Stuff

Isabelle Adjani

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...
Inger by Edvard Munch

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...
Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson

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...
Earl & Susie Cave with Stevie Nicks

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
Leonard Cohen

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
Peggy Lipton

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...
Susie Cave aged 6

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

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...
Judith Kerr

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...
Lady Constance Malleson

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...
Nico

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...
William Blake

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...
ten foot Susies

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
Krishna

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...
Isabella Rossellini

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

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

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

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...
Nina Simone

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

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

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...
Circle Call

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!
Joan Crawford

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...
The Church of Spilled Blood

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...
Greta Bellamacina

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

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!

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...
Jean Marie Banier

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

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...
Elizabeth Taylor

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...
Susie Cave

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

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...
Marilyn

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...
Gabriele D'Annunzio

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

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...
Johnny Cash

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

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...
Ballet Russes

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...
Pieta

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...
Mama Cass

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

Mary Oliver - willing to be dazzled

Some beautiful words from the most wonderful poet Mary Oliver who died last month...
Goya - The White Duchess

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

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...
Sharon Van Etten

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...
Billie Holiday

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)...
Pieta

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...
Madonna

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...
Marilyn

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...
12 words

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...
The Queen

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...
The Moody Blues

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...
Lao Tzu

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...
Tilda Swinton

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...
May the road rise up to meet you

May the road rise up to meet you

May the road rise up to meet you. The wind be always at your backs. May the sun shine warm upon your face. The rains fall soft upon your fields. 
Nativity at Night

Merry Christmas from The Vampire's Wife

Here is our Christmas gift to you all, from The Vampire’s Wife. Nativity at Night by Geertgen tot Sint Jans...
John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Warning. Listen at own risk No. 6

I’m sitting at my desk, working on a design for pyjamas. My husband comes into the room. He’s excited...
Marianne

So Long, Marianne by Leonard Cohen

“Oh, Marianne was terrific, and of course one never, at that age one is mostly interested in beauty. And she had beauty in abundance...
Erin O'Connor

Erin O'Connor ignites the British Fashion Awards

The beautiful, statuesque and heavily pregnant Erin O’Connor ignites The British Fashion Awards in a Vampire’s Wife Silver Lace Cape...
Yet another modelling debacle

Yet another modelling debacle

“Babe?” That’s my husband. We are in a car heading for the airport on our way to L.A. “Can you get me something from Duty Free?” My husband...
Song of Songs

The beautiful Song of Songs

How beautiful is the Song of Songs from the Old Testament – a book full of longing and youthful love...
Vivien Leigh by Angus McBean

And yet more testimonials!

When I tried on the Emerald Velvet dress I felt instantly transformed into a modern day Scarlett O’Hara. I have a long love of Vivien Leigh...
Francesca Hayward

Francesca Hayward - sheer beauty, sheer grace

Principal dancer in Royal Ballet, Francesca Hayward wears The Vampire’s Wife Black Velvet Sparkle Dress. We are honoured...
Kahlil Gibran

The prophet speaks

Here is the most beautiful poem from the political rebel and literary hero, Kahlil Gibran. I love his description of God...
Girl No.6

Once more for Christmas! Girl No. 6

The Vampire’s Wife Girl t-shirts are now a global phenomena, selling out in a heartbeat. Overnight, the Girls were seen...
Anne Rice

In praise of Anne Rice and vampires

I was a reading a book on dreams last night and found this quote from the amazing Anne Rice, who beyond her astounding...
Dionne Taylor

Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire's Wife No. 13

Who is that mysterious apparition in the Ca’Sagredo on the Grand Canal in Venice?
Naomi Shihab Nye

Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye

Here is a beautiful poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, full of all sorts of wisdoms and truths, sent to me by a friend...
Warning. Listen at own risk No. 5

Warning. Listen at own risk No. 5

“Are you okay?” That’s me talking to my husband. “Yeah, babe, I’m fine.” We promised we would never use the word ‘fine’...
Samuel Coleridge

An idle moment, dreaming

Sitting here at my desk and day-dreaming, when I’m supposed to be writing another Stuff Post, I remembered a little bit of Samuel Coleridge...
Susie Cave

