No, the guy on the left isn’t 1 years old as the birthday badge suggest but his site, Dirty Dirty Dancing is. Last night, DDD celebrated it’s one year birthday at the Electricity Showrooms in Hoxton, one whole year of Alistair Allan (the guy to the left…) photographing the beautiful (or at least, AA photographing them to a beautiful effect as he seems to be able to capture a very underworld/party glow in everyone…) at all those parties people name-drop when they talk about London’s ‘happening’ party scene. This includes Boombox (the one that even Style.com has recommended…though I can’t imagine any Style.com hamming it up here…), Anti-Social, now Foreign, All You Can Eat and various other fashion-leniant, electro-forward, smidges of nu-rave connected parties.
I have mentioned DDD a couple of times before and a few people have wrinkled their noses in disgust at these ‘scenesters/hipsters’ (for want of a better word, let’s just call them that for now…) labelling them as attention-seeking, OTT, pretentious posers. I’m sure some of Alistair’s subjects wouldn’t mind being labelled as such. But for me, it doesn’t take away the fact that these party-frequenters do display an ounce or more of creativity with their outfits. For a person who has never been exposed to fashion extremities, you would ogle a bit – feather neckpieces, DIY leather fringe dresses attached to perspex spheres, moulded latex bustiers, headpieces. Outfits that are mostly created and not bought. They may be living on a shoe string, but they’ll be damned if they don’t create something new and spectacular for the next party.
Perhaps that way of living strikes you as shallow and yes, their intentions might be to try and be the centre of attention. However, there is no faulting their creativity and there lies the duality as to why people click onto DDD drawn to these creatures of the night yet at the same time, deriding their antics. At the party, I couldn’t help but take away things like using PVC fabric to make a draped kimono coat, knitting with jersey, silver discs worn in the hair and loose heavy tops that are completely backless, to name a few…
(Two head-adornments I snapped in the toilet… the one on the left is a spectacular Stephen Jones piece…)
So whatever one might label these people and sites like Dirty Dirty Dancing, there’s obviously a sick pleasure amongst people to keep on clicking (this applies to sites like the Facehunter too who also has that sort of ‘Bright Young 21st Century Things’ leaning… ) and for me, I’ll take whatever inspiration I want from these party goers and long may Alistair and other noted streetstyle photographers (whom according to The Facehunter will be feted with an exhibition at Colette, Paris in October I believe…) keep on snapping.
On a personal note, my outfit was decidedly tame when compared to the rest but it was another opportunity to wear my hair ‘extension; as I like to call it now seeing as it sort of blends in with the black mass that is my hair and I kept to a tried and tested colour combo of black and silver (I thought I was so daring back in the days when I wore black and silver…. ho hum…).
(Anthony Vaccarello headpiece, Trosman giant bead jersey necklace, Ann Sofie Back fishnet body stocking, Kulture silver draped racerback top, vintage lurex silver skirt, Sophia Kokosalaki white pleated skirt, black sheer stockings, Jenne O silver lace-up shoes)
Sadly, when the lovely Mr Allan papped me for DDD, instead of having that ‘glow’ which the rest of the guests have phtographed, I look deathly pale (I promise you that is NOT foundation), a little goth-like and also a little sad/smug which I certainly was NOT! I vastly prefer the way my boyf photographed me (left) looking bewildered/confused as I usually do. On an even more personal note, I loved the tuxedo touches that my boyf donned last night – Unconditional T-shirt with tuxedo bibbing and a bow-tie… not just saying that because he is Mr Bubble of course but I’m inspired to try some tux-touches myself.
You are such a cutie!! Why would you say in that previous post that you didn’t liked your face??? I can not understand that!
You look adorably sweet and have the most perfect porcelain skin…Oh, and you take the word “hair extensions” to a whole new other level! All those LA celebs should take a hint from you;)
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Aww, you and Mr. Bubble are both VERY cute and fashion-forward. I love it!
