#Badgirlcrush

This week our #Badgirlcrush is the stunning Laura Okita from Paper Mothball Vintage.

Born in Eastern Colorado, Laura Okita moved to New York City after completing a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. She worked as a model in New York and Europe for over 10 years, but was always more intrigued by the process of taking the picture than modeling. She desired the freedom to be found on the other side of the camera.

Equally inspired by fashion design, Laura is a self-taught pattern maker and designer, working mostly with hand sewn couture and vintage techniques. From her experience as a model, she began photographing herself in her creations and founded the blog Paper Mothball Vintage.

While her work mostly initiated as a self portrait artist, she has begun expanding upon this foundation to work with models and fashion publications.

Laura enjoys working in any and often all of the photographic process including hair, makeup, styling, photography, modeling, art direction and retouch design. Whether she is working in digital formats, 35mm or 120mm film, she always aspires to allow her vintage voice to shine through. 

Q: Laura thank you for taking the time to do this interview! Our aim for our #badgirlcrush of the week is to give our followers/readers some insight into everyday creative women that inspire, we especially love your Blog, Photography work, Styling, Make up and glamorous Hair tutorials!

A: Thank you, Im really excited to be a part of this series.

Q: How long have you been an artist for? Did you study/ teach yourself? Do you work full time as an artist or also have another career?

A: I started everything about 3 years ago. I began by teaching myself to sew using vintage sewing patterns. From there I would photograph myself in my designs, and about 2 years ago I started my blog. I found that I really like photography and in the last year have put a lot more focus on both digital and film photography. My blog features primarily self-portraits, but I do also like to work with models.

I currently work as a secretary during the day. I hope to work in photography and styling full time in the future.

Q: Can you share with us your early career as a model and your love for working behind the camera.

A: Working as a model was fun because I got to travel and meet new people. As a 15 year old girl it was exciting to get to wear makeup and get all dolled up, but it was never very satisfying for me. I wanted to be the creative director realizing my own visions or the photographer framing the shots. I never put much thought into switching sides of the camera when I was a model, but realize now in hind sight that it was what I had really wanted.

Q: Tell us about Paper Mothball Vintage, is it essentially a Hub for all of your creative work?

A: Yes it is. My personality lends me to be scattered across so many different disciplines that having my blog really focusses everything back to one point. It really ties all of my passions and creative outlets together.

Q: We see you are a self taught Designer / Pattern maker, can you share one of your creations with us and tell us about the construction of the garment;

A: I was married in a vintage 1930s dress to my husband at city hall in New York City. For the reception party in Colorado, I wanted something new but from the same era. I decided to make this dress, inspired by the 1930s.

The center waist portion was hand beaded with vintage salvaged crystals and pearls. All of the inside seams and hems are finished with vintage techniques true to the era. The back is finished with rows of vintage crystal buttons.

Q: Who are some of your favourite women from the 40s and 50s and 60s, or do you have a specific era that speaks to you?

A: A few of my favourite mid-century women are Lillian Bassman, Dovima, Katharine Hepburn and Lauren Bacall.

Its really hard for me to choose one era and my blog definitely reflects my interests coming from many different inspirations, but I would have to say I am more drawn to the fashion of the 30s and 40s.

Q: Who are you inspired by? Do they influence your photography work?

A: Im inspired by everyone and everything, plants, animals, architecture, colors, vintage fashion, designers, history, my family and my peers.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your personal style and some of your favourite vintage pieces?

A: I love dresses. Since I have always been tall for my age, pants never tended to fit me. Dresses are much easier and I feel, more comfortable. I love to wear things with great color or patterns and prints. A casual day out in NYC during the summer for me would be wearing a 1940s cotton or silk crepe dress, a light swing coat for sunblock and of course red lipstick and sunglasses.

My favourite vintage pieces at the moment are a set of 1930s and a single 1950s cream and rhinestone bangles, a vintage makeup compact and a red and white striped 1950s swimsuit.

                     

Q: We love the way you do your make up, especially your cat eye!, could you share with us some of your favourite beauty products?

