Hello! And goodbye :( Unfortunately the time has rolled around where I need to dedicate my time 100% to packing and cleaning (it's been a very long road, getting ready to move to a new state)!
HOWEVER, I have some blog posts queued for here and on my tumblr - and you can always reach me on twitter or by email. So hopefully you won't miss me too~ much ^.~
Hugs and kisses!
Kailey
Hello hello! As you can see, I decided to make the top of my mermaid dress into a shirt, because I wanted more possibilities! Lately, all I have really been up to is packing whilst listening to The Human League. I keep getting distracted rediscovering some of my favorite things (stickers, books, etc) when I am *supposed* to be packing them and have started spamming my instagram with pictures!
SHIRT: D.I.Y. SKIRT: Goodwill BELT: Goodwill TIGHTS: Forever 21 SHOES: Years ago at Kohl's
What is on your to-do list for this summer? I have been compiling a list of what I want to accomplish and I'm getting very excited~ Even though it was disgustingly hot out today I had fun rollar-skating around the neighborhood!
♥,
Kailey
Re-imagining cartoon characters was one of my first ideas for Pistachio, and it definitely ended up being one of my favorite parts of the zine! I wanted to share some of the pictures I didn't include in the zine and explain a little bit on how I achieved these looks!
KIMBER FROM JEM
I wore the Jem pin Marlena made for me, made my eyebrows blue using eyeshadow, and tackled the unique eye make-up for Jem's little sister, Kimber.
HELLO KITTY
Since my freshly dyed, uber bright pink hair would clash with her color scheme, I wore a short black wig. I made the bow myself using Marlena's bow tutorial, and painted on whiskers and a button nose to emulate Hello Kitty!
JUDY JETSON
If you have ever wondered what it looks like when I smile with my teeth (I strongly dislike my smile so that's why it's so absent from this blog! >.>)~~~ I didn't use this picture because of how messy the ponytail looks and my handmade-out-of-felt collar's clasp broke and I didn't notice at the time! For the hair I used an old wire hanger and manipulated it until I got the right shape, and the bow is also one I handmade for the occasion. I went through a drive-thru like this and got quite a stare from the cashier!
To view the finished project, check out page 12 of Pistachio!
♥,
Kailey
Getting a package in the mail is one of my favorite things - especially when it's one from my penpal Marlena! Inside the colorful envelope was her fully illustrated coloring page tribute to Meadham Kirchhoff - Pastel Puke, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite possessions and just further proves that Marlena's skill transcends many different art mediums *_*
As if that wasn't enough, she also included a Barbie valentine circa the late 80s, two handmade pins (one of Siouxise Sioux GUH), stickers, AND Mary Quant socks - I WAS ON CLOUD 9 FOR THE REST OF THE DAY I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT ♡♡♡♡
Just today I also received ELLE Collections' S/S 2012 issue after a couple of months waiting for it to arrive! The colors and overall layout of this magazine is just absolutely beautiful. My favorite part? Definitely the collage that included a clipping of Prince from Purple Rain - SWOON.
Did you get anything interesting in the mail today? ^^
♥,
Kailey
After TWO MONTHS of hard work, stress, and frustration, I am very very proud to present
I hope you find it to be just as refreshing as the ice cream flavor of the same name, and don't forget to begin the playlist (see below) specifically intended to be the soundtrack to this zine!
Somehow, this zine became more and more ambitious as time went by, and this took up a H U G E chunk of my time, SO PRETTY PLEASE WITH CHERRIES ON TOP comment letting me know what you think! (=①ω①=)
THE ZINE
VISIT HERE!
THE PLAYLIST
"I like fashion when it’s a creative thing, and it’s about expression. when it’s about waking up in the morning and feeling a certain way, and putting clothes on that will support you as an individual."
I just noticed that I don't really have a feature specifically for musicians, so welcome to "Musical Chairs" in which I will be fangirling over various musical artists! Who better to kick of the series then Björk?
