DIY Stenciling. Just a few of the things I’ve attacked with stencils. Hi guys. Today we’re gonna to do some T-shirt stenciling! Stenciling is a cheaper, less messy, and somewhat easier alternative to screen-printing , and the results aren’t as detailed-looking or slick, but I actually like the lo-fi, handmade look of a stenciled tee. (You can stencil just about anything, but T-shirts are all I’ve ever done…I need to branch out.) An image-editing program like GIMP or Photoshop or Illustrator or Paint Freezer paper (more on that below) An X-ACTO knife A T-shirt or something else that you want to stencil (I’m using a piece of scrap fabric to make a patch.) How to do it: 1. 2. 3. Just like that, your image is now stencil-able! 4. How scary is that? 5. Freezer paper! 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. How to Be a Femme Fatale. When the MYSTERY theme rolled around, my mind immediately went to Hollywood’s classic noir films of the ’30s and ’40s, which usually starred a solitary detective, a murder victim (or 10), and a gorgeous woman who may or may not have been trouble.
Starlets like Veronica Lake and Barbara Stanwyck lit up the screen with their perfectly painted blood-red lips, soft wavy hair, and inscrutable attitudes that could simultaneously chill a room and make a man hot all over. Looking at these icons, it’s no wonder their style has survived and thrived over the years. Take Audrey Horne of Twin Peaks for example: her expertly arched eyebrows and cherry-pie lipstick no doubt captured Agent Cooper’s attention. And these days, Lana Del Rey and Dita Von Teese are rarely seen without their noirish trappings. While it may seem like copping the femme fatale look requires a lot of skill and upkeep, I assure you it can be done in a pinch with a few key products and tools. Shall we get started? You’ll need: Wild Things. Chasing the limelight, whether as a queen of the local club scene or twirling your way through the coolest art movement in town, takes attitude, and if you want to be the life of the party, you need a signature style that guarantees you’ll stand out.
These ladies can help—but expect to be sweeping up glitter for months. Clockwise from top left: Purr-fectly Fashioned Top, $43, ModCloth; pleated bubble skirt, $65, Romwe; red tights, $15, ModCloth; Munsters, $345, John Fluevog; door-knocker earrings, $10, Girlprops.com Parker Posey is one of our favorite indie-movie heroines—she steals every scene, but she owns Party Girl (1995).
She plays Mary, a carefree club kid with a closet full of designer clothes. 54 (1998) gives us a glimpse of what life was like for those lucky enough to get behind the ropes at Studio 54, the nightclub that ruled New York City in the late ’70s and early ’80s, welcoming everyone from Andy Warhol to Michael Jackson to Mick Jagger. Secret Style Icon: Edward Gorey and Everyone He Has Ever Drawn. “Life is intrinsically, well, boring and dangerous at the same time. At any given moment the floor may open up. Of course, it almost never does; that’s what makes it so boring.” -Edward Gorey If I am ever a grade school teacher, parent, nanny, or strange lady in the park who yells at young children while wagging her stick at pigeons, I will recommend the works of Edward Gorey to my young, impressionable listeners. Edward Gorey told it like it is. Oh, and your buddy Prue? Ida? Et cetera. But he made most of his stuff from the 1950s through the ’70s, all the while referencing the ’20s, and so his characters were not only wonderfully weird, but also wore really cute clothes.
The adults wear fur coats and draping dresses, all to match their dreary eyes and deadpan reactions to things like house-party murders and strange giant reptiles coming to visit. You’d imagine Edward Gorey characters are set in their dressing ways the way Ron Swanson is set in his burger preferences. How to Do a Pompadour. Even if you have long, luxurious locks like Hannah here, you can still make a pompadour to rival Morrissey’s. How is that fair? It’s not fair. IT’S NOT FAIR HOW CUTE YOU ARE GONNA LOOK WHEN YOU DO THIS POMPADOUR! Pair it with the cat-eye look that Arabelle showed us yesterday and people will be intimidated by you and hopelessly in love with you. This is a fact of science. (Sorry about the crappy sound quality; we need to get Hannah a new camera.) All Ratted Up Like a Teenage Jezebel. There are so many obscenely stylish characters in Uncle John’s movies that it’s A DIRTY SHAME to narrow them down to a mere eight, but after some intense analysis, I believe these are the chosen few.
First, we must give MAJOR props to Van Smith, who was both the costume designer and the makeup artist for a lot of these films. (Some of his tricks included egg whites, potato chips, and dirt!) In Pink Flamingos (1972), Connie Marble is one half of a criminal, Technicolor-coiffed duo. She will do anything to be the filthiest person alive, including selling babies on the black market and sending dookie as a birthday gift.
Yet she always looks ready for a night at the opera! She’s a walking contradiction in classy silks, fur coats, animal prints, sparkling jewels, and those signature diamond-rimmed cat-eye spectacles. When it comes to bird-themed accessories, we’re usually inundated with peacocks and sparrows, so her feathered swan barrettes are extra cool. Cecil B.