Not the girl next door, Whitney was the girl around the block, with whom you would tie your hair in an over-sized bow and dance to How Will I Know until midnight. She was the girl whose songs you’d have your first slow dance to, whose movies you’d watch with your best friends, whose music healed you through a breakup or who you danced your heart out to in your favourite nightclub.

Beautiful and glamorous with rarely a hair out of place, Whitney’s glittering Hollywood style always seemed to mirror her golden success.

A true diva in every sense of the word, she was a pop icon that embodied fame and talent on an unreachable and idol-like level, all while making you feel like you were there on her journey.

 In 1980, only a year before she would be signed by Clive Davis, Whitney Houston was spotted during a performance at Carnegie Hall by a photographer for a brief and very successful modeling career. Not only did she become one of the most sought after models of her time, but Whitney was also the first woman of colour to appear on the cover of Seventeen magazine. Her striking looks, girl-next-door charm, and sensational style earned her numerous television spots and full page layouts in Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Young Miss.

Whitney’s music wasn’t the only thing that stole the show. Her over-sized jackets, sequin cocktail dresses, power boleros, sweeping off-the-shoulder gowns and jumpsuits helped define the looks of her time.

Her videos became milestones in her fashion journey and her ever changing hats, bows, turbans, headscarves and hairstyles would create trends and a cult of women following her look.

Her modelling career may have been short lived, but Whitney’s flawless eye for fashion and ability to always look elegant never seemed to leave her side.

Forever remembered for her musical stardom, and endless glamour imprinted in her signature style, I have no doubt Miss Houston will still be influencing trends for a very long time.

Tracy Kawalik is a London-based fashion writer and stylist. She has contributed to many UK and international publications and is a regular correspondent for London Fashion Week. Styling work includes Pop-Up Shops and events with some of London’s most prominent designers and venues along with television and editorial.
Other posts by Tracy Kawalik on Luxe Lust.
You can also find Tracy on Twitter and her blog.

A People’s History (Quintland), digital photograph, 2010

On Thursday night, Thorneycroft gave an artist talk about her work processes and the inspirations behind her latest work at the Art Gallery of Calgary, where A People’s History will be shown to the public from February 10 to April 7.

After her talk, she sat down to discuss activism in art, placing herself in the perspective of a perpetrator, and of course, dolls.

A People’s History (Burning Braids), digital photograph, 2008

Q: How closely did you associate with the victims in your work? Was it hard to take the perpetrator’s point of view?

A: Like I said in my talk, I don’t think I was that successful. I tend to side with the victims, and I tried to put myself in the mindset but it was really hard. Take [the photograph] “Coach”. For me the thickness of his hand, towards the boy, reaching out, I could understand the gentleness of that gesture. And the beauty of the boy, I tried to show that he was really exquisite, and that a man might want to touch a beautiful boy, but thinking about him raping the boy, I just couldn’t.
The example I gave [at the talk] about the little girl doll, that was and still is the ickiest experience.

A People’s History (Coach), digital photograph, 2010

Q: When you were telling the story about undressing her, the room got very quiet.

A: It did. And after undressing her, I had to paint her underwear whiter; it was sort of a cream colour, and she wasn’t quite perfect. I had to make her perfect, and then decide, do I have her breasts facing us or do I just have her bum? I felt icky. But it was an important feeling. None of the others have come close to that.

Q: Using dolls, how much do you feel that hinders or helps your work?

A: I think it helps. I couldn’t do it with humans. I wouldn’t be interested in doing it with humans. It does mediate the experience because we do look at it and think they’re just dolls, dolls don’t bleed. There’s an element of safety involved, so I think people are seduced into looking at the work. And they’re colourful, they’re beautifully lit, there’s a sense of lushness; then when they understand what they’re looking it, that’s when the horror sets in. I think the reading is a bit more complex. If I used real people, I think it would be a completely different audience and a completely different response. And in a lot of ways, I think there would be an element of pornography, whereas I don’t think these are pornographic.

