#working on the original!paloma since it will be inspired from my experiences :) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

borntoslay · 5 years

Text

No one asked but here are all my thoughts on Mika’s brand new album

MIKA - My Name Is Michael Holbrook (2019)

I’ve been absolutely captivated by Mika since 2010. His albums have provided me so much comfort and validation time after time, and I am beyond excited to enjoy a brand new body of work from him!

Tiny Love 8/5

The power that that has. The intelligence that that has. Looking back at his first couple of albums and just noticing and processing all the growth and maturity that has come in the last 10 years or so is a total delight. Very refreshing for a song to celebrates the little moments in a huge way, when so much of pop music—and music in general—is oftentimes restricted to such big, anthemic moments and feelings.

The power of Tiny Love (2019) is most noticeable when comparing it to something like the title track of The Origin Of Love (2012). Origin paints with big, broad strokes to fill the canvas; Tiny Love is filled so intricately, with tiny and masterfully-added details coming together to invoke such a specific feeling, experience, story.

A great start to the album. Powerful, meaningful, groundbreaking, striking. I would say this has effortlessly made its way into Mika’s top 5 defining records. Chills.

Reminds me of Elton John and Queen type of songs. God-tier.

Ice Cream 3/5

This song feels like a step backwards, in my opinion… the lyrics feel so flat and dispassionate.

Since this was the lead single, I suspect that his label or some higher power advised he put out a bubblegum pop song (Lollipop, Big Girl, Love Today, We Are Golden, Celebrate, Talk About You) to get the general public reacquainted with his iconography. The song has its catchy moments, but ultimately just feels like if they had asked Gaga to release Summerboy as the lead single of LG6.

“The smell of colored plastic baking in the sun”

Dear Jealousy 2/5

This is ok… but I’m getting Miranda Sings - Do The Miranda from this… lol

“Jealous of the man I used to be, and the man I could become”

Paloma 4/5

Lovely! I feel like this is what title track on Lady Gaga - Joanne (2016) tried to be. Gets stronger, feels inspirational, whereas Joanne (song) just went in a circle and then ended.

“Until the sky fell into pieces”

Sanremo 4/5

Lovely vibes. Feels like a gay rights version of DNCE’s vibey “TV in the Morning” (which I’ve been absolutely obsessed with). Recalls one of my favorite Mika songs, Rio (2015), but where Rio was very theatrical and energetic, Sanremo feels like it takes place in the real world; a little more tranquil, a little more grounded, but just as lovely.

Tomorrow 4/5

Absolutely adore these soft and bright 80s tones. Reminds me of some of my favorite songs: Neon Trees’ Foolish Behavior (2014) and Tyler Glenn’s One More (2016). Playful, hopeful, bittersweet… this is my favorite aspect of LGBTQIA+ love songs… we experience so much of our youth well into our adulthood as a side effect of our position in society, but processing moments like those in “Tomorrow” as an adult allow for a much richer understanding, and for that matter, relating to these songs as an LGBTQIA+ adult makes everything… feel… good. I think this is what has completely strengthened my connections to Mika, and Tyler Glenn, amongst others.

Ready to Call This Love (feat. Jack Savoretti) 3/5

Great duet. This feels like it could fit in the last 3 minutes of a primetime TV drama as the camera either pans in or pans out of the main couple. Nice production.

Cry 3/5

I’m hearing influences of George Michael - Fastlove (1996). I like it. Wish the chorus was better, though.

Platform Ballerinas 5/5

OMG YES. OMFG. THIS IS IT. THIS IS THE ONE.

Kesha - Boogie Feet (2017) Lady Gaga - Manicure (2013) Mika - Platform Ballerinas (2019)

We STAN.

I Went to Hell Last Night 2/5

Ok! LOL “There’s a little bit of God in everything” is not a lyric or theme I expected to find on this album. The finale of this song is amazing! But the rest feels a bit like dead weight.

Blue 1/5

I get it. But it doesn’t really go anywhere.

Stay High 4/5

This is a great album closer! Calling back Tiny Love’s “You get me high on a tiny love”. Reminds me of DNCE’s Blown (2016)

Tiny Love Reprise 2/5

I appreciate it, especially all the new instrumental and choral sections, but the track itself feels very unnecessary. New bridge is beautiful, though… gotta investigate the underlying narratives of this album…

///// EDIT: Answered all my questions!

http://www.riffmagazine.com/album-reviews/mika-my-name-is-michael-holbrook/

And, for anyone interested:

My favs on No Place In Heaven (2015)

Talk About You (#1 best Mika song IMO)

All She Wants

Good Wife

Rio

Porcelain

My favs on The Origin Of Love (2012)

Lola

Underwater

Step With Me

Popular Song (album version only sorry)

My favs on The Boy Who Knew Too Much (2009)

Good Gone Girl

Touches You

By The Time

Toy Boy

Pick Up Off The Floor

My favs on Life In Cartoon Motion (2007)

Grace Kelly

Lollipop

Any Other World

Happy Ending

#mika #idr what my other tags are #ill tag this properly later but also probably not #opinions no one asked for #Ok there lol

4 notes · View notes

kmalexander · 3 years

Text

Trip Report – Santa Fe

The decision was made immediately after Kari-Lise and I got our first dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine back in May. TRAVEL. Travel was calling. Call it a spontaneous trip or revenge travel, we were hungry for the world. Like everyone else, we’d spent last year social distancing and sticking close to home, doing our part to stop the spread. Now, on our way to being fully inoculated and assured we wouldn’t unknowingly spread the virus to others, we craved a change of scenery—something opposite from the verdant mountains of Western Washington. We plotted our vaccine schedule, figured out the timeline, and booked a trip.

It’s been a decade since we visited Santa Fe, and it’s no surprise the city called to us once again. It’s an easy trip in non-pandemic times and was a place we both wanted to revisit. In May we weren’t sure how everything would play out, but we decided to roll the dice and plan for a trip of a few days exploring the town and the surrounding landscape. It was well worth it. Like any instance of travel, I came away feeling invigorated and creatively inspired. After a year at home, it was good to get away, breathe the thin desert air, and visit a place so unlike my daily experience. As the pandemic recedes in here America, everyone is still feeling out public behavior. But even with the mild awkwardness, the results were a trip comprised of fantastic food, incredible art, and surprising exploration.

The Food

It’s not going to be possible to share this trip without hitting on the copious amounts of delicious food we devoured. New Mexico is the land of the chile, and red and green varieties show up in every menu across the state, no matter what cuisine. When ordering, one is often asked if you want red or green chile—you can also opt for both by ordering your meal “Christmas.” (Yeah, it sounded corny the first time I said it as well. But the place is called Santa Fe. *rimshot*) Neither are particularly spicy despite the many warnings for tourists, but both are complex and flavorful. Trying different combos is worth the effort there’s no wrong choice here. Choose what works for you and enjoy.

Standout meals include the tacos from El Chile Toreado (arguably some of the best tacos I’ve ever had). The Short Rib Birria from Paloma, probably the fanciest dining we experienced on the trip. Solid enchiladas from The Shed (a return visit). And a strange little chile dog from the Taos Ale House; a mess to eat but incredibly delicious.

