30 Oct 2011

Looks I’m Lovin’ #1: We Found Love

I wasn’t too impressed by the song itself, but the video for We Found Love has turned out to be one of the coolest music videos I’ve seen this year.

What I specially love about it are the looks both Rihanna and Dudley O’Shaughnessy are wearing throughout the four and a half minutes of footage. It’s hard to believe that such a bizarre mixture of trashy punk, Rastafari, denim and sportsy casual fashion can work at all… but it really does! And what has surprised me the most is the truly androgynous quality of the result.

The two of them look like they could just be wearing each other’s clothes (I think they actually do that in some of the scenes) and it would make no difference. Even when she’s wearing the most feminine elements –like lingerie, stockings or short skirts–, Rihanna doesn’t look like the girl in the story. She just looks like herself, and that’s what this is all about, right?

Plus, I specially like the fact that she picked up such an elegantly slim boy for the part (nothing like the ultra-muscular Viking gods we’ve seen in some of the latest Lady Gaga or Jennifer Lopez vids). Guys can wear fancy clothes too, and I love to see them doing so! ;)

And now that I’m done with the introduction, let’s take a closer look at my favourite outfits in this video!

(It was quite hard to take screencaps of the entire looks, so I’d recommend you to watch it again afterwards in order to appreciate them better)

Punk Lolita

008

This is probably my favourite look in the entire video. It’s not hard to imagine something like this in the streets of Harajuku (I have a couple of outfits in this style myself! LOL). The blouse is just gorgeous, and the short skirt is balanced out by the worn-out stockings and the brutal platform shoes. I also love the oversize blazer she’s wearing on top. The whole look has a strict uniform feel to it, but it’s extremely punk at the same time.

007

However, what I like most about this look is how great it’s matched with Dudley’s ultra-punk outfit. The tartan pants, the red boots, the denim jacket… All I can say is: WOW.

006

Jamaican Jam

013

It takes a true Caribbean to wear a Rastafari hat and make it look like the most natural thing in the world. Unfortunately, there aren’t many shots of this outfit, so I haven’t been able to observe it in detail. I love the mix of the Jamaican hat with the jeans and the tracksuit jacket. There is something SO irresistibly boyish about this look…!

Of course, Dudley’s Kingston Pyjama Party outfit is just exquisite. It’s a pity there aren’t almost any shots of it, because it’s one of the craziest looks in the entire video. For what I can see, he’s wearing some U.S. flag themed pyjama-like denim suit under an oversize black blazer and a more discrete black Rastafari hat on top. INSANE!

Once again, both outfits are so perfectly combined the overall effect is more than impressive. Chapeau! ;)

014

Trashy Punk

011

This is probably the trashiest outfit in this video. The combination of elements (stockings, thick platform shoes, short skirt, belly-revealing blouse) is quite similar to the first outfit, but the combination of denim and white gives it a completely different feel. However, my favourite part of this look is that killer bomber jacket. It’s so wonderfully brutal it really balances the whole thing out.

010

Dudley’s full-denim look rules too. His Misfits jacket couldn’t be more iconic. If I’m not wrong, he’s wearing the same hat he was wearing at the store, and those straps… Whoa! That’s what I call a Rude Boy! :D

003

Denim & Crochet

005

Some more cool denim outfits. I really like the texture of those worn-out jeans, and the crochet top has a fancy grunge edge. Plus, is she wearing boxers? Me like! (LOL)

I can’t see much of Dudley’s outfit here, but I love the hoodie he’s wearing under the denim jacket (I have to say I’m a huge fan of hoodies! LOL). As strange as it may sound, I think it softens his look a bit and prevents him from looking too masculine.

Both outfits are perfectly matched, as usual, and the result is extremely lovely ^^

Rockabilly Craze

018

Some cool 50s-inspired rockabilly denim fashion. This outfit is quite minimal, but Rihanna is Rihanna and she can do whatever she wants (LOL). My favourite part of this look is her fancy retro-but-not-retro hairstyle with the bandana tied on her head. Plus, that killer look really KILLS!

020

Unfortunately, we can’t see what Dudley is wearing this time, so we won’t know how great their outfits are surely matched.

019

Miscellanea!

