BUST Magazine October 2014: It Me

A little while back BUST asked me about my favorite things, and now the issue in which I discuss those things is out for you to buy. I've been a fan of BUST since I would flip through the copies of the mag in the Women's Center on campus. It was one of the few places at school I felt safe and unbothered, and I'd spend hours flipping through the zine archives and old BUST and BITCH issues. It feels very circle of life to now get text messages and Snapchats of my friends back at school with their own copies, sitting in the same seats I once sat in, with the magazine that I used to revere so much.



For the interview as well as my recommendations and advice, you'll have to buy the October issue, but here is an out-take from the shoot to tide you over. I'm wearing Siriano, Prada, and Margiela. Not sure where you could buy the suit outside of Christian's stores so I'm providing you with some alternate options -- a femme runway piece and a cheaper (but equally cute) alternative.




Anyway! I'm back to work -- working on a bunch of really fun but challenging projects I can't wait to show you. I think you'll really love them. Talk to you soon!

Photo by Tayler Smith for BUST October 2014 (outtake) / Photo by Me

priorities in the park

A lazy Sunday in Central Park for me involves podcasts, naps, and extensive life planning (I'm a Capricorn, ok?). Transition weather means wool shorts and oversized blazers.....aka, tomboi looks, my favorite kind.Since I'm a sucker for oversharing I'll clue you in on my Fall/Winter 2k14 plans and give some tips on how to be an overachieve like myself. Hahaha! Let's go. But first: outfit details, because this is supposed to be a personal style blog.

I'm wearing: Tayler's Vintage Blazer, Choies Tshirt, Grey Wool Shorts, Margiela Tabis, Thrifted Backpack. Similar or exact options are listed below.

NOW! TIME TO MOTHER YOU! LET'S GET STARTED.

Most Important Ugly: A Retrospective

In October, it'll be a year since I started on Most Important Ugly with my partner-in-crime Tayler. So much has happened since then, the opening and the exhibition seem so far away now. I'm incredibly grateful to all of the people who ended up going to see the show -- our first ever -- who bought the zine, who shared it with their friends and family, and also the the press who covered it. I just wrapped up the last entry for the Autostraddle series dedicated to MIU, where I detailed the process behind all of the shots we released. I thought it would be useful to have a space to link to all those posts and offer some final details about the products I used.

1. Most Important Ugly: I Believe Makeup is Magic  (Mars & Melissa)
2. Most Important Ugly: Becca, Bekah, Angels and Masks 
3. Most Important Ugly: Brandon, Tyler, and Gendered Makeup
4. Most Important Ugly: Massiel, Coco, and Meta-Human Experiments 
5. Most Important Ugly: My Chemical Romance and Other Majestic Monsters
6. Most Important Ugly: The Final Monsters 

For details about the shoots, I suggest going to those individual posts. For specific product details and why I like them, hop through the read more. 

Mars & Melissa, ph. by Tayler Smith

fashion week, collected

Not one to mince words as you well know so I'll keep it short and say this was one of the most uninspiring seasons for NYFW in several years. It ended well though! And I did still have some great times because the people I surround myself with are inspiring. I found ECKHAUS LATTA to be phenomenal -- I stayed for both presentations -- and it was great to see so meet so many wonderful people, both new friends and old (internet) ones. I made the executive decision this season to not bring my camera to shows because I just wanted to concentrate on the clothes for once. And here are the clothes I decided to wear for a few days of shows.

A Cyborg in Their Final Form

Music to suit the situation. Lipstick to Void, of course.

I feel like I talk about this dress all the damn time but never got around to a proper outfit photo, so here you have it, just in time for fashion week. This is maybe my favorite dress in my wardrobe.

Drake, LACMA, SXSW & Me: Join!

While I was in L.A in July (late June? Jesus, time flies) shooting some projects, I happened to make friends with the amazing team at LACMA and they took Tayler & I on a tour of the place through their eyes. We spent a few hours eating healthy pizza -- L.A is absurd -- crying internally over our favorite impressionists, and posing with the art for truly epic Snapchat opportunities. We topped of the visit with a trip to the James Turrell Retrospective and got to take selfies in it, too.

I loved visiting LACMA especially when guided by such a chill team who recognized that my generation -- our generation -- view art as interaction opportunities for exploration and identification. Art is lived, y'all. And the technologies we use to view it -- and share it -- change the meaning and intent of an artist's creation.  ("Suddenly the Koons is me....") I love how LACMA uses Snapchat and Twitter to connect with visitors and I wish more museums and art spaces would take lessons from them. We talk about art all the time... but when it talks back, things get really interesting. 

