When I came upon Laura Kepner-Adney’s glorious gilt organics line of jewelry, I was stunned. Jaw-on-floor. She uses semi-precious stones, but only the kind you’ve never seen before, and combines them with organic materials like shark teeth, delicate baby’s breath, oil slick beetle wings and diaphanous leaves dipped in liquid gold. If you are craving something real in your life, visit Wingflash. No photo will ever do these pieces any justice.
This shoot was my Tucson collective’s first shoot, taken in my living room and closet. I rather think we rocked it. Ok, well “we” might be a strong word, since it isn’t very difficult to style a partially nude redhead with the most beautiful jewelry I have ever handled. Let’s just say I have been over-fucking-whelmed by the tsunami of talent currently swarming about me.
photos by Ryan Mihalyi
model: Ashley Geiger
hair: Addam Moreno
makeup: Octavio
jewelry by Laura Kepner-Adney
styling by me and Addam
closeups (by request): Continue reading Painfully Hip Design Collective and Wingflash Designs
Last week I woke up and felt like it was Christmas morning in July (except it wasn’t July, it was October… only it felt like July because I’m in the desert…). Why you ask? Because it was motherfucking HAIRCUT DAY.
You see, the gorgeous Jasmine of Billie Goat Vintage had asked me 2 months ago to be part of her amazing runway show on Sept 25th, and had graciously asked me to please grow out my hair for it. I knew it was important to her, so I didn’t hesitate to promise to keep away from the scissors – NOT an easy feat considering that my hair is my arch nemesis, and I’d rather have as little of it on my head as possible at all times.
Here I am on the runway… Turned out there was actually no need at all for me to grow it out since they just ended up fixing a big yellow clove hitch of fake hair to the side of my head anyway… By the way, those are butterfly wings affixed to my eye. The hair and makeup was pretty awesome all round. Check it.
 Click photo to see the rest of this amazing show! I must thank you again, Jasmine, not only for letting me sport the most amazing dress ever, but for priming me up for the best haircut of my life.
Fast-forward. I have just met one of the most talented hair stylists I will probably ever know. We become fast friends because he is FUCKING AWESOME… and he offers to cut my HAIR!! My gnarly, fried, bleached-to-shit, nothing hair! And what does he do with it? He makes gold. An alchemist is he. He spent, like, an hour on my 3 strands of hair. Addam Moreno, ladies and gentleMAN, the creative director of Joico.
 Yes, Dirty Harry, I DO feel lucky. Thanks for asking.
photo by Ryan Mihalyi
hair by Addam Moreno
gilt shark tooth earrings by Laura Kepner-Adney
Here’s the front, just for the record, in the immediate afterglow of scissor heaven via my laptop photobooth.
 This is what glee looks like
BTW, Tucsonans, we are currently looking for hair models for a free cut and color by Addam. YOU WIN. Please contact me at painfullyhipATgmail.com IF you are not afraid of change.
Phoenicians? Is that what we call people of Phoenix? I really hope so!
Don’t miss BOOTY SAFARI tomorrow night, October 15, at the Ruby Room! My friend Joe! He paints with light! Plus it will be a crazay partay!
by Jill Sherman
With “cheap chic” being the primary focus of Painfully Hip, it seemed only natural to share the news about BeautyTicket.com, a cheap chic beauty site that just popped onto the scene. Like many of you, I love high-end beauty products. And like many of you, I cringe at the thought of dropping $25 for a lip gloss. That’s why BeautyTicket.com is well worth a visit — up to 85% off premium beauty brands every day with new products/brands weekly (think Ruelala.com meets Overstock.com.) And if it sounds too good to be true, click here to find out how they can offer such low prices.
