I Want to Ask You Things

I don't much attend the cinema.  I mean I love films.  Absolutely.  But I just don't tend to go to the big screen often.  That is until I get completely drawn in by some visual or poster or soundtrack or other which just makes me want to sit in the dark and absorb every little detail playing out in front of me.  Carol was one of these such movies.

It was mesmerising.  Beautiful.  Absolutely stunning.  It was a feeling beyond words.  I was completely drawn in from the very first flicker of the screen to the very last credit playing against the soundtrack.  It emotionally absorbed me and pulled me in every which way.  I cried a lot.  Heavy crying.  Hot tears.  Not just because of the story which unfolded before my eyes but because it triggered feelings inside me so real.  My heart drowned in its depths.  Their silent knowing glances.

Cate Blanchett whom I just absolutely adore.  Perfectly casted opposite the quiet, shy Rooney Mara.  It was perfection.  One film that will stay with me forever.  Along with its wonderful soundtrack.

Of course I cannot leave without mentioning and crediting the wonderful work of triple Academy Award-winning costume designer Sandy Powell for the to-die-for wardrobe.  To have Carols wardrobe would be a dream...  1952.  The fifties style, early enough so that it still captures the essence of the forties.  J'adore.

Alison xxx

Puttin' on the Glitz

Gosh, I tried my darn-dist I really did but I never quite managed to continue blogging as I had intended to this last year.  Well, let us start again here shall we...?

Hello All!  Lady of the Parlour/Miss Cherrylicious/Alison here.  How do you do?  Pleased to make your acquaintance... Again.  There has been so much happening in my life, so many events attended, so many people I've met, so many shopping trips.  So much clothing to show you... And all the new shooooes!

Before I do an outfit/shopping/wardrobe post I wanted to write about a recent event I attended at The British Library.  Puttin' on the Glitz - Fashion & Film in the Jazz Age hosted as part of their Spring Festival at the library saw the amazingly fabulous Amber Jane Butchart and Christopher Laverty grace the stage to speak to us about the wonders that was the Jazz Age.  For afters there was a Cocktail Party hosted by the lovely ladies of The Vintage Mafia.  And what a party it was; with live music from the one and only Alex Mendham and his Orchestra.  Such a treat!

Well I say we start with an event post but what's an event post without my event outfit!?
Here's a quick look at my hair and dressage for the evening...

Hair - the higher the better!

It is hard to tell here as my hair is in a net but the length is actually down to my waist.

But isn't it great to have the option to make ones hair appear shorter?

This is probably the best photo of my outfit captured outside the cocktail party venue.

© Luca Sage 

I never like to read too much into any talk if I already know I will be attending as I hate to spoil things for myself by knowing too much.  The lovely Christopher whom I had not had the pleasure of coming across before this event was a wonderful speaker.  Such passion and so very engaging.  I could have listened to him talk all night about men' fashions!  It also happened to be an more interesting talk (for myself) as Christopher based his talk on the costumes of the characters from The Boardwalk Empire series ( a personal favourite; which I am very behind on) due to their historically correct costuming.  Some rather interesting facts that Christopher pointed out was the alignment of ones suiting pattern... which I'm sure everyone was subsequently noticing for the rest of the evening; along with myself.  The wondrous array of colours that were actually worn by the men of the Jazz Age.  Those dandies and gangsters knew how to dress alright!  Such inspiration to the modern world which is usually hidden behind the black and white films and photography that we see around.

I first discovered Amber in my early years in London when I would be out on the town night after night.  Spotting Amber as part of her DJ duo The Broken Hearts whom can be seen at the most fashionable events around!  Amber spoke of the fashions from the silent movie eras through to when the talkies took over.  How Hollywood and Paris fought it out for top spot as fashion leaders to the world.  And surprisingly how movie stars would bring in their own wardrobe as costumes for the films they were stars of!

I am highly anticipating Amber's new project which she is currently working on entitled Nautical Chic due for publish in 2015.  In the meantime her current book Fashion Miscellany is on my to-buy list.

