos were something a little different for me and I was pleased with the results, so here are a couple whilst I await the others!  Hope you all like them!

Friday 23 July 2010

Bill Haley... what a man

Good Afternoon peeps! And what a dreary afternoon its been, even though I'm still in excited mode from yesterday's plannings so it's not all bad.
      As I was styling my hair tonight to go round my friends for drinks( strictly sailor jerrys of course) I was listening to a rock n roll/rockabilly complitation that my dad bought for me, for only £5! and its such a great cd, with such a mix of classic tracks from artists such as Jack Scott, Frankie Lymon, Bob Luman, good selecton I'd say... anyway one of the tracks was R.O.C.K by Bill Haley and the comets and as soon as I'd listened to it I was in an even better mood then I was before, of course I have heard this track time and time again and even been lucky to see the comets live a good 4 or 5 times (even though the first time I saw them was still the best in my eyes).
But it got me thinking how brilliant him and the band were, a lot of younger people on the rockin scene dismiss him for being mainstream and "jivey" when I think their bonkers to! He had that sound that makes you want to dance and when its turned up full blast it sounds even better (I'm sure my neighbours loved it). A lot of people turn their noses up at classic rock n roll but if you go to any rockabilly club you'll hear them play classic rock n roll, like Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, you name it they play it and you see these people who say they don't like classic rock n roll jiving to it!
   Now I don't know if its because they associate Bill Haley with jive clubs because to be fair you will hear a lot of him at jive clubs.. why?? because his music is perfect to dance to!! But in my opinion they shouldn't be so fast to criticize because he as well as many other artists from the 50s started out before rock n roll was around in the 1940's so he is clearly one of the fathers of rock n roll and was making amazing records alongside all the fantastic rockabilly/rock n roll artists of the time!
   Today there seems to be a strong line between rock n roll and rockabilly clubs even though as I said they basically play the same music minus a  obscure track that dj's like to dig out every once and a while, I don't know if people are secretly scared they'll get called "plastic" if they admit to liking  music heard at jive clubs, to be honest I'm not that bothered ,it just seems a little daft if you ask me, so I stick to what I like and always liked thanks to my dear ole parents  and that is rock n roll. You never know one Bill Haley track could be the one track that gets someone from a jive club into the other aspects of rock n roll and rockabilly and that can only be a good thing right??
I'm sure Bill would be happy none the less.

                 
                                      Here's the legendary song itself, R.O.CK

Thursday 22 July 2010

The start of something Special




So here I am, time is going by and I thought to myself that it was about time I got myself a blog!
I always find them so interesting to read, to see what other people are doing (but maybe thats because I'm a nosey so n so!) and I always kept a diary as a young girl so what kept you so long you may ask? I honestly couldnt say but here I am hoping to broaden my horizons and tell all you fine folk about my day to day goings on and a few 50s tips here and there and basically any gossip!


A little about myself? Well I'm a nice and simple read! I''m 20 years of age (soon to be the dreaded 21!) I'm on the brink of becoming a semi professional pin up model of which I have been doing for 3 years now, as well as pin up, I do alternative, fetish and a bit of burlesque every now and then. I've also been brought up with rock n roll and rockabilly and live the high life of Englands rockin scene with a fabulous group of friends.

I am at University of the creative arts Rochester studying fashion promotion in which I study styling and magazine writing (of which I love!) So I'm sure you'll hear of all the havoc that people (not myself of course) are causing at Uni!


Hopefully you will find my blogs as interesting as any other vintage girl out there!