Jessica Louise

 

 I first worked with Jessica over 2 years ago, and then again a few months later. Even then I was impressed by her enthusiasm and posing, not to mention what a nice person she is!

In front of the camera she channels a gorgeous, fierce woman, but as soon as the lens points away she is all smiles. This is such an incredible skill for a model to have - personally I'm just as inspired by a personality as looks. Nobody likes a diva and Jess definitely isn't one!

We finally shot together again a few weeks ago, when she also told me what she had been up to...

 Skip to 1.56 and you will see the first glimpse of Jess on Britain's Next Top Model! I won't spoil the 'ending' but she did pretty well and I am beyond proud of her! 

We shot 3 looks; here is the first, inspired by Josephine Baker, Anna May Wong and Orientalism.


Missy Macabre : Dark Nouveau

  

A few days ago I had the pleasure of photographing one of my favourite performers, the Queen of Carny, Missy Macabre. 

I absolutely adore not only her performances (bathing in broken glass, eating fire and lounging on nail beds seem to come naturally) but her unmistakable sideshow style. For our shoot we decided to go with a darker art nouveau style as well as a Alphonse Mucha inspired set (which I will be posting at a latter date). Missy styled herself, and even made the collar!

 

 

 

 

 

Wig stylin'

As a follow up to my previous post on wig advice, I've put together a few ideas about styling wigs.

One of the biggest mistakes I see people make, even when they have bought a decent-quality wig, is just wearing it straight from the packaging. In my opinion, a wig should not be an obvious giveaway. No matter how outrageous the colour, you can still make it work like your natural hair!

For example, I've recently purchased this wig and haven't styled it yet. It probably isn't the best example as the wig itself is fantastic quality, with a fairly good fake parting. However, here you can see how it is styled straight out of the box:

 

Eek - no eyes!

There are two ways you can deal with the super-long-fringe-of-doom (you do not push the wig back so the crown sits on top of your head and you do not leave the fringe as is and blink your way through) you can either push it to one side so it is flipped across your forehead: 

 

 

 This way it is always best to either pin it into place or cut the fringe into a slant. If you are going to go down this route, I always find it looks more realistic if you wear the wig at a slight angle, as if the parting is a side parting. 

 To cover the giveaway fake parting, hats, hairpieces and hair clips are your friend!

Or you can just shorten the fringe by cutting it straight across (or asymmetrical or even in a widow's peak if you prefer!). I have found the best way to ensure a straight fringe is to cut it while the wig is on. If you are not used to cutting your own fringe then start out slowly, only taking half an inch off and try to even it out as much as possible. Here I have also cut a little piece for the side of my face, to draw attention to my fake cheekbones!

 

A straight fringe frames my face just the way I want

 Of course, some wigs may require a bit more styling than this one, which already has a great volume and length. Sometimes you may need to do a bit of reconstructive surgery on a particularly bad wig; always helpful if you have a friend with hair skills! 

The only thing that is left is to experiment with the wig as if it were your own hair. Try up-dos, braiding, plaiting, victory curls, finger waves, mixing in coloured extensions..... some wigs are even heat-resistant and will allow you to curl or straighten them. I always like to have long wigs up off my neck, and use the length to clip up onto one side, like this:

 

Capt. Swiczeniuk signing off!

Wigs! Wigs! Wigs!

I have an obsession. Whereas most women covet shoes, I covet wigs. 

Many would consider "too many" to be over 10. My current wig count has reached 22.

I love the flexibility that wigs allow me, and I will rarely be seen with my natural locks. I have the ability to be a blue-haired siren, a 1920s starlet, or a Victorian secretary with a quick brush through and a few handy styling tips. 

In this post I'll be going through some questions concerning wigs, where to get them, how to take care of them and more!

 

 Common Question: Where do you buy your wigs from?

