Fashion :: What is done in the dark….
Of Cabbages & Kings return with What is Done in the Dark, a very noir romp through the woods. Gothic? Yes. Medieval? Yes. Enchanting? Simply. That and this new collection ticks all the right boxes.
This season OC&K travel deep into a dark landscape of elegance and modernity, one wrapped up with hangman nooses and the sharp sudden ‘crack’ of twigs snapping underfoot. But that’s only half the inspiration. The other half, surprisingly, comes from an intense love of Baroque sculptures. Look closely and you can see the interplay of light onto form. There are sudden splashes of marble and metal in the fabric, the two gleaming in their own ways. Matte and gloss collide to glint and splay light across the dark landscape. The final touch is a deep lush undercurrent of green. This captures the ageing process, the build up of time, a slight moss of shadow and fleck. (more…)
Arts :: Tane Andrews’ Repetitive by Nature
Last year certainly saw Tane Andrews’ star begin to slowly but surely rise. He kicked 2008 off by appearing as the poster pin-up boy for avant garde menswear label Material Boy in one of the years most iconic photo shoots (think bowl cut and big blue eyeshadow). His burgeoning fashion label Of Cabbages & Kings - which he champions with co-conspirator Kira Goodey – moved from accessories into clothing and made a tsunami sized splash not only here in Australia, but in London too. He was then shortlisted from 120 finalists and appeared at the Melbourne Museum as one of 18 in Design Now!, a showcase of the nation’s most promising design talent. (more…)
Screen :: Guerrilla Gardening with Grrrrrreen Thumbs
Channel Ten has dropped reality shows like Big Brother in an attempt to move into a new realm of reality television, one which in an age post-The Chasers sees activism get the ‘reality’ treatment. Enter Guerrilla Gardeners, a DIY gardening show which takes Backyard Blitz on to the suburban streets, adding a healthy dose of cloak and dagger… just enough to get the adrenaline pumping. (more…)
Music :: Death Cab for Cutie
Ben Gibbard has one of the most beguiling male singing voices in popular music today. His poetic and charming lilt is hypnotic while his lyrics are a veritable flick and play through language, one which turns a sharp phrase into an enigmatic, yet profound, image. I came by way of Gibbard with his music for electro indie pop band The Postal Service, whom I simply adore. When I found out he was also the driving force behind Death Cab for Cutie… well, the love affair was easy to transpose. (more…)
Literature :: Dorothy Porter (1954 - 2008)… what a piece of work she was.
‘I think my poetry is about passion and extremes. Curiosity and a verbal exhilaration fuel it. When it works, it has a theme and a charge that some readers have forgotten poetry can have.’
So said Dorothy Porter when I interviewed her back in 2000 for the Perth Writers Festival she was attending here in Perth. She was an abrupt woman. Determined. Concise. As a young writer I was intimidated by her, but so in awe of her majesty, of the language she created and commanded. (more…)
Fashion :: Festival Wear Dos & Don’ts!!!
Global Gathering (as well as the smaller, inaugural VROOM! Festival) happened on the weekend, and with the sluice of outstanding, block rocking tunes, came a plethora of the good, the bad and the downright ugly fashion wise. Which made me think – since when did festivals become such a haven for the badly attired? I mean, the setting itself is beautiful – nay, epic, particularly with the skyline so close it’s almost breathing down on you – so why can’t some of the people be beautiful? I mean, there are some beautiful people, but there are so many, many more ambassadors for trash. (more…)
Fashion :: More clothes should come with warning labels!
More clothes should come with warning labels. No, seriously: they should. And I’m not talking about the washing instruction ‘do not put this white top with colours’ (clearly) or ‘do not iron this plastic print because, well, if you do you clearly have no concept that plastic melts under extreme heat’. No, not those kind of warning labels. (more…)
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