The Art

The third-largest art market in the United States is an artery running through the heart of Santa Fe along a street known as Canyon Road. (At this point it has spread well beyond Canyon Road, but posterity likes a metaphor.) The narrow lane is lined with over a hundred art galleries and studio spaces full of a variety of art. Everything from contemporary to traditional art, sculpture to jewelry, couture clothing to leather goods is offered somewhere along the route, and it’s easy to lose yourself for half a day or more.

These wind sculptures were quite relaxing.

Much had changed in the decade since our last visit, as one would suspect. Couple that with a receding pandemic and Canyon Road felt like a place awakening from a long slumber. In some spots, masks were optional for the fully vaccinated. Others were still being cautious and requiring masks and social distancing for all guests. We were happy to oblige and spent many hours wandering through the galleries discussing art and finding new favorites.

The standout for me was discovering the work of Grant Hayunga at his own recently opened gallery. His work varies but what stood out were his mixed media pieces that sat somewhere between paintings and relief sculpture. Made of various materials, calcium carbonate, crushed marble, beeswax, Hayunga creates fascinating pieces that explore humanity and our relationship with nature. My favorite from this series is fur trapper a recent piece from this year. He also creates these stunning neo-traditional landscapes, one of which—2016’s Asleep—enthralled both Kari-Lise and me. It’s all beautiful work, easily my favorite of the whole Canyon Road experience. You all need to buy more books from me so I can get one of his pieces.

“fur trapper” 2021, hanging in the Grant Hayunga Gallery

Meow Wolf

Canyon Road wasn’t the only artistic experience of the trip. When we last visited Santa Fe, the art collective known as Meow Wolf was still in its infancy. In the decade since our visit, they have experienced significant growth. Their permanent home in Santa Fe is a former-bowling alley funded by some local guy named George R. R. Martin. It sits near the southwestern edge of the city as is home to their first large-scale interactive art experience House of Eternal Return. It’s amazing. The whole thing plays out like an interactive X-Files episode.

I can write a thousand words on what is inside, but it’ll never do it justice. Even photos don’t really capture the magic. You begin outside a modest home oddly enclosed in a warehouse (the reason why is eventually explained). After you pass through the front door (it’s open), you’ll soon discover a rich story told through journals, newspaper articles, videos, and photo albums, pictures on the wall, toys in the bedroom, and much much more. It all ties the family that resided there and their experiences to the surreal worlds you’ll interact with as you move beyond the House itself. I don’t want to go into too much detail on the experience since the House gives back what you bring, and spoilers remove that sense of wonder. (I even consider not sharing pics.)

I came away feeling inspired by the whole thing and thought it’d be great to someday recreate a corner of Lovat for readers to explore in person. Will it ever happen? I don’t know. My “Old Haunts” project is a small attempt at capturing some of that, and while I love them, being able to do it in person would be so rich and satisfying. Imagine standing outside Russel & Sons with rain dropping down around you, muffled jazz blaring from somewhere above, and the smell of spicy noodles cooking from a push cart down the street. Rad idea, right?

House of Eternal Return isn’t Meow Wolf’s only project. They have another installation that went live this year, and more experiences are planned for the future (Denver and eventually Washington D.C.). We’re already looking at a trip to Las Vegas for one reason: visit Omega Mart. Think cosmic horror as a grocery store chain, and you’d be on track. (Check out some of their ads.) It all sounds as creepy and weird and wonderful as I’d hope. I am excited to explore its aisles in the future.

New Mexico Highlands

On a whim, we decided to leave Santa Fe behind and head out into the country. We did this a decade ago, heading northwest toward Abiquiú and the Ghost Ranch. This time we headed northeast toward Taos. Early-summer storms were sweeping across the land, and you could watch enormous dark clouds trailing tails of rain and shadow for miles. For some reason, I expected more of the high desert environment like what I saw ten years previous. But the land toward the northeast was very different to that of the west, it rose suddenly. As we left the desert behind, we found ourselves in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Range of the Southern Rocky Mountains. I’ve grown up among the Rocky’s most of my life. But driving north along highway 68 and looking across the vast Taos plateau and seeing the gorge carved by the Rio Grande was utterly breathtaking. I’ve seen deep valleys before, but never one carved in such flat and open land and from such a height. I still find myself reflecting on that view. Seeing the ground opened up that way was like staring into the vastness of time.

The Río Grande Gorge from the Taos Overlook, off State Road 68 near the “horseshoe.” Photo from the Taos News.

Instead of continuing East across the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, we decided to loop up into the mountains. We found ourselves in Carson National Forest, taking the High Road to Taos scenic byway back to Santa Fe. This is proper mountain country, think tall trees, deep valleys, tiny communities tucked away into hollows, and vast untouched stretches of forest for miles and miles. It all felt closer to home. Beautiful, but not at all what I anticipated.

So Much More

Santa Fe and the surrounding land can be a bit surreal at times. Modern art and interactive art experiences exist alongside deep history. The Palace of the Governors, erected in 1610, is the oldest public building in continuous use in America. Just down the street is the San Miguel Mission, the oldest church in the United States. Outside of Taos is the Taos Pueblo, the oldest continuously inhabited community in the United States, originating sometime between 1000–1450 A.D. and not discovered by Europeans until the sixteenth century. And that only scratches the surface of what you can find in this small section of the state. This doesn’t even begin to cover other places in New Mexico we were unable to visit, locations like White Sands, Roswell, Carlsbad Caverns, Shiprock, Trinity, the burning of Zozobra, Los Alamos, and so much more. There is a density of wonder here and New Mexico doesn’t hold back and is very much worth your attention.

Advice & Tips

You’re going to want to rent a car, this is big country. That said when in town, be willing to walk. There’s so much to see in Santa Fe, and unexpected places are often found on foot.

Eat everything. Try new dishes. Explore New Mexican cuisine. Fear no chile. Don’t be put off by location. Sometimes the smallest trucks tucked into the quietest corners can have the best tacos.

Scenic byways are your friend in Western States and New Mexico is full of them (High Road to Taos, Turquoise Trail, Santa Fe Trail, among many many others). While slower than major freeways, these routes will give travelers glimpses into a New Mexico easily missed by tourists. The extra time is worth it.

This was my fourth trip into New Mexico, my second to Santa Fe, and easily my favorite of the bunch. Each time I visit, the trips get a little longer, and each time I return I wish I had stayed a few more days. The name “Land of Enchantment” is a fitting one. The terrain there is haunting, rich in history and legend, and it calls to the traveler to take time and explore its wonders.

I’m not going to lie, it’s weird to travel right now, even fully vaccinated. People are rightly nervous, business hours are funky, and what we thought of as “normal” has changed significantly. Traveling at the end of a pandemic requires a lot of patience and copious amounts of kindness and empathy. We’re in a transitional period, and those can be both interesting and weird to navigate. However, it’s still worth it to get away for a time, and allow oneself to experience the world again. It was good to return to New Mexico, and a shame to have waited so long to return. Here’s hoping our next visit comes sooner rather than later.

from WordPress https://ift.tt/3gCmAwb via IFTTT

1 note · View note

jessicakehoe · 5 years

Text

From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue

Since its launch in 1977, FASHION magazine has been giving Canadian readers in-depth reports on the industry’s most influential figures and expert takes on the worlds of fashion, beauty and style. In this series, we explore the depths of our archive to bring you some of the best fashion features we’ve ever published. This story, originally titled “The World of YSL” by David Livingstone, was originally published in FASHION’s Winter 1982 issue.

