Tamara Cincik

My husband - yes there is still a novel roll of the tongue each time I saw this, barely 7 months into our marriage - has promised to book us tickets for the 3D IMAX experience of Tim Burton’s ‘Alice’, on the next available day he has off from shooting the film he is working on.

Tim Burton's vision of Alice

Arthur Rackham's colour palette as sported by Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter

Helena Bonham Carter channelling Elizabeth 1st as the Red Queen

Helena Bonham Carter is a local resident and someone who though I love styling, I am glad doesn’t use one: her off-kilter reworkings of the Dior 1947 silhouette are gloriously garish in a world of good taste, I would mourn their passing, were she to change.  I love too, the idea of her, Tim and their children living in close proximity, sharing our air and views, with their lives of make-believe and creative dreams.  Were we to one day to become friends, I would naturally invite her to our allotment for a lunch of salad leaves and tomatoes, perhaps there we might catch a view of the running rabbit…

Alice is a girl for all times: the pre-pubescent questing naughty know-it-all at the dawn of her womanhood, the light side of the Poltergeist looking glass: searching for answers to the changes in her physicality and surroundings from riddles;  beset by ever-shifting realities and confronting the maturising truth. These trials are at the root of all rite of passage quests, from the Odyssey to Oz: that people and life is not as they seem, we cannot trust everyone.  Sometimes we have to step off the path ( the consistent Fairy Tale motif) to find the answers to our questings and questions.

I have grabbed together some of my favourite Alice images, I hope you shall enjoy them too.  Have a lovely weekend/Mother’s Day!

Tim Walker's Lily Alice

Arthur Rackham's Alice

Arthur Rackham is a huge influence on me: I love his sombre palette, weaving magic from dismal tones of Autumn malaise, he somehow manifests the eeriness of half-recollected dreams.  A shoot I styled for Purple once, was completely referenced in his work, and though that reference might not be obvious in the result, it laid a foundation baseline of colours and shapes for me to work with.

John Tenniel's original Alice

The first Alice illustrations were by John Tenniel: she looks a very moody girl!

Jan Svankmajer’s ‘Alice’ was a gold dust filmic find one night at the Scala when I was an undergraduate at UCL.

Alice as seen through the eyes of Jan Svankmajer

Jan’s take on Alice, echoes the work of that other famous Czech also called Jan, who I was lucky enough to work with once in Prague, Jan Saudek.  Czech was once called Bohemia: the essence of eccentricity is at the heart of their very DNA.

That awkward unsettling time between our new teenage self and the overpadded child body

I shot a story once with Serge Leblon, where he built an Alice set in his sitting room in Brussels: a mousehole gap between two worlds, sprinkled with muddy earth, mushrooms from the local gourmet shop, as Alice tore through, her red shoes and half her torso left on our side of the page.  I wish I could find it now, perhaps she is having too much fun on the other side of the Looking Glass…

Disney Alice aka the first time ever I saw her face...

Psychedelic cat - quite a thing to set before a crazed Red Queen

Return to the source: the real deal Alice - OF course she was a brunette! Alice Liddell, the girl who inspired Lewis Carroll

A boat beneath a sunny sky,
Lingering onward dreamily
In an evening of July–

Children three that nestle near,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Pleased a simple tale to hear–

Long has paled that sunny sky:
Echoes fade and memories die.
Autumn frosts have slain July.

Still she haunts me, phantomwise,
Alice moving under skies
Never seen by waking eyes.

Children yet, the tale to hear,
Eager eye and willing ear,
Lovingly shall nestle near.

In a Wonderland they lie,
Dreaming as the days go by,
Dreaming as the summers die:

Ever drifting down the stream–
Lingering in the golden gleam–
Life, what is it but a dream?

The Liddellettes

Pre-raphaelite, I am sure she wished like I she had torn down the rabbit hole and was as glad of all her adventures, trials though they are, as I am of mine.

Bat for Lashes at the Brits 2010

Bat for Lashes wore:-

Dress, velvet and sequin capelet, Sequin and Satin cap designed my Natasha and I

Bag: Mishka

Base piece body: Opening Ceremony

Jewellery:  Pamela Love

Click here to see her red carpet interview (i am very sweetly name-checked - aah!) :-

http://www.brits.co.uk/videos/bat-for-lashes-red-carpet-interview

Please click on this link to see Bat for Lashes’ live on tour with Coldplay, hope you like her sassy outfit too!  ;-) We worked on several, more to follow soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN_p2F2RKw4

http://vagabondiana.blogspot.com/

My friend Ellie is a writer for magazines as glorious as Lula and Elle.  She recently gave birth to Doris Donne and true Cockney, and like me (and Natasha) a Scorpio.  See below for her recent interview with me for her gorgeous blog, which allows her free-rein for any uncommissioned musings and is a glorious read.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 3, 2010

she’s tamtalizing

‘I find the fashion farce hard to take seriously.’

