Archive for April, 2010

Greetings fellow Lippy fans!

Last week I had the pleasure of returning to a film set … and it was long overdue. With the exception of short films, I haven’t shot on a feature since RATLINE wrapped. So when Kristoff Bates asked me to part of AFTER PARTY MASSACRE, I was pretty damn stoked about it!

I don’t really remember how I know Kristoff. In all honesty we run in the same circles and probably met several times before it stuck. I think about 3 years ago he sent me a message introducing himself officially and we became friends. In any case we’ve been looking for a chance to work with each other for awhile now. You wouldn’t think this would be much of a challenge considering he’s a photographer, runs naked girl websites, owns/runs Horror Merch (www.horrormerch.com), goes to several horror conventions a year, AND lives in the mid west like me.  However it seemed something also came up or we’d just miss each other and nothing ever got a chance to happen.

Earlier this year Kristoff and I started talking about AFTER PARTY MASSACRE and how I might be able to fit into the project. Cleveland is a 9 hour drive away and the project had a limited budget; I could only really be cast in something that was shot in one weekend. There where some scheduling conflicts too, not on mine or Kristoff’s end, but from other actors ….this caused dates to pushed around. Such is life on a independent film set. I’m actually pretty amazed on how well Kristoff did handle himself with all the changes. Making a movie is HARD, and it’s even worse when people flake out on you. But he rolled with the proverbial punches and kept going.

I made the drive through Ohio, passing the town where I spent my summers knee deep in a church conference,  ready to spend the better half of 14 hours topless and covered in blood. It seems I’m never one to lack in poetic flair.

When I got in the first night I was greeted by Kristoff waving a dildo in the middle of the street to point me in the direction of his house. I then met the stunning Danica Satanica, who is an up and coming model/actress. I’ve been stalking her on Facebook (DanicaSatanica) for awhile now and it was great to finally talk with her person! She’s a very sweet and talented woman.

I also got to meet to co-mastermind behind AFTER PARTY, Kyle Severn. Kyle is also the drummer for Incantation….I’ve been making a lot of metal girls jealous when I tell them I worked on a project of his.  He was really nice to work with and very dedicated. Always a great combination when you’re pulling a long day on set.

And it was a very long day on set my friends! If you’ve never worked on movie set before let me tell ya … 5 minutes in a film equal about 10 hours on a shoot. We had 3 kill scenes to do and all of them required pretty elaborate special effects. In the end it was well worth the wait because everything looked amazing. I don’t want to give too much away … but one of the effects is a leg getting chopped off and meat chunks flying into the air! How fucking cool is that?

The biggest trooper of night was the stunning Scarlett Von Sinn! She stood for 14 hours in stiletto boots and lugged an ax around. My type of chick! Krisoff caught me taking pictures of her ass.I may have giggled like a school girl when she talked to me. Nothing out of the ordinary. I didn’t hear her bitch once during that shoot and she delivered take after take.

When it came time for yours truly to get the ax … I warned everyone that I scream really loud. No one ever believes me. But sure enough first take I spike the audio. Sound moves a step back for second take, still in the red. By the end of it I don’t think anyone who was next to me could hear very well.

Kristoff booked a hotel room for me and when he checked me into the place we were both stiff covered in fake blood. I tried to hide it by putting my hoodie up but it was still splattered all over my face! I don’t think the night crew was amused. after trying to watch a little T.V., I passed out around 4 in the morning. Woke up to a brand new day and made my way back to St.Louis with the help of some David Bowie.

Life fucking rules.

(But only if you let it.)

XoXo

Nos

Life in Lippy Land has it’s ups and downs like anywhere, and I do my best to report the ups to you, as we all have enough drama and bullshit in our lives to listen to anyone else’s whining!

But, can I just say, I am just about over this economy crunch!!

