Stuff

THE SUSIE LOVES STUFF T SHIRT
The Stuff Page has been a project that The Vampire’s Wife started nearly four years ago. We are now coming up to our four hundredth post!

MAC MILLER SINGS CIRCLES
Here is a sweet song from American rapper, musician and record producer, Mac Miller, that sort of creeps up on you.

Bowie and Cher Blow our Minds!
This really is one of the most beautiful, playful and charged duets I have ever seen—David Bowie and Cher singing, “Can You Hear Me?”

PABLO NERUDA SPEAKS INTO OUR TIME
There really is little more to add to this poem but simply to share it—a beautiful sentiment from the great Chilean poet, Pablo Neruda.

LE MYSTERE DES VOIX BULGARES
A person called Heidi from Madison, USA suggested I listen to Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares and their weird, eerie harmonies have been weaving around the house all day.

A BOY WITH A SNAIL IN HIS HEART
“Babe, suddenly, without warning, Poem-a-day throws up this extraordinary poem! Do you want to post it on the Stuff Page—it’s wild.” That’s my husband.

LETTER FROM ABBY
“Hey, babe, there is a letter here from someone called Abby from Manchester. She wants to ask you a question”. That’s my husband.

LEONARD BRINGS IN THE LIGHT
My husband sent me this message from his wonderful Red Hand Files. It comes from Kaley in Manchester.

DEEP NIGHT BY RUAN CHI
Classical Chinese poetry, written over the course of three thousand years has the capacity to speak to our very hearts.

I THANK GOD FOR THIS MOST AMAZING DAY
Sitting here, looking out my rainy window, over the sea that rages and crashes everywhere, the wind howling and knocking the trees all about...

WARNING. LISTEN AT OWN RISK. No 16
“Hey, babe, Emma from Maryland, USA wrote a beautiful letter. Do you want me to read it to you?” That’s my husband...

COME MY DARLING – ASMAHAN
This is a sweet message for Lori from Toronto, who wrote into my husband’s Red Hand Files, recommending this incredibly beautiful song...

BLACK LIPS – DARK COUNTRY
This strange hypnotic number, ‘Get It On Time’ by Black Lips, sung by the extraordinary Los Angeles-based actress and musician, Zumi Rosow...

JODIE COMER WEARS THE VAMPIRE’S WIFE
The brilliant and beautiful Jodie Comer wears The Vampire’s Wife Floral Gypsy Tea Dress while filming Series 3 of the wonderful Killing Eve

CILLA AND MARC – LIFE’S A GAS
Rachel from Sydney, Australia brought this beautiful duet to my attention through my husband’s Red Hand Files. It is a gorgeous thing—an instant cure for the doldrums.

ANNA PAVLOVA AND THE DYING SWAN
Allyson from Kimberton, USA, sent this letter to my husband’s glorious Red Hand Files, commenting on the name of the new collection Frill Seeker.

LASHANA LYNCH BLOSSOMS!
Wonderful Lashana Lynch, styled by the brilliant Karla Welch wears The Vampire’s Wife Green Floral Blossom Dress and we love her for it!

GWENDOLYN BROOKS - WE REAL COOL
My husband asked me to put this poem by Gwendolyn Brooks up on The Stuff Page.

THE COLD STARS SHONE IN MOCKERY
Flipping through Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein while sitting in the breakfast room of the Shelley Hotel in Lewes

THE FRILL SEEKER COLLECTION
The new collection is here! The Vampire’s Wife continue to play with the idea of femininity with the Frill Seeker Collection.

THE MELANCHOLY WONDER OF SHARMILLA ROY
If you like Umm Kulthum, you maybe also appreciate Sharmilla Roy especially 'Ontoro momo' Her voice is so extraordinary, moving, melancholy and extremely joyful at the same time.

SINCE YOU WENT AWAY – SHU CH’I-SIANG
The aching, erotic stillness of these ancient Chinese poems completely overpowers me, as they find their way into The Vampire’s Wife designs.

