Shoegazer film: Black Swan

I've just seen the trailer for Black Swan and now can’t wait to see it. The costumes, the makeup and even the posters are perfect!

Many of the costumes in the film were created by Rodarte and just how stunning they look. But what first caught my attention was the striking black swan makeup seen on Natalie Portman here:

Check out the trailer (watch right to the end to see Natalie transform!) ...

Blurb:

“A psychological thriller set in the world of New York City ballet, Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as Nina, a featured dancer who finds herself locked in a web of competitive intrigue with a new rival at the company (Mila Kunis). Black Swan takes a thrilling and at times terrifying journey through the psyche of a young ballerina whose starring role as the duplicitous swan queen turns out to be a part for which she becomes frighteningly perfect.”

MAC Collection: Venomous Vilians

Time for another MAC collection and collaboration, this time with Disney. In stores around Halloween time in the UK (and right now in the US I believe), the Venomous Vilians collection celebrates some of the most notorious and iconic baddies from Disney films. Vilians who now can boast their own make up range include Sleeping Beauty's arch nemisis Maleficent, the stylin' Evil Queen from Snow White, Cruella De Vil and the most recent vilian, Dr Facilier (some dude from The Princess and the Frog).

Now, whilst all these are fabulous vilians (I can't comment on Dr Facilier as I haven't seen the film yet), my first hope when I heard of the collection was that there would be an Ursula range! For some reason she is my favourite Disney vilian and although she's not such a looker as, say, the Evil Queen, the scene where she pops open a little fish thing and uses it as a lipstick always bounces round my head whenever I apply a femme fatal shade of red. MAC, you missed a trick!

(I mean, come on - look at her bitchin' 80s make up!)

Anyway, I look forward to the collection hitting the shops and will be sure to pop by a MAC store for a peek at the products and their ~wicked~ packaging.

PS. Kudos to MAC for embracing Halloween! So few UK companies bother...

x-posted at Shoegazer : SkinDeep

Shoegazer's Friday Finds

.:*FASHION*:.

A bit of a wish list as I wouldn't say no to any of these items. Swoon with me...

Above: Flamingo dress from Mika Organic

Above: Berry Picker sundress from Anthropologie. Love it so much!

Above: I need this military/utility style throw on cardigan from Anthropologie in my life. Fact.

.:*HOMEWARE*:.

Above: Jeeves and Wooster light shades from Graham & Green

Above: Ceramic animal heads also from Graham & Green

Above: My dream bathroom - flamingo wallpaper and pink vintage tub.

.:*OTHER*:.

Above: My new favourite lip product from two of my favourite brands, Mac & Liberty of London. Not only is the colour of Frankly Fresh bang on trend by being a soft apricot colour, but the packaging is so sweet! The tube features a little bird with flowers, designed by Liberty of London and the box it comes in is definately a keeper (see more of the range and packaging here)

The Imaginarium...

I was looking forward to seeing The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, not to see the final performance of the late Heath Ledger as most seem to be, but because the trailer made the film look quite unlike any film that’s been released for years. I went to the cinema knowing nothing of the story but wanting to be drawn into the weird and wonderful world I had caught a fleeting glimpse of in the trailer.
I wasn’t disappointed. With my all time favourite films mainly consisting of things like Labyrinth, this film really struck a chord with me and was a real visual treat. And one of the things that stood out the most was the amazing set design.

After seeing the film I was digging out my photos from the Museum of Childhood because Doctor Parnassus’ rickety old travelling theatre reminded me of an antique toy theatre I’d seen there, fallen in love with and been inspired by for various ongoing projects. Here (below) is the image I took at the Museum... as you can sort-of see (unfortunately my photo doesn't show the multipul layers stretching back and featuring all the different set elements), it is quite similar to the fold-out theatre seen in the film (see the top image on this post):I decided to search online to see who the set designer for the film was, and what should I find but this quote from an interview with the film’s writer and director, Terry Gilliam:

Phil Stubbs of Dreams: Could you tell me a bit about the design of the Imaginarium wagon itself and what the influences were?
Terry Gilliam: It probably began with Pollock's Toy Theatres in London. I remember when I first came here there was a shop - and it still is here. They do these Victorian toy theatres, which are cardboard cut-out ones and they have always intrigued me. In fact for the first go at it, I went down to the Museum of Childhood here in London. I knew they had several old ones there, so I just took some photographs and fiddled with them in Photoshop.

Great minds think alike eh? Me and Gilliam, we've got a bond. Anyway, I’d urge you to go and see the film and enjoy it for yourselves. As for me, I'm left with a head whirling with inspiration again and am completely re-motivated for various projects that have been gathering dust of late.

Here are some detailed shots of the theatre from the film, by Steve J on Flickr - check out his photostream for more:

Also outstanding were the costumes and makeup in the film, I'll leave you with a couple more shots to whet your appetite:

Photos can and will of course be removed if they infringe copyright - please just leave me a comment. They are simply used here to share my enjoyment of the artistic elements of the film.

What's a girl to do?

Someone who constantly gets it right is Natasha Khan. I didn't get to Glastonbury this year, but just from watching the videos and looking at the images in the BBC gallery it seems she put on her usual brilliant show. And (sorry for such a girly outburst but...) omg I looooove her make up!

Natasha is someone who always seems to try new things with make up, such as with her look at the Brit Awards 2008 when she had a rainbow of colour bursting from her eye and dripping down her neck . . .

Love it. And it doesn't seem at all contrived, none of it, not the music, the fashion, the make up, the artwork... unlike some *cough*Lady Gaga*cough* current artists. Now I'm off to play with some Barry M . . .