Edit Update: (Mon. Oct 13, Miz Bagg HQ) I am featured in an interview HERE on Imogen Lamport's "Stylish Thoughts" column in her dynamic blog Inside Out Style. If you want to know more about me, "Yesh, secrets of the schtars!!" have a look. Imogen has had some life changes lately, well worth the read, and she believes in breaking style rules.
This is my face when I wake up (minus lipstick and eyeliner).
All thrifted except the tights: shiny satin summery dress with attached lemony underskirt, pink tulle petticoat, yellow zig-zag coat, red beret, D&G pony shoes, striped delicate cotton T, and magic loupe and toolbox hand bag from O.
I have trouble posting my face lately; I have trouble posting any photo I like lately. If I like it too much I must defile it somehow, say, by dropping in a different background or a fake head or both. I guess that's my reaction to seeing Everybody Everywhere turning into models, especially kids who are adept at striking a pose-and-grimace within photo target range.
Do you ever think your outfit or photo is too settled, too nicey nice, too model-wannabe, so you just want to wreck it up? Of course it's hard to get away from when the goal of an outfit post is to show people what you're wearing, but still, the desire to bust out is always just under the surface. The thing that usually creates harmony in what I wear is that little something that's "off." What's off in this outfit? It's not the pattern mixing but the red of the beret being repelled by the reds in my shirt. Brrr! (frisson of delight)
Maybe I need props... Or a cat head and a sideways background.
All thrifted except the tights: Karen Millen dress, floral linen coat with satiny lining, D&G pony shoes, vintage sunglasses. This is what I wore the day before, same tights (laundered between wears) and shoes. What's off in this outfit? The hemline - too short! I liked the selfie I took, hence the cat head and sideways backdrop. So, have you wrecked any good photos lately? Or bad photos?
Do you favour beauty or the beast?
Adorable styling!
ReplyDeleteWell, your face is beautiful! but I do think the face in your first photo is a scream! And I love the bright green dress, totally fab with that stunning red floral coat.
ReplyDeleteI often crop my face out altogether. Ahhh, much better. I doubt you ever have that same trouble though.
I like the beast but like your lovely face too!
ReplyDeleteI know what you are saying about posing and stuff
This is one of the main reason i stopped blogging
Posing! What a nuisance, better leave it to the profesionals?
Hourra for the selfie on Instagram!
Xo
Wonderful art, Melanie! I am weary of posing and smiling too, so I will have to create some heads. How would Benedict Cumberbatch do? Love your jazzy outfit, xox.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, I love that guy! I like your head better, goes without saying, but for an alter-head, he's pretty sweet.
DeleteI've got to say, Melanie, there's no choosing one over the other. All of your pixs are fantastical. Not to mention the ensembles. Truely. And yes, one does want one's ensemble to be a bit off. Too much of a good thing is boring, predictable, etc. I have noticed, lots of your heads coming and going. And I do think that's just the ticket for me, actually. I'm so aging. Another head would take care of that problem area (snap) just like that. But as far as posing goes, all of mine are basically the same, in the same place, photographed in a mirror. I like that because I just want to show what I made and how it looks on. And then sew.
ReplyDeleteYou are very nice cat.:)
ReplyDeleteDitto Pao. There is no choosing. I love beauty and beast in equal measures! Your artful photos transcend typical 'outfit' pics; there really is no comparison. Your post is giving me pause...no cause...for some mental chatter of my own. Is the blog becoming the beast, asks me? If asked two years ago, would I have the intention of posed selfies on the internet, I would have laughed. Now, I am struggling...I drag my feet when it comes to the photographs...
ReplyDeletePS...Thanks for the sale heads up....I did get to My Sister's Closet, but was a little late to the party. There was one jacket left, but a smidge too small. I left soooo inspired though...I would have headed right to Dressew, but the month of October and Dressew...yikes!
If my photo turns out to be a beast, I don't post it, show it, or acknowledge it's happened. Just a vain tart, me.
ReplyDeleteMuch love from England,
Rosemary from www.foreveronthecatwalkoflife.blogspot.com
The cat head!!!!