ST VINCENT BLOWS US AWAY
The brilliant and beautiful Annie Clark aka Saint Vincent wears The Vampire’s Wife Mini Mayhem Dress to the Independent Spirit Awards in LA last week.

GERMAINE GREER BY DIANE ARBUS
I was flipping through a book on the photography of Diane Arbus and found that she had photographed the feminist provocateur Germaine Greer.

WARNING. LISTEN AT OWN RISK No. 15
Known as ‘The Voice of Egypt’ Umm Kulthum rings around the house this morning, cranked up loud, her raw emotion and incredible vocal range ever splendid.

“LET THERE BE LIBERTY, GOD SAID, AND LO!”
Divine Liberty Ross wore The Vampire’s Wife Black Velvet Lace Night Sparrow Dress to the Tom Ford show in Los Angeles last week.

TO GEORGE SAND: A DESIRE
The most poplar writer of her day, I must admit I have never read George Sand, but I still I adore her!

CLAUDIA CARDINALE AND BRIGITTE BARDOT
Just watched the great 1971 spaghetti western Les Pétroleuses, with Claudia Cardinale and Brigitte Bardot, yet again. Erotic, subversive, complex

DO YOU BELIEVE IN VAMPIRES?
My husband is sitting at the kitchen table reading the questions on his Red Hand Files. I’m almost out the door, heading to the brand new Vampire’s Wife offices

DOVIMA AND THE ELEPHANTS
Dovima and the Elephants by Richard Avedon—this challenging, discomforting photograph intrigued me as a young girl

A POEM FROM SAINT AUGUSTINE
Someone called Lindsay sent this lovely message to my husband’s Red Hand Files. I love that people out there are participating on the Stuff Page.

THE DIVINE GILLIAN ANDERSON
Gillian Anderson wore the American Chevron Dress from The Vampire’s Wife Pussy Bow Collection whilst attending the premiere of Sex Education last week in London.

A PIECE OF STÉPHANE MALLARMÉ
It is so easy to fall into despair, ‘hide within our wounds’, spiral into a darkness of our own misfortune—but, in doing so, we lose our ability to feel...

FOR THE ANIMALS
As my friend, Palma, wrote, “We're watching the earth change before our eyes. The truth is, it wasn't always a habitable globe for creatures like us

SOPHIA DE MELLO BREYNER ANDRESEN
Someone called Yara sent this to my husband’s Red Hand Files. It’s such an incredibly sweet letter and the poem is lovely. I’ve never seen it before. I love it that people send things in.

LOVE WILL REMAIN
Here is a gorgeous song, fragmentary but vast, by the great Bill Fay. I hope you like it.

A LITTLE HOPE GOES A LONG WAY
I had a dream last night I was sitting in a field listening to Mazzy Star’s beautiful Fade Into You and woke up with the song in my head.

ATTAR BRINGS IN THE NEW YEAR
I spent time reading the Persian poet, Farid Al-Din Attar’s wonderful book The Conference of Birds over the Christmas break, full of the most beautiful words

“WE ARE ALL JUST WALKING EACH OTHER HOME”
Goodbye, Ram Dass. “Having empathy for another person means yourheart is breaking, because you understand the intensity of their experience...

HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL
Dear everyone! Have a wonderful Christmas and see you in the New Year. Thank you for all your support this last year and for those of you who helped out with the Stuff Posts.

A QUOTE FROM CLARICE LISPECTOR
Our dear friend, Rodrigo, sent us this message. People are always digging around and finding these strange, life-affirming treasures.

VIRGINIA WOOLF BY JULIA MARGARET CAMERON
I spent Sunday morning looking at the beautiful photographs of Julia Margaret Cameron, in a wonderful, old book I have of her photography.

NICK AND WARREN AT THE OPERA HOUSE
My husband and Warren Ellis played their soundtrack music at the Sydney Opera House this week, with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Philharmonia Choir.