Always, always, always from sellers on ebay. This is where you will find the best quality for the cheapest price. Personally I like to go for a wig between the bracket of £10-£25, which means that you will NOT be able to purchase a human hair wig (usually costing over £100) but with the recent advantages in synthetic hair fibres, you can often find something heat-resistant. What you need to avoid at ALL COSTS is anything that looks bad quality, as it will not last 5 minutes, and then you have to deal with tangly wig death. Here are my golden rules for ebay wig shopping:

1. Be different. If you have seen a red wig one one girl, don't put blinders on and only look for a red wig in exactly the same style. 

2. Take your time and try to narrow down the search with the correct search terms. For example, I am looking to purchase a green wig. Searching for "Green wig" on worldwide search comes up with 3,310 results. "Long green wig" narrows down to 1000. 

3. Automatically disregard anything with "fancy dress" in the title, and anything which hasn't been photographed well. Look for items with product codes in the title (usually a letter followed by some numbers).

4. Look for wigs with good product shots showing close ups, the back and the top. 

5. When you have found a wig you like the look of, try to search for the product code for a cheaper deal. Many of the ebay sites use the same suppliers and therefore the same product codes.

Some wig shops I have purchased from before include..

Wigfashion - Lulu's wigs - Vogue wigs - Annabelle's wigs - Cog and marc

 

fykodona asks: How can you know if the wig is going to suit you if you can't try it on? 

Truth is, you won't know until you either find a friend with wigs, or bite the bullet and purchase one. If you are really worried about it, you could try using the old Photoshop however it really is hard to say how the wig will look in reality. If you are about to buy your first wig and you are worried, I would suggest sticking to natural colours and styles and branch out from there. 

 

Kaebambi asks: is it okay to brush a pre-styled wig? I have a few that are curly/wavy and I've lightly brushed it and it just got messier!

It depends on the quality of the fibre, and how heavily styled it is. For example, I have various long wavy wigs that tend to get matted easily, and I also have a short fingerwave wig. As the long wigs don't have a set style, they are often easy enough to brush through, whereas I wouldn't dare brush the fingerwave wig at the risk of disturbing the style. Unfortunately curly/wavy wigs are just more likely to get matted and they will not last forever. It also depends on the way they are being stored. 

 

Autopsyjude asks: how do you get your wigs to stay on through out the night? are you allowed the headbang or jump around or dance? also, how do you wear your hair under the wig? i can't get mine to be as flat as possible without having hair bumps show through..

To be honest I wouldn't suggest any hard headbanging! But yes you can dance around without feeling insecure about your wig if you attach it securely. Most wigs will have elastic around the inside that joins together with two adjustable clips (this video will explain a little easier). Once connected the elastic will fit tightly around your head; if you still don't feel secure you can always use hair pins to attach it to your wig cap.

 One problem with wigs is that it CAN feel uncomfortable and hot, especially if you are not used to the extra weight. This moves on to the second part of your question: you absolutely must use a wig cap. As embarrassing as they are, they do work wonders at hiding your hair. If you have long hair, I suggest tying in a ponytail and pinning upwards before putting on the cap. Try to go for a skin-coloured wig cap rather than black, as you don't want it to show through your wig. 

 

Yukidoll asks: do you have tips for styling wigs and keeping them in good condition? mine tend to go a bit frizzy after a while, and it gets worse if i brush them, i usually get knots out with my fingers! x_x

Again, it all depends on the quality of the wigs, but you have to remember that wigs won't last forever and there is only much care you can give it before the fibres start looking frazzled. Some of my wigs I have had for about 3-4 years, whereas others have given up home in a matter of months (oddly enough, these were mostly black ones). I find that it is mostly the back underneath of wigs that start to go first. I have been told that brushing them will just make it worse, so it is probably best to use a wide tooth comb and at least try to break up the mess into sections with your fingers. Also, there would be no point in washing a wig without first detangling. 

