Posts from — October 2009

This is the name of one of my favourite collections by Agent
Provocateur which was clearly inspired by The Odyssey of
Homer and mermaids…

The call of these Sirens is too powerful to resist. Amongst
scenes of chaos and mayhem they appear to reign over
the mist in their vibrant colours, like sultry and beautiful
images from our naughtiest dreams…

The theme was so powerful that it also featured in their
swimwear collection…

I love everything about this shot:

It reminds me of one of my favourite paintings: ‘Ophelia’ a
character from Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, painted in 1851
by Sir John Everett Millais. Isn’t it similar?

Want to see more? bet you do! Here is the video:

‘Give a man a fish and you will feed him for a day. Teach a
man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime’…

Chloe’s gorgeous scalloped peep toe sandals:

Aren’t these hilarious?

I love, love, love these dreamy scalloped dresses by
my beloved Christopher Kane:

And this amazing scalloped ring with a pearl:

And the gorgeous Giuseppe Zanotti fish sandals that Samantha
wore naked and covered in sushi, in Sex and The City the
movie:

Under the sea
Under the sea
Darling is better
Down, where is wetter
Under the sea…

Tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu-tu

Haha! I love da lyrics!

XO
Nona

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Guess who is still totally obsessed with the circus… yep,
so much so that last week – straight after the fabulous
Cirkus Cirkor show – I bought a little “circus set”, which
includes:

Irya’s Playground CD:

and… a HULA HOOP! from Decathlon:

Oooh! I had forgotten how to swing my hips this way,
but after a few tries I’ve got my wiggle back again and
I have to admit, it is GREAT FUN!

So, here are some fabulous circus inspired shots,
a little poem which I wrote called CIRCUS and a few quotes
by the greatest Charlie Chaplin.

Enjoy!

CIRCUS

The lights go off
I know that the show is about to start
You are in character
I am in character
So close
Yet so far

I know that your smile is only in the surface
I know that like me, you fear saying good bye
You fear that this will be the last time
So do I.

But that is the way it has to be
You are there
I am here
But for tonight
I am going to sit back and enjoy the show

I will be yours
Until tomorrow
I will take one more night of your life
Just so that I can go on…

Until tomorrow.

“Failure is unimportant. It takes courage to make a fool of yourself.” – Charlie Chaplin.

“To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain, and play with it!” – Charlie Chaplin.

“That is why, no matter how desperate the predicament is, I am always very much in earnest about clutching my cane, straightening my derby hat and fixing my tie, even though I have just landed on my head.” – Charlie Chaplin.

The song of the day was also written by Chaplin:

XO
Nona

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I do. Especially after my fabulous night at the Peacock Theatre
last Friday. I went to check out a show called “CIRKUS CIRKOR:
Inside Out” and truly, I was not prepared to be blown away that
way. It was absolutely magical!

Already intrigued by the sombre character descriptions and the
whole macabre feel to it, I decided to find out what this Swedish
circus of oddballs was all about.

There was no official curtain lifting. The stage was already open
and a repetitive circus type tune was constantly playing in the
background. The props in the stage looked quite not so technically
sophisticated, creative but yet a bit humble in a way.

A couple of large canvases with painted signs that read: “No phones”
and “No cameras” were passed around the crowd, hand by hand as if
they were balloons and the white clown – who stole my heart – was
running around, interacting with the public, who were rather slow to
take their seats.

Finally the show begins with a man who is picked from the audience
and is asked to seat on a static bicycle and pedal non-stop to light
up the stage. On the right hand side of the stage there is a live rock
band featuring Irya Gmeyner, a fantastic singer who wears a fabulous
vintage dress in the style of Jessica Rabbit and then changes to a
mini sequined one, keeping her crown of coloured feathers on.

The music is amazing and it constantly plays as the act unfolds,
adding to the whole experience. With their incredible mix of live
rock music, acrobatics and story telling, you feel that all of your
senses are tickled: your eyes, your ears, your emotions but most
importantly… your heart.

