Astral Boutique's blog

Ulyana Sergeenko

So I was poking around on my blog stats today and I realized that almost 75% of people who end up on my blog do so cause they are searching for pictures of Ulynana Seergenko. That's a hell of a lot of people! Too bad I already used my quota of the word "obsessed" for this year... cause I am smitten, over the moon, mad for her. As you probably know, I totally abhorred all mainstream fashion for most of my life, and in the past several years when I've become an Etsy vintage clothing vendor, I have barely developed a taste for the goings-on in modern fashion. I actually thought something was WRONG with me, or I should get out of fashion altogether (even though I'm just in a lightly traveled bywater on Etsy). Then I discovered Ulyana, and everything changed. finally, someone who is not afraid to be silly, fun, fairy-tale-tastic, and do it in the full spotlight of the mainstream fashion world. I love her!

I hope you enjoyed all these pics.. I am always looking for more, and you can stay tuned over at my Pinterest Board for Ulyana Sergeenko. Cheers!

 

 

Moon Day Inspiration- Valentina

The other day, I serendipitously stumbled upon a book about Russian émigrée fashion designer Valentina Nicholaevna Sanina Schlee (1899-1989), known professionally simply as Valentina. Valentina was imperious, scandalous, and decades ahead of her time. Often a model for her own clothing, she was one of the most sought-after designers of her day. She was also famous for her awesome headgear.

Valentina and her husband, George Schlee. For many years, Valentina mischieviously encouraged rumors that she was sharing her husband with Greta Garbo and/or having an affair with Greta Garbo. Of course, the more people talked, the more they wanted her dresses. 

Valentina working with Greta Garbo

Apparently, nothing fit quite like a Valentina.

 

Etsy Item Of The Week- The Perfect Gunne Sax Skirt For Fall

Autumn, to me, is the perfect skirt season- the beginning of layering, of composing outfits made of different textures and patterns. This sweet vintage Gunne Sax skirt is the perfect shade of maroon to catch the glow of the golden Autumn light. I could see it with a favorite pair of boots and a snuggly cardigan in the morning, and then, in late afternoon, when the sun feels deceptively as hot as summer, you could shed down to a tank top and take off your tights to run barefoot in the grass one last time....

Find this skirt in the shop here.

Friday Frippery- Ulyana Sergeenko

Russian designer and model, Ulyana Sergeenko, shuns the subtle in favor of Fairy Tale fashions. Hooray!

Moon Day Inspiration- Ali MacGraw

Sometimes, I run into people in my life who desperately want me to pluck my eyebrows. I just have to say two words to stop them in their tracks: Ali MacGraw.

Moon Day Inspiration

She comes in colors everywhere... 

Sophia Loren with colored wigs made for her by Alexandre of Paris. Photo by Tazio Secchiaroli, American Vogue, April 1, 1970

Gerard Pipart for Nina Ricci. Photo, David Bailey, 1968

Japanese parasol

Pierre Cardin, 1969

Mabon Moon

In honor of the full moon, and tomorrow's Venus transit, I want to share some images and music from one of my favorite creatrixes in the Etsy community- the amazing Kimberly Pierson at Mabon Moon Vintage and Gypsyja.  

Kimberly lives in Emigrant, Montana (that scenery!), and she is an artist, musician, and purveyor of fine vintage goods. She is a force to be reckoned with! 

I love how all of her Etsy photos are like little poems unto themselves....

Kimberly is not just abundantly talented in the visual arts, she is a musician as well. You can listen to the ethereal, haunting piano-based tunes of Gypsyja here... and she has a brand new collaborative project, Isslene and Leo, which can he heard here. Check out this surreal, beautiful video for "Transit of Venus":



May Art reign supreme.... 

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!