A: Do you feel like your work is more akin to historical art? Do you feel like you are using history as a form of art?

Q: I do see myself as more of an activist and an educator. The Air India incident, for so many Canadians it has been wiped from our memory, so for me [it was important] to wake up and encourage conversation and discussion and the acknowledgement that we are capable of doing these things just like how Americans have bombed various countries. We’re just as capable. We may not have the military power but we certainly have the psychological ability to harm our fellow citizens. In some ways, I guess it is historical. They are based on truths.

Q: Right. You have elements that are so historically accurate, but some of the details are also added in, almost like symbols. You use animal motifs — snakes, wolves — that wouldn’t have been there during the actual event. So how much do you think you are blurring that line between history and art?

A: Being historically accurate is not really important to me. For the work to be visually beautiful, compositionally successful, that’s more important. So that’s when I give myself permission to put in the snake, to balance the idea of a snake symbolizing evil.  The presence of animals in some of the pieces means they become witnesses to the crimes and they cannot assist the child who’s being harmed, for example. With [the series] The Group of Seven Awkward Moments, I usually used animals as witnesses to the stupidity of Canadians.  So there is some carry-over.

Also, because these are toy animals, it just adds another level to the work.  This one [motions to View of Mount Cashel, St. John’s Harbour], it was because it’s a German shepherd; they have been used by the military, but they are also used to protect. It adds another level of ambiguity.

A People’s History (View from Mount Cashel, St. John’s Harbour),
digital photograph, 2008

Q: Touching on the Mirroring Evil: Nazi Imagery/Recent Art exhibit shown in New York that you highlighted as an inspiration for your work, I read one review that criticized the Mirroring Evil exhibit for being condescending towards the historical events of the Holocaust. They felt that the artists were making the Holocaust and Nazi imagery more artistic than it needed to be, because historically, the events speak for themselves. Do you feel like this could also be a possible criticism of your work?

A: I am a little concerned about that. Because if you think about the hugeness of the pain of the women Russell Williams murdered and what their families have gone through, they could find this difficult, and I would accept their opinion of that.  I still wouldn’t change it because what he did, and the fact that he was part of the Canadian military, he has to be included in this series. It’s really important to me that he is a part of this. But I would always listen to the families of the victims and their opinions because these are make- believe, and what happened to those families are real.

Q: Some of the events in Canadian history that you document have happened relatively recently (“Pig Farm”, “Coach”) and several others take the viewer further back into Canadian history (“Louis Riel”, “Burning Braids”, “Quintland”).  Is there a reason why you choose such a mix of time periods? Did some events call out to you more than others?

A: The title of the series, A People’s History, comes from the CBC series, A People’s History. That series takes place over roughly two hundred years but I wanted this series to have depth. We haven’t just been harmful of each other recently; it’s been going on for a long time. Once again, it comes back to being an activist and an educator. Like the KKK in Canada. Who knew? I didn’t know. There are skinheads in Canada. The cross-burnings happened in 1921, but it could happen tomorrow. And it might. I wanted to show the culpability of Canadians and of our ability to harm each other.

Q: How did you know when the series was finished?

A: I thought it was finished and then my husband showed me the photograph [of the KKK in Canada]. But it’s really hard to do this work. It’s hard to talk about this work. It’s easier to talk about the laughter, like in The Group of Seven Awkward Moments. But this series is heavy, and there’s not as much play. There’s not much black humour in this and I love black humour. So I just feel it’s done; unless there is an event that comes forward that I have to add, for now, I’m ready to move on.

Q: Your next series, which you are in the process of creating, is focused on America. Are you planning to use dolls for that series, as well?

A: Definitely. I already have a nude Mrs. Santa doll…I commissioned a friend to make me a Liberace doll…a Ronald Reagan doll, a George Bush doll, an Uncle Sam doll. I have Archie, Jughead, and Reggie. So I’ve already started collecting them. I’m trying to find a Marilyn Monroe doll. I have to do something with the Kennedy’s.