The show consists of 7 multi skilled circus artists from which
“The white clown” – as call him – (Fredrik Deijfen) is my favourite!
He wears a stunning, totally white outfit, top hat included and
his static white hair reminds me a bit of Johnny Depp in Edward
Scissor Hands. He is incredibly agile and bouncy and extremely
charming, alluring and sexy! I only knew of the existence of funny
clowns, evil and scary clowns or sad ones, but never had I come
across such a cool and sexy and in a way romantic clown. And
the same goes for the circus. It was surreal… it was about love.

The artists play their tricks around a whole story which shows
different scenes, they all involve a heart, but not a cheesy-cupid
heart but a human heart, with all arteries and veins and the pain
that it causes when it is broken or when it stops working.

The show makes you question yourself, is it really this physical
organ which determines whether I am “alive” or “dead”?
Beautiful parodies of how weighty our heart can become when
we have to drag it around on our own, how over-protective of
it we can become sometimes, not allowing anyone in after having
been hurt and the joy that comes with being able to learn to
trust someone blindly again, to loose our fears and just jump up
with open arms.

This clip sums up one of my favourite moments, when the band
plays the song “My angel” as one of the guys spins in circles inside
a hoop with the same intensity of the singers voice and the drums…
A memory I shall keep for years to come. For those of you who ever
thought of running away with the circus, this is definitely the one
to run away with…

A run of 58 shows will be performed in a total of eight cities,
including Moscow, London and New York and will continue
touring throughout 2010, so if it’s near you don’t miss it!!

— You may be good at jumping from heights and exposing yourself to extreme physical dangers, but still be afraid of saying “I love you”. To circus artists, taking risks is an everyday matter. Physically when throwing themselves into the open air, or hanging ten meters above the ground suspended by only by one hand in another person’s hand. Watching someone performing a feat that requires absolute presence of mind is like seeing someone truly being themselves. In these situations you cannot pretend – says Tilde Björfors, director and founder of Cirkus Cirkör.

I loved when they performed the song “Yours until tomorrow”
as the acrobats did their piruettes up in the air… it was simply
… magical. You can listen to it here

Here is the song of the day, also by IRYA’S PLAYGROUND:

Links:
http://www.cirkor.se/
http://www.myspace.com/iryasplayground
http://www.sadlerswells.com/
http://cirkor.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/414/

XO
Nona

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I don’t mind bugs really, as long as they don’t bug me!
Now if we are talking about ‘Aiders’ that’s a completely different
matter! (I can’t even pronounce their name, because even that
freaks me out, so I just call them Aiders. Don’t ask.

I developed my fear of ‘aiders’ at the age of 4, when a horrible
huge one bit my tiny lil’ knee, instantly followed by the gardener
sucking on it desperately to extract the venom out of me, as
soon as he realized that I had been bitten. Miu! not nice.

Ever since, I am scared shitless of any aiders, of any size,
shape or color, even the tiny skinny ones! In my mind they
are all evil-knee-biting-fuckers-from hell that are coming to
get cha!

So, over the years I have tried curing my ‘aiderphobia’ on
plenty of occassions with various techniques ranging from:
Psychologists, cognitive behavioural therapy, etc to trying
to become comfortable and “familiar” with my fear by getting
a pair of darn ugly “aider slippers” with legs and all… sort of
like these ones here…

…but uglier, black and with legs on the sides and a funny looking
face and smile, so as to make them seem friendly. Didn’t work…
I wore them for a while but that didn’t help the fact that I would
still run a mile – in them – if I came near the real wretched things.

Another attempt was the “exposure to the fear technique” which
I read in a book about how to cure aider-phobias.

This involved going to the zoo and timing myself in front of alive ‘aiders’
-can you imagine poor ole me- and confront the feelings of fear for as
long as I could… erm…. lets just say that I ended up discovered my ability
to run 3 miles in a fraction of a second.