On to the Vintage Mafia hosted Cocktail Party...

It was rather busy as you can imagine whilst trying to capture a shot of Alex and his band.

Everyone was having a whale of a time Charleston-ing it out to the sounds! 

Photo-booth present - Outtakes not ;) 

My own version - Wanted to show you this dreamy car...

As part of the evening the talented Mr Hanson Leatherby had his Vintage Travelling Portrait Studio set up at the cocktail party for guests to have a little souvenir to look back on.  You can have a look through the rest of the shots here.  This below is my still... Hanson making me look good.  I almost feel as if I should autograph it like a Hollywood Starlet!  Almost...

I say, if that was even a slight taster of the Jazz Age parties then take me there.  Sharpish!

Until next time...
Alison xxx


P.S - A little video captured by The Vintage News crew giving you a snippet of the event.  You can also see a lot more photographs taken at the event on their website.

An Interview with... Elsa Quarsell

The lovely Elsa took some time out of her busy schedule to have a few exchanges with me...

Tell me a little something about how you got into photography and the type of photography you do?

I started doing photography at school when I was 15. My dad was a photography enthusiast and had all the darkroom equipment so I set it all up at home. I had a very good teacher who encouraged me a lot and took me on as an apprentice after I finished school when I was 18. I won competitions and started exhibiting quite early and got a lot of praise which spurred me on even more. When I first started out I did a lot of reportage style work, then I got into fashion photography which wasn't really encouraged in Art College so there I did a lot of portrait work which is what I do most of now, but it's all quite 'fashiony' I guess... I love it all!


When did you first discover Burlesque?

About 3.5-4 years ago at The Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, I used to go there a lot.


How did you come to realise you wanted to put such a big project together on this subject and to spend over two years on it?

It started as a little project and it grew bigger and bigger and BIGGER! I wanted to have an exhibition and after doing about 30 shoots here in London I did. People seemed to like the pictures a lot and I thought, wouldn’t it be nice to carry on and to go to a few other cities to shoot and maybe make a book.


Were there at any point during the project did you want to give it up, change it or was it full on all the way?

No it was pretty much full on all the way. I’m pretty determined and if I’ve decided to do something I’ll do it, however much work it takes!

I guess there was no real plan from the beginning, everything just happened as the project grew…like the interviews were all done after by email and I started shooting the detail pictures quite late on in the project. I had to go back to quite a a few peoples houses.

What was the biggest challenge you came up against during the making of The Domestic Burlesque book?

Hm… I guess doing all this whilst being pregnant and finishing it with a baby in my arms!

I did my last shoot just one week before giving birth! But it went pretty well, must have been a pretty funny sight though….shame no one took a picture!


What was involved with publishing your own work? How hard was it?

It’s definitely hard work publishing your own book! Raising the money, doing all the PR, distribution….the list is long. It’s been hard but also a lot of fun and it’s good to be completely in control. I’ve learnt a lot. And I’m very lucky to have such a lovely, helpful husband!


Did you receive any burlesque lessons in exchange?

I got married 1.5 ago and had a burlesque lesson for my hen do with the lovely Miss Violet Crumble. It was a lot of fun!


Did you meet any divas along the way?

You would have thought so after doing 104 shoots but no, I actually didn’t. Everyone was really nice and welcoming. It's been such a fun project to do and I've met so many amazing people


Were you tempted at any point to transform yourself into a burlesque goddess?

I think I was before I started the project but after seeing so many brilliant performances I gave up the idea…better to leave it to the professionals!

Where can we get hold of a copy of The Domestic Burlesque?

On the website, The Domestic Burlesque, and in London you can buy it in Artwords, American Retro, Soho Original Books, The Society Club, Rough Trade East, Bordello London….and more to be added to the list soon.


What is next for Elsa?

Promoting the book! I have a few book events in London before Christmas and I’m off to Stockholm to launch it over there next week. I’ll be in Dallas for Christmas so I'm having a launch there too, then Berlin in January. And I can’t wait to start a new project!