I think my luck with wigs is mainly down to the way I store them. Re-sealable plastic bags (ones meant for food will be best) are your friends! Usually the original wig packaging is perfect (if they come in their own plastic bag with black netting); if you happen to have kept the packaging I suggest folding the wig in half and popping the net over it. Pop it in the resealable bag, squeeze the air out and keep them all together in a box or bag somewhere. 

 

And thats all for now! If you have any other questions, please send them over to my formspring.

Lustworthy objects

Lustworthy objects - the objects that tend to cost the most, and therefore increase by +100 lust points.

80th Anniversary Gold Rolleiflex: EUR 29,000I could HAPPILY make do with a faux-gold version of this. 

 

Mise en Cage - Aztec Body £258 Tassels! Epaulettes! Bodysuit! If this had any gold detail I would have to assume that the designers of Mise en Cage have a small office space within my brain.

 

 

An update!

Many things have happened since my last proper update, from dinner with the Queen (well, a Queen lookalike) including a drive in a pink limo, to attending the Bizarre Ball (wishing that I hadn't done), to dancing around with Balkan Beat Box. 

But first, in regards to my last post, heres a photo of myself and Aurora at Lolita in Wonderland II, taken by Pat Lyttle.

 

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An acquaintance of mine has recently published a book with lovely glossy photos of modern "club kids", which is available here. There are some rather bizarre looking chaps on the back cover....

....we also attended the book's launch party!

Working the all red eye makeup

 

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On Saturday evening we dragged ourselves into Shoreditch to see one of our favourite bands, Balkan Beat Box. Neither of us were feeling at our best, however BBB's music is just so good we had to dance. I saw them for the first time last year, and can say they are one of the best live acts I have seen - I recommend checking out their music (here is a link to one song to get a taste)! 

We were right at the front for the whole way through and, as usual, in the encore, they pull people up onto stage to dance. However, as usual, there are extremely excited women in the audience that tend to use me as a ledge to push themselves up with! People started pouring onto the stage, pushing me out of the way, until the singer, Tomer Yosef, grabbed my hand and pulled me and then Mark up. There were far too many people on the stage, so we were shoved to the back, but it was still an experience! After the gig, when we were dancing to the DJ, Tomer came up to us and told us we looked different, and that he remembered us from last year - it made my weekend!

Looking extremely sweaty with Tomer Yosef of Balkan Beat Box

 

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As if that wasn't enough, I'm working with the amazing Tea, shooting images for her company's (Sacré Coeur Jewellery and Adornments) website, and with Amelia Arsenic, for her new tshirt line!

Djing at Lolita in Wonderland II

For those of you in London, or who have the ability to get to London, tomorrow is the second Japanese Fashion Festival; Lolita in Wonderland 2: Lolita Through the Looking Glass. It is a day long event and club night dedicated to Japanese Fashion. 
I’m going to be djing in the evening, and being my first time doing so, I’d love some support in the form of dance! I’ll be playing a range of jpop, jrock, kpop, electro and more. 
Flyer including details are here, facebook event page here.

Braced

   A few weeks ago an Italian model, Shivabel, approached me with a handful of ideas, which I thought would fit in well with the aesthetics of my work.

The shoot itself was almost a complete disaster, as I had recently sold my old lights, and in an attempt to buy new ones, realised that they would not arrive till a few weeks time. Thankfully I managed to purchase some from Calumet in Euston. Unfortunately I underestimated how heavy they would be, and almost killed myself dragging them home. 

Bowens Gemini 400 set, not HUGE but definitely enough for my mini studio.

For the shoot Shivabel had made an amazing neck brace, embellished with gems. We styled it with lace and pastels for a surreal Victoriana look. We also worked with a great MUA Ezme Thomas, who used a subtle style with muted colours so as not to overpower the brace. The model has amazing, huge eyes that are just so right for this kind of idea. 

As always I love to hear feedback!

 

 

 

 

 We also took a few shots with Apatico's bonnet!

Literacy

I wish that there were more hours in the day (or that I could stay awake), so I could spend an hour or so reading, without having to worry about everything else! However, over the past few months I have managed to squeeze in a few brilliant books, that I'd like to share with you!