Harper's Bazaar Women of the Year Awards 2018

Susie Cave won the Emerging Designer Award. Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!
Maggie Gyllenhaal

The Kindergarten Teacher

I just watched an amazingly delicate and thoughtful movie with Maggie Gyllenhaal called The Kindergarten Teacher on Netflix that raised so many questions...
Stevie Smith - The Galloping Cat

Stevie Smith - The Galloping Cat

This is my favourite poem today and Stevie Smith, my favourite poet. It is a strange, funny, violent poem...
Susie Cave

Happy Halloween from The Vampire's Wife!!

Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! Happy Halloween! 
Lesley Gore

Lesley Gore - sheer defiance

Singer, songwriter, actress and activist, Lesley Gore recorded the song “You Don’t Own Me” in 1963 while she was still in high school...
In a Broken Dream

In a Broken Dream

“Have you told those Vampire’s Wifers to listen to Rod Stewart and Python Lee Jackson’s In a Broken Dream?” That’s my husband. He’s in a happy mood...
Susie Cave

The 200th Stuff Post with love

Just to let you know that it is now my two hundredth Stuff Post! The Stuff Posts are a moment for me to step outside of the mayhem of dress designing...
Girl Power

Girl Power

Salma Hayek heads the amazing mothers2mothers organisation. mothers2mothers is an international nonprofit organization...
Girls behaving themselves in the Vampire's Wife No. 12

Girls behaving themselves in the Vampire's Wife No. 12

Beautiful Harriet Stewart wears The Vampire’s Wife Silver Cinderella Dress at HRH Princess Eugenie’s Royal Wedding at Windsor Castle...
Kirsten Dunst - Interview With a Vampire

Kirsten Dunst - Interview With a Vampire

We love the film Interview With a Vampire for its sheer sensuality and decadent, sumptuous sets and the doomed beauty of...
A brokenhearted poem by Thomas Hardy

A brokenhearted poem by Thomas Hardy

Sinking down by the gate I discern the moon, And a blackbird tries over old airs in the pine. But the moon is a sorry one, sad the bird’s tune...
Warning. Listen at own risk No.4

Warning. Listen at own risk No.4

“Hi, darling?” That’s me approaching my husband who is writing something at his desk, probably a song. “I’ve been getting letters..."
God likes girls and tomorrow and the earth

God likes girls and tomorrow and the earth

What a beautiful day it is today. Out my window. The sun across the garden. The glittering sea...
Alessandro Moreschi - a tear in every note

Alessandro Moreschi - a tear in every note

Alessandro Moreschi, First Soprano of the Sistine Chapel Choir was the only castrato ever recorded...
Emmylou Harris. Sweet Old World

Emmylou Harris. Sweet Old World

Lucinda Williams wrote this beautiful song, but Emmylou Harris’s version is just so poignant. That’s Neil Young singing in the background...
What did Jesus write on the ground?

What did Jesus write on the ground?

Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down...
Happy Birthday, my husband, a bit late, I know.

Happy Birthday, my husband, a bit late, I know.

Happy Birthday, my husband, so far from me, a bit late, I know! Happy Birthday, my husband, so far from me, a bit late...
Letter to Albert Einstein

Letter to Albert Einstein

In January of 1939 Albert Einstein received a letter from a girl in the Sixth grade. It is said that Albert Einstein answered all his mail and this letter...
Fever Dreams and Dresses

Fever Dreams and Dresses

I’ve caught an autumn flu and I’m bedridden. But sometimes it’s so nice to be sick, don’t you think, because I can go to bed and I don’t...
Warning. Listen at own risk No. 3

Warning. Listen at own risk No. 3

I walk in. My husband is sitting at his desk. “Hi,” I say. “Hi,” he says back. “What are you doing?” “I’m writing a song.”
And the testimonials keep coming

And the testimonials keep coming

Today I received the Forget me not Mini Cate dress and it delighted me in so many ways. I can hardly wait for an occasion to wear it...
On Bambi and nose jobs

On Bambi and nose jobs

When I was just starting out in the industry and knowing nothing about anything I went to a page three agency called Glamour Girls to see if I could get a job...
Cate Blanchett ignites our imaginations!

