Angelique Houtkamp: Tattoo Fantasy

Angelique is to sailor girls what artist Olivia is to pin-up models. 

Angelique Houtkamp is the Dutch  blond bombshell  of the contemporary tattoo world. She is a world famous tattoo artist, painter and purveyor of  babyskulls .. yes baby skulls!

Her body of work is  characterised by its clean simple lines which are instantly recognisable and often humorous. Through her personal take of the classic sailor dog  tattoos and Art Deco lines , Angelique has created an  uber cool illustrated universe populated by  pirate girls, sailor's sweethearts and  snake ladies, amongst other darling characters.

"Classic old school tattoo imagery mixed with mythological dreams, antropomorphed critters, nautical iconography and haunting Hollywood romance by way of Angelique's distinctive painterly magic and eye for style."

I have a few framed pics of her illustrations, you can purchase yours by clicking HERE

Angelique has already released a  number of  books, most of which have completely sold out.

BABYSKULLS SERIES

These babyskulls are made with plaster  of Paris and painted with oilpaint.They are inspired by the Hallstatt skulls, the day of the dead and the custom of adorning the bones and skulls of ancient  Saints.
The majority of these are sold. Angelique is planning to make more in the future. Commissions are possible.

" Death Before Dishonor" Babyskull, Pictured left.

ALL IMAGES TAKEN FROM http://www.salonserpent.com/Home.html NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.

Autumn Stockings

I do love the onset of autumn, it spells fitted cashmere sweaters, wiggle skirts and, of course, seamed stockings. As regular readers know, I am a total sucker for fully fashioned silk Havana-heeled seamed stockings in Black/Nude. Quite a mouthful,  I know.  Cuban heel  stockings in a nude heel and black seam,are also a preferred favourite.

• Pop socks are  the absolute devil's work
• Tights are  only  tolerable  if they come in fishnet
• Hold-ups are for amateurs ( I was already wearing them as a teenager)
• As for socks, I am proud to say that I do not own a pair, and never will.

The only thing better than putting stockings on....is taking them off, a la Catherine D' lish. I had the pleasure of seeing the burlesque legend taking hers off at a show, and it was quite something.

Anyway, here is the seasonal round up of the best places for stocking up on stockings!

What Katie Did - if your looking for authentic vintage and faux vintage styles and hard to find heel types - such as the Havana, pictured above and below. They also do great garters which really help keep the seam on the straight and narrow (even if you aren't).

 BeBaroque - produce a fabulous line of hand made  showgirl tights and occasionally pop out some stockings,  such as this tasseled Roxy Heart you can see below. Very Las Vegas, don't you think. Might get these for the hell of it.

 

Secrets in Lace - provide a good stream of classic stockings and new designs,with lots of choice. As the official sponsors of the London Burlesque Festival, they appear to be the leaders of the feather and rhinestone pack. However, for some reason, the models they use on their websites look really outdated and un-appealing.

 Dita Von Teese also has her own stocking collections available for purchase from  Secrets in Lace. I have yet  to try Dita's stocking collection, but I am sure they are near perfection. She is the world's most celebrated stockings wearer. after all .. and her used ones get snapped up by fans faster than you can sing:

You can pull all the stops out
Till they call the cops out
But If you wanna grind it
Wait till you refined it.

 

 Agent Provocateur - I like what they have done with their stockings collection. The quality of the silk stockings or the fully fashioned seamed stockings with a french point is more than adequate... in fact they would be perfect if they made them in a Cuban heel too. One of my favourite shops.

So there you have it ...... if you start going down the stocking route this autumn, there will be more than just leaves falling at your feet!

Sailor Dog

And as you can see, the bottle comes in old sailor dog tattoos.

“Sweden’s first vodka in PET bottle. It’s also one of the first vodka made of organically grown, Swedish barley. The new Swedish eco-vodka is distilled four times and has a clean, fruity nose with some spicy aftertaste and released in a Swedish-made PET packaging for minimal environmental impact."

And if things get messy in the kitchen, you could always mop it up with sailor tattoos kitchen towel, on the left.

