TOMMY LANE sneaky peaks

By Nom K

Photography by Agness Thor

Secrets

Hello There lovely people,

First off we would like to thank everyone for all the hard work and the next issue is at the printers as we speak!

There are a few examples of the excellent work which we recieved on our facebook page. So a sneaky peak of Ballad Of...Tommy Lane for you to feast your eyes on.

Secondly...our next issues (the 3rd) theme is 'I remember when...' So think magical, childhood, fantasy (you get the picture) so we would love to see your ideas and images at ballad@balladof.co.uk

thirdly...for this issue we are going to use secrets as an inspiration..so we want any secrets you guys have (they will all be kept under lock and key, so no one will find out its you) They will be published, obviously without the author.
So send us yours to ballad@balladof.co.uk and we might just tell you ours!

Much love

Team Ballad xx

Ballad Of Magazine..Tommy Lane

A love wilder than the Moors

Front cover by Saga Sig

Ballad Of...'s favorite blogger... Alice Vincent shares her views on every thing August; tweed waist coats, marshmallow skirt suits and walking sticks... 

  

Much like the dreaded ‘silly season’ of the media, August has been a pretty quiet month on the style stakes. The no-mans land between the dregs of the clearance and the proper arrival of new collections is taking its toll, and I’ve been existing in an oasis of pastel jeans, espadrilles and rolled up sleeves – in cool summers I’ve found channelling Miami Vice the only real answer.

This has also made style hunting a problem. On the one hand, you get the ever-entertaining outfits which epitomise British summers. I often think the best way to explain the symbiotic relationship of Brits’ love of sunshine with the reality of our weather would be in the image of women trying to run to rain-free shelter in a maxi dress and wedges. Gok Wan has a lot to answer for. The maxi dress will never be suitable day wear in these isles, and the wedge is a dubious idea at best, so making it out of raffia is never going to improve matters.

Thankfully, amongst the marshmallow skirt suits, optimistic panamas and large amounts of over-sunned flesh, there have been some real flashes of inspiration. Mainly amongst the older, cross-dressing generations. Arguably, they’re not tackling the summer clothing issue, as such, but I can forgive this in the so-good-I-can’t-stop-looking outfit combos.

Ok, so in most cases the ‘good’ is the kind of ‘so bad it’s good’, but that’s what this column exists on, so whatevs. We’ve had a good few transvestites come into the shop over August. From the retro-plausible: stonewash slack-cut jeans, faded tee-shirt and plimsolls. Yes, for a middle-aged person, they needed new clothes, but I regularly wear a similar get-up. To my personal favourite: the equivalent of an underage-disco attendee. Hello patent double-bar Mary Janes, red skirt, cerise and black swirl-patterned tunic and leggings. What didn’t come from New Look, however, was the wig -a brassy orange curly number with slightly congealed-looking flat ringlets, it may possibly have come out of a fancy dress box – or indeed the walking stick. This really was the icing on the cake for me. When I told my workmate she literally ran out of the shop in search for such a vision. To be fair, sister’s keeping up style with a limp – which is what I develop rapidly in heels.

The funny thing being that remarkable as this combo is, it’s not so different from what the average customer wears in the overpriced French boutique where I work. Trout pouts, Versache 90s throwbacks and dressing head-to-toe in one colour is fairly common. And yet, when I decide to wear carrot-leg trousers, I get the response of ‘ooh, you’re looking a bit quirky today’.

August’s style inspiration of the month prize goes to the old busker guy I found in our local market town. Let’s just put it this way: if everyone who decided to murder Oasis’s ‘She’s Electric’, which was, let’s face it, not a great tune anyway, wore a straw hat complete with artificial flower arrangement, TWO tweed waistcoats, a beard and an air of derision, they’d be bloody millionaires. 

 

visit Alice at:  www.bowlface.blogspot.com to read more musings

WE ARE STOCKED HEREEEE:

We are stocked in the following shops:
RD Franks
Jumbo Records (Leeds)
The Tate Modern
The Serpentine Gallery
Compton News
Selfridges
Harrods (Waterstones)
Terrys News Stand
Rococo
Lauries
M2 (Covent Garden)
Press Bureau
Magma (Covent Garden)
Artswords Bookshop (Shoreditch)
Waterstones (Garrick Street)
Soho Origina

If there were ever a time for black lipstick...its now!

This photograph led to Midnight Black Lipstick experimentation from the Ballad Girls!!

“Before I put another notch in my lipstick case, you better make sure you put me in my place.”

GAGA GOES GOTH!! ♥♥♥♥

The wonderful Miss Lady Gaga for 'Out Magazine' out in September.

CHOCOLATE RAIN ♥♥♥♥

Chocolate rain, angels cry and shake their heads in shame! xx

BALLAD HEARTS AMANDINE!

