This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during the past month, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left - I spotted this AMAZING headdress on Liv Free's facebook page and realised I absolutely must have it! It's just so unique and beautiful, I love how it looks like Catholic Iconography.

Top Right - Shooting said headdress with the awesome Willie Nash! Can't wait to show the photos!

Bottom Left - As you may know, Markabre and I, as DJ Duo The Roustabouts, run cabaret club The Burning Beat. We were previously on at a venue in Islington each Saturday, but have sinced moved out and are searching for a venue that would allow us to expand the show! We threw a free Bank Holiday Special party at Concrete in Shoreditch, and boy was it a party. This is a shot of us both just before we begun playing!

Bottom Right - And this was at the end of the night, with Florian Brooks, who is not only an amazing juggler but a very bad influence (I've never had a 3 day hangover before)! This was after an awful lot of gin, tequila, sambuca, rum and vodka.... oh dear.

Top Left - One friday night we met up with Aurora Galore and headed off to the Playboy Club for fellow performer, Coco Dubois' birthday! We decided to dress in red, gold and black - and yes this is an awful photo thanks to the flash.

Top Right - Along with Coco singing with a live band, they also had performances from Pippa The Ripper, a contortionist (I'm afraid I don't know her name!) and the amazing Heather Holliday. Heather is pictured here SPINNING A PLATE ON A SWORD WHILE HULA HOOPING. She also does sword swallowing and is basically badass.

Bottom Left - And this is how I look at the office! I love this green dress from ASOS... I'm trying to put more colour into my everyday wardrobe.

Bottom Right - I had the pleasure of shooting with the wonderful Ravenblakh Photography again (I think this is the third time now!), this time in a beautiful location. Bizarrely, this place is slap-bang in the middle of skyscrapers and office buildings. Here's one of the beautiful shots from the shoot, but I thought I'd instagram a behind the scenes of the other outfit.

This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during the past month, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left: This Sunday we went off to a BBQ for our friend Anthony's birthday, so I tried something a little different with my hair. It was such a lovely day, with great company, talking about everything from feminist issues to the next Doctor Who. Unfortunately the mosquitos seemed to enjoy my flesh, as my legs have been bitten to shreds :(

Other images: On Saturday we had our first night off for 10 months, now that The Burning Beat is NO LONGER at House of Wolf (we will be doing a Bank Holiday special in Shoreditch on the 25th August)! It was also quite a coincidence that my Grandmother was celebrating her 90th birthday and Mark and I were celebrating our 4 year anniversary. For lunch we went to see my family, which was quite a large gathering with plenty of booze. 

For the evening I'd booked a trip to the beautiful Pheonix Cinema to see Blancanieves. I'm going to have to give this a separate post because it was just absolutely beautiful and exactly what we love!

Top Left: Selfie at work! You can see how my desk is surrounded by images..

Top Right: One of the ladies at work was leaving, so we went for a goodbye BBQ at Kensington Roof Gardens. They had Pimms in TINY BUCKETS IT WAS GREAT.

Bottom Left: It also looked amazing. You wouldn't think that such an exotic looking place was in the middle of London. And it was an authentic kind of exotic rather than looking theme park-esque.

Bottom Right: Wearing my new Playful Promises Hella Bodysuit with a Karolina Laskowska frame bra. I've been pretty much wearing this bra under and over things for the past week.

Top Left: A backstage selfie at the last Burning Beat at House of Wolf. I'm wearing my new Nearer the Moon fringe dress.

Top Right: We also had a private birthday party booking just before The Burning Beat. It was a gatsby inspired event with cocktails in teacups and lots of people looking very dashing!

Bottom Left: For the first time ever, our dj booth was a white grand piano. Badass.

Bottom Right: Before heading out to a Gatsby themed party at Soho House, where we were performing. I tried to do a Pola Negri type makeup look... Although the eyebrows need work. Anyone want to see a tutorial of this?

This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during the past month, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

 

I'm currently on holiday in Cornwall, visiting my parents for a week! This area is quite sentimental to me, as I've been visiting since I was a baby, although I grew up in Essex.

Top Left - Walking over to St. Michael's Mount via the causeway.

Top Right - Beautiful Mousehole in the sun

Bottom Left - It's been SO hot here, it feels like a different country. Unfortunately I didn't really consider this when packing, so had to go shopping when I got here. This is about as summery as I get...

Bottom Right - I LOVE fish, and being by the sea there's loads of local fish and other produce that just tastes so amazing. 

Top Left - My hair was getting SO long (I've just had a trim and some layers put in today)!