Yves Saint Laurent hates fashion and loves Proust. He has said so more than once and is in this way special and fresh. He is also serious, awfully so. He dresses bodies, but what he counts as important is the mind, and he himself has one that is delicate, a blessing and a bother. He is strong too, however, or else would not be so successful. His annual income is estimated to be in the neighbourhood of $4 million. He does not, he says, work to make money. Many others are depending on him. He’s got an apartment in Paris, another in New York, a castle in Normandy and a villa in Marrakesh. He can afford expensive habits – his furniture, they say, could go into a museum – but he struggles for more profound satisfaction and quiet. He only wants to make good clothes and endures celebrity as if he were sentenced to it. But like a sentence from his adored Proust, his career goes on and on.

All the records agree that his beginning was one for the books. Christian Dior died in October 1957. In November, Yves Saint Laurent, an assistant designer, was named the chief. On Thursday. January 30, 1958, he presented his first collection. The main silhouette was flared from narrow shoulders to a wide hem and was called the Trapeze. The press and buyers, types that are distinguished by hard eyes and mouths and that don’t go for the display of unrehearsed emotion, could not contain themselves. They cheered. They shed tears! On Friday, you could read all about it in The New York Times. The front page.

Just 21 years old, Saint Laurent fell into fame everlasting. Fuss still attends his every move. In Paris last January he revived shantung. Fabric salesmen in Toronto started pushing shantung. A bellwether for the fashion industry. Saint Laurent is also a subject of general interest. He throws a party and it’s news. Last January, he celebrated the twentieth anniversary of his own couture house with a do at the Lido. The lavish affair, featuring trained animal acts, Paloma Picasso, Ukrainian dancers and Diana Vreeland became a “people” item in Newsweek. In April, his fall collection of ready-to-wear was hailed by Women’s Wear Daily as “Timeless and masterful.” Earlier this year, Joan Rivers joked to a Tonight Show audience, “If Yves Saint Laurent says it’s boobs in the back, it’s boobs in the back.” And what she said was funny because it was coarse, but not because it was entirely inconceivable.

Recurrently one of the primary influences on what earthlings will be wearing next season, Saint Laurent has been responsible for so many trends that Women’s Wear once dubbed him “Monsieur First.” He has popularized pea jackets, safari jackets, smoking jackets, blazers, pant suits, boots and see-through blouses. He didn’t necessarily invent these things – Vogue in 1943 tried to talk its readers into pea jackets and André Courrèges is credited with the first pant suit – but in fashion, to quote from popular song, “It ain’t what you do, it’s the time you do it,” and Saint Laurent always seemed to know when. If he is not with the times, he is ahead of the times, and the times catch up. In the late ‘60s, he persisted with pants to the point where restaurants had to let them in. In 1971, he based a collection on the ‘40s. A few years later the word all over Paris was “retro.”

More recently, Saint Laurent has come to stand for the two operative principles of current high fashion: good sense by day and wonderland by night. In 1974, he told 7, “What will be more and more important is to be able to create, through a style, clothing that won’t go out of style…” thus articulating a concept generally known as investment dressing and expressed to perfection in his classically tailored glen plaid suit that costs a strictly contemporary $1,300. In 1976, triggering an outbreak of after-dark fantaisie, he presented a fall couture collection that was unabashedly unrealistic, a money-to-burn extravaganza of voluminous brocade blouses and taffeta skirts described by a sociologist in New York magazine as “an advertisement that you don’t have to get in a taxi or on the subway.”

In fact, the street has played an important part in shaping Saint Laurent’s approach to fashion. While these “rich peasant” costumes may have seemed to uphold the aristocratic authority of couture, they were called by some, “rich hippie,” and were regarded to be but a borrowing from the layered ethnic look favored by the spaced-out young women that one used to see selling candles on the boulevard. From the days of Rose Bertin, “minister of fashion” to Marie Antoinette, the function of couture had been to provide affluent and mature women of the world with the pleasure of painstakingly crafted luxury to be worn as a sign, not of being with-it, but above it. But in the ‘60s, fashion went all democratic. Youth and the street became important, and Saint Laurent championed ready-to-wear as more relevant than snootily out-of-it haute couture. Having established himself as a couturier judged to be one of the greats, right up there with Balenciaga and Chanel, he opened a ready-to-wear outlet in 1966, the first Rive Gauche boutique of which there are now more than 120 dotting the globe. He did not do the first ready-to-wear collection (Pierre Cardin did that in 1959) but he altered the course of fashion history by making ready-to-wear the main depository of his creative ideas. He broke with the tradition of using couture collections as a laboratory for experiment and introduced his innovations in his off-the-rack lines. In 1971, he told WWD: “I prefer my look to be in my Rive Gauche collections rather than in the couture four months later….La mode … [is] what you see in the street, what women buy and wear, what is copied. It’s ready-to-wear.”

It’s ironic that contact with the outside world should have figured so prominently in the imagination of one whose growing up was marked by isolation. Yves Saint Laurent was born on August 1, 1936, in Algeria, into a French civilization. His mother, a snappy dresser, actively inspired his early interest in clothes. His father, an insurance agent, passively did not discourage it. He had two sisters whom he would amuse by making costumes for their dolls and staging theatrical entertainments complete with a stage, props and sets that he designed himself. As a teenager, seeking advice from Michel de Brunhoff, director of French Vogue, Saint Laurent still considered a career in theatre as a distinct possibility. De Brunhoff encouraged him to attend fashion school in Paris. He also passed some of Saint Laurent’s sketches on to Christian Dior. In 1953, Dior hired Saint Laurent as an assistant.

Yves Saint Laurent was a bony, bespectacled bundle of nerves who left the impression that he never laughed. However, Dior, struck by the young man’s talent more than his timidity, saw in him a natural successor and once confided to his right-hand person, “…[W]hatever happens to me I want Yves to take over.” At the time of Dior’s death in 1957, the House of Dior was the largest dressmaking operation in Paris and his heir was naturally bound to win a lot of attention. Beyond that, Saint Laurent’s first collection was a sensation. One of the Trapeze dresses was sold a record-breaking 147 times. Ingenuously full like a little girl’s smock, the Trapeze signalled the arrival of youth. In 1960, in his fourth collection for the dead giant’s establishment, Saint Laurent shortened skirts to the knee and introduced “beat” themes such as turtlenecks and motorcycle jackets. But for the sedate clientele, this was altogether too freaky. The collection bombed. Suddenly, Saint Laurent, who up until then had been kept from obligatory military service thanks to his powerful employers’ interventions with the French government, was drafted.

