Blogiversary: Punk

I'm an old punk rocker at heart - so this post brought back alot of memories. Seems like it did for some of my blog readers too!


Photo by Dijiddle

Alternative style - punk style is what today is about. Sunday I blogged about the tail end of the baby boom generation as a separate group - The Jones Generation. I think the Jones Generation had a particular attitude that fed into the emerging punk style of the late 1970's ala the Ramones and The Clash. It was pre-spiked hair and dog collars although Vivienne Westwood was making that popular in the UK. Punk was designed to shock. The style and music was stripped down - with a heavy dose of DIY. Chains, slogan t-shirts and customized blazers.

A straight A student in high school, I had an artsy side that came out in what I wore. I loved the rebellious nature of punk. I wasn't willing to drop out of school but I was willing to shock by wearing the style and listen to the music! I latched onto the customized blazer - I borrowed old pinstriped blazers from the back of my father's closet and customized it with vintage rhinestone pins, shoe clips and whatever else I could find. I could change it the look by changing the pins and buttons on it. Cool!

So the current trend in DIY and punk style is just as fun now as it was then. Punk style now is full of skulls, dyed hair, black with a punch of color, chains, hearts and plaid. Some call it punk, pop punk, hardcore punk, and there is even something called "Steampunk". There's lots of overlap with Goth style but I'm going to hold off on Goth until tomorrow. When I think of Millenium Punk, I think of this Blythe Doll from Etsy.



All of this is where the Heartz n Skullz and Industry series of beads come from. Slightly different in feel, they are inspired by the same punk aesthetic.






So, when designing with Punk inspired beads, you might want to turn up your old record player and listen to the Ramones. Here are the Ramones in Rock and Roll High School - Enjoy!

Blogiversary: Japanese Goth

March 12, 2008:

Of all the alternative styles I've been researching for this series, there are the most stereotypes related to Goth. I was a little reluctant to write about Goth because of those stereotypes and because I'm a protective parent. My son and his friends are the local "Otaku" - enthusiastic Japanese Animation Fans or Anime. The girls in the Otaku are heavily into Gothic Lolita which is part of the Lolita fashion.


Above is the Gothic Lolita look and below is the Lolita fashion. The Gothic Lolita has lots of black with a punch of red, plaid, white.


(Photos above from Wikipedia)

Japanese Lolita fashion has its roots in the U.S. Victorian styles - during the 1800's the Victorian Gothic novel full of ghosts, mystery and monsters such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was popular fiction.


(Photo Credit: From Wikipedia Boris Karloff as Frankenstein)

The look of silent films starts influence the look of Victorian Goth - below is a picture of early Hollywood star Theda Bara.



So the teenagers who practically live in my house (I think they only come because I'll feed them! :-) wear the creepy cute fashion. They are the inspiration for the Goth Kid series - like the real kids, they're sweet with big hearts - and an edge that not everyone understands.

What was the edgiest style you ever wore?

Blogiversary: Alternative Week Inspiration

In March, I did an Alternative Styles week. It was fun with lots of inspiration!



Mix up the styles I've talked about today and you'll get a Punk-Goth counterculture attitutude in red, white and black. The Ramones with a dash of red - but it's a style all to itself. Not quite Victorian or Modern Goth, not quite punk but a bit of both. A category all it's own. Emily the Strange was created in the skater culture by Rob Reger - who is Emily? From her website:

Emily is anti-cool, a subculture of one, and a follower of no one but herself. She’s the anti-hero for the Do it Yourself movement. Her favorite phrase is “Get Lost!” - both an invitation to travel to unknown places and an instruction to “Take a hike!”


(Photo Credit: Emily the Strange by Buzz Parker published by Dark Horse

I like a girl with attitude.

Emily the Strange uses a single color combination red, white and black. A punk with attitude and a splash of color.

The red white and black theme is used most effectively by The White Stripes a two person band who hail from Detroit Michigan. I'm always amazed what they can come up with using such a limited palate of colors.

The Punk - Alternative red, white and black palate is reflected in the Heartz n Skullz series. When creating the series, the Pinz in my Heart beads led to the Goth Kidz beads and Goth Kidz were the jumping off point for the Skully Kidz - in the same way as my posts have gone this week - punk to goth to punk-goth red, white and black.


(Photo Credit: MTV website)




The White Stripes not only have surprising clothes in red, white an black but use it to stunning visual effect in their videos. Here's a perfect example in their video Seven Nation Army. Turn it up! Meg is awesome on the drums!

Alternative Styles: Plug Ur Bud

Alternative Styles lends itself to amazing creativity in the beadmaking world. One of my beadmaking colleagues, Melanie of Earthenwood Studios took two full weeks in February to open her studio and show us her process towards creating her Steampunk line of beads. An in-depth look at what Steampunk is and great beads to boot! Surf on over there with a big cup of coffee so you can sit and enjoy the read!

Red, White and Black the Modern Punk Palate

Mix up the styles I've talked about today and you'll get a Punk-Goth counterculture attitutude in red, white and black. The Ramones with a dash of red - but it's a style all to itself. Not quite Victorian or Modern Goth, not quite punk but a bit of both. A category all it's own. Emily the Strange was created in the skater culture by Rob Reger - who is Emily? From her website:

Emily is anti-cool, a subculture of one, and a follower of no one but herself. She’s the anti-hero for the Do it Yourself movement. Her favorite phrase is “Get Lost!” - both an invitation to travel to unknown places and an instruction to “Take a hike!”


(Photo Credit: Emily the Strange by Buzz Parker published by Dark Horse

I like a girl with attitude.

Emily the Strange uses a single color combination red, white and black. A punk with attitude and a splash of color.

The red white and black theme is used most effectively by The White Stripes a two person band who hail from Detroit Michigan. I'm always amazed what they can come up with using such a limited palate of colors.

