"Vintage" 80's Accessories & Motorcycle Love

First I must introduce you to Zombella. She is my zombie mannequin. Owing to the fact that I am married to a man obsessed with zombies, its only fitting my mannequin be one too. Perhaps she'll scare off the zombies when they decide to attack? No matter, he has the house zombie proofed. (Only half joking.)

This first piece you saw in my previous post of the Fetish or Die fashion show. Killer belt. The front is the same as the back, and here's a side view.

More tough girl corset than belt really.

I love these tank badge belts and have worn them to death. With everything from a fancy dress to jeans. Always gets compliments. Although Americans usually have no bloody clue as to what it is, and just think its a cool statement. Whatever.

My other Triumph tank badge belt. Again, it still gets worn to death.

My BSA tank badge belt. Love this one as its got a smaller waist so I can use it on my waist as opposed to my hips like the others.

Best part of the BSA belt is the back, it has "BSA" tooled into the leather with three studs on each side.

All of these belts I got when I lived in London, I believe it was a man in Shepard's Bush market that used to custom make them.

Here's a little something you don't know about me... I grew up loving motorcycles. My father always had them, and would pick me up from grammar school sometimes if he got home from work early enough. Later I fell in love with British bikes, so pretty! Most ironic part of my love of vintage British bikes? I fell in love with a man who had a Bonneville, and we married less than five months later! Through the years he acquired two more, both BSA's. Those bikes are still so gorgeous! (Wish he'd get the darn things road ready!)

This was an early Manic Panic purchase. I swear this thing gets more use than any belt I own. Made like iron, in patent leather, and its got grommets around the whole belt so you can close it as tightly or as loosely as you'd like. And those studs!

Zombella needed a rest so that's all for today. Apparently the lack of brains around this home has left her listless... Perhaps some more pics tomorrow...

Cheers!
Suzanne

80's Revisited

I've been inspired by Queen Michelle of Kingdom of Style to do a post on my fun times in the '80's. Unfortunately a lot of my photos seem to be missing, however that's pretty common in the chaos I thrive in. (Eventually I'll have an "AHA!" moment and problem solved. I hate the zen minimalist thing, gimme clutter and signs of a life well-lived any day!) So I've decided to do it in parts as I don't want to bombard one post with 673,013 pics. I have some of my original clothes I'd love to show too, mainly to show how fashion really does recycle trends. (Ye Gods, I can't believe my stuff is now "vintage"!) For those of us who lived through the first wave of punk/ goth/ metal, the new trends are retro and ridiculously overpriced when we were the DIY generation! Many of us have made these pieces part of our style, so it sometimes feels a little odd to see everyone jumping on the bandwagon. But OTOH, I love that a new generation has discovered the fun fashions we enjoyed!

One word of warning: I worked in nightclubs and East Village retail stores. You will not find a single "secretary dress" anywhere in my collection of clothing! (Okay, if I were doing a vintage post, you'd find them from the '50's and '60's, but no 80's big shouldered secretary dresses allowed in this post.)

You'll find a few fav pieces I've kept and continue to use over the years, I consider them so much a part of who I am style-wise. They're so well-loved that you'll have to pry them from my dead hands for me to part with them! (Sorry, dear daughter at age 9 as already borrowed some things, and has a list of what I may never sell or donate!) I've also included some of my diverse looks over those years... enjoy and laugh your bum off, I certainly do! I've also tried to keep it to chronological order so you can see the changes over the 80's decade.

This is an early 80's photo taken backstage at a fashion show I did for one of my good friends Michael Wylde. Look at that wig! (I still have both that wig and a white version!)

Next to me is Michael Wylde, who I had done the fashion show for in the above pic. And next to him is Chrys. The three musketeers, always ready for fun! I believe this was taken with me straight off the plane from London (jet lagged to the max) in "The Pit" at Beulahland on Ave A. Sadly my pretty green hair doesn't show as well in this pic.

Here's another taken around the same time. Ahh, my green mohawk. (Looks yellowy because of the flash, but it actually matched the puke top perfect.) What you can't see is the hideously huge 70's platform shoes I styled the look with. Uh-huh. It was a fashion show at Danceteria, something about London in NY, so it featured indie London designers. I'm wearing rubber from Fetish or Die which was in Kensington Market. Little did I know that a few years later I would be living in a house in London with Catherine the designer, and that we'd become lifelong friends! Funny how things work out like that, eh?

Around the same time frame. My friend Marie from London and I in a late-night restaurant. That red band on my arm? A Ronald McDonald watch I absolutely adored!

Can't make a post without Manic Panic! Here's a pic of me fresh from London with my Antenna extension's (no one in NY knew what the heck they were yet) in front of the original Manic Panic retail store, where everyone who was notable on the scene shopped. We had a blast and met so many great people! Again the putrid acid green hair colour (I still miss it!)

1980's London Tube passes, which depict the evolution of my hairstyles (and colours!) That first pic that's in B&W, I had my pretty green hair! I think it might have been just before I got my extension's, I basically had a mohawk and had let the top grow long so I could cover it if I wanted. Recent hairstyles at the Fashion Weeks show just how things come full circle eventually.

Fashion Show for Fetish or Die, my dear friend Catherine's stall at Kensington Market. Note the studs on that whopper of a belt! (One of the ones you'll have to pry from my dead hands.)

Same night, sans wig, plus a pint!

Okay, I think I've bombarded you all with enough for now... more to come later.

Cheers!
Suzanne