Top Right - Chilling out on Marazion beach. Unfortunately the sea is still way too cold.

Bottom Left - Trying out a Dietrich inspired look for The Burning Beat

Bottom Right - Another look for The Burning Beat!

Top Left - New flyers for The Burning Beat ready to get out on the streets of London!

Top Right - Shot some of the Playful Promises lingerie body shots (plain background product shots) for our upcoming seasons on Miss Miranda. Also known as Mizz Mizzle, fo shizzle. But seriously, I can't wait for this gold chain set. 

Bottom Left & Right - I did some modelling for awesome knitwear designer Viktorija Rudenia, and photographer Maya Art. Viktorija contacted me because she loved my flapper/circus style, which would work well for her pieces. I loved trying something different to my usual style, and the results I've seen are awesome! I'll post those in a separate post. 

Top Left & Right - Two looks for The Burning Beat, both wearing new wigs from Geisha Wigs! The Left is Starlet and the right is Merida, which are both amazing. I'll do a proper review at some point.

Bottom Left - Miranda asked me to shoot her badass new burlesque costume, including LIGHT UP CHILLIS. She made the whole outfit, including the headdress - beauty and brains <3

Bottom Right - Another look for The Burning Beat, trying slightly different makeup.

This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during the past month, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left - I finally got around to dragging myself out of bed on a Sunday, post The Burning Beat, to try to Wolf Roast (don't worry, it was beef) at House of Wolf. It's the same venue that we hold TBB, so it was a bit bizarre being there during the day, NOT WORKING. Crazy. The roast was one of the best I've EVER tasted.

Top Right - My look for the night before. Red glittery eyebrows! I also actually painted those red feathers gold.

Bottom Left - I took my boyfriend to go and see Fitzrovia Radio Hour at Crazy Coqs. Our ex-stage manager (and one of the people I'm very glad to have met through TBB), Jon, is one of the Fitzrovia founders/members, so it was great to finally see him in action. The gist of the show is a 1940's style radio show, done live in front of the audience, including the sound effects. It's hilarious and all the actors are so talented; it doesn't seem like an easy task! 

I did originally pincurl my hair to fit the theme of the beautiful venue, but it fell out during a stressful day at work - at least I had this gorgeous vintage hat (bought for me by my boyfriend) to try to fix it.

Bottom Right - 2 weekends ago we had the pleasure of DJing at a lovely wedding in Dublin! The bride had originally seen us at TBB and booked us to perform for their party. We had a late flight the day after, so we did a bit of sight seeing/wandering around Dublin. Here's the Oscar Wilde statue!

Top Left - Almost directly next to our hotel (La Stampa, which was gorgeous) in Dublin was this absolutely STUNNING art nouveau cafe! Photos can't do it justice. I could just imagine throwing a lavish party there...

Top Right - What I looked like for DJing the wedding! Thought it best to go with glamorous 1920s rather than freakshow circus!

Bottom Left - I've been useless at blogging recently because I've shot and edited 2 lookbooks (and by friday, I'll be onto my third) and have generally been rushed off my feet. Here's Miranda and a kitty, post shoot for Playful Promises Lingerie SS14. We do like shooting in locations that come with animals.

Bottom Right - As I can't find a bookcase that I a) like and b) can afford, I spotted the idea of using apple crates as storage units! I've stacked three on top of eachother and I LOVE the way they look! Now I can display all my favourite books.

Top Left - Another snap from one of the lookbooks I shot. This time Playful Promises Swim SS14 with the jaw-dropping Mulan. I'll post up the results too!

Top Right - Visited the Fabulously Fetish HQ to test out my custom made boots! This is just an example of the shape, they are actually going to be red leather with that gorgeous fabric! SO EXCITED!

Bottom Left - Had the pleasure of going to see Woodkid again (I think I saw him the first time in late 2012?), this time in the Roundhouse. Epic doesn't cover it.

Bottom Right - Some lingerie blinging. This time with a What Katie Did girdle and... I think that's a Primark bra that I bought years and years ago and never wore. Unfortunately it's a cupsize too small, but damnit, I'll suffer for my art. 

This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during the past month, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left: I usually go for a black/red/gold colour scheme, but I thought I'd mix it up and make use of the silvery vintage embellishments I have to jazz up a Playful Promises bra.

Top Right: Now that I've finished reading Game of Thrones I excitedly headed to the bookshop. I ended up with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer and The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I'd not read Gatsby yet, terrible I know, but I wanted to read it before the film (which looks pretty awful) comes out.

