2014: Travel and People

Looking back at the year, and even the past few years, I feel like I'm at my happiest. I've traveled so much (considering in 2013 we only went to Dublin), worked hard, have found myself living in a nicer place and spent time with people I care about.

For the first part of the year it was sounding a lot like the Year Of The Eyeroll, with my relationship suffering from the incessant irritation of another person who seems completely devoid of social boundaries. We were also living in a flat that was noisy, dark and dank, from which I commuted to work every day for an hour.

Towards the middle and end of this year, all of the above just worked itself out. Now, I'm living a mere 2 minute walk to work, in a flat that is FAR more pleasant to spend time in (it's funny how you don't really notice how bad something is until it's changed/gone). I enjoy my job immensely, and work with a great team of badass women. I'm closer than ever to my boyfriend (being there for him and supporting him through a tough time in his life), and now have the spare time to devote to our relationship, and to friendships with kind and intelligent people. 

Roll on, 2015 (but preferably not eyerolls)!

Travel

I've travelled a lot for work this year, including Paris twice (once in winter, once in summer - and boy was it summer...) and Copenhagen.

The top two photos are from Copenhagen, where I've NEVER BEEN SO BLOODY COLD (-5C!). We were there for a tradeshow, which was unfortunately not right for our brand, but it was certainly an experience. Mainly the experience of it being ridiculously expensive but with good food. Although it was so pretty in the snow, I could see it being so much more pleasant in the Summer. The top left photo I took on a walk to see Rosenborg Castle, shortly before getting caught in a blizzard and thinking "fuck this" a lot.

Paris holds one of the most important lingerie tradeshows in Europe, hence why we visited in January and July (although in July we showed at the clothing show next door). In January it was my first time at the show, and I'd only been to Paris previously when I was little, so I didn't do much walking around (also, pretty chilly). I did, however, find out that Parisians get pissed off about badly spoken French. In July it was HOT. So hot, I definitely did not have the right clothes packed. Nevertheless, I had a spare afternoon to do some exploring, so I took the metro and walked for miles around Montmartre, visiting the Sacre Coeur (bottom left) and the Automaton museum! The food in Paris is, obviously, amazing, and one particularly beautiful restaurant to eat amazing food was La Fermette Marbeuf (bottom right).

For the first time ever I could afford to take myself and my boyfriend on holiday this year! It was our 5 year anniversary in August, which seemed like a perfect excuse to go somewhere we'd both been wanting to go for some time, Prague!

We spent a wonderful 4 days in the city, which I would highly recommend to anyone, especially if you love good (but cheap) food, history and baroque-as-fuck churches (top left). This basically began the tour of elaborate religious things (see below). Prague is such a beautiful city, and August was just right weather-wise (a few weeks later and it would have gotten too cold for wandering). It was still quite busy with tourists, but that's a necessary evil if you want the nice weather. Unfortunately the selfie-taking tourists were more of a pain at the Sedlec Ossuary (top right)(those skulls are real, have some respect when visiting!), but I'd definitely go back.

In September Mark and I were booked to perform at a party in Istanbul, and as neither of us had been before, we arrived a few days early to take in the city. After a bit of a kerfuffle with visas which resulted in us missing our taxi and spending a good few hours trying to get to the hotel ourselves, we made it to a wonderful boutique hotel called Peradays, run by some lovely gents. We managed to cram in a lot of sight seeing into one day, including the Hagia Sophia (bottom left), The Blue Mosque (bottom right), The Grand Bazaar and lots more. It also turned out that Santi, who runs a night in London called Rumpus, was also there for the same event with a bunch of talented performers, so it was awesome hanging around with those guys!

People

Good times of 2014 were also spent with good people! From gurning with Miranda (top left) to gurning with Lydia and my work chums (bottom right), so quite a lot of gurning happened. I don't have a photo with my boss, Emma, but I should mention her for being awesome!

The times that I did go clubbing (normally we are only in clubs for DJing!) was super fun; in the top right photo I'm with Amelia Arsenic and Le Pustra in Room Service. 

I also worked on the Sugarpill stand for one day of IMATs (bottom left), and met Shrinkle and Irene (who I've known online for a long time). Those guys are so inspiring and sweet!

And how could I forget the one person who's really made my year special! <3 <3

Past Months

I did it again! I didn't update each month, but hey...

Here's my past few months in photos, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left - A little preview of what I shot the other day!

Top Right - My Hannibal season 1 and 2 blu ray arrived! My body (and flower crown) was ready.

Bottom row - A bought a new dress from ASOS and styled it up with inspiration from Dolce & Gabbana's Spring 2015 collection. 

