Exactitudes

Different social sets are united by their inherent dress codes.  Turn the volume up on your computer to hear the descriptions. Hilarity ensues...
via exactitudes

"Rotterdam-based photographer Ari Versluis and profiler Ellie Uyttenbroek have worked together since October 1994. Inspired by a shared interest in the striking dress codes of various social groups, they have systematically documented numerous identities over the last 14 years...they call their series Exactitudes: a contraction of exact and attitude. By registering their subjects in an identical framework, with similar poses and a strictly observed dress code, Versluis and Uyttenbroek provide an almost scientific, anthropological record of people’s attempts to distinguish themselves from others by assuming a group identity. The apparent contradiction between individuality and uniformity is, however, taken to such extremes in their arresting objective-looking photographic viewpoint and stylistic analysis that the artistic aspect clearly dominates the purely documentary element. " 

Here are some good ones.
2. Casual Queers.
ideal son in law look alikes. respectable professional,  don't pig hole me homosexual. no screaming fairies.

3. Gabber Bitches
gabber following speed sluts.  white trash, comfortable camping chic.  skip the top when it gets hot. fly the flag with hair and shoe styling.

6. Teenagers
saturday night town club house wonder woman cute girly girly teenie boppers. dont label me. nag, nag, nag.

16. Manipulators
narcissistic workout energized supplement addicts. Already at seventeen  sculpting their bodies to perfection.  Boys can have tits too.

66. Babes
exhibitionist, naughty next door girls. love to wear micro bikinis to show off their silicon gems. birthday presents from their lovers.

92. Pinups
betty paige twenty-year olds from shortage artland. a burlesque mix of 40s and 50s vintage movie star style with a hint of rockabilly. pencil skirts, pointy tits and vargas inspired sexiness. they all know the pose. Whoops!

102. Hipsters
funky globalized unisex stylers with an ironic attitude. desensitized to information overload. its a subculture to which nobody claims to be part of.  rock and rave, and lets crash the ugliest sweater party.

Adiam Dymott

Swedish rocker Adiam Dymott has swagger.

The Broken Hearts dj's

UK based dj duo, Amber and Nisha of the Broken Hearts are good for your ears and eyes! They are a perfectly crafted medley of vaudeville culture and imagery of the 30's, the circus, cabaret, old hollywood and The Shining.  They sound as eclectic as they look, and are silly brilliant.  feast your eyes and ears in all their eerie glory.    

images via http://www.myspace.com/2brokenhearts

Mata Hari: Embellished Espionage

Espionage legend Margaretha Zelle pushed the boundaries of erotisism in her day and fed Parisian Orientalist fantasies through her promiscuous exotic dancing.  Her access to military agents and the upper echelon of society eventually made her a double agent who spied on the French for the Germans in WWI and vice versa and was killed by a French firing squad in 1917.

Anna Piaggi

"Anna Piaggi’s pleasure in words is like a designers pleasure in materials. Her journalism is full of puns, ambiguities, suggestions and alliterations."  She's a riot of texture, color and print- so unique, whimsical and witty. Clashtastically fantastic. i love her.

Babaism

Stylist extraordinaire, Catherine Baba is in her own words, "An ejaculation of lifestylizations, DAAAAAAAAAArling!".  That quote pretty much sums up her extraordinariness...her pictures and editorials will back it up.  She channels a jazz infused 1920's aesthetic mixed with oriental gypsy gaudiness through her affection for turbans, fur, excessive jewelry, and the list goes on....She defines "piling it on" but in a beautifully authentic way. BABAISM baby. 

Iris Apfel

Indivisual, unconventional, and eclectic style and taste of Iris Apfel is an inspiration.  She and her husband founded the textile firm Old World Weavers in the fifties. I love her.