My last attempt was “the association technique”, which involved imagining
them as beautiful and precious things… Hmmm, tricky!!! No matter how pink
and soft and fluffy and covered in diamons and chocolate I imagined them,
they were still- in my mind- fucking ‘aiders’! and I wouldn’t touch them even
if you paid me!!! Never in a million years!!!

So I resigned myself to the fact that that’s just me! I hate ‘aiders’ and I hate
‘aiders’ and I am fucking scared of ‘em. Full stop. And I shouldn’t have to spend
my time reading stupid books about them, watch films with them in or worse,
wear ridiculous slippers just to overcome my fear of them.

Talking about ‘aiders’ and ridiculous shoes, these here, are bloody horrendous aider shoes, seriously!!! Surely the Animal rights lot should be after the makers of such horrible shoes, instead of pestering the fabulous fur wearers.(Not that I care one bit about the aiders inside, it’s simply because these shoes are a fashion crime)

Another obsession of mine are ants. Just like Dali, I have always been fascinated
by ants. They remind me of home. Ants are a recurrent theme in Dali’s paintings.
They apparently symbolize death, decay, and immense sexual desire.

This is one of my favourite Dali paintings: “The persistence of Memory”.

The Persistence of Memory by Salvador Dali

I remember spending hours just watching ants walk in a line, carrying little leaves
on their tiny backs. I would follow them to their hole in the ground thinking ha! that
leave is so not going to fit in there but they always managed! Clever little bugs.

Then I went through the phase of keeping a clear Nescafe jar filled with sand
and ants inside my room and would spend hours watching them build little tunnels
inside the jar where they would walk around through, it was fascinating! That
was all until Dad discovered them and said that it was a little cruel to keep them
in a jar, so I released them.

Another fabulous memory of bugs from my childhood are fireflies. I remember
looking forward to when the sun went down, as dusk took over the sky and
millions of little multicolour lights filled up the nights with their magic.

I would run topless trying to catch as many as I could with my t-shirt to then
release them inside my bedroom, watching them glow in the dark as I slowly fell
asleep, awaken by the noise that my mom made with her broom in the morning
as she swept them up off the floor and wondered where all these bugs were
coming in from.

Again, Dad said that it was cruel to do that to them too, as they only lived a week
or so, so he got me some sticky flourecent stars to stick on the walls of my bedroom
instead, but they weren’t quite the same as the fantastic fireflies.

The rules over what I was actually allowed to do to bugs and what not, got
tougher and tougher. I was allowed to watch up close and grab– carefully –
the stunning light-blue dragon flies that came to sniff the bubble gum pink eggs
that must have been of either toads or fishes, that were left stuck in the rocks
that surrounded the fish pond, only with the condition of releasing them, unharmed.

Under no circumstances were they allowed to be kept in my bedroom, regardless
as to whether I took the bubblegum pink eggs with me as well or not. That simply
was not allowed. In fact, no animals were allowed in my bedroom, not even the
occasional bird or bat that I would find injured laying in the ground. Totally unfair!

The only bugs that I was actually allowed to crush, smash, collect, glue to paper,
make crafts with, stick on clothes and hats, sit on top of, etc were this little fellas:

Dried skins of cigales, who after growing their wings they would swifltly exit
their previous bodies leaving behind their empty shells, like little souvenir armours
of their past lives. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G things!

I always wondered how come – just like shoes – they came all in different sizes,
from tiny ones to huge ones. I wondered what made them leave their bodies at
different times… I still wonder.

They were so delicate, if you weren’t careful enough you could easily squash them,
and they would end up like dust in the palms of your hands. Their nails however
remained very sharp, serving as tiny hooks which kept them hanged onto the trees
with their backs open, like little empty costumes sewed up by mother nature.
I love these bugs to bits.

So, after all that bug-loving, it wasn’t until I came across this beautiful pic
of an insectarium that I got totally obsessed with bugs in fashion:

I just imagine them in a white dress in the style of a Vivienne Westwood Sunday
dress, but with the bugs printed all over it… or in pannels… how lovely would that
be! I am useless at sewing though… Vivienne, would you mind giving me a little
hand with that???