EMILY DICKINSON'S BIRTHDAY
Today is the birthday of the great Emily Dickinson. Emily would lower her poems in a basket from her bedroom window

JODIE TURNER-SMITH SHOWS US HOW TO WEAR A VAMPIRE’S WIFE MINI DRESS
Actress Jodie Turner-Smith wears The Sparkle Velvet Runaway Dress to attend the Queen & Slim Premiere after-party in LA.

THE MOST BRILLIANT WEYES BLOOD
Sitting here in the back of a car heading to LAX and back to London and listening to Weyes Blood’s brilliant Andromeda, cosmic and confrontational and full of yearning.

WE TRY. ALL OF US. WE TRY
I was reading this last night, the final paragraph from Richard Ford’s wonderful novel, Canada. Such truth put so simply and without fuss.

WARNING. LISTEN AT OWN RISK. No. 14
“How are you?” That’s my husband. He’s on the phone. He’s in LA, where it’s the afternoon and sunny and warm.

In The End History Has Its Way!
I don’t know the date of this article below, but it rings so many bells for us all, the ‘gleefully dabbles’ not the least of them.

A poem by Sapphire
Sapphire’s 1994 book American Dreams is some of the toughest, most confrontative poetry I’ve ever read. Amazing stuff. But I stumbled across this...

Ramana The Sage
My husband sent me this letter he received on his Red Hand Files because he knew that I would love it. Ramana Maharshi, also, said that ‘Silence is a conversation,’...

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep
Written in 1932 and routinely voted as America’s favourite poem, Do Not Stand at my Grave and Weep was taught in schools everywhere. I remember...

The divine Lauren Mayberry
The euphoria-inducing Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches performs ‘Death Stranding’ on the Late Late Show with James Corden wearing...

We declare ourselves witches
The Vampire’s Wife acolyte and all-round sorceress, Tali Lennox and friend, Ariana Papademetropoulos, dabble in the dark arts, looking completely beguiling in The Vampire’s Wife Black Velvet Runaway Dress and the enchanting Falconetti. Something is definitely brewing. We adore you, Tali and Ariana, here at The Vampire’s Wife. Love, Susie x
Here is Siling Zhang’s poem of female witch power!
We Declare Ourselves WitchesWhen we declare ourselves witchesWe usurp the head of the churchWe stand before God with our backs turnedAnd appropriate his halo.
By Siling Zhang

Her beauty is a weapon
Pierre Klossowski, artist, writer and older brother of the painter Balthus, spent a lifetime drawing the most extraordinary and provocative pictures of his wife...

In praise of Julianne Moore
Just to let you know Julianne Moore’s performance in the masterful Magnolia back in 1999 blew my mind.It was so adventurous, so real and...

I see a girl dragged by the wrists
I found this beautiful Philip Larkin poem – full of strange yearning and self-doubt and wanted to share...

In praise of Tomasz Mreńca
My husband received another message from Kuba from Cleksyn, Poland, on his Red Hand Files, with another beautiful recommendation...

Mischief-maker Jessie Barden on the train to somewhere
Wonderful Jessie Barden, star of the hit TV series, End of the Fucking World, that features my son Earl (I’m just saying) knocks us all out...

Warning. Listen at own risk No. 13
“Hey, babe, check this out.” That’s my husband. He is sitting at the kitchen table, reading the questions on his Red Hand Files. It always puts him in a good mood. It makes him happy and, kind of, hopeful. “What?” “There is a person called Naomi from Glasgow who is making a suggestion for a song on your Stuff Page.” I’m sitting here too, trying to write my Stuff Page. My Stuff Page makes me happy and hopeful, too. “Naomi from Glasgow says, “On the wonderful Vampire’s Wife Stuff Page you sometimes suggest a Song of Devastation. What makes a...

Here comes The Pussy Bow Collection
The Vampire's Wife launches a new collection of dresses entitled ‘Pussy Bow’. Working with costume designer extraordinaire Alice Babidge...
JULY, 10 3:42 P.M
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Courtney Love and a Pom called Bell
Beautiful Courtney sits at the Connaught Hotel dressed in the Blue Corduroy Festival Dress, with Bell, her Pomeranian...

