Mara, Mona, June

A couple of months ago a friend of mine asked me to help out with a school project - the task was to create a series of portraits that would recall literary characters.

As a big fan of Sexus, I immediately thought of Henry Miller's second wife and muse, June.

I know every teenage girl reading Anaïs Nin's diaries has been dreaming of resembling her with her mysterious, irresistible charm and the talent of arousing that uncontrollable desire in both men and women.

I don't claim to bare much resemblance to her- for some reason I always identified with Miller's character more, especially since in the books Mara or Mona as she is referred to was a dark-haired beauty. However, she is described of having Romanian roots which is an interesting detail for me.

But what strikes me most is Henry Miller's description of her clothes- the fit, the fabrics... I remember reading in Plexus how they were always broke and hungry but somehow she was always indulging him in nice things - silk robes, satin slippers, peacock feathers.

Maybe it's part of being a vintage collector and finding rare gems in forgotten 1 dollar bins, but I can perfectly relate to that description. Not to mention my love for silk in general.

So this was a very loose interpretation - I used my vintage kimono, my favorite silk slip dress and this amazing other 80s silk dress I found, which after having the shoulder pads removed and unbuttoned all the way resembles a 20s house robe. Or an Osei Duro creation.

I also chose a very natural look, with a vague 30s updo.

Having finally watched Philip Kaufman's Henry&June recently, picturing her as a blonde made even more sense.

I went for a natural setting in lieu of trying to recreate a 1930s interior; first the lighting was superb and the tall grass in May looked very much unreal. It was also a tribute to their first Central Park love making in the grass episode.

So here is my take on 1920s-30s Bohemia and I think those photos shot on film capture some of that atmosphere.

 

 

 

Les couleurs complémentaires ( outfit )

 

  bodysuit:American Apparel (gift)

silk pants :thrifted

KEDS : gift

market bag: thrifted

necklace :DIY

 

I was pretty shocked this summer when a friend told me he didn't know what complementary colors were ; then I realized that this sort of information belongs to clothes-obsessed girls and kids who were forced to take painting classes. Or maybe just art students.

You all know them - red and green, yellow and violet, orange and blue - those colors that together have the most contrast, bring out the best in each other.

I think this might apply to people also. Or maybe just to classical painting and Christmas trees. Sure, the red/green thing brings to mind Amelie Poulin, but I also remember this year in high school when a classmate challenged me to wear only red/blue outfits for the last week of school before the winter break.

It's too bad I didn't document the experiment, given the fact that I was already familiar with street style blogs at the time. Also, I believe I did a terrific job.

This is of course a long overdue September outfit, but I think it somehow works with the whole Holiday spirit. Chromatically, of course.

I still haven't fully figured out the sizing for this American Apparel bodysuit, although I love the style to pieces; in a size small the upper part fits well, but the torso feels a little too long, creating a weirdly long ass. However, the proportions seem better for the black one in the same size as my other grey and red one. Mystery!

I just love how this double exposures turned out ; they look planned, not as if I shot over an already exposed film by mistake (which was totally the case). Thing is I still don't know who shot that roll I took as empty! Maybe I did it the previous winter after all. So strange (or just clumsy). You can see other shots from the same roll here.

Also, I've added about a dozen new items to the shop, check it out if you haven't already!