Now here are some fab bug inspired fashion looks:

And here some more of those bugtastic comparisons… aren’t they delightful?!

Nature is no doubt the best fashion designer and make up artist ever!

The song of the day was ment to be “You bug me bad” by the lovely
Wanda Jackson but I couldn’t find the vid so here is another favourite
of hers instead…

xoxo
Nonita

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Ever since stumbling upon a fabulous fashion shoot of a
girl wearing vintage clothes sittting on a bunch of hay
inside a stable in a country house, surrounded by drums
and all sorts of musical instruments I thought: I know
exactly what I want to be when I grow up… a country
girl… Hell yeah!!!

Primal Scream – Country Girl Riped By DjDidac

CaBa^|MySpace Videos

So I dream of the day when I will pack my Hunter wellies,
Barbour jacket and jump in my Land Rover with my drums
packed at the back ready to be set up in the stables,
where I will be able to make as much noise as I want

Breed horses, run a fashion-art museum, in a listed Country House… and write from my kitchen table overlooking the beautiful scenery
of the country, whilst sipping a whiskey or a champagne flute
for breakfast, as I get ready for my first guests to arrive…
Ooooh I wonder what I will be wearing today….hmmmm….
let’s just borrow something from the museum and let the
fun begin!!!!

Every visitor would be allowed to wear the outfit of their
choice from the fashion museum’s archive and will have
the chance to ride a horse in the fields wearing some fabulous
period clothes, sing and play instruments in the stable-farm-bar-,
have a stylish photoshoot done inside the farm and prepare
their fave cocktail for all of us to drink. All that followed by a
bit of line dancing at the tune of…

And of course! after riding the bull in some Agent Provocateur
lingerie a la Kiley Minogue… (you would get a video souvenir
of your ride to inmortalize the moment).

Haha!

Here are some of my fave country shots for inspiration…

So… would you come?

I love this painting of a country scene, it is just beautiful, it’s quite
large and hangs in my bedroom, is like a window. I like to imagine
that I am the woman feeding the horse through the door, with the
dog on her lap and a busy table surrounded by 7 little nightmares,
all dressed like the folks in “The little house on the prairie”.

Aaah! the simple life… I love this clip is my favourite ever,
I particularly love the end.

Everyone seems quite surprised when they find out
that inside this London loving fashionista’s heart,
lives a true country girl… pigtails and all.

Now, here are the two songs of the day, brought to
you by two fabulous country ladies…

The superb Dolly Parton:

And lovely Lilly Allen with my fave song of hers
(so funny!):

XO
Nona

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That is exactly what I thought after spending Friday evening
with no other than the fabulous Nick Knight and nope, I am
not referring to the English cricketer but to one of the world’s
most influential fashion photographers.

Ever since publishing his book Skinheads in 1982, Nick Night
has produced some of the most iconic fashion images of our
time and his work is constantly aiming towards revolutionizing
the way in which we look at fashion.

Here are some of my favourite shots:

A haunting image of Emma Watson, I so love that outfit!

Fashion brakes the last taboo in this collaboration with Alexander
McQueen and Jefferson Hack, were Nick Knight illustrates the pages
of style magazine Dazed and Confused with images of people with disabilities, looking beautiful and powerful in designer clothes.

This is one of his early works, from the catalogue produced for
Yohji Yamamoto. Very futuristic for 1986!

Another beautiful portrait of Emma.

Showstudio: Fashion Revolution is his exhibition which is currently on show at one of my favourite London landmarks, Somerset House.

The Exhibition showcases the work of the sartorial photographer
in a series of creative collaborations which have resulted in the
most unconventional ways of looking at fashion.

Suddenly you are faced with a gigantic triple sculpture of Naomi
Campbell, were you can draw and paint on digitally, pieces of glass
with lipstick kisses of the worlds favourite fashion divas, videos,
and telephones with messages left from the most famous models
reporting live from Fashion weeks around the world.

