Body Jewellery portraits.

I seem to keep things in my long-term goal pile for years until one day something just clicks and they work. Easily, with hardly any effort, as though this was the day they was supposed to happen and that’s why they didn’t make sense any of the times I had considered them before.

Self-portraits are one of these things. The idea first occurred to me about 6 years ago but whenever I thought about trying it (or even set up the self-timer as an experiment) it just never seemed right. Until last week.

I had been sent some new pieces of body jewellery and decided to present it on a series of beauty portraits in different colour schemes.

The first one I tried features dark red eyeshadow and a nude lip (which I never wear out due to my lips being naturally darker).

silver piercing 2piecing portrait 1 copyBlackline captive ball septum ring, jeweled labret ball by bodyjewelrypiercing.com

tragus ring with star, small jewelled labret balls bodyjewelleryshop.com

Chainmail necklace: Richard Ayres

For the second look, I opted for a classic cat eye and dark red red lip, using my favroutite Dior lip gloss and pencil.

piercing red 1piercing 2 redsmall blackline internally threaded gem, black wooden plug, crystal ball septum ring: bodyjewelleryshop.com

 internally threaded star: bodyjewelrypiercing.com

For the final look I used soft peach and gold hues to create a glowing complexion.

gold piercing 1new gold piercingSmooth segment septum ring and large crystal labret ball: bodyjewelrypiercing.com

glass plugs and small crystal labret balls. bodyjewelleryshop.com

Gold and steel dragon-scale necklace: Richard Ayres.

I think the last set is my favourite at the moment. I’d love to hear which you guys like and also if anyone has any tips for making sure the colouring remains the same accross all the images you are retouching. I’m getting more into retouching recently and this is one of the things I find most challenging.

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Last light

sunny warrior face 2sunny warriror facesunny warrior 1sunny warrior 3sunny warrior 5I’ve had a couple of busy weeks preparing for Manchester fashion week and it’s been hard to keep up with my regular routine and posts. We managed to get out just before the sun went down a couple of days ago to shoot these. I’ve been loving my furry bag all winter but the days are getting longer and warmer now so it’s probably about time I put it away for the summer.

dress and cardigan: H&M

leggings: from an upcoming range for Eustratia

bag: next

harness: Eustratia

Jewellery: Richard Ayres

boots: Office

Photography by Richaard Ayres

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Anti.Muse feature

I came across Anti.Muse due to their latex love series, featuring the industries’ hottest brands. I was lucky enough to have Eustratia featured in one of the posts and was recently interviewed for the “what would your muse be” feature.

I’ve re-posted the feature below and you can also ready the original feature (in English and German) here.

What would your muse be if it was …

a book: Pattern recognition by William Gibson
a movie: I always watch relevant movies to my collections so they are ever changing, I’ve been inspired by “The Mists of Avalon” and Sofia Coppola’s “Marie Antoinette” before. I often watch “The Libertine” when I lack inspiration though it always reminds me that hard work and determination pays off and a bit of wit can keep you going.
a city or place: My home city, Thessaloniki. I’m always inspired by new places and change, but my original inspiration and the feelings that make the new experiences inspiring, came from here.
a sound or tune: The music box.
a magazine: Dark Beauty
an inspirational quote or a motto: At the moment it’s: We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong, the amount of work is the same. – Carlos Castaneda
an artist: Lost Fish
a style icon: Vivienne Westwood

Stacey is a latex genius, a dazzling, inspiring personality. With a lot of girl power she leads her successful one woman business – in my series Latex Love I already wrote about her brand Eustratia. Not only Stacey designs some really cute and ingenius latex pieces, she’s also modeling and writing her own blog about her every day life as an Alternative Fashion designer. I always find cool looks and a lot of inspiration on her blog and her instagram too. So it’s a great pleasure to me that Stacey now exclusively on Anti.Muse allows a peep behind the scenes of Eustratia and reveals some of the inspirations behind her brand.

You want to support Stacey and her label? Just click through to the Triumph campaign “Woman in making” and vote for Stacey to help her grow her business.