I had an opportunity to spend some time with the owners (two seasoned beauty industry mavens who used their life savings to launch the site after getting laid off from top beauty companies themselves!) and would stake my personal reputation on doing business with them. Their selection is amazing (Smashbox, Stila, Joey New York, Pop Beauty, Estee Lauder, etc.) and their customer service rocks. (If they make a mistake, they’ll rush out new product + a freebie to say, “We’re totally sorry for the screw up!”) And to personally welcome you, they’re offering Painfully Hip readers 10% off their entire order until May 1st. Use coupon code “PAINFULLYHIP” or simply click on this link. (Oh, and don’t forget to sign up for ‘sneak previews’ and ‘steals of the week’ while you’re there. Or, if you prefer tweets, they also announce new deals via Twitter. )
 
Haute 80s Glam Silky one-piece Deep V Harem Jumpsuit
Art Deco Pendant Statement Necklace
Hot 70s mint green halter maxi dress
Exquisite Oleg Cassini deep V sequin beaded blouse sold
Unbelievable pleated backless jumpsuit with lace applique
Awesome 90s off-the-shoulder eyelet jumpsuit with stirrups
Futuristic black, silver and gold waist belt
Sweet 80s black ruched leather heeled bow boots 7.5-8 sold
Perfect red and black 80s cropped marching band jacket
40s sumptuous vintage fur jacket with tres chic angular shoulders
Click to purchase!
Note: Model is a size 10-12, but the green dress, red jacket, beaded blouse and fur would be suitable for sizes 6-8
We had so much fun on this shoot! This was Eileen’s first time modeling, if you can believe that, and she looks like she was born on in front of the camera. Crystal (of Article Salon in Roseville) did some amazing things with Eileen’s asymmetrical platinum coif. The too adorable Tyler & Christina took my left-field neo-noir ideas and made beautiful art out of them. Christina also rocked the makeup and brought out the luminescence of Eileen’s skin. Tracy of Vintage Found did such a great job finding 80s vintage inspired by 40s futurism that my styling job was hardly a job at all. Skills! Thunderhorse Vintage provided the blue/black jumpsuit and the amazing sequin blouse (which totally reminds me of this cyberpunk gypsy dress from the Glamourai). Thanks all! I am THRILLED with the results!
Also, please take note that two items from the last PHDC photoshoot , found here and here, are up for auction at the amazing Market Publique (exclusive auctions for only the best vintage! Prices are easy on the eyes too!) at a fraction of their original prices. Calm down, ladies.
Devastating 80s harem pants with geometric print sold
Amazing 90s turquoise acidwash denim romper onesie sold
Style.com has this amazing feature called Beauty Icons, a monthly look at the faces that have made history. the most stylish, inspiring and unforgettable beauties of our time. that page is probably my most frequented part of the whole site. the chosen women are undoubtedly icons, and are in no way conventional. many have had a palpable effect on how we now perceive beauty and personal style. here are my absolute favorite photos of the entire series. click on the photos for their stories.
Amelia Earhardt
“Indeed, her slight frame and boyish crop of tousled hair led to comparisons with Charles Lindbergh—her generation’s other great pilot. But behind those goggles “Lady Lindy” was a true beauty, with silver-dollar eyes, a slender neck, and freckles scattered across a button nose.”
Björk
“Björk’s striking appearance is as singular as her sound. While her East-Asian features and face-framing jet-black hair led to taunts of “China Girl” as a child, her atypical looks are now part of her impish appeal—as is her eccentric taste in clothes. She’s famous for collaborating with fashion rule-breakers like Alexander McQueen and Jeremy Scott, and we seem to remember an incident involving the Oscars and a swan. Like we said, things haven’t been half as fun without her.”
Charlotte Casiraghi
“‘She makes me think of Brigitte Bardot,’ Karl Lagerfeld is reported to have said of Charlotte Casiraghi, the only daughter of his close friend, Princess Caroline of Monaco—and that was when Casiraghi was just eight.”
Vanessa Redgrave
“There is a quality about Vanessa that makes me feel as if she resides in a netherworld of mystery that eludes the rest of us mortals.” -Jane Fonda
Maria Felix
“She is reported to have stalked into the Paris boutique with a baby crocodile in tow and asked the stunned jewelers to replicate the reptile in gems, stipulating, no less, that the piece be done to scale… King Farouk allegedly promised her Nefertiti’s crown for one night together.”
