Friday 28 January 2011

Friday Photo Day # 4

Lily Cole, photographed by Nick Knight
Vogue, May 2007
The colours. The birdies. Dymchurch. Lily Cole. Fabulous.

Tuesday 25 January 2011

Top 10 Tuesday #4!

Well, I wracked my brains to think of a list of Top 10 somethings for today (not a good sign if it's becoming a strain but, I persevere) and the best I could come up with is...

Top 10 Current Obsessions and Passions (aside from 1 and 2, these are in no particular order...)

10. Stylist Magazine

http://www.stylist.co.uk

9. D.I.S.C.O.

8. Very strong coffee

photo by me, qb

7. Paperchase stickers
Paperchase stickers, via http://www.supercutekawaii.com
6. Brittany and Santana
Cancelling out the tedium of Rachel

 5. Raw jelly

 4. Vintage posters

via http://flyergoodness.blogspot.com/
3. My rock choir

http://voiceroxchoir.com

2. The 1920s
First edition cover
1. Typography (and typography humour)
via ffffound.com

Saturday 22 January 2011

Friday Photo Day #3

http://oliviab33.blogspot.com/2011/01/ohhh-light-today.html
Olivia Bee -- from her blog. Girl got talent.

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Top 10 Tuesday #3!

Oh dear. Looks like I forgot to factor in Tuesdays as rock-choir night. Got in much too late to upload my Top 10 of Tuesday.

So here it is, a day late.

TOP 10 Slightly Suspect Idols and "Style" Icons*

10. Willow Rosenberg | Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Alyson Hannigan)



Willow had serious quirky style in Seasons 1 to 4 before she got jessst a little too confident. Pah. 


9. Satine | Moulin Rouge (Nicole Kidman)



Dear Father Christmas,
If ever a fool decides to marry me I would like to be wearing this dress please. Ta muchly.
qb


8. Penny | Dirty Dancing (Cynthia Rhodes)



...And she's married to Richard Marx. New echelons of cool.

7. Daphne | Neighbours (Elaine Smith)



6. Scully | The X-Files (Gillian Anderson)



 5. Sarah | Labyrinth (Jennifer Connelly)





Dear Father Christmas, 
I would like this dress too, please. And a Goblin King to go with it. Thankseverso. 
qb


4. Laura | Babies (TV Movie, 1990) (Dinah Manoff)


OK, obscuro mention of the week. But, it was the hat. I loved the hat.

3. Rizzo | Grease (Stockard Channing)



Bad to the bone. But dang fabulous.

2. Chris Randall | The Flying Doctors (Liz Burch)


1. Mildred Hubble | The Worst Witch (Fairuza Balk)


First. Idol. Ever. (Probably.)

Honourable Mention #1

Rayanne | My So-Called Life (A. J. Langer)




Honourable Mention #2

Emily | The Devil Wears Prada (Emily Blunt)



* Suspect, as many of these I admired for their complete absence of style, or very of-the-moment quirk. If you've ever seen my wardrobe you'd think I'd stolen these folks' rejects...

Sunday 16 January 2011

Sunday Miscellany

I think I want to make this into a postcard, or poster, and flyer my flat with it.

Friday 14 January 2011

Friday Photo Day #2

It's Friday, it's Photo Day... and I'm loosening the brief to Picture Day. Because of this:

Alphabeasties.
Sharon Werner and Sarah Nelson
Published by Blue Apple Books

Rather in love with the camel on the left there, made up of several letter c's in a typeface called Egyptian Extended. I'd happily have this page framed, as a print.

The whole book is a conceptual introduction to typography through the familiar forms of animals. We discussed the flash cards at work a few months back, and a couple of the parents among us expressed concern that very young children wouldn't recognise the monkey as a monkey but... I'm not so sure.

Wednesday 12 January 2011

Top 10 Tuesday #2!

Yep, it is Tuesday once more, which means another fairly oddball Top 10 from me, qb.

Today's List of Loveliness:

TOP 10 Wedding Films/Scenes in Films

(Apologies now for the language in the clips that aren't trailers!)

