Time for a relatively useless blog...

Despite being intimately involved in the rocker fashion scene, I rarely discuss style external of jewelry inspiration. But this weekend, after spending about $300 on, well, only 3 items, I feel it is time to revel in the emergence of 1950's meets 1980's glam in popular edge culture.

TOPSHOP is one of my favorite stores, introduced to me by my dear English darling, Jess. An exclusively UK brand until just about a month ago, the first US store opened in the East Village, Manhattan. Not only did I about piddle myself, surrounded by everything rocker, hipster, UK fashion, and new wave... all the best things when done well and in moderation... but it was the silhouette inspiration that astounded me the most. Let me correct myself. Hipster MENTALITY is not good... but when borrowed and tweaked with your own personal flair, the FASHION movement can be positive.

RE: this does NOT MEAN DAY-GLO. Fuck you day-glo. Neon orange and yellow is my kryptonite.

However, I did leave with this delicious Kate Moss grey on pewter playsuit which will be perfect for Ink-N-Iron. As we all know, I adore pin up but have to make whatever I wear a bit more rock-chic... and I don't do color. Contrastingly, a playsuit was a women's one piece from the 50's which was used as an all-around rompy fun outfit for beach side, pool side, outdoors, picnics, etc. Typically they are brightly colored floral patterns, embodying the flirty and feminine innocence of the era. Love the look but I can't find anything to match my skin tone and personality so until now I've just had to appreciate from afar.

Suddenly this cut is coming back in style (you watch!) - a very tantalizing grope under the table from 5 decades past. Pencil skirts and victory curls are not a far cry from our generation's current aesthetics, but little shortie one-pieces is a ballsy high-fashion step back in time!

I pray to all dieties that no one makes a neon playsuit. JUST SAY NO TO DAY GLO!

And God help me... THE SHOES!!!

This week required an emergency trip to Philadelphia to shoot with my favorite photographer and hero, Philip Warner (aka Lithium Picnic), who happened to be in town briefly for Catwalk Tragedy. Not only was the experience thrilling, it was also severely humbling - modeling is MUCH MORE DIFFICULT than most people accredit. Granted I will always be my toughest critic, but I feel that though I can make dynamic physical shapes, my face looks like I'm either sneering or bored.

Photos to come as soon as possible!!!

Today was especially exciting... Chris and I teamed up for an extensive freelance collaboration with charismatic John Luisi, running for Staten Island Boro President. His website goes live Wednesday with his announcement of administration. With Chris video recording on his Canon XL2 (including body miking) and me taking stills on the Olympus E-volt SLR, we made quite the professional crew. The three of us visited about half a dozen locations around the island, filming statements about various issues and interviewing frustrated citizens about the current stagnation in structural and environmental progress.

Got stranded a bit at the 161 Firehouse, in which I impressed the guys by sliding down the fire pole, then climbing my way all the way back up two stories before sliding down again.

This project with John has really fired me up - Staten Island has such potential but the current legislation is offensively lining their pockets and ignoring even the most obvious community priorities. In addition to photography (and Chris editing their videos) I am going to be acting as a internet marketing consultant to Mr. Luisi, helping him better spread his message not just locally but GLOBALLY with the web.

My ass has officially adhered to a Virgin American airline seat. This April I managed South Beach, NYC, Vegas, NYC, LA, NYC, upstate, NYC... and now this week I may have to make an emergency run to Philly for a impromptu photo shoot with my hero, Philip Warner (Lithium Picnic).

RULE: If you are going to be flying transcontinental twice a week... splurge for the fancy plane. And be sure to apply for frequent flyer miles before you start traveling.

Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekender was a blast! Check out the MySpace Photo Album for pictures of me and my crew, the Pin Up Angels (who I had the honor to sponsor at the event). Partying for a grand five days at The Orleans hotel and casino, I only vended one day to test the (very pricey) waters. Despite being in the desert, it managed to sprinkle a little rain on the outdoor Vintage Car Show, but in the end it was definitely worth it - RockLove will absolutely have a booth annually at Viva!

RULE: When going to Vegas for a week, expect to loose at least 4 years of your life to second hand cigarette smoke. Everyone smokes EVERYWHERE, be it in your "non smoking" room, the restaurants, the casino floor, the pubs, even the bathrooms. Wash all your clothing twice upon return to the real world.

RULE: Free drinks while gambling also decrease life span but make up for the fact that your hair perpetually smells like an ashtray. I started with $20, left with $10, but got about $100 of free drinks out of it.

The very generous Spooky Dan and Tammy allowed me to crash at their place in Los Angeles as I sponsored the Fangoria Horror Show. Despite the event not having the turn out I expected, I had a blast running with their group of friends... Enjoyed the VIP red carpet movie premier of 'Laid to Rest' along with the posh afterparty, and great nights of hot tubbing while projecting 90's horror flicks on the wall. Whereas I don't plan to vend Fangoria in the future (it's just a bit too small and not quite the right niche), I have been convinced finally to do San Diego and NYC's Comic Cons next year. Too bad I'll miss SD's in July... but if I plan any more plane flights, I think the boyfriend is going to kill me! I've got LA again in June for Ink-N-Iron!

My personal favorite photo from Fango Con - With Bill Shafer, the owner of Hyaena Gallery in Burbank, and a 1496 Albrecht Dürer. Yes I geeked, and since no one else seemed to apprecaite the rarity of this work, my Christian Medieval Art degree came out and I started giving history lessons to anyone who would listen.

The Springfest in upstate Nyack was a success despite being about 100 degree weather. Granted now that I'm back in town, there is forecasted rain for the next week.

RULE: If you are going to live like a rockstar, make sure you don't have a real job, because otherwise you have a million orders and about 200 customer emails that need attending when you return home. Not to mention laundry, housecleaning, and bills to pay.

Back to work for me - check out the website, I'm in the process of posting new collaborative pieces with my partners TORCH SONG METALS and JUNGLE TRIBE. So far I've added leather cuffs and stud earrings. Thank goodness I'll be home for the month, I have a lot of new pieces to finish and release! Great to be back!