A: Thank you! I used to use a liquid non-water proof eyeliner by Guerlain. The long brush makes it easy to apply. Its also easy to remove if you make a mistake. Recently, Ive switch to gel eyeliner. Bobby Brown and Mac both make good eyeliner gel.

I like using a red lip liner pencil all over the lip rather than lipstick which tends to bleed and fade. I like an orange red for my complexion from Gucci. For skin I like Benefit’s Highlighters and Erase paste.

There are good cosmetics that are less expensive, but I think investing in a great product you will use every day is worth it.

Q: Who are some of your favourite musicians and filmmakers, what works of theirs influences you?

A: I like to listen to Lana Del Rey and Lorde when Im working on photos on my computer, I like jazz and swing/ big band music like Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman and Count Basie  when Im relaxing at home or out. I also like a lot of 70s and vintage rock and roll.

I find that I always love all of Harvey Weinstein’s work. He creates really dreamy worlds and often vintage inspired films. I love the hair, makeup costuming and cinematography of The Grand Master directed by Wong Kar-Wai.

Music and films make us feel something and I think any of these great artists inspire something whether it’s an emotion or love for an era or just a rhythm to get you going.

Q: Where can we find you on a Sunday afternoon?

A: Most likely I am working on a dress or editing images at home, but when I go out, I like to walk around shopping in Williamsburg or Soho with my husband. We love to grab a late brunch on the weekend.

Q: Tell us what this year hold for you.

A: I have some new projects planned for summer in my self portrait series. I would also like to start working more with teams and publications.

Instagram: @papermothballvintage

Website: http://www.papermothballvintage.com

Review from The Pink Collar Life

The Original Bad Girl is a fashion label from Australia, completely unique from any other. They are not a reproduction company, but rather a brand that has drawn inspiration from our favorite style eras - the 40's, 50's & 60's, creating their own original designs, authentic and accurate to those years. Suffice it to say that TOBG is precisely that... Original - and makes you feel like a 1950's sex bomb!

Us Pink Collar girls love glamour, but are always looking for regular, comfortable day wear separates that exude that same bombshell, bad girl look shown in our evening attire. These TOBG tops are the perfect solution, with their flattering authentic patterns and prints. 

As vintage collectors, we adore that their designs are meant to be paired perfectly with vintage pieces, as you can see below. Continue reading to see how we styled them! <3

...Not to mention, their attention to detail shows in their packaging and presentation -Total eye candy! With original artwork by Lady Weird <3

Ashlyn is also this week's Bad Girl Crush of the Week, and you can find a full interview on TOBG Blog. She talks where her love of vintage started, and also gives her personal hair-styling and make up tips!

Tara MiSioux wear the Vixen Top in Leopard Print, with vintage gold shimmering threads and black sky high mules. The Vixen is ever so soft and clings perfectly to your curves - clearly! The bad girl look is never complete without some iconic gold hoops. These perfect perspex hoops are a FRIDA LAS VEGAS x Original Bad Girl collaboration. They come in 3 different sizes, Tara is wearing the small Gold Mirror Hoops. 

This jungle kitten was in the perfect location for this ensemble, hanging out at the Palmdale House (original Mid Century building) built in 1953, in Hollywood.

Tara MiSioux has styled the Lover Top with some sweet white cotton eyelet capri pants complementing the pink and white stripes - in true Mamie Van Doren fashion. A California Pin-up never forgets her vintage cateye sunglasses and gold palm tree brooch!

Seen in the background is another Mid-Century gem with a whimsical garden and an ocean of blue mosaic tiles and stonework. Old Hollywood at it's best!

Ashlyn Coco wears the Femme Fatale Top - a sexy off the shoulder striped top, paired with a 1950's gold lurex pencil skirt. This top is cropped and has red, white and black mini stripes giving off that 60's sex kitten vibe. Due to hit TOBG in just 2 weeks! A bad girl's wardrobe is never complete without lucite platform wedges with gold trim, to compliment some gold hoop earrings! 

