Christmas card inspiration

I'd like to tell you a little bit about the unseen making of this image, which I shot for Beyond Burlesque couture in London a few years ago (the Beyond Burlesque designer also creates corsets for Vivienne Westwood, a perennial favourite of mine):

Photographer: David Angel

It was a snowy day in London, which was perfect for the glamour fairytale we created... but in real life, snow is cold! Bare skin in the snow is very cold. I had blankets thrown over me between shots, flasks of hot drinks and even hot water bottles to keep my skin the right colour and my muscles able to move freely throughout the shoot. I am fairly sure that in this particular shot I had the hot water bottle pushed up the front of my dress, and that exaggerated hands-on-waist pose is helping to keep it pushed in!

I love it as a festive image not only because it is so chic and timeless, but because its back story reminds me of Christmas itself- all the less-than-glamorous rushing around, preparing, shopping and wrapping that goes on behind the scenes before the moment of calm when the payoff comes: a special person opens the gift that's perfect and personal for them.

I think sometimes with social media we feel we're lagging behind if we're not up doing yoga every morning, followed by sashaying into town and easily finding a slew of "perfect" (expensive and 100% ethically sound) gifts, AND not forgetting to keep our noses perfectly powdered the whole time while we're at it. Really, who remembers that stuff? The part that I remember is that "wow" moment when someone opens that little thing that's perfect just for them- regardless of where it was acquired or if the price tag was in single digits.

With this in mind, and with the photographer's kind permission, I have turned this snowy couture image into a Christmas card that anyone can afford. If you know someone who would enjoy an elegant Christmas card, why not order a couple? At just £1 each plus postage, they make sweetly sophisticated little tokens- and they are printed on premium matte recycled stock.

Order your cards in time for Christmas by clicking here.

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Front cover of Twisted Latex magazine

I am on the cover of the latest and last ever issue of Twisted Latex magazine :') I did my own hair and makeup.

Other than celebrate Boyfy's birthday today, I also got around to creating a Beauty Detox UK Facebook fan group, a little thing I've been meaning to do for ages. If you are interested in healthy living, please feel free to join :)

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Front cover of Iniquity magazine

I'm on the front cover of the April issue of Iniquity magazine, shot by Luci Alice!

Latex: Lady Allura aka House of Vestress (I'm about to post this leotard back to her, so mail her if you want to buy it!)
Skincare: Bareskin Beauty (special thanks to the Blissful Youth Cream)
Cosmetics: Mya Minerals

(Apologies if you already saw this on social media!)


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I'm dreaming of a punk rock Christmas

I only found out this year that the Sex Pistols did a Christmas song with Phil from Thin Lizzy. So weird.

I was massively into punk and riot grrl when I was about 14 and wanted to be in a band. I can't sing, so I tried to learn to play a Fender Squire with a shoebox-sized practice amp. I was well into it for about a week and practised for a few hours after school each day. I had a clear idea of how the band were going to look, the stage shows, the album art, the music videos and so on, but no actual songs. By the end of the week I could just about play Never Mind the Bollocks from start to finish, very badly, and just kind of skipping the solos. I was so fed up that I packed it in, nursed my bleeding fingertips, and went back to just listening and going to shows.

In retrospect, it's pretty obvious than I'm a visual person- I can quickly create images in my head, come up with ideas for short art films, styling for photo shoots etc, and that's why the idea of being in a punk band attracted me, because I thought I could do all those things with a large degree of freedom from worrying about anything being socially acceptable or commercially viable.

Photographer and stylist: Jimmy Deas | Hair and makeup: me | Skincare: Bareskin Beauty
Shot at Scarlet Door Studio

I'm so glad I found my calling as a model and can now express myself in that way as often as I like. I can't sit down with a guitar and write a song or sit down with a blank canvas and paint a picture, but I can help create photos and videos with styling, posing, expression and understanding of lighting, just kind of directly using my body instead of an essential intermediary tool like a musical instrument or a paintbrush.

Here's that Sex Pistols/ Thin Lizzy Christmas song, for anyone who was wondering. Merry Christmas to all my blog readers and subscribers! :)

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Happy Solstice

see you at stonehenge

photographer: www.caughtinactioncollection.co.uk

i did my makeup using mya minerals

and wrote this blog in the style of perou.

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The 90s is my favourite era for street fashion and music!

Some moody 90s-inspired fashion portraits shot by talented photofervor earlier this month :) I did the styling with Mya Minerals makeup, and skincare is by Bareskin Beauty.