Have you ever realized you like an artist, but haven't actually listened to a full album of theirs? For me, it was disturbing to make this realization over Björk after going through my sister's iPod last week, and so I decided to fix this injustice by listening to her 2001 album, Vespertine - and haven't really listened to much else since? Watching her video for Pagan Poety, I was absolutely speechless - her performance was filled with such intense, raw emotion that by the end of the video, I was crying. AND THEN WATCHED IT AGAIN AND AGAIN AND CRIED SOME MORE ;_;
I really respond well to musicians who intertwine their music with a highly visual context, and I feel like Björk is the perfect example of the visual and musical going hand in hand in absolute harmony.
"The reason I do photographs is to help people understand my music, so it's very important that I am the same, emotionally, in the photographs as in the music.
Most people's eyes are much better developed than their ears. If they see a certain emotion in the photograph, then they'll understand the music. So instead of having to listen to my album ten times, they'll get it the first time."
She also comes across as being wholly original and fearless - who else recycles a Comme des Garçons dress from a photoshoot and wears it whilst strolling through the neighborhood, goes to balls with Jeremy Scott, wears a dress with Michael Jackson's face in sequins to the Golden Globes, and totes around owl bags?
I notice in popular culture, people are always poking fun at Björk, and it bothers me because I feel that if she was a man, she would be hailed for her genius much more freely. My first exposure to her was not her actual music, but mockery from the press for wearing something different to the Oscars. Björk definitely isn't for everybody, but there is a certain amount of skill and obvious effort that she puts into her work that I feel deserves respect.
REQUIRED LISTENING
Pagan Poetry (please note this video deals with explicit content and you must be over 18 to view this on Youtube)
Venus as a Boy
Isobel
It's Oh So Quiet
PICTURE SOURCES
Björkish, All Is Björk, & Björk.fr
♥, Kailey
Hello hello readers! I have to open by saying I'm so sorry my last post was over two weeks (!) ago, time has slipped away from me! I have been working on several other projects that I am really excited about - including my first zine! My first exposure to them was really Marlena - whose posts on zines (here & here) made me realize that making one wouldn't be impossible (which I thought it would be!) and now I am forever indebted to her :3
Above is a close-up of the cover for my in-process, as-yet-unnamed zine (which will be available as a pdf), and I couldn't be happier with it ;_; I am actually looking for contributors, so please shoot me an email at hellomermaidens@gmail.com for more information if you are interested (I definitely do not bite, so please send me your ideas)!
And finally, Mermaidens has a new layout! I had my previous one for over 6 months, and it was definitely time for a change - what do you think?
Regular posts will resume soon!
♥, Kailey
Do you ever discover a blog and just fall head over heels in love with it? That was exactly how I felt upon visiting Arabelle's Fashion Pirate for the first time! Here was a person who was not only blogging about beauty and clothing through her own individual perspective, but also was tackling subjects not usually talked about in the blogging community - and all the while being incredibly articulate.
Much to my surprise, Arabelle agreed to be the next blogger interviewed for this feature, and I got to ask her about make-up, film, and the future.
Where do you hope to see yourself in five years?
Describe the average day in your life.
Can you remember what the first makeup product you completely fell in love with was?
Let's say your a superhero - what are your powers, and more importantly, what does your costume look like?
Hopefully I'll be working in beauty at a magazine, and doing something regarding women's rights as well. Honestly I have so many interests right now that I'm juggling I'd be happy to do any of them.
I'm boring as hell most days, I fluctuate between never leaving my room/computer and never being in my room/running around screaming, and rarely like, just hang out with my friends. They yell at me sometimes about it and have to drag me to be social. I wake up (late), fall asleep standing in front of my closet and wake up leaning over drooling on one of my dresses, pick that one to wear because why not, and go to class. Then I watch a movie 'cause I'm doing a 365 film challenge that I've fallen behind on because of fashion week and general madness. In class and between them I answer emails, tweets, schedule photo or video shoots for Rookie or powder doom or whatever and do my social media internship with a company that hasn't launched publicly yet. On week days I'm really boring and just go to class and be narcissistic and outfit blog or stuff. I get everything done on weekends when I can go back home / into the city and visit showrooms and designers and whatever and do fashion stuff.
