Becoming Miss Scarlet...

I regularly costume model for drawing events and recently did a Cluedo themed drawing night where I got the opportunity to play Miss Scarlet! It was such a fun night and I loved the opportunity to get my murderess on! For this post I thought I'd share a bit about what went into costume modelling behind the scenes.

Firstly I searched for images of Miss Scarlet from the famous board game and various TV shows to get an idea of how she looks. I then compiled an outfit to fit the character. Usually I use things I already have, but sometimes I borrow items from friends. I rarely buy any new bits unless they are something I know I'll love and want to wear again.

For this outfit I put together a vampy red dress with a fascinator and some black leather gloves I thought would be perfect for murdering someone and not leaving any prints!

I then worked with the event organiser to put together an itinerary for the evening including the number of poses and the length of each pose. This was a drawing session for all levels so I wanted to keep it fun and mix up short poses with longer ones. I also like to take into consideration what props I can use and this time I had the full compliment of Cluedo weapons! With this in mind I tried out different poses in front of a mirror and jotted down the ones I thought worked well. When posing I like to keep things interesting and think about shapes and angles as well as staying in character to give the drawers something different each time.

On the day I took some time to do my hair and makeup then packed my case, traveled to the venue and got changed there. Changing rooms for this type of thing are usually a back room or toilet as can be seen in this ever so glamorous toilet selfie at the Cluedo night.

It was a really fun evening with my posing accompanied by a playlist of jazz classics to help further set the mood. The participants really got into the spirit of things and created some brilliant drawings. I love to check out what everyone has captured and thought this night's work was especially good.

I'll be modeling again THIS Thursday (5th Dec) at Bloom Coffee Co in Bury for a special Christmas themed drawing event with Ale and Arty. There'll be an amazing playlist of cool seasonal music as well as prizes to be won and some fun costumes to draw. Hope to see you there!

The Hidden Pin Up #15 - Costume Fitting

Yesterday I met up with the House of Ghetto for the first fitting of the outfit I made for The Hidden Pin Up project. This hemp costume is based on 1940's/50's burlesque styles and is in itself a burlesque of the stereotypical Western ideology of women of colour from that time.

I took influence from girly vintage magazines and Hollywood films of the vintage era to create something immediately recognisable and cliche.

 

I worked directly from my original drawing to make the costume as close to my ideas as possible. It was only after trying the bra top on myself I realised it needed something extra to help keep it in place and stop it from riding about. I based this asymmetric shoulder strap with a flowing back tassel on the costume worn by Marilyn Monroe for her 'Heatwave' number in 'There's No Business Like Show Business'. This is a great example of old Hollywood's version of an 'exotic' non white women, being that it is meant to portray South American sexiness (personally, I have always loved this costume, it is so well designed and put together)...

Here are a few of the other examples of images I used as inspiration for this costume, beginning with Jeni LeGon who was one of the first women I learned about back when I began the Hidden Pin Up. 

LeGon was one of the first women of colour to sing and dance in mainstream Hollywood films. Unfortunately her talents were soon marginalised to unnamed 'native' caricatures like this from the 1936 film 'Swing Is here To Stay'

Evelyn Pitcher's burlesque costume from the 1950's was a strong inspiration. She could have been posing/performing as anything, but she is shown as an exotic savage moving savagely to her 'Devil Dance'.

The White Squaw from 1956 sure knows how to pull off sexy/ savage! I thought this film poster shows the perfect mix of sexy frothy misguided ideas. She might be white but she is appropriating a crude version of non white cultures that were palatable for the Western audience.

 I'm really pleased with how the costume has turned out and after fitting it on gorgeous dancer Lenai, there are only a few minor adjustments needed.

I'm so excited to be working with The House of Ghetto for this project! This all female black vogue house are an artistic force to be reckoned with, and as their house mother and choreographer Darren Pritchard has pointed out, they have no creative boundaries. I'm really excited that this will be their first full on burlesque inspired work and I can't wait to see where this piece goes.

With my burlesque fans almost ready, the next stage is for us to get into the dance studio to begin putting ideas together for the performance.

Burlesque fan with quotes from real life experiences of racial fetishism towards women of colour embroidered into the feathers. To add your own story, get in touch! Comment on this blog or message me on my facebook page

The Hidden Pin Up is an art piece exploring the history of the black Pin Up and the racial fetishes and stereotypes that exist to this day. To find out more about this project read The Hidden Pin Up posts on this blog and follow me on Instagram @gemma_parker_artist

Massive thanks to my mum for her sewing knowledge and letting me use her sewing machine!

