Icons Coming Out of Every Orifice

I'm on a roll.
I just can't stop posting things on here. It is now Officially Looking Like I Don't Have a Life. But Who cares?
This is another little mixed media collage featuring that Iconic Model from the fifties, Lisa Fossagrives. You'd be forgiven for not recognising her because I made her look like a Crack Addict, which I'm sure she wasn't. I've given her a little jewelled headress & placed her inside a horse's head but I am not meaning to compare her to one.
I believe Lisa was married to another Icon, the photographer Irving Penn.

Decorating & the Dumped Woman

Ever since I've been dumped, I've been gradually colonizing my apartment. Pre-dumping, I had exercised restraint. But not anymore. This week I've taken over the bedroom. The chest of drawers features an old plastic torso covered with my own handmade necklaces. It has a little Japanese head with a long white lump of hair that I find quite curious. Then there's the copy of an old pre-Factory Andy Warhol drawing of a shoe that was a gift from a student. I just love doll's house furniture. It's quite hard to buy. But I just found the little tables at a two dollar shop. Alice in Wonderland is sitting on the top of the chest, & tiny Mexican plastic guardian angels that I got in LA this year are on the dressing tables.
All along the bench under the window is my collection of current books & obsessions & on the bottom left is a picture of my Mother who I often mention. Above her is my Godmother Dawn who hasn't spoken to me for about thirty years. I'm not sure what I've done. But I still appreciate her Godmotherliness when I was a child.

Finally, I'm able to proudly display my wonderful Blog award that was bestowed on my by La Belette Rouge. I was so pleased! And thank you!
The reason why it took so long was because I really had to stop & think about what blogs I would pass on the award to. It's not that I read a lot of blogs. I wish that I did because I find so many interesting & inspiring in their own way. But time is a bit of an issue, as I'm sure it is for everyone.
And because I'm a flickr wardrobe remixer I do look at a lot of young people's blogs because they're mostly the ones who post on wardrobe remix. I must admit I feel a little creepy about reading them because I'm old enough to be their mother.
God, I'm full of Pathetic Little Excuses.
Let's just Cut to the Chase.......
Here's seven great blogs that I'd like to pass the award on to:
squirlaraptor This talented blogger is also a well known wardrobe remixer. Her blog features wonderful photography.
whatiwore2day is one of the top contributors to the flickr wardrobe remix pool. Her extremely detailed outfits & great enthusiasm are an inspiration to many.
kellyloveswhales showcases the great art & outfits by a wonderful yoga teacher & (I think) environmental lawyer.
dlittlegarden takes us into the Wide & Wonderful World of Etsy. Discover great vintage & hand made designs.
Iheartfashion at allthingsstyle is a Personal Shopper who not only has great style but writes in a really punchy way. I love it.
Sheila at Ephemera poses some thoughtful fashion dilemmas & showcases her daily outfits. Classy & Stylish.
Darla at seeyouthere is a great one for Art Swapping which I think is a great way to boost your creativity. She also writes the best comments which I enjoy enormously. So generous.
Sadly, all those blogs are Not Australian. Not One. I'll have to go & find some

Hubert de Givenchy's Aeronautical Engineering Genius

Ever since I posted my previous post this afternoon, I've been thinking about the Fabulous Fifties Givenchy Dress that was the inspiration for my collage, 'Redefine Your Outline' featured below. 

So, I just had to go & trawl through all my really badly organised magazine clippings, of which I've got thousands until I found the original photo from 'Elle' mag. 

Isn't it a marvel of aerodynamic or aeronautical engineering genius? 

But it was probably a real pain in the arse to wear. You probably wouldn't have been able to sit down. And no dry cleaners would have touched it. And people would have stared & some may have even sniggered as you glided by. In my case, I would have waddled. 

The Miracle of Change: Givenchy Dress Becomes a Snake

Hope you like my artwork. I's a little collage featuring a picture of a v. famous Givenchy dress from the early fifties that I've combined with a long twirling snake. I've added lots of little fragments from a broken mirror & some other jewels plus a silhouette of Jennifer Aniston's hands. I'm not sure if you can read the text. It says, 'Redefine your Outline'. I took it from an magazine ad for some beauty product or other.

Since I've been listening to the Silent Affirmation CD which has encouraging messages about embracing the Wonderfulness of Change embedded within soothing nature sounds , I thought the message of this collage is rather timely. I suppose by telling you this that I'm exposing myself as a bit of a New Age Nutter. And now I've probably insulted the New Age Devotees by saying that. 

It's just that I'm giving everything a shot right now - yoga,  listening to large amounts of meditation tapes that put me in a theta state, having pedicures, eyebrow shaping & waxing & buying heaps of thrifted outfits. Amazingly, it all seems to be working!

I Want to be My Version of Oprah

I've always loved Winston Churchill. And I particularly loved his wit & rudeness. Can you see one of his famous sayings is on my collage?

One of my favourite Little Winston Vignettes is when he was behaving badly at a dinner party. Some Toad Dowager said, 'Sir, You Are Drunk!' Quick as a flash, he replied 'Madam, I AM drunk, but when I wake up in the morning I won't be. But You, Madam are ugly. And sadly, you'll still be ugly in the morning'.

Just in case you didn't bother reading Winston's saying on the collage, I'll tell you what it says: 'Success is going from one failure to the next without any loss of enthusiasm'. I've always loved this & thought it was a great attitude to have.

But now I'm not so sure, particularly if you want to be more like Oprah, which I might want to be but haven't mentioned until now. I'm certainly keen to make some more money so I can go on overseas trips & not worry that the Australian dollar is almost worthless again. And have other homes dotted around the place. And give large sums of money to favourite causes at the drop of a hat. And buy expensive skin care products & procedures. Oh, and have root canal therapy and maybe a couple of tooth implants & expensive whitening. I'd still buy Thrift Shop Outfits though.

Back to the collage. It's got many of my favourite things on it. Marianne Faithfull, David Suchet as Poirot, Joan Crawford, English Schoolgirl Annuals of the fifties, The English actress Margaret Rutherford who played Miss Marple, Bette Davis, Frida Kahlo, Japanese Fashion, the Super-Old artist, Louise Bourgeois, Death Valley & Old Queen Mary.

Anyone got any favourites?

Not So Cool Bette

Ever since I was a v. little girl glued to the family black & white TV set, I've loved Bette Davis. My mother always said that when she was young everyone said that she looked like her. I found that encouraging because I thought that maybe I too, might look like Bette one day. But no one told me I was adopted. But that's a whole other story & I'm NOT going to get side-tracked again.
Here she is dressed for her big Drunken Party scene in my favourite Bette film, 'All About Eve'. It was made in about 1950 when she was just forty. She looks miles older. Probably because of all the smoking & being cranky with everyone.
The text is one of my Mild Little Ironic Jokes.
Bette Davis was one of the least cool people on the planet, & I loved her for it.

Artwork by me.