Ricardo Cavolo is an illustrator living in Madrid. Much of his work is inspired by the 1932 film Freaks. His art reflects his interests in the circus, the American heartland, Russia, gypsy culture and music. Some highlights from latest exhibit are  featured below:

LBW: The Audience

Who was there: Burlesque performers from all over Europe, the US and Australia, sexy couples, representatives from the steam punk and rockabilly subcultures, as well as VIPs (whatever that means these days).

What they drank: Everyone seemed to be on the Rose.

What they wore:  1950’s vintage look was very popular with the ladies, a cross between Mad Men and Marilyn Monroe. Also, many women went for the 1930’s look, complete with perfect era hair, jewellery and bias cut silk dresses.  Corsets were very popular as well, especially with the younger women.  I went for the 1940’s Black Dahlia look, black flower, Lana Turner hair and Maison Martin Margela gloves. Felt like I was wearing too much black though. Should have had some eyelash extensions ... everyone had fake eyelashes, and it really helps frame your eyes.

Shoes: Spotted a few Louboutins, some rhinestone heeled stripper shoes and some peep toe stilettos.

Hairstyle: Matched whatever era the outfit was based on. The hairstyles were immaculate – most burlesque performers know how to do their own hair you see. Luckily I learnt how to put together the 40’s hair look when I was touring with Burlesque performers a few years back.

Hosiery: So many stockings wearing dames here, it was heaven. Most popular heel type was the French point. The clean-up kitten Tallulah Tonic was wearing the Agent Provocateur Whip Me stockings (pictured on left). My beau had a serious crush on this woman. I think she was an AP model... GREAT!
There were some fishnets of course, not as many as you think though, and I spotted not one but two bebaroque saylor tights. Thank fuck I didn’t  wear mine.

I went for the Manhattan heel stocking – just in case you were wondering(pictured on right). Funny that WHAT KATIE DID call it the Manhattan Heel, whilst SECRETS IN LACE, refer to it as the Cabaret Heel.

Most beautiful women of the night: One Burlesque performer from Amsterdam who sat at the table across me... hate to gush, but she literally took my breath away with her 1940 Shanghai Opium Den look. She looked better then a Wong kar-wai film.

Most beautiful man of the night: Apart from my beau, I have to give a special shout to the Danny Dyer lookalike who worked at the downstairs bar. Oh, and a very dapper Chaz Royal who made this whole thing possible.

Let me tell you about Grandma Bowman

Back in London, I hooked up with a friend of mine who told me all about her great grandmother & grandfather who used to work in the old London fairground business. You know, like in Carnivale. Utterly fascinating stories and family lineage.

She showed me a newspaper clipping of her great grandma Bowman and I just had to share this with you. How incredible. 

Apparently she had all of the tattoos done in a week! Seriously. They needed to get the tattooed lady act going and so  she just proceeded with getting the equivalent of 1 year's ink in a matter of days. What a woman.

Her great grandfather is credited with bringing the first flea circus to London He apparently extracted the secret of how to make fleas jump from a drunk German fairground man.  He used electric wires running through feathers.

Between both of them they had so many tricks and acts, such as:

• Throwing a manacled grandma Bowman of Brighton pier as part of an escape act. 
• Her great Aunt Nellie was the queen of that sphere though and was even recognised by Houdini, who allowed her to use his name. 
• Great Aunt Kate’s speciality was being put in a bag and thrown into the sea 
• Grandma Bowman picking up a horse's harness with her teeth – one night she got distracted by something, and had most of her teeth ripped  off. Ouch

During World War One Grandad Bowman got creative with Grandma Bowman by acquiring an old fashioned egg box filled with hay, and placing her in it, with a sign outside the tent saying:

“Belgian refugee – tattooed and tortured by the Germans”

Apparently this act was a fantastic success. Grandma Bowman had to lie in the box for 12 hours, as if she was in a German-induced coma, and on the first day 48,000 people came to see her. Grandad Bowman charged £200 a head for this.

You don’t believe me, well don’t take my word for it............it’s fully backed up in this news article about them. How utterly fascinating.

Fully-Fashioned Seamed Stockings

Thank funk for the faux vintage lingerie shop What Katie Did, or how else would a girl  find fully-fashioned stockings with a Manhattan Heel in this city.

From today and for a limited time only, you can purchase all of their fully-fashioned stockings at half-price (£10), by following this LINK.