Going to the Vogue Ball

Waiting in the long queue that weaved from under the railway arch and spilled out onto the street, my friend and I were relieved that other people had 'made an effort'. In fact, we were stood behind an Egyptian Goddess in all her golden glory which was a good giveaway, and as we got nearer to the door we watched as an 80's leather clad dream complete with a perfect teal bob, sashayed her way to the line. We were in the queue for Manchester's Vogue Ball and Manchester itself did not disappoint, turning up in all her grandeur to witness the event. 

We had been invited by choreographer, dancer and producer of the night, Darren Pritchard in order for me to to see for myself what he described as the 'inside of your head' and to specifically see Manchester's House of Ghetto who I will be doing some art work with (See my research posts about The Hidden Pin Up).

Rikki Beadle-Blair hosted looking superb in fishnets and denim hot-pants and whipped up the crowd; 'By the end of the night you will all have tapped into that little 15 year old black gay boy from Harlem. In a time before there was ever such a thing as a black president (now any tw*t can do it), when he could only find his true voice, his true family and true identity in the vogue ballroom'. We went wild and the show began...

To sum up the feel of  Voguing, it's about inclusivity, expression, creativity and attitude, it isn't a dance contest or a beauty pageant. Those little bitches from America's Next Top Model would get flattened, these dancers and performers were the real deal. There were a number of bouts themed with different titles, 'Solo' 'Icons' 'Sex Siren' 'Fantasy'... each house taking to the catwalk to own it using a combination of catwalk, costume, dance, burlesque and drag. 

 The House of Ghetto pay homage to Josephine Baker

The 'Sex Siren' bout included a Victoria's Secret model and Barbie and Ken and The House of Ghetto took it old school with an homage to Josephine Baker complete with a golden banana skirt and a pretty x-rated way of sharing the fruit. It was so exciting to see this icon being nodded to after looking into black pin up history and writing about her just a couple of weeks back.

It was also great to see my past muse and model, the ever gorgeous Grace Oni Smith, claiming the stage as she performed with her house The House of Decay in an iconic group dance. 

One of the stand out performances of the night was when the panel of judges couldn't choose between The House of Suarez or The House of Decay to win the 'Realness' bout and they ended up dancing it out against each other. It was full on fierce! The House of Decay deservedly won but both contestants were amazing and what really caught my eye was that despite the intense gestures and savage energy between the two, they began and ended the bout holding hands and hugging one another. That summed up the night for me.

Keeping it raw, The House of Ghetto danced to Missy Elliot

But to get to the real meat of the matter, the 'Choreography' bout at the end of the night was where House Of Ghetto reigned supreme, or they should have, narrowly missing out to Liverpool's House of Lipa. This was where the all black female group took control of the catwalk and blew the crowd away. Dancing to Missy Elliot they were stunning. Slick sexy confident and totally on point, I couldn't sit still watching them, the performance was amazing. Everyone else seemed to feel the same way because, as the judges tried to decide who should win that bout, a chant of Ghe-tto! Ghe-tto! Ghe-tto! took hold. They were robbed.

The sights and sounds and the energy in the room were incredible. I've been to burlesque and drag nights, but this was something else, it worked on a whole other level, it felt more raw and immediate. And as promised, while Madonna streamed over the speakers and the lights went up, at the end of the night each person was tuned into their inner 15 year old black gay boy and we felt fabulous!

The Vogue Ball

Later this month I'll be attending the Vogue Ball in Manchester where I am sure I'll die and go to heaven! 

The Vogue ball is a stunning happening of expression art and culture, it features dance troupes battling it out for glory any damn way they can, and if the videos of past balls are to be believed it will truly take my breath away! Drag, burlesque, dance, costume and high fashion, my pulse is racing just writing about it!

Manchester's own House of Ghetto will be performing this year. A troupe of black female dancers whose House Mother, the award winning dancer and choreographer, Darren Pritchard points out I need to see! We chatted for some time about the historic relevance of black female performers and concluded troupes like the House of Ghetto wouldn't be here if they didn't have the heritage of black female performers that went before them. That includes burlesquers, models and dancers, the black pin up girls from the past. 

Darren Pritchard in Vogue mode (see more @gemma_parker_artist) 

Today it could seem odd to think that black women were under represented in these fields when we have Beyonce and her contemporaries ruling the music industry, however as the pin up girl gained popularity through the decades, the black pin up took a back seat and became something of an underground phenomena. 