So it is with great pleasure that I can say that I'm supporting LACMA in their mission to get to SXSW to host a panel about the future of art museums and tech! They want to bring a presentation and panel to SXSW 2015 that questions how museums harness tech to bring a better experience, and how we can make young guns passionate art creators, viewers, buyers, and experiencers. 

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I do believe that this panel would be super dope -- please join me (and Drake, evidently) in supporting LACMA and their journey to revamp the art+tech marriage and vote for their Interactive Panel for SXSW15! Voting closes September 5th. Thanks babes. 

Your Back to School Backpack

Me in freshman year of college (in 2010), Me just out of college (in 2014), in the same room. The more things change, the more things stay the same.

College is an experience..... a good one at times, a bad one... ultimately I'm so thankful I went, especially to a public school institution, and that I studied what I wanted and not what my parents wanted me to study. I had a really rocky freshman year and a very strange senior year.....and as my friends still settle into their post-grad lives and some of them, back into academia, I find myself contemplating if I miss it or if I plan to go back. I don't think so, to either of those things. I wanted to graduate two years early! But I'm glad I had enough time and resources to learn what I did learn, and I'm excited for all of you who are still in school or just jumping in. School was so fun, and you should be excited about it, too. So with that in mind, I've put together a little back to school guide of my favorite materials, articles, and videos as well as a back to school supplies list so you're both practical and super babely in your educational endeavors. There are zines, self-help books, calming videos, and my favorite #takewhatisyours supplies after the jump. 

minimalist maxims

It's always interesting to hear people's reactions to my outfit choices -- not entirely pleasant, mostly annoying, but always interesting.

Brooklyn Babe

Earlier in the summer, W Magazine gave me the mission of wandering Brooklyn with last NYFW's show haunts as my inspiration: anyone who was paying attention might remember the outrage that ensued at being called to the outer borough for the Alexander Wang and Opening Ceremony Shows.....the tweets, the instagrams, the snark! Never mind that many of the editors and showgoers now live in this neighborhood..... hahaha.

Denim Irony

New season's about to be here, figured a change in scenery on this here blog should come along with it. Susan Miller did say this month is all about transformations....I think. I'm actually too punk-ass to reread my horoscope for the month since I've been so anxious lately aha ha, ha. Anyway, I've actually been wearing this outfit repeatedly throughout the week since it's so effortless and perfect for the weather. I love this skirt so much! I got several questions about where I got it from on Instagram so I thought I'd grab a quick outfit post for y'all so you can see it properly.

I'm wearing: Bonlook Glasses*, Only Child London Necklace*, Choies White Long Sleeves Button Up*, Choies Blue Single-Breasted High Waist Denim Pencil Skirt*, Nanette Lepore Seduction Satchel*, ASOS Portobello Shoes.



Isn't this cropped shot so weird? I look so stilted, like a doll. I was just walking mid-shot, but it feels very artificial and anxious, like I'm in a Hitchcock movie. I'm into it and the sloppy details you can see shine through regarding the skirt. I love this skirt, mostly because it's just a joke -- referencing all those girls who wrap their sweaters around their hips as they go along with their day. I have a history of wearing actual sweaters as skirts -- you may come across old blog photos on this exact event if you go far back enough (I'm thinking 2008-2009 era? Before I dyed my hair, even!). It just seems a progression in my inside joke with myself, really. It's a snap-off skirt so I feel like a stripper just yanking it off at the end of the day. Undressing with a flourish, it's the only way to go. If dressing and undressing are intimate, even erotic acts at times, they can also just be very funny. I like when it happens to be both.

P.S I have a story in the September issue of Teen VOGUE. I'm super excited about it & thrilled to have been assigned to write about hair dye....since I am somewhat of an expert at home dye it at this point. Please check it out!

Egg Yourself On

Ribbon Choker from Twirly Trinkets, Vintage dress from Another Man's Treasure, Luna on the Moon Egg Bag, ASOS Portobello Platforms

Boop, here's an outfit post and a video for you. I've been feeling super burned from my hustle so I'm exploring things just because I like them and not because I have to do things. Tayler took this picture real quick before she jet back home for a few weeks. It's so strange how time has flown since graduation in May -- I've since worked with some of my dream magazines and it's only going to get bigger and better. Still doesn't mean it's easy! I've never worked so hard in my life. But I need to take care of myself better. It would be so nice.

In an effort to keep me from dying at my computer I decided to film more Youtube videos again, so here's one of the two I've done recently. I welcome feedback, though since I'm on a PC editing them is losing battle.