September 14, 1960: “St. Laurent of Dior is in the Army Now.” September 19: “Saint-Laurent in Hospital.” November 11: “Dior Designer Out of Army.” The headlines in The New York Times unfolded with a speed that would have been comical had they not represented a sorry episode about which Saint Laurent was still having nightmares more than 15 years later. While his military career was brief, there had been sufficient time for Marc Bohan to have been named chief designer at the House of Dior. Having recuperated from his nervous breakdown, Saint Laurent returned to Paris in 1961 and sued Dior for $120,000. He eventually settled for less, and in the meantime announced the opening of his own couture house. Supported by a business partner, Pierre Bergé, and backed by an American investor, he showed the first collection in January 1962, and there have been bravos ever since.

Today Yves Saint Laurent is a complicated empire. In addition to the couture and ready-to-wear divisions, there are more than 200 licensing arrangements by which his name is attached to a variety of merchandise including jeans, children’s wear, swimwear and so on. It’s a multi-tentacled business, a reminder that if the French make beautiful clothes, they also make beautiful office supplies and have a talent for refined bureaucracy. In North America, a key figure in the Yves Saint Laurent empire is Didier Grumbach, who occupies the position of president of Saint Laurent Rive Gauche-U.S. Related to the Mendès family, famous French manufacturers, who have made Saint Laurent’s ready-to-wear since its inception, he is also president of Paris Collections, the marketing and distribution arm of Rive Gauche. Seated in his New York office, decorated to the nines by the celebrated Andrée Putman, he displays the single-mindedness of an organization man. His sense of pertinent is well-defined, logical and precise. His conversation is full of “That’s another story,” “That’s an old story,” and “I don’t think that is important to your story.” He boasts effusively that Saint Laurent Rive Gauche is “an international confederation of retailers” and speaks of the importance of exclusivity and prestige. “In most of the cases when a name is strongly licensed, the desire of the woman to wear the clothes fades. You don’t hear of any woman dressed by Pierre Cardin.” A close-mouthed guardian of the Yves Saint Laurent legend, he seems determined not to be revealing. He has practically no dealings with Saint Laurent himself, about whom his remarks are confined to little more than “Any creative person is inquiet.” As for Bergé, with whom he works closely and who is often in New York, he says, “Well, Pierre Bergé is a Scorpio.”

Following this arcane clue, I ask someone who knows about such things to describe a Scorpio. The immediate response is “Powerful. They go after what they want.” The description seems a perfect match for Bergé, president of Yves Saint Laurent, and as People magazine put it, Saint Laurent’s “main man.” While Saint Laurent has a reputation for being shy and withdrawn, Bergé has a reputation for being mouthy and fierce. A staunch defender of the designer’s genius, he once told WWD, “What I do is sell enthusiasm, about something I believe in and admire.”

Saint Laurent has a knack for inspiring loyalty. “I devote my life and body to Yves Saint Laurent,” says Krystyne Griffin, president of retail at Hazelton Lanes and president of Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Canada. Tall and formidable, she is a multilinguist who gives instructions to her secretary in French and is apt to make the press feel they are working for her. She is leggy and quick on her feet. In 1980, she hopped on a plane to Paris when she heard that Creeds would no longer be carrying Saint Laurent and came back with the Canadian franchise. Although she oversees operation of the Rive Gauche boutique at the Lanes and another in Montréal, her most public incarnation is as a publicist. When it comes to promotion, she has a touch that is more like a talent. If an invitation arrives bearing lovely calligraphy, chances are that Griffin has been at work organizing an event such as the launch of Kouros, Yves Saint Laurent’s fragrance for men, or the introduction of his cosmetic line, which is available in North America only at Little Lanes or Hazelton Lanes.

Although he posed naked as a jaybird for advertisements of his first men’s fragrance, Saint Laurent himself has increasingly refrained from personally promoting. And more generally his photographs show him to be one of serious mien. Most that have been published would go nicely on a dust jacket. So far he has turned to literature once. In 1967, La Vilaine Lulu was published. A storybook that also included his drawings, it described the adventures of a pyromaniacal, sadistic little girl. At the launch party, held at New Jimmy’s, a hot Paris nightclub of the day, Saint Laurent warned that Lulu should not be analyzed for psychological meaning, although it seems safe to take her as a sign of what he considers droll. He does however have plans to publish a book that is autobiographical. In 1973, in Interview, he told Bianca Jagger, “I would very much like to write a book…. A very, very beautiful book that would be a summation of everything I love… . “And in 1977 when novelist Anthony Burgess profiled him for The New York Times Magazine he reported having stolen a glance at Saint Laurent’s manuscript. Said Burgess: “I was pleased with the intricacy of sentence construction, the love of rare words, the hints of a mental complexity not usually associated with the dress designer.”

Unlike Charles Frederick Worth, father of haute couture, who affected a velvet beret and the floppy neck scarf that were the sartorial trappings of late nineteenth-century artists, Saint Laurent has not made a habit of playing the artiste manqué. Rather, in 1970 when Helen Lawrenson interviewed him for Esquire, he told her: “I detest courtiers who confuse their work with art. Courtier, haute couture, mode – all these terms are passé. La mode est démodée.”

Such outspokenness seemed to brand Saint Laurent as a ‘60s radical. And, again in 1970, he told WWD: “Hippie is more than a way of dressing, it’s a spirit which fills young people. I don’t know any young people who are not hippies in their spirit. This is what it is all about. When the revolution comes, it will come from the young people.” Throughout the ‘70s, by contrast, Saint Laurent came more and more to stand for the established order. Although The New York Times proclaimed his 1976 collection as “revolutionary” (on the front page, even), The National Village Voice’s headline was less than enthusiastic: “The Yves St. Laurent Bombshell is a Dud.” Following the $250,000 New York party to launch Opium, Saint Laurent’s most recent scent for women, New Times, another countercultural journal, ran a story that mocked the extravagance as decadent.

Over the years, Saint Laurent has dissociated himself from the present and more and more has sought his inspiration from days gone by. In 1974, he told WWD, “I’d rather look to the beauty of the past than the uncertainty of the future.” As designers such as Issey Miyake, Gianfranco Ferre and Ronaldus Shamask have been exploring progressive architectural forms, Saint Laurent has done hommages to Picasso, Proust, the Ballet Russe, Charles Stuart and Shakespeare. For his more practical day wear, he has adapted looks from his own past. The long lean collarless tunics he did for last spring, for example, were an update of the rajah line he showed in 1962.

Most designers, of course, do not last long enough to make this kind of self-reference possible. And while bombs and cancers every day make it more difficult and less desirable to contemplate tomorrow, how lucky is Saint Laurent to have memories rich enough to be nourishing, strong enough to suffice.

The post From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

0 notes

conartistnyc · 6 years

Text

Illustration Residency Interviews

The Illustration Residency is a 3-month residency starring artists Alice Skinner, Luz Dager, Anna Marcelo and Rosa Chang. These artists were picked by a jury of:

Ian Bertram, an American comic book artist and SVA graduate who has been published by D.C. Comics, Marvel and Dark Horse. Ian is a long-time Con Artist Collective collaborator and has had solo shows at our sister gallery Lazy Susan Gallery, and the Barefoot Gallery in Colombo, Sri Lanka as part of a Hot Butter Collective artist residency.

