We Should Probably Talk About L’Oréal’s Dark Past

Beauty is only skin deep. But what if it’s actually even shallower than you think, only a few microns of spray tan thick? The global cosmetics conglomerate L’Oréal has devoted over a 100 years to the titivation of our precious bodies and telling us ‘we’re worth it’ from billboards and glossy magazines. L’Oréal has also…

The Tribe That Inspired Frida Kalho

That unapologetic unibrow, the halo-crown of jet-black centre-parted flower-adorned plaits, rouged cheekbones and russet lips frame a fearless stare. Her Mexican torzal necklaces, silver filigree earrings and onyx beads you and I could only hope to collect over a lifetime of scouring obscure artisanal markets. No prizes for guessing who she is. But let’s drag…

She’s the 19th Century Mystic Painter that Art History Needs to be Rewritten For

Buried by the elitist art establishment, hers must be the art world’s best kept secret this century. This is the story of a possessed, prodigious painter who prolifically created art that looks so modern it looks more at home in the 21st century; the story of a spiritually-minded artist trying to grasp the wonders of…

Before the Pencil Skirt, there was the Hobble Skirt

Fashion has always had the uncanny ability to mimic the drama of life, there’s no doubt social norms, political shifts and cultural changes are reflected in what we wear. Die-hard fashionistas, sociologists and anthropologists alike tell us clothes are our social armour, they mirror how we choose to interact with the world. Having said that,…

The Macaroni Club: Fashion History’s Forgotten Drag Subculture?

There’s a famous American song “Yankee Doodle” – you might’ve heard of it – the lyrics go like this: “Yankee Doodle went to town, A-riding on a pony, Stuck a feather in his cap, And called it macaroni.” The familiar patriotic tune was in fact created by the British to mock the Americans during the…

Forget Count Dracula, Meet History’s Most Prolific Female Serial Killer

Every year, nearly a million people flock to Romania’s famous Bran Castle, a medieval fortress in Transylvania often referred to as the home of Dracula. Us mere mortals have a morbid fascination with the seductively taboo tales of vampires from deepest Transylvania and the immortal be-fanged and be-cloaked Count Dracula – but what of the Countess Dracula?…

A Brief Exploration of Male Objectification Through The Ages

‘Objectification’ simply doesn’t sit well with our emancipated, liberal 21st century selves; in its simplest form it suggests the degrading of someone to the status of a mere object. Throughout history, the objectification of women, going hand in hand with gender discrimination, body dysmorphic disorders and sexual violence, is a familiar problem we know all…

Found in a Trunk: The Lost Avant-Garde Movement that came Decades before Dada

If modern art has taught us anything, it is that anything can be considered art. Picasso’s and Braque’s curious peeling newspaper collages of the 1910s spring to mind as the opening act for the ‘Modern Art’ movement. It was at this point in time, in the early 20th century where ‘real’ art – the academic…

An Ode to the Patron Saint of French Art Nouveau

Paris is synonymous with the florid, tendril-like entrances that so eloquently frame one’s rabbit-hole descent into the belly of the Parisian metro, almost like a piece of theatre. The vibrant sage green cast-iron portals to the underground, often flanked by botanical stalks exhibiting the bulblike red lights overhead, are beacons that connect a modern metropolis…

Postcards from the Old Miramar Hotel, a Crumbling Relic of Venezuela’s Ritzy Riviera

The Miramar Hotel is falling down. Its voluptuous domes and towering spires have crashed to the ground, its red roof tiles have been slipping and the classically-moulded plaster on its walls reduced to dust. This once awe-inspiring piece of architecture lies prostrate, with its dismembered limbs on display in the breeze of the balmy seaside…