Bottom Left: One of the outfits I wore to The Burning Beat. Wearing the new Kiss Me Deadly red Elle robe and black tap pants. TAP PANTS ARE FUN!

Bottom Right: I ended up finishing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in about a week. One of my favourite books, if not THE favourite, is Everything is Illuminated, also by Safran Foer. Extremely Loud didn't disappoint (although still cannot top Illuminated). I find his writing style so beautifully distressing, I highly recommend his books. If you don't mind crying constantly (unless you happen to have no heart). The quote pictured above is about a man who has lost the ability to speak.

Top Left: Before heading out to The Burning Beat one saturday. We look like some kind of bizarre '70s supervillains.

Top Right: The view from the stage at Torture Garden. Thankfully a fairly safe-for-work shot. Oh and the flashing light thingy, that's my new toy, a Midi Fighter. This allows us to do all kinds of fun remixing live. 

Bottom Left: What I wore to TG - pretty much the same as what's in my header image!

Bottom Right: I've been sick for about half the month, ranging from a nasty cough to a full-blown cold. My desk is starting to look like a pharmacy...

This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during the past month, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left & Top Right - I spent the past week in Cornwall visiting my parents. They live in the town opposite St. Michael's Mount (right), having moved there when they retired. I've been holidaying in Cornwall since I was very young, so it's a place that means a lot to me! Plus, as you can see, it's beautiful!

Bottom Left - I managed to grab a beautiful new fringed and embellished capelet for just £10 (down from £60)!

Bottom Right - Now that I've finished the Game of Thrones books, this is my current read. China Mieville's writing is astounding (and quite striking after reading George R. R. Martin!); I've read a number of his books. I love the bizarre worlds he creates, that are familiar enough to be chilling. 

Top Left - Playing Bioshock Infinite on the 100 inch projector screen! I still haven't finished it yet :( 

Top Right - Another of my recent purchases, that I absolutely LOVE. I had a bit of a google hunt for this, but I'm so glad I got it. I wore it to The Burning Beat and it drew quite a lot of attention.

Bottom Left - One of my looks for The Burning Beat. It's a bit of a mash of cultures and inspirations.

Bottom Right - After a bit too many drinks with my friend Kerry <3 

This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during february, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left - Lovely Miss Miranda and her boyfriend Anthony bought me some amazing boxed gin for my birthday. I really love gin, just in case you wondered ;)

Top Right - I had a small gathering on Saturday, and my boyfriend organised lots of lovely early hollywood themed treats, including a camera-shaped pinata! Look at these Charlie Chaplin napkins!!!

Bottom Left - Shooting my new headdress from Reinka!

Bottom Right - The Burning Beat's stage manager/mcee, Jon, is teaching me how to sword fight! The swords may have come out once the club was over and we were a bit drunk...... 



Top Left - One of my old university housemates, Katie, moved to Japan to teach! To send her off we had a lovely gathering, which included doing purikura.

Top Right - Shooting a beautiful size 14 model for Playful Promises, I'll post the photos soon!

Bottom Left - The location I scouted for the shoot. I adore the way it was decorated.

Bottom Right - Some of you may know I'm a Game of Thrones fangirl (I'm just about to finish the last available book). So when Kit Harrington (a.k.a Jon Snow) turned up for a night out at The Burning Beat, I had to have a slightly embarrassing conversation with him and force him to take a photo with me. He was so nice, and said he was really enjoying our music - hooray!



Top Left and Top Right - Outfit shots! Slight change to my red and gold, this time I went for red, silver and black.

Bottom Left - My boyfriend makes amazing breakfasts!

Bottom Right - This headdress was lurking unused in my closet, so I gave it a spruce and added embellishments.

This Month In Pictures

Whoops, I haven't done this since last year in November!

If you fancy seeing what i've been up to during December, take a look at my instagram @swiczeniuk

But as for January...

Top Left: Shot Miss Miranda for this year's Lingerie Love Bomb campaign! This is where a bunch of independent lingerie and swimwear brands get together and generally prove that indie is the way to go. Will post the images up once they are all released!

Top Right: Despite the articles in this book being from 2007, they are still hilarious and further my love for Charlie Brooker.

Bottom Left: It was my boyfriend's birthday (a significant one) on the 19th, and so we had a gathering and some amazing cake!

Bottom Right: Outfit for being in the audience (and almost set on fire) for The Black Cat Cabaret at Cafe de Paris. I haven't been to see a show without working for a long time, it was amazing.

