David Bowie’s androgynous legacy

The new David Bowie exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum was already a hot ticket even before the show opens to the public this weekend. “David Bowie is” shows how, in the 1970s, David Bowie’s passport to fame was his daringly ambiguous gender presentation. But in a piece on today’s BBC asks, did appearances deceive?imgres-2

“These days Dylan Jones is editor of British GQ magazine and very accustomed to living the high-life. But in July 1972 he was an ordinary 12-year-old living with his parents in an ordinary part of Kent. Then one evening, his life changed.”I can picture the exact moment: my father was away and my mother was out in the garden,” he says. “So I was alone in a terrace house in Deal watching Top of the Pops.”Normally it would have been a forgettable Thursday but I was about to be astounded. It was the first time we were exposed to Ziggy Stardust in all his androgynous glory. Continue reading “David Bowie’s androgynous legacy”

Grunge and androgyny in make-up

Several strong themes seem to have emerged from the New York fall 2013 fashion collections, including a strong trend for grunge and androgynous make up, reports the New York Times fashion page today:

Grunge: “With its basic theme of anti-glamour, the grunge revival that has lasted several seasons now has been tricky for beauty. ‘There is this thought to try and give grunge more polish, maybe for a more

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considered woman,’ said James Kaliardos, a makeup artist who works with brands like Maybelline, M.A.C. and NARS. “Last season, a lot of brands paid me a lot of money just to put moisturizer on the cheeks,” he said with a wry chuckle. Continue reading “Grunge and androgyny in make-up”