Top Left - We had a wonderful and bizarre week away in Istanbul, where we were booked for a private party. Although we were performing on the Thursday, we arrived a few days earlier on the Monday to make the most of the city. We had a bit of a nightmare at the passport control, queuing up without realising we needed a visa, which caused us to miss our taxi and spend hours finding our way to our hotel! But on Tuesday we had a full day to look around and do plenty of touristy things. This is the Basilica Cistern, which was really atmospheric and beautiful.

Top Right - Inside the stunning Blue Mosque. Although I had leggings and a knee-length dress on, they still gave me a head to toe covering - Mark described it as "the highlight of my feminist career", ha ha ha (all jokes aside, I didn't have a problem doing this, however I felt it was a shame that the women who wanted to pray where forced back behind a screen at the back of the mosque, behind the tourists).

Bottom Left - The absolutely beautiful Hagia Sophia, which was one of the highlights of my trip!

Bottom Right - Adding sparkles to my costume before the trip.

Top Left - Just before starting our dj set to 1000 people in an abandoned shoe factory in Istanbul!

Top Right, Bottom Left - Some of the other performers were part of the awesome Rumpus & Civilised Mess collectives; it was so much fun hanging around with them! <3 

Bottom Right - Tough times chilling by the pool before rehearsals ;)

Top Left - A light flapper look.

Top Right - Sparkly shiny evil mermaid villain look for a private party at Soho House

Bottom row - We were part of a taxidermy themed event at the Horniman Museum, which was to celebrate the launch of Kate Mosse's new book, The Taxidermist's Daughter. I decided to put together an evening-type look with lots of feathers, and an Amore de Mori headpiece and gold feathers from Apatico.

Top Left - Green-eyed flapper for DJing at White Mischief

Top Right - A more toned down 70s inspired look for DJing at a private party

Bottom Left - If you haven't already come across HarmonyHalo's beautiful street portraits, make sure you follow him! He caught us in Soho and took this lovely shot - I love how he used the bright neon colours of the street to create a unique style of portrait.

Bottom Right - Drunk after a night at Ultraviolet with Le Pustra, Amelia Arsenic and Mark Charade <3

Then at this point we went off to Prague ;)

Top Row - She Devil! I think this was for DJing at The Aeronaut.

Bottom Left - Love my bedside table - that's my childhood cat, Whiskers (really creative name there!).

Bottom Right - My not at all historically accurate Edwardian look for DJing at The Horniman Museum's Edwardian themed evening!

Prague: Opulence & Religion

  

It feels like I was there for weeks, but it was only a couple of days! From thursday to Sunday last week my boyfriend, Mark Charade, and I celebrated out 5 year anniversary in Prague.

 This was our first holiday together which didn't involve work (although performing in Prague would be wonderful!), and we managed to pack in a lot of sight-seeing in such a small amount of time.

Prague is an incredibly beautiful city, even just to walk around. There are a lot of things you can see and do that don't require a hefty budget and the food is amazing for a decent price. The only downside I can possibly think of is that there were a lot of tourists, so I'd probably suggest going in September when it's not too cold but will be likely to be a little calmer.

 

We stayed in the wonderful Art Deco Imperial Hotel, which is about 10-15 minutes walk from the Old Town Square. 

I'd definitely recommend the hotel, not only were the staff friendly and helpful, the rooms were beautiful and the other areas of the hotel were stunning. We particularly liked the fact that this statue looked like she was in the middle of saying "FUCK THIS SHIT" and flipping tables.

We had a ridiculously early flight, which was slightly painful, but it actually mean't we had pretty much a full day on the thursday. We had a wander and went to the Jewish Museum and surrounding synagogues (as well as the Jewish Cemetery, which you can see in the very top right of this post).

The Spanish Synagogue, images can't even capture how detailed it was. Opulent religious buildings are one of my biggest inspirations, and Prague definitely had plenty of that, as you'll see below! The Spanish Synagogue, and the other synagogues that comprise the Jewish museum, had cabinets full of interesting pieces of Czech-Jewish history (it also turns out that I may have Czech-Jewish family on my mother side!). 

St. Nicolas Church in the Old Town Square. Really beautiful painted church that doesn't have an entrance fee or photo-fee. We came back here on the last day to a live music concert, which was incredibly calming.

On Friday we took a tram up to the Prague Castle. I'd read that the inside of the castle wasn't particularly interesting, compared to walking around the grounds/cathedral, so we didn't take a tour. The inside of St. Vitus Cathedral is absolutely beautiful, and although I didn't see it, there was also a stained glass window designed by Mucha.

Another one of the many churches I had wanted to see was the nearby church in Loreta. Although a fairly small and unassuming church from the outside, the inside was what I like to call Opulent As Fuck. 