Everything in the video is shoppable below, too:

See ya around!

a combination of new and old

God, I haven't done an outfit post in so long! Had to fight several spiders and skeletons in the closet to get the tripod out. Now I remember why I stopped doing them, taking your own pictures is a pain in the butt. But I did want to share this outfit agenda!

I actually just got this Comme des Garcons skirt yesterday-- for less than $100, too, happily enough. Like I said in my old budget/dream wardrobe series, it seriously pays to have friends in retail who are looking out for you. This still has the tags on it! I love good, random fortune. I'm wearing it with an Express jacket, which is plain and boring and lovely. I like to wear things that are either far too much or very plain. When you wear those two agendas together it makes for a good time. I wear my Margiela Tabi's every other day and they've broken in perfectly. 

Oh yeah, I'm a redhead now. Surprise? It has most certainly changed my beauty routine, I don't wear blue lipstick anymore (for now...) because I look a thousand percent like a clown (and not a Cindy Sherman one) with it on, but I am appreciating Lady Danger by MAC a whole lot. I've been testing out different skin finishes, also, trying to get my #robot look down. Still working on it. I'll keep you posted.

Anyway. Yep! Now I must go back to work. I'm a full time freelancer now (woo) and it's keeping me very busy, delightfully enough. See you around!

Cash Money Clothes

Long time no talk, bubs. By now most of my work is on my tumblr -- I'm undecided how to deal with this lil blob of space. Anyway, Bib + Tuck had me over to film an episode of their super cute Cash Money Clothes segment, here's mine.

Most Important Ugly: Opening Reception

Thank you everyone for coming out! So many people have emailed bummed they couldn't make it / wondering if it will be a moving exhibition. We haven't thought about taking it elsewhere yet (cart before horse) but it'll be at American Two Shot for 3 months, about, so those who couldn't swing it have time to visit. To those who did come by -- I love you very much. Thank you for sharing the night with me.

Here are all the photos from the opening that Tink took for us. They're also on Facebook. If you took any at the show please tag it with #mostimportantugly on twitter/tumblr/instagram so we can check it out! We would love to see them.



Tayler & I with our headlining muse Indigo, who came in her full lady vengeance makeup (I love this picture she took of herself).



It is nigh impossible to get all my favorite people in the same room together but this picture is proof it is possible!!!



Shot before the store got way crowded (but in a good way).


The Rookie crew came out also, and Shinji, and so many other people who are bright stars in my universe. I love you all very much.

Thanks to Paper Magazine for the shoutout on the show also -- ugliest art opening of the week, indeed.

Honestly I feel like a broken record saying thank you over and over again but I really am just so grateful. I'll talk more in depth about the show itself and the process that went into it at a later time. For now? I've got a lot of homework to do.

Most Important Ugly

MOST IMPORTANT UGLY

April 25, 2014 ­ July 25, 2014 American Two Shot
135 Grand street, NYC Opening Reception: April 25th, 6:00­-9:00pm

Hello friends and friendly strangers –

If you know me at all, you know I live and breathe both makeup and memories – the stories that lipstick can tell you and the people who wear them help me wake up in the morning. Call it shallow or call it survival. I’d consider it more the latter and it’s the heart of Most Important Ugly.

What exactly should you expect? In essence, it’s a series of 13 portraits that negotiate the sitter’s stories of alienation and presentation, memories and disremembering. In order to sit for their photo to be taken, I asked each muse
a series of questions about shame, safety, power, family and beauty. This series of questions is called “Therapy Sessions in Sephora,” a reference to the place where I came up with the questions and the place where the ideas for this project began to unfold.

This project discusses anxiety and queer marginalization, revealing the monsters that are hidden inside of us when we are taught what we are is not enough, or is too much, or that it shouldn’t exist at all. It is a presentation of the resistance of marginalized people and how makeup can bring out the best in you: it’s just that the best is not always what is expected, or the most beautiful, or the most kind. Most Important Ugly tells the story of Monster Culture and the everyday heroes that it breeds. The heroes are my friends in the queer community, my readers, our friends. Non­binary beauties, trans friends, queer and questioning people we know and love all came together to sit for this project and it is their stories that we have the honor to share in these photographs. Gertrude Stein once wrote: “Give me new face new faces new faces I have seen the old ones.” This is our response to this idea of a beauty culture where we do not belong.

There are 13 portraits in the installation. There will also be a Limited Edition zine (Edition of 13 copies) detailing our process and monster culture, and it will include the original questions asked of each sitter. That way, you can learn what your Most Important Ugly is, too.

