Great Gatsby!

Last night my dear friend Arianna and I made a plan to go out and see the highly anticipated "The Great Gatsby" while, of course, dressing to fit the theme!

We had both really wanted to see it the previous weekend, but had both been so busy that there was absolutely no way we could have done it. But, it was better late than never, and of course we still wanted to go all out!

Dressing up in strange costumes has always been an odd hobby of mine, and so it only seemed right that we wore a bunch of wild 1920's garb to go out and see the film. The dress I wore was a piece that I had found at a thrift shop a couple of weeks ago, that I purchased to wear for the next underwater photo-shoot with Alexis Coram (which happened just earlier today!) It actually fit the 20's theme quite well, so I was very happy that I was able to find another use for it!

As for the makeup, we did a little research and looked through many old photos of famous actresses of the time, and tried to mimic the thin rounded eyebrow, cupid's bow lip and heavily charcoaled eye, of the popular look during the time. I think it came out well, (while a bit intense, and not the most flattering makeup look for me) nearly right on the mark for what I was trying to do!

When we got to the theater, Arianna quickly rushed to the theater to save us seats, and I went to the concession stand to get something to eat. While I waited for my food, several people were looking at me with curiosity for a few minutes, whispering to each other about my unusual look, and finally asked if I came from a wedding. I thought it might be a fun and silly trick to make up a story, so I told them that I had just run from my own wedding ceremony, and needed a quiet escape to clear my mind, which is how I ended up at the movies! With this response a few gasps and shocked looks came from the crowd at what I had said, and so laughing, and not wanting to alarm them, I quickly reassured the concerned bunch of moviegoers that that wasn't true at all, and that I was dressing up in 1920's style clothing to see The Great Gatsby! To this, they seemed very relieved and told me that I looked great! 

As the theater was very crowded and we arrived only just on time for the film, Arianna and I were forced to sit in the third row back from the screen, which offered a very unpleasant closeness to the action that made me very dizzy several times as the movie progressed. However, the movie did offer the lovely lavish scenes of extravagance that I had wanted, though I didn't quite enjoy the director's choice of contemporary music to accompany the action.

It certainly wasn't the best film I have ever seen (or a perfect adaptation of the novel), but it was very entertaining and was filled with beautiful costumes, which is all that I really wanted from the experience.

Have you seen The Great Gatsby yet? What did you think?

Xoxo,

Camille

P.S. Photos from today's underwater shoot are coming soon!

A Little Net and Wonder

While searching for fabrics and textures to use for my next underwater photo-shoot with Alexis, I came across a large piece of black netting that seemed like it might be interesting for another use!

I have always loved the way that a bit of black netting looks when draped across the front of the face hanging beautifully from an elegant spectator, or a hat or just anything atop the head, but thought it might be interesting to see what it would look like to create an entire headpiece just from the material alone!

This is what I came up with. And with a few strategically placed bobby pins, I think that this could make for a very interesting accessory to wear out on the town!

I love creating odd and interesting new characters in my mind while experimenting with different ways to reinvent myself- which I suppose is a way that my fashion and writing intersect. (I am also a fiction writer, by the way!) I thought of this character as being an incredibly rich socialite and new widow (having recently come into the exhorbitantly large inheritance of a massive estate with the death of her husband). She is obsessed with money, image, and always being at the height of fashion. She is intimidating and powerful, and uses her sexuality as a weapon to control those who can bring her more of the power she craves.

Coincidentally, this character almost perfectly matches the "evil queen" character from a movie I just saw a couple of days ago, Blancanieves (Spanish for "Snow White") which I highly recommend seeing! Unfortunately the trailer doesn't really do the film much justice.

However, if you are someone who spends long hours of the day painting images in your imagination of beautiful, wonderful and frightening things (as I do) you will love the visually stunning images of this perfectly captured reworking of the famous fairy-tale.

I had actually taken these photos a couple of weeks ago, before I had seen the movie, or even heard of it- yet, the poster image of the film portrays an ominous close up of the queen, wearing a black veil over her face!

I also absolutely loved Charlize Theron's portrayal of the evil queen in 2012's Snow White and the Huntsman, another film that I would also highly recommend seeing even for the costumes and visual imagery alone! Perhaps somewhere in the back of my mind while styling this look I was thinking of the queen from this classic fairy tale without ever realizing it.

(I just received a comment from the boyfriend that these pictures make me look like an "evil princess" before he was able to even read any of this text! Perfect. He was actually the one who suggested that we see the film- for which I am very grateful, as I probably wouldn't have discovered it on my own!)

What do you think of this daring new look?

Xoxo,

Camille

Just Faux Fun.

I wanted to put together an ensemble that felt a bit wild while also maintaining a slightly girly element, and the faux fur "bambi" jacket and shiny leggings just felt right to create this look. I think it ended up having a sort of rocker vibe as well!

I hadn't realized at the time that nearly everything I ended up wearing was made of faux-animal skin- (including my purses!) but once I saw this, I created a title for this look accordingly! Haha.

View (and hype!) this style at lookbook.nu here!

Xoxo,

Camille

Black and White and Underwater

photo by Alexis Coram

In case you've not following me on facebook (which you can do here) and haven't seen this one yet, it's definitely worth a re-post!

This is the latest picture that Alexis took from the set that we did a couple of weeks ago. (Remember when I was styling this dress for the shoot?)

The fabric looks incredible with the reflections of the water- you can really clearly see the contrast here between the dark blue and the spotted leopard print. The next shoot is coming soon, but is rescheduled for the weekend after this because at the moment I am pretty busy on the weekends, and in order to give it another try, we have to find a pool that we can use as well!

Which one do you like more, this one or the first photo? I can't decide!

Xoxo,

Camille