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Modern technology might sound better, hold more songs and be easier to use than the vintage stuff, but it sure doesn’t have the same visual impact as a classic phonograph. Fortunately with this iPhonograph you get the stunning classic style blended with the beauty of new technology. If you’ve got the skills, Instructables has the steps to make your own.
Link Via Geekosystem
Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website.
New York Press Conference 1964
Reporter: Where you your haircuts come from?
George Harrison: Our scalps.
In their early years as a fledgling rock and roll band in the late 1950s and into the early 1960s, The Beatles each sported typical slicked-back, greased-up Tony Curtis/Elvis Presley type D.A. haircuts. In an early explanation as to the origin of the Beatles haircut, George was quoted as saying that he came out of the swimming baths one day, his hair had fallen down over his forehead, and he just left it that way.
The true derivation of the world famous coiffure is a bit more complex. In August of 1960, the newly-0named “Beatles” consisted of five members: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, bassist Stu Sutcliffe, and a newly-hired drummer named Pete Best. The band was hired to play as series of gigs in August of 1960 in Hamburg, Germany. It was there that they met two people who were to have a profound effect on their future careers as icon and trendsetters: Astrid Kirchherr and Jürgen Vollmer.
Kirchherr was a very original and creative photographer. One night she saw The Beatles play at a local club in Hamburg called the Top Ten Club (she was talked into going by her boyfriend Klaus Voorman and fellow artist and friend Jürgen Vollmer). Astrid, Klaus, and Jürgen struck up an immediate and close friendship with the five young, talented, and slightly homesick young rock and rollers. Also, Astrid and bassist Stu Sutcliffe almost immediately fell in love.
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If you love race cars, then you might just like these fantastic Prada pumps based on the some of the most popular cars of the 50′s and 60′s. It’s a great blend between classic and modern styles.
Link Via Laughing Squid
Popular fashion trends come and go in cycles, and once again we are seeing a trend of the “Native American look” in clothing, home furnishings, jewelry, and bedding. Some companies are running into legal trouble over their merchandise, as there are laws and trademark restrictions against products attributed to Native Americans. Even when the letter of the law is followed, the trend is causing bad feelings about the appropriation of a culture.
“The problem,” says Jessica R. Metcalfe, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa and doctor of Native American studies who teaches at Arizona State University and blogs about Native American fashion designers at Beyond Buckskin, “is that they’re putting it out there as ‘This is the native,’ or ‘This is native-inspired’. So now you have non-native people representing us in mainstream culture. That, of course, gets tiring, because this has been happening since the good old days of the Hollywood Western in the 1930s and ’40s, where they hired non-native actors and dressed them up essentially in redface.
“The issue now is not only who gets to represent Native Americans,” Metcalfe says, “but also who gets to profit.”
Collector’s Weekly has an extensive article about the history of the trade in Native American style, and how the controversy is playing out today. Link -Thanks, Lisa!
Have you met Luna the Fashion Kitty yet? She is indeed the most stylish kitten around, with a full wardrobe of clothing, and BuzzFeed’s collection of photos of her is simply irresistible.
Those of you who saw my Comic Con costumes post from this year already saw how many cute TARDIS costumes there were at the convention, but this TARDIS corset just might be one of the sexiest ways you can dress as a big blue box.
Link Via Geeks Are Sexy
I love how personal this photo-printed ribbon is. Sure you might have to look around for a while to find some actual film and a camera that uses it, but once you do, you can use the negatives to create your own unique and beautiful hair ribbon. Learn how to make your own over at the link.
Heather McDougal talked to 5th and 6th graders about how the ideal body image of women has changed over time, from the corsets of 100 years ago to the Photoshopped images of today. And the modern altered bodies and altered images are the hardest ideal to even consider living up to. As an example, contrast the image of Usula Andress in the 1962 movie Dr. No with one of Halle Berry in the 2002 movie Die Another Day.
The thing that disturbs me most about these two images is how our daughters must feel about themselves when they see them. The girls in 1962, seeing Ursula rising from the waves in Dr. No, knew that what they were seeing was a real woman, something they could aspire to (if that was what they wanted). Seeing Halle Barry, above, holds no such comforts, particularly when digital film has so much option for smoothing out those flaws. Such perfection is absolutely outside the realm of anyone who is honest with themselves. They might as well throw themselves against a brick wall, because you can’t live, and breathe, and be that perfect. It’s impossible, and our daughters know it.