Fully fashioned stockings are becoming increasingly rare – only a handful of manufacturers worldwide now make them regularly. They are knitted flat and then the two sides are sewn together forming what is the seam – therefore the seam is an integral part of the stocking and not sewn on afterwards as is the case with more modern stockings.

Fully fahioned seamed stockings are the sexiest item of clothing a woman could wear – in my fully-fashioned opinion anyway, and if you don’t dig them, then you really should not be reading London Girl (Diana exempted of course).

There are only two factories in the UK that still make fully fashioned stockings. The machinery is extremely big, slow, heavy and temperamental which means that the remaining companies are making fully fashioned stockings for the love of them, certainly not for the money!

The Different Stocking Heels: A lesson

HAVANA HEEL: Foot Fetishers Dream 

I favour the Havana Heel over all others. Less common than Cuban and Point heels, Havana heeled fully fashioned stockings were made in the 1940s and 1950s. The Havana heel is slightly wider and lower than its sister version: the Cuban. The reinforcement under the foot is cut away to the minimum making the heel and foot detailing subtle yet alluring. Very sexy when you remove your shoes.

  

CUBAN HEEL: For all man kind to love you more

Dita Von Teese loves a good Cuban Heel, and so do I if there are no Havana Heels around.  The Cuban heel being defined by being much thinner and finishing higher up the calf than the Havana heel.

There's no particular meaning to each heel type although Cubans were certainly more common in the 1940s and early 1950s than points.

 

 POINT HEEL: For the traditionalists

Point (or French) heeled stockings are the most widely available. They were very popular in the 1950’s. Agent Provocateur stocks some fabulous silk stockings which only come in point heels, like the ones on the right which retail at £35 (I own about 5 pairs of these for some reason). Burlesque pin-up, Gypsy Wood favours the point heel over the Cuban.

MANHATTAN HEEL

And now for the very rare Manhattan Heeled stocking. Fancy outline heels have always been produced for evening wear although they were, and are, rarer than other heel types. Similar to the Cuban heel but with a slightly pointed top with an outline around the heel and underfoot. 

This fancy heel, which is currently on sale for £10,  is reminiscent of Empire State Building, hence the name “Manhattan.” I bagged myself a pair today.

 

 WHIP ME HEEL

The seam twists and curls up the back of the leg with sensual wording that spells out a tantalising message (Eat Me, Whip Me, Bite Me). Currently retailing at £35

 

And for the truly modern twist, Agent Provocateur have designed the "Whip Me" stocking.

Sweet and Sour Lingerie

How cute is this set - it is an original 1940's American sweetheart lingerie piece. Very cute. It was made to lift the moral of women who's husbands were at war. A true Lingerie museum piece. 

At the back, it reads:

Keep Your Pants On Honey: Until I Come Home. Off Limits

Swallow Tattoo legs: The real thing on the streets of Buenos Aires

Yesterday I wrote all about vintage sailor tattoos and stuff.

Today, I wanted to share this picture of a pair of swallow tattoos located on the back of this ladies legs, which I found in a really cool Argentinian street style blog called: http://onthecornerstreetstyle.blogspot.com/

My Sailor Girl Tattoo Tights.

Me and my bebaroque tights and Christopher Kane for Topshop skirt

Dear Reader

Last week I finally bagged myself a pair of fancy hosiery. The hand-painted tights you can see in these pictures depict all kinds of sailor girl naughtiness: Mermaids with burlesque nipple tassles, oriental snake sweethearts, vintage swallows, tattoo stars..... It's all right up my street, like a charm bracelet for tights. A fashion talisman for the would-be land-locked sailor girl.

Sailors and fishermen have a long history of wearing tattoos, and the styles and motifs they popularised in the Western World are a rich source of inspiration for many a modern designer and artist. From La Moss'S Topshop range which carries a vintage swallow motif as part of the brand to parts of the ED Hardy's clothing range and lest we forget Amy Winehouse's entire body, sailor tattoo art is a guaranteed crowd pleaser.

As Eleanor Barnes from the Seaman’s Institute has been quoted as saying, “Some people pour out their colorful stories to juries. Others relieve the tension by writing for the confession magazines. The sailor enlists the tattooers needle upon his own body in dull blues, vivid reds, greens, and yellows to record the story of his loves and hates, his triumphs, his religion, and his patriotism.”