Oh, I think you have a glow about you, and gorgeous skin. I’m SO loving the “hair extension,” and the way you tied it into your outfit.
Silver Discs in hair ……..that was me……..wish I had met you…….ho hum……another night soon I hope…….. : ) X
so cutie…
I think you look absolutely stunning in those pictures
So beautiful! …both when smug and when bewildered.
Hey Susie,
I’ve never posted on your site before, but I’ve been reading for a few months now. When I saw your pics after reading your previous post about how are you uncomfortable with showing your face, I felt that I had to post.
You ARE beautiful. And you should not be afraid to show your face.
You look smashing in those photos 😉
Susie! You’re SOOOO pretty! I’m extremely envious of you for having that perfect doll-like skin without the use of any foundation!
you’re such an exotic beauty. as far as not possesing the beauty gene, i’ll let you in on a secret: there isn’t one. just because yr beauty doesn’t happen to fall into the popular anglo blonde/blue category doesn’t mean it’s not there. yr face is stunning – gorgeous skin, delicate features, and very balanced and well-proportioned.
i happen to be half-asian and i’m told this all the time (the exotic beauty thing) and most of the time i think it’s sweet other times when i’m not feeling quite as optimistic i dismiss it as racism- so please don’t do that. i’m 100% sincere.
🙂
xo gg
boathouse.typepad.com
Aww Susie Bubble you make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
You look the shizzle darhling.
you look amazing
you look so cute!
Im deathly pale as well, and some time it feels less than desirable .. but I think you really stand out – look gorgeous..
xo
you look gorgeous!
we have to see more of your lovely face.
i come from the same sort of mortified childhood background as you and i’ve never come to terms with my face either, hahah. however you look ethereal in the DDD photos & sort of bubbly-confused in the one Mr. Bubble took! i love that London’s fashion scene is so much more eccentric… wish i saw more of that (or more tolerance of that) elsewhere.
I agree with everyone else
you’re so cute! ^^
i love your eyes
mr. bubble is cute too 😉
ah, what perfect dewy skin you have! you look marvelous as does mr. bubble. and, personally i’ve always kind of marveled at the hipster movement, as an outsider i find it to be quite inspiring.
If by ‘capture the glow’ you mean airbrush everyone, since that is exactly what he does. I’m still going to rally against it. It’s such a fake scene. Even the revered pictures capturing it are fake. It’s fashion for the sake of standing out. I don’t think to be interested in fashion you have to ‘prove’ it by wearing outlandish, or faux ironic or whatever combinations. Sure some of the people present interesting ideas but at what point is too much? I’m sick of ‘scenes’ where you have to have some sort of cred to get in whether it’s having money, or being a naff scenester, or whatever. And sure a lot of people do make their own things, but from what I’ve seen there are an equal amount who are given pieces by Gareth Pugh or wearing 1k plus Christopher Kane dresses. Honestly – are these people THAT fashion forward? Or are some just wearing a random combination of things to pretend that they are? I’m not saying I have an answer, and I’m not trying to post something really negative, but I just do not get why people revere this scene and the way people dress since in my opinion only a rare couple actually are presenting new or interesting fashion ideas.
Sorry I hope my post above didn’t come across a super negative! I just have strong views on the subject but I didn’t mean to bring the tone down or offend anyone!
Wow. How do you get your skin to glow like that?!!!! I must know!! Share your secret Ms Bubble!
(I hope it’s affordable on a student budget *fingers crossed*)
did like that headpiece. would like for there to be a similar club in sf, as i’m partial to creating shit that may be viewed as a little eccentric but am a bit too shy to wear them amongst the tamer crowd here.
meg, i agree. standing out for the sake of it is meaningless but i admire those who do it as a form of genuine expression.
You are gorgeous!
wow, you have gorgeous skin! and big doll eyes! you look great in all the pictures! fabulous outfit <3
Seriously did not expect all the ‘You’re gorgeous’ comments. I guess in relation to my recent post on beauty, this is all even more poignant. I’m not comfortable with showing my face…I might never get over that… hence why my favourite shot is of me with my face turned to the side (oh and the hair is looking healthy too!).