When she presented the changing ideal image of men, she found fewer changes over time, but a difference between what men and what women consider ideal. Read the rest at Cabinet of Wonders. Link
I know you Neatoramanauts are a smart bunch, so I know most of you would rather read a book than destroy it. That being said, there are still far too many books in this world that are destroyed or contain terrible stories. Even if you like a book, you might end up with a copy you just can’t get rid of because there have already been 10 million copies of that book printed. So if you have a few extra titles you have no further use for, here are a few ways you can still use your books even after the words inside have lost their value.
Before I get started, I want to give a special thank you to WebEcoist and WebUrbanist, who provided a wealth of inspiration and research to this article.
Starting on the big scale uses for leftover books, you can build entire structures with them. While Slovakian artist Matej Krén’s building inside The Museum of Modern Art in Bologna (above) may not be structurally sound enough to exist outside another building, the Yellow Pages building (below) might be able to hold its own in a storm. Students from the Dalhousie University Department of Architecture in Nova Scotia built the house using a few wooden and metal beams to hold the thick books in place.
Of course, even if a book building could survive the elements, it would soon become subject to destruction via mold and insects.
Just because your home can’t be made completely from books doesn’t mean they can’t improve your home though. According to Joel Rickett, deputy editor of The Bookseller magazine, books are an excellent form of insulation, so even if you don’t want to read certain titles any more, they still can be useful for filling up bookshelves that line the exterior-facing walls of your home.
If you like to wear your heart on your sleeve, but your heart just happens to rock a set of taped up glasses and a bow tie, then these fashion pieces are guaranteed to compliment your geekiest sensitivities. I’m sure you’ll notice that most of these are for women, but as I’m sure you know, that’s just because fashion is focused around females.
The idea of this Etch-A-Sketch skirt by Etsy user SewOeno is pretty cool, but what really puts it over the top is the use of embroidery to create a picture that looks perfect for the subject in question.
That same Etsy seller, SewOeno was also responsible for this exceptionally popular Game Boy dress.
For those who like old school Nintendo over Game Boys, you’re sure to love this awesome Nintendo controller dress by Liz Tan.
This knitted sweater vest by Happy Seamstress is an accurate replica of a screenshot of the original Mario Bros game.
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Do you still have piles of vinyl records you store for no reason? Here’s a cool and stylish way to re-use them: a vinyl record purse. Such things always look fashionable, I guess. Tasket Basket posted quite a few pictures of how she made this one.
Link – via diygadgets
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Any fan of low brow artist Mark Ryden will love this fashion work he paired with fashion designer Nagi Noda to create. The clothing line is called “Broken Label.”
Link Via Boing Boing
It may be a little mean and silly, but I think this cute little dead dog purse is fantastic. Only problem, it’s $317.
“Based on Paris Hilton’s discarded pet Tinkerbell is an upside down dead Chihuahua. This design capitalizes on the trend of carrying a small dog as a fashion accessory.”
At least, not if you live in Jackson, Mississippi. Although the city council voted down his proposition to outlaw saggy pants, Mayor Frank Melton has declared he will illegalize the fashion style by use of executive order. I wonder how the council will take this, since they said it was an unconstitutional thing to implement.
“I certainly respect the Constitution,” Melton said, “but we have some issues that are much bigger than the Constitution.”
I know Neatorama tries to stay unpolitical, but it is crucial for all of us to stand up and declare our rights to sag our pants.
Link Via Boing Boing
I love this cute fan dress. Best of all, the fans are actually made from folded up junk mail and then sewn onto canvas. I bet you never thought all that crap you throw in the trash every day could be made so pretty.
This dress is not only pretty, it’s also delicious, since it’s made with Lindt chocolate Lindor balls. It would have been a great outfit for a Christmas or New Year’s Eve Party, as it’s a perfect season to share chocolates with your friends. Too bad you couldn’t really sit down and you’d end up naked by the end of the night thanks to moochers. Oh well, it’s the risk you take when you dress in food.
Good Magazine has a fantastic gallery of some of the best street art in the world. Some are sculptures and some are murals. The site paired up with Wooster Collective, a street art blog that has some great stuff and some just ok sauce.
Recycling can be so sexy. Creator Jolis Paons pleated, sewed and glued this entire dress by hand. It’s gorgeous, but I have to admit, I would hope my number wasn’t visible on it.
If you’re a person who loves uneven tan lines, this sun tattoo is just the thing for you. At least if you get skin cancer, it will come in a pretty design.
This cute, and suprisngly fresh smelling, purse is very well thought out. The bass-mouth opening is very clever and the scales are too authentic.
This stylish crocheted hat is just what the doctor ordered for the upcoming cold holiday nights.
