POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY
The Magnetic Fields - Love is Like a Bottle of Gin
The Magnetic Fields are just one of those bands. You either know about them, or you don’t. This song is taken from their 3-volume concept-album, “69 Love Songs”, originally written as the frontman / writer’s introduction to the world. This slightly camp revue has since gained huge critical reception and is widely considered to be one of the best albums of its time. “Love is Like a Bottle of Gin” is my favourite so far. The lyrics are just bang on and the mood of the tune just makes me think of sitting in a piano bar somewhere, drowning my sorrows in a martini and being serenaded by the melancholic chanteur in the corner. Enjoy.
POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY
ZEBRA - BEACH HOUSE
What better to celebrate the end of Summer than with this end-of-summer sounding tune? Melodic, ethereal, and melancholically tinged with the knowledge that Summer is closing, this tune has been getting us into Autumn nicely.
ENTER THE VOID - GASPAR NOÉ
Wow. What a film this was. I’ve embedded the opening credits, but I don’t feel this is necessarily a fair representation of the film itself, although the manic and frenetic colours and shapes relentlessly hammering at you is perhaps a suitable exposition to a relentless and frenetic film .
Enter The Void is an exploration into the afterlife seen through the mind of the central character, Oscar. The first half an hour of the film is disorientating, as the film is seen from a first person view and therefore motion-sickness is a concern. At the Cornerhouse, where Popinjay saw the film, there were many safety announcements although the usher warned us: “There are lots of flashing lights and you might get motion sickness… but trust me, the flashing lights aren’t the worst thing you’ll see in this film.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Enter The Void deals with lots of weighty issues; drug abuse, death, abortion, grief, prostitution, corruption, even incest. However none of this feels forced, and at no point does the viewer assume that all of these issues have indeed been crammed into the film as a test of “how fucked-up can we make this film?”. It was almost unreal - the plotline moved slowly and the sequences of psychadelic colours and music served to sedate the viewer into an entirely different reality - and what is more unreal than seeing the world through somebody else’s consciousness (and inevitable afterlife)? The sequences themselves were brilliantly done, and added a depth to the film where one often felt as if they were falling into the film. It was a film that pulls you in and submerges you into this unreality, leaving you a dizzy and confused individual when you leave.
The film’s setting is Tokyo, and this adds to the hyperreality of the film. Of course the neon lights and completely caricatured culture of Japan is present, but in this setting it is difficult to know what is real and what is merely an interpretation of the world through the protagonist’s eyes.
Enter The Void is un faux ami. This film is not your friend. It is cunning, and the lull you fall into at first is punctuated wildly with vivid scenes of a car-crash; a memory of Oscar’s that comes through seemingly randomly during the more tranquil scenes of the film. Our perception is meddled with and challenged, our interpretation of traumatic events and societal taboos is also brought into question.
Whilst some of the dialogue is somewhat questionable (a particular conversation between the brother and sister characters in the film that went something like “Remember the pact we made?” “Kind of” “We said we’d never leave eachother” seemed trite to me, but this was recovered well when it turned out to be a central theme of the film), the plot (if indeed there is one) is philosophical and evokes deep thought. Themes from the Tibetan Book of the Dead are explored, and the nature of life after death is something we are forced to confront. The director is questioning eternal life - and subtle motifs such as the constant use of circles and travel through seemingly inpenetrable portals - represent this philosophy.
Enter The Void does bring about more questions than it answers, but the purpose of art is to do exactly that, and that’s what this film is - a piece of visual art, that alienates itself from the viewer. I have seen this film twice, and I still can’t connect with either viewing. I left the cinema feeling dissociated and confused, and the fact that this film promotes such a visceral reaction is good in my book. I saw people leave half-way through, which was fair - at roughly 2 and a half hours long, if you didn’t like the first half you may as well leave, because trust me - Enter The Void will not let you rest.
Enter The Void is showing at most independent cinemas.
Everyone’s wearing Barbour these days, don’t think I haven’t noticed. Quilted jackets seem to have taken to the streets in their masses, even GIRLS are wearing them now. The look we at Popinjay have noticed more than anything else is that of preppy. The private-school elite have always seemed in a world apart from fashion, and Barbour has been a prevalent part of that separation from the rest of the world. Their quilted and waxed-cotton jackets were once instantly recognisable from one member of the pheasant-shooting classes to the other. In fact, along with tweed suits, Barbour is synonymous with the somewhat futile ceremony of shooting game, the same way that a red riding coat instantly makes us thinking of fox-hunting.
It’s always been clear that the fashion associated with Barbour is a very laissez-fare one. Girls wear their hair in a loose pony-tail, boys have all the ruddy-faced charm and ruffled hair of a true gentleman aesthete. So what’s happened now that this fashion has bled onto the high-streets?
To put it simply, Barbour doesn’t belong to the rich and important anymore. The famous quilted-jacket look doesn’t belong to Barbour anymore. Look on any high-street and see the copies in the windows of any high-street store and there you will see girls in high-waisted, preppy shorts; knitted tights; smart, boyfriend shirts; sensible shoes and of course - the Barbour. Everyone looks like Prince William. Everyone looks like Kate Middleton. So what has prompted this sudden interest in all things tally-ho?