I was way into this shimmery blue lipstick from Hot Topic in middle school. I thought I was hot shit when I put it on, and used to smell it a lot because it smelled like vanilla. Wish I still had it, it'd probably look dope with my hair. Also I could probably pull it off way better now.
The power to convince anyone to do anything I want. I wouldn't be a very good hero, I think. Maybe an anti-hero. I'm way too much of a sociopath to be a proper good girl, I know this already. But ummm... I'd wear a costume designed by Yohji. He's dabbled in movie costume design before so I'm sure it'd be rad.
I love reading your thoughts on movies - are there any in particular that have inspired your style?
Not really, no. I like movies more for the feelings than for the visual effect in a lot of cases. My favorite films re: style would be maybe The Fall (SO BEAUTIFUL I WANT TO CLAW MY EYES OUT) and Top Hat. My personal style is very much a uniform as of late and isn't influenced by music or movies or what have you -- more by... Wednesday Addams. I guess The Addams Family would be my major filmspiration if you were to pick one. I just want something to feel safe and dangerous in at the same time, which is why I wear what I wear. It gives me that feeling. I guess it's no surprise Thrillers are my favorite movies. I can be a voyeur and safe as the viewer but still be totally caught up in the danger of a good plot.
If you had a dinner party and could invite any five people, living or dead, who would they be?
Rei, Audre Lorde, Luce Irigaray, John Waters, G-Dragon.
You are one of my favorite voices in the blogosphere - do you ever have difficulty expressing how you feel in writing?
I think the hardest part is just pressing publish. If I've written it down already, it means it's been in my head for awhile. I'm in my own head a lot, I am my own best friend and enemy for this, but it makes me a prolific writer when I get off my ass. I've never had a problem saying what I mean -- I used to get chastised by people for not shutting up or not thinking before I speak. But I can't help being truthful. I don't want to help it. I like to be liked by people on the internet, but I also don't seek anyone's approval for what I say. I just need to say it. It's a need. I need to say these things. I think if I didn't write or vlog or whatever I'd probably just sit consumed in my own thoughts to a point where I would go mental and start gnawing on peoples spinal cords.
If you had to choose, would you rather live without lipstick or eyeliner for the rest of your life?
Eyeliner. I feel naked without at least 2 lip products in my bag. I would cry if I could never do a cat eye again but lipstick makes me happy. I remember in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Hepburn would always apply lipstick to arm herself against the world and bad news. I do the same thing. When I'm stressed out you have to pry my chapstick or lipstick from my manicured talons.
Want more? Visit Arabelle at these links!
Fashion Pirate
Powder Doom
Rookie
Last month I finally watched ERASERHEAD for the first time, and was inspired to do my nails based on some of David Lynch's most iconic imagery.
Thinking of David Lynch, immediately red, black, and white come to mind - all of his work has a very distinct aesthetic to it (something I absolutely love), from the rich blues and reds in BLUE VELVET to the stark and crisp black and white Eraserhead was filmed in.
For the TWIN PEAKS inspired design on my index finger, I turned to "The Red Room" for inspiration - I painted the nail white, cut tape into thin strips, arranged them in a zig zag pattern, and painted over the tape with black polish.
On the middle finger, I painted the nail a blue color that resembled sky, cut more thin strips of tape, arranged them like so, and painted white over the nail. After this new coat had dried, I used a toothpick to carefully drop three small dots to suggest roses. My inspiration for this was the infamous opening scene of Blue Velvet.
I painted my ring finger white, cut tape into rectangles, arranged them into a checkerboard pattern, and painted over the nail with black polish to suggest the floor design in the dream(?) sequence in Eraserhead.