Top Left: Laurie Hagen performing at The Black Cat Cabaret. She is one of my favourite performers - that guy was squirming like crazy.

Top Right: An outfit for The Burning Beat!

Bottom Left: Did I mention we now have a candy floss machine in our house? Yeah, it's amazing.

Bottom Right: My gorgeous other half! I can't remember where we were going to when this was taken!

This Month in Pictures

 Want more? Follow me on instagram @swiczeniuk!

 

 Top Left - New goodies... a girdle by What Katie Did and a fringed red collar from Rokit, which I'm going to customise further!

Top Right - A behind-the-scenes shot of my Halloween costume! I'm really pleased with how the makeup came out.

Bottom Left & Right - I shot the next lookbook for Playful Promises Clothing in a cute little location! All those books were real - gorgeous.

Top Left - I had the absolute pleasure of shooting Italian burlesque artist Janet Fischietto. Beautiful and sweet is an understatement! Can't wait to show these photos

Top Right - Janet also performed for us at our cabaret, The Burning Beat, and the lovely lady behind Cake Follies created some cakes for all of us (and boy were they yummy).

Bottom Left - I'm slowly getting into crystalising, and have realised that it's a) damn expensive and b) damn tricky. I added a bit of sparkle to Mark's ringleader jacket!

Bottom Right - Makeup for The Burning Beat, I used Sugarpill to do a slightly clown-like look.

Top Left - A cute bra which I customised!

Top Right - I found a gorgeous Thai Dancer headdress on ebay, but need to figure out what to do with it. It's not got any headband, so I also need to figure out how to attach it to my head!!

Bottom Left - Makeup and hair for the last set we did at Torture Garden before starting our club. And my gorgeous new gold headphones!

Bottom Right - My lovely boyfriend is so romantic, and despite being together 3 years we still go on dates! He took me to the Colliseum to watch a very interesting Opera called Julietta, which had a giant accordian as the stage. It was really quite surreal.

This Month in Pictures

For more follow me on instagram - @Swiczeniuk!

My outfit for attending the UK Lingerie Awards last night! Wearing a frame bra by Karolina Laskowska.

Top Left - I went to the Lingerie Awards on behalf of Playful Promises, as Emma, the designer, couldn't make it. We didn't win in the categories we were nominated in, but feel proud of Kiss Me Deadly for their award! They happened to leave it with me while I was guarding my skull vodka (which is now happily in my own home!). 

Top Right - The venue for the awards was beautiful!

Bottom Left - Last week The Roustabouts were honoured to DJ the closing night of Marisa Carnesky's Tarot Drome. We also watched the show, which was fantastic and creepy. At the start of the after party a few of the performers took to the stage to show off their own acts. I absolutely loved H. Plewis, and managed to take this surreal shot of Vicky Butterfly's Moth act (which I had previously taken studio shots of).

Bottom Right - Suri Sumatra also took to the stage - she is so stunning, and I love her style. She also used a piece of music that I recognised from The Fall - instantly winning my heart.

Top Left - Last week we also DJed a wedding, which was absolutely beautiful. Such a sweet couple, and the bride had BUILT a booth for us!

Top Right - Mark and I and Miss Miranda and her boyfriend Anthony all went to go and see Cantina. I'm so glad I grabbed tickets to go, as it was the best piece of cabaret I have ever seen. I loved every minute, and I'll have to write a post about it.

Bottom Left - Dressed up ready to DJ Torture Garden - taking my kokoshnik for it's first outing.

Bottom Right - On the 31st of August we DJed a lolita themed late night event at the V&A museum, called Loli POP! Rather than play typical Jrock or a sweet set we opted for a video-game electro set, which seemed to go down a treat. To celebrate, we put out a special mix of just part of the set we played, which has almost reached 1000 plays (as I'm writing this)!

In August we were also honoured to play a Time Out Paris event at La Bellevilloise in Paris! I haven't been to Paris for a very long time so this was a new experience for me. Unfortunately, despite learning French at an early age, my ability to speak any other language is terrible, but we did eventually manage to find the hotel! 

As we were only there for one night, we wanted to squeeze in as much as possible, but I just cannot wait to go back. It was so beautiful, and so art nouveau everywhere. When we first got there we walked down to the Notre Dame and sat at a brasserie listening to an accordion player (so typical but so lovely!). 

The night itself was incredibly fun, and sponsored by Monkey Shoulder whiskey, which sure does create some yummy cocktails (bottom image). 