A message from Francis Bacon
“The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness. It is not like a drug; it is a particular state when everything happens very quickly, a mixture of consciousness and unconsciousness, of fear and pleasure; it’s a little like making love, the physical act of love.”
By Francis Bacon

Kisa Gotami and the mustard seed
During Buddha’s time, there lived a woman named Kisa Gotami. She married young and gave birth to a son. One day, the baby...

Marcus Aurelius and The Daily Stoic
I’ve found a great book recently called The Daily Stoic and it gives a quote each day from one of the ancient Stoics...

Unseen Guy Bourdin photos
My dear friend Katherine who is always on the lookout for things strange and beautiful sent me these two unseen photographs...

In praise of the Song of Songs
How beautiful, how sensuous, how disturbing this piece of biblical text is, full of longing and dark violence and tremendous need? My fingers dripped with liquid myrrh, on the handles of the lock. Love, Susie x Beloved 2 I was asleep, but my heart was awake. It is the voice of my beloved who knocks: "Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled; for my head is filled with dew, and my hair with the dampness of the night." 3 I have taken off my robe. Indeed, must I put it on? I have washed my feet. Indeed, must...

Snoop Dogg does the husband
The Stuff Page has never been a forum to promote my husband’s work, but I just can’t let this one go...

A wild weekend in paradise!
The Vampire’s Wife blew Los Angeles and New York away last weekend as Natalie Portman stormed The Ellen DeGeneres Show dressed in the L.A. Mini Dress and the wild and wonderful Lisa Bonet attended the “Joker” film premiere, all sultry in the Silk Tea Dress and our much loved Kirsten Dunst, wore the Hummingbird Dress at the world premiere of "The Irishman" in New York. A good, good couple of days! Love Susie.

It's a mother's right to brag
Make of it what you will, but I’m just saying, doesn’t my son Earl look completely gorgeous in this photograph. His film...

In praise of David Hicks
I first fell in love with David Hicks's jewellery many years ago - before I really realised how everything I ever loved about interiors came...

Warning - Listen at own risk No. 12
I am sitting with my husband listening to the radio. He is reading a book by Darcey Steinke called ‘Flash Count Diary - Menopause, and the...

The Nadia Comâneci Dream
When I was ten years old, I dreamed of being a gymnast. I had seen Nadia Comâneci on the TV performing at the Montreal Olympic games in 1976, and like so many young girls, was swept away by the purity of her performance and her incredible courage. Next door to me, in Bromley, lived a teenage girl who practised gymnastics in her backyard, and I used to watch her exercising through a hole in the fence, and I would copy her movements. My dreams were the dreams of countless young girls, and I learned to handstand and backflip and cartwheel...

Daniel Johnston R.I.P
Daniel Johnston, singer, songwriter, artist and inspiration to so many has died...

An interlude with Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell
Allyson from Kimberton, USA, sent a poem to my husband’s wonderful Red Hand Files by the brilliant Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell. We both loved it and....

Susie and Vivienne from 1998
My friend, Katherine, sent me this wonderful photograph from 1998. Here I am with my great inspiration...

Vampire in the Forest
I was looking through a new book of the despairing paintings of Edvard Munch with my husband (we really know how to have a good time!) and, anyway, how many books on Edvard Munch does one family need (!) and found yet another vampire painting, a subject that Munch returned to again and again – the female vampire sucking the blood of the cowering male. And, well, Munch was not what you’d call a ladies man, and has over the years got into a fair amount of trouble for his representation of women, but I always found Munch’s women, wonderfully...

Warning. Listen at own risk No. 11
“Hey Babe?” That’s my husband. “Uh-huh?” That’s me. “I got a letter on The Red Hand Files from a girl called Phoebe F. She suggested a Song of Devastation.”...

Father Yod and The Mystic Road
I’ve just been reading The Mystic Road purported to be based on Father Yod’s teachings. Now as far as cult leaders go Father Yod seemed pretty wild....

Vampire week and beautiful dresses
Immortality. We all want it. The chance to defy that black spectre of death that equalises us. But to live forever...

