Bashfully Brilliant! - PAPERSELF

I am utterly in love with PAPERSELF. Not only do they make gorgeous paper lamp shade and home accessories, but they make these phenomenal lashes!

PAPERSELF eyelashes Made from paper, and inspired by Victorian lace at the Victoria and Albert Museum and other fabulous and whimsical things, from peacocks and horses to scorpions and peach blossoms too. 

They were the official eyelash of the the 2011 Ethical Fashion Show in Paris and #1 on my Wishlist this Christmas...Fantastic!

 

I ♥ Bill Cunningham, who doesn't?

On my wishlist: Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones. The book is a record of the collaboration between the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and Stephen Jones, the world's foremost hat designer. A related exhibit is taking place at the Bard Graduate Center (BGC) in New York City, from September 15, 2011 to April 15, 2012. Jones has curated an extraordinary collection of 250 hats that span the breath of the craft. How fabulous is that? And I imagine a valuable resource. 

Below, is the NYT Style columnist's Bill Cunningham's coverage of a preview of the exhibition. It is not only standard, but perfectly fitting that this man should cover such an event. He is not only the fashion eye of the New York Times, but an artist.

I have only recently come to know a little about Mr. Cunningham, but I am sure that I love him. I recently had the pleasure of watching Bill Cunningham New York. If you haven't already, you really should see it. You needn't be a lover of fashion, just a lover of love. The film is devoted to sharing the passion that Bill Cunningham has for fashion. Not to mention a very discerning eye, fearless determination for the shot and here it comes, a love of craft.

"I'm not interested in the celebrities with their free dresses. Look at the clothes, the cut, the new cut, the lines, the colors, that's everything. It's the clothes, not the celebrity, not the spectacle." - Bill Cunningham

Over 80 years old, never married, never in a relationship, Bill Cunningham has one muse, fashion. And he sees fashion as art. Some of it that is... Mr. Cunningham himself started out in the 1940s as a milliner. 

Young Bill Cunningham, milliner, at work under the name William J.

He told the NYT that he designed his first hat for his mother to wear to the World’s Fair of 1939. (She refused.) He continued working as a milliner under the name William J. — “I didn’t use my last name because my family was embarrassed,” he said — until the late 1950s. source

As for his hats, some pictured above, “I don’t think we sold many,” he said of more than one design. “Everything I did was a little too exotic — you know, for normal people.” source


What exactly is so great about normal people anyway?

Queer + Couture = Queerture

A picture tells a thousand words. It is true, so I will let the pictures do most of the talking. The Queerture fashion show was hard work for everyone involved but a joy and a community effort. It was hardest yet for Laura Luna, Creative Xicana, Queer Socialite, and Stylist. Tania Hammidi called Laura, the June Ambrose of the Queer world. Totally fitting. Luna worked for months to put the Femme Fashion portion of the Fashion show together and tapped her seemingly endless resources of AMAZING women and the results were captured by fabulous photographer Kat Helter below. Visit Kat's Portfolio here for more on Queerture!

   

 

                         

Sparrow Fox of Sparrow Beauty Artistry led a terrific team. Sparrow, Courtney and Jen were focused  & on their feet for something like 10 hours doing spectacular hair and makeup for the 18 looks that went down the runway! Clockwise: Courtney is rocking my SweetLeigh Frida headpiece (detailed below) as she prepares to braid Lizeth's hair; a lovely shot of the three stylists; Jen works on Coordinating Stylist, Laura Luna's hair; Sparrow is making Audrey pretty in pink; Courtney and Sparrow finish up with Lizanne and Karla's hair. 

Custom Frida Kahlo Headpiece by SweetLeigh

Custom Pink Sunburst Hat by SweetLeigh

These are the two headpieces by SweetLeigh made especially for the show, modeled by gorgeous Jennifer and lovely Lizeth . I got to feel useful while I soaked up the backstage highlights and did some light adjusting on Lizeth's skirt,  made by Mari of  Vaya Con Fashion. Mari makes cool skirts from Gguayabera shirts! Below Laura Luna wears a  Custom SweetLeigh dress she commissioned. It is refashioned and resized from a vintage ribbon lace dress. Isn't she gorgeous!?

Stylist Laura Luna leads the Femme team down the 
runway for the finale in a custom SweetLeigh dress.

 

  

Above are adorably fierce Anayvette and Krystal rocking their inner "Cholas". Lizanne beautifully channeling Earth mother. Natasha shining in her sari, trained in the Indian dance kathak, glided down the runway.  Luie struts in her fave coveralls she rocks to work at Killer Design & Stylin'. Lastly the finale was Lauren who seemed a natural throwback to circus life in the 40's. Fabulous! 

Juan, Ricardo or Danny? Not sure which one of the fab PA's is rocking the official team shirt in this pic! But I do know that the shirt was custom made and donated by graphic designer/model Natasha of She Said, She Said!

Every Femme look originated out of  a collaboration between Laura and each model. Fashion done with tremendous soul, pride joy and respect for individual style. Sadly all of the models and images won't fit in this blog, but lucky for us it is all on video darlings! It was a joy to meet and work with each and every person involved with Femme Fashion and Queerture! Read more about the other contributing groups/designers at Queerture on Facebook.

xo, Vanessa