Clothes designed using downloads of designers own cutting patterns,
a booth where you can call and speak to a model and even a self
casting booth, were you stand in front of a video camera, press the
green button and leave a live recorded application to feature in his
next project.

Showstudio.com is Nick’s most personal project, a website created back in 2000 which aims to transport the world of luxury fashion
image making, from 2D to 3D, through the production of different
interactive media such as: videos, digital sculptures, phone calls,
live messages, live chat, live photoshoots, interactive interviews, etc.

The highlight of the show for me was the fact that, for only
that special evening, you were given the chance to watch
the man himself at work, in a live photography session! It
was incredible to be able to stand 2 metres away from Nick
and his team and watch them work. (Sorry about the quality
of the pictures but with the excitement I forgot my SLR’s
memory card – duh!- so little Blackberry had to do the job…)

In this project for Gareth Pugh, an almost apocalyptic image
of a futuristic-warrior-like woman, models – via video – his entire
A/W collection at Fashion week, replacing the conventional
models in the catwalk… could this be the future of the catwalk?

The silent poster image of Kate Moss becomes history
after this video of Kate reciting a poem.

With a scientist background, his interest in new technologies and
his vast experience of years working with fashion, Nick is one of
the most creative and fascinating artists. In this video he explains
the thoughts behind his work and where his inspiration comes from…

We hear that Nick has turned down his contract with VOGUE
to be able to dedicate more time to his website-turned-digital
laboratory Showstudio which seems to already be changing the way in which we look, not only at fashion but also at Art, Design and Filmaking.

Showstudio also has an online shop where you can purchase
some of the most incredible art pieces, commissioned by Nick
to be used as props in some of his most famous photoshoots.

Now, if I was indecently rich, I’d love to splash my hard earned
cash in these babies:

Forget Playboy bunny ears, these are the ones to wear!

Bunny Ears
Shona Heath, 2009
Oversized rabbit ears created for
a March 2009 portrait of Lanvin
Designer Alber Elbaz for The New Yorker, photographed by Tim Walker.
Rabbit fur, synthetic fur, calico fabric, painted plastic, wood
56 x 40 x 55cm
£ 1,000

Nothing says millionairess more than… well yeah! a huge,
lit up, dollar sign… I’ll have one please!

$Nick Knight, 2003
Created for April 2003
W magazine editorial
and SHOWstudio.com SHOOT feature.
Designed and photographed
by Nick Knight.
Painted wood, 178 25W bayonet lightbulbs, 5 British Standard 1363 domestic
AC power plugs.
207 x 151 x 10cm
£ 7,500 SOLD

Now this is one cool flag if not, ask John Galliano:

Union JackJohn Galliano, 2001
Created by John Galliano
for July 2001 portrait
photographed by Nick Knight.
Cotton.
90 x 178cm

£ 25,000

Now this is my idea of adult toys. Isn’t that poodle
a-do-ra-ble?!? (I never thought I’d say that about a poodle!)…

PoodleShona Heath, 2008
Poodle marionette
created for April 2008 editorial
for British Vogue,
photographed by Tim Walker.
Fake fur, felt,
cotton and silk fabric,
painted plastic, nylon cord,
hessian rope and wood.
100 x 60 x 130cm

£ 6,000 SOLD

Oh! I love, love, love this soldier’s suit!!!!

SoldierShona Heath, 2008
Life-sized Toy Soldier uniform
created for April 2008
editorial for British Vogue,
photographed by Tim Walker.
Wool felt, painted plastic buttons.
174 x 115cm

£ 5,000

This is what dreams are made of…

‘Soldier, soldier, won’t you marry me?’
British Vogue, April 2008
Photograph: Tim Walker
Model: Karen Elson

And finally this is my little ‘SMV Rocks’ artwork, painted over
Naomi Campbell, featured in the exhibition at Somerset House.

“To try and see life through other people’s eyes I think it’s the most interesting thing we can do…” – Nick Knight.

Hope you enjoyed the show! Here is today’s song…

XO
Nona

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