004

Commando Rastafari! – Is it me, or I’m seeing military fashion everywhere lately? LOL

012

“Yeeeeeah – it’s a party in the U.S.A.” ;)

021

I call this look… The Wrestler (LOL). I think that’s the Misfits jacket again, by the way. Like I said, they both look great in each other’s clothes :)

022

This is not the first time Rihanna experiments with androgynous and hard-edged looks, but I think she's never gone this far before. It feels like she's exploring new ground here, and I just hope she keeps on doing it, because there aren't many people out there who dare to be truly BRAVE with fashion, and that's right what this world needs :D

For those about to love RiRi (and Dudley O’Shaughnessy)… we salute you!

26 Oct 2011

Commando

Today I will be introducing my personal concept of casual wear. I hate boredom above all things, so I’m afraid this is the simplest my looks ever get these days. I can’t wear something if it doesn’t have a concept – not even at the supermarket!

I usually start my outfits from a single piece of clothing: I just put it on and see where it leads me. In this occasion I started off with the trainers.

These Converse-like shoes are always an invitation to teenage looks for me, so I usually end up wearing them with drainpipe jeans of any matching colour, just like the emo kids used to do a few years ago (I’m sure some of you still do it now – don’t lose it, Junge ;) ). Purple goes with purple, so purple jeans were the next logical step. I tried to add some white on the top (to match the white details on the trainers), but it didn’t work. I attempted a total purple look, but it bored me, so finally I decided to go for colour blocking. That’s a really unusual solution for me, but this time it seemed like the right thing to do.

I was quite surprised to see how good purple and khaki matched. I put on a khaki T-shirt with a vintage military-looking jacket and completed the look with a matching cap. However, that was just half of the work done.

The hardest part about creating this kind of teenage looks (any look that features tight jeans and Converse-like trainers is bound to be teenage by definition LOL) is not allowing them to end up looking too girly, and at this point that was my biggest concern. However, all my worries disappeared when I saw myself in the mirror.

When I looked at my reflection, the first thing that came to my mind was Commando (an awesome –and absurd– Arnold Schwarzenegger movie from the mid 80s) and the fictional country Val Verde.

(You might have guessed by this display of geeky knowledge that I’m somewhat of a fan of action movies LOL)

It was obvious that this look was asking for a military edge, and I had to figure out how to get it. Immediately, I thought of the outfit Bill Kaulitz wore for the press conference at the German Embassy in Tokio Hotel’s first visit to Japan: the camo jacket, the worn-out jeans, the fingerless gloves, the golden nails and *oh Lord* the bullet belt.

Bullet belt 03Bullet belt 01

If THAT bullet belt isn’t iconic, I don’t know what is. I don’t have anything similar in my wardrobe (even though it’s in my shopping list from now on), but you know what my slogan says: “If you don’t have something you like, make your own version of it.” And that’s exactly what I did. I picked up my old XL leather belt (you might remember it from my previous post) and put it across my shoulder. Simple means, huge results :D

I added the leather collar and the chain to accentuate the guerrilla feel. Bennett (the guy with the thick moustache in the Commando trailer LOL) wears a chain on his neck too, and I found that really fancy. I specially liked the way this particular chain (I don’t need to remind you it’s really a dog collar LOL) looked in this outfit because the nameplate reminded me of soldiers’ dog tags. That idea led me to pick the cross pendant. That cross has always reminded me of the graves on Metallica’s Master Of Puppets cover.

master

There’s actually a name tag hanging from one of the crosses in the first row, so the Master connection was quite huge ;)

I used the bar code belt to add some structure to the bottom of the T-shirt. I have some kind of unhealthy obsession with that part of my outfits: I always HATE the way my T-shirts look down there and I get no sleep until I do something about it. When I looked at Bill’s pictures later, I noticed he also did the two belt thing in his own Commando look. However, that similarity wasn’t intentional LOL

The tank top was a last minute fix. I was facing an extremely cold morning and I desperately needed something that could warm me up a bit. A tank top is certainly not the warmest piece of clothing in the world, but it helped to protect my body from the icy air currents under my extremely loosely fit T-shirt, furthermore adding the perfect finish touch to my “The Ramones meet Schwarzenegger’s Commando” outfit :)

No need to wonder what would that sound like ;)

Tank top: Road Rage Motorcycles
T-shirt: MNG
Jeans: MNG
Trainers: North Star
Jacket: vintage (purchased at Humana)
Belt: vintage (Italy, 1991)
Bar code belt: unknown
Choker and chains: dog collars (purchased at Auchan)
Pendant: unknown (purchased at LSD)
Cap: CCC (stands for "Cheap Chinese Clothing" LOL)

20 Oct 2011

Goth For One Day!