My mind is full of starter notes on things to look up when I have time. A brain full of boxes to come back to. A reading-list to last a lifetime. There are thousands of things in there from my boyfriend that I shall shuffle through in months to come, but another mind that constantly gets my own ticking is that of my friend, the fashion stylist Tamara Cincik.

This was going to be a short visual post; a few questions to Tamara on dressing Bat for Lashes lady-lark Natasha Khan for the Brit Awards, but I took a u-turn when Tamara, an eternal piece of passion cake, sent over a feast festooned with references. I love references, the short summaries of what gets people going. As I’ve said before, anyone with a passionality is interesting to uncover. So instead of cutting out anything ‘non-Natasha,’ I wanted more of Tamara’s take on anything. Her gypsies, 1960’s acid trips and Anne Boleyn. Some more boxes to tick soon. I’ll leave you to do the same.

Tamara’s take on …

… dressing Natasha for the Brits

I wanted it to feel and look like tarnished Hollywood. Natasha [left] had a book about the Hollywood designer Valentina [above] who would go to premieres in the 1940’s looking amazing; so utterly glamorous! I wanted Natasha to look like her own version of this: beyond any trends, dancing to her own rhythm and not at all looking like a generic pop star.

Natasha is very strong on accessories and knows what she likes: she wanted to have the gold sequin bow hat made, which I thought looked adorable and slightly off - which is always cool! And she loves Pamela Love’s jewellery, so we called that in and to be honest that was her choice, but I thought it was totally gorgeous and through pawing over Pamela’s jewellery it is clear she was right!

Jackie Tyson created the rainbow eyelash Natasha wore for the Brits and does her make-up for lots of red carpet events. However Natasha is amazing at make-up and lots of photos you see of her on TV or at festivals, she has created the looks herself.

… enhancing an existing stylish ‘flair’ rather than controlling it

It’s vital to work with Natasha in a collaborative dialogue. Image and style are intrinsic to her, as is how she feels - you can hear in her music that she works from an emotional, uncompromising place and she constantly works at this on all level. We send references back-and-forth and discuss ideas and images and then hone these into a total look design. I’ve recently worked on her tour outfits (she is currently in South America with Coldplay) and for this, I sent her a whole ream of designs and ideas and then we edited them and added her ideas in to create a bunch of looks for her to wear on stage.

… why even stylish stars needs stylists

Natasha has great ideas about how to dress and what to wear, she is very clear about how she likes to look and feel. For me, her style is more individual and quirkily iconic, rather than following fashion trends religiously and I celebrate that. Working with me as her stylist allows me to oversee that side of things for her more easily; she can trust my judgement and I always make sure she is involved and updated. I can access the labels, tailors or pr’s as of course I already know so many people through my other styling work, so in a way I can feed ideas and information through and then we can collaborate without her being bogged down with the admin-side.

…the importance of style in determining the success of a musician today

It’s vital: the world is so media-savvy that unless someone is the new Neil Diamond or Seasick Steve, I think it is kind of key.

… her life ambitions

I always thought I would grow up and become a gypsy, and travel about with my hair catching warmth in it’s curls and wearing broderie anglaise on tanned olive skin, barefoot. Then I did that. Or I thought I would live in Paris with a talented artist. Then I did that too. Then I decided it was time to grow up and become a serious careerist, so now I spend my day playing with clothes, and my summers growing vegetables at our allotment and my evenings reading Tudor history in the bath for hours, trying to work out why Henry V111 seems to have murdered everyone he loved. I find the fashion farce hard to take seriously and the regime of work and self-discipline hard to commit to after years of wriggling out of any form of control. [Tamara, above, on her 'festival of love'-themed wedding day. No wriggling out of that one.]

… her life guru

Ram Dass is a spiritual teacher from the States who harks back to the time of Ken Keseyand Timothy Leary. He was an academic who took acid in those early Ivy League tests in the 1960’s and the trip totally changed his life: he dropped out of his professorship and began working with the counter-culture leaders of the era. From this he went to India and renounced his material life and lived with his guru for many years, before coming back to the west to teach.

He became one of the first westerners to go to India and try to reason with his life in a non-materialistic way, so his message is totally approachable and yet intelligent, marrying these worlds, yet there is something very Californian-meets-Woody Allen about his delivery, which I enjoy. Totally mesmerised by The Merry Pranksters as a teenager, I did all I could to recreate that life: going to India at 19, falling in love with a San Franciscan biker who taught Tibetan monks English while his mother read tarot back in Berkeley, and later being a huge part of the squat rave scene here and in Goa. Although there is the potential for his work to sound like the naffest kind of psychobabble, he is so intelligent that somehow brilliantly in the ease, there is genius.

… her inspiration

Stylist Karen Binns has this way of engaging with the world and her work which I find utterly captivating: she was a part of 1980’s New York and there is this, combined with 1920’s black cultural glamour-meet- classic Hollywood fantasia and I love it. Through her work you see how fashion is an escape and a message.

