Must apologise for my lack of posts- its been a very busy summer so far...
Very annoyingly I had my Iphone stolen AGAIN at the end of May, so all this has been done without - most annoying....
Glastonbury was the usual fun & debauchery with the NYC Downlow crew.
I arrived on the Friday, just as it had started to rain and bumped into Leo Belicha (who's boots had just fallen to bits) embarked on the long hard slog all the way up to Shangri-La (where I was camping in crew with the Swaparama gang)
Have to say Beyonce's performance was a bit boring in person- and whoever advised her to do Single Ladies as an opener was misguided- far too many covers and 'songs off my new album' (really? nothing we can sing along to then?) people were leaving in droves, as we did after 'Who Run The World.
The Block 9 area has a great crew bar, so the majority of my time was spend there hanging out with our gang, met some lovely new people including the fantastically talented Karis (genius hula hooper)
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| watching Beyonce |
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| Sink The Pink |
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| James Hillard |
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| The Downlow dressing room |
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| Miss Danni Daniels |
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| Squeaky |
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| Karis |
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| The wonderful Alex Shaw |
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| Crew bar- open all hours |
Then Lovebox (managed to get there nice & early this year) super fun as usual, our Mr Baillie did us all very proud again with a fantastic line up and the park was wonderfully decked out, with giant eyeballs in the trees and suchlike
The ever lovely Basso & Brooke made me a dress for the occasion (how lucky am I?!)
But as we didn't meet up beforehand, I ended up wearing it just for the after-afterparty (and since in Milan and for Amber's Boob-A-Thon- more of which in a moment)
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| Ilona International & I |
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| My Very Own Couture :) thanks boys xxx |
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| Jonny Woo & Danni Daniels |
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| Lucio, me & Chris Brooke- rocking the headwear @ DSS afterparty |
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| Leo & Bruno |
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| Alex Noble & I, backstage @ NYC Downlow |
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| My gorgeous man Boon, Nadia & me in the VIP.. |
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| Chrissy Darling, Jonny Woo, Beth Ditto- Beth came to DSS after, she is tiny! like 5 feet tall |
I love Glastonbury & Lovebox, both were not dampened by the minimal rain fall, they are hands down the number 1 big/city festivals in my opinion
Last week saw a very special party indeed- a fund raiser for Miss Amber Swallows, to help buy some boobs (I think seeing Danni Daniels this summer must have spurred things on- for those of you not familiar, this is Peaches backing dancer who has a full set above and below)
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| Jeanette walks..... |
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| John Sizzle flies...... |
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| Tranny centipede - Gaffy, Sizzle & Max |
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| The lady of the hour, Amber Swallows (center) |
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| Julia & Lyall |
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| Miss Kimberly- I'm in the background, you can just see the dress...also Glynn, Jonny (L) and fab Jeweller Jacey Withers (R) |
http://www.jaceywithers.com/
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| Ninebob |
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| Ariel view |
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| Colin & Jonny |
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| My very own tribute- Lucio does 'Keeley' as a look :) with Phil Calverley |
It was a really fun event that went on all day, in Dalson Boys Club, a fantastic elegantly decaying music hall, so much love & support was shown (and £4000 raised) it was all filmed for the upcoming film Hot Mess which is documenting the East London Alt-drag scene...can't wait for this one to come out. John Sizzle did an amazing crowd surf, have a gander here:
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150280752437962
Oh and we did a party too, Doggetts, we do it every year, this year we had a space age theme... fun and games
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| group shot |
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| I did a half pink, half orange lip. with Glyn Fussell |
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| This is me DJing- My Selecta style |
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| The Woo performs |
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| Colin & his Tardis...it didn't last the night |
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| Richard Howells Princess Leah- genius! |
But enough about fun and games, and onto the very sad subject of Miss Amy Winehouse's untimely and tragic end. Not exactly a shock, but very saddening all the same that we lost such an amazing, uniquely talented young lady.