Vampire week and beautiful dresses
Dracula offers the illusion of immortality, the subconscious wish we all have for a limitless life. He is a man of tremendous...

Wild star of light
I don’t really know where to start with this one. Kirsten Dunst is a wild star of light, stealing our hearts as Claudia, the little blood-sucking fiend in Interview with The Vampire, then broke it in Lars Von Trier’s desolate masterpiece, Melancholia. Not to mention the comic engine of the second season of Fargo, maybe the best piece of television in existence. Anyway, here she is wearing the The Vampire’s Wife Silver Lamè Mini Festival Dress and as Alessandro Michele once said to me, “It is a good day! It is a happy day!” Thank you Kirsten. We love you here at...

David Whyte on heartbreak
I was reading Maria Popova’s wonderful Brain Pickings website last night and stumbled across this quote...

W.B. Yeats and Barbie
'Never shall a young man, Thrown into despair, By those great honey-coloured Ramparts at your ear...

In Praise of The Velvet Underground
Sunday morning here in London and just been dreaming it away, listening to the Velvet Underground, who, so many years later, still sound so bold and challenging and enlivening; they are capsules of light from an era that seems to have died – an era that seemed so much freer, so much more daring, so less inhibited than the one we are currently building for ourselves. Time to get bold! Love, Susie.

I know why the caged bird sings
The free bird leaps on the back of the wind, and floats downstream till the current ends, and dips his wings in the orange sun rays...

Warning. Listen at own risk No. 10
“Hey, I just got this letter on The Red Hand Files from someone called Heidi suggesting we put up The Langley School Music Project’s version of...

Azuma Makoto - florist from outer space
I stumbled on these beautiful floral arrangements by Azuma Makoto in an amazing book...

In further praise of Jane Birkin
I have already done a Stuff Post about the divine Jane Birkin but who can resist these beautiful photos of this most extraordinary woman. I love the dresses! All praise to Jane Birkin. Just to let you know, The Vampire’s Wife are preparing to drop a range of mini-dresses, inspired by this wild and wonderful woman. Love, Susie x

Hania Rani - Glass
Someone called Kuba from Cieksyn in Poland send this link to my husband’s wonderful Red Hand Files. Kuba suggested that my husband and I “lie next to each other and listen to this beautiful song by the young Polish composer, Hania Rani. In my opinion it is just breath-taking. Just enjoy the moment.”
Well, Kuba, we gave it a shot and you are right, it is truly a thing of wonder! Thank you for tuning us in to this wonderful talent from Poland. Love Susie x
The piece of music is called ‘Glass’ by Hania Rani.

Permanent shivers
A friend, Bella, just sent me this video of my husband as a mere child doing the beautiful teen-angst anthem ‘Shivers’ with his first band The Boys Next Door. I haven’t seen it for years. I’m sorry, but how completely adorable. Thank you, Bella! Love, Susie x Shivers I've been contemplating suicide But it really doesn't suit my style So I think I’ll just act bored instead And contain the blood I would've shed She makes me feel so ill at ease My heart is really on it's knees I keep a poker face so well That even mother...

Louise Bogan - nothing will ever stir
I found this poem today by Louise Bogan called Medusa. It took a couple of reads to for me to work out just what was going on. Sometimes a poem speaks to a part you, beyond understanding. But it seems the speaker of the poem, steps into a clearing and sees a house. All things are ready to happen – a bell is about to strike, the rain is about to fall. The speaker sees, in the doorway, the Medusa, with her hair full of snakes. The legend is, that if you look into the eyes of the Medusa you...

Warning. Listen at own risk no. 9
I’ve just walked into my husband’s office. “What’s the matter, babe? You look a bit down,” I ask. “I don’t know.” “Have you been listening to Tim Buckley again?” “Maybe,” he says. “I warned you about that.” “Yeah, I know.” “Well, maybe you have a new Song of Devastation for the Stuff Page? It’s been a while and people keep writing in and asking to hear another one.” “Well, okay, but this one you’ve got to watch the performance on The Old Grey Whistle Test. Tim Buckley sings the gorgeous Fred Neil song, Dolphins and simply loses himself in his...