Much love,
Arabelle

The Prada Problem

 

Tayler and I finally wrapped up the final photos for our Most Important Ugly photo project and hopped right into shooting my babe Jilly (photos of her on Tayler's blog) and also these cute bags I've gotten recently. This will be the last time we have studio space together until after the summer which is really weird! We've been shooting almost every weekend for six or seven months now and almost always around this very strict theme using this very specific process. So finally working on stuff outside rules we've set for ourselves was a strange experience. Tayler jumped right into it and built this amazing set and I was almost at a loss as to what to do with Jilly's makeup, since I'm so used to interrogating people and building a history based on their stories. To not have that story and not reference any specific look like I sometimes do (recreating McGrath for Galliano, 5ever) - it was really exciting but also really intimidating.

I think into things all of the time, half probably because I'm eternally trying to justify my interests as having value and the other half because I want to explore that value endlessly. But really, even though I love makeup and love how it connects people, sometimes you just want simple looks that look good. I didn't build on any references, I just went with colors I thought would look nice. Jilly has perfect skin and she looks good in everything so it was really easy and fun. Almost too much fun: I had to give my permission to keep it really simple. The day before (or after? time is weird) I did the exact opposite and I had to give my permission to go all out and I spent a very long time doing detail work and violent physical labor with glitter.

Hat: DIY Glasses: Givenchy Dress: Choies*Strawberry Bag: Tayler's Egg Bag: Luna from the Moon* Shoes: ASOS. Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Electric Palette* Lipstick: YSL Le Orange* Tayler's Bag: Jump from Paper*

Anyway. So I copped this Prada knockoff. Sorry Prada. I worship the ground you work on and I talk about knockoffs quite consistently! There was just no way in hell I could ever afford the real thing, Prada doesn't really do Archive sales in the style of CDG so there was no point in even waiting a million years. I settled and bought the knockoff instead -- laughing at the minor differences all the while (documented in my Prada tag on tumblr, to my own amusement and no one else's, because I have a sad sense of humor). I did buy Authentic Prada sunglasses though so like, she still is getting my money in some capacity? To assuage the guilt I feel. I was going to buy the bra that goes on top of it, but even the non-embellished version costs about $1200 and I would rather make it myself with vintage brooches and you know, pay rent and student loans and stuff. I'm sure Miuccia doesn't mind too much.

I don't even know why I am apologizing to the internet when we are all pretty complicit in knockoff corporate culture. I think it's probably because I think about class and knockoffs all the time and haven't purchased anything in months besides authentic designer and now I feel weird class shame like I've reverted.  This is the kind of shame that is set up in us and I'm not sure it's entirely a bad or good thing. It's just a thing. I'm thinking a lot about feelings about feelings lately and how you don't really need them. No feeling is final, right? And you don't need to have feelings about feelings. Once you realize this you become free in a lot of ways. Freedom doesn't make you a better person though, and I think we're supposed to want to be better people. Better over freedom? You can aspire for both, of course. But I'm not sure you can get them at once all the time, particularly in the context of consumerism. There is always guilt to fall somewhere, usually it's on the consumer. Especially the poor consumer. Bootstraps mentality and all that jazz -- if you work harder you'll get what you deserve, what you work for, rise. Of course, that's not what really happens. Luck and privilege change the game and you don't so much 'get' a job as are given one. This is where the real conversation begins. But we're still told otherwise, and told if you don't buy the Original you're the bad one when you certainly weren't the person who made the fake to begin with. You're less than. You try to work off the guilt when it shouldn't be yours to deal with in the first place. Do you know what I mean? Feel free to disagree.

Anyway. At the end of the day it's a cute fucking "fake" dress. I wore it outside today with "real" Prada.

Nobody knew the difference.

Photos by Tayler as usual.

Most Important Ugly

I've been working on a photo series with Tayler for about six months now and it's finally done. Please join us for the opening of our photo exhibition at American Two Shot! There will be drinks and hot babes and general excellence. All ages (obvi the bar will not be, sorry young ones). Please come. Here's the facebook event for more info. 

ari n me

ph by Tayler

Hung out with my angel Ari for the first time outside of the internet this Spring Break. I had a really beautiful Spring break full of cute people. I got this vintage suit thrifting the day before with Shelby actually. 

Thriftin' 

Also had a Rookie hangout. This is not from said hangout, it is from the last hangout. Some of us are pantless in the most current interations of the hangout (we were sweaty from Beyonce choreography) and so the internet can't see those. Sorry. 

So much love. 

Updates

Well this blog is dusty. Let's see. I am now Editor/Main Bitch at The Style Con alongside Jenny Bahn so that takes up most of my time that I'm not using on homework or other projects. One of those projects is in collaboration with DIS magazine & other cool babes.