We don't know the exact cause of death yet, but her slow suicide has been quite painful to watch- the frustration at seeing each shambolic performance must have been unbearable for her family, and such a shame that she was seemingly ready to come out of it - perhaps had she not had an eating disorder this would have been possible (there are many rock stars around today who have pushed themselves to the brink with drink & drugs and lived to tell the tale) but with nothing to fuel her tiny body and too much of a fondness for the worst of all poisons - alcohol - she didn't stand a chance
I had to laugh at the early police speculation that it was a 'dodgy E' of course they wouldn't want to admit that a legal substance would have anything to do with it
Behind every fallen women, there is usually a man with his foot on her back and Blake Fielder - Civil is most certainly culpable
Why anyone would introduce someone they are supposed to love to heroin is beyond me - its never going to lead to anything good (and surely by this stage of their relationship he must have been aware of her eating disorder)
We used to see Blake in The Griffin a lot back in 2005- he practically lived there, being persona non grata in Camden after he stole a ring from some ahem, 'Character' he took up residence in Shoreditch and spent most of his days drinking in there and getting to know the locals (one of which was Mick, the man he went onto attack James King, the landlord of The Macbeth with - an attack so brutal he now has metal plates & bolts in his face, and then attempting to bribe him into throwing the trial - using Amy's money, of course)
The attack was over something very trivial- Micks annoyance at James' friendship with Keeley- Micks ex who worked at the Macbeth as a barmaid at the time
We were all using Myspace at that time and he was very publicly going out with some blonde girl (Sid & Nancy, Bonnie & Clyde references all over their respective walls) she was wealthy and so able to fund Blakes dole-junkie lifestyle
Then Amy suddenly burst into the public eye, with her overhauled image (the tattoos were lifted from Blakes look) and not long after, there he was in the papers alongside her- dropping blondie & their circle of friends for a fatter cash cow it seems....
My opinion of Blake was that he was a middle class twit who desperately wanted to be a bad boy - and with Mick and the other shady characters he encountered in The Griffin, he soon was - probably much more so than he intended to be
Weather Amy would have got involved in taking cocaine even if she had never met Blake is uncertain- I think probably she would, as the music industry is awash with it, but heroin & crack are a different matter altogether
Not as prevalent or acceptable, I actually doubt she would have done so and this is the crux of the matter - as soon as he gave her that first hit of heroin he has blood on his hands, because from then on they were forever bound by it. When someone you love and are in a relationship with is involved with any form of substance abuse, its almost certain you will be too - otherwise you are on different wavelengths, and are divided. I have no doubt he got her involved so she could fund his habit.
So we have lost one of the greatest talents of our generation- a unique, independent and by all accounts witty and engaging young woman with the world at her feet because some calculating user saw his chance to piggy back his way into a celebrity lifestyle - so he let her in on the dirty secret that is heroin abuse and sealed her fate. He ironically now has a child and a new life, but I hope every day he feels guilt and shame until it eats his soul away.
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| Loved this look |
What lessons can we learn from this? Firstly- please eat your dinner girls. You are beautiful whatever shape or size you are, learn to love your curves or skinny frame.
(I think this usually happens in your 30's when you let go of a lot of anxiety about what other people think and become much more secure in your own skin)
Just develop your own style that works for you- forget fashion and trends, channel old movie stars or Stevie Nicks, or anyone else you fancy - I often work a Keith Richards look
If you're really hopeless at shopping ask a stylish friend to help - they will most likely be flattered.
There are so many style blogs out there inspiration should not be a problem
Of course If its a reaction to some damaging event, then go get help for it, there is nothing wrong with receiving therapy.
Secondly- choose your company wisely. We have all made mistakes in our youth, hanging with unsavory types, this is usually o.k when you are young - you can bounce back, and hopefully not make the same mistakes again (although in Amy's case, this was not to be) there is a saying 'if you lie down with dogs, you will get fleas' and this is very true, your friends are a reflection of you- you will take on elements of them, as they will you and your behaviors- healthy or unhealthy- will be validated by their company, so make sure you take a good look at someone before you fall in with them, and ask yourself if they are the type of person you would like to be, because ultimately you will.