Victor Ocoa, an artist from Brooklyn, and studied Fine Art at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. After graduating he established a career as a graphic designer for companies such as Scholastic, HarperCollins, and Marvel Entertainment. He is the founder of the independent comic publisher DRAWMORE INC., where he worked with artists from around the world creating original sequential art. He is currently an Art Director for Crunchyroll in San Francisco, California.

Richard Miller has over 20 years experience as an illustrator and fine artist. He graduated from the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon Graphics in 1994 and was recruited by DC Comics, where he worked on producing comic books including Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman. His expertise includes illustration, toy design, and animation.

Interviews

Alice Skinner

Alice Skinner is a 25 year old artist originating from London. She comes from London and is currently based London and New York City. She earned her BA with honors in Illustration and Visual Media at the London College of Communication. Her work often touches on topics like gender, sexism, and sexuality.

A bunch of your works are inspired by Pablo Picasso, when did you start doing this and why?

So I wrote my thesis for the last year of my degree on the gender gap in art and out of like the top ten most expensive works of art in the world, like 6 of them are Picasso. And for me, it was all about depictions of women are worth so much money but then work created by them is not. So I just wanted to start taking recognizable images and giving these women narratives, and modernize them for our generation. And also, the meme captions are there because the young people need relatability so they can see themselves in popular culture and in art. Where as I feel like for many many years art is very elitist. I’m just trying to change that.

As a high school student, I’ve noticed that the arts are in my opinion, unappreciated. Do you fear that such revered artists will eventually be forgotten by the youth?

Yeah, and I think it’s important that even if we disagree with the person - as a person I hate Picasso, he was a sexist, racist, horrible man - but he still paved the way in art. I don’t really like classical art and that’s why it was interesting doing this project because it gave me a new appreciation of how we’re here. But sort of changing it and veering it in it’s own direction.

You said the depiction of women is very popular and sells well but the art that women create isn’t. How do you think that can change and do you think it’s already changing?

I do think it’s changing. Instagram is like one of the biggest tool for female artists right now. I’m also in an exhibition in London this week that is all about women who have furthered their careers with just Instagram. I think because we’re taking it outside of the gallery, and not just women but all minorities are having more of a chance at being able to be artists because the way we are consuming our art is changing. I think it’s the best time so far for women and minorities to come through.

In one of the pieces you’re showcasing, the caption is “How I sleep at night knowing that strange men on the internet hate me for existing.” What kind of hate have you been receiving? And how frequent is this hate?

It comes in bursts. It was very overwhelming after the women’s march. A piece of mine, which I completely stand by, said white silence equals white consent and a lot of white people, especially men, did not like this. I had like 4 days of being trolled by the alt-right and nazis. [They were saying] I shouldn’t be able to live, I shouldn’t be able to procreate, n-word lover, all of these crazy things. That was the big incident but it does happen quite regularly, I’ll just get some man in my inbox telling me how awful I am and sexist doesn’t exist and all of that crap.

Does it ever scare you?

Yeah, when the women’s march happened it was real bloody intense. I got like 700 new followers in a day and then like 700 haters and my phone [was going crazy]. They found my twitter as well and it was everything to “you shouldn’t be able to procreate” to just “eat shit.” I can find the humor in these things because these people are just close-minded ignorant fools.

You said it scares you, but does it also excite you?

I was with my mom when it happened - we don’t live together so it was quite rare that we were together - she was getting excited because she said “isn’t this what artists try to do their whole lives? To start a conversation, and you’ve started a conversation, cause like - some of it’s good and some of its bad, but people are talking.”

Luz Rodriguez Dager

Luz Dager is a 27 year old artist originating from Ecuador. She is based in Ecuador but comes to New York often. She earned her Bachelors in Graphic Design and Visual Communication at the Universidad Casa Grande in Ecuador. Her work often touches on female empowerment, and body positivity.

I’ve noticed that many of your works have been on the topic of body positivity, has body positivity been an issue for you growing up?

Yeah, I wasn’t the skinny girl in my college. So it was hard because I always wanted to be more skinny, more pretty, I always wanted to have straight hair because I have curly hair and all those kind of things [made it a] really hard time. So yes that is part of what I’m doing right now. It’s not the whole thing but it’s a really big part of it. Also I realize little girls like my cousins and the daughters of some of my friends who are 5 and 6 years old are already worrying about what they look [like] and what people think about them, and I don’t think it’s a stupid thing but it’s like “why are they doing that? They are just kids.” So this is part of how I can speak aloud what I feel, and demonstrate the physical is not everything.

In all of your pieces that you’re showing it's black and white, but then there’s a bundle of color somewhere. Do the colors represent anything?

Yeah, they actually represent who you are inside. The series of illustrations are about self love and how you can improve or achieve self love. And I think these 16 years I’ve been in New York I have tried to do that, even though I didn’t realize it until now. They are black and white illustrations and the colors that pop out aren’t the “physical” illustration. Every single piece is of a girl doing something, in the first piece it’s a girl discovering what’s wrong with her, but she realizes nothing wrong. In the second one is helping herself to improve, to realize things can be better if you love yourself first and not to let everything get her down. Not for anyone, because they are many things you can’t control, but you can control yourself, if you can do that you have resolve.

In your piece, “Forgive,” who are you telling to forgive and who should she be forgiving?

She has to forgive herself. She’s like punishing herself because something happened or something different happened. She tries really hard and she does things wrong and things come out wrong, and she does things right and things still come out wrong, so it’s all these situations she can never forgive because she always feels [she is wrong]. But the flowers start coming up and she starts forgiving herself for the things that happen and don’t happen that aren’t her fault.

Anna Marcelo

Anna Marcelo is an artist who originates from the Philippines and is currently based there and in New York city. She is studying Graphic Design at Pratt Institute. Her work often touches on technology and mental health.

Some of your work involved modern technology and how it affects modern technology and how it affects relationships. Do you think the effect is positive or negative.

What I wanted to talk about was how we always think about how digital things are fake, but technology has evolved in a sense that it’s become an extension of ourselves and we have to question, “is it reality at this point?” because our social media, like snapchat, and instagram, in a world of everything to our nudes to our breakdowns they become documentations of our most vulnerable selves. So that’s what I wanted to talk about when it comes to digital intimacy. This can be both bad and good. I’ve done art experiments where people have sexually harassed me, but also there are such good things like intimate stories. Intimacy is just a positive thing, but there is vulnerability.

Do you think younger people are more likely to be affected?

Yeah, of course because we grew up with it [technology]. Like I grew up having internet friends and that whole thing. It becomes an extension of ourselves and that’s not necessarily a bad thing but there are effects to it.

It seems like you are trying to showcase the power of women in your pieces tonight, is that right?

Not exactly, it was actually about body politics and erotica. I wouldn’t call it positive but it is a commentary on it. You can freely interpret it - that’s like the whole art thing but when I created it, it was supposed to be a play on two types of binding that society creates on us. Most of them are filipino porn stars and most of them actually change their names into soda names, so there’s a girl called Pepsi Paloma to create this fantasy. And she was in the business since she was like 14.

Is that legal in the Philippines?