Its really fucking up the fashion world, with everyone looking for the cheapest deal and complaining about prices. Well, we have listened and, to help out our customers, we have lowered many prices, including our entire Jeans/Denim collection and introduced affordable new groups like “Batz n Bones”. Our quality, of course, remains great and our designers keep supplying the hottest new styles, such as our Steam Punk groups, which keep getting better and more popular. I think we are making the best of a bad situation and, until things get better and the economy improves, Lip Service is still the best cure for your flat busted blues!!

We received a surprise visit last week from one of my favorite punkers of all time the king of D.I.Y Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat and Fugazi. He was in town for a visit and, as it turns out, his wife is friends with one of our new Kill City designers. Since he remembered Drew from back in his punk rock days, playing for Americas Hard Core and Crucifix, they decided to stop by and say hi. He is truly a cool guy and it was a blast hanging out and talking old punk rock, touring and band stories with him and Drew!! I couldn’t help being a bit star struck, as were a few others from LS, and we couldn’t resist getting a photo in the parking lot to document the experience!

Our New LS Lingerie catalog mailer goes out this week so be sure to stop by your favorite LS retailer and make sure they order lots of it for Fall. The stuff is SEXY as hell and bound to please girls and boys alike!!

The new Jetboy Ep “Off Your Rocker” is starting to blow up and after an interview we did for an east coast radio station they posted the interview on their blog and received over 18,000 hits that registered for listening to the entire show!!! (Check out the interview!) We are Playing the M3 Festival on June 19th with The Scorpions and Cinderella and also a big festival in Kansas plus some local dates. A European tour is in the works now, too! Check the JetboyRocks website for tour dates and up to date info.

Cold Blue Rebels, my Psychobilly band, will play on May 7th in Bakersfeild with the Chop Tops. We are enjoying a rare weekend off this weekend, so maybe I’ll see you out and about or maybe I’ll just hibernate with my girl and some dvd’s!!

Until next time!
Fashion+Music=Life
Mickey Finn

Continuing our ongoing quest to dress the whole f’n world in Lippy …

This time out, we’ve created some killer graphics to custom skin your laptop. The sizes are based on the average sizes of the main producers and are listed by the screen size (with the actual graphic size following in parenthesis). If there is a size we don’t have here, please let us know in the comments so we can try to get you covered, too.

Here’s how they work. All images are 200 dpi resolution for better printing, so they’re fairly big files. Because of that, we compressed them into a .zip file for quicker downloading. All graphics are shown in the 17″ configuration above the download links. (Not all graphics will appear precisely in this width/height ratio because of actual laptop size.)

To download and use the files:
1 – Select the graphic you want as your laptop skin. Then find your size in the download links.
2 – Click on the download link. A dialog box will appear; select “Save File” option and direct to the location you would like the file to be stored on your computer.
3 – Once download is complete, find the file and Open. This should open the compressed file and give you the original graphic file, which can be used to create a custom laptop skin.

#1 – 25 Years – Lip Sevice Stickers

(note: This skin can be used on any color background, but is designed to be printed on clear material to appear as individual stickers applied to the surface.)

17″ (15 x 10″) || 15″ (13.7 x 9.5″) || 14″ (11.93 x 9.3″) || 13″ (12.803 x 8.996″) || 12″ (10.6 x 8.3″) || 10″ (10.3 x 6.8″)

#2 – 25 Years – Lip Service Stickers 2

17″ (15 x 10″) || 15″ (13.7 x 9.5″) || 14″ (11.93 x 9.3″) || 13″ (12.803 x 8.996″) || 12″ (10.6 x 8.3″) || 10″ (10.3 x 6.8″)

#3 – Classic Daggers

17″ (15 x 10″) || 15″ (13.7 x 9.5″) || 14″ (11.93 x 9.3″) || 13″ (12.803 x 8.996″) || 12″ (10.6 x 8.3″) || 10″ (10.3 x 6.8″)

#4 – Blacklist

17″ (15 x 10″) || 15″ (13.7 x 9.5″) || 14″ (11.93 x 9.3″) || 13″ (12.803 x 8.996″) || 12″ (10.6 x 8.3″) || 10″ (10.3 x 6.8″)

#5 – Service (Honor)