I’m a little nervous, but I have a show for the work already in a gallery in LA. He’s been trying to sell my Canadian stuff to Americans and of course, it’s a hard sell. But I think he’ll be able to sell my American work in America.

Q: Last question. Do you have a favourite doll?

A: No. But I do have a doll story. When we were younger, my dad was in the military and we lived in Germany. My dad would go to Italy and bring back Italian dolls for my sister, Sandy, and me.  He would also go to France and Spain, so we had quite a nice doll collection. We also had a cleaning lady. My mother used to say to my sister and me, “If you don’t clean your room, I’m going to throw your dolls out.”

One day, my sister and I came home to find our dolls were gone, and the story that came out was that our younger brother, Rob, had shown the cleaning lady that our room was messy, and told the cleaning lady, this is what Mom said she was going to do if we didn’t clean up our room. So the cleaning lady put the dolls into a sack and threw them away.
Years later, I was telling my mother this story, and my mother said, “That is the most ridiculous story I have ever heard. You phone your sister and ask her what really happened.

I phoned Sandy, and Sandy said, “Di, why do you think I buy my daughter so many dolls? That’s exactly what happened.”

So, since that moment in our childhood, my sister and I were both compelled to buy dolls.  The reality of this little cleaning lady, putting a sack of dolls over her shoulder, didn’t make sense. But that’s the Thorneycroft mythology, always tied to dolls.

Steph Wong Ken is a writer and editor based in Calgary, AB. She has published poetry, fiction, and non fiction in several Canadian publications. Other posts by Steph Wong Ken on Luxe Lust
You can also find Steph on Twitter, Linkedin, and her blog.

The wonderful thing about these holiday gift baskets is you can have them pre-made and give them out throughout December. Or, by varying the items and decorations, these baskets can easily become gifts suited for year-round giving.

Components

Hot Cocoa Mix
Caramel Corn
Spiced Pecans
Mango and Pumpkin Seed Granola
Decorative corner paper punch
Bottle of wine
Basket
Twine
2 apples
Recycled crinkle-cut packing paper

Assembly

Use crumpled newspaper to fill the bottom of the basket, in order to make your items more visible when they rest on top. Cover the newspaper with crinkle-cut paper to create a rustic, yet decorative base for your items.

We labelled our mason jars with homemade tags, which we designed with Christmas motifs on the computer, and printed with an inkjet printer onto card stock. A decorative paper punch created the scalloped effect at the corners. These tags were then secured with two-coloured twine around the jars.

Set your items in the prepared baskets, placing smaller items in front, and larger items in back. We used apples as an edible decoration, but you could substitute almost any fruit (pomegranates or citrus would look nice), or a few pine cones collected from your yard.

]]> http://www.luxelust.com/2011/12/29/holiday-gift-baskets/feed/ 0 http://www.luxelust.com/2011/12/25/london-calling-christmas-through-the-looking-glass/ http://www.luxelust.com/2011/12/25/london-calling-christmas-through-the-looking-glass/#comments Mon, 26 Dec 2011 00:35:37 +0000 Tracy Kawalik http://www.luxelust.com/?p=1423 There may not be any snow in London, but what the fashion capital lacks in seasonal ambience it’s making up for in dramatic festive window displays. 

More is always more when feathers, sequins, and glitter are concerned for holiday décor. This has certainly been the case this year with luxury retailers like Selfridges, Fortnum and Mason and Liberty bejeweling every prop they have in sight. Beautifully handcrafted and meticulously designed, window shopping has never been so inspiring.

Here’s a peak at my personal favourites of the city’s most creative Christmas creations.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon coarse salt
2 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
5 cups (20 ounces) pecans

Preparation

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. In a bowl, combine salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, and sugar.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg whites until foamy. Whisk in spice mixture. Stir in pecans. Spread coated pecans in a single layer onto the baking sheets. Bake for about 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 250 degrees. Rotate the sheets in oven, and cook for 10 minutes more.