The beauty of cats!
The cat is such a perfect symbol of beauty and superiority that it seems scarcely possible for any true aesthete to do other than worship it...

In praise of P.J. Proby
P.J. Proby, sings ‘Somewhere’ from the musical West Side Story, in this clip from American Bandstand, in 1965. With the bow in the back of his hair and his weird...

Maria Callas and Pier Paolo Pasolini
A dear friend sent me the picture of Maria Callas and Pier Paolo Pasolini, below. Pasolini enjoyed a...

Vampire attacks pop princess at music festival
How completely moving was Kylie at Glastonbury. It was such a gigantic moment for her. She wore a bespoke Vampire’s Wife dress, looked so absolutely beautiful and...

Isabelle Adjani and time travel
A dear friend just sent me this picture of Isabelle Adjani. Now it is no secret that Isabelle has always been and will always be the actress that shines the brightest for me, and it is impossible to exaggerate the influence she has had over us all, here at The Vampire’s Wife. I have never seen this photo before, but here she is wearing what is essentially a Vampire’s Wife dress, back in the early eighties, I guess, and it gives me a strange feeling of temporal dissonance, where the past comes rushing forward and the present is not as...

The artist's sister, Inger
Well, in case it isn’t glaringly apparent, the paintings of Edvard Munch, especially his paintings of women, have had a huge impact on...

A Sunday poem from Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson
It’s Sunday morning here in London and I have resigned to do nothing but be idle and, well, write this Stuff Post. I am reminded of Alice Dunbar-Nelson and her wry poem on idleness. Writer, poet, journalist, and teacher, Alice used her writings to advocate for the rights of women and African-Americans and was considered one of the premier poets of the Harlem Renaissance. Love, Susie x The Idler An idle lingerer on the wayside's road,He gathers up his work and yawns away;A little longer, ere the tiresome loadShall be reduced to ashes or to clay. No matter if the...

Sometimes you meet your heroes
On Sunday night, Early and I (and some of the wonderful people from Cloud Workshop) went to see Fleetwood Mac at Wembley. It was such beautiful, joyful show. Stevie Nicks has always been the rock ‘n’ roll touchstone that has sustained me and nourished me throughout my life, and taught me about perserverance and emotional truth and, well, I love her. Pure unadulterated fandom. I love her – nothing more, nothing less. Thank you Stevie and all of Fleetwood Mac for such a wonderful evening. Love, Susie x

Lovely quote from Leonard Cohen
“You felt that you were this aching creature in the midst of this aching cosmos and the ache was okay. Not only was it okay, but it was the way you embraced the sun and the moon.”
Tina from Sydney, Australia sent this beautiful quote from Leonard Cohen, to my husband on his Red Hand Files. It is such a lovely thing to say, and so true. Thank you, Tina, I hope it was all right to put it up on the Stuff Page. With much love to you (and Cillian, wherever he may be.) Susie x

Late goodbye to Peggy Lipton
Beautiful Peggy Lipton, who starred as Julia Barnes in The Mod Squad back in the late sixties died at 72, on May 11th. She broke fresh ground for women on TV at the time, playing a new kind of woman, young and hip. She went onto play the awesome Norma at the Double D Diner in Twin Peaks, many years later. Actor Kyle MacLachlan who worked with her on Twin Peaks, said of her - "Peggy radiated a sense of purpose. She was always gracious and ever thoughtful, and moved to her own rhythm. She was wise and seemed all...

How to wear a dress by The Vampire's Wife
Susie aged 6 What kind of dress has always appealed to you? Are there any shapes or styles that you naturally gravitate towards? The shape I gravitate towards is a strong silhouette that shows the power and glory of the female form without a need to show a whole lot of flesh. There needs to be a tension between what is seen and what exists within the imagination. The imagination is the wellspring of sensuality! How should a great dress make you feel? Should you have an emotional response to it?Of course! You should have an emotional response to everything you wear....