ReplyDeleteI hardly ever post pictures of myself because I think they always look bad. Unless I am wearing a mask or something. And I never think my pictures are too model-wannabe because----hahahahahahahaha!
No one would ever mistake me for a model! But I love this changing heads thing, must employ it in my own photos.
Oh no. Not you, too? I'm not posting lately because I feel there is just too much "hey look at me" out there and even though I am secretly thinking "hey look at me" I don't actually want to say"hey look at me." Such a quandary. Though I could look at your big head or your kitty head or your turnip head or your 100% Melanie head all day !
ReplyDeleteWell, as adorable as your variety of heads are, animal, alien or human, I like to see YOU. I like to see bloggers as they are, I don't really heads cut off, or otherwise obfuscated. I seem to find it harder to relate to people when I can't see them. And I don't get fed up with seeing anyone's face on their blogs, that would be like being bored with seeing a friend's face, and why would I feel like that?
ReplyDeleteAnd while I am in a contrary frame of mind (sorry, can't help it!), I have enough trouble getting decent photos of myself without deliberately wrecking them! I have spent a lifetime working towards an acceptance and liking of how I look, so actually posting photos of myself is a real achievement for me, and I freely admit to wanting to look OK in them. I know - so conventional of me, but there it is.
Love the pattern mixing, the colours, and the print of your linen coat is glorious. xxxx
I COMPLETELY agree with you Curtise, about not getting that same sense of intimacy when the face is missing. That's a problem for me. I realize that replacing my head creates another sense of removal. That would be offset if I wrote more about my personal life and ideas than I do now. Your blog, which chronicles your life and thoughts and features photos of you as you move through your life, is incredibly powerful. I guess I'm in transition. I always haaated getting my photos taken - I guess blogging has cured me - but I swing in extremes. I don't know where I'm going with this...
DeleteYou never look too settled, nicey, modelled and ... we love your face! M x
ReplyDeleteI think there's a few bloggers, myself included, who are currently a bit tired of the "look at what I'm wearing" posts right now. I rarely take any outfit photos these days because it just feels boring and narcissistic, and while I realize the result may not look like that to people reading my blog, it's how it feels to me at the moment. I'm hoping my trip to New York will change that.
ReplyDeleteI have to echo Curtise's comment that she has spent a lifetime working towards accepting and likely how she looks - that has been my goal as well, and blogging has certainly helped with that. It's hard for me to get a shot of my face that I'm happy with these days so perhaps I may try a different head or two.
That said, I love the colours in these two outfits, and I do enjoy seeing your fabulous face. XO
I love everything you do, cat head, turnip head, you head. I adore all your artistic iterations. If I had the techie skills to chop things up I'm sure I would. Boredom is anathema. However, know too that I NEVER EVER get tired of seeing you. I get tired of me, not other people. I've been thinking of you a lot recently. I've been wanting to dress like an Amish boy or Georgia O'Keefe. One thing I've always admired about you is your complete disdain for any particular signature style. I'm pretty sure I've seen you do the severe black/white aesthetic that I've been feeling recently. I love today's look too, and I ALWAYS love leopard...
ReplyDelete...and you.
I'm soooo lovin' these outfits! Meow!
ReplyDeleteHi Ms Baret :D
ReplyDeleteThank you for the compliment.
Actually, the coat is from women's section :P shuuuuu
I'm sure you look good in it :D
XOXO
Ben
I adore your ability to subvert even moreso when you let us in on the wheels spinning that drive your process.
ReplyDeleteI'm not comfortable in front of the camera, nor with the idea of posing, but I wonder if all these visible examples you cite are naturally extroverted individuals who are comfortable in front of scrutiny and are thriving in the urban/technological environment of today.
I didn't know that it was possible for a stylish lady to look even MORE elegant with a cartoon cat head, but you, my dear, have pulled it off with elan!
ReplyDeleteNothing too perfect is ever cool. The best shit is always a little f@cked.
ReplyDeleteEchoing many of these comments - I love seeing YOU! In every incarnation (and in carnations, if that rings your bell). I have gotten used to the look of my face and body after all these years and thousands of pictures (I'm so vain, I probably think this about me), but I still cringe once in a while. You are so much more than your face, sweets.
ReplyDelete