Beth Ditto...

very burlesque

While spending a very amusing night at a burlesque show in Germany I met interesting people. The young man on the picture wears washed-out blue jeans with suspenders. Suspenders supposable were invented during the French Revolution. But at that time only men wore them. The style of the suspenders was very different. They formed a H-backside and nowadays you normally only see a Y-back. They also decorated the suspenders with embroidery and they were made out of silk. You usually don‘t see that today. In the last few years the meaning of suspenders changed. You could only see businessmen wearing them. But now the great designers focus on the suspenders this fall/winter. The designers combine the suspenders with a casual look. And more often you can see the classic Timberlands, which seem to be timeless.



Very typical for the burlesque fashion is, that women wear big tattoos. The woman in the picture has a very unique one namely a poison green cuttlefish surrounded by colorful stars. The black tank top with skulls printed on is a popular symbol that this fashion uses. In another picture I posted you can see this symbol again. The tank top probably would look quite boyish but since the ends are needled with red zigzag embroideries the boyish look disappears.
Her red dyed hair is very courageous and the colour is even more intense in real life than on the picture. It seems to me that being courageous and extravagant in this scene is something quite important because in almost every picture I took at the party there is something unique to see. The clunky Dr. Martens loafers decorated with white stars are sweet but in the same way they appear strong.

I will first start with describing the background because it is incomparable since it was a coincidence that this white smoke appeared on my picture. I think the smoke comes from the couple that was smoking behind me while observing my work. That he seems to be standing alone in a great hall gives him the appearance as a mightful and respected man. When you look at his outfit and hairdo you might first be skeptical and maybe even afraid and that’s what I was thinking when I asked him for a picture so that he had to laugh and explain me that he is a very nice man. So his smile on the image has a very amusing history.
Here I noticed again the unique and courageous appearance. The most eye-catching thing probably is his hairdo, which can’t be seen every day, but that‘s what makes him so special. He wears a Mohawk hairstyle that commonly is worn with both sides of the head shaved and a strip of longer hair in the center that usually is died in a different colour. You can see that very good on this picture. The hairstyle was or still is very popular in the punk subculture and started to be common in the 1980s. Nowadays Mohawks are still associated with the punk culture but as you can see they also have become popular in other subcultures like for example in the world of burlesque. Especially his Mohawk is extraordinary because its much thicker and more voluminous than they are usually and the cut of his red beard in combinations with the golden chains hanging down his legs give him a touch of a biker. As well he wears the famous Dr. Martens boots that seem to be very popular in the burlesque scene.

Typical for the burlesque fashion is to take elements from the fifties, what this young gentleman did very good in copying the hairstyle of Danny in the movie Grease by using a lot of gel and forming the hair into a large wave. Typical also for the fifties is to stuff the t-shirt in the trousers. His belt buckle as well reminds of the fifties because of the writing “rock and roll” on it. Likewise he has a similar chain hangin down his legs but in silver. He wears simple blue jeans that he unites with a plain white t-shirt.



he woman on this picture is perfectly styled from tip to toe and fits with her style absolutely to the subject of the evening. I especially chose to comment on her because of the similarities she shares with the young man on image 30. She takes like him elements from the fifties. Her flowered skirt, the chic camisole that only goes until under the scapulas, the pearl necklace and the red lipstick all these things were very fashionable 50 years ago. If she hadn’t got tattoos all over her body you could imagine her being a mother in a perfect home, but just the tattoos that break this imagination are typical for that scene. Since burlesque got very famous in the fourties and fifties I can imagine that for this reason the fashion is so similar to that time. I do like this picture a lot but maybe it‘s also because she appears as if she loves being in her role as a burlesque queen.



