Theatre Of The Nameless

Some of the promotional images for Illamasqua's A/W11 Collection Theatre of the Nameless really reminded me of the Elizabethans, in particular the look pictured above. Although the collection was mainly inspired by the illicit nightlife of 1920's Berlin I think this particular look has an air of Elizabethan glamour. The models curly red hair and pale skin is very reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth, although the top of the hair style is quite flapper-esque. I like this combination as I think it works very well, and although they were from completely different eras Queen Elizabeth and the flappers of the 1920's were women far ahead of their time, challenging gender roles and revolutionizing the public perceptions of women. 

I love the colour palette that Alex Box has used to create these looks, I think the red and purple tones work beautifully with the models pale complexion. The heavy contour is very striking and creates a dramatic theme, and the look in it's entirety is very theatrical. The skin has a beautiful, almost holographic alien gleam to it and I'd love to create skin like this for my contemporary Elizabethan look. I also really love the eyebrows; they're bold and harsh and make the model look slightly angry, but they flow so well with the rest of the look.

I remember seeing this campaign for the first time when I was 15 and just being absolutely mind-blow by the whole thing. The looks were so gothic and glamorous and to me at the time they really pushed the boundaries of what makeup could do. I had never seen lipstick like the shade the model is wearing in the image above. I found out that it was called Kontrol, went to the Illamasqua store and bought it, and to this day it is still one of my favourite lipsticks. I absolutely love unusual lip shades and I don't believe that any colour is unwearable. I think the look above is definitely one of the most iconic Illamasqua looks, and the Theatre of the Nameless is still such a poignant collection. I'd definitely love to use a similar colour palette for my contemporary Elizabethan makeup look, as I think the combination of purple and red shades works so well and really creates an air of Elizabethan regality.