Astral Boutique's blog

Shine On, Moon Child

My friend Toni at Moonchild Vintage is always up to something good. Let's revel in the unparalleled beauty of her Etsy photography:

This lady lives on The Next Level. 

Check out this beautiful video for her song "Invocation of my Demon Sister":

This entrancing track is from her album, The Diary of Ic Explura, Part Two- Daughter of the Flood...

...which you can listen to in its entirety here. 

Toni also recently started a new blog, On Bread And Buttermilk Girls Confess The Zodiac, where she shares pages from her art diary:

I love the people in the world whose creativity makes you want to create. That's what it's all about right? Huge love to Toni.

Tropical Fever

If you've looked in my shop lately, you've seen that I have become obsessed with bright tropical prints. My hunger for colors has never felt more insatiable- next thing I am going to want to decorate my room with inflatable palm trees and lawn flamingos like I used to have it in 1986 when I was a Miami Vice obsessed pre-teen. I don't foresee any plane tickets to Tahiti in my immediate future, but in a way that makes my dreams of the tropics even, well, dreamier, because right now they exist for me only in imagination and myth. And in Henri Rousseau paintings....

Paintings by Henri Rousseau. Dresses can be found in the shop.

One of my favorite songs about having a good time in the land of the sun:

Warning: silliest video ever.

Daydreaming, Korean Style

Whenever I used to go down to Midtown Sacramento, I loved to spend an hour looking at magazines at the magazine shop/candy shop off of J Street. Last time I was there, it was gone- I wonder if it's folks like me who made the place go under, getting our grubby fingers all over the cool international fashion magazines that we could never afford to buy...?

Enter Pinterest. I heard about Pinterest a long time ago but never joined (for fear of having "one more thing" to do online), but I have to tell you, I am finally on board and I love it. I love organizing my "boards", but I also love how easy it is to search for things that I am interested in. (If you need an invite, just leave a comment below and I can send one to your e-mail address- your e-mail address is hidden from the public, but is visible to me). It has come to act as a virtual "magazine shop" for me, and it's really inspiring me to learn about photographers and designers that I like. I have been part of the worlds of fashion blogging, Flickr, Tumblr, etc. for several years now, but this is the best way I've ever found to connect with my visual interests online!

Lately, I've been discovering, via Pinterest,  this whole world of Korean fashion that I didn't even know existed. Here are some of the amazing images I've come across lately (sources noted if available)

Hyun Yi Lee for Vogue Korea

Vogue Korea

Vogue Girl Korea

Vogue Korea

"Faceless Flowers" Vogue Korea

Paolo Roversi / Vogue Korea June 2007

"Spring Breeze": Han Hye-Jin Wears White by Lee Gun-Ho for Vogue Korea

Vogue Girl Korea

Vogue Korea

Vogue Korea

Vogue Korea

Love love love the colors, the textures, the patterns, and the sense of play here!

 

Hello Darkness

My friend Temple recently purchased this black velvet dress from my shop, and this song-poem accompanied her order (sung to the tune of "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Gurfunkel):

hello darkness my old friend, i've come to shop for you again...with a velvet softly feeling and a dress that is a-peeling.... and the orange garments, that i did not pick over you, they sing boohoo, and you'll live in my closet! with garments deathrock in the back, they hang silent on the rack. i love them with their goth mystery from a time from my own history when a club was the only life i knew, and i was blue- but we can visit then, now, because of you.

(Temple, you are a poet, hope you know it!)

I'd like to do a little visual accompaniment to the goth riff here, with some of my favorite "dark" photos that I have found lately:

Fern Andra

Erte

Serge Lutens, Despointes (Unknown Lady in a Hat), 1972.

Theda Bara, actress, considered by some to be the prototype of the "goth" look

Alexander McQueen

Sarah Moon

...and of course we need some music. First, that Simon and Gurfunkel tune:

...and this fabulous PJ Harvey song, "Dear Darkness", from her very gothic album White Chalk (remember, sometimes all white can be as goth as all black!):

Oh my goth.

From A To BIBA

I got a fabulous birthday gift this year from Jen at Honey Kennedy- From A to BIBA, the autobiography of BIBA founder Barbara Hulaniki. 