17″ (15 x 10″) || 15″ (13.7 x 9.5″) || 14″ (11.93 x 9.3″) || 13″ (12.803 x 8.996″) || 12″ (10.6 x 8.3″) || 10″ (10.3 x 6.8″)

#6 – Fallout

17″ (15 x 10″) || 15″ (13.7 x 9.5″) || 14″ (11.93 x 9.3″) || 13″ (12.803 x 8.996″) || 12″ (10.6 x 8.3″) || 10″ (10.3 x 6.8″)

#7 – Circuit City

17″ (15 x 10″) || 15″ (13.7 x 9.5″) || 14″ (11.93 x 9.3″) || 13″ (12.803 x 8.996″) || 12″ (10.6 x 8.3″) || 10″ (10.3 x 6.8″)

Just a typical customer shopping for vinyl….

Demonia has always been a go-to for killer shoes and boots to coordinate with Lip Service styles. Now, when Demonia was looking for killer clothes to match with their goodies, we were thrilled to be the collection they picked as their go-to.

Check out these hot Lip Service styles in Demonia’s latest catalog! Then, check out more Demonia/Lippy pairings and the full range of badass available from Demonia! (In the UK || in the US)

For those of you inside the industry, check your latest issue of Body Magazine for Lippy styles shown there, too!

It was guys from Guns N Roses who helped put Lip Service firmly on the Rock N Roll map back in the day. So, it seems so very f’n appropos that, in the year we’re celebrating our 25th birthday and looking back into our badass past, the guys from Slash’s band should stop in to gear up for their latest tour! Todd Kerns and Bobby geared up with Lip Service jeans and some tasty selections from the new Service Collection. Check out their kick-ass sound and killer Lippy gear as they made the talk show rounds …

On the Tonight Show

On the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson

On George Lopez Tonight

Brooklyn band, Sleighbells, rockin’ (the sold out!) Dem Bones leggings for their 2010 Coachella set. See the full gallery at www.losanjealous.com.

For some cool Dem Bones  – go here!

Hey Rockers,

My crazy world has been off the hook. Did the Viva Las Vegas weekender, came back and rocked out with Jetboy at the Viper Room, back to Vegas for a couple shows with the Cold Blue Rebels, and then stayed in Vegas for the International Lingerie show, where we debuted our brand new sexy Lingerie line! Made from black stretch mesh, with Leopard mesh, and spry printed spandex with stretch mesh the styles are Hot Hot Hot!!! We also have new Hosiery, with Star pattern, Leopard pattern, and 3 more that are unique and in true Lippy style!!

The Cold Blue Rebels played on Saturday in Pasadena at the Old Town Pub for one of Tony Slash’s productions called Pub of the Dead. This was the 3rd event and featured discount entry and drink specials for people dressed like Zombies!!! And don’t forget this weekend is the Socal Zombie walk in Hollywood. Check their page for details. These are fun events, I have done several of them.

Today we had a visit from DJ Joseph Brooks, from the famous 80s club Cathouse and Club MakeUp. He is an old friend of mine and Drew’s and it was a treat to see him again after many years. He came in to be interviewed for the upcoming book on the history of Lip Service. We hooked him up with some new clothes, chatted and got caught up. He looked great and is still one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet!!
Keep your eyes peeled for his new jewelry line.

Then I headed down to Electric Chair in Huntington Beach to set up a new “Service” menswear rack full of the entire Spring line so, if ya want the goods, go down there. They got it all at the best price in SOCLA!!!

Cold Blue Rebels will play at Piazzas in Long Beach on Friday and at Dirty Vinyl in Ventura on Saturday. Hope to see ya out. We have brand new CBR t-shirts available and some great shows coming up, including one at Bar Sinister! Jetboy will also be playing at Bar Sinister on June 5th!!

Well time to get some sleep, which sucks, but is unfortunately a necessity!!!
Until next time!!
FASHION+MUSIC=LIFE
Mickey Finn

The story of Easter

By: Dan Barrett (because he has to do something with that writing degree he acquired in college. Also “poetry” is in no shape or form a forté of Vanity Kills)

One day the Easter bunny came to earth
to bequeath upon us delicious chocolate
cast into fun and cute shapes
and also EBM.

