I RAN AWAY AND JOINED THE CIRCUS

Last winter we did a goofy circus themed photoshoot with my wonderful friend and fab photographer Kaylin Idora. We were all exhausted, very tired and terribly hungover from the Burlesque Festival from the night before and it was crappy weather and I got stuck in the snow with my car when picking up Kaylin,  building the set was painful and we had forgotten props and clothes and almost gave up on the whole thing but in the end we managed to pull the shoot trough. A little (read: lot) of make up in your face and suddenly things are not all that bad...

I've always had a thing for the cirucs, or, to be more precise;  the kind of circus that once perhaps was but not really is anymore. (Btw I loved the series Carnivale when it aired. Did anyone else used to watch it? Too bad it was left so short.)

 What, we? Us? Just posing here with our cardboard tiger...

But is so just happens that the circus will be in town tonight - we are performing our Belle Epoque / Art Deco number at Grand Casino Helsinki in the evening. It's the opening party of Espoo Ciné and the venue is free of charge, so it'll be easy to pop in if you're in town.

SUNDAY ACTIVITIES

Just your everyday Sunday. Sort of. Here are some snaps of it:

Being wrapped up in fairy lights.

Hanging out with cotton candy dressed ladies.


And crazy posing. With a cardboard tiger. Looking very naked (altough, must add, being dressed).

Kaylin Idora took the last one with my phone. Her actual photos to be seen at some point later :)

CIRCUS IN BLACK AND WHITE

Circus photographs from the late 19th and early 20th century. 

Via Retronaut.

CIRCUS LOVE

My friends Onyxei and Helmut in other words Atelieri O.Haapala have done it again; a set of totally amazing photos shot at the Champagne Circus last month! An event which I could not attend and thus did I not get myself a circus themed portrait. Which is a pity very very much indeed. Sigh.

In the photo above you can see the photographers posing themselves. Fabulous ain't it? See the whole set on their Flickr.

You can see some earlier works of the duo under my Atelieri-tag.

BLACKER / COVER UP

If you have a bad hair day, cover it.
If you have a bad makeup day, paint over it.
If you dont know what to wear, wear black, and wear a lot of it.

(If you happen to go to a circus-themed burlesque party the same night it makes it easier not to spare the eyeliner, drag a scarf out of the closet and go all gypsy fortune teller from a travelling circus sometimes long before you were born. If you're not, go for it anyway, think silent movie star in an exotic role. The one a of gipsy fortune teller in a circus perhaps.)



The scarf is from Tunisia, the hair flower from Rascal, the earrings a gift, the eyeliner thick and covers most of the eyelid.

I GOT A LITTLE PRINCESSY FOR A WHILE

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have a thing for the circus, but as with many other things; when you really start thiking about it, it's mostly the concept and images that surrounds it that fascinates me.


Think of the red curtain, the golden pollets on the shoulders, the smell of horses and sawdust, the sound of a barrel organ (and a little monkey clapping those cymbals! You know I love monkeys but oh well, let's not get in to those now).

Think of tattooed ladies portraid in old photos, siamese twin beauties, strong men, lions, ballerinas , sideshow freaks and snake women, romanticised versions of gypsies (ehrm, or to be more exact; Johnny Depp in The Man Who Cried. Think of some artwork of for example Johanna Öst, the Tv series Carnivale, Burton's Big Fish...

So when I went to see the circus I dressed up a little bit with a circus princess on my mind (even though I doubt anyone actually payed any attention to it) - as many bows as possible, a puffy skirt, a patterned hairband and switching my basic black makeup (happens very rarely) for some electric blue, gold and purple.



But to be honest, if I would have lived a hundred years ago and joined a circus (I would have done so even if there wouldn't have been a horseman-Depp hangin around :) I might not actually have been so much of a circus prima ballerina princess then. I think I would have been more of a tattooed acrobatic snake lady , the knife-thorwers partner or a musterious oh-so-good-at-faking it clairvoyant. Who knows.

AT THE CIRCUS

On Sunday I went with my sisters and my parents to see the circus.

I've always loved circuses! One of my earliest memories are from when my grandparents took me to Circus Finlandia when I was about three and I saw elephants there (they still had them around when I was a kid).

The past years I've seen more of the Cirque Noveau, like Les Oiseaux Fois, Circque du Soleil and Hurjaruuths Christmas Circuses but there is still something special about the traditional circuses, the ambiance of it. Even though I guess it's mostly the idea of the traditional circus that enchants me (If I would have lived in the 19th or early 20th century I would have ran away and joined an eastern European circus. Sometimes I still wonder if I did a bad choice of career and should've joined the circus anyway even though living in the 21st century. Since my limbs are practically made of rubber I could surely be good for some tricks... )

Cottoncandy and popcorn are a must when going to the circus:

Jacket - S&M, I added the quilted bow to make it "new" for this season
Hairband - thrifted, Scarf - Indiska, Skirt - Nümph
Tights - Nelly (around 3€ at S-market, bargain!)
"Hold Fast" tote bag - Sailor Jerry
Shoes - Minna Parikka

SOME DATES TO REMEMBER...

I'm back from Tampere and I had a great weekend full of sparkle and glitter, champagne and lace.

We had a nice and late pancake breakfast on Saturday, so nice and late infact that I ended up with only a couple of hours to spend in Tampere during the day, before I had to go the the venue to get ready for the evening. But I did manage to do some great though rather costy vintage finds during that short time (so now it really is porridge from now on for quite a while! :)
If I brought a lot of stuff with me when I came, imagine the amount of stuff I had on my way home...

I was pick-up girl of the night for the lovley miss Olivia Rouge (she also has a webshop, but it's only in Finnish) and the amazing Harbour Pearls. If you just can't get enough you can see more of Olivia and me (as a member of my group) in November, the 9th to be exact. My group will also be performing on the Helsinki Burlesque Festival on February 7th next year!!! For a little tease of some of the girls in the group, come to the Tyttömafia Club at Lepakkomies next Saturday!

Oh yeah, Olivia Rouge

The Harbour Pearls and I after the shows, during the champagne.

For more info check www.helsinkiburlesque.com

BUSY WEEK, BURLESQUE WEEKEND

My burlesque box. (Of course it does not fit everything.)

It's been such a busy week for me, working in the mornings, doing some freelance jobs in the afternoon and sewing in the evening! But now the stress is almost over,I'm heading to Tampere for a burlesque workshop tonight and the Circus & Burlesque party tomorrow! And yes I will take the new shoes with me. (For those of you that don't know; Tampere is another city in Finland a couple of hours from Helsinki.)

I'm still not ready with everyhing for Saturday though so I guess I'll be sewing the last pearls on my hair fascinator (the red bow in the picture, it's going to turn out quite nice I think)it in the car...
I've never really spent any time in Tampere before so it's almost like going on a mini vacation for me. And of course I've made a great roadtrip cd with lots of rautalankaa music :)