Shaun of the (Un)Dead

Clever title, I know. Mah brain ish FRIED. Bleh. But, on a high note, Maud and I are doing a vampire themed photo shoot this weekend. Why? Because we secretly want to be vampires and evidently that's very on-trend right now. Before your brain goes to that tween-dominated Twilight stuff, no, that's not what we're doing. We're not doing Underworld either. It's going to be more of a blend of True Blood, Interview with a Vampire, and Dracula (the old school Dracula).

In my mind it's the story of two girls (since Maudie and I are modeling--le gasp! You may actually see our faces) who get turned into vampires in the very early 1800's, and then sort of wander through the country as these animalistic, fleety nomads. So their clothes are reminiscent of that Victorian, Gothic era, but they've also picked up newer pieces along the way, like a menswear vest from the 1920's, a fur stole from the 1940's, and so on. We're doing (or going to attempt to do) the shoot in an old cemetery nearby, so that'll be interesting. We're thinking barefoot, slightly smudgy/dirty, messy hair, maybe some Rodarte-esque tribal tattoos.

As for makeup, obviously pale-ish skin (dewey but no color in the cheeks), which neither of us has to work too hard at, and maybe a mixture of nude and stained lips. Definitely no red lipstick. Personally I want to nude out my lips with a little concealer and layer a bit of berry gloss on top (so yes, I'll probably cave on Clinique's Black Honey gloss). For the eyes, I think we should do a heavy crease to exaggerate the brow bone for a really primal feel, and then do elongated shadow/liner to give the eye a feline quality. I don't want to cop out and just do a smokey eye, because I feel like that's such a standard thing for the vampire look (red lipstick and smokey eyes) and I want to go a little further out of the box. Even if it means ugly instead of pretty. I'm feeling lots of greys and purples for the eyeshadow, lots of heavy blending, some black eyeliner.

We've got lots of cool, old props lined up. Think antique lanterns, perhaps an antique (but broken!) pistol, weird old mirrors and photos and the like. As for the clothes, there's a lot, and I mean a lot, of crazy vintage pieces, and I've got a few pics to give you guys a sneak peek.

Why do I own these things? That's a fantastic question. Like this torn up black tulle dress and oversized plastic cross. No idea. Not questioning it. This black velvet dress was actually my grandma's. It has tiny buttons up the cuffs and a sheer, beaded/sequined panel over the shoulders and across the back. The fur stole was also my grandma's, and will now be mine. Sorry dad. It's too flufftastic to sit in a closet all the time.


A sheer, black lace sequined trim cardigan? How do these things live in my house for so long without me knowing about them?! And I was just pining over that Rodarte lace cardigan today. Why yes, that is a fur-trimmed cape. I just--wow. And then some creepy/awesome random jewelry pieces. That cross is like 10 times older than me. Very vampire appropriate, no?


In unrelated but entertaining news, I cut two of the bows off my leopard Rodarte for Target dress, and now have two leopard print oversized bows to play with. Yippee! They're the color in the first pic, I don't know why the other three are coming out acid yellow. Eek. So far I'm thinking I could attach one to a belt for something fun and whimsical, turn one into a brooch and pin it on tees and cardigans, or attach one to a headband and go all Lady Gaga. I know I would be publicly mocked for this, but I really love the last one. Another other ideas guys?


That's all from me. Happy Holidays guys!