I thought it would be a good idea to start this blog by reviewing some of my very first looks. I didn't take many pictures or notes of my everyday outfits during my school years, so many of them just got lost in the way. But some others didn't...


01 outfit bad

This one is actually the first aggressive look I ever created. These pics were taken in 2005 but I came up with the original outfit back in 2003.

I don't even know how it happened. Mango just had this fancy punk winter(?) collection (I always shop in outlets, so it wasn't the latest season when I got my hands over it) and I really loved these three pieces: the "Punk for one Day" T-shirt with silver print, studs and a zipper on top, the asymmetric skirt that also had matching zippers on the side and this really curious long-sleeved T-shirt with laced-up sleeves (I call it "Scissorhands" because it reminds me of the clasps on Edward's suit :P).

It's curious that this particular collection caught my attention that much, because I wasn't even into punk or heavy metal at that time, but all of a sudden I felt the need to look dark - really dark.

I remember I was choosing what to wear on the first day of term (it was September in Spain - way too hot to be wearing THAT! LOL). I had bought these clothes just a few days earlier and I was dying to put them on - even if it was still summer. I really wanted to make a statement. I wanted to look as menacing as I could.

I didn't want to choose between these two T-shirts, so I decided to put them both on at once - I think that's how I came up with the idea of layering them. The boots were also a relatively recent purchase (I'd had them for a year or so) and I liked the slightly medieval touch they added to my just discovered goth-self. But I still didn't have enough. For the first time in my life, I felt the need to add more and more and more to my outfit. I rummaged through all the drawers at home until I found that huge vintage leather belt. It was too big for me, but I didn't care. I liked the idea of it hanging lopsided on my hip. It was all so punk!

I can't remember if I already had the chains and the choker at that time or if I added those later, but even without them I bet the result was more than convincing.

Unfortunately, when I woke up the next day the wheather was even hotter than I had expected, so I had to give up on my dream of making a shocking entrance and ended up wearing a lighter summer-adapted version of my outfit.

You can't always win, and being a full-time goth in Spain is not the easiest job...

All my admiration goes to them ;)


02 outfit good

Collar and chain: dog collars (purchased at Auchan)
T-shirt: MNG
Long-sleeved T-shirt: MNG
Belt: vintage (Italy, 1991)
Skirt: MNG
Boots: Bata

5 Oct 2011

Take A Bite

Hello!

My name is Deadly Bite and I'm a musician - singer, songwriter, guitarrist, amateur producer, future band leader and massive music fan :)

First of all: I don't really consider myself a fashion blogger, since I don't belong to the fashion world and I don't intend to. However, I do consider fashion a great form of artistic expression and a way of making the world a much more interesting place. I've been creating crazy outfits since my teen years (I'm still in my teens, of course ;) ) and I've been thinking it's about time to start documenting them and have some fun talking about the things that inspire me and all that kind of stuff.

I define my style as androgynous and juvenile with a really hard edge, even though I don't like to dress in the same fashion all the time. My looks range from agressive punk/goth to lush hippie glam, including almost anything in between, but whatever I'm wearing, I always try to add a touch of humour ;) I'm not a serious kind of person and I'm afraid that really shows in my wardrobe :P

My budget is quite limited, so I do almost all of my shopping in outlets and second-hand stores, and I use a lot of vintage clothing too. However, that's not a problem since I don't really follow any trends. I focus on creating my own personal versions of the things I like, whether it's designer clothing, underground fashion or just something I've seen in a movie or a music video.

My biggest style references are, of course, Bill and Tom Kaulitz, Marilyn Manson and the boys and girls from Harajuku and Shibuya (you can see some of their incredible looks in Tokyo Fashion! ^^). As you might already suspect, I'm a huge Japan lover! n_n

If you're interested in fashion blogging you should also pay a visit to my good friend Claudia - I stole the idea for my blog from hers, so check that one out too! ;)

Oh, and if you want to know more about me as a musician, check out my SoundCloud to hear some of my live acostic covers and our official Myspace to find out more about my still-in-the-making-band.

Enjoy!


D.B.