Then he set about his work
to give every angry rivethead a basket of eggs
but not the new APOP album
(because it’s emo)

Some say Easter has something to do with resurrection
like the second coming of Skinny Puppy
Because everyone knows that Cevin Key
writes a better synth-line than Jesus.

It is a time to look up to the Rose-Coloured Skies
and Praise the Fallen
to put aside our Inhumane Amusement
and listen to that Wumpscut song Rise Again.

Anyway, the Easter rabbit gave out candy and tickets to Kinetik
to all the cybergrrls/cyberbois
because they love neon colors
and high sugar foods.

The number of eggs per basket
was directly proportionate
to the number of things that are not hair
in their falls.

April got a basket of green eggs
which matched her skirt
which came from Lip Service
Oh look kids, a plug!

Sadly, her Beloved puppy,
who happened to be wearing bunny ears for some reason,
appeared from the depths of the mist
and descended upon the treats faster than Rudy R.

So, with the spoils of the holiday lost,
she crushed an egg-shaped effigy
to curse the Eevil Young Flesh
and yelled out to the bunny that she was still talking but he wasn’t listening.

Also swords

Ahhhh…Easter. A blessed day devoted to the celebration of that which is most important in life, namely chocolate and zombies. It also heralds the imminent arrival of sweltering summer months. As the ye olde nuclear furnace in the sky causes temperatures to spike, many Lippy Addicts of the goth/industrial persuasion find themselves reliving the melting flesh scene from Robocop on a daily basis. Our friend, the mighty sun, greatly limits our wardrobe options and forces many of us to forsake being fashionable in the name of keeping our cool.

I’ve read several articles which tackled the issue of beating the heat without trading in your I’m-only-wearing-black-until-they-find-something-darker ensembles for khaki shorts, pastel tank tops and those god-fucking-awful monstrosities-in-shoe form called “flip flops”. While breezy linen skirts with black lace accents and dark colored camisoles embellished with standard gothy fare, such as the ever popular skull motif, were suggested as sensible alternatives, that still didn’t really solve the issue that plagues the inquiring minds of the style conscious spooky socialites amongst us, “Just what the fuck do I wear to the club when it’s still like 90 degrees at night?”

Well, since you asked….

While I dare NOT come between a goth girl and her arsenal of tight n’shiny fetish wear, I feel like it is my duty as a fashion blogger and fellow club goer to advise you to rock your infamous “historically accurate” Marie Antoinette gown reproduced entirely in pastel PVC in more moderate weather. Mostly due to the fact that I don’t want to smell your festering BO all the way across the bar. With that said, YES YOU CAN, wear vinyl when Mercury rises. You just have to “Use Your Brain And Think About It” (Thanks for letting me rip that phrase directly off my T-shirt, Feindflug).

Without further ado, here’s how to look hot without dissolving into a big sticky puddle of grossness:

Haute Heat

The key to making perspiration producing synthetic fibers such as vinyl, rubber, and latex work in the scorching summer season is to simply wear less of them. In other words, send those sexy but impractical dresses and catsuits on a much needed vacation until October. It should go without saying that sticking to separates will not only prevent you from lookin’ a hot boiled mess, but feelin’ like one too. Opt for a top or bottom of the PVC persuasion, but avoid wearing them AT THE SAME TIME. For maximum ventilation, try a simple black vinyl zipper-front sleeveless crop top, like April’s. Oh yeah, and don’t skimp on the antiperspirant.

Create a texture contrast by pairing your second skin-esque top with a more utilitarian-chic stretch twill olive cargo skirt such as this Lip Service Hot Topic style 29 79 (ht cut 14560) mini.

