What do you think of androgyny?

Hey there. This is for guys who live in North East England. It's a long shot asking on here but worth a go - I'm in a bit of a dilemma!
As many of you know I'm a fashion design student. I specialise in menswear. I am currently making a jacket and I find myself in need of a suitable model for:
a) a photoshoot
b) presenting my jacket at uni
(dates to be confirmed but I would say that it will be in three weeks to one month's time)

The problem is that I can't think of any men in my circle of contacts who quite have the look I'm going for. I based my jacket on 60s skinheads, so if you have no hair or very short/buzzed hair you might have the look I'm going for. The jacket should fit a 38inch chest, but it's a fairly loose cut so if you're a bit smaller or a bit bigger it shouldn't matter too much (I've not made it yet so I'll take a more accurate measurement when it's done!).

The jacket is a donkey jacket, which is grey wool with white leather embellishments. If you are the kind of person who wears grey or black jeans and Doc Martens (or similar boots) styling you would be very easy. Ideally you should be 5'10 or taller but if you think you might have the look I'm after I'd really love to hear from you regardless.

I am hoping to do the photoshoot at Steetley Magnesite, which is in Hartlepool. The presentation will be in Newcastle. I can provide transport and payment for your time. Also prints of any photos I take of you, if you want them.

Here is a photo of the photoshoot location and also a drawing of the jacket (which is what it will hopefully look like!) [link]

I'm looking for someone confident who won't mind standing like a prat in front of a camera (and who will happily follow directions for poses!) and walking up and down in front of a few of my classmates and uni tutors. If you require a chaperone, that is fine - I'll have one too. I hope it's not too cheeky a request and I very much hope somebody believes they are right for the job. Let me know in the thread or via a message if you're interested! Having a photo ready of yourself on your profile would be ideal.

Thank you!






And how are you all?
Things are going well with me now. I've settled into the new house and I'm getting there with uni work. I am certainly feeling a lot better about my current circumstances. Thanks for all the well wishes over the months, everyone.

What do all of you lovely folk think of art that is more than just a pretty picture? Do you appreciate art that induces disgust or discomfort?

deviantART is perhaps not the right place for some pieces of art. Some pieces of art would be against the rules to upload here - this would be the case for a beautiful collection I saw some years ago at a local gallery. It was all painted roughly but skillfully on flattened cardboard boxes, and depicted various erotic acts. I certainly thought that they were art - as did the gallery! But they wouldn't have been allowed on here.

Some pieces of art may be suitable as far as the rules go, but I get the impression that the community itself would not approve of it. I can see that the appreciation for art on here tends to be for pieces of beauty and technical skill, but not so much for work that could be considered 'taboo'. There is obviously a split in one particular area - many people here approve of artistic nudes and many thoroughly don't.

What are your thoughts? I feel that I would like to explore more controversial art - not necessarily to be controversial, but to analyse my own feelings in a creative outlet. But is this the right place for them? I don't want to alienate anybody, but I'm not the same person artistically as I used to be. Some of you have been watching my art here since I was 14 - now I'm almost 22, and of course I've grown up a lot, gained a lot more experience and I have different things to explore. I suppose I have a selfish desire to maintain the approval I have had on here! I certainly enjoy your thoughts, though - so let me know what you think, please.

Edit: I'm aware that everyone is inclined to focus on my example of nudity and sex, but I intend to inquire about people's opinions on other taboo subjects, too. Of course, that one is a big one, and I also think that nudity and sex can be used to express things other than nudity and sex in themselves, with deeper intentions than just creating a pornographic image. But anyway - I'm asking about anything one may feel uncomfortable with.

Our family dog is as upset as the rest of us about the death of my Dad. She is lethargic, quiet and worried, and very obviously misses him. I daresay I would have expected that, but what I didn't expect was a moment last week - when we scattered the ashes. We took her with us to the woods. She was silent all the way through, until the very moment that we scattered the ashes on the bridge, and she howled. It was absolutely haunting. I don't know what she knows or how she knows it.

Hey everyone
I'm not sure how active I'm going to be for a good while now. A few nights ago, my Dad collapsed in the bathroom and was unable to be revived in hospital despite hours of trying. It was very sudden and unexpected, and I can't bring myself to believe it. I'm really not sure what I'll do without him.

My lovely Dad:

When did I last art? I can't remember.

Tomorrow, I get to pretend to be someone I'm not for the purposes of research... More on that later.

In other news, weeee!!


AW HELL YEAH

I love doing this move.

Okay, okay, I'm sorry for the baby talk... BUT CAN YOU BLAME ME?



Also, look at me go! I'll be able to get fully horizontal eventually:

I love Chinese pole. But I am getting another X pole soon so I can do pole dancing again, too!

BITEY SKUNK IS BITEY

IT'S AWESOME

Over my first couple of days at work, I've been designing swing tags to go inside the new range, as well as garment labels that are going to be embroidered. They're going to be sent to production tomorrow I think.

