First of all to have Stevie Stewart and David Holah as friends (in fact Stevie's more like family, she's Joe's godmother and one of my best friends).
We all know their label, Bodymap was GENIUS...we don't have to bang on about it here...
But what a treat in ONE WEEK for Stevie to make these incredible shirts for the boys.... And for David to invite us to his private view of prints on mirror of his alter-ego Lola?! This photo doesn't do it justice...for some reason there's a yellowy tinge I wasn't planning on....
Stevie sent this picture she took of Duke at the Heath on Sunday today - hadn't noticed quite how insanely wonderful his outfit was....like a raver/wrestler in a bonnet! .....and you can't knock those crocs!
I need some camera advise please. I want one that shoots to 300 dpi quality, is small....and takes great pictures! I've got a Canon digital Ixus 60 now which I've abused rather and is on its last legs I'm afraid. I want to learn more but I don't want a camera that'll scare me off!!! Any hints would be greatly appreciated....
I always like to tell you about my London days out, because I've realised it's too easy to live in this fabulous town and not make the most of it. As they say "Tired of London? Tired of Life!!!", and it can be true in a way because we're so lucky to live here, especially for the stuff we can do for free, the museums, the parks....and when you actually bother to haul your carcass out of the home for the day for a London adventure it truly is a tonic!!!
Stevie and I never see each other enough, she's always working on some creative endeavour, running up costumes for Kylie and her dancers, Michael Clark and Co, on location doing costumes on a film, ad campaign or pop video.......she makes multi-tasking an art form and I'm constantly blown away by her...so we decided to grab an afternoon at Hampstead Heath, she always walks her dog Mucky there anyway, and it gives me a chance to run the boys into the ground a bit......
It's amazing how the boys visibly unwind as soon as we hit wide open natural spaces. The animal takes over and they roll in the grass, whoop while shaking sticks in the air and just play...no fighting, just battles, and somehow the usual ear curdling velocity of their voices is absorbed into the rest of the wildlife.....almost!
There was a bit of cloud which kept getting burnt away....although there was chill enough in the air for Joe to request my McQueen cardigan which he trailed through the shrubs like a George at Asda hoodie!
Mucky really is the most wonderful character. She's a rescue dog so has a few issues like cowering when children get too near her with a stick and nipping at their feet if they get too cocky on her turf (actually really funny, she just does warning nips because she's grown to like them and warns other dogs off when they get too near her boys!).
Our picnic wasn't a lavish affair, I just grabbed popcorn, Babybels and fruit and off we went, but the point is to grab the sunshine where you can get it and have a run about. We even saw a Heron standing like a statue in the pond, but it didn't have a hope of snaring a fish with you-know- who having a dip a few feet away!!!
What a delightful Friday night...Stevie Stewart invited us to the screening of Baillie Walsh's first feature film "Flashbacks of a Fool" at the Soho Hotel (which I didn't even know existed!) because she did the costumes - AMAZING! - the flashback part is set in the early 70's, Bowie, Roxy Music....the stuff of my youth. He certainly tapped into something inside me, reminded me of my old bedroom wall with the huge David Bowie and Brian Ferry posters, my crappy record player on which I played Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars for the first time, mincing in front of the mirror while experimenting with make-up....in fact tapped is the right word, the second time they showed the slo-mo Roxy sequence my tears started and would NOT stop! Running down my face, neck and onto my dress!! Of course what I was crying for was my lost youth....I do realise that..... Stevie did such an incredible job...I was in awe, and what a clever idea to get Anthony Price to re-make (re-model) the Roxy gold and black zebra jacket for the lead to wear in my favourite sequence - PERFECTION! Go go go go go see it!
I was snooping around looking at Baillie Walsh's back catalogue (you all know the amazing Massive Attack one-take video) and found something I'd never seen before which is divine and I had to share with you..
I found it here http://www.gainsburyandwhiting.com/film/kate.html which is worth a look with pieces from Sam Taylor Wood, Nick Knight and others.....
So lovely to see everyone afterwards, the Rellik crew were there, Mark C O'Flaherty, David Holah of course and Stevie and Anthony hosting...The other lovely part was that Iris, Hughes and Olivier from A.P.C. were in town so I invited them along, Iris and Olivier made it to the movie and Hughes and his boyfriend had a disco-nap first then came for the drinks, we had such a laugh....Olivier showed us the detail on his A.P.C. trousers, luckily he had on very good socks - love a good sock! Hughes and I have decided we will have a dj battle at his club night in Paris! ...although here he looks like he may be regretting the decision.... Iris came too, so lovely to see her again, we always do our appointments with her in Paris, so great to do something social together for a change! Looking gorgeous on our way to a car park (long story!)...but we'd have fun in a paper bag I tell you!
New video when I've fixed my darned video camera, feel very bereft without it.....
I'm writing this lying on my bed eating a slice of my mum's christmas cake, a hulking great wodge of which I brought back to London....As I fold back the tin foil and the characteristic christmas smell comes wafting out I feel sad the whole festive hoo ha is over but also optimistic about the year ahead.
