Dia de los Muertos

Much as I utterly love Halloween, I’ve always just been the teeniest bit more intrigued by the Dia de los Muertos, with all the sugar skulls and other trappings. There seems to be a spirit to the holiday that I’d love to experience properly. I love the idea of celebrating one’s ancestors in a fun, humourous way, rather than it being the vaguely morbid affair that the All Souls’ Day celebrations tend to be in other countries.

I also really enjoy the fact that all the scariness is taken out of skulls and skeletons,  and that they’re made into something fun and cartoon-y instead. I’m sure there could still be sinister doings afoot during a Dia de los Muertos celebration (in fact I fervently hope there have been, because that would be awesome) but at the same time the way the decorations are done enures that the atmosphere is festive rather than creepy.

Non-sequiteur point being, I’m a big fan of these photos by  John Rees.  I think the styling of the models is great, and the story of the shoot makes me oh so happy.

I love this one… it’s rather terrifying until you look at it closely and realise what she is. Such a contrast to the warmth of some of the other ones.

Happy Dia de los Muertos!

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Inspiration 9.20.10

I’m so very much in love with this page from Vogue Hommes Japan 5. I’m completely inspired by the palette, with the shades of cream and pink and red against the charcoals and other shades of gray. It’s a very painterly effect– I had to hold the screen of my laptop to make sure it was in fact a photograph and not a painting, and I’m still inclined to hedge. I love the androgyny of the model, with the almost surprising discovery that he is male despite the pinks and the sheers and the lace and his delicate arm. It’s Caravaggio with a splatter of yellow and a grey fuzzy toy stuck into the frame. Instead, just good ol’ Matthew Stone, who I want to revisit later. I’m almost tempted to go track down the magazine for the sole purpose of tearing this page out to put up on my wall. Gorgeous.

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PS, because I like to overshare and you are big boys and girls who can click on something else if you don’t care: Now that I’m in Parts European, the number order for the date caused me AAAAGONY, hopeless neurotic that I am. 9.20.10 or 20.9.10? All those silly little differences that never even come close to entering one’s thoughts are now ISSUES for me. I really need a life. Anyone hiring? Pretty please?

Some Dali for a Sunny Day

Wanderlust

Kinderdijk Flowers, from Philipp Klinger.

ETA: Just realised that even when I try to go for cheerful, I end up with gray skies. Wonder what that says about my aesthetic sensibility. Ah well. Amused.

Inspiration

[Made in Italy from Pepperminte's Etsy store]

I desperately want to know what her backstory is. She possesses the same kind of stern bourgeois Italian beauty Monica Vitti shows off so well in L’Eclisse. Off to spin tall tales of how exactly she obtained those roses, and to try to find an in-real-life version of that deliciously prim blouse.