Sunday, August 17, 2014

Blogger (C)rush | An interview with Ros of Dullife Lingerie



Who is Ros? 

 106 year old potty mouthed, ragtime gal reincarnate.



When did you start your blog Dullife Lingerie and what was the reasoning behind it?

It started really as a creative outlet early this year when I started fully feeling the stagnation of not being at uni anymore, or having access to a studio space where I could actually make anything with my hands. I’d just commenced a vague apprentice position with a diamond setter/jeweller here in Melbourne who wanted me in charge of creating his whole social media presence. When I started up his company instagram and he asked me to follow my own account was when I realised it was probably not going to be fun having a guy I sat three feet away from everyday seeing the kind of material I had started posting.




How would you describe your own personal style?

 Little bits of lots of things? I do often subscribe to the mantra of “all black err’ything” but have absolutely no qualms with going out in public dressed like a space age disco cowboy. I tend to think either no colours, or all the colours at once is a decent rule to live by.


What is it about Lingerie that you love so much and how/when did the obsession begin?

      I’ve pretty much always been interested in intimates, Let me tell you, not having boobs (like srzly, none at all) until the age of 15 was fucking excruciating whenever both my mum and older sister went bra shopping. But probably in mid high school (when I began to actually necessitate the support of a bra and decided to stop wearing boys jocks) was when it got a bit more serious for me. During some of my more hardcore bouts of ocd I wouldn’t be able to leave the house unless all my lingerie matched what I was wearing. For me it almost felt like, if I couldn’t have a ‘perfect’ feminine figure, I needed to compensate for it or distract from it with some nice lacy shit. 

I guess it really turned full blown when I started studying sculpture and jewellery, and thinking about how both lingerie and jewellery related to the body and to concepts of preciousness and intimacy. The parts of the human form that are considered overtly “sexual” and other areas that, to me, can be just as beautiful as the curve of an ass or the apex of a breast. In my final year I think I really went down the rabbit hole with it and it’s still all whirling around in my head.



What are some of your favourite pieces you cannot live without?

Definitely my Nichole de Carle ‘Westminster’ briefs, which I had lusted over for probably 18+ months before I just sucked it up and dropped the $$$ on them, my collection of Hopeless pieces that are slowly claiming their own set of drawers in my dresser and some plain ole high waisted, black cottontails for comfort.



Where are your favourite places to shop and who are some of your favourite brands that you continue to revisit?

For sneaky bargains, Bendon is the shit, I rarely walk out empty handed, even if I’m just doubling up on some Stella McCarney pieces I get a lot of wear out of. Passionfruit down in Richmond is like a second home to me and Hopeless Lingerie (stocked there as well as via her online store) is a mainstay in my lingerie wardrobe. For online shopping I love Dolci Follie, Mise En Cage and Baby Likes To Pony for high end, well made “investment” items.




How often do you buy new pieces and what do you look for in a good piece of lingerie?

 Haha, when I had a job ie: steady source of income, I’d by pieces anywhere from once to three or four times a fortnight, which is totally unsustainable in terms of still eating/surviving. Basically I need to avoid all sources of temptation, as I don’t currently have the disposable cash to throw down on something I find and neeeed to own. But when something does catch my eye I tend to fall for pieces that have a strong aesthetic point of difference, solid construction (especially handmade stuff) and are made from really high quality or unique materials. Also if it’s completely different to anything else I own, then that’s a big draw card.





Who are some of your style icons?

 Unghhhhhh! So many people! This is going to suck. Should I try and alphabetize or just go ham on it?

Because I see style as something way more than just an exterior appearance, a lot of these people are on this list not only because of their “physical style” but because of their attitudes towards living, doing what they want and not giving a single iota of fuck, I look up to everyone from Lou Reed, Patti Smith, David Bowie, Johnny Thunders and Marc Bolan, to Jane Lane, Marchesa Luisa Casati (seriously, if you don’t know her, look her up,) Veronica Lake, Louise Brooks, Helena Bonham Carter, Vivien Leigh, Tank Girl and Marlene Dietrich.


What is the best part about being a woman?

Probably gonna go with “having boobs.”
Yep lock it in Eddie, boobs are the shit.






Femininity, pop culture and sexuality inform much of your style and your blog. What is it you love so much about these aesthetics?

I never really intended to adhere to or present a particular aesthetic, I guess it’s just who I am. Maybe parts of my identity that, unconsciously were being a bit repressed or something are taking hold there hahaha. I think it really kind of shows in my follower demographic though, the kind of people it appeals to, I mean, I do get rashes of seedy old guys who just want to show me their junk every now and then, but for the most part, my followers are other women (and some dudes too) just like me, interested in the same things as me and with pretty similar tastes and attitudes (towards femininity, pop culture and sexuality) as me, which I think is really a really cool thing to be able to express and share and occasionally have some laughs over.



Like a lot of style bloggers you post your "outfits" being worn by your number one model - you. Was it hard at first to pose for photographs in lingerie and not be self confident about it and how has the experience changed your perceptions or pre-conceived notions about beauty and confidence?

 As much as I feel it should have been (hard), It wasn’t really, at all. I’ve always been a really shy and fucking awkward person and have all the self-esteem of a shaved guinea pig but in my last year of uni I couldn’t afford to pay models and am way too disorganized to schedule shit like that and realized when I wanted images of my work, portrayed how envisioned it, for my folio, that I’d have to do it myself. I guess through that I just became more comfortable with showing myself basically naked because I didn’t want clothing to distract the eye from my work and it was really important to me that I be able to present an accompanying visual with my work that would help me get my ideas across as a lot of my development work was quite conceptual.

I think my determination to get my ideas across was just stronger than my fear of what people would think.

Since then I’ve become a lot more at ease with my body and think putting it out there has played a really integral part in me accepting it as it is. Obviously, being the Internet, there’s always trolls with some shitty remark to make, but I have to say for the most part it’s made me more comfortable with what my mama gave me.







What are some of your favourite websites and blogs that you frequent?

I go through phases of reading shit loads of blogs to barely any, Bloglovin keeps my email inbox up to date with new posts without having to check a gazillion different blogs but currently I’m loving Anna Gensler’s ‘instagranniepants’ tumblr (it’s amazing, check it out) and Straight White Boys Texting (also on tumblr and also hilarious) because of how totally relatable they are and the lack of actual lols I have in my life right now. On the daily though, the top pages I visit, (according to my browsing history) are The Bureau of Meteorology (zing, weather geek!), Acclaim Mag, The Hundreds, Vice (do’s and don’ts are the best), Reddit and Cracked.com



What can we expect from you and Dullife Lingerie in the next twelve months?

 Hopefully figuring out what the fuck I’m actually doing with my life, Although making some stuff, starting my own business, launching my website and taking more pictures of my butt would also be a plus.