Iekeliene Stange
“With cheekbones that could slice a seamless backdrop, a sharp exclamation point of a nose, and a strong cleft chin, there’s no ignoring Dutch newcomer Iekeliene Stange… Removing her Lucite-heeled shoes mid-catwalk at Marc didn’t hurt her recognition factor, but Stange is as striking off-runway as she is on. She regularly arrives at castings in frilly vintage frocks, lens-less glasses, and ropes of beads that pay homage to her personal style icon, Snow White.”
 
Louise Brooks
“‘There is no Garbo, there is no Dietrich, there is only Louise Brooks,’ Henri Langlois once said.”
Sophia Coppola
“‘She is young and sweet and beautiful,’ Marc Jacobs has said. ‘The epitome of this girl I fantasize of.’”
Marilyn Monroe
“Marilyn… was featured on the cover of Hugh Hefner’s very first issue of Playboy (The magazine potentate has since secured the crypt next to hers).”
Jean Seberg
“Kirsten Dunst has said she’d like to star in a Seberg biopic, but perhaps casting agents should consider aspiring actress and model Mariacarla Boscono, who sparked a runway trend of her own with her peroxide-blonde pixie cut at the Fall collections.”
Chloë Sevigny
“‘I’m just this girl from Connecticut, very plain looking,’ indie darling and Oscar nominee Chloë Sevigny has demurred. Many would beg to differ, including those who put together Vogue’s Best-Dressed List: The oval-faced actress with the endless legs has earned a spot two years running.”
Anna Piaggi
“Her fans range from Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana to Another Magazine’s Jefferson Hack to her pal Manolo Blahnik, who calls her ‘modern beyond belief.’”
Marella Agnelli
“In 1953, Richard Avedon shot and hand-altered a famous portrait of the half-American, half-Neopolitan princess to emphasize the extraordinary length of what renowned fashion illustrator Joe Eula called ‘the most gorgeous neck in the world.’”
Grace Jones
“Her unique persona—overtly sexual yet deliberately androgynous—inspired both Andy Warhol, who painted her portrait, and Keith Haring, who painted her body for a 1985 performance at Paradise Garage.”
Lee Miller
“While Miller was in Paris, Jean Cocteau cast her as an armless statue in his movie Le Sang d’un Poète, Pablo Picasso painted her several times (she, in turn, took several photographs of him), and a glass manufacturer cast a champagne goblet from her breast.”
Greta Garbo
“Her first non-silent film, Anna Christie, was promoted with the ad tag ‘Garbo talks.’ Later, the poster for Ninotchka proclaimed: ‘Garbo laughs!’ And in 1954, 13 years after her last movie, Guinness World Records named the elusive Swedish star ‘the most beautiful woman who ever lived.’”
Doris Duke
“One of the best-loved stories about this avid traveler and collector of Islamic art involves a Middle Eastern businessman and a jet plane. (She wouldn’t agree to his price until he sweetened the deal with two camels; Duke named them Princess and Baby and ordered custom-made trailers for their transport.) She was just as lavish when it came to couture: Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, and Madame Grès were among her favorites.”
Renee Perle
“In the ‘shadowless heaven’ of [Jacques Henri] Lartigue’s photographs, glamorous women… abound, but Perle’s lacquered hair, slender silhouette, modern T-shirts, armfuls of bangles, and talonlike nails shone the brightest. ‘Around her,’ Lartigue wrote, ‘I see a halo of magic.’”
Peggy Lipton
“With her long, straw-colored, center-parted hair; wide-set, nut-brown eyes; bell-bottoms; and love beads, Lipton’s fragile yet streetwise Julie Barnes [in Aaron Spellng's The Mod Squad] epitomized the era’s free-love look. Lipton won four best actress Golden Globe nominations—and one statuette—for the part.”