VINTAGE SAILOR TATTOO BABY GROW
That's right - a babygrow adorned with sailor tattoo motifs such as I LOVE MUM & DAD in sacred hearts and anchors. I purchased this for a friend's newborn at a tattoo convention and she LOVED it. Once the child grew out of it, she passed it on to three other babies to wear. It is still doing the rounds of the Notting Hill-set babies.

Venus Tattoo: Appreciation Notes
Back to the tights - although the sailor tattoo tights look quite whitish, they are more transparent than they look in these pictures, with a slight silver sheen. They are 15 denier with a silk base, so one snag and I will become a very pissed off woman unless the cause for that snag is passion.

These particular tights are called Venus. A few months back I wrote up a small review on tattoo hosiery and it is incredible the sheer amount of traffic this blog receives based on those very key words (the other key word is wheelie wig by the way).

So here we go again: I bring you tattoo hosiery part 2: From Suzie to the Sphinx

BRAND PROFILE: BEBAROQUE
Crafted in Scotland by Chloe and Mhairi using hand embroidery and print, the bebaroque products have the power to instantly update your wardrobe and turn you into the edgiest girl around. If you have not come across any of their designs before, you must visit their website: www.bebaroque.co.uk

Expect to pay anything between £20 - £50 for the privilege of walking around with adorned legs and inviting comments from cute strangers – which is a lot of money for something so easily damaged. The flip side to this is that they are a very original item of clothing and there is nothing else like this out there.

The current collection is all about Russian fairy tales: "The collection draws upon Russian fairy tale imagery, exploring dark and Gothic themes with refreshing bright and colourful twists. This playful contribution for AW09 uses bold gem colours, opulent embroidery, crystals and bows to magically evoke the country's enchanted story telling," state bebaroque.

1950's Tattoo postcards

Tattooed Body Stockings: Suzie and the Sphinx

images:bebaroque

"The Tattooed Salomé" Moreau

Tattoo body stockings and hosiery are kicking off again, with bebaroque leading the pack yet again with their A/W collection, entitled 'Russian Dolls' which emulates ancient Russia.

"The collection draws upon Russian fairy tale imagery, exploring dark and gothic themes with refreshing bright and colourful twists. This playful contribution for AW09 uses bold gem colours, opulent embroidery, crystals and bows to magically evoke the country's enchanted story telling," state bebaroque.

Crafted in Scotland by Chloe and Mhairi using hand embroidery and print, the bebaroque products have the power to instantly update your wardrobe and turn you into the edgiest girl around. If you have not come across any of their designs, you must visit their website : www.bebaroque.co.uk

Galliano's "Suzie Sphinx" collection and the Body Stocking

Galliano was one of the first to put the idea back on the fashion lexicon when he incorporated tattoo body stockings into his “Suzie Sphinx” collection (A/W 1997-98).

Whilst sourcing more information about it, I came across a fantastic blog entitled Irenebrination: Notes on Art, Fashion and Style. The author of the blog, Anna Battista, stated the following in relation to that collection, which was very insightful:

"Some of my favourite paintings about Salomé are those by Gustave Moreau ("The Tattooed Salomé" and "Salomé Dancing Before Herod" for example), works that also inspired many years ago John Galliano’s "Suzie Sphinx" collection."

Follow-up versions
I have spent years on a quest looking for the right tattoo body stocking or top, with the main emphasis being to source a reasonably priced, delicately printed and applied on a sheer fabric tattoo top, bearing vintage designs.

At the London Tattoo Convention, I managed to purchase such a top with Japanese carp designs - but the colour was a bit too orange for my liking and the sleeves were too loose, ect I could go on and on.

And then bebaroque came along
So I was very happy to see that bebaroque are now providing their version of the tattoo body stocking.

"We loved designing the body wear. It was so interesting to add our textiles on to a different shape from hosiery, and to explore new and dynamic methods to expand our collections,” said Chloe and Mhairi.

They also have a great hosiery collection (just in case I did not repeat this enough times), which is by far the sexiest tight collection I have ever come across – as although I am not a tights girl (only stockings for me), these babies are fabulous.

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For the full article from Irenebrination: Notes on Art, Fashion and Style please visit: http://irenebrination.typepad.com/irenebrination_notes_on_a/2009/05/tsai-mingliangs-visage-and-fashion-.html