Ashlyn Coco wears the classic Lola Top which screams Jayne Mansfield - especially worn with a bullet bra to show off those sweater puppies! The Lola is a beautiful off white ribbed blouse, making it extremely versatile and a staple wardrobe piece for anyone looking to evoke Hollywood glamour girl. In this case, Ashlyn wears it with a vintage ivory wool pencil skirt, hugging all the right curves. A vintage gold Mid-Century star brooch is the perfect touch, and of course the iconic Gold Mirror earrings - our new favorite! White leather Spring-o-lators complete this TOBG Lola Look.  

As you must know, PINK is our color! Well, the Pink Bombshell top couldn't be more perfect as it's indeed - pink, and inspired by Mamie Van Doren (one of our greatest style icons!) The cherry on top is that this incredibly cute top is made of deadstock cotton fabric. Now how's that for authentic?

Ashlyn appropriately paired pink on pink, with a gingham pant to compliment the multi-colored stripes and a vintage golden poodle brooch along with golden Polly heels to complete this Pink Bombshell look!

One of our favorite color combos is pink and butter yellow, and Ashlyn visits this sweet canary Old Hollywood structure with plush palms and deco detailing. Gems like this are scattered all throughout the city, each with it's own charm!

To find out more about The Original Bad Girl, visit here and don't forget to follow their glamorous world!

Facebook   TOBG Blog  Instagram 

#Badgirlcrush

This week our #Badgirlcrush is the very stunning glamour starlet 

Ashlyn Coco!

We fell in love with this classic Platinum Pin-up when she started following us on instagram, inspired by Old Hollywood, Ashlyn exudes glamour in all aspects of her everyday life, there is so much to this beautiful lady, from her love of vintage, (especially her pink springolator collection) to designing lingerie inspired resort wear and now currently working towards her BA in fashion merchandising, we love a creative lady with so many bad ass talents! 

Read below to find out more about this wonderful creature! 

@ashlyncoco

Q: Hey Ashlyn! Thank you for taking the time to do this interview! Our aim for our #badgirlcrush of the week is to give our followers/readers some insight into everyday creative women that inspire, we love your unique effortless style and love for everything glamorous!

A: I’m so honoured that you chose me as your #badgirlcrushoftheweek! I instantly fell in love with your brand and aesthetic because it is just that..Original. It is not an alternative spin on vintage glamour, but true to authentic, classic glamour that I grew up with... which is why I love TOBG!

- Aw thank you so much lady!, you've pretty much said what we are trying to accomplish with our label in a nutshell!

     Ashlyn wears TOBG Tops available here

Q: Ashlyn, let our readers get to know you, tell us a bit about you and some of the things you love - we see you have studied at Beauty school and Fashion Design, can you tell us more about that..

A: As a little girl I was always an artist and a creator. I loved to write, as my imagination was huge and I would write story after story. My parents let me take private painting lessons, and I always wanted to paint Marilyn Monroe. As an artistic person, I also loved music, and my parents got me my first electric guitar and lessons when I was 13. A bit of a rebel, suffice it to say I was only interested in Music and Arts and chose a different path than the others. My mom became a cosmetologist in the 60’s, and she had a vintage blow dryer and curler set that I was enamoured by, inspiring me to go to beauty school. I attended Paul Mitchell Cosmetology at 17, and I’ll never forget the first thing they taught us, which was the finger wave and the pin curl set (This is probably why I’ve mastered my signature hairstyle today!)

I couldn’t stop at just cosmetology, and later I designed a line of lingerie inspired resort wear, made in Los Angeles. With a passion for branding, marketing and fashion, I’m now working toward my BA in Fashion Merchandising.

Q: We see you are a fan of the culture and Glamour Starlets of 40’s, 50’s & 60s, when did your fascination with these specific eras start?

A: I’m sure you can see by now, my love for Old Hollywood started in my childhood. I first saw Marilyn’s photo as a little girl in my uncle’s basement, as he had a huge collection of her memorabilia. Although a California girl, I spent all of my summers in upstate New York (hence the basement reference) where my very large Italian-American family resides. My uncles always had pinups and playboys in their basements, which I would sneak off to look at. I thought they were so glamorous and loved looking at their female forms. As I said before, Marilyn was my muse, and I would paint her so many times that my art teacher got sick of it! I also adored Betty Boop, and sketched her over and over.