The black pin up is my starting point for art work I'll be collaborating on with Darren and The House of Ghetto and I am so excited to start learning more about this subject. There is a rich history of black pin ups that has gone unnoticed or even disregarded running parallel to the likes of the gorgeous Bettie Page and Marilyn Monroe. I'll be exploring the history of the black pin up in the run up to the Vogue Ball so keep your eyes open to learn with me!

In the meantime take a look at the amazingness that is the Vogue Ball last year. I am so excited to see this with my own eyes! ahhhhhh!

Playing dress up

 

I was very lucky over Christmas and my recent birthday to receive some excellant books as gifts. Each one was something I'd asked for and tie in really well with my obession with costume, dressing up and artifice. You may remember I visited the Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the V&A last month which was really the peak of excitment for a glamour geek like me!

 

To further fuel my (unofficial) investigation into the theme I now own Dressing Marilyn by Andrew Hansford which covers the history of the relationship between Monroe and one of Hollwood's most iconic designers, William Travilla. Travilla was the genius behind the outfits in two of Marilyn's career landmarks, the pink dress she wore to sing Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend and the white dress which blows up about her waist in The Seven Year Itch, not to mention dozens of other outfits throughout her film career.

An interesting snippet from the book tells how Marilyn was orignally to wear a Travilla designed diamond encrusted bikini to sing Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend complete with a long tail of diamonds a diamond headress diamond choker and fishnet tights. However the scandal about Marilyn's nude calander shot came out as the film was being made and the studio decided she needed covering up not displaying more flesh! 'Cover her up, we are not selling her body'.

In a matter of hours Travilla came up with the exquisite pink dress of silk satin with it's huge bow and full length gloves which has since become so iconic and copied by many! The only things to survive from the original diamond costume were the choker and bracelets which Marilyn wore with her pink creation for Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. Can you ever imagine her wearing anything else?

I really reccommend this book if you are interested in the old Hollywood and the fashion of the era. It also gives a different angle on Marilyn's life; one about professionalism and hard work and the clothes and her input into their design speak volumes about the woman and the legacy she has left behind.

My second great book is Kylie Fashion by Kylie Minogue and William Baker. This weighty tome travels the pop princess's career in a journey of haute couture and costume. Beginning with the  humble origins of a large brimmed sun hat with her bubble perm piled through to the first tentative steps with designers on videos such as Hand On Your Heart, right through to her triumphant comeback partly thanks to a pair of minute gold hotpants and a white slashed jumpsuit. 

This is a woman who now thinks nothing of wearing a costume of full feather headdress, making it difficult to walk, heavy plumes and corset so tight it almost prevents her from singing. This was the case during her Showgirl Tour. The corset was so tight she had to be cut out of it every night!

It's fair to say Kylie's style decisions have been part of her success. Working with top fashion houses and also up and coming designers fresh from fashion school. Not only has she helped to put new names on the map she has been a malable creative energy shaped and reshaped by fashion pushing ever onwards.

My final books of decadent design are Pin Up Girls of World War Two and Glamorous Movie Stars of the 1950's by Tom Tierney, both of which are books of paper dolls. I cannot express how beautiful Tierney's drawings are. He makes his creations look so effortless! On one page you may be treated to Audrey Hepburn in her beatnik blacks the next is an exquisite reproduction of her iconic red dress from Funny face made to measure Audrey's sylph like frame. It's like having a personal wardrobe for each famous star featured between the pages and each illusration is instantly recognisable. I have poured over the drawings remembering classic films and moments brought beautifully to life thanks to Toms eye for detail.

All these books have one very strong thing in common; they each show how profound costume and appearance can be. They show how something we may take for granted can leave a lasting impression and how the way we present ourselves can change our destiny and create our future. It can define and develop us as people and make us into something more.

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While we are on the subject of books I simply had to also share this gem! Although not strictly related to the theme, it does cover old Hollywood. I had to mention Bette and Joan, The Divine Feud by Shaun Considine.

 

This is a book that you can't put down. Cleverly written and never shy to lay down the facts I feel I now know our dear Bette Davis and Joan Crawford like old friends. From their early years as actress and dancer, the book covers every step of their eventful careers and their star crossed relationship. For two women who swore they had NOTHING in common the similarities in their lives are striking. Both leading ladies with HUGE egos and ravenous sex drives, bitchiness does not cut it when describing the battle between them for supremacy as the ultimate Movie Queen. Long live them both.