It’s not now, but it was the 80’s and it was legal back then. It was purely fucked up, they were forced to be stereotyped. It went to an extreme that this girl 3 years later kills herself at 17, and in her diary she talks about the violence in the porn industry. There’s nothing wrong with porn, but like the creation of it. That’s why I wanted to use binding because it symbolizes what society forces us to be physically.

Rosa Chang

Rosa Chang is an artist who originates in Seoul, South Korea. She regularly works in New York City and earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She is currently enrolled in the Visual Narrative graduate program at the School of Visual Arts (SVA).

In your Weeping Tree Story, you say the use of abandoned objects, old garments, and denim serves as a metaphor for the feelings of those who feel socially abandoned and rejected, have you ever felt that way?

Yeah, of course, especially in my first couple of years surviving in a different country as an immigrant. Also I’m [a] minority [and] also [a] woman and English isn’t my first language. But I think these kind of things unconsciously inspired my art. But I kind of wanted to create something positive. I really like the idea of reusability, we recycle used stuff that can’t be used anymore but can turn it into something very cool.

When did you start caring about recycling? In America I’ve noticed it’s not really a big deal to a lot of people.

So I was working in a natural indigo dyeing studio two years ago where I was an apprentice. I learned how to dye fabric and realized that there is nothing to be wasted and the whole process taught me that everything comes back to the earth. And it helps regrow the earth, so it’s a cycle. I thought it would be nice to apply that whole process to my own artwork. It’s too long to explain the whole process of dyeing but the plants, water, and other resources are super precious.

Why did you choose cactus for this past exhibition?

Aside from this exhibition I’ve also been painting this series called, “I am not your comfort zone,” where I choose things like a cat or pillow, it can be something useful or something small and cute, and I thought maybe they want their own voice. For example, a cat that’s very cute but it doesn’t really want you to pet it all the time, so the pet wants the power to express this emotion. The items are usually fragile and have no voice to give them a power to express themselves. So as an alternative I decided to add needles on their surface so it turns into a cactus.

0 notes

jasminenessaart-blog · 7 years

Text

2 Artist Symposium

Yesterday I went along the the Artist Symposium which was held at De Koffee Pot on Left Bank in Hereford. Over 10 amazing post-HCA artists, who all work in different creative practices all over the world, came in to chat to us about what they had been up to since graduating the college. Obviously I was extremely excited, going in with an open mind ready to absorb as much information I could. There were many artists that inspired me instantly, as well as some that made me realised what I definitely didn’t want to do. I still feel overwhelmed, and I cant thinking about how my new knowledge can help develop my FMP and effect my creative development as an individual. I also learnt a wide range of advice I can take into the future considering the creative career ahead of me.

The artist who stood out to me the most was Ed Curtis, as I felt I related to his style and interests the most. I adored his extravagant and experimental approach to fashion, and how he consistently pushes himself creatively to form amazing outcomes. In particular I loved the collection he made for his degree finals, the collection was exciting and thought provoking, forming a reaction I desire from others when they experience my own work. I saw his personality and creative development through the collection which was really fun. I was particularly inspired by his past time paintings, and the idea of taking a step back to a naive way of working. This is an amazing way of keeping your creative mind flowing when stuck in one project. He used the paintings to form sets for fashion photography, which he shoots himself in his living room. I thought this was really cool, and made me realise that its good to do something different to your main project, as you can get a lot out of it mentally and practically. He also talked about his collaboration with Charles Jeffrey, an artist I have previously done some research on and found I connected with. I was so excited when he explained a set design he created for Charles after a weeks notice, and how they worked together on an artistic music concert. I am now eager to get my name out there and find confidence to email people who inspire me to do collaborations such as this, as Ed proved this was possible. I am going to be doing a lot more research on Charles Jeffrey for my FMP, as I love his rave culture influences and ‘don’t give a f**k’ approach to society opinions. He makes fashion to represent his culture, and I want to create fashion and moving image to represent mine.

I also really loved the work from Harry and Grant, who are part of an artist collective in Manchester. Each artist in the collective is completely different, therefore present a diverse range of talent that could accommodate any clients needs. Many of the artists said that when you leave university it can be a scary, lonely place as you no longer are surrounded by creative individuals. By being in a collective, each artist is able to bounce of each other and constantly still be learning and developing their creative talents without being in education. I thought this was really important and opened up my mind that this may be something to consider in the future with like minded people to myself. Harry also explained how hes trying something new, Tattooing. He has always been an illustrator, but is now transforming his naive, child like style into something that can be inked. I love how you can combine two of skills to creative something original. He made it clear that exploring different practices as an artist is a great thing, and can be great for your creative mind. This is advice I will definitely be taking on board throughout my FMP process.

Fran was another artist whos work I really liked. In particular I admired the way she presented her work for her portfolios and job applications. Each design sheet showed development of a pattern, how it was made, initial material and colour ideas, then she used Photoshop to apply her designs to real life photography in the style of the clientele. I will defiantly start developing and presenting my work in a similar way, as it appeared professional and clear. I have already started doing this throughout year 1 and am sure it is a skill that will become easier. Despite this, I am unsure whether print is a practise I want to go into entirely, as it is very restricted and not as creative as I would like to be working. I want to be working in more design, similar to Ed Curtis, instead of pattern. I have previously considered print as a career, therefore hearing Fran’s journey was a turning point in what I think I would like to do.

I was previously excited to learn about Sasha Louise, a fashion designer with her own label. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus and Paloma faith have been seen in her clothes, so I was excited to see the development of her brand. She explained that owning her own brand was 80% business and only 20% creativity, which instantly surprised me. Sasha explained she had to handle the distribution, wholesale, marketing, and money side of the brand and hardly got any time to experiment. Not only doesn’t this she get paid when celebrities wear her clothes, it’s the stylist and photographer that get the money. All of this considered I came to a conclusion I definitely did not want to jump into forming my own brand. I want to be in a creative position, where I live and breathe design and have freedom to experiment. I don’t want to have to worry about business because I am an artist, not a business woman. I know there will always be guidelines to follow, but working for a brand that does its own thing anyway would be perfect.

Over the course of the day each artist gave exceptional advice which I will take with me throughout life. Hannah Sunny, a typewriter who studied in Falmouth, said to always go down roads you don’t expect. She worked in a pub for a while doing sign art for various places around Bristol, and found it hard to step out of the comfort cycle and buy her own studio space so she could commit to larger projects. She said it was the best decision she ever made and that taking risks will almost always pay off. I relate this to my own style of working, as something I get stuck into a project and despite it not exciting me anymore, because I’m good at this style, it is hard to jump to a new opportunity. So throughout my FMP when I am stuck, I will tell myself to take a new route. Hannah also said to have confidence in yourself as a creative, and that you should trust in your personality. I am going to be myself and not try too hard to force work, as this is when I am disappointed in my outcomes. Things always go well for me when I am working naturally.