 

The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters by G.W. Dahlquist

In 2006, Penguin produced a novel, which, for £25, would be sent out to UK readers in 60 page instalments. Inspired by the serial novels of Dickens, it seems to me like a very unique way of publishing a book. A year later, the full novel was released and the instalments no longer available. It was this full novel that my boyfriend recently purchased for me to read. 

When reading the first few chapters I felt quite intrigued and fairly connected to the characters, but I must say that after some time, my attention waned. It felt like Steampunk-by-numbers; anachronism - check, silly names - check, airships - check, (I won't go over the synopsis, as you can read one here) which I can normally tolerate if there is something more to the story. Unfortunately it was this something more that I think the novel lacked. 

The layout of the book follows each of the three main character's separately, often covering the same sequence of events from each different viewpoint. In the novel form, this became tedious, and seemed better suited to a serial. To be honest, it was about 200 pages longer than it needed to be. Although the whole concept is based around conspiracy and mystery, the end geared up to be a complete flop - no shocking twist or revelation, just a lead up to the sequel. 

Despite my criticism, I can't say I didn't enjoy reading the Glass Books. Perhaps I just expected more, especially from the ending. Perhaps it is just overshadowed by stronger novels that I have read since. I think the book is worth reading if you require something that isn't particularly taxing, and is different enough to be of interest. I also must point out that the Victorian-esque advertisements at the back of the book make it worth reading; my only wish was that they were included within the book!

 

The Master and Magarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

(poster by Chris Conn Askew)

An allegory of good vs evil, set in Soviet Russia of the 1930s, this book will not be new to many as it is considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. This opinion, I can definitely agree with. 

The Master and Margarita effected me in ways that I cannot explain. Nor can I explain just why it is such a good book. It can be consumed on so many different levels, and because of this, I feel it requires countless re-reads. 

A Faustian-esque tale, it begins when the devil (calling himself Professor Woland/Voland) and his crew of bizarre characters (including a talking black cat, Behemoth) arrive in Moscow, chaos ensuing. Set in three parts, the novel covers the confrontation between Woland and the atheist head of the literacy food-chain, the story of Margarita and her undying love for a dejected writer (the master), and the realistic portrayal of Pontius Pilate's meeting with Yeshua Ha-Nozri and his subsequent crucifixion (told in the form of The Master's novel and Woland's first discussion). 

I would love to see this book made into a big budget film, if it were kept to the surreal and distinctly Russian atmosphere of the book. It does appear to have been made into a series of shows, which are available to view on youtube that may or may not be any good (although my brief view of it seems fairly promising, of not just amusing). 

My birthday!

On the 13th March I turned the (not so) grand age of 22! 

I actually ended up celebrating with friends a week beforehand, at the Boom Boom Club, which took place in the Bathhouse. It was great fun to see all my friends again, many of whom live some way out of London. I also had an amazing outfit custom made by Sample Remix! 

For my REAL birthday day my parents took myself and my boyfriend down to King's Road for lunch at The Bluebird, so tasty! We also ended up spending far too much money in a shop which seems to have everything we must have for our flat.... oh dear. I will try to take some proper photographs of how we have started decorating our flat with the various props, antiques and weird bits and pieces we own!

My boyfriend also had some beautiful flowers delivered for me (which came in a hat box), while he was at work on Saturday!

Vera Icon

   A few months ago, artist Vera Icon contacted me; she was about to visit London, and wanted to secure a paid shoot with me. Usually when I am contacted for paid work, it is from girls who have no strong or unique interests, let alone any developed ideas, therefore I was very glad when I realised just what concepts Vera was looking to work with. After hearing her ideas, we worked together to work out exactly what we wanted to do (which is an example of what I will do with all my paid shoots). 

