"the czar of noir"

...the title novelist James Elroy once gave San Franciscan writer Eddie Muller. He writes books about films, more specifically film noir (hence the name). I was thinking that reading up on some of his works might be an interesting starting place for my project. 

"If a private eye is hired by an old geezer to prove his wife's cheating on him and the shamus discovers long-buried family secrets and solves a couple of murders before returning to his lonely office - that's detective fiction. If the same private eye gets seduced by the geezer's wife, kills the old coot for her, gets double-crossed by his lover and ends up shot to death by his old partner from the police force - I can say with complete assurance: you are wallowing in NOIR."

Came across this quote of his whilst hunting for secondary research in the form of a black and white film - one that I can bare to watch! My mother informs me that I have always hated them and that I frequently insisted that she didn't make me watch "one of those grey films" as a child. I figure if I can read a film noir it saves me the distress and the torture of an hour and a half of colourless adventures. God bless you Eddie Muller. 

But on a more serious note, I think that this way I would be looking more closely at the qualities of the leading lady and designing for that customer, rather than creating a period costume directly referenced from something I've seen in a film. But we'll see!

the future is print

I'm in love with these prints, Givenchy Resort 2012. The third one of these looks caught my eye on the Style homepage and I decided to investigate. To view them in more detail (and this applies to all the images on my Guinea Squash) you just have to click on them. These designs reminded me of an article I read in last months Vogue on up and coming designer Mary Katrantzou and her elaborate prints.

She's just began showing her collections at London Fashion Week so I had a little spy on her *Fall 2011 collection, and the above examples are my favourites (these were also the designs showcased in the magazine on the models that were hanging out in her studio).

*I know I am British and should therefore use "Autumn/Winter 2011" but I prefer "Fall"... it sounds nicer and is quicker to write - I know this makes me sound lazy, but that's absolutely fine, because I am.

my test shoot

Photographer: Olgac Bozalp

Make-Up & Hair: Pembe Selcuk
Assistant: Hazal Mustafa
Styling: Catherine Smith

paolo reversi

mulberry schnauzer

Okay so I'm still not familiar with the rules of blogging - and for this reason, I'm not going to post a picture of my cat just yet... but I will post one of this miniature schnauzer from the Mulberry Resort 2012 collection (I figure as it's fashion related it's a fair compromise).

two's company

Pairing off collection pieces seems to be a recurring theme at the moment! These are from the Sonia Rykiel Resort 2012 look book. I find some pieces of this collection too fussy but I like the styling, the shoes, the hair. Think it works well pairing off the models, though I prefer it when the clothes contrast and compliment rather than match.

painting the blog red

...or an orangey reddish summery colour at least - "candy apple red". Was a bit stumped about what to blog next, haven't read many other blogs to be honest, how often are you meant to post? Do you post whatever comes to mind? Are you meant to reference pictures? Should it all be fashion or can I post a picture of my cat? Is anyone even reading these questions I'm asking? The answer is no because I haven't given out this blog address yet, and the chances of someone happening across the title "guinea squash" are slim to none. Back on topic; I started with scrolling through my "Style" folder of fashion images for blogspiration, and happened to notice a large amount of "candy apple red" from the last few months. For example:

These include Valentino Resort 2012 and Jil Sander Fall 2011, as well as a snap of Michelle Harper attending some sort of award ceremony that's name I unfortunately didn't feel the need to note down when I saved the image. 

bicycle baskets

I like Audrey Hepburn, mostly just because she looks beautiful in photographs, I can't say I know a lot about her. I find her most iconic picture somewhat boring, but I did like it as a child, so I'm putting it down to being over exposed to it (but who hasn't been?). This photo caught my eye today, possibly because my mum and I were recently discussing old fashioned bikes following our trip to the bike shop last Monday. To my dismay, my mum used to ride a battered old black one to the shops with a little basket for the shopping. Was embarrassing at the time. She happens to have moved on from that phase but I can't say I would mind anymore. In fact, I wouldn't mind riding one myself... if I weren't such a hazard on two wheels that is!

because "everyone needs a tree"

One of my favourite collections of the season - Lanvin Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear. I love it so much I wrote an essay on it. Well, I lie, I concluded one with it, but the notion is still there. I like the block colour framed with black, the warm bright colour palette making a welcome change for the time of year - yet still holding on to some of the subtle gothic elements suggestive of winter. The contrast of the tree in the third image. The tree makes me think Tim Burton (of whom I am also a fan). Sometimes I like the 'too much' approach to design, but with Lanvin  I like the minimalism, particularly the consistently simplistic use of colour, with the perfect amount of 'muchness' to the form and silhouette to make it interesting (for want of a better word).

guinea squash

I discovered the guinea squash on my hunt for a two syllable followed by a one syllable blog name. I wanted rusty gold or my previously used mango star, both of which were taken. So the guinea squash had to do. I have considered the irrelevance of this title, but as brand names go, all the best ones are. My fear is that people might think it a cooking blog, but anyone who knows me will know that I have no valuable information to share on cooking. If I think of a better name (or simply change my mind - a far more likely scenario) I'll reinvent this page, but in the mean time this aubergine, eggplant alternative will have to do..