Tia Dunn

What happens when you mix art, music and a famous actress? It is certainly unpredictable, as these two videos testify.

The first is a collaboration between Sam Taylor-Wood and The Pet Shop Boys, in which photographer Taylor-Wood is dressed as Marlene Dietrich holding a smoldering cigarette. The video is for Sam Taylor-Woods’ cover of the Passions’ “I’m In Love With A German Film Star” (produced by the Pet Shop Boys). Although there’s not much action in the film, which is more of a “living” still-life, it is strangely mesmerizing watching  smoke patterns and waiting for Taylor-Wood to blink.

The second film is also a music video, art-directed by Damien Hirst (and featuring slaughtered cows), for The Hours’ single “See the Light”. Instead of a look-a-like actress this time there is real-life actress Sienna Miller, dressed in a hospital gown, talking suicide, painting with blood and smoking cigarettes.

And no, I still haven’t managed to give up smoking…

Dee and Sue from Robots in Disguise were headlining for the Intel Studio event at Proud in Camden this week.
It was a high-energy performance featuring dancing robots and look-alike-fans. If you missed it you can check out their latest Chien Andalou-esque video to the new “Tears” single which tells the story of paranoid love (largely inspired by their then-boyfriends!) I can definitely (sadly) relate to the line “What’s that number? Red light panic terror! I’ll cut her from ear to ear”, from previous stalker-moments.
Dee & Sue’s Shopping tips: Beyond Retro, charity shops, customising existing wardrobe, collecting bands’ t-shirts.

Reading Lorraine Candy’s editor’s letter in this month’s ELLE, I discover how some of my colleagues always look so fabulous and this got me to thinking about my own dressing and shopping habits.

Clearly I’m not paying enough attention and I fear it’s showing. So I’m going to try living by Donna Wallace’s tips of expensive tights (will invest in some Wolfords) and shopping around for boys’ pants.

I’ve already tried Claire’s “knit with knits, dresses with dresses” approach to organising my wardrobe but the clothes tend to end up in drunken heaps around my room, or like a permanent bed partner occupying half my bed so it’s always half full.

So this week I’ll try spending an hour putting outfits together, with their belts and accessories (a la ELLEUK.COM editor Melissa Dick, thank you) in the hope that I’ll not have to think about it again for… a while.

How do I dress myself now? Half way through my shower I realise that I haven’t a clue what I’m going to wear, what the weather is like, or what my post-work activities are, before sighing in bored desperation “jeans and a t-shirt, then?” This is, I assure you, an improvement on my NY days in which I’d often wake up already fully dressed and therefore pret-a-porter…

Feeling nostalgic for London Fashion Week I have been flicking through the many photos snapped by ELLEUK.COM’ers that week. My favourite has to be this one taken backstage at the Vivienne Westwood Red Label show by our fabulous (and sadly former) intern Richard Pickard. How special is the mini-mic holding its own next to the “big boys”?! The show was a paparazzi frenzy in which we played hide-and-seek with the security guards to get to the celeb-filled front-row. We didn’t get anywhere near Kate Moss but she did wave to us from her chauffeur driven car at the end of the night!

The music for this month’s Behind the Cover with Mary-Kate Olsen was provided by the HK119 (Finnish born Heidi Kilpeläinen). I’m loving this video in which she has an unlit cigarette in her mouth throughout.

Read the ELLE interview here.