Covering your hands after Memorial Day might seem like a counterproductive feat at first, but trust me you’ll be glad you shielded your mitts after being forced to shake hands with a rather damp and odiferous friend-of-a-friend you’ve just been introduced to. The one that danced to the DJ’s back-to-back- set of old school EBM for the past 45 minutes. Then you’ll catch yourself thinking “Wow…that Vanity Kills was right. Short gloves in the summer really aren’t a bad idea”.

Petrified by the thought of having your feet encased by buckles and PVC for hours on end as you punch and kick your way across a sweaty crowded dancefloor? Then get out of the scene!

Two things:

1. Gladiator sandals or other “breathable” footwear commonly associated with the season will never be seen as a suitable substitute for boots here at Lethal Style. You’ll sooner see me touting the Olsen Twins as style icons.
2. To minimize chafing and discomfort, which can occur when moist skin comes in contact with material such as vinyl, apply talcum powder onto any exposed bits of your calf or thigh that touch the inside surface of your boot.

I have written detailed descriptions of the exact method of installing hair falls here and here.

Soylent Greens

If you’ve only limited yourself to sporting this hue to your annual St. Patrick’s Day pub crawl and the all Boy George 80s throwback night, then you my dear friend, haven’t been living at all. Spring into the green in 2010 (No, not in the granola-crunching Earth Mama sort of way either).

General Prep Work

1. Wash your face with a cleanser formulated especially for your skin type. Rinse thoroughly and pat dry with a soft cloth. Prep your skin with moisturizer before applying concealer in order to ensure a smoother, flake free application.
2. Before proceeding any further, allow your skin to properly absorb the moisturizer. This should take about 10 minutes.
3. Since foundation worn alone often has a nasty habit of settling in the fine lines around your mouth, near your eyes, and on your forehead, I highly recommend using a primer after you’ve moisturized your face. Utilizing a small amount of primer helps to fill in unflattering expression lines, pores and scars, thus allowing foundation to actually do its job!
4. Nix blemishes and skin discoloration by gently patting concealer over the trouble area. Follow by blending with your ring finger.
5. Apply a matte liquid foundation that best matches your skin tone to your face and neck with a foundation brush (A full dome shaped brush works beautifully). Start by applying small dots in the center of your face and then moving outward.
6. Set everything in place by finishing off with a thin coat of translucent powder. Use a full, round shaped powder brush for optimal results.

Eyes

1. Dab some brown eyeshadow onto a small angled brush. Tap off the excess. Starting at the widest part of the brow, near the nose, and using short strokes, apply brown eyeshadow directly to the natural hair of the eyebrow. Repeat on the other side. Make sure to use a shade that matches your hair color (in April’s case brown was used since she is a blonde). After you’re satisfied with the shape of your brows, feel free to seal them with a single coat of a makeup sealer.
2. Lightly coat your entire eyelid area with an eyeshadow primer to build a smooth base for your shadows, pigments, and liners.
3. Take an eyeshadow brush with a round/tapered edge and wet it a little. Dip your dampened brush into yellowish-green pigment and gently tap, DO NOT SWIPE, the pigment across your entire eyelid from lashline to crease.
4. With the help of a blending brush, deepen the crease of your eye with dark green shadow.
5. Using a smaller eyeshadow brush apply a layer of vivid green eyeshadow over the color you added in Step 3 to add dimension to the look.
6. Grab your blending brush again and blend the same vivid green eyeshadow you added in Step 5 into the dark green that you added to your crease in Step 4 to avoid harsh lines. Make sure to blend up and outwards.
7. Highlight your browbone with shimmery white eyeshadow applied with a small eyeshadow brush.
8. Line your bottom lid starting from the outer corner of your eye, slowly making your way toward the inner corner with your favorite brand of black kohl eyeliner. Most of the color should be concentrated in the outer corner.
9. Last but not least, add extra depth and drama to your gaze with a pair of false eyelashes. To apply, add adhesive to the back of the eyelash strip. Grab a false eyelash with a pair of tweezers and adhere to the outermost part of your eyelids, keeping them as close to your own lashline as possible. You know that they’re in the right place when they’re sitting right on top of your natural lashes. Gently hold them down in place with your finger for about 30 seconds or so until the glue dries.