I prefer chatting to creative people one on one, as I find I connect with people more when we talk informally as I can open up how I feel. Unfortunately due to a lot of other students being present, I did not feel confident to ask many questions at the symposium, even though there was so much I wanted to ask ED and The Collective. Hopefully this is a people skill I can improve dramatically as I meet more creative people of importance. I have already contacted Ed through social media, explain how inspiring he was, how I feel we connect well artistically and if I could ask a few things relating to my FMP topic ‘Identity’. I will also ask him about London living, and internship advice, as I am looking to go to LCF or CSM in the future. I am extremely excited to hear back from him and have his opinions as part of my own work, which will develop to a fashion outcome. I would also like to contact Fran about internships, as she got a lot of skill and life advice out of the ones she took part in.

Overall I am completely in awe of this experience, and I have already felt myself develop over the last day. I cannot explain how important all of the information I learnt is to me, and how I am going to strive hard to be where they were in the next 5 years.

0 notes

realestate63141 · 7 years

Text

Trump, Makeup, Skincare, My Life.

First Lady Elect Melania Trump with long time makeup artist Nicole Bryl. Hello Huffington Post Beauty Readers, Life these days can be exhilarating when words such as Trump. Makeup & Skincare are mentioned, especially now pending inauguration time. Seems that this is the ONLY topic of conversation anyone is interested in talking to me about at all and in any and all settings I might be in. I realize my silence has been a source of frustration to several, so, to put those who have been asking at ease, here are a few of my answers to the most frequently asked questions. With warm regards, Nicole Bryl xo TRUMP. MAKEUP. SKINCARE. MY LIFE. How did you become a make up artist and cosmetic expert with your very own skincare line? NB: "I have been involved in the entertainment, fashion & beauty business in one way or another since I was five years old. When I was a child my mother Rochelle enrolled me in several water color and oil on canvas painting classes which I loved and at the same time I would always spend hours tearing through the pages of every fashion magazine studying my favorite hair and makeup styles too. It was kind of an obsession for me. Another of my favorite things to do at that age was to go into my grandmothers beauty bag and take out all of her 30 or so lipsticks and study what every single color looked like on myself one at a time. She used to yell at me when she would see the mess, but hey I was five and I guess it payed off in the end. When I turned 14, my mother who herself was just beginning her hair and makeup career would bring me with her as her assistant on jobs and taught me everything I needed to know about being a diligent makeup artist. She was and has always been super supportive of my creative interests and we worked closely as a hair and makeup team for all of my high school and university years, after which, I eventually branched off into my own career. Sometimes we still get to work together and those are the very best days of all! Nicole Bryl age 4 with mother Rochelle. At 16, I was invited to Paris fashion week with my friend whose mom was and still is a very well known fashion photographer Roxanne Lowitt. We followed Roxanne around back stage to all the shows, and because she was also good friends with Paloma Picasso, I ended up spending close amounts of time talking with Paloma on this trip. She inspired me tremendously as a teenager and these creative discussions stayed with me all through my formative years. After a lifetime of being in the "business" and 30 plus years as a makeup artist, many cosmetic companies began sending me free products to try out for my professional makeup kit. I became increasingly aware of the products that had Vitamin C in them and the positive anti-aging effects it had on my clients skin. When I myself turned 42, I realized that I wanted something for my own skin that would slow down the effects of time. Custom formulating and mixing various types of skincare products together to meet each of my clients specific skincare needs before I apply their makeup is a normal everyday practice so, I very naturally turned to my kitchen and went to work putting a Vitamin C formula together for myself. After several months of figuring out the perfect formula, my first product (now called "Vitamin C Face Lifting Water") came to life. Artisanal Vitamin C Face Lifting Water. I wanted stronger Vitamin C concentrations than that which were in the products being sent over to me and with less chemicals. I quickly saw the significant anti-aging effects with-in just one week of using my new personalized product. I guess my clients saw it too, because they immediately asked why my skin was looking so smooth and radiant. I was pleasantly surprised they even noticed and explained it was this Vitamin C Face Lifting Water formula I had put together for myself. They wanted in and began ordering their own Face Lifting Water's too. I never dreamed in a million years it would take off to become my own skincare line. I simply thought that if I could find a way to keep myself looking as good as I could and grow old gracefully all would be fine. I love my products because they flat out work, have no harmful chemicals, are made by hand (Artisanal) and take only 4 minutes a day to use. Now at 45, after two and a half years of using my "4 minute anti-aging tightening, smoothing and lifting treatment" every single day, plus my Vitamin C Body Polish and Body Lift formula's, I can comfortably say I am happy with the way my skin looks and feels from head to toe and am more than thrilled that I can share my favorite anti-aging formula's with the world to enjoy too." Nicole Bryl Artisanal Vitamin C "4 Minute Anti-aging Skincare treatment" kit. When did you meet First Lady Elect Melania Trump for the first time? NB: "Originally and just by coincidence, I met Melania 17 years ago when I was a makeup artist on a commercial and she was the Model on that same commercial. The cool thing about that day was she and I had to wait several hours before they were ready to begin shooting and so we spent most of the morning talking to one another in the makeup room. I remember her being an incredible conversationalist and a very confident and positive person. I thought what a special young beauty she was even then. I liked her very much and was glad to have spent the day with such a quality person. After that I never saw her again for 7 years until she was Mrs. Trump and was eight months pregnant. Melania had a magnificent baby shower party in NYC's coolest toy store (FAO Schwartz) just before her son Barron was born. At that time I was doing makeup for the lovely Kathie Lee Gifford, who was good friends with the Trumps and who had been invited over to the event to get an exclusive on camera interview with Melania. Melania mentioned that she liked Kathie Lee's makeup and so Kathie Lee, being the super generous person that she is, introduced us and suggested Melania work with me too. It was a cute reunion after so many years, and as soon as Melania's son Barron was born she hired me to do her makeup for a Trump family portrait photo shoot for the cover of People Magazine. Since then we have always worked together. It has been almost 11 years now." What is your work with Melania Trump like? Only red carpets? How often do you meet her? NB: "I have worked on every kind of shoot with Melania through the years. Everything from editorial photo shoots, red carpet events, TV interviews and campaigns. Always a day well spent with this spectacular beauty, there is certainly a sense of pride being by her side. To me giving all of my supportive energy to the people I work for is what keeps me motivated and enthusiastic and the only way this is possible for me personally is if I believe in what each person I work with is all about. With Melania it's easy to keep this positive spirit alive as she is a heartfelt, empowering, focused, woman who inspires me to give my best each time I work with her, which can sometimes be everyday or sometimes several times a month depending on what kind of schedule she has. Melania is a person whom I admire and respect greatly and consider to be a dear friend. Always empowering woman to succeed, I appreciate how super supportive she has always been with all of my creative endeavors, as well now during the development and launch of my skincare products which she genuinely loves and incorporates into her beauty regime." How long does each makeup take you to create? NB: "Each makeup takes about one hour and 15 minutes of uninterrupted focus. If you want the look to be flawless with every detail to perfection and have it last many hours, you do have to take a little extra time to make that happen. " Melania Trump's makeup's by: Nicole Bryl Skincare What are your favorite makeup brands? NB: " In my professional makeup bag you will always find a Nicole Bryl Vitamin C "4 Minute Anti-aging Skincare kit" which I begin each and every makeup session with. This ensures skin is polished to perfection before the actual makeup application is applied. As far as makeup goes I carry an eclectic mix, but the name brand products that are staple items in my kit have for years mostly been: Dior, Benefit Cosmetics, MAC, Lancome, Sisley, Clinique & Cle de Peau. Of course there are individual items from other brands that are also used depending on each client's specific needs or requests, but these brands listed carry the most significance to my work as a makeup artist." What was the most exhilarating day with the Trump family up until this point? NB: "I used to think the most exhilarating day was when I flew with the entire Trump family (grand kids and all) on Mr. Trump's plane to Chicago for one of the last Oprah Winfrey shows she had. Oprah invited each and every member of the Trump family to sit together as one group and interviewed them all for her one hour talk show. It was a very historic day for me personally to be with all of them, but now, this experience has been Trumped by having had the great honor to witness first hand political history being made with their entire family together again on election night 2016. When word came in that Mr. Trump had won and was to become the next president of the united states and that Melania Trump was to become the First Lady and to look them in the eyes at that very moment and share this victory with them, well what can I say, the magnitude of this experience will stay with me forever." Was there a very special, unforgettable moment for you with the Trumps during the campaign? NB: "The unforgettable moments for me have been watching my friend the beautiful Melania Trump blossom into an elegant public figure. I have felt such a sense of pride seeing her unveil this side of herself during her many one-on-one on camera interviews and speeches. How she has stood-up to the media who have unfairly slandered, shamed and wronged her day after day takes such courage. Amid their blatant lies she has always maintained grace and dignity. I am beyond impressed by her confidence and strength through all of this and it has been a great privilege standing by her side to support her in these moments." What is the biggest challenge working with the Trumps? NB: "Here is the secret: When you work for a Trump or any A-list client for that matter, you must bring your A-game. They did not get to where they are by being lazy and sloppy, so rolling out of bed after partying the night before and just showing up casually at their house hung over is never an option. You must prepare yourself, get the proper sleep you need, arrive organized and with your head on straight. It just makes you a better artist to work with high standard individuals like these. They expect the people they hire to be the best at whatever they do and to stay the best, and for that I am very thankful". Can you say something about Donald Trump's famous hair? Does he do it himself? Did you ever give him advice about it? Would he listen? NB: "Hahahaha I always find this question to be hilarious. I have been asked this so many times through the years and I can honestly report that I know nothing about President elect Trumps hair and DO NOT and NEVER HAVE DONE HIS MAKEUP! I have never spoken to Melania about her husband's hair either and to be honest we hardly even talk about politics. We have a working relationship that has spanned over a decade and I respect her privacy when we are together and prefer to catch up on how her wonderful son is doing in school, philosophical thoughts on life in general, mutual Philanthropic interests, the progression of my skincare line and fashion trends we are both inspired by. She has such a fantastic eye for detail and I love her style and taste in everything." How does it feel being in the eye of the hurricane? Is it different now going up to the Golden Palace in the sky? NB: "Being "in the eye of the hurricane" has been eye opening to say the least. To be honest, when I am with the Trumps and working, I am actually at my most relaxed. It simply feels the safest and is the most positive of environments being together with them through all of this doing what I know best, makeup and skincare and lending my loyalty and support to Melania and her family. I have been with the Trumps for close to eleven years and I have to say that through all of this emotional global uproar I feel closer and more protective of them than ever. These heightened situations can either bring people closer or pull them apart and for me its certainly closer." Have you ever gotten negative feedback from people for working with The Trump's? NB: "Before this presidential race I had never heard anything negative about working with The Trumps. People enjoyed and regularly watched Mr. Trump's hit TV show The Apprentice, thought his wife Melania was beyond stunning and wanted to know every single makeup item I used to create her look, thought his children were very well spoken, educated, respectable and successful and of course enjoyed his luxury hotels and real estate. Now, absolutely things have changed, when politics and religion are involved it always heats up and the reactions have been extreme on both sides. Wherever I go in the world now there is LOVE or HATE and people are compelled to share with me how they feel about all of it. Emails, texts, calls, the lines are flooded daily and I often wonder why people feel that reaching out to me would somehow change the politics of the world? I also wonder why they think I would ever discuss any of it with them? This is a family I have worked respectfully with for over a decade. I genuinely care about them and so for me nothing has changed. I still go to work like I always have and do the best job I can as a makeup artist with stunning clients I am proud of and have worked hard to maintain. I have nothing but positive feelings for them and they have always been really good to me. When I am not with them and am out with friends, I respect their privacy as a family, I do not engage in detailed conversation and questioning about the Trump family with anyone and try and change the subject as quickly as I can. Everyone is entitled to their personal feelings about the situation of course this is natural, but I myself prefer not to discuss any of their business unless it's something positive. For those that have become so emotional they cannot control their out burst's and negatively judge that I work for them, well, what can I say, I hope they find some peace of mind and a great job they can enjoy going to day in and day out! It makes life that much more enjoyable when you love the people you work with. I do." But how does it feel for you to be around the most controversial person in the world right now? Are you pinching yourself, that you are standing in the midst of history while it's being made? NB: "You know for me it's kind of surreal. Just imagine that you have had the same job for eleven years and one day out of the clear blue sky that same job changes and becomes the most controversial most talked about global conversation on the planet. The actual going to the job is still the same and with the same superior clients whom you adore, but when you leave that job everything is different. The people around you (when you are not working) are filled with so much passion and rage (on both the left and the right side of the fence), one has to teach themselves how to cope with all of these verbal encounters. There is no manual for this and therefore it certainly is the greatest professional learning experience for me thus far. And to be honest, I am so completely engrossed in the actual work right now which requires 100% of my attention, that I don't pretend to understand the magnitude of what this past year has brought. In time, when the dust has settled I'm sure I will look back and say, "wow, that was something wasn't it." Nicole Bryl at work. What's next? Inauguration? NB: "Looking forward we are gearing up for inauguration 2017. I am putting together a fresh makeup kit designed specifically for our future First Lady Melania Trump. I want this event to be very special for her and having many new makeup colors and options to create her look is super exciting. The quickly growing demand of my Artisanal Vitamin C Skincare line has also been a joy to develop. Although all of my ingredients, bottles and packaging are made in the USA, I'm currently working together with my friend Luc Du Sault's advertising agency Lg2, out of Quebec City, Canada in the rebranding of Nicole Bryl Skincare. Luc and his team have won numerous awards and Lions at the Cannes Film festival for their international campaigns and I trust strongly that he and his team have the vision to take the look of my skincare products to the next level." Luc du Sault - Partner, Vice-President, Creative Director of LG2 Advertising Agency Quebec City, Canada Nicole Bryl Artianal hand-made anti-aging Llifting Water. Nicole Bryl Artianal hand-made anti-aging hand crushed Smoothing Scrub. Follow Nicole Bryl Social Media SHOP: Nicole Bryl Skincare Instagram: @nicolebrylskincare FB: Nicole Bryl Skincare How Nicole Bryl Gives Back: Philanthropy

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2jghaer

#DIYS

0 notes

jessicakehoe · 5 years

Text

From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue

The post From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

0 notes

jessicakehoe · 5 years

Text

From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue

The post From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

From the FASHION Archives: The Uncanny Prescience of Yves Saint Laurent From the Winter 1982 Issue published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

0 notes