Darian Darling: A Guide To Life For Modern Blondes!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Lil' Blonde Darling: Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu!

Blonde Beauty Icon Olivia Newton-John

A Fantasy! A musical! A place where dreams come true.....Olivia Newton-John in Xanadu is quite literally magical!! I have always been obsessed with Greek mythology and anything from 1979/1980 (the years of my conception/birth). Luckily this film involves BOTH! The premise of this 1980 musical flop is as follows: A mural in Venice Beach, CA of the nine Olympian Muses (Greek deities who inspire the creation of literature and the arts) springs to life in full neon splendor, and the Muse of Dance (Olivia Newton-John) is sent to inspire a down on his luck, starving artist to fulfill his dream of opening a roller disco/art house! Yes, that is actually the plot. Throw in some retro 1940's glaMOUR, unacceptable spandex and lame` garments, an inappropriate and out of place animated musical number and lot's of feathered hair and you have one of the BEST worst films ever made! The film was a box office disaster but the soundtrack, featuring Olivia and Electric Light Orchestra was a Top 5 smash hit and included the #1 hit single Magic!

The billowing, breezy looks the 9 muses wear in the film, which were created by costume designer Bobbie Mannix, were so popular that an entire Xanadu fashion line was created, and sold in boutiques around the country. Above are some of the designs.

Olivia really is a Muse, as she inspires me to wear billowing, sheer polyester sun dresses, spandex jumpsuits, dolman sleeved blouses and metallic strappy stilettos. Too bad I never learned how to roller skate. I should also mention that my Xanadu looks in the summer of 2007 ended up getting me free tickets to see Xanadu on Broadway! Kinda sad it closed. It was hysterical!

bugle beads and a blow out!

Would it be really inappropriate to wear this as a bath robe? Yes? GOOD!

Original design sketch by Bobbie Mannix

PEACH!

Have to beWEAVE we are magic.......

Lame' tiger print. 'nuff said!

Original design sketch by Bobbie Mannix

Billowing Beauty

ROLLER SET!

The film version of this song is unacceptably long and includes 6 costume changes!

Disco Pants!

I do believe a vent brush was involved!

What was with the late 70's trend of romantic dresses with slouchy boots?

White leather fringe ANYTHING is good.

Original design sketch by Bobbie Mannix

Great song! Great scene in the film! 40's glaMOUR meets 80's glitz. This is a great live version and features some wonderfully dodgy video effects...yes, that IS ON-J as a blonde, brunette AND redhead!

I do believe the costume designer from Victor/Victoria ripped this off a few years later.

Her cheek is so peach, I want to take a bite!

Original design sketch by Bobbie Mannix

aMUSE me!

Neon Nights

This scene inspired the decor of my living room....Hell my whole fucking life!!!

Friday, February 12, 2010

The premiere of Semi Precious Weapons NEW VIDEO!!!

I am officially a Video Vixen! Here is the magical new video from my boys Semi Precious Weapons, for their new single "Semi Precious Weapons AKA I Can't Pay My Rent BUT I'm Fucking Gorgeous"!! Originally available on their out of print indie album, the song has been re-recorded with new production and vocals!! It's available NOW on their iTunes EP and will be the lead single for their "debut" album You Love You, released in June 2010 on Interscope/Haus of GaGa! Look for me, my hair and the rest of the Precious Empire: Lady Starlight and her lazer gloves, Breedlove, The Jocelyn, Knehans......rock'n roll never looked so beautiful!

That's KUNT!

KUNTYLICIOUS!

Behind The Scenes!

Buy their EP on iTunes!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Lil' Blonde Darling: Alison Goldfrapp!

Blonde Beauty Icon Alison Goldfrapp

Since I'm eagerly anticipating the upcoming release of their new album Head First, I thought it was a perfect time to do a feature on electro-chanteuse Alison Goldfrapp! She started her career in music as a vocalist for popular UK electronica/trip-hop artists like Obital and Tricky in the mid 90's. After meeting composer and multi-instrumentalist Will Gregory, Alison decided to form an electronica duo with him, simply titled Goldfrapp in 1999. They're known for mixing lush orchestral instruments with the electronic crunch of vintage equipment like synthesizers, vocoders and the theremin, as well as Alison's unearthly crystalline vocals and lyrics, visual theatrics and glam-sex decadence. With an eclectic range of musical influences, they have consistently changed their direction and style with the release of each album, mixing old-school glamour, '60s pop, cabaret, and ambient trip-hop with glam-rock inspired electroclash, late 70's/early 80's Eurodisco, New Wave and folk rock. Goldfrapp's most successful commercial release was the 2005 synthpop infused Supernature, which peaked at #2 on the UK charts, received international acclaim and achieved platinum status. Believing that music should be a visual experience, Alison art directs the entire project; from the album artwork to her eccentric taste in fashion. A Goldfrapp visual staple is the mixture of plasticine glam rock aesthetics with animalistic imagery, surrealism, nature and mythology....oh, and clowns! I have had the pleasure of seeing her perform twice and am always blown away, not only with her fashion choices but also her vocal ability. She is truly one of the few artists who actually sounds just as good live, if not BETTER than on the album! What a rarity!