Make Fairytales Come True - Viona Art

Some people are just so talented, their creativity seems to flow like a monsoon. The lady behind Viona Art is such a person. She makes all the costumes, is a great photographer and does the whole design, make-up and styling for her productions. And her work is absolutely stunning.
Somewhere in between Gothic, Steampunk and historical expression is the mind-blowing world of this skilled Belgian lady.

Adorned Skin

I like tattoos... though there are so many horrible, cheap and mediocre tattoos, lots of people who don't understand the eternal aspect of this art, the deeper meaning of pain, stigmatizing and finding your individual/personal piece of art for your own skin. I guess every person gets the tattoo that he or she deserves. And some are amazing! Picture by Kishin Shinoyama

I don't remember were I found the picture of this Maori. I love his facial tattoo, the clear symmetrical lines, how it adorns the face in a beautiful and bold way.

I found this unusual tattoo long time ago somewhere on flickr. I like the lightness, the colors and the calligraphic style

Fashion-photography by Steven Meisel for Vogue Italia 2007, found on flickr.

By Jaimei Ibarra

I think white tattoos look amazing. Though it seems to be difficult to make, because the colors often don't really last, and often cause allergic reactions.

Fabulous Rossy De Palma

Wonderful, fabulous Rossy de Palma. A Spanish actress well known through a lot of Almodovar-films, here photographed by Ruven Afanador.

How To Put On A Great Show

Yes indeed, if somebody knows how to put on a great show, it's Rachel Freire. She is a London based designer who floats in between costume-design and fashion. This is her A/W09 collection. Sexy and feminine with lots of interesting details like the collar-suspenders on the picture above, or the cage-garters beneath. I looove her stuff!

Black Warriors

Wow! These pieces remind me of something inbetween Japanese samurais and Mad Max. Love the clear silhouette and the armor-pieces, the strength and severity. Eva Nyiri is a young designer from Hungary and this is her graduate collection. I need to watch out for more stuff from her.

Willy Ronis - Remember Paris

Willy Ronis died recently at the age of 99. He is in a line with photographers like Robert Doisneau, Brassai or Henrie Cartier-Bresson who photographed the streets of Paris: everyday-scenes, workers, children and lovers. Photographers who in black and white caught moments of a warm and touching beauty, sometimes with mischief, sometimes with melancholy.

Read more here.

Silhouettes

Wonderful pictures by Richard Burbridge for Vogue Italia 2007.

Autumn is coming... and with it more dark drama, the copious use of fabric to wrap yourself in, more accessories like gloves, hats, scarfs... yes I'm trying to think positive about the cold air slowly taking over ;).

Post-Apocalyptic Visions By Rodarte

This is the S/S 2010 collection by Rodarte. Shadowy layering, ripped and tattered drapery, lots of black and muted colors and ornamental woven pieces of lace and net. Feathers, sequins, patches and ribbons meander over the dresses.

Dark tattered warriors with huge tribal body-paintings.
Here is something for all those DIY-fans: knit, wove, braid and drape. Let the materials blend in and out of each other.

Big Time Sensuality

This one goes out to a freaky funky queen named Bjork. I admirer how she cuts her own path. She doesn't care if her music is "selling", or what people think about her style, or if she treats the media right. She appears as a person who has a strong need to follow her dreams, to let creativity flow and grow. I love her strong and fiery energy, how she gives off so much lust for life and art.

BIG TIME SENSUALITY

I can sense it

something important

is about to happen

it's coming up

It takes courage to enjoy it

the hardcore & the gentle

BIG TIME SENSUALITY

We just met

and I know I'm a bit too intimate

but something huge is coming up

and we're both included

It takes courage to enjoy it

the hardcore & the gentle

BIG TIME SENSUALITY

I don't know my future after this weekend-

and I don't want to!

It takes courage to enjoy it

the hardcore & the gentle

BIG TIME SENSUALITY

SONG INFO
"I've got a lot of courage, but I've also got a lot of fear. You should allow yourself to be scared. It's one of the prime emotions. You might almost enjoy it, funny as it sounds, and find that you can get over it and deal with it. If you ignore these things, you miss so much."

This is a video of her cooperation with Alexander McQueen.

Male Femininity - Bando Tamasaburo

A stunning variation of theatrical art is the Japanese tradition of Kabuki. Beautiful costumes, elaborate staging, and a through the ages grown stylization of moving and storytelling.

One of the stars is Bando Tamasaburo. He is an onnagata-actor, that means he plays all the female roles. On these pictures he was photographed by Kishin Shinoyama.

The origin of Kabuki was Okuni Kabuki, and was created by a woman, and played by women. This was declared unseemly by the shogunate (the shogun-administration). And of course mixed performances were considered as even worse. In the end the shogunate decided, that Kabuki should only be played by men.

It were the same arguments as in Elizabethan theatre. Not only would it be inappropriate for women to be on stage, but women can't even play female roles as well as men, because they don't have the psychological understanding, the strength and the art-skills.

Well... we can be happy and lucky to be living in times of expanding equal rights!

But still Kabuki is a stunning and beautiful experience of refine traditional theatre.

Pictures via the marvelous Planet of Fabulon.

A Toast On Miss Gypsy

This is an homage to Gypsy Rose Lee one of the greatest burlesque-queens. She was the star at Minsky's Burlesque in New York, and was known for her sharp wit, as well as for her very sharp and teasing art of striptease.

I like how she, in the top picture, sits in front of a plant and it looks like an huge collar.