Pretend It Never Happened

Pretend It Never Happened is a party photography website from Amsterdam run by Clyde Burrows and Joost Vandebrug. I was able to reach Clyde of the duo for a quick interview about the beginnings and successes of their website. When asked about how he became interested in party photography Clyde stated "the whole thing about people dressing up , I remember when I was sixteen and friday's after school we all went shopping for a special outfit to party in that night. I try to find parties where people still do their best to dress up for the night. We also give parties with Pretend It Never Happened where a lot of "fashion" people come and people want to be seen . We have models who play music, Luke Worrall is gonna DJ in our next party and Ash Stymest will play with his band in one of the parties . I wanted a blog where people could find inspiration on how to dress to party"

Clyde has major love for his holga and polaroid cameras but for the website he chooses his Canon eos 400D for high contrast and exposure. This type of photography has been spreading through the net at a wild pace. Clyde believes that party photography has become so popular in today's culture "because of the whole famous by the internet thing . Every city has his own pack of Internet celebs. People want to be a part of it , see how they are dressed. With party photography you can see which parties they go to , join them , and get inspiration."

Party photography has become an internet phenomenon. Clyde began by taking photos of people at parties and as he states a whole line would begin to form. Everyone seems to want their fifteen minutes of fame. Yet the webpage is incredibly inspiring, chock full of interesting street fashions from Amsterdam and wild folks just having a good time. You can check out Pretend It Never Happened  and see more of their photos by clicking here. 

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The Photography of Ryan McGinley

Ryan McGinley from New York began taking photographs professionally in 1998. In 2003, the 24 year old Ryan was named Photographer of the Year by American Photo Magazine and he became the youngest artist to have a solo show at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

As his website states of his work "At an early age he learned how to skateboard and began making trips into the East Village and theLower East Side to hang out and skate with friends. His peers and mentors were skateboarders, graffiti writers, musicians, and artists considered to be on the fringes of society. He moved to the East Village in 1998 and at one point his apartment walls were covered with hundreds of Polaroid pictures of everyone who visited him there."

Named as "His generation's unofficial portraitist, and ringmaster of wandering youth",  Ryan takes photos of natural nudity and graceful pastimes. To see more of his work you can visit his site by clicking here. 

Book Review - Influence

Influence, by Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen, is a book comprised of interviews with the people who inspire the Olsens. This is a book for those who enjoy Interview Magazine for the layout and dialogue is much the same. The book spends much of it's time emphasizing the importance of a work ethic and action but what is interesting about the book, and is quite an unexpected veer from the normal celebrity book, is that it does not focus solely on the life of the Olsens but rather the influential people in the design and art industry. The book searches to discover what makes influential creative types and goes through a broad range of unexpected characters. Included in the variety are interior designers, set designers, fashion designers, artists, models, jewelers, and authors. The book succeeds in being realistic and did not fall into the usual  trap of glorifying the Olsen's celebrity status. 

**** Four stars. 

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Pelayo Diaz

The 22 year old Pelayo Diaz, owner of KateLovesMe and Central Saint Martins student, has been featured in magazines world-wide including Nylon and i-D among others. As Distill Magazine states "Prince Pelayo [...] charts the loves and lifestyle of a boy-about town. An insight into the hip world of a young Spanish export, this blog covers everything from fashion and parties to music and news. Diaz's star status proves it's not only Kate who loves him - we do, too."

Pelayo's blog is an introduction into the life of waxed hair and leather jackets. The fun-loving youth will wear almost anything, from geek chic glasses to fancy quilts. To see more of Pelayo and his witty personality check his blog by clicking here. 

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do it yourself - the woven belt

Everyone has woven belts now-a-days so I decided to make one for cheap. I cut up an old white soccer shirt into long strips and then tied all the strips together and started to cork it. Corking is so easy and takes absolutely no skill and almost no time. Any youtube tutorial will do just fine in showing you how to do it. If you don't have a corker just get 2 toilet paper rolls and put one inside the other for extra strength and then cut little tabs at the top like the rook of a castle in chess. Wrap around the material and then wrap around again and lift the bottom line above the second line and continue to do that. This scan shows the belt half done but once it's done it'll look pretty kick-ass. 

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Trosman

Jessica Trosman was always a lover of National Geographic Magazine and that is so evident in her natural conception of clothing. With lean flowing lines and natural shimmer, looking at her clothes feels a lot like going through a rainforest. As her websites states " Jessica works between spontaneousness and exactness as if she knew the creative secrets of nature, her garments glow like mysterious objects that have been conceived effortlessly but precisely. She follows her own path which explores a large list of sources that goes from art-deco furniture to insect anatomy, astronaut suits and roller-coaster structures. "

Living in Buenos Aires, she continually finds inspiration while working, ironically enough, right beside a football stadium. Yet her line has travelled world wide being sold currently in the Americas, Europe, the Middle-East, and now Japan. Classical yet with a very new vibe her line will certainly go far. You can see more of Trosman's designs by clicking here.  Also, the website has groovy music.

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