Eve Babitz - wild child
I’ve spent the morning dipping in and out of the books of original 60s and 70s Hollywood wild child, Eve Babitz...

Goodbye Judith Kerr
Oh, dear. Beloved author and illustrator Judith Kerr died last week aged 95. That is so sad. I loved The Tiger Who Came To Tea...

Bertrand Russell to Lady Constance Malleson
“The centre of me is always and eternally a terrible pain, a curious, wild pain, a searching for something beyond what the world contains. Something transfigured and infinite. The beatific vision – God, I do not find it, I do not think it is to be found – but the love of it is my life. It the actual spring of life within me.” This is excerpt from a letter Bertrand Russell wrote to Lady Constance Malleson in 1916. I feel it very clearly describes the feeling – a curious, wild pain - that exists within us all in our...

Warning. Listen at own risk no. 8
My Darling Susie, I’m in Oslo, waiting for the sun to go down. I don’t think it ever does here. It’s very late. You will be sleeping now. Play this Nico song when you wake. I forgot how completely beautiful it is. The words! I love you, Nick ------------------------------------------------------------------ Dear All, Just to say, be very careful when you play this song first thing in the morning! Love to you all, Susie x These Days I've been out walking I don't do too much talking these days These days These days I seem to think a lot About...

Eternity by William Blake
Just read this William Blake poem, full of hopeful instruction, but that feels kind of melancholy today, as I look out of my window over the valley...

Attack of the ten-foot Susies
Dover Street Market in Los Angeles hosted a dinner on Thursday night to celebrate The Vampire’s Wife installation of the Ten-Foot Susies. Thank you to my friends for coming along. It was such a fun night! Much love to you all, Susie x

The birth of Lord Krishna
Here is the story of the Birth of Krishna and his transformation into a human child – and a very mischievous...

In praise of Isabella Rossellini
I watched Blue Velvet again last week and thirty-something years on, this film, so ubiquitous in its influence, still had the same effect as...

The Scream emerges!
I walked along a road one evening – on one side of the town and the fjord lay beneath me. I was weary and sick – I stood looking over the fjord...

The Vampire by Charles Baudelaire
You, who like a dagger ploughed into my heart with deadly thrill: You who, stronger than a crowd of demons, mad, and dressed to kill...

Olivia Hussey - the purest beauty
Olivia Hussey was my first love. As a schoolgirl, I watched her extraordinary performance in Franco Zeffirelli’s version of Shakespeare’s...

Warning. Listen at own risk No. 7
My husband is sitting at his desk by his window, up in the hills, here in L.A. He is looking perturbed. Out the window he can see down into the valley. “What’s wrong?” I ask...

Marlon and Marilyn
Such a lovely photo of Marilyn Monroe and Marlon Brando - they are like twin stars – the yin and the yang, but both...

Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire's Wife No. 14
Patsy Ferran enters the winners’ corridor after receiving her best actress award for Summer and Smoke, followed by the beautiful Zawe Ashton...

Ancient witches circle call
Darksome night and shining moon. Harken to our joyous tune. North, East, South and West, we call ye forth to this circle, blest!

In praise of Joan Crawford
I read Joan Crawford’s book My Way of Life years ago. Part memoir, part self-help book, part guide to being fabulous, My Way of Life advises the reader...

Benedictus
No one knows the wonder your child awoke in you, your heart a perfect cradle. To hold its presence, inside and outside became one...

Our child arranges the sky
Mother’s of the world unite! Beautiful, wonder-poet Greta Bellamacina wears a White Corduroy Mini Cate Dress. Below are some lines from Greta’s gorgeous poem...

Peggy March - 14 year old wonder!
My husband released a list of his favourite love songs on his Red Hand Files and in response Larry ‘Ratso’ Sloman sent a favourite of his...

The sulk vindicated!
As I so often do, I was roaming around Maria Popova’s superlative website Brain Pickings – how many hours I have spent enthralled by...

François-Marie Banier on Samuel Beckett
My husband’s friend, Rodrigo, sent him this beautiful little story. We thought it would make a great Stuff Post...