I have had an obsession with the English 1960s/1970s era boutiques (see my post on the book Boutique here), and BIBA is one of the most interesting stories out there. It was started by Barbara as a small mail order business, but it grew incredibly fast and, in the end, incredibly large- she had to keep moving the store into bigger and bigger digs to keep up with demand. The final incarnation was a dream come true, an entire multi-level department store (known as Big BIBA) that had everything from a restaurant to a housewares department. Amazingly, Barbara oversaw the design of every detail and every single product! 

One of the first incarnations of BIBA 

I love the theatricality and the fantasy of the clothing and the styling... all those lovely 1920s/1930s glamor puss looks channeled through the overblown, psychedelic lens of the 60s and early 70s. Who can resist?

Here is some more BIBA eye candy for you to enjoy:

 Here is an amazing makeup tutorial from modern makeup artist Lisa Eldridge, using genuine vintage BIBA makeup:

The BIBA look has experienced a huge comeback lately- in fact, Barbara Hulaniki is making new designs for Top Shop. Viva la BIBA!

Ultra glamor babe Barbara Hulaniki

 

Majikal Dreamer

This is one of the most amazing photos that I've seen lately!

This Majik Traveler's Coat is a handmade work-in-progress by Dawn from Majik Horse. That's the amazing Dawn herself, and one of her beloved equine friends. You can see more preview photos on her Facebook Fan Page here.

Dreamy!

From Russia, With Love

One of my wonderful blog readers just paid me the highest compliment ever- she sent me a series of mind-blowingly beautiful photos that she says were inspired by me! Her talent is inspiring me now... so I guess that is the perfect circuit of artistic energy. 

Lena lives in Moscow, Russia, and she took these photos of a friend of hers. Her model is gorgeous, expressive, and has a magical twinkle in her eye... just a dream girl in every way. And then there is Lena's lighting, styling, and use of color, which is breathtaking. I will let them speak for themselves:

 

Thank you so much, Lena!!!

 

In The Bohemian Half-Light

This gorgeous picture was sent to me by my customer Clémence in France. The belt is from my shop, and the rest is her own... I think it is such a perfect snapshot of Bohemian beauty!

Long live la vie bohème! Et merci Clémence!

Transformations

I just got the coolest photo from one of my most stylin' customers, Chandra. She bought this here dress from me a while back:

...and she mentioned that she had a Vision for it. Now just LOOK at the amazing way that she has transformed it!

 I have to tell you that Chandra is a certified Mistress of Transformations. I always love looking at her Facebook profile pictures, because she morphs into a new character with every single one. Check out some of her styling genius:

And that's really and truly the tip of the iceberg. What a force of inspiration!

Chandra lives in Portland, Oregon, where she works as a stylist. If you good people want to get a hold of her, you can contact her at chandra.owl@gmail.com. You can also read her writings on her Tumblr here... and as if that wasn't enough amazingness to come out of one lady, she has a Tumblr here where she is gathering images that inspire a gypsy caravan trip that she is planning. Yes, you read that right. A GYPSY CARAVAN TRIP!

Oh, the places we'll go...

Fitted Out

I know, you almost gave up on me, but here I am- and with an Outfit Post, no less! 

This one was not for everyday wear... Sasha and the Shamrocks were playing a show this night, and I wanted something special, so I spent the better part of the day coming up with this outfit. I made it from a decaying red lace dress form the 60s that I had bought at a theater company's closing sale for $5.... somehow I knew it would come in handy, even though it was falling apart. The blue is from a sari dress that had a big hopeless oil stain on the front... but I loved the trim. Franken-dress!

 

 

The dress was a hit- I notice that red things generally are- friends admired it, saying it looked "like a Nordic princess" and "the national outfit of my own personal country" (ha ha). I didn't want to contradict, but my real style influence was more along the lines of the costumes from the Ballets Russes in the early 1900s.

 

Okay, obviously the Ballet Russes  needs its own post, but here's some more beautiful images, just to make your eyes happy...

 

 

 

Nope, they just don't make em like they used to.