Cheeks

1. Swipe some mauve blush onto your blush brush.
2. Apply the mauve blush to the apples of your cheeks.
3. For added glow, blend a small amount of highlighter powder into the tops of your cheekbones. This will enhance the definition of your bone structure.

Lips

1. For a sheer wash of pretty spring time pastel color, use a mauve lip liner to fill in your lips starting at the center of your natural lip line and moving toward the outer corners.
2. Finish off with a coat of clear lipgloss.

Credits

Model, Photography and Styling: April Mayi

<3
Vanity Kills

Wed-Thurs:

Had the day off, so I hiked up Runyon Canyon…now let me say that I understand not everyone is as in shape as I am, but I wish they would bulldoze a new path that would challenge us “fortunate ones.”  I would also appreciate ash trays along the path so I have somewhere to take my smoke breaks.   In the meantime, I asked an overweight lady and her slightly obese daughter if they’d like a tandem piggyback ride up to the top…they were struggling already so they were happy to accept my offer, and I was finally going to get a workout.  After taking some pictures at the top, I treated them all to In N Out…where I tried to influence and motivate healthy eating habits by refraining from ordering anything “animal-style.”

Fri:

Back to work:  always fun at True Tattoo(hollywood)…always something to see or do.  Today, for instance, I saw the WORST TATTOO OF THE WEEK:  it wasn’t done in our shop, mind you…somewhere at Wilmington Swap Meet, I believe.  Let it be a lesson that when you’re not willing to pay for good artists, you get bad tattoos.  Or backwards Superman logos.

I also finished a tattoo that I’m very proud of, on my friend Jonny…it’s a memorial tattoo for his great aunt, who, in her later years, was prone to lighting candles in her rose garden and dressing up like the Blessed Virgin while listening to the first 2 Megadeth records.  It’s a special feeling when you get to help someone remember a loved one.

Saturday:

After work went to check out my old friends Murder By Death at The Troubadour.   it had been a while since they’d been through on tour, so it was a good visit.  While there, I finally got a decent picture of the greatest “best friend” tattoos ever:  And yes, that’s my arm and their drummer, Dagan’s.  What better way to celebrate brotherhood by paying homage to one of the top 5 greatest films of all time?

I also got to talk to my old friend, Benjamin…Ben’s an especially good friend because he has on him one of the first tattoos I ever did.  And I beg his forgiveness every time I see him.  Meh, what are friends for?

CONVERSATION OF THE NITE:

FAN-GIRL:  I’m an artist.  I love art.  I really wanna get into designing album art…
BEN:  Cool! I’ve done some of that. Like this record for instance, I did the cover for it.
GIRL:  Wow, did you do that on Illustrator?
BEN:  Nope.  I carved it out of a block of wood.

by the way:  have you ever seen subliminal messaging on a whiskey bottle?  I have…

Sun-Mon:

There’s a lot of human interaction in my line of work, as one may imagine.  I love meeting new people and getting to know them as I permanently mark their skin, but I also get a real kick out of tattooing people I already know.  Like the time I covered up an ex-girlfriend’s name on Bryan Adams…sure, Brian and I have known each other for a long time, but it wasn’t until I tattooed him that I understood what he meant by “cuts like a knife.”

Or like today, when I tattooed my friend Mac, of the (in)famous Los Angeles rock n roll powerhouse The Letter Openers.  Mac isn’t like a lot of my customers…he actually suffers from a rare blood disorder that causes his body to react oddly while getting tattooed.  As a result, his body releases an unnatural amount of adrenaline and can only be counteracted with an equally extreme depressant.  My solution is to go to a bar and drink copious amounts of alcohol while “dancing out” the rest of his adrenaline.  It’s the least I can do for a loyal customer and good friend.  Unfortunately, his condition also causes him to hemorrhage from his armpits, so his shirt was just ruined.  All in all a good night, though.

Those were the highlights of my week…tomorrow nite I’m supposed to work a private tattoo party at David Copperfield’s house.  Stay tuned for that.