This vamp reminds me of the front singer of the hottest band at the moment called „gossip“. Thanks to Beth Ditto, corpulent women now can wear what ever they want. The muse of Karl Lagerfeld made it possible that corpulent people are accepted in the brutal world of fashion. This heavy woman on the picture wears an animal printed undershirt. Animal prints are also this winter an eye-catcher. The black belt with a golden skull is very burlesque. She rounds her outfit with red barrettes, thus she doesn‘t look too boyish with the big tattoos and the rest of the other masculine elements of her style.
It seems to me that women in the subculture of burlesque don’t want to be girly in front of men and want to show that they are strong and independent enough. Still they want to live out their femininity. That I recognized while studying my pictures. Almost every woman I photographed wears something quite masculine or has a hard appearance but only in combination with a girly sign.
Without a doubt she loves to be in the attention and being photographed as you can see on her pose what I really enjoyed. It shows us how she might exactly be in real life.


When I saw this delicate Italian lady with tattoos over her whole arms and neckline I was impressed. The history of tattoo began over 5000 years ago and is as diverse as the people who wear them but still, in the most societies they are not welcome. Maybe because some people think it looks scary or its not professional.
But the tattoos this refined woman has suite her especially because she‘s so tiny it makes her quite unique. She nuckes her black and white sailors tank top around the neck, like this delicate gathers are formed in the neckline. They suit perfectly to her black skinny jeans.
I especially like the background because it appears to me as if her familiy or friends are watching and protecting her so I won‘t harm her. By the way, these people standing or sitting in the background are good dressed as well. Especially the woman standing on the right side, of whom you unfortunately only see a part has a stylish t-shirt with a photograph of a band, probably from the eighties. She wears many different bracelets, which look very stylish combined together. Of course worth mentioning is the man sitting on the other end of the picture because of his old school blue jeans dungarees and underneath you can see a writing that seems to be very burlesque because of the font.

skate

The young skater you can see on the picture wears a light yellow oversized t-shirt, what is very popular in combination with dark in this case black skinny jeans. The colour contrast is very nice and makes the light yellow appear more shinny.
Combining clunky shoes with a delicate and even a bit feminine outfit like he does, is very popular in the skate scene. Not only because it looks stylish, but also because skaters need robust shoes. Clunky shoes are as well an element adopted from the eighties. I think the black sneakers with the white shoelaces look quite unique and make him appear clumsy.


The girl on this picture is the only feminine skater I saw that day. She wears tight blue skinny jeans in combination with a black and white striped tank top. This reminds me a bit of the sailors look. She wears quite clunky and rather boyish sneakers since she needs them for skating.
She proudly holds her skateboard in her left hand, but still has the impression of being a bit shy since she’s holding on her tank top, what for me is a sign of shyness.
The fashion of girls in the skate scene completely changed in the past years as you can see pretty well on the picture.
I remember when I was younger, girls and especially the ones that skated used to wear loose pants with a rather boyish and oversized t-shirt. The sneakers were even more clunky and a girl would have never worn make-up. Tight t-shirts, so that you could see the feminine figure of a girl would never have been worn. The fashion was very much dominated by the American or Australian bands like Avril Lavigne that dressed that way. But as the music and the role models change the fashion changes as well.
Girls want to be more fashionable and automatically are more interested in fashion. They want to be grown up women who dress more feminine.


The first thing I recognized while regarding this picture was the intensive red colour of this young skater’s woollen hat. His clothes are very simple with a lot of natural-coloured items. When you look closely you can see that he’s wearing shoelaces as a belt. It is a very popular thing in the skate scene all over Europe to use shoelaces as a belt.


Apparently the young man on the picture likes to be in the centre of attention since he poses so nice. Again you can see someone wearing a striped t-shirt only that this design is blue and white striped what again reminds me of the sailors look. He wears skinny jeans in combination with clunky shoes.

This young man wears an oversized t-shirt like the one on image 19. The screaming woman printed on the t-shirt is decorated with stars that are coloured in blue and yellow. The brand “neff” is quite popular in the skate scene. Like many other brands focuses on bringing back the eighties style. The font used on this t-shirt reminds me of eighties album covers as well as the coloured stars printed on it. He combines the t-shirt with simple washed out black skinny jeans and typical skate sneakers.