Smoking update: This is hard, despite Allen Carr’s “there’s nothing to give up” philosophy. Feeling in need for a booster I went along to Sen on South Molton Street for a quick-fix smoking cessation acupuncture session. Dr. Zhou (pronounced Jo) spoke no English so the consultation was between me, her, and an interpreter. Zhou took my pulse in both wrists, looked at my tongue, and asked me if my energy level was low (yes), if I felt bloated after eating (often), and if I had digestion problems (sometimes). She then explained that acupuncture can treat many symptoms at the same time and works on both body and mind. For smoking cessation 1-2 sessions a week are recommended for at least a month. This was session one. I was taken to the oh-so-relaxing treatment room where needles were placed in my forehead, scalp, hands, wrists, stomach and lower legs. Then I was left with meditation music and some kind of heated instrument pointing at my belly. I drifted in and out of sleep, thoughts ran here and there. The noise of my world slipped away. When she came back to remove the needles she vigorously massaged all of the areas that had been punctured, as well as areas that hadn’t been… the ear massage was the best! When I left I could already tell that my digestion had shifted, my energy was sky-high, and stress level zero. Thanks to their 3 for 2 offer I bought three bottles of their “happy pills” and headed out towards Oxford Street. This would be a test. Could I keep my new Sen Zen even along Oxford Street’s hustle? Yes! I drifted through it, hardly noticing other people. Feeling slightly peckish but attempting a raw diet I wondered into the Selfridges Food Hall and stumbled upon their new Raw counter. Amazing! Now I have no excuse to break from the raw at lunchtime. When I got home I switched on the radio and “All My Friends” by LCD Soundsystem was playing, immediately transporting me back to the streets of New York where I first started listening to that album. Just as quickly as that my nicotine craving was back. Music is a powerful thing, perhaps they should use it in medicine (“Your Brain on Music: The Science of an Obsession” by Daniel J. Levitin). Tonight the music beat the acupuncturists’ needle and while writing this post I ran out and bought a pack of ten. Oh well, I still have my “happy pills” and tomorrow is another day…

They are all style icons according to Dan Gillespie Sells of The Feeling. Dan was super patient while ELLEUK.COM picture editor Leanne and I asked him about his favourite shops in London (Beyond Retro, Mint, and Start) as well as his preferred night spots (Jodie Harsh and Horse Meat Disco) and his fabulous shoes (pictured, and purchased in Philidelphia!).

Jodie Harsh video

The Feeling were at Proud in Camden, headlining for the fifth round of Intel Studio’s Unsigned competition on Wednesday. The evening included a high energy performance from King Rat - their keyboardist Sarah Wax being particularly intense (pictured).

I’m getting vaguely addicted to this competition and am looking forward to round five at the end of this month. I’ve even gotten involved in the online voting action.

The only downside to the evening was the free-bar-induced-hangover that prevented me from attending Modern Love for a DJ set by Me & Mrs Jones (aka Sophie Ellis-Bexter and Richard Jones of the Feeling) at Soho Revue Bar the next day.

Today is my third smoke-free day. Miraculous considering that immediately after the Quit Smoking clinic I rushed to a hen night with no intention of smoking or drinking. My friend (the hen), so disappointed at the new-don’t-drink-don’t-smoke-me just wailed “you can’t give up on my hen night!” Maybe she had a point, why turn up if I’m not going to play along? So I got drunk, I got cigarettes, a table at China Whites and very little memory of anything else.

Sunday morning and total denial. After-all, I was smoking under duress. Allen Carr had come to my rescue during my sleep and so here I am on my third smoke-free day. It is strangely easy…. so far.

Exclusive offer to ELLEUK.COM

“Mention ELLEUK.COM at your local Allen Carr’s Easyway To Stop Smoking Clinic and receive a £50 discount for the session (normal cost £220 including money back guarantee). Check www.allencarr.com for your nearest clinic.”

Pretty impressive that Allen Carr. Five hours of breaking down the smoking myths until the cigarette is reduced to a smelly object that people light at one end and suck through the other end. The mantra is that the little stick no longer relaxes or makes you more alert, it doesn’t give you confidence and it doesn’t make you sexy or aid in weight loss as part of a calorie controlled diet. Half way through the session it becomes clear that there is actually nothing to give up. I’m not even wanting to go for the scheduled cigarette break every 40 minutes and don’t join in when everyone smokes their last cigarette together. Am I already free? Then comes the hypnosis which, being slightly hung over from the night before, I pretty much sleep through… but will it work?

Tomorrow I am booked into Allen Carr’s Quit Smoking clinic. Apparently this really works and is supposed to be the easiest way to quit. Great. Which begs the question - do i want to give up? Is that what any sane girl does when she’s in the middle of a breakup? Shouldn’t I be smoking a carton a day, wearing the darkest of sunglasses, and keeping myself vaguely inebriated while eating cakes?