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Shooting for Jessica Wilcock #1

Model and artist, Jessica Wilcock, who has previously featured on here as a model, has recently started making spiked accessories out of straps of faux leather.

I got the opportunity to wear and style some of the pieces during a shoot we collaborated on. I decided to shoot the pieces in two sets with contrasting styling. Today I will share the first but there is also a darker, post-apocalyptic style set which will I will post when I have decided on the final images.

jesscollarspike bra 2spike braspike bra 3Jessica’s designs can be viewed and purchased on her etsy store.

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aestheticcontradiction

Current Obsessions #12

 

current obsessions 12Things have been a bit quite on here this week due to having a new house to decorate and shows to organise but I’m going to be posting more news and FAQs soon. I’m also thinking of doing step by steps posts showing how I decorate my house and where I found my furniture etc. so keep an eye out for those too.

This week I’m in love with my new Eustratia pockets mirrors and excited about getting new body jewellery to try out. I’ve been trying hard to find the right sofa and the best way to make silver lips look good (I’m going to be a robot in the TG Manchester show at the end of the month). I’m also sort of missing my fringe. I have a couple of shoot ideas I’ve been meaning to try all year and I really need to get round to them soon, everything seems to be moving along so slowly even though I’m always busy.

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Winter wonderland

I’m late writing this post (as with most of my posts), but I needed to share this magical project.

Winter themes really inspired me this year and I wanted to bring together elements from fairy tales, wildlife documentaries and fashion in a shoot.

This was the second project I shot in collaboration with Katelizabeth photography who came to Manchester for an intense couple of days of almost constant shooting. She did a great job re-arranging the set, directing the models and editing the finished images and was a total pleasure to work with. I’m sure she will be up to great things in the future.

The point was mainly to show off my creations for Eustratia but I styled it with some wintery items from my personal collection as well as some specially made headpieces to complete the look.

_KER6470 a_KER6485 aI bought the props mainly to use in an upcoming show with a similar theme but I think they really made the set, Kate did a great job of arranging them as well!

_KER6499 a_KER6502 a_KER6504 aAnd for those of you who don’t know, this in my beautiful friend, Amber AKA Sapphire Black, if you follow my work you will have seen her before.

_KER6509 aI particularly love this images because of the composition and the fact that it shows the whole set. I had been searching for a new front page image for www.eustratia.co.uk for a while and I decided to use this one.

_KER6546 a_KER6577 a_KER6578 aI also made the headpieces for this shoot, which gave me a welcome break from working solely in latex. I have made antler headbands and bunny ears plenty of times before but the crowns were definitely something new for me and I really enjoyed working on them. I hope to have time to work on more special pieces and props this year. One of my goals is to create as complete an image as possible through my shoots and to keep my personal projects as close to the original idea as possible.

_KER6616 a_KER6621 a_KER6644 aThe wonderful make up in the images was provided by Laura Wilson. She is super talented and I hope to collaborate with her again this year. One of her best qualities is being able to realise somebody else’s vision as well as just her own, I find a lot of MUAs have a problem with this. She can also work well with different styles of make up while still retaining her signature.

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Accessory moment no.2

I know I’m way overdue with this so I’m going to try and post a second accessory moment at some point this week. I haven’t totally mastered fitting my blogging schedule around my other deadlines yet but I think I’m getting better.

Last weeks accessories were all about the spikes. I needed them to toughen up my otherwise girly and “safe” outfit.

1. Spike headband. I’m sure you’ve seen these all over the place by now but I decided I kind of wanted one so I DIYed it, It was very easy. I used a strip of leather but you could use whatever you want really, I just made some holes along it and stuck some spikes in. Then I bought a plastic hair band from my local fabric store and super glued the leather around it.

2. I’ve been getting really into statement earrings at the moment. Haven’t ever really worn hoops before but I love these spiked ones. I’m sure I could find some quirky boutique that sells similar for £30 but these are just off ebay for £6. The same shop also had some other nice ones which I had to buy while I was finding the link for you guys.

3. Chrome stretchy spike bracelet. This was bought for me a gift and is from NO:WEAR in Camden market but I’ve also seen them around online. I have a black variant which I wear more often but this one is also fun sometimes.

I’ve just noticed that the earrings look like they shine different colours in the light!

I also changed some of my body jewellery this week and found that Body jewellery shop is a great site to get blackline and internally threaded stuff.

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Hair board

I had to go through my photobooth pics today to find an inspirational image from my winter collection shoot next week. I didn’t manage to find the specific image I had in mind but looking through the pictures reminded me of a few interesting hairstyles I had forgotten. I have compiled a board of my favourites and plan on putting together a better version at the end of the year with a full range of 2011 styles.