Here's Max sweeping up the last of the needles after taking down the christmas tree at the shop...he actually managed, with Superduck's help, to force it into a garment bag, quite impressive when you saw the size of the tree, and then take it to be recycled..... One of my favourite christmas memories is the boys' faces when they opened the costumes Stevie and I made for them( I say I, what my role was was making tea and snacks and sewing the odd oversized wool stitch). There's always the danger with children that you can think you've got the perfect present then their face falls and they look at you as if you're insane for thinking they'd want THAT! There's no sugaring the pill when you're five, no siree, "don't like it!" and on to the next present....but we however, got it spot on with Duke's Jedi and Joe's cat"person" (he's actually obsessed with Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns but we drew the line at a snap-fastening pvc leotard and instead made an androgynous-ish tunic, which looks quite Edward Scissorhands and cat-mask!). Duke the Jedi took up his perfect position under the tree so as to get access to his presents with minimum legwork: They're now obsessed with Stevie's studio, we were in there on Saturday and they were sticking glitter on denim with the promise they can come back and make them into jeans next time....they were trembling at the thought of course and now harbour aspirations in fashion design....
The best thing about starting work is when your mates pop by to say hello again. We had one of those brilliant coffe-morning type gatherings the first day back which was so lovely with Sarah, Superduck and Lucy and I all vying for attention with Sarah snapping away with her brand new camera... So pleased she gave me the soft-focus treatment...I should always insist on it!!
One of my low points over christmas was eating a promotional item as I was SO hungry! Beth very kindly sent me a YMC biscuit of a coat and I hadn't brought my packed lunch that day so....
Well I was tired and hungry and very cold by the look of me in the picture! That reminds me, Michael Murphy sent me a funny thing the other day, a timesaving device that I'm sure we could all do with slipping in our handbags! Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I don't know how I haven't lived without one frankly!
So, this is the year I get things done, and to prove it, I'm being very regular with my blog as you can see and also exploring other creative outlets....witness if you will the little movie I made during a shoot with Constantine last week....Only last Thursday and already edited and blogged! That's the new me!!!
Three of my most beautiful,statuesque blonde girlfriends agreed to me exploiting them in a shoot Constantine asked me to style....we had so much fun loping about in the basement, dressing up and allowing bonnetising without so much as a murmer! Can't wait to see the pictures but here's an idea......
So big thanks to Alex, Gwen and Johanna, I'm so lucky to have such beautiful friends! And enormous thanks to Stevie who let me pillage the Bodymap archive AND rifle her costume store! Steve and Claire at Rellik for pulling out all the stops and letting me run off with their Laura Ashley stock at Christmas! Nathaniel thanks for being my silent assistant in a hood, and you will notice a smattering of Spring/Summer Eley Kishimoto in there too!!!!
Oh yes, this is the year to get things DONE!!!
If you haven't visited the sale yet, it's all 50% off!!!! See you soon.
OMG! So what have you got on your Christmas list?! Are you having trouble picking something for someone else for Christmas?! Well check out what we got here:
Here is Pippa wearing one of our exclusive hand knits we have in stock from Stevie Stewart - The Tit Jumper. Check out Pippa in an earlier blog post here in video. Stevie Stewart formerly one half of the innovative and influential fashion design label Bodymap now works with top creative names in fashion, music and advertising as a costume, set and production designer and fashion stylist both on photographic shoots, music promos, commercials and films.
Yeah - but check out what else we got!!
A.P.C. Candles! We are usually burning one if you come visit us in the store - Pippa likes the green coloured one and I like the orangy one.
I nearly puked with excitement over these Marimekko purses when they came in!
Hyde S.K. hand beaded pins
More OBEY, Marimekko and Eley Kishimoto
HOT BOOTS from Eley Kishimoto
Socks and scarves from SONIA, Marimekko and Burlington.
Merry Christmas everyone!! And we hope to see you in our boutique really soon!!
