CRIME
But the dividing line between good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? — Alexander Solzhenitsyn
This Monday, Story Story Late-Night, the black sheep of our live storytelling posse, returned to the scene of Visual Arts Collective for CRIME Stories. The provocative show was scandalously awesome.
I had a rough time scheming up an outfit for this theme, but in the nick of time, I pulled it off, inspired by the femme fatales of film noir (like Veronica Lake)…
with a touch of flare from Spy Vs. Spy.
Clover Lane velvet and netting hat ($14, Antique World Mall). Red leather belt (gift from Kim Philley).
Film noir is a dark era in celluloid from the 1940s-50s that gets its nihlistic attitude and shadowy style from crime pulp fiction and German Expressionist cinematography. I took a 6 week winter course on film noir in college (though I culled the above from Wikipedia), and yes it was as bad ass and as Liberal Arts as it sounds.
These movies just drip with raw sexuality, shadowy motives and fantastic fashion. The sirens wear outfits that seamlessly fuse demure and downright daring (often right down the front). (Check out the innocent(?) Jane Greer above.)
I bought this now label-less black-and-white dress on sale at Macy’s years ago for $50 because it made me think of a trip to Paris. I promptly regretted spending so much on polyester and fantasies, but also promptly started to wear it backwards (which is why I cut out the label), as shown above. (The real front is real boring, a sheath of black to the neck.)
Now all I need is a cigarette. And the gaze of Jan Sterling. Vavavoom. She’s so smoldering, it’s criminal.
Moral of the story? Skirt the law. And don’t get caught.
Photos (of me) by Whitney Rearick. The others — stolen from the internets.