Francine Du Plessix Gray
“As a teenager, she found solace in books, earned a Spence scholarship, and studied philosophy and religion at Bryn Mawr and Barnard, where her ‘antiparental cycle’ included strip poker, motorcycle jackets, and a punky haircut.”
Anjelica Huston
“She couldn’t have been more different than the all-American blondes who were landing magazine covers and ad campaigns in the late sixties. But all it took was one meeting with Vogue’s Diana Vreeland, and Anjelica Huston, daughter of Hollywood legend John Huston, was off to Ireland for a Richard Avedon shoot.”
Elsa Peretti
“[Jewelry designer] Peretti was inspired by nature, and with a 5-foot-9-inch frame, striking khaki eyes, and signature cropped locks (she claimed she used Champagne to keep them shiny), she was her own best advertisement. Nights out at Studio 54, she accessorized her pal Halston’s dresses with her horse-bit belt or with a rope of her Diamonds by the Yard flung around her neck.”
Charlotte Rampling
“Woody Allen, who directed her in Stardust Memories, once said that his ideal dinner companions would be Charlotte Rampling and Franz Kafka. Not as unlikely a combination as you might think, given the duality of Rampling’s appeal: a thoroughbred European beauty who projects more than a hint of inner darkness.”
Betty Catroux
“If she had a calling card, it would read ‘muse.’ Tom Ford dedicated his debut collection at YSL Rive Gauche to this lanky, equine beauty with the iconic curtain of blond hair.”
Gemma Ward
“With her wide-set sober gaze, ivory brow, and bee-stung pout, Gemma Ward could be a Regency beauty—although she’s actually a teenager from Perth, Australia (yes, that porcelain skin comes from a nation of devoted sun worshippers).”
Clara Bow
“Bow’s fans couldn’t get enough of her undeniable sex appeal, crystallized in the 1927 film It and in her enduring, much-pilfered nickname—’The It girl.’”
Françoise Hardy
“Even if she weren’t strikingly beautiful, Françoise Hardy would be an icon for groundbreakers.In the mid 1960s, Hardy perfectly bridged two worlds with her boho sex appeal (straight hair, eyebrow-dusting bangs, acoustic guitar) and pared-down mod aesthetic (chiseled cheekbones, an intense gaze, a Courrèges wardrobe).”
Jane Fonda
“With her patrician looks and Hollywood pedigree, it would have been easy for Jane Fonda to coast through life. Instead, she cast herself against type, using her classic beauty and detached sexiness in deliberately off-kilter roles like the future-worldly sex-kitten Barbarella and the cynical—if extremely well-coiffed—prostitute Bree Daniels in Klute.”
Mary Quant
“Even without her wildly popular, provocative designs, Mary Quant would have set London swinging. As much as any of the women who lined up outside the Kings Road shop for her boyish, body-skimming shifts and clingy knits, Quant embodied the era’s exuberant out-with-the-old feeling.”
Brigitte Bardot
“The seductively messy mass of buttery curls framing an impish, good-natured grin, all set atop abundant curves and legs as long as the Eiffel Tower, added up to a delightfully headspinning bombshell à la française.”
Frida Kahlo
“Conventions didn’t stand a chance with Frida Kahlo. From her nakedly honest self-portraits to her open bisexuality to her radical politics, the Mexican artist wrote her own rules. The same held true for her personal style. Let other women be demure and dainty, pale and powdered; Kahlo dressed in rugged men’s suits or color-soaked Mexican traditional blouses and skirts. She played up her famously dramatic features—the heavy brow, brooding eyes, and ink-black hair, center parted and slicked into a bun—and made them her signature.”
all photos and captions courtesy of Style.com.
Like this post? Find of the rest of the iconic ladies here: Beauty Icons of the Century pt. deux
Colored diamonds will make your life more colorful and add sparkle.
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All images were either used with permission or found on the web and believed to be in the public domain. If any images that appear are in violation of copyright law, please let me know and i will remove them immediately.
Thanks for reading,
Amber
painfullyhip at gmail.com
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