Thank you to Elsa for her project, her book and the interview.  It has been fun! xxx


Here are a few pages from the book... Go buy it!

Here I am!

An Unusual Job - Styling for a Video Games promo

It was all very last minute and I had just one evening to pull it together!  Lucky for me my dinner date turned pa for the evening was on hand to run around the shops with me.  So between, borrowing some pieces, buying some and using my own collections I managed to have the wardrobe ready for the shoot the very next morning.

This was over a week ago now and I wasn't able to write about it until after the launch.  The game I speak of is Saints Row.  It's a pretty big game as for someone who doesn't actually play anything other than Professor Layton on the DS I had heard of it.  The new release was Saints Row: The Third published by THQ and the shoot I worked on consisted of a series of events using one of their infamous weapons as a prop.  Bring on The D-Bat!

You might have been mistaken by just looking at the images or if you had stumbled across our shoot by accident that something unsavoury might have been happening.  But I can assure you that it was all very above board and well, rather funny to be honest.  It was hard to keep a straight face!  The concept was "Things you can do around the house with a D-Bat".  The idea of a 50s housewife using The D-Bat gave it a tongue in cheek feel and it was all very innocent!  Why would you not use The D-Bat to stir a cup of tea??

This is a very photo based post as of course you probably want to see for yourself what I got up to and with it being a styling job.  All the pics are ones I took behind the scenes since it was a video promo.

 My doggies also got a shot at fame!

Introducing Bella and Dottie... Ones to watch ;)

Look at Bella go!  Those agility lessons came in handy.

The D-Bat as used on the game

 More of a 'Bad Gal' look

Just hosing the garden... as you do.

Getting those hard to reach spots.

Egg whisking like you've never seen before.

Bathing Beauty

 Where a hammer just isn't good enough...

...whack it with a D-Bat!

A look you would most certainly see me sporting.

A very versatile rolling pin

I'm sure you saw this one coming...

 ...but probably wasn't expecting this.

Don't worry, the toilet plunging shot was the last of the whole shoot.

Doesn't she look glamorous?

What did you think of the outfits?  I have to say that wasn't a bad days work at all.  Quite enjoyable if I should say so myself.  More of this would be great!

I should probably take this chance to plug my styling services really.  I am available for photo shoots, one on one personal styling, projects - long or short term, events, fashion shows.  You name it I can do it.  I am also an experienced hair stylist and am in the process of studying make-up so soon I can do the whole package.  You can email  me here for all enquiries.


I have to say a big thank you to my friend Miss Honey Bare of Heyday Honey for her last minute help too.  There was no way I would have had enough time to do the whole package.  Thank you for your Make-Up and Hair styling skills lady!  Together we really transformed those girls!

Un-tamed hair was kept in their place with this giant tong!

The D-Bats were sent out to various people like Jonathan Ross on the release date of Saints Row: The Third along with the video.  I hope they had as much fun with it as we did on the shoot!  I shall post the video on here at some point for your delectation.


You know the funny thing is, I thought when they told me the prop was a D-Bat it was a bat as in the animal.  Glad I looked it up before the day.  Otherwise I would have had a shock.


Till next time,
Alison xxx

Happy Halloween!

I never really did Halloween as a child - never once have I been Trick or Treating.  But I do love dressing up and this is the best time of the year to play up.  We now always make sure to have sweeties ready for those who dare to knock.

Here's our front door...

I had a bit of an early Halloween myself on Friday 28th with an outing in Camden.  Here are a couple of piccies!

I am Vampira

Looking my best glum as I should.

The cutest Mario you will ever see - Little MeaMea!

With the girlies

The best outfit I spotted of the night - in the ladies of course, where else?

Need some last minute spooky inspirations?  Look at these lovely pin-ups...

My inspiration - the original and the best Vampira.

Have a Spook-tastic time what ever you do! xxx