popinjay

POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY The Magnetic Fields - Love is...

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:22:20 -0400

~~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...

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 20:42:21 -0400

~~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....

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:30:00 -0400

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.

j. barbour and sons ltd.

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 09:05:56 -0400

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.

where the hell have you been at this time of night?!

Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:06:21 -0400

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...

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 10:25:55 -0400

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.

"The pleasure that is in sorrow is sweeter than the pleasure of pleasure itself.": romance in fashion

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:22:29 -0400

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.

Chanel Fall / Winter 2010 Couture Week <3 Thanks to A...

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 11:05:00 -0400

Chanel Fall / Winter 2010 Couture Week

Thanks to A MAGAZINEfor this video

givenchy, paris couture week FW 2010 / 2011

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:39:56 -0400

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...

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 14:27:30 -0400

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.

paris couture week

Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:00:01 -0400

Paris Couture week begins tomorrow, which means there’ll be lots of things that we here at Popinjay DEFINITELY CANNOT afford.

Expect jealous and frenetic coverage of the event over the coming days.

I thought I’d whack this video up here - Lisa Eldridge,...

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 17:36:18 -0400

I thought I’d whack this video up here - Lisa Eldridge, make-up artiste extraordinaire - gives us her opinion on the new Burberry Beauty range.

A few things I’d like to note about Burberry though. First of all, I can’t forgive this:

But second of all, I think we’re all aware at this point that Burberry are still using fur.

Now, anyone that knows me well will be quick to tell you that I myself own fur. I don’t own new fur - I wouldn’t touch it. However, I own a reasonable amount of antique fur. I know the ethics of this are shady and therefore I may seem hypocritical in my problems with Burberry, but I know that wearing antique fur is wearing fur from a time when we were less aware or scrupulous about these things. Wearing antique fur, some might say, stops the “need” (not that there ever was a need) for fur to be made. Elderly women everywhere are hiding fur coats in their closets, now ashamed to wear them, and PETA call for people to hand their fur coats to them. The fact is, that fur still exists. Whether it is in a cupboard gathering dust, or being recycled on the back of someone who can get over the fact that we were once cool about fur, that fur still exists, and will always exist. PETA’s argument has always been that wearing antique or vintage fur is just the same as wearing new fur - my argument is if that were the case then surely I may as well just buy some new fur - but surely PETA would see that as the worse crime, which it is. Whatever your morals on fur are, surely you must agree that wearing brand new fur is abhorrent, whereas wearing old fur is simply a grey area. Besides. I heard a rumour recently that the Burberry Plaid Camel is almost extinct.

Still. If you can get past that, and I won’t judge you any differently if you can or if you can’t, then this is Burberry’s new range of make-up.

POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY A Space Oddity - David Bowie...

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:17:23 -0400

POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY

A Space Oddity - David Bowie

Since the blog about Thom Browne, I thought this would be really appropriate, since the show closed to this song. Also David Bowie is amazing.

thom browne SS 2011 - the show that everyone was talking about

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 09:58:50 -0400

Thom Browne was nothing less than an absolute spectacle, in a good way. First of all - the venue. Oscar Niemeyer’s Parti Communiste HQ is a sort of weird dome like thing, with brilliant, spacey light inside.

The theme was sort of “2001: A Space Odyssey” and models all entered wearing astronaut costumes with gold visors, which they then stepped out of and hung up, revealing their outfits underneath.

This being Thom Browne’s Paris Debut (he previously worked for Ralph Lauren at Club Monaco), there was a lot of intrigue and suspense surrounding this event, and the enigmatic venue was enough to start a definite buzz. Some of us sort of knew what to expect, having seen him in New York and the like, others had no idea.

However, there was an element of unease surrounding the show, and the choice of venue was indeed a brave decision. After all, he’s American, and this is Paris, and the audience all sat behind the very same desks where the Cold War was debated and angsted over. The models all coming in wearing space-suits added very definitely to the tense, bleak vibe, and the models all stepping out in identically cut suits was fantastic and strange.

Each model was like a clone of the last one (as seen in Prada) in the sense that each suit was cut exactly the same. However, the patterns and looks varied - the shark and fish patterned suit was a definite winner as it really exemplified the kitschy look that Thom Browne had gone for. Small details such as the glitter on the lips of the models and the dash of gold in the models’ hair added a touch of trashy glamour, the tailored boating blazers brought class to the existing “preppy” association we have with American fashion, and small details such as the red, white and blue labels on the backs of shoes and jackets (and the strong theme of red, white and blue throughout the collection) brought forward a playful, sharp and slick representation of Chic Americana.

LOOKBOOK.nu: the language of gender through clothing This woman...

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:48:00 -0400

LOOKBOOK.nu: the language of gender through clothing

This woman is just so chic. Following on with the Paris Men’s Fashion Week theme, we picked her because she is suited and booted in a finely-tailored Thom Browne suit. When I saw this pic, I just thought she looked so typical of what I imagine when I think of ultra-chic working women in New York City. Totally hip.

paris fashion week updates

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:45:56 -0400

today in my inbox i have had some wonderful notes pop through from fashion week - special mentions to Thom Browne, Lanvin, Hermés…

All of this is too much to blog right now, but tomorrow I can promise you a wealth of fashion interpretation (or fash interpretashe, for those of you in the biz.)