It also had some incredibly creepy cherubs. Yes, that's a plate with breasts on. Yes, the bottom cherub does look like it's saying "FOR ME?!". On the opposite side was a cherub holding a bloody tooth and a set of pliers. This was extremely bizarre not in context; the two sets of cherubs are referring to St. Agatha (had her breasts cut off during torture) and St. Apollonia (who had her teeth shattered in torture). There were further paintings and beautiful artefacts in cabinets within the church grounds, referring to the Saints and other Catholic scenes.

I believe the bottom two images and top right are from Loreta Church, and the top left is another church we found while walking around. 

Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady at Sedlec (outside of Prague).

For as long as I've been taking photographs I've felt inspired by this kind of religious opulence. I particularly find the goriness of the tortured Saints (and of course the crucifixion) a stark and interesting contrast against the rich tones and glittering gold. The wealth and opulence presented is usually at odds with the majority of religious base religious concepts - the main figure in Christianity being Jesus, who shunned wealth. 

I plan to work this more into my artwork at some point very soon!

These Past Months

Oh god, again I've managed not to update for ages. But I do have very good reason this time! 

Our wonderfully greedy landlady decided that after 4 years of being good tenants, requesting no maintenance and thus saving her lots of money, she would raise the rent by a ridiculous amount. Long story short, we had a stressful month to find a new place to move our copious amounts of belongings into (all during the busiest time of the year for me at work!). Luckily we found a lovely flat that doesn't have screaming neighbours and has been given a lick of paint since the 1970s, which also happens to be directly behind my office. 

I don't think you realise how bad a place was for you until you leave it, and the amount of stress that has exited my life since leaving the dingy old place behind is phenomenal. Plus, without the hour commute on public transport each day, I have much more time on my hands to spend doing what I want to do! Which should hopefully mean I spend more time writing this blog ;)

In the meantime, here's what I've been up to the past 2 months (sorry, it's a long one), via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

 

 Top Left - Yesterday Mark and I were booked to DJ at a beautiful wedding in Oxford. The only problem is that travelling in this current heat is killer! I went for a Summer look, and the colour theme for the wedding was purple/pink :)

Top Right - Testing out some new lipgloss I got from Etsy seller FierceMagenta. I tried a gold sample, but it didn't really shine until I covered it with Sugarpill's Goldilux pigment!

Bottom Left - A teal lipstick by FierceMagenta. I love this colour, and I blended the bottom with Goldilux too.

Bottom Right - Room Service is not only a fun night, but they have an awesome photographer too!

Top 2, Bottom Left - Getting messy at Room Service with Mark Charade, Le Pustra and Amelia Arsenic. Classy bitches ;)

Bottom Right - One of my FAVOURITE queen's from Ru Paul's Drag Race, Bianca del Rio, was performing in London at The Meth Lab. Of course we had to go, and had meet and greet tickets! If you know her, you'll know how witty and rude she is (the show was hilarious), but it was so refreshing to meet her in person and see how down to earth she is!

Top Left - Miss Miranda and I with Bianca del Rio; couldn't control my face at this point.

Top Right - What I wore! Finally busting out my gold hood which I bought months ago - I wanted to wear it for Bianca because she wears a similar one in the Sissy That Walk video (she got the reference ;) )

Bottom Left - Spider bling!

Bottom Right - Possibly crazy silly purchase but I'm totally in love with my new shoes from DollsKill

Top Left - Paris! My boss Emma and I went to Paris to exhibit our lingerie and clothing at the Who's Next tradeshow. When we got to Paris on the thursday it was a sweltering hot 37C! I can't actually remember if we went to the Eiffel Tower on this day or the day after, either way, it was still hot as the sun was setting. 

Top Right, Bottom Left - On the Saturday I had the afternoon off to go exploring, so I decided to go and see La Basilique du Sacré Cœur de Montmartre and the surrounding area. You aren't actually allowed to take photos inside the church, but um... I sinned. Oh, but to redeem yourself you can also put a euro in one of these hideously tacky machines! ;)

Bottom Right - Just before heading out to dinner. I cannot even begin to say how amazing French food is (they already know it anyway).

Top Left - I also managed to see this cute/creepy Museum of Magic and Museum of Automata. Unfortunately all the signs were in french :(

Top Right - Ridiculously beautiful art nouveau restaurant we went to on the last night. So, so stunning, and the food was amazing too.

Bottom Left - Obligatory Moulin Rouge photo.

Bottom Right - The trade show had a champagne sponsor, and allowed the exhibitors unlimited free champagne. I think it's safe to say I drank more champagne in those few days than I did all year. They must have gone through thousands of bottles (not just us!). It certainly made the 4 hour delayed Eurostar a little easier to deal with ;)

Top Left - Claw bling!

Top Right/Bottom Left - Mark and I (The Roustabouts) DJed at Soho House's Pride event, so I needed suitably big hair. Geisha Wigs had just sent me this fluffy blonde wig, which I cut a fringe into, and sprayed the top gold.