I love 90s alt rock like Nirvana and Placebo, 90s gangster rap like NWA and Snoop, and select electro/ rave from 90s to modern, really, like dubstep and brostep. I think people expect me to be listening Glenn Miller and Doris Day in my car when I roll up to shoots, but it's the 30s/ 40s/ 50s visual style I like, not so much the music! I guess the bands of the day sounded new and exciting at the time, but it just doesn't translate to me post-60s.

Late 90s/ early Noughties music videos are my favourite, too (except Die Antwoord). Here are a couple of classics that I think really capture the flavour of what I like to imagine the decade was like!

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Who still needs this year's Christmas cards?

Just a little blog to remind you that packs of chic fashion 'Winter Wonderland' Christmas cards shot by David Angel are available to order HERE.

Enjoy!

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"I have been incredibly lucky that I had some talented models believe in me from very early on. Most notably, Roswell Ivory and Anita De Bauch."

Lovely interview with photographer Magpie Tommy in the lastest issue of Spain's BeDeSeMe magazine :)

I'm wearing Pandora Deluxe latex, Fabulously Fetish shoes and Bareskin Beauty skincare.

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That feeling you get when...

... you see that the photographer has uploaded every single unedited test shot to Flickr... in high res.

:p

Mark Fiddian would never do that, and he shot and styled this photo at his studio in Cambridge last January, so yay ;)

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Good things come to those who...

I forgot to say before, but we ended up backing out of that C18th home we wanted to buy when the surveyor told us it was a total disaster zone. It was disappointing at the time, but I'm happy to report that we've now had our offer accepted on a much bigger, brighter and better value castle in the sky  :D

It's a Georgian townhouse with guest bedrooms for putting my model friends up in when they visit, space downstairs for a modest photo studio with French doors leading onto the patio, a library, meditation room and a rooftop garden with lovely views of the Somerset countryside. We can't wait to move in and I can't wait to shoot in it!

 

These photos are from Orchid Corsetry's AW15 campaign, which was launched on Saturday 31 October, shot by Salleh Sparrow in a huge abandoned house. (My skincare was provided by Bareskin Beauty and I did my own hair and makeup.) I love how she's picked up the luxurious texture of the fabric on this corset.

I think ^this^ one might be my personal favourite. It was tough not being allowed to share these images with you until after Halloween! Good things come to those who...

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Orchid Corsetry AW15: Seductress in Red

Happy Day of the Dead! Although this set seems more appropriate for Devil's Night...

It also seems to be becoming a bit of a tradition for me to do a fancy lingerie campaign launching on Halloween, which is fine by me! :D

Yesterday, Orchid Corsetry released their Autumn/ Winter 2015 collection, which exclusively features me modelling a beautiful range of the finest English corsets and lingerie handmade from the most sumptuous materials, photographed by Salleh Sparrow, who I've been wanting to shoot with for a while now. I was the only model used this year, and was allowed to do my own hair and makeup as usual, so I felt really comfortable :) I used my favourite Bareskin Beauty skincare, of course. My earrings are vintage 1940s costume jewellery that clip on rather than use piercings :)

Hope you like these pictures as much as I do and feel inspired to treat yourself to something really opulent to wear to parties this season, and/ or to give more shape to your winter clothes.

I will post more photos from Orchid Corsetry's latest campaign over the next week. Feel free to subscribe for free near the top right-hand corner of this page to have them e-mailed to you directly as and when I post them. NB: The mailing list is so private that even I'm not allowed to see the list of addresses, just so you know!!

Anita xo


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Lady Allura's Latex & Fabulously Fetish shot by Steve Prue in NYC. 18+! Photo-heavy.

Some badass photos from my Lady Allura's Latex and Fabulously Fetish shoes shoot with Steve Prue in NY in March last year, when I learned why New York models are so skinny- they don't get time to eat!

I was rushing all over Manhattan, Staten Island and New Jersey for shoots during my trip there. I managed to get breakfast every morning, usually carrying my cup of peppermint tea with me on the subway in the eco carry cup that was in my LFW goodie bag, but then often didn't manage to get lunch running between shoots in the middle of the day, and then was often so exhausted on returning to my hotel that I'd simply wash my face and pass out in bed by 7.30pm.

I started to notice on the back of photographers' cameras that I was starting to look a bit twiggy, even to my eyes, and I occasionally see it in this photo set, even though the lighting is fairly high-key. Nonetheless, I really like that I got the opportunity to work on such an American-looking set while visiting the States, and I think these photos are in a completely different style and show a completely different side of me than usually shows up in photos. I'd like it to be a magazine editorial some day :)

PS: I viewed a lovely apartment in Glastonbury today. I might end up buying it ^_^