Stacey in her Studio.

 

 

Rush!

Today I went to drop off some samples with a stylist. Hopefully they’ll be featured in a cool editorial. I was in a rush so I put my hair into a messy half-up twist bun.

rush 7rush1I customised my blazer with some small spikes to give it a bit of edge.

rush 6I also enjoy slipping bits of latex into my everyday wardrobe. Today I wore my kindaku harness over a mesh, polka dot dress.

rush2I also rediscovered my long socks, that have been hiding away over the winter, due to not provided quite enough warm.

rush3When I came home I found a little bag of goodies from bodyjewellerypiercing.com which I will be featuring in a different post, but I decided to try a couple of the pieces out.

rush5Earrings: Richard Ayres

Blazer: H&M

Dress: Miss Selfridge

Shoes: Rock & Candy

Bag: Religion

Images by Richards Ayres.

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Vauhaus X Eustratia studio day with Vivi Sterling.

Vauhaus and Eustratia present their first studio day, featuring model coach and cover girl, Vivi Sterling.

The studio day will take place at Eustratia House in Manchester (full address provided on booking), a spacious and stimulating environment that combines functionality with home comforts.

Eustratia and Vauhaus have been collaborating on projects for a while now. We always receive positive feedback and requests from people wanting to be involved in our shoots. Unfortunately we don’t have time to collaborate with everyone and we are aware that not everyone can afford to book us all separately so we have decided to set up these fun studio days, where we can do what we do best and those who want to can join in for a small contribution towards our next big project.

NEW5smallThe studio day caters for both models and photographers offering a uniquely tailored experience for each.

Our team:

Photography/post production: Toria Brightside, photographer and founder of Vauhaus.

Model/model coach: Vivi Sterling, as seen on Channel 4 and Bizarre/Front/Elite magazine.

Styling/art direction: Stacey Black, Creative director/founder of Eustratia.

studio day photographer poster 1Photographers:

Shooting with a great model can make a fundamental difference to your portfolio. Vivi is an experienced, internationally published model with great posing abilities. She is naturally beautiful, so your images will look good with minimal editing and great fun to shoot with, so you are guaranteed to feel comfortable and have a great time.

Toria Brightside will also be on set to provide tips and coaching for beginners or those crossing over from a different style of photography/subject matter.

Eye catching wardrobe can also be an asset to your portfolio. It creates a conversation point and instantly makes you look more professional. It’s especially important if you are hoping to go into fashion photography and hope to shoot for designers’ campaigns in the future.

Renting designer clothing or hiring a good stylist can be pricey, but as part of our studio day deal, you get access to sought after latex clothing and avant-garde accessories that have already been styled for you.

studio day model poster 1Models:

If you’ve decided to go into modelling, you probably already know how much posing and styling can add to your images.

At the Vauhaus X Eustratia studio day we are offering you help to create great images but also a great shoot experience. We have all been to cold, bare studios where you have to get changed in the toilet and we didn’t find it very inspiring, so our studio day is different.

  • You can relax with a glass of prosecco, while we introduce you to the team and run you through the outfit options.
  • There is a comfortable dressing room with seating, heating and full length mirrors.
  • You will have help choosing outfit options that are both flattering and interesting.
  • If you are not used to wearing latex, help will be provided so you don’t have to worry about damaging the samples.
  • You also don’t have to worry about packing, cleaning and sending them back as all that will be taken care of for you.
  • Make up and hair suggestions can also be provided on request.
  • Direction will be provided where necessary to make sure you get the most out of your photoshoot.
  • Vivi will also teach you some go-to poses that you can use in future shoots to make sure your images are consistently top notch.
  • You will be shooting two different looks to help you add variety as well as quality to your portfolio.
  • A selection of your images will be edited by Toria Brightside, to add the last professional touches.
  • If you like your outfit, you can purchase items from the Eustratia show room at a reduced rate!
  • Prints of your images will also be available to order.

We always have a great time on our shoots and can promise you an equally fun experience. A few places have already been booked so be quick!

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