I also appear to be a fitting model. It would appear that I fit into the clothes, so I've been trying them on a lot. THEY MAKE ME FEEL SO COOL. I had a dress on today that made me feel like Morticia Addams.

In other news, look! Gravity, I OWN YOU!

Look ma, no hands!


Look ma, no legs!

Urghhhhhh... I remembered that my pole can actually spin, so I've been using it like that. I feel like I'm going to vomit everywhere. Have some more pole stuff, anyway (don't worry, there is no puke):

A video:
[link]





Don't I look THRILLED?

In other news, I start work at Phaze next Monday and I'll - according to the contract - be designing ranges for the LondonEdge trade show, which is AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME. I'm so excited, can't wait to get started.

I spend a lot of time upside down these days It's no longer scary!

I got an internship at Phaze [link]
I'm so thrilled, looks like I'll be doing some really cool things. The head says she's going to have me working on either rockabilly or steampunk style designs when I start on the 6th of June.

I'm so happy. I don't have to go to London, transport should be pretty easy as it's very near me, I get good placement pay, and I'm hopefully going to be a useful and necessary part of the company so I get the impression that I'll be doing some exciting tasks. I shouldn't have been so worried and disappointed about not getting any of the ones I previously applied for... in retrospect, I only wanted those placements because I wanted to get it over with. At Phaze, I think I can have much more fun.





Also, you guys haven't seen much of Vincent, so I thought I'd do a little Vincent feature
Here he is: [link]
[link]

After some minor (okay, major) technical glitches, the pole appears to be finished! Huzzah!

No, not one of my skunks...!

The people who sold Vincent to me have recently had one of their skunks stolen. They live in Chesterfield, UK.

She is an albino female skunk. She is chunky, medium sized with a particularly long snout. She is probably skittish with people she doesn't know.

She needs special care so it is crucial that she is found soon - it will be very hard to find her though, because it is suspected that she was stolen to order and she could be anywhere in the UK by now.

If you are a UK resident, have any connections to people who are interested in skunks or other exotics, or have heard anything at all about an albino skunk recently being acquired, please let me know!

Well, this is super scary to me, anyway...

I've made the decision to convert my dancing pole into a Chinese one. This is scary because it's PERMANENT.
BUT. I've hit a bit of a brick wall with the pole dancing, because of my skin type - I can't do some of the grips I want to do (like anything involving the brace grip, practice for the flag and shoulder mount, or any of the conditioning exercises) without developing the strength and I can't develop the strength until I can do the grips. The only conditioning exercise I CAN do is pole crunches, and I can only do them if I'm wearing PVC pants so that I don't slither everywhere:



I can do the other holds or at least the preparations for them on a Chinese pole but on my metal pole I just slide straight off immediately - even my Dad can't hold onto it and he's very strong from climbing, but he doesn't have clammy skin either so I think we both have a friction problem.

Soooo, next week, Ed, my Chinese pole instructor, has told me to bring my pole over to him and he'll apply a coating of permanent rubber to it. After that, I should be able to improve quickly at home because I'll be able to practice all week, gain a great deal of strength... and disappoint anyone who was enjoying seeing me wearing short shorts, because you have to wear jeans or trousers and preferably a long sleeved top to do Chinese pole.

I think that when my grip strength has improved significantly I can get another dancing pole (or get one pre-emptively anyway, maybe). I can't buy a new pole and convert that because they have a different, bottom-loading design now and that's rubbish to convert, so it has to be the old sort - it's pretty convenient that I have the old one. However, it's still a frightening thing because my pole cost over £100... arrrghhh...

I guess that at least 'Chinese pole acrobatics' is something I can put on my CV, whereas 'pole dancing'... not so much. Also, another plus, all this Chinese pole (as well as having stopped gorging myself on cereal) has reduced my waist size back down to 27 inches, like it was a few years ago Huzzah!

GAPING MAW SURROUNDED BY FUR, AAAAARGH!

I loved my lesson!

That was so much fun It's so much easier to stick to the Chinese pole than a metal dancing pole (... but also more painful). I learned the techniques for doing the flag and shoulder mount - can't do them yet but I think I'm going to be able to if I keep up practice. I learned a few different ways to climb the pole and some static holds, including one where you climb the pole, get hold of it with your inner thighs and bring your shoulder round to the front, then curl into the foetal position - you can release your legs and slip down and catch yourself again at the bottom. SO COOL.

I thought I was going to have trouble because of my short stature and my tiny, tiny hands but there is so much stick and the grip is so different from normal pole dancing that I had far less trouble than I expected. I managed to do some bracket grip holds that I was sure I wouldn't be able to, though I definitely need to practice those. Also did some inverts. It was amazing. I must get my own Chinese pole and keep up these lessons.

I also ended up learning how to crack a whip and wrap it round something.