All of the homes I spent time in were built in the 1950’s and had the original pink tiles, kitchen, bathrooms, etc. My uncles would smoke cigars and listen to The Rat Pack, Bobby Darin, Elvis, etc. And this was all I knew. My aunts would give me their vintage costume jewellery and let me play dress up in their high heels and clothes while my mom always had me dressed in pink princess gowns. This is where my love of pinups and anything pink & vintage originated from!

In the early 2000’s I met a girl who became my best friend, and introduced me to some great old rockabilly music and we discovered there were modern pinup models and fashion brands catering to something we grew up loving. It just always seemed right to me!  

Q: What exactly drew you to those specific eras and how have those times influenced your personal style?

A: I have a huge collection of photographs, films and more of my family, specifically in the 1940’s-1960’s. Because of this, I always studied the fashion and accessories in these photos. My grandparents always played films from these decades, and I became very familiar with 40’s, 50’s & early 60’s films and starlets. These decades most describe my personal style, as the wiggle dress became popular during these years, and that is my go-to silhouette. These were also the years of the buxom blonde bombshells, which has come to be my favourite aesthetic.

Q: Who are some of your favourite women from the 40s and 50s and why?

A: I love blonde bombshells, Marilyn & Jayne, in particular because they had everybody fooled. These women were some of the smartest, complex women, but were typecast and stereo typed by their roles as the “dumb blonde,” which I can easily relate to. Not only were they misunderstood, as well as incredibly kind and sensitive, but they were such style inspirations! 

Other style inspirations of mine include Diana Dors, Betty Grable, Veronica Lake, Lana Turner, Mamie Van Doren, and Anita Ekberg. I also love bad girls Lili St. Cyr, Bunny Yeager, and Bettie Page. I adore Bettie Page because she was the original bad girl, but the girl next door at the same time!

Q: Can you tell us a bit about your personal style and some of your favourite vintage pieces?

A: My personal style is fragments of many things. I’m inspired by Old Hollywood, but have come to create a unique aesthetic based on my lifestyle and what I have grown to love from the past and present. For example, I love glitz and glamour, but I loved punk rock in my teens, therefore I sometimes imbue a hint of that.

One of my favourite studies was historic costume, where I learned a strong foundation of authentic and true vintage fashion, which has led me to my discriminating taste.  I have a massive collection of vintage, but adore a brand like TOBG that creates accurate and true to era designs! It’s so hard to narrow down my favourites as I have glamorous gowns, to demure day dresses, and I love them all.

I have a black 1950’s plunge dress that is below knee and nipped as the waist with a deep V in the front and in the back. She may be my current cocktail dress favourite! I also have a peach floral embroidered gingham peasant dress from the 1950’s, which might be my current favourite day dress.

Q: We see you collect Springolators, we simply love them! Can you share some of your favourites with us?

A: Ah yes, Spring-o-lators are my obsession! Really, an outfit is not the same without them. I wear a 5.5-6 size in shoes, so I’m always finding the perfect pairs as those sizes seem to appear frequently. My favourite pairs happen to be pink Lucite, as they are so rare now a day, and back then. Most Lucite heels were clear, but I have found a few in pink! My favourites tend to have tons of rhinestones, floral carvings or are just a simple pair, but super comfy!

- Ah the pink lucite are just stunning! I always see listings for the most gorgeous pairs but they are tiny, you are so lucky to have tiny feet!

Q: Who is your favourite Fashion Designer or label from the 50s?

A:  For c. 1940’s I love Elsa Schiaparelli for many reasons. She embodies Art Deco and Surrealism and created the Lobster dress, which I adore! Plus, her signature color was a specific shade of pink, now known as Schiaparelli’s Shocking Pink. Also, who doesn’t love an Italian girl? William Travilla is also my favourite and such an inspiration in costume design, especially with his work of arts he created for Miss Marilyn Monroe. Ceil Chapman is also one of my favourites, with her glamorous gowns and Cole of California with their amazing swimsuits. But who can forget the ultimate bombshell designs of original Frederick’s of Hollywood c. 1950’s!  