Amandine P...is one of Ballad Of's favorite photographers! Check out her work at http://www.flickr.com/photos/funcoolfluo/

Join us on twitter xx

http://twitter.com/BalladOf

'Ballad Of...instrumental version'

http://balladofpipeanddrum.blogspot.com/

Take a peek at our music blog, we are always on the look out for bands to feature and review so drop our music editor, Camille, a quick message to see how you can get involved: camille.music@balladof.co.uk

xx

'Ballad Of...la couturier'

Visit our fashion blog:

http://balladoffashion.blogspot.com/

Or drop our fashion editor Lucy a line on lucy.fashion@balladof.co.uk

xx

Who Is Mary Maud?

Who is she? WHO IIIIS SHE?? She is who we have named our first publication after. She is a tinker. She won't let us forget she's about.

BALLAD OF...MARY MAUD...OUT NOW!!!

Hello lovely people,

Ballad Of...Mary Maud is out now...visit www.balladof.co.uk to get your copy, or email ballad@balladof.co.uk for more info!

xxx

Come and join us for Fussy Frocks and Fancy Footwork..

Claire's Scrap Book

Nan Goldin: Arles...cannot wait! xc

Goldie Hawn: My heroin

Photogeek: http://www.squareamerica.com/

Stefania Paparelli: 'No such thing as Heather Fields' try and google it! Pretty pretty, moody moody. Guna get on a train from Arles and find some of these wonderful phenomenon's. Lavender- doh! Heh heh.

Florence & the Machine: I'm all about the piccas :P

Tracey Emin:

Egon Schiele: 'What Klimt wasn't brave enough to be'

Ballad Of...The Picture Junkie :P - That is alllll I am...obsessed with the visual :)

Creative Protege Ltd - CHECK THESE GUYS OUT!!!

Creative Protege was specifically designed to help Graduates / Juniors within the creative sector onto the industry job ladder. They take live briefs from some of the top design agencies across the UK and pass them onto our grads / juniors to work on in order to get experience on their CVs and commercially viable portfolios with great brands on them.

They act as a virtual agency - you can work at home in your own time whilst we account manage the process. Even though all the work is voluntary, you can list us as a current employer on your CV breaking the catch 22...
Their company is for young people, ran by creative specialists and all contributors are welcome..

Their mission is to rebrand the creative graduate and have the industry take a fresh look at the future talent of the sector...

Don't miss an amazing opportunity it will benefit you 100%

love love xx

Ballad Hearts You

Just what it says on the tin....

Lindsey's Scrap Book Time

Love Love Love

Mary Maud is almost here

Mary Maud is nigh...We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their amazing efforts, the work has been outstanding, it was so hard to choose what went into the final publication! But here we go, finally...the list of contributors for Ballad Of Mary Maud:

Ninette Schostack

Emil Charlaff

Roger Renberg

Christopher Kennedy

Lindsey Jade

Ed Watts

Eve Lacey

Louise Cornish

Alexis Dolman

Emily Owens

Emer Hawkins

Christopher Kippax

Josh Armitage

Einar Aslaksen

Katherine Cowell

Catherine Aguilar

Louisa Gray

Vicky Scott

Katie Wright

Catherine B

Sam Dowling

Marjo Loponen

Annette Mangseth

Nina Wagner

Amandine P.

Vorawat Prechawattanachai

Mandeep Natt

Marc Sansome

Phil Chennells

Christina Economidou

Adam Del Core

It is a really amazing issue, we're really proud of it! Thank you to everyone for your contributions. We're only sorry that there wasn't room for everyone. We'll just have to make the next issue double the size!

www.balladof.co.uk

Love x

Take a gander at our new website..with a few sneaky previews..

Here are a few sneaky previews and the website up and running...


http://balladof.t83.net/#

FIRST ISSUE..

Hello there,

Wow, so after a lot of hard work our first issue is nearly at your finger tips.
We would like to thank a whole bunch of people for all the effort they have put in..Ian and his students at Creative Protege and all the contributors who have their work featured in the Nouveau themed first issue.

We will keep you all updated through our blog or facebook as to where and when you can purchase Ballad Of.

xx

Pequenas

More of what we like - Alphonse Mucha produced a flurry of paintings, posters, advertisements, and book illustrations, as well as designs for jewellery, carpets, wallpaper, and theatre sets in what was initially called the Mucha Style but became known as Art Nouveau.

Couldn't have been any more fitting to the theme of our first issue brief 'Nouveau'.

Fireworks may be the death of me.

TODAY is the worst day of the year for Andy Latham - he's scared stiff by fireworks. The 33 year old is believed to be the only person in Britain who has hyperperekplexia - a condition commonly known as stratle disease. A long bang means his body goes rigid and he falls to the ground. "It can be very dangerous., I dread Bonfire Night," said Mr Latham, of Great Harwood, Lincolnshire.

November 5, 2008. Metro Newspaper.

Just how we like it...

The image was taken by Guy Bourdin and is typical of his work, being controversial and sexual. Contrasting colours of both the clothing and of the carpet make the image appear garish, yet strangely appealing.