Photography
As I mentioned in my previous post, Finnish designer Mirjam Lehtonen had lent me some pieces to use for styling a music video. To thank her, and make the most of the costumes, I shot some self portraits, some of which also included other pieces we borrowed for the video, styled in a different way (those pieces I've mentioned below the images, everything else is by Mirjam).
Mouthpiece by Bakeneko Designs
Mask by Bakeneko Designs
Feathers by Lovechild Boudoir
I haven't written in here for a while as I've been so busy! In the interim, I travelled to Chicago and New York, and have been assisting my partner on some video projects. More about those later!
If we have time, we always attempt to take a Halloween photoshoot at Playful Promises (last year's theme was Victorian Spiritualism), despite this being one of the busiest times of the year, leading up to Christmas. I wasn't quite sure what we could do that would be different to previous years (in 2013 we did a semi-B-movie style shoot and 2012 was cat inspired), and not be typically "spooky".
I started thinking of '70s horror films, in particular the strong colours of Suspiria and some of Lauren Thurman-King's amazing work.
Miss Deadly Red is one of my favourite people to shoot at the moment, and she was such a good sport about wearing smelly fangs, being covered in blood and having a fake eyeball shoved in her mouth.
Shop for the lingerie featured in the images here!
Back in October I shot a beautiful blue headdress by Liv Free, and she's since brought out dozens of beautiful, intricate headdresses.
I had a hankering for a glittery eyepatch (you know, as you do) which Liv also makes (I've yet to photograph it, but it's badass!), and she sent over another headdress to shoot as well.
The "Firebird" headdress features blood red materials, flowers and beads; it seemed quite vampiric to me, and the flowers made me think of vanitas paintings.
I've been quite into reds and purples recently, so I contoured my face with reds (Love + from Sugarpill and Love Sick by Melt Cosmetics) to pick up the colour. On my eyes I wanted an ethereal, glossy effect so I used the same colours as the contour as well as Bulletproof for the black and Lumi for the highlights, both from Sugarpill. I used a clear gloss over everything and added a touch of red glitter. On the lips is Shien Costmetics Cobra Lily and Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Lip Tar in Role Play (which was also the "blood").
I chose a white wig from Geisha Wigs to be a complete contrast to the headdress.
I did this last year, so I'm doing it again this year!
As I've mentioned before, I don't have a lot of spare time (or the budget) to organise creative shoots, but I've managed to squeeze a few in here and there. I feel like although I've not shot all that much, the quality of my work is getting better! You can view my entire 2014 portfolio (and previous years) here, and let me know what you think.
These are my favourite picks from the "non-work" creative shoots I've done this year.
Very early in the year, I shot the beautiful Suri Sumatra (top left), who I've known as part of the cabaret scene for a while. There was a *little* difference between this shoot and the rest of my work; she was very pregnant! She's since had an adorable baby girl, but it was wonderful to shoot some different pregnancy photos. Suri has an amazing wardrobe full of costumes, and I love the old gold theme she worked with for this styling - she looks like a mythical goddess.
I worked with Miss Betsy Rose (top right) a few years ago, and she's just so wonderfully photogenic! She told me she had some corsets to shoot for Ava Corsetry, and wondered if I'd like to join in. We shot so many different styles, I still have more shots to edit! I particularly love this one :)
I finally teamed up with aerialist and contortionist badass, Jackie Le (bottom left), for a circus-esque shoot at The Aeronaut in Acton (if you haven't been yet, make sure you do!). This was the first time I've shot anyone on an aerial hoop, which was a lot more difficult than I first imagined... but I love the results!
Betsy Rose was back in my studio with fellow burlesque stars Jolie Papillon and Missy Fatale (the 3 of them being Gin House Burlesque). We did some triple shots as well as singles, but it's this shot (bottom right) of Missy Fatale that I love because of her awesome snake!
I think my Playful Promises lookbook total this year has been 6.. not including the lookbooks for Wolf & Whistle! Some shoots took multiple days! I'm so pleased with the results, both photography-wise and for our brand.
Top left was the AW'14 campaign, where we swapped out elaboate locations for a minimalist '60s inspired look. Top right was for our 10th Anniversary circus collection, so I could be a bit more creative with lighting, and I loved the results (probably my favourite shoot!). Bottom left is our SS'15 campaign, and bottom right was our quirky, creepy Halloween lookbook, inspired by victorian spiritualism!
I've just shot the AW'15 campaign, which I absolutely love! Three of my favourite models, Miss Miranda, Miss Deadly Red and Veanne, in one of my favourite locations (we actually used this for AW'12, my first lookbook for the brand).
Here's a cheeky preview of two of the shots
Here's to 2015!
I've really loved Dolce & Gabbana's recent collections, especially the use of byzantine-esque crowns in the AW'13 runway (see above).
I managed to track down a bespoke crown (luckily for a fraction of the price!), along with a beautiful couture neckpiece.
I just had to do a quick shoot with these, even though I'm super busy lately!
The wig is Merida by Geisha Wigs
Makeup is:
Eyes - Sugarpill Love +, Buttercupcake & Hi Viz, Illamasqua Liquid Metal in Gold, Collection Liquid Liner,Sugarpill Saint lashes.
Lips - Nyx Cosmetics Nectar Liner, Shien Cosmetics Gold Viper, Cleopatra's Pride Gloss by FierceMagenta 