"As an accelerating market and major force in cultural change, fast fashion is the energy drink section of the fashion world. The panel will explore       the significance of fast fashion and its effects on contemporary ideas of intellectual property, authenticity, and coolness."

Here's the facebook invite. I hope I see you there!

CHROMAT FW14: Donna Haraway Robot Blogging IRL

I dictate my own aesthetics and brainwaves by building my own mythology surrounding the things I love and care about. For the past few years or at least, for the past year, it's all about Monsters, and Lady Vengeance Looks specifically. But since the New Year I've been preoccupied by cyborgs and robots and the feminisms associated with them. I actually really dislike much of the academia Donna Haraway has put out there -- it's totally unapproachable and unlivable, removed from real people -- but so much of what she says about cyborgs and innocence and humanity rings true to me, too. So I spend a lot of time just thinking about it, and I'm obsessed with sci-fi and robots because of it. So when the robo babes came down the runway a few nights ago courtesy of Becca and her CHROMAT crew, I was completely floored. I've been going to fashion week for I think, thirteen seasons now? But this is the first show I yelled at, with so much joy and delight. It felt really fun.

 So much of fashion week is about being 2 cool 4 school, getting the best instagram, getting snapped the most. This show reminded me clothes can be promising, and fun, and new, and cool, and fuck everything else. 

I'm also super glad that I've made a conscious decision to only go to shows where I know I will see my friends -- peep my girl Gillian in the background of this picture, and William too (congrats on your new gig, dude) -- as well as to shows where I connect to the designers. While it's an absolute honor to get invited to shows every season, if I know I wouldn't ever wear a designer even if I could afford it (which I can't, ever, I mean, retail price????? hahahahaha) -- it's also a fantasy I'm disinterested in participating in. CHROMAT stuff is not inexpensive, but it's also a small brand and pretty much hand made by a bunch of rad (and mostly queer) women. With Chromat I know who works on the pieces, I know how long they take because I ask, I am allowed into the process. This is my favorite thing about small brands: they let you in. You are unquestionably the center of their universe. This isn't something you can say about larger brands who have to fill a quota for their investors in terms of new releases every season, regardless of how inspired they feel. 

I'm so happy to see Becca grow and evolve and get her stuff worn by our heroes like Beyonce etc. When you can connect to fashion brands and feel proud on their behalf, like they're family, it's really the most fun. And we all know how I feel about lingerie, and badass women. So A+ all around. 

This piece was such a showstopper -- I reached out to touch it on instinct when it jangled past me but I kept my hands to myself because I'm not an asshole. But really: XENA Warrior Princess Looks, right? I bet Beyonce already reserved several in her size. 

Big ups for the diversity in casting, too. There was no tokenism to be found -- and I noticed, and I appreciated it a lot. I'm noticing runways are getting better at it this season, but I'm also only going to shows and presentation where they haven't had horrible histories at doing that, so I am not one to gauge the situation accurately. 

There were so many YESSSS moments in this show -- I'm glad I brought Tayler along to properly document it. Look at this friggin outfit. I haven't documented my season faithfully to the internet and I'm not mad about it, because I want to pay attention to the clothes and the experience more than proving I am somewhere. But I think if I didn't get photos from this show for myself I'd have been bummed out. Just: picture these light up robot goddesses, marching in the complete darkness to a bunch of beautiful people, cheering them on. It was really beautiful and exciting to be part of. 

I mean. Look at this. Metropolis Goddess Looks. Cyborg feminism moments for us to remember and emulate. God bless. 

This collection makes me really excited for Lingerie Fashion Week in a few weeks, actually -- I'll keep you posted on those shenanigans, too. But now I have to do my homework before more shows. And probably brush my teeth. Ok, bye.

Second Skin

Over the summer, StylelikeU convinced me to partake in their relaunched Second Skin project. My friend Meagan had been in one of the first episodes the previous fashion week season and she was so stressed out about it, I was really tentative at first. But I'm also less anxious than Meagan (I SAY THIS WITH A LOT OF LOVE) so I figured it was worth a shot. The internet has a very limited perception of my style most days, so I figured whatever thrown at me couldn't get me too twisted.

I was pretty much right, but the results are truly comical. I'm kind of spacey and mellow about everything, and Dynasty is super outgoing and gregarious and anxious about the whole thing. I laughed through the entire twenty minutes when I watched it this morning.

Yeah, our style is lil' bit different. Just a little.

Here is the video. Enjoy. 

Outfit credits in the first two photos -- our official "meeting" photos -- my plastic jacket and the knitted dress -- are both frequently worn in past outfit posts. Here's me with Scott, my partner who made it the dress. 

Anyway, I hope you have fun watching it and you're off to a cool week.