10. The Wedding Crashers 


9. My Big Fat Greek Wedding


8. The Wedding Singer


 7. 27 Dresses



6. The Wedding Date

 
5. F.R.I.E.N.D.S. | Phoebe and Mike


4. Three Men and a Little Lady | (pardon the language)



3. Romeo + Juliet


2. Four Weddings and a Funeral



1. Neighbours | Scott and Charlene 



Friday 7 January 2011

Friday Photo Day #1

It's Friday, it's Photo Day, and here is my choice du jour:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliekucken/5100411981/

I'm not able to show the picture itself (the photographer has, rightly, protected it on Flickr) but do click through the link to see it.

It. Is. Mindblowing. I keep having to go back to it just to LOOK at it. This girl (Natalie Kucken) is seriously talented. All these photography wunderkinds, I dunno. Makes me weep a little.

Tuesday 4 January 2011

Top 10 Tuesday #1!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

No, really!
No? Oh, OK then.

Here's the first in the series of Top 10s on Top 10 Tuesday and I'm starting wiiiiiith...

TOP 10 TUNES by iTunes Plays (not counting Christmas!) -- complete with Spotify link where possible!

10. Ecuador | Sash --not sure why this has such a high play rating -- was a power-walk tune on the iPod for a while; that may be why?) No link
9. Sitting Down Here | Lene Marlin -- just a very cute ditty about being ignored by the one you're after. Sigh... Lene Marlin – Sitting Down Here (Original Version)
8. Each Day Gets Better | John Legend -- I can't hear the Once Again album without wanting to write a screenplay, just to feature this song on the soundtrack. Laid back, loose and romantic. John Legend – Each Day Gets Better
7. Rise | Gabrielle -- from the Rise album. Often cited as having an introduction inspired by Bob Dylan | Knockin' on Heaven's Door. Rather gorgeous. One of my all-time favourites. Fact. Gabrielle – Rise
6. Sunshine | Gabrielle -- yep, from the same album, which I played almost on a loop in the winter of 2000. Gabrielle – Sunshine
5. Dearest | Buddy Holly -- from the Juno soundtrack. Very stripped-back and innocent. And the film is great: good 'n' quirky. Buddy Holly – Dearest
4. Back to Black | Amy Winehouse -- arguably controversial (:-)), but musically, sound as a pound. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
3. Diary | Alicia Keys -- just love the softness of this one. Also love the imagery. This before she went a little more crazy-hardcore with the Jay-Z collaborations. Alicia Keys featuring Tony! Toni! Toné! and Jermaine Paul – Diary
2.  Forever Autumn | Justin Hayward -- from the War of the Worlds (apparently). To me, this is an anthem of the late 60s, early 70s (yes, I expect I'm way off with the date!) and just evokes autumn. Played this continuously last season. Justin Hayward – Forever Autumn - Album Version featuring Justin Hayward from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version Of "The War Of The Worlds"
1. All I Want is You | Barry Louis Polisar -- another from the Juno soundtrack. Also from this Lotto advert which made me smile.  Barry Louis Polisar – All I Want Is You

Monday 3 January 2011

Staring into space...

...is something I do less of these days because who has time? But with the new 'work year' (and subsequently, official blog entries) kicking off tomorrow, this QB has decided it's high time to update her inspiration board. (I <3 Bank Holidays!)

Here are just a few of the postcards currently gracing my pin- and magnetised boards at the moment:





 
From the top:
  • Automat, Edward Hopper (1927)
  • 'Camp' Coffee advertisement (date unknown but WWII era)
  • Le Jugement de Paris, George Barbier (1923)
  • Only Boring People Get Bored, Diane Bielik (unknown but picked up at university circa 1997!)
  • Dusty Springfield at the BBC flyer from the 1960s? 1970s?
It's a slightly mixed bag but Hopper and Barbier are there to indulge my slight 1920s fetish at the moment, following my purchase of a little black cloche just before Christmas. It's the little things. The Camp Coffee ad just tickles me, and the Diane Bielik print keeps me in check if I'm ever prone to complain of boredom -- a rarity now but sometimes it happens...

And the Dusty Springfield flyer is just a bit retro cool. Managed to wangle this from my mother who couldn't quite understand why I wanted it in all its orange/sepia glory.

Last night I watched The September Issue on DVD and am now coveting the September 2007 Vogue itself to see first-hand Grace Coddington's gorgeous (albeit edited-down!) 1920s shoot, elements of which can be found here on the Swing Fashionista blog, and shot by Steven Meisel.

So... what to watch tonight for inspiration? Hmm...

Oh, by the way... Happy New Year! :)

qb