The next day I just had to go to see the Palais Garnier, the famous Opera house! We went on a tour, and seeing the beautiful golden hallway (top right image) brought tears to my eyes. The inside of the auditorium was equally beautiful, with an exquisitely painted stage curtain (top left image) - which was an illusion!

2 Weeks in Pictures

For more follow me on instagram - @Swiczeniuk!

Top Left - August the 3rd marked the 3 year anniversary of my relationship with my partner Mark. He took me out for a romantic date (at least, romantic to us!) - we saw Martyn Jacques from the Tiger Lillies perform the score to Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari.

Top Right - Before we went to the Soho Theatre, Mark treated me to an Afternoon Tea

Bottom Left - I'm planning a shoot with Miss Miranda and shoe-makers, Fabulously Fetish! We went up to their studio to have a chat about ideas. Shoes and cake were in abundance.

Bottom Right - Afterwards Miranda, Anthony and I found an AMAZING Thai restaurant in Upper Street.

Top Left - I went down to Cornwall for a few days to visit my parents. They live in the town just across from St. Michael's Mount, a beautiful castle that is set out to sea. This is the view from my parents' driveway.

Top Right - A proper cream tea with proper Cornish clotted cream!

Bottom Left - Another beautiful town that I love, Mousehole.

Bottom Right - The  view of my parents' glass staircase, with just some of their art.

Top Left - Unfortunately the weather wasn't great on the day that I was travelling home, which caused an hour delay to my journey. 6 hours on the train is not fun!

Top Right - Scouting out the location for the Fabulously Fetish shoot - it's in an old slaughterhouse. We went down into the pitch black basement....

Bottom Left - The Roustabouts have a new toy!

Bottom Right - I rearranged my kitchen somewhat, and put a few posters up.

This week in pictures

I actually forgot to do this for 2 weeks, oops!

Top Left - A rare glimpse at my real hair! Thanks to Miss Miranda's secret tonic I can finally pincurl my hair, and despite the raging heat, it stayed all day!

Top Right - To jazz up a few press events, I organised the rental of a vintage snuff bar. It was so cute, and came in a little suitcase. Snuff was certainly interesting... it's a flavoured tobacco that you sniff, with all sorts of flavours from cupcake to absinthe. 

Bottom Left- On a lovely sunny day I headed to Kent for a shoot with Nandi of Nitemare Photography and Stacey, a.k.a. Sample Remix. Here's a quick snap of my makeup and hair (which I did myself).

Bottom Right - I also had a friend to pose with ;)

Top Left - I had the joy of shooting the stunning Leah Debrincat for Playful Promises Online Magazine (all will be revealed very soon), wearing a headpiece by Kezia Argue

Top Right - Shot with Annette-Bette and she brought along the CUTEST dog!

Bottom Left - Miss Miranda looking mildly surprised by one of Kezia's amazing wigs.

Bottom Right - The Playful Promises team went out for some drinks, starting off at Lounge Lover, which has some amazing decor. I must get myself some anatomical drawings for my studio.

This week in pictures

I am a serious Instagram addict. I did, indeed, climb that band wagon.

But it's so easy for such a lazy/busy person such as myself to quickly snap the interesting little moments in life (and yes, I'm an iPhone addict too). 

You can find me @swiczeniuk, but here is a run-down of my last week!

Top left: There is light at the end of the tunnel. My new macbook pro has arrived with it's fancy retina screen. It's a novelty to be able to open photoshop and chrome at the same time without whirring and clicking. My little black macbook has started weeping....

Top right: The ridiculously talented and lovely Kezia Argue made me this jaw-dropping kokoshnik. It's even more beautiful in real-life and I can't wait to shoot it!

Bottom left: After watching The Woman in Black, I was starting to regret hanging this photograph of my great, great (great?) Grandmother, The Old Bubba, up on the wall of my studio. To make matters worse it's surrounded by other photographs of long-dead Victorian children.

Bottom right: My outfit for the Torture Garden Boat Party! We DJed a bit of electro swing moving into some booty shaking mash-ups. The amazing sailor pants are by Kaori's Latex Dreams, the bra is a customised Playful Promises old style, latex sailor collar is by Eustratia and the hat is vintage.

Top left: It has come to my attention that Mark and I collect a lot of pretty tins. Most of these are from his father, who lives in Zurich. 

Top right: The Roustabouts making silly faces while waiting for our cab after playing a set of electro-swing at Circus Covent Garden.

Bottom left: After a crazy 12 days editing over 60 photographs for the SS13 Playful Promises collections, we finally recieved the printed lookbooks. A mere day before they had to be taken to the Paris trade show.

Bottom right: A little bit of light reading.