Paris Post-It Wars

Reason no. 800 why Paris is so brilliant.  August has been dominated by offices out post-it-ing each other.  Full story at the Guardian, pictures from PostItWar.com.



My Little Pony Hair

BLEACH London, hair mecca for the undone hipster, has long been credited with the massive trend of grungey, washed out hair colour in interesting shades.

Hair in pastel colours has been around for ages, the My Little Pony Hair tumblr has a collection of some of the best examples.

Since Gaga went turquoise earlier this month, expect rainbow hair to spread from the sinks of hipsters and emos to the mainstream in a semi-big way soon.  

N.B. It's important to add that the grey outfit she's wearing in this picture is by recent Birmingham City University graduate Rebecca Short, who sent the dress to the popstar's stylist at this year's Graduate Fashion Week in London.  Well done Rebecca! 

Below is a tumblry style picture of my own barnet.  I've been growing my roots out since December so applied Directions semi permanent conditioning hair paint in Alpine Green to the previously bleached half of my hair.  It's a vibrant green at first but as it's semi-permanent, there is the added benefit of getting a slightly different shade after every wash.  This is 4 weeks worth of washing out. 



3's a Trend Tuesday: NON-BORING SNAKES

Rule 1 of trend forecasting: if you see something 3 times in different places/contexts within a small timeframe... it's a trend.  Today my eyes have been bombarded with snakes.  By bombarded, I mean thrice + a Twitter post someone had written about a cobra being nature's version of what happens when you chew your straw at one end. 

Apparently the Skoda ad is old but I only saw it today because it's running on channel 5.  The last time I saw 5 was er, when the Spice Girls launched it in 1997.  5 of course is the new home of Big Brother, where TV gold is being made with narrative such as:-

"It's been 34 minutes since one of the Jedwards gave Amy Childs a wedgie."  Amazing.

Anyway, we're not talking about boring snakes; they're being depicted as clever, dynamic animals rather than the one-dimensional "Oh look I'm a sexy clutch bag on the end of a bimbo" context we've all grown to associate with snakeskin. 

Snakes as the Skoda car engine from the Fabia 'Made of Meaner Stuff' advertising campaign.

Snakes in an excellent music video set in a cult church. Chapel Club - Surfacing.




An albino on a nail blog.  I thought about this for too long.

The Skoda ad reminded me of Iris Van Herpen's snake A/W 2012 Paris couture collection.  The designer previously interned at Alexander McQueen so those references are clear, but it's also got a touch of the Gareth Pugh's, should he ever venture into squiggles. 

Amongst my circle it is an unspoken understanding that clutchbags are for idiots who aren't planning on having any fun at all, zzzzz!  Fingers crossed, the prospect of a great big rucksack made of creepy, pipey, eel-y snakes over the pretty snakeskin clutch is infinitely more exciting.

P.S

If I'd read this I'd have ignored the snakes and been straight, "SHIT YEAH, I remember when Spice Girls launched 5; that wanky song with the circles" then straight to YouTube.   If you're half the loser I am, here it is to save you the bother, at least you're spared the humiliation of physically typing out your lowest point.  You might be surprised this time round to find that the orange mounds have giant nipples.  Enjoy!

- HW

A Collection of Warped Videos

Kong are playing a free gig at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch on Saturday. This reminded me how warped their 'Ribbons' video was.  And then I realised that all of the videos I'm overwatching at the minute are quite warped.

Kong - 'Ribbons'



Ben Wheele - 'The Tropical Cake Boutique'
Ben Wheele's 'Decoration' animation at the recent RCA graduate show was very, very, good. One to keep an eye on.



Tom Rubnitz - 'Pickle Surprise'
From the late 80's, the visuals and styling are - and I don't use this word sparingly - AMAZING. "Repeat my mantra... "Ha-mmm. Hammmmmmmm. Heeyum!"



God Damn - 'In Heaven'
Thrashy boys in Marie Antoinette wigs eating chicken - ticks a lot of boxes.  They've promised to let me help with styling on the next one which I already know will be incredible.



David Lynch - 'In Heaven' from Eraserhead
The original mutton-chopped lady in the radiator.  Do not watch before bed time.



- HW

A Tribute to The Honours of Scotland

As a tribute to the oldest crown jewels in the British Isles - The Honours of Scotland, Master blender  at the Chivas Brothers Brewery, Colin Scot has dug out their finest, oldest Whisky aged 45 years old.  The Chivas Brothers Brewery has teamed up with "the worlds oldest jewellers" Garrards' creative director Stephen Webster to create the bottle.  

Made from black porcelain, 413 black & white diamonds, 22 carat gemstones and crafted in gold and silver, this is as luxurious as it gets.  There are only 21 bottles avaliable - costing  $200,000 each.

I wonder how much they'll be worth a century down the line!

I wonder how potent it will be too!!

- MOE

HMS Flake 99: Ice Cream Boat

An amphibious ice cream van was spotted sailing down the Thames past Parliament.  'HMS Flake 99' was created to mark National Ice Cream Week and highlight how vans are being driven off the roads by soaring fuel costs and council red tape. 

The ice cream industry is in meltdown on dry land with the number of vans falling from 20,000 to just 5,000 over the past 50 years.  A growing number of councils ban vans from housing estates, parks and outside schools because of concerns about noise pollution and childhood obesity.  Ice cream firms are also being hit hard by the rising cost of the ingredients milk and sugar, and record petrol prices.

Read more

Found by LM

Boxpark Shoreditch 08/2011

Boxpark, the worlds first and only pop-up mall comes to Shoreditch in the heart of London's East August 2011.



BOXPARK 08/2011 from Roger Wade on Vimeo.

Found by LM