Immediately spread pecans in a single layer on clean parchment paper; let cool before serving or storing. (Pecans will keep, in an airtight container, up to 1 week at room temperature.)

Luckily, tis the season to be jolly and if I am ever going to add more butter then Ina Garten or more sugar then Paula Deen it is during the Christmas holidays. This caramel popcorn recipe is fun and easy to make. I promise you cannot have just a handful of this popcorn! You can gift a bag of these sweet treats during the holidays and even add them to a homemade Christmas gift basket.

Ingredients

1 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tsp baking soda

Preparation

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Over medium heat, combine first 4 ingredients and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in baking soda. Stir well. Pour over 8 quarts popped corn. Stir to coat. Bake in large roaster or pan for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on parchment paper to dry.

A hot cocoa mix literally takes about five minutes to prepare. We used mason jars, purchased at any grocery store, and a decorative corner paper punch, purchased at Michaels, for our homemade tags. I love that this cocoa mix makes a thoughtful, and delicious, gift on its own or as an addition to any Christmas gift basket.

Ingredients

3 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups good quality 100% cocoa
1 tbsp table salt
whole milk for serving

Preparation

Combine sugar, cocoa, and salt, and whisk to thoroughly. Store in an airtight container.

Directions for hot cocoa

Dissolve 3 tablespoons cocoa mix for each cup of hot milk.

Perfect Stocking Stuffer: Bovetti Chocolate Bars

Bovetti of France takes great pride in producing their quality chocolate. Proprietor Valter Bovetti makes frequent trips to the cocoa-producing countries, to ensure his understanding of regional conditions and to procure a superior raw product. Bovetti chocolate is fair trade and made with pure cocoa butter, without any vegetable fat added. Available in dark, milk, and white, with such robust flavour additions as Earl Grey tea, coffee beans, or hazelnuts, these beautifully packaged 100-gram chocolate bars are available for $7.69 each.

Baking Essential: Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips

Still trying to get in that last minute batch of baking? Rush to Market 17 and select either Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips or Chocolate Chunks. Both are made from premium cocoa and are vegan, kosher, and nut-, gluten-, dairy-, soy-, and casein-free. On sale through December 2011, $3.99/283-gram package (regular $5.39).

New Year’s Eve Hostess Gift: Drogheria & Alimentari Balsamic Glaze

Drogheria & Alimentari has its roots in 19th-century Florence as spice merchants. Still purveyors of spices today, they also produce fine sauces, and glazes. Drogheria & Alimentari’s Balsamic Glazes begin with the finest vinegar of Modena, which is reduced to a luscious syrup. Enjoy a selection of five balsamic glazes from Market 17, with flavours including classic, raspberry, orange, fig, and berry. We can’t wait to try the balsamic fig glaze over an oven-roasted pork tenderloin. 150 ml for $10.59.

Market 17

Discover the thoughtful selections of Market 17, at their convenient central location, right on 17th Avenue at 24 St SW. With plenty of underground and street parking, you’ll easily find those last minute gifts (and likely pick up a few things for yourself along the way).

2505 – 17 Avenue SW, Calgary

403.685.4410

Regular Hours

Monday–Saturday: 9am – 8pm

Sunday: 10am – 6pm

2011 Holiday Hours

December 24: 9–5, December 25: Closed, December 26: Closed, December 27–30: 10–6, December 31: 9–5, January 1: Closed

Post sponsored by Market 17.

Ingredients

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
4 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut
2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup toasted pumpkin seeds
1 1/2 cups diced dried mango
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dried cranberries

Preparation

Heat oven to 325 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil and honey; set aside. Toss the oats, coconut, pecans, and sunflower seeds together in a large bowl. Add the oil mixture, and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined. Pour mixture onto two large baking sheets, and bake, stirring frequently, until the mixture is an even golden brown, 20 to 40 minutes, checking every 10 minutes.

Remove granola from oven; let cool, stirring occasionally. Add dried mango, golden raisins, and cranberries; stir to combine.