… her style icon

I was obsessed with time travel as a child and for some reason Anne Boleyn was my consistent starting point for dreamtime travels: I would oscillate between her, Elizabeth 1 and Mary Queen of Scots as a child at the French court - all very Tudor-specific! Anne was clearly highly intelligent; she grew up in the Burgundian court where women were expected to be well-educated and witty. She brought this finesse back with her from France and through her, England changed religion, changing it’s course forever from medieval to early modern. Anne was stylish in that I love her French hood and ‘b’ chain ensemble. I’ve recently read two books on her and it’s fascinating how each author has their own perspective about what is true and thereby we can see what is true is always subjective.

Princess Tamara [above] with her own prince in their own ‘Pink Tower.’

POSTED BY VAGABONDIANA AT 8:55 AM 2 COMMENTS

LABELS: BAT FOR LASHES, NATASHA KHAN, TAMARA CINCIK

Johnny Blue Eyes shy and understated for his window performance at Coco de Mer

London Fashion week was it’s usual mix of the beautiful and the damned - more on this later - one cocktail party which summed up London’s esoteric/erotica myxomatosis was to celebrate the opening of the new Coco de Mer store on Draycott Avenue: sexy has hit Kensington guys!..  A rather comforting 4 foot bronze penis stood proud in the centre of the shop, while a ranting Johnny Blue Eyes stripped from cassock to thong in the bay window.  A burlesque beauty rocked the dj booth, as naughty maids in satin uniforms and stockings sauntered down the stairs and through the throng.

The Tuesday after LFW I was in St. Gallen, a super-rich alpine city, close to Zurich, to style a lingerie show. Chantal Thomass, the creator of some of the best lingerie ever and possibly the reason why French women know how to keep their men  was also involved and fast became my latest chic mama crush - she’s amazing: 65, immaculate in patent Chanel boots, Louise Brooks bob and red lipstick.  We styled our silhouettes in a studio located under the cathedral, which added a certain Swiss perversity to the whole affair!  Like Gaul, which as anyone who laboured with Caesar’s ‘Gallic Wars’ in Latin will remember (sorry Latinate/Swiss in-joke: you need comedy after both!!!), was divided into three parts; so my looks came in three blocks: Marie-Antoinette coquette, wholesome in the snow folkloric and London calling gothic Victoriana.

Shock and laughter at the Agent Provocateur show

Back in London I was invited to the Agent Provocateur party to launch their DD perfume, the hint is in the title…  Huge bottles of vodka, so chilled they smoked, rested in ice on our tables as we sat and people watched and watched, waiting it seems for Kate Moss to finally show up. Since as soon as she did, the show began with Daisy Lowe sauntering out from behind then satin and crystal perfume bottle set, in - well to be honest, not very much - looking fabulous in cream knickers with pearls on the derriere and a lace cut-out bra and satin bow.  My other favourite model, Jen Howe, was all witchy in a sheer chiffon cloak and thigh high boots, as she swayed to the gangsta pimp’s tune on stage.  The J. Howard Marshall in a wheelchair pastiche, lapdanced into oblivion by a blonde in black stockings, had us howling; but it wasn’t Jodie Harsh which brought the house down, it was Fran Cutler’s Cleopatra, carried on in by two tanned hunks in gleaming white tasselled thongs. This was London at it’s most irreverant: sexy yet hilarious, a knowing wink with come hither eyes and promises of hot nights to ward off credit crunch concerns…

Seen at: http://www.handbag.com/fashion/daisy-lowe-brit-awards-2008-pictures/gallery

“Daisy Lowe

Ms Lowe modelled in the Vivienne Westwood Red Label show at London Fashion Week; here, she wears a gold Vivienne Westwood gown. ”

Daisy is adorable: quick-witted, pretty and cool, while reassuringly North London and normal.  She has modeled for me on various shoots and the Aslanturk show; as she was going to the Brits and a bit nervous about what to wear, I said we’d help her and called in some dresses for her: things which were sexy, yet a bit quirky.  She chose this one by Vivienne Westwood: which I thought was a nice twist, as she’d just modeled for the Red Label show here and looked really hot, with maroon lips and Dick Turpin boots.  I just saw that she was, like Natasha/Bat for Lashes, also considered best dressed at the Brits, which is a nice compliment to both my girls, and I guess to me, the stylist?  Gosh!..

Always nice to have your work appreciated!

I have been styling Natasha Khan aka Bat for Lashes for over a year now and love that she manages to look both stylish and still her own girl.

Saw this in handbag.com:

“Natasha Khan, aka Bat For Lashes, was, as usual, the most stylish girl there, in a totally original look: a peach cocktail dress, lace gloves, and some fierce make-up.”

http://www.handbag.com/fashion/bat-for-lashes-brit-awards-pictures/gallery

Here’s a nice mention for Bat for Lashes in the Guardian Weekend last Saturday; at the top of the fashion barometer no less…