    Ashlyn wears TOBG x FLV earrings available here

Q: You always have beautiful curls and gorgeous make up, can you tell us your secretes? What’s your go to red lipstick and favourite eyeliner?

A: Thank you! I often get asked this question but I think the knowledge I gained from beauty school has helped me perfect my pin curls and brush out techniques. To get the desired winged liner that I adore, I always opt for a liquid liner with a small fine brush to paint. I usually alternate between brands, but Sephora brand has a great one. With reds, it’s never so simple! I’m always combing different lip liners and lipsticks to create different shades of reds. MAC’s Pro Long wear “Lasting Lust” is incredible and doesn’t budge, even when I’m eating an In-N-Out Burger! Mac’s Ruby Woo matte & Red Lizard by Nars are also some favourites.

- A lip stick that can with stand In-N-Out burger?? - I think I need to go to MAC and treat myself to the Lasting Lust!

Q: How do you get those curls?

A:  I use the curling iron and pin to cool method, and sit as long as I can, pinned. Sometimes I use pink sponge rollers which create the bounciest curls, but those can be uncomfortable to sleep in. I do bigger sections for a soft 1940’s wave and smaller sections for a 50’s Jayne style. Marcel irons are the best, and they were originally used for the waves of those eras. I use a soft round brush to brush out and mold my curls afterwards.

Q: Where is your favourite place to have a holiday and sip on Martini’s?

A: There are three Pink Palaces that come to mind when I think of this! The Madonna Inn – San Luis Obispo, The Beverly Hills Hotel – Beverly Hills, and The La Valencia – La Jolla. Each of these lay right on the California Coast and are PINK! The cocktails and views are incredible, and all of them date back from the 1920’s to the 1950’s, so they are enriched with historic glamour.

- I'm writing all of this down for the next time we are in the U.S! 

Q: Can you share with us some of your favourite musicians and filmmakers? What would be your go to record?

A: I have a very wide range of musical preference, so it’s hard to narrow that down to a record. Of course I adore the classics such as Dino and Sinatra but my favourite is Bobby Darin, as his voice was unlike any other. I love old rock’n’roll such as Little Richard, but also the instrumentals of Santo & Johnny, as well as The Ventures. In terms of more modern music, The Misfits (c. Glenn Danzig), The Cramps, Morrissey & The Smiths, Blondie, and I could go on...!

As for filmmakers, I think Billy Wilder was brilliant. He was the man behind my favourite comedies such as Some Like it Hot & The Seven Year Itch.

Q: What does 2015 hold for you?

A: I never know what the year will hold, as I’m always completely surprised. It’s been a rough couple of years, but I think 2015 will be a good one! I’m very excited about my venture with The Pink Collar Life and I’m hoping for some new and exciting opportunities and adventures. We will also me monthly contributors over at the Powder Room Magazine which will be lots of fun and fashion tips. I know for sure this year will hold lots more shoes!

Q: Tell us about your new blog venture with Tara Mi Sioux  ‘The Pink Collar Life’

A: The Pink Collar Life is made up of both of our personas and interests, combined. Tara too, has been collecting vintage for years for the same reasons I have. We both love to live in the Golden Era and want to bring along anybody who wishes to join us! I bring the ‘Pink Pin-Up’ to the table while she brings the ‘Burlesque Bombshell’, which is the perfect marriage. We spend so much time together as it is, and are always adventuring, so we decided to make it official after so many requests. The Pink Collar Life is not a person, but a brand and a lifestyle. We love to feature our evolved vintage wardrobes, but also love to support a brand that we feel captures classic vintage vs. neo vintage. We also talk original dining spots and architecture, old cars, shopping, cocktails, vintage beauty, and so much more! 

There you have it Kittens! What a complete doll!

If you would like to find out more about Ashlyn, 

you can find her here:

@ashlyncoco

The Pink Collar Life

XXX