A brief description of the shoot ideas from Vera:

The parallels and differences of 2 powerful women: Mother Mary and Queen Elizabeth. Both revered, but one bows to a higher power, while others bow to HER as the highest power.

The styling, hair and makeup was a joint effort, and all of the clothing (and some accessories) in the regal photographs are by Vivienne Westwood. As usual, all photography and retouching is by myself. 

Loveguts at Rankin

 I originally donned one of Rachel Loveguts' creations at her university, Central St. Martins, for a project compiled by John Galliano (!). The aim of the project was to find a new intern from the young designers, therefore they had to create and present their projects to some of Galliano's "people". Unfortunately Rachel's design didn't win, however she moved on to a different internship based in Paris, and I can see her work going far. 

A few weeks ago we headed over to Rankin's studio where studio manager Neil Dawson managed to squeeze us in between the neon-clad Russian model shooting for Elle. The studio was everything I imagined it to be, and although it was great to model there (and watching them use the Phase One and Capture One software), I could never see myself working in that kind of environment. The photos we got look fantastic though; although simple, they create the moody atmosphere that I think the outfit needs. 

  

A trip to the Opera

Not many people know this, but I have quite an interest in Opera. I don't claim to have much knowledge of such a broad subject, but I absolutely adore the stunning music, dramatic costume and vast scenery. Even better when surrounded by a decadent interior!

I am extremely lucky to have a romantic boyfriend, who, back in October, took me to see Niobe, Regina Di Tebe at the Royal Opera House! Not only did he manage to purchase some of the best seats in the house (a few rows back from the orchestra) but also booked us a tour of the Opera House, INCLUDING seeing the Royal Box AND the Royal toilet. If that wasn't enough, he bought me some adorable gold and black opera glasses (that I still need to use in a shoot). 

Prior to this, we had been to see Carmen (my favourite opera) at the O2, however the venue was definitely NOT right for opera - you can only really watch one in an interior specifically made for it. We had also watched various operas on blu-ray, including  Die Zauberflöte which made me fall in love with Simon Keenlyside as Papageno. Why? See 0.33 in the following video

 On Monday, as a joint birthday present, we visited the Royal Opera House again, this time to watch Die Zauberflöte and this time from some cheaper seats at the top of the house. I expected to have to strain to hear, but thanks to the shape of the building and the powerful lungs of the cast, I didn't have this problem. The cast were almost all different from those that we had seen before, including a different Papageno, whose bed vault just wasn't as impressive, haha! I enjoyed it so much, and the Queen of the Night's aria was even more mind-blowing live than I could have imagined. 

 

Sideshow: Alligator Girl

 

 

 An ongoing project I have been working on for the past year references common "characters" that one could see in the early American sideshows/circus (you can see the previous shots here  and here). I'm hoping to eventually include the whole set in a book, or at least as a set of prints.

This week, I present the alligator girl in all her glory!

 

There was only one model I could imagine using for this shoot; the striking Helene Atsuko. Many thanks also to Sammm Agnew for making her suitably scaly!

 

 You can read a little more about the REAL alligator-skinned marvels over here.

We also played around with a darker style!

Model Citizen: Creepy Queen Magazine cover shoo

 

 The new issue of Creepy Queen has finally arrived, and with it, the cover shoot I modelled in! It is so awesome to see something in print that we planned for so long, and worked so hard on - the shoot itself was almost a complete disaster thanks to dark evenings, but we managed to save it (and in my opinion, create something even better) with a change of location. 

 Shot by Nitemare Photography with clothing AND styling by Sample Remix and hat by Amore de Mori. It was actually shot in my flat, using many of the objects that Markabre and I have collected (our flat tends to look like this anyway!). The hair and makeup was by myself, which I'm quite pleased with!

I think the magazine is well-worth buying, if not only for our editorial (I feel that the magazine needs to focus on hiring some people to write articles etc, rather than just interviews) - Nitemare photography did a fantastic job with the layout. 

 

 


 

Behind the scenes shot taken by Sample Remix: