Wonderfully Colourful Hair

Greetings! Here I am, ready to post in the brief half an hour I have until I have to go to my little brother's show of some sort. Oh, what fun. You may notice a small hint of sarcasm highlighted by my use of the word 'Oh' and the lack of exclamation mark. The truth is that today I am really very tired, having had a maths GCSE retake this morning and the prospect of too much coursework over the next seven days. To top it all off, I can feel the cold hand of 'possibly doing some sort of homework or revision', put it's feverish fingers tighter around my neck.

Anyway, in order to cheer myself up, this is a brightly coloured post in a move that will earn my mother's disaprovement - and to her I apologise - since she has always been a firm believer in not doing anything to hair, or my hair in any case (which is why the photos from my own source are of my friend, Aggi)

The first photos show how great two simply shades can be. E.g. Orange and Pink.

I am actually worried that I am not going to make any point in this. All there will be is me rambling to the tune of some wonderful photos of hair.
Maybe my point is A) Give it a go if you want to. You only live once after all... or B) You may not like it but you should really appreciate the artistry. After all, being different is what makes the world an interesting place. It would be really quite boring if we were all dressed the same.

What I like about coloured hair is the way it can finish an otherwise rather dull, or rather monochrome outfit. It is not purely done by alternative people. After all many designers such as Vivienne Westwood (bad example of non-alternative) but also Marc Jacobs, Duckie Brown and Thakoon Panichgul among a much larger selection, have used coloured hair on their runways. Oh, and the ends-only option is quite fashionable at the moment for a less out there example.

Here is my friend, Aggi, displaying her amazing style (she did the hair herself, which in itself - in my mind - deserves a round of applause) and great colour palette. Also proving how easy (or not, that sort of contradicts my previous statement) it is to do.

Might not be a look I'm trying any time soon. A) I am not allowed. B) I have not got the guts.... but I think the photos are truly gorgeous and I do not in any way regret having to beg to use them.

Which do you prefer anyway? The sunset effect or the absolutely crazy rainbow - which goes so absolutely beautifully with the steampunk goggles. I need to know where to get a pair. On another note, these are some beautiful photos. The green of the plant goes so well. Unfortunately, due to the school rules, she had to return it to it's original blonde colour. Anyway, it was good for the photos.

This was from an editorial that appeared in the March 2012 edition of Vogue. What can we get from this? It is not only alternative, but stylish and fun.

Either way, these are some absolutely great photos! I especially love the second one, though I am not too sure what is going on in it. It looks like her hair might be about to launch an attack on her.

Many people might, of course, think that brightly coloured hair is a fairly modern thing, arriving simultaneously with the arrival of subcultures. However, in 1913-1914, just before World War I, there was a vogue for dyed brightly coloured hair in exotic shades such as blue, violet or emerald. This started in Paris and then spread to other cities such as London. In 1924, the first celebrity hairdresser, Monsieur Antoine, dyed his dog's hair blue (admittedly quite a light blue) An influential client, Lady Elsie De Wolfe Mendl (who was a brilliant, eccentric woman, interior designer and - according to contemporary experts  in Paris - the best-dressed woman of 1935) took up the same style and this started a new fad.

On a last note, her is Tony Bennett feat. Lady Gaga with 'The Lady is a Tramp' - although I do prefer Frank Sinatra's version, Sinatra is unfortunately void of bright blue hair... and this version is really not at all bad. As an 'extra' on the topic of blue hair = quick facts. Blue hair has been described as a "sacred aesthetic" in ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, where lapis lazuli was used in funerary art and statuary. Also, many coloured pictorials from the Anglo-Saxon tribes after the departure of Roman troops feature women with blue hair. Though, I really don't know why... can anyone enlighten me?

Anyway, thank you for reading and please check back soon! Do comment and Please Follow!

Oh and, if you like this, here is my friend's Blog - It takes courage to be yourself

Cacharel Autumn/Winter 2011/2012

Hello to all! Here I am, taking a break from two hours of Mathematics Revision  that felt like a whole lot more - and neither Linear Equations nor the relatively simple Nth Term look any easier - to post something about the Cacharel Autumn/Winter 2011/2012 collection.
I was going to write a post about Dior's Autumn/Winter 2011/2012 collection, but I did not quite feel like it at the present moment... and so preferred to present this Cacharel collection.
Otherwise, today I was at the Peterborough Drama Festival where I was doing a duologue from 'Lady Windermere's Fan' by Oscar Wilde in the 15-16yrs category (my partner and I were awarded the highest mark - and therefore won in this category, although we did not win overall)

Features of the collection included:

• Cloche hat
• Knitwear
• Tapered trousers
• Brilliant patterned or coloured tights
• Zigzagging patterns
• Herringbone patterns
• Gloves - both long and shorter
• Icy Blue hue
• Boldly coloured heeled shoes: Yellow, Dark Blue, Red, Pastel Pinks and baby Blues.

My Favourite Aspects of the collection included the beautiful floaty, full-length skirts, a couple of brilliantly coloured pink cloche hats and the gorgeous long gloves. I liked the slightly 1920s vibe to this collection, and thought that the oversized cardigan/jumper woollen number above looked deliciously warm - this coming from somebody whose fingers feel like they might drop off... (since I wrote that, there was a break in the film I am watching and I was able to go to the kitchen and fetch some sort of hot consumable substance, or substances, and two hot water bottles)

^^^ I liked the use of narrow, brightly coloured belts, like the red one above which goes so wonderfully with the matching red shoes, gloves, clutch bag, cloche and even lips. The gloves are actually even more amazing for the streak of icy blue. Love the pattern on the outfit in question. I also love the other outfit here which involves a cloche in the ensemble, and which also has fantastically patterned tights in theory (in practice, only skinny people would look any good in them and, even then, many would wear them with the wrong thing and just end up looking absolutely dreadful. Therefore, not really practical)

^^^ I like the blue woollen concoctions, especially the one with the floaty skirt. I always think that warm, cost jumpers look fantastic with luxurious, floaty skirts. They sort of balance each other out perfectly.

 

Ling Liu and Dawei Sun, the new (sort of) designers for Cacharel, designed a collection inspired by ice crystals glimpsed through an airplane window and the famed aviator, Amelia Earhart. You can easily see in what way.

 

Thank you for reading. Do comment and please follow! :) I apologise for not writing that much.

Sarah Moon

Greetings Folks!  Today is February the 29th - leap year! Technically. according to popular legend, today is the only day in the year on which a woman is allowed to propose to a man... I think, in my case, if I wish to do this, I might leave it another two, three or four leap years. :) When I was a small child at the beginning of primary school, I used to hate February for the odd day number. Aged four, ot was bad enough learning the days in all twelve of the months going, "Thirty days hath September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one save... February..." and then I would go wrong.

Oh, did you know, on this day in History, in 1940, Hattie McDaniel became the first African-America to win an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in 'Gone with the Wind'

Anyway, today I am going to do a brief 'thing' (so to speak) on the photographer, Sarah Moon.

She was born, Marielle Hadengue (since she is of French Origin) in England in 1940.  She studied drawing in an Art School and, by 1960, was a recognised model. In 1966, she switched to being behind the camera. 

Her work was noticed at the Modinsolite Exhibition of Avant-Garde Fashion Photography, Delpire Gallery, in Paris in 1968.  Sarah Moon became known for her impressionistic style -  Her work is noted for a sort of softness, a vagueness that's suggestive of the impressionist painters. Though, apparently this came quite naturally since she, like myself in fact, is short-sighted (myopia) I will not say that this is the only reason for vagueness, but it could easily be contributing. After all, when describing the world with my glasses off, the easiest way I have found to do so is saying that everything simply looks like a Monet, though maybe not that bad.

She photographed for Vogue, Elle, Harper's Bazaar (Great Britain), Marie-Claire and other magazines.

 In 1968, Sarah Moon introduced soft-focus visions or illusions as personifications of new fashions with a turn-of-the-century silhouette (on a side note, a silhouette which I am personally fond of)

Her work generates a sense of mystery.  For example, this photo:

<<< 'Pour Madame Figaro'

There is a certain essence of fancy, luxury and, maybe more to the point, melancholia or simple nostalgia manifested in her pictures.  Another point to her photography was her use of distressed prints to give her photos a feeling of age.

The same fancy and almost melancholia, is also clear in Moon's interpretations of Fairytales. For example, in 1985, she gave a personal interpretation to Little Red Riding Hood by directing adult models in sequences.  Another example is her most recent exhibition which looks at the story of The Little Match Girl.

Since 1980, Moon has made hundreds of photos and adverts for  a diverse range of brands.  She has also done regular fashion campaigns for Cacharel. 

In 1990, she was an honored guest at the Fashion Festival of Budapest (which I need to find out about. I have never actually heard of it, and I like knowing things)

 In 1992, Sarah Moon had a solo exhibition at the Staley-Wise Gallery, in New York.

Oh, and taking a step back down my slightly warped tineline, she also received the International Center of Photography Award for Fashion Photography in New York in 1983.

<<< I love this photo. It is a lot more modern than it looks and I really like the use of distressed print to create this charming effect. It looks like a photo taken in the 1920s. Though, on the other hand, it does have a feeling of timelessness to it. I adore the hat, and think the expression on the model's half-concealed face is beautiful in capturing the feeling of the picture. The pearl earring also draws a perfect amount of light into the picture as well.

"I believe that if I didn't work in commercial photography, I would never work in colour. I don't really like colour. To make it work for me, I have to mess with it." Sarah Moon

 "What I aim at is an image with a minimum of information and markers, that has no reference to a given time or place, but that nevertheless speaks to me, that evokes something which happened just before or may happen just after."

On a last note, in honour of Davy Jones who died this morning of a heart attack, aged sixty-six, I am going to include a song by 'The Monkees' in this post (Though I honestly only know two Monkees songs) I hope you enjoy.

Thank you for reading. Please comment and do follow!