Stay tuned…

POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY Where the Wild Roses Grow -...

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 17:28:56 -0400

POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY

Where the Wild Roses Grow - Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave

I saw Kylie Minogue with the Scissor Sisters on some of the Glastonbury coverage, and I remembered how much I love her. So I have chosen this song, which she did with Nick Cave about a man who murders his lover and leaves her body by the river - where the wild roses grow. Influenced perhaps by Robert Browning’s Dramatic Monologues, this song is not just about murder, but about passion, beauty and love.

POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY Stay Beautiful - Manic Street...

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 21:24:08 -0400

POPINJAY AWESOME SONG OF THE DAY

Stay Beautiful - Manic Street Preachers

I don’t really know why I chose this, I just really like this song. I suppose it is linked to fashion in the way that I understand fashion - back in the day when the Manics released this song, they were in their early stages which included a lot of knock-off couture, wasted glamour and decadent elegance. So I suppose it links in in that respect. Stay beautiful!

LOOKBOOK.nu: last christmas LookBook Look of the Day As the...

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 21:18:00 -0400

LOOKBOOK.nu: last christmas

LookBook Look of the Day

As the theme is still fashion week, and since we earlier reviewed Comme des Garçons (did we mention that we’re quite big fans of Comme des Garçons?), we have chosen this wonderful woman as our LookBook Look of the Day because she is wearing an amazing outfit, of which I feel the feature is her fabulous Comme des Garçons blouse.

comme des garçons, givenchy, and updates from smalto

Sat, 26 Jun 2010 21:06:00 -0400

So Paris has been really interesting, so far. Some of the trends I thought “Yes, that will DEFINITELY be something we’ll be seeing a lot of” have been subverted, and conversely some designers I had always loved have rather let me down. However, we’ll start with Comme des Garçons, who did not disappoint (do they ever?).

Comme des Garçons, Paris Men’s Fashion Week, SS 2011

Whilst a lot of designers have been playing on the theme of being totally badass (YSL’s film about a tattoo artist, lack of pretty-boy models absolutely anywhere during Fashion Week, Louis Vuitton’s fake tattoos, beards and leather jackets…), it was nice to see Commes des Garçons not just being “bad”, but really quite delightfully so. The collection was playful as well as being quite macho, and I think the edge of the testosterone-fuelled fashion weeks so far was sweetly taken off with Commes des Garçons’ conceptual dress ideas for men. I don’t think it would work on the streets of Chorley, but I think here on the catwalk it was a dichotomy of ideas, and a concept that was well executed here. Nobody looked at the models in the dresses like they were to be messed with. Also, the skull patterns on the heads of the models was formidable, sure, but also completely cute.

Givency, Paris Men’s Fashion Week, SS 2011

Ok. Say what you like about Givenchy, I really liked this collection. As I’ve been telling a lot of my friends recently, Fashion Week is a lot of concept; that’s the purpose of the runway. Of course there are items that are immediately wearable, but I feel a lot of it is down to interpretation. After all, the designer is putting forward his or her ideas onto a handful of models who present these in a relatively short space of time. So, with that in mind, when I say that Givenchy’s collection was wearable, I do not mean that I expect to see men strutting around in skorts and leggings, but that when the concept of this haute couture trickles down to our highstreet stores, it will translate well. Givenchy also used a range of models; different colours, genders and races all presented a very accessible and wearable show.

Smalto, Paris Men’s Fashion Week SS 2011, (photographs by Jean-Luc Dupont)

SMALTO! Those lovely people at Smalto. I feel obliged to give them a fair amount of exposure first of all, since they have been wonderful at being in touch with me and second of all, because I really admire their collection.

We all remember the “Smalto Casting” if course, and since then there have been the usual fashion week catastrophes - a model was lost to a Driers Van Noten show (FYI - Driers van Noten’s show was in a heavily graffitied car-park, models wore bleach-splashed jeans and chains and things… I’m sorry Driers, but the last time I checked it was 2010 and NOT 1998), more models were introduced, fittings went on very late - but it all came together with wonderful execution. The venue was beautiful and matched a classic, elegant concept well (which is more than can be said for Driers…).
The colours were very organic, very evocative of the natural colours of the world, in particular forest foliage and underwater fauna. As we have seen, colours of Paris Fashion Week have been very breezy and cool, and Smalto was no exception. This is no bad thing. Cuts were elegant and sharp; the exceptionality was shown in a non-sensational way which again was no bad thing. Rather, it was subtle. Metallic thread shot through man-made fabrics put a new spin on the luxury sportswear look we’ve seen so much of. Washed, chunky knitwear looked distressed and antique, which is again a spin on what we have seen from people like Pringle of Scotland so far. All in all, very sellable, very beautiful, and very French - that is, chic and understated.