Jodie Comer kills it in The Vampire's Wife
Awesome Jodie Comer wore The Vampire’s Wife Mini Priscilla Dress this week on the red carpet at the Royal Television Society Awards...

Time to wake up Maisie
Spending the morning, in London, reading Richard Burton’s diaries and his beautiful words about Elizabeth Taylor. How they burn...

The testimonials keep coming
The dress arrived, beautifully wrapped, first thing on Saturday morning. It is the most wonderful dress I have ever seen...

Sometimes we need a sad song
Well, sometimes we need a sad song. Sometimes we need a sad song and that’s okay because sometimes we follow Leonard Cohen’s voice to a broken-hearted place...

Pasolini's words to Marilyn
I found this lovely photo of Marilyn, here at The Vampire’s Wife and at the same time stumbled on this quote...

A poem by Gabriele D'Annunzio
Denis from Cosenza in Italy sent this beautiful poem to my husband at his Red Hand Files. He loved it and he read it to me over breakfast...

Yalitza Aparicio - a vision at The Oscars
Yalitza Aparicio wears The Vampire's Wife at the Oscars! Such a proud moment! Have you all seen the extraordinary Roma? I finally got to see it last night...

Happy Birthday, Johnny
We all love the great Johnny Cash here at The Vampire’s Wife, on the day of his 87th birthday...

Aline Murray Kilmer - forgotten by the world
Aline Murray Kilmer (1888 – 1941) was an American poet and children's book author and the wife and widow of the poet Joyce Kilmer...

Diaghilev and the Ballet Russes
My pile of Ballet Russes books are the most treasured books I own. The costumes of the Ballet Russes are what inspired me to become a designer...

Pietà by Steve Scafidi
I came across this beautiful poem by Steve Scafidi whilst tiptoeing through the Internet on the weekend here in London and I thought...

Dream A Little Dream Of Me
Just in case you’ve had a difficult day or feel a little lost or think the world doesn’t have much to offer you, well, here is a song to remind you that you are not alone...

Mary Oliver - willing to be dazzled
Some beautiful words from the most wonderful poet Mary Oliver who died last month...

White Duchess, Black Duchess
There is always deep drama to Goya’s work, even his beautiful portraits, which I like the most of all his work. I love the dark psychology behind the paintings and also...

David Tibet's beautiful invocations
We love the work of the mighty David Tibet here at The Vampire’s Wife and my house is full of his strange visionary work. His pictures literally stir up the spirits...

In praise of Sharon Van Etten
Just heard Sharon Van Etten’s irresistible new record, Remind Me Tomorrow and we are playing it here non-stop at The Vampire’s Wife...

Loverman, where can you be?
Back in LA, right now, doing Vampire’s Wife business and feeling a bit homesick. Not for my actual home (wherever that may be)...

Pietà by Rilke
Fills now my cup, and past thought is my fulness thereof. I harden as a stone sets hard at its heart. Hard that I am, I know this alone...

The transformation of Madonna
I can’t begin to tell you how happy this makes me! Beautiful Madonna is bitten! Madonna transforms in The Vampire’s Wife Spooky Creature Dress...

Divinity Poem from Marilyn
Life is what you make it. No matter what, you’re going to mess up sometimes. It’s a universal truth, but the good part is...

The twelve most delightful words in the English language
“Words, like nature, half reveal and half-conceal the world within.” Alfred, Lord Tennyson. A lovely couple who live in Chiapas...

In praise of Cecil Beaton
I was re-watching The Crown on Netflix over the holidays and the Royal photographer Cecil Beaton was represented as...

Nights in White Satin
Just wanted to share this extraordinary love song by The Moody Blues with you. I guess you all know it, but sometimes we need to be reminded...

Wise words from Lao Tzu
Here are some quotes from my favourite Chinese philosopher and all round wild man. I love his infinitely wise and pithy sayings...

The Dress of 2018? The Vampire's Wife wins hands down! - Vogue
I’m just saying. I’m just saying. I’m just saying. I’m just saying. I’m just saying. I’m just saying. I’m just saying...