Well, i'm actually writing this on my birthday but last night on the eve of my special day i had such a great night out with the girls.....we went to the Whoopee new members club in Mayfair - get me! - to see our friend Ima Doll dance. It was such a great venue, it's a gorgeous old house which has kinda subsided in places so you go between the bar on the ground floor up the rickety stairs to another floor where Ima's pole was set up....Stevie Stewart made her an amaaaazing satin cape which she swished with dramatic aplomb then took her stockings off like a pro and then worked her magic on the pole. This is her in her cape and then twirling in the rafters.... Alex came and picked me up and we had a really good catch-up before the shows started, here's alex and liza, who was stressing a bit with the logistics for ima's show, of course it all went like a dream..... ...and here's me with liza, i look like i've had a few......which i had! Anyway, as coincidence would have it Bishi and Paloma were also performing that night, Bishi was doing her human jukebox which is soooo fantastic, she did Make it Easy on Yourself for me and alex which is quite a tall order, thos Bacarach ones are deceivingly simple til you come to sing them but she did it GORGEOUS!!!!!!! What a bevvy of beauties!!!!! Here's a divine photo of Paloma, she's a cracker and her show was great.....more tomorrow i've just realised if i don't go now i'll miss duke and joe's nativity ...i'm so excited!!!!! More tomorrow i'm sure.....pippa xxx
Still reeling from a weekend in which i was treated to two shows by two of my favourite, most inspirational exceptional FABULOUS performers. A bizarre two nights in a row spent at the Barbican, on Saturday night to see the last night of Mmm...by Michael Clark and his dance company, which i actually saw for the first time in '92 because i'm so ancient, and which Stevie Stewart got Nathaniel and me a ticket for. I've been going to see Michael Clark shows since the 80's and I would challenge anyone to out-fan me, I've seen them dance while The Fall played, Brix Smith memorably playing her bass atop a huge burger....while Laibach cranked out a phenomenal, LOUD, set which made your hair stand on end...with Leigh Bowery, singing and dancing and David Holah swinging on the trapeze, and it was always such an exciting event with club people, music people, artists and dance fans all crammed in like you would never see at a more traditional night at Saddler's Wells, or the Roundhouse which was incredible as he danced to Big Bottom, a wall of bass sound in a performance which was really raw....i probably shouldn't go on and on and on as i so easily could!!! If you ever get a chance to see him - GO!!!!!! And the other amazing thing about going is that you run into friends you haven't seen for ages, like Princess Julia and Jeffrey Hinton, who I never see often enough... Then I had another train-spotter-fan moment because Ellen van Schuylenburch came up to give Jeffrey a kiss while i was photographing him and she's one of Michael Clark's first dance partners.....well I was excited!!! On Sunday I made a cake with the boys and a huge roast and then went with my friend Nick to see Antony's show Turning which i can't stop thinking about....cos it was so perfect!! In case you don't know about it he sang while a procession of women took it in turns to step onto a slowly revolving platform, flanked by cameras the images from which were projected onto a huge screen at the back of the stage. Some of the women were really androgenous, some were really exquisite drag queens, some you couldn't tell which, but they were all put on this revolving pedestal where they looked beautiful, strong, serene, with only the occasional smile breaking, it was really moving in a way, but antony always has that effect on me. And then i bumped into some of my friends that had been at Michael Clark, went for a drink at the after-party but never plucked up the courage to talk to Kembra Pfahler from The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black who i've always thought was amazing.... But i did get a great t-shirt!!!! And shop news is that Xavier delivered some amaaaazing vintage sunglasses today, here's him and Jonathan, wearing their favourites, Jonathan and i have a standing coffee morning date on Wednesday mornings where we gossip, laugh alot and sometimes share cakes...I love the new shop! Did i tell you Sacha from Hyde S.K. brought some fantastic brooches when she delivered the bags? They're great pinned on a bag too, she has her drawings carved into wooden shapes and bells and bears hanging off them and bone feathers, they're so beeeaaouuuutiful!!!! Come by and try one on and you can stop to enjoy my tragic exhibition of old michael clark flyers on the notice board - lucky you!!! pippa xxxx
Woohoo! Another Shop At Maison B exclusive! This time we have the new limited edition Bodymap hand knits from Stevie Stewart coming in mid November-ish. Pippa and Stevie have known each other for a long time so I will leave all the gossip and history of Bodymap to Pippa to write about.
Seriously, there will be a waiting list for these hand knits. If you want one email us = madame AT shopatmaisonb DOT com [sorry for not putting a live email link but we don't the spam] and Pippa will get back to you. i-D will be shooting the "Tit Jumper" on Monday. We are super excited cause we love i-D. When I was still at college back in Tasmania I would stalk my local newsagent to get the latest copy [there were only ever a few delivered a month] to the whole state. And even then the issues were 6 MONTHS behind!! Dear lord... I still have every copy back in my mothers house in Hobart and she keeps threatning to sell them on eBay.
So - Pippa and I did the "Tit Jumper" movie earlier in the evening. I have to admit that we were drinking rather large glasses of Blush Pinot Grigio [sp?] from a local establishment [but I can't say which one cause we didn't take the glasses back yet] and we went from silly to stupid quite quickly!!
Here is Pippa modelling her number one favourite dress of the day - an Eley Kishimoto silk tea dress. It is GORGEOUS and a lot of girls have had their eye on this one, and a black one that is quite similar. This dress will also look great in winter with an old Shopgirl long sleeve thermal or something underneath [if you are one of the girls who still have these kicking around - i know I have a few!!]
Oh I would also like to add a disclaimer: I do have a life, it is just that it revolves around CSI [all three series], Law and Order, Criminal Minds and the JEWEL in the crown The Sheild. When these are not on T.V. I am happy to make any kind of mischeif in a Soho basement. :)
And while I have been messing about with our YouTube account, here is another movie I uploaded from Trisha's the other night of Pippa's band All About Eve Babitz performing "Sunset Strip".
Finally - Max and Pippa are away in Paris and get back very late on Monday evening. Let's wait and see what pictures Pippa brings back with her for her Flickr pages!! I await with baited breath till Tuesday!