Though honestly… I do think I look like a circus clown in those pics…..
Re: The skin…as Meg pointed out, DDD’s photos may be prone to a lot of airbrushing, something that I didn’t point out. It’s not an insult to AA as it’s not like his subjects are complaining about being airbrushed. Therefore, my skin might have benefited from AA’s Photoshop magic…
Fred Butler: Oh my god…so weird that when I was looking at your silver discs, I was thinking, that looks like the work of FB…. how odd! I’ll know who to say hello to now!
Meg: I KNEW you’d have something to say and I’m not going to rebutt your comments as I think what you said is equally valid. Trust me when I say I’m FAR from being part of that ‘scene’. Even when me and the boyf were there, we sort of felt like complete outsiders…. However, like I said, I’ll take from it all what I want and I know it may be hard to believe for you as you have ‘seen’ it all and have a cynic’s eye (that is no bad thing!), I did get some amount of inspriration fashion-wise. I’m not revering anything as I can concede and see for myself when there are pretentious antics going on…. it’s just that for me, there are still certain admirable aspects to what people wear… and I won’t take that away from them even if their intentions were solely to get photographed. Some might say what I wear is attention-seeking, OTT – whatever – but I know and people who know me will know different… it’s that I really wanted to and felt like wearing what I wore…
You look super cute!
I just wish whoever retouches the DDD photo’s would stop photoshopping them within an inch of their lives! It’s so insanely obvious and very badly done. LEAVE THE FILTERS ALONE!!!
Susie! I cannot believe that you think yourself somewhat ugly, you are positively radiantly beautiful in all those photos.
And what a man you have nabbed!
If you ever have children, they will be lovely.
u are pretty and interesting. your beauty isnt flat.. its multi faceted.. and i love your skin.. plus yr quirky dress sense.. which is edgy and really turn heads! i wish i am so fair! I am v tanned, and often find it difficult to find clothes to match my skin tone.. so often end up wearing white..
ah susie. I’m glad you didn’t take what I was saying the wrong way. I clearly love your style and aesthetic so I have no problem with that it’s more just this generalized ‘scene’ which I don’t find so much OTT as just forced and fake. Of course there are a few genuine trendsetters, I have no problem with those people. I guess I just feel a lot of these people lack authenticity. Anyway the real point of this follow up comment is that I forgot to say that the boyf reminds me of Christopher Bailey who is also tres cute!
you have such a good taste 😉
I *love* your little half-smile in the last two photos. Like you’ve got a secret–or are just having a good time–or whatever. I do prefer those to the slightly sad one, if only because I prefer smiling photos. And yes, as everyone says, you shouldn’t be afraid to show your face. It took me a good while to let go of wanting to hide myself but what is blogging if not a form of sharing (however hippie and silly that may sound). Not to tout wardrobe remix *again* but it really has changed how I view the whole idea behind putting photos of myself INcluding my face, online.
And your boyfriend’s cute.
Susie, instead of writing the brilliant fashion thingy as usual. You should put down your beauty regime as well. NOW!
susie, u look amazing in these pics!wow.
the DDD photographer guy said in the interview that he airbrushes everyone’s skin. lots of work for an online site!
btw, you aren’t “an exotic beauty”.. white people are exotic.
hmmm the Dirty Dancing website reminds me of a new zealand version- neon sleep. it’s full of the same kind of hipster people 🙂
UR GORGEOUS!
LOVE the head adornments!
I’m thrilled to see your face! Yes, you are beautiful. But that’s just the icing on the very cool, stylish, and articulate cake.
wow. i feel i have been missing something here. your face! why do you always cover up? you are ridiculously lovely.
wow, you are beautiful
you look great Susie, I only wish I had fun parties to attend such as ones like this.