The Punk - Alternative red, white and black palate is reflected in the Heartz n Skullz series. When creating the series, the Pinz in my Heart beads led to the Goth Kidz beads and Goth Kidz were the jumping off point for the Skully Kidz - in the same way as my posts have gone this week - punk to goth to punk-goth red, white and black.


(Photo Credit: MTV website)




The White Stripes not only have surprising clothes in red, white an black but use it to stunning visual effect in their videos. Here's a perfect example in their video Seven Nation Army. Turn it up! Meg is awesome on the drums!

Alternative Style: Japanese Goth

Of all the alternative styles I've been researching for this series, there are the most stereotypes related to Goth. I was a little reluctant to write about Goth because of those stereotypes and because I'm a protective parent. My son and his friends are the local "Otaku" - enthusiastic Japanese Animation Fans or Anime. The girls in the Otaku are heavily into Gothic Lolita which is part of the Lolita fashion.


Above is the Gothic Lolita look and below is the Lolita fashion. The Gothic Lolita has lots of black with a punch of red, plaid, white.


(Photos above from Wikipedia)

Japanese Lolita fashion has its roots in the U.S. Victorian styles - during the 1800's the Victorian Gothic novel full of ghosts, mystery and monsters such as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was popular fiction.


(Photo Credit: From Wikipedia Boris Karloff as Frankenstein)

The look of silent films starts influence the look of Victorian Goth - below is a picture of early Hollywood star Theda Bara.



So the teenagers who practically live in my house (I think they only come because I'll feed them! :-) wear the creepy cute fashion. They are the inspiration for the Goth Kid series - like the real kids, they're sweet with big hearts - and an edge that not everyone understands.

What was the edgiest style you ever wore?

Alternative Design Inspiration: Punk

Photo by Dijiddle

Alternative style - punk style is what today is about. Sunday I blogged about the tail end of the baby boom generation as a separate group - The Jones Generation. I think the Jones Generation had a particular attitude that fed into the emerging punk style of the late 1970's ala the Ramones and The Clash. It was pre-spiked hair and dog collars although Vivienne Westwood was making that popular in the UK. Punk was designed to shock. The style and music was stripped down - with a heavy dose of DIY. Chains, slogan t-shirts and customized blazers.

A straight A student in high school, I had an artsy side that came out in what I wore. I loved the rebellious nature of punk. I wasn't willing to drop out of school but I was willing to shock by wearing the style and listen to the music! I latched onto the customized blazer - I borrowed old pinstriped blazers from the back of my father's closet and customized it with vintage rhinestone pins, shoe clips and whatever else I could find. I could change it the look by changing the pins and buttons on it. Cool!

So the current trend in DIY and punk style is just as fun now as it was then. Punk style now is full of skulls, dyed hair, black with a punch of color, chains, hearts and plaid. Some call it punk, pop punk, hardcore punk, and there is even something called "Steampunk". There's lots of overlap with Goth style but I'm going to hold off on Goth until tomorrow. When I think of Millenium Punk, I think of this Blythe Doll from Etsy.



All of this is where the Heartz n Skullz and Industry series of beads come from. Slightly different in feel, they are inspired by the same punk aesthetic.






So, when designing with Punk inspired beads, you might want to turn up your old record player and listen to the Ramones. Here are the Ramones in Rock and Roll High School - Enjoy!

Let the Alternative Begin: Generation Jones

Today is the start of alternate styles week. You might wonder why I of all people would be into alternative style like punk and/or goth. All of us are effected by our place in time and generation. I'm from the baby boom generation - that long stretch of time when there was a huge increase in the birth rate. But the span of time is too long to be one distinct generation - I never felt like a boomer I was too young to be a hippie. I was barely in elementary school during the "summer of love." I never protested Viet Nam or knew anyone who dodged the draft and went to Canada. I've never belonged to the baby boomers. I had Spirograph and Gnip Gnop not Howdy Doody.

I've always known I wasn't the only one who felt like I was a Gen X-er instead but the media told me I wasn't. My website bio expresses some of my "not fitting my generation" feeling so what's a "I'm not a boomer to do?" Change your generation's moniker! Well, I didn't but someone had the brains to do just that! I'm not a boomer at all, I'm from Generation Jones. Cool - here's what Wikipedia says Generation Jones is:

In demographic terms, Generation Jones was part of the baby boom which ended in the early 1960s. However, the events stereotypically associated with generational discussion of Boomers, including protests over civil rights and the Vietnam war and the emergence of rock music took place while the members of Generation Jones were still children or early teenagers. Thus the early life experience of this group was more similar, in many respects, to that commonly imputed to Generation X.

THANK YOU!!

Thank you for validating my instincts. I can now say I'm part of Generation Jones rather than I'm a boomer and quantifying it.

Instead of the Mamas and the Papas, I love The Clash and punk subculture with a DIY attitude. Yes, it's my generation that sets the stage for the work I create but it's not a boomer aesthetic, it's Generation Jones!

Let's begin Alternative Week with one of my favorite bands and songs, The Clash singing London Calling! Whoot!

Coming attractions....Alternative week

Do you watch Project Runway? Did you see Chris March's collection last week? It was soooo coool! He's made Goth fashion haute couture! Bravo, Chris! I feel like the timing is right to post more about the Heartz n Skullz series - specifically the Pinz in my Heart beadz. So, this week, I'll share with you the creative process for developing the series and what I'm doing to get them out there - including a post about the jewelry designer I'm working with.

Because I loved the skill it took to make this dress - I'm going to risk showing it to you here - it's Chris March's "black safety pin dress" check out the necklace! I'm enthralled with the skill - how cool is that?!? Photo credit from the Elle Magazine website