The cut of the t-shirt the skater on this picture wears is very special and unique since it falls extraordinary and beautifully. It has a very wide cut v-neck what makes the t-shirt interesting. The washed out olive green colour of the t-shirt matches his grey skinny jeans. On this image you can see yet again shoelaces used as a belt. Because of the blue ends of the shoelaces they are quite special. He wears clunky skate sneakers and his shoelaces are different coloured.



The turquoise coloured carhartt t-shirt the young boy wears, makes a beautiful contrast to the intense black skinny jeans that seem to be too large as you can see by the gather at the lower leg. Like the boy in image 24 he has different coloured shoelaces.
I met this young skater on my way to the skate park. As you probably can see, I took this picture at the railway station. Again someone on my blog wears a striped t-shirt. The special and loose cut of the t-shirt makes it fall good. The colour combination of his clothes is quite unusual. He combines burgundy skinny jeans with simple red shoelaces that he uses as belt.

Florence And The Machine - Dog Days

I do not only like this awesome music but also the very stylish clothes the people and especially Florence are wearing in this music video. I'm sure we will see and hear more from Florence And The Machine in the future!

be USA

neat olive green wool cardigan, which she decorates with a brown leather band by binding it around her waste.
So again you can see on this picture a woollen cardigan with a similar cut like the one in image 7 of the posting of Berlin. Cardigans that end below the belt are very fashionable this fall and winter.
She combines her cardigan with a white tank top that has off-white quillings. Off-white quillings were already mentioned in my blog also in the posting Berlin but in Image 8. Apparently this detail will be seen more often this fall and winter. The simple dark blue skinny jeans fit perfectly her classy outfit.
When you look more carefully at her shoes you see modified Roman sandals, which are decorated with a silver leather flower.


The washed out skinny jeans the woman in the picture is wearing are very stylish because although they are washed out they have their dark colour and they don’t look fake. The fact that she tucked her jeans up doesn’t appeal to me. She wears a very sweet grey camisole made out of wool is decorated with beautiful big chocolate brown buttons. Also very special are the three quarter sleeves on which you can see the white stitching. The collar of the camisole is very wide and falls well. Her tank top is also decorated with quillings but you have to look carefully to notice them.



The two are wearing football shirts which seem to be too big but this is a typical element used in this scene. In the early 90s the people in the ghettos were inspired by prison uniforms where not only oversized clothing was invented but also the no belt fashion was invented. In my pictures you can see that this two young men are wearing their clothing like this. Another typical element for the Hip-Hop style is the dreadlocks one is wearing as a haircut what also came into being in the ghettos.
I’m quite content with this picture because that‘s how I imagine a typical American teeny. She holds a white cup in her hand and her shopping bags are hanging in her arm. One leg is bent and the other is straight. Of course she has fake nails and is wearing Abercrombie washed out jeans hot pants. She has beautiful blond hair and appears very friendly with her bright smile.

Costa Rica-something different

Costa Rica-something different

While studying the picture I realized that this young Costa Rican is wearing the flip flops of my boyfriend that were stolen that morning, which is pretty funny and upset my boyfriend a little bit. Still he represents the fashion style of the young Costa Rican people. He wears casual brown and white checked shorts which he wears very loose. He wears the cap backward and the t-shirt has a big photgraph of Bob Marley with a Jamaican flag on it. What attracted my attention is that the young folks in Costa Rica are very much influenced by the western part of the world what is logical since the country lives from the surf tourists from all over the world. I think that’s also the reason why most of the pictures I took are very similar.

Let's do this

For a change something different. During my research I came across this short movie, which I find very interesting. Plus I like the music and the people in it are good dressed. While checking out my blog please listen to the music.