And finally, I painted my pinky and thumb nails a simple red to evoke all the blood that is spilt in his work! For a rough example of how I assembled the tape to achieve this design, click here!
If you want to do this yourself and have any questions, feel free to comment, email, or tweet me them to me!
What color are your nails right now?
♥, Kailey
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When I was a child, my favorite thing in the world was to visit the Disney Store! Does anybody remember the animatronics that used to decorate the ceiling? I LOVED those! And, of course, I would always gaze wistfully at the merchandise - especially princess dresses.
I had a Cinderella dress when I was about 8 and I was OBSESSED with it, and haven't had the heart to get rid of it. The other day when going through my old clothes, I found it again and while holding it up to myself, I decided to (try) and make a new dress that would fit me again.
That night I cut off the top and skirt puff (I'm unsure of what to call it haha!), and sewed the skirt puffs together to make half of a top. Not having much material to work with, I cut up an old white shirt in half and sewed the two halves together. The next day I glued sea shells on the front and let the glue dry overnight. Finally, I sewed the new top to the skirt and was done!
This was the first time I have ever tried to reconstruct a garment out of an old one (or even really sewed a piece of clothing), so I made just about every single rookie mistake (sewing up the armholes for one X_X) and not perfect, but I am so pleased with how it turned out!
Have you ever done a D.I.Y. project like this before? ^^
♥, Kailey
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Personally, I have always LOVED Valentine's Day! I take this holiday as an opportunity to give my loved ones Valentines and show them how much I appreciate them (I firmly believe that this holiday shouldn't be ~exclusive~ for couples!) and eat wayyy too much discount chocolate on the 15th. I thought it might be fun to share with you how I make these valentines, and hopefully inspire a few of you to make some as well!
You Will Need
1. Multicolored cardstock/construction paper (and lots of it! Use any colors you would like, but be sure to have white on hand!)
2. Glue
3. Scissors
4. Fiskars Paper Edgers (optional)
5. Sequins and rhinestones
6. Magazine clippings of your favorite people/things (optional)
Begin by cutting out heart shapes - don't worry about making them perfect!
Glue this heart onto white paper, and using Fiskars Paper Edgers, cut around the heart. This will give the paper a white patterned edge (if you do not have any of these scissors, you can hand cut scallops out, but this will be more time consuming).
Now, line the colored heart with glue, and place sequins around the entire valentine.
(This might take a while)
Once you are finished, we have these beautiful bases! You can decorate these any way you want - I have a few examples of what I did below!
For the valentines on the left and middle, I cut out magazine clippings of Edward Scissorhands and Saved by the Bell and used sequins to add some ~pizazz. For the valentine on the right, I sketched out Siouxsie Sioux and then cut out the shape of her hair, eyebrows, eyes, and the mouth with paper.
For this pink one, I simply glued rhinestones onto the heart. Instant pretty!
And lastly, I made this card by cutting out the shapes and assembling them into the image of Batman and Superman. As a particularly fitting finishing touch, I added this mushy line: "You're My Kryptonite".
And there you have it! Pretty please let me know if you use this tutorial to make your own (I'd absolutely love to see them), and if you have any questions feel free to leave me an email or a comment!
♥, Kailey
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Whilst
I am not usually a fan of Jean-Luc
Godard's movies, I can't help but be
charmed by this one! Anna Karina
is undeniably adorable, and I really
love Jean-Paul Belmondo's performance
as Karina and Jean-Claude Brialy's
friend - not to mention the adorable
50s musicals nod!
The other day I
decided it would be fun to do my
make-up in a loosely based take on Angela's signature look in the movie.
I pinned the sides of my hair up, put on some bright blue eyeshadow (I used Make Up For Ever's Flash Color Pot no 20), applied black eyeliner in a cat eye style, and wore a red cardigan.
What movies to you turn to for beauty inspiration? And, as a side note, Happy New Year everybody! I hope you have an incredible 2012. ^^