Bottom Right - Mark and I at The Meth Lab: Tammie Brown & Milk. I made a mistake wearing my moustache, because it's impossible to smile or laugh with it on! This totally didn't bode well when Tammie came out...

I had the awesome chance to work at IMATS on the Sugarpill booth! My lovely friend Amelia Arsenic was recently back in London and asked if I would like to work on the friday. I didn't realise that Irene would be there too, which was crazy awesome because I've known her online for something like 10 years! It was also really lovely to meet the Sugarpill creator, Shrinkle - she's so sweet!! 

Bottom Right - I don't think I've mentioned it on my blog yet, but you would have guessed from my social media elsewhere that I'm obsessed with the TV show Hannibal. I should probably make a separate post about it, but if you haven't watched it, DO IT. Well, my lovely boyfriend bought me the Red Dragon novel; it's actually completely different to the TV show, but they've taken bits and pieces and nods to the book. The show is more like a prequel to the book, as Lecter is already locked up when you meet him in Red Dragon.

Top Right - Adventures with gold leaf makeup!

Top Left - I always seem to pose the same way ;) This time I'm wearing some of Face Lace's new stick-on eyebrows. 

Bottom Row - My look for DJing the afterparty for The Black Cat Cabaret at the Wonderground. My corset and neckpiece are by Boom Boom Baby, who I highly recommend!

Top Row - My look for DJing at Torture Garden. I received this ridiculously amazing new lace front from Geisha Wigs, it makes me feel like a Jewish princess ;) I wanted to do something really different with my makeup, without just throwing shit all over my face! The gold bodysuit and fringed harness thing are both from Playful Promises circus collection.

Bottom Left - Packing to move, I was looking through my books. I love these old editions that belonged to my parents, and were the first copies I read of these books (which are among my favourites).

Bottom Right - Green and blue for DJing at Rumpus!

This Month In Pictures

What I've been up to during the past month, via my instagram @swiczeniuk!

Top Left - I finally got around to dragging myself out of bed on a Sunday, post The Burning Beat, to try to Wolf Roast (don't worry, it was beef) at House of Wolf. It's the same venue that we hold TBB, so it was a bit bizarre being there during the day, NOT WORKING. Crazy. The roast was one of the best I've EVER tasted.

Top Right - My look for the night before. Red glittery eyebrows! I also actually painted those red feathers gold.

Bottom Left - I took my boyfriend to go and see Fitzrovia Radio Hour at Crazy Coqs. Our ex-stage manager (and one of the people I'm very glad to have met through TBB), Jon, is one of the Fitzrovia founders/members, so it was great to finally see him in action. The gist of the show is a 1940's style radio show, done live in front of the audience, including the sound effects. It's hilarious and all the actors are so talented; it doesn't seem like an easy task! 

I did originally pincurl my hair to fit the theme of the beautiful venue, but it fell out during a stressful day at work - at least I had this gorgeous vintage hat (bought for me by my boyfriend) to try to fix it.

Bottom Right - 2 weekends ago we had the pleasure of DJing at a lovely wedding in Dublin! The bride had originally seen us at TBB and booked us to perform for their party. We had a late flight the day after, so we did a bit of sight seeing/wandering around Dublin. Here's the Oscar Wilde statue!

Top Left - Almost directly next to our hotel (La Stampa, which was gorgeous) in Dublin was this absolutely STUNNING art nouveau cafe! Photos can't do it justice. I could just imagine throwing a lavish party there...

Top Right - What I looked like for DJing the wedding! Thought it best to go with glamorous 1920s rather than freakshow circus!

Bottom Left - I've been useless at blogging recently because I've shot and edited 2 lookbooks (and by friday, I'll be onto my third) and have generally been rushed off my feet. Here's Miranda and a kitty, post shoot for Playful Promises Lingerie SS14. We do like shooting in locations that come with animals.

Bottom Right - As I can't find a bookcase that I a) like and b) can afford, I spotted the idea of using apple crates as storage units! I've stacked three on top of eachother and I LOVE the way they look! Now I can display all my favourite books.

Top Left - Another snap from one of the lookbooks I shot. This time Playful Promises Swim SS14 with the jaw-dropping Mulan. I'll post up the results too!

Top Right - Visited the Fabulously Fetish HQ to test out my custom made boots! This is just an example of the shape, they are actually going to be red leather with that gorgeous fabric! SO EXCITED!

Bottom Left - Had the pleasure of going to see Woodkid again (I think I saw him the first time in late 2012?), this time in the Roundhouse. Epic doesn't cover it.

Bottom Right - Some lingerie blinging. This time with a What Katie Did girdle and... I think that's a Primark bra that I bought years and years ago and never wore. Unfortunately it's a cupsize too small, but damnit, I'll suffer for my art.