Is it because we’re out of the recession now? Is it because we’re under a Conservative government now? Is it because we want to steal the conventions of the upper-class and make them accessible to the masses?
Whatever the reason, Barbour is in for the Autumn. However if you really want to stay one step ahead of the game, you could always learn Latin, or go on a shoot. It is game season, after all. 
hello avid Popinjay readers. I know it’s been a while, and you’ve probably really missed us, but there have been problems with connection etc. over at this end. We’re back now though so you can stop crying into your couture and enjoy our fashion and culture related blog once again :) watch this space.
Diana Vickers - The Boy Who Murdered Love
Here is Diana Vickers’ new single which sounds IN NO WAY like her last one (Once).
I posted this because it features young, once Topman model Daryl Fox-Huxley who you may have seen on the program Class of 2008, which featured Daisy Lowe who was beautiful and elegant, and all of her friends who were vacuous and loathsome. However, Daryl Fox-Huxley was part of this gang and was one of the least offensive of the lot. He grew up in Bethnal Green (don’t forget - he’s called FOX-HUXLEY though) so he has that cockney-boy background that will of course get him ahead. However, he’s a model, and he happens to have a very nice look about him, and does a wonderful job in this video. With a classically handsome face and a curiously Gallic element, he seems very versatile, very du-jour and very likely to go far.
As for Vickers - in her last video I think we all admired her million costume changes and couture mixed with high-street fashion, but this video? I don’t know. I feel this whole whimsical, child-like, cartoon-drawing ditzy thing is over, and I’m a little bored of it. Sorry, Diana.
Daryl Fox-Huxley is with Angels & Demons management.
It has struck me recently that the rise in vintage has taken a new bent, and I have to say I’m very confused. The look du jour is being bandied around as “romantic floral” or “victorian chic” or “regency gothic” or whatever you want to call it, but isn’t what we’re seeing a revival of today simply another resurgence of the look that came about in the late seventies / early eighties (that is, 1980s)?
Coco Rocha for Nicole Farhi, Fall 2008
It seems that everyone today finds great pleasure in dressing in the mournful, restrictive way in which we dressed in times passed, wearing clothes that give us pleasure by being so rigid. For example, we have all by now seen the Louis Vuitton Fall campaign which is nothing short of stunning, but the instantly recognisable dresses comprise of tight belts and whale-bone corsets, everything left to the imagination and only a pale décolletage showing to fuel a man’s desire, just like it were the 1900s. Their collection, along with new lines that are cropping up all over the place, are very feminine in that our curves are again accentuated and femininity is no longer stifled behind these androgynous clothes. So is the boom in an essentially Victorian look another example of “suffering for your art” (if indeed, one views one’s fashions as wearable art)?
My opinion - no. To look at this from a feminist viewpoint would be redundant, as I would then have to take the whole of fashion into account and I think that issue is bigger than this small movement. Fashion has been known to be fascistic - and I suppose it is a sorry state when I have to argue that the clothes given to us now - which are reminiscent of the stifling fashions of the Victorian era - are more woman-friendly than some of the straight lines and curve-killing cuts we have seen in recent years… but I feel as if we’re getting somewhere. You see, designers are now accepting that women do actually have curves. We may not all be completely androgynous. I think Louis Vuitton’s latest line demonstrates this beautifully. It’s not just the cuts but the detail - the Mary Poppins-esque carpet patterns, the delicacy in detail - femininity is fashionable.
Though in the high street we are seeing something different. Brogue-style shoes for women have been available for months now. “Boyfriend” trousers are huge. Braces and waistcoats for women have been erupting for a long time as a chic and brave look. Even the blouses for women are similar to the shirts worn by the Romantic poets - we are seeing lots of lace and Romantic detail, neck-scarves and of course, pocket-watches for women. Sites like This Charming Girl and Etsy are all about this playful, Victorian androgyny.
I think we are in a brilliant place in fashion right now. We are reliving a time when we can dress up; either in frills and bows and flowers - playful caricatures of our feminine selves - our as a different gender entirely. Nobody is telling us which is wrong or right, it’s just out there for us to try. Personally I think that’s a brilliant thing.
For those who are just getting into the Victorian look - don’t forget, this is a movement which has always been bubbling under and has erupted once again. Goth and Steampunk ideologies have celebrated the mystique and often eroticism of the fashion of this time, and if you want to ease yourself in gently, I recommend Etsy and Haute Macabre.
Givenchy Couture corset and feather-bottomed gown (thanks to those lovely people at The Love Magazine for these pictures)
Anyone could have seen that couture week would see this amount of opulence, what with the rise of antique fashion and the collective desire we all suddenly share for all things pre-1950 these days (going as far back as the regency era in some trends). Just looking at these pictures gives us an idea of the overwhelming beauty of the pieces - like something fresh out of a young girl’s imagination, these pieces are decadent and fairytale. They made me think of those old Disney films with the glamourous female actresses, always so impeccably dressed, and how I would watch them and hope that when I grew up, I would be just like them. As it happens, when I grow up (if that ever happens), I want to wear that dress. And perhaps some glass slippers, too.
Christian Dior’s Autumn Winter 2010 / 2011 collection for Paris Haute Couture Week, earlier on today.
Just look at all of those bright colours - bold prints and statement fabrics. The cuts retain a classic, timeless, elegant style, but with a vivid reimagining. Absolutely stunning.