Cate Blanchett ignites our imaginations!

“Each person is always on the threshold of their inner world and their outer world, between light and darkness, between known and unknown...
Letter from Unicorn Girl No. 2

Letter from Unicorn Girl No. 2

Have you ever seen the Merchant Ivory adaptation of A Room With A View (1985)? Why is there no continuing fanfare for such a classic...
Conway Savage

Conway Savage

Our beloved Conway passed away last night. A member of Bad Seeds for nearly thirty years, Conway was the anarchic thread that ran through the band’s live performances...
Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire’s Wife No. 11

Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire’s Wife No. 11

I’m sorry but I couldn’t resist putting this up. Mums in minis with matching kiddies...
To call myself beloved

To call myself beloved

I received a sad letter today from Deborah, who lost her younger brother, Tyrone, a beautiful soul...
GIRLS BEHAVING THEMSELVES IN THE VAMPIRE’S WIFE NO. 10

GIRLS BEHAVING THEMSELVES IN THE VAMPIRE’S WIFE NO. 10

She walks in beauty and makes the air shudder as she goes! The forever lovely and brilliant Thandie Newton...
Yeats in the morning

Yeats in the morning

“What’s your favourite poem today?” That’s my husband at the kitchen table and it’s eight o’clock and I’m rushing to get to an early meeting...
I’d swallow the comets!

I’d swallow the comets!

Today, I received the most deep and probing letter from a lady called Ashley that spoke very poignantly about the death of her uncle Edmond...
Elvis the King

Elvis the King

It’s that time of year when the husband grows quiet and the house is full of the sounds of that voice! It’s the time of year we dream...
Remembering the Shangri-Las

Remembering the Shangri-Las

The Shangri-Las were the brainchild of the shadowy Shadow Morton, who wrote many of their songs and produced their records...
GIRLS BEHAVING THEMSELVES IN THE VAMPIRE’S WIFE No. 9

GIRLS BEHAVING THEMSELVES IN THE VAMPIRE’S WIFE No. 9

Beautiful Chloë Grace Moretz wore The Vampire’s Wife Red Lamè Mini Festival Dress on the James Corden show last night...
Letter from Unicorn Girl

Letter from Unicorn Girl

I am the Unicorn Girl (someone who believes in Fairytales) -- but you are the Unicorn Goddess! When I think of you I can’t help dreaming...
Warning. Listen at own risk no. 2

Warning. Listen at own risk no. 2

“Hi, again.” That’s me talking to my husband, who is sitting at his desk. “You’ve got that look on your face again,” he says...
In deep praise on The Runaways

In deep praise on The Runaways

I found this picture of the great Joan Jett and, well, I’d never seen it before and it just reminded me how much of a woman of pure outrageous force she is...
The erotic art of Egon Schiele

The erotic art of Egon Schiele

We love the beautiful drawings of Egon Schiele here at The Vampire’s Wife. It’s the ‘male gaze’ gone berserk! The women he draws are so broken...
The Bridge of San Luis Rey

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Someone sent me the message below after seeing a clip of The Bad Seeds performing Distant Sky in Copenhagen...
It is all beyond us

It is all beyond us

 received a letter from my Brooklyn friend, Janine, yesterday, and she talked very openly about the feeling of premonition around the death of her brother...
Flannery O’Conner – ‘Bring the boy to me’

Flannery O’Conner – ‘Bring the boy to me’

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief” is the most natural and human and agonising prayer in the gospels, and I think it is the foundation prayer of faith...
Let it be known that we love Cat Power

Let it be known that we love Cat Power

Let it be known that we love Cat Power. Let it be known that we love Cat Power...
In praise of wonderment

In praise of wonderment

As a little girl of seven and eight, I used to watch Wonder Woman on the TV and to say that she was a role model would be an understatement...
Marilyn – like ‘gradations of light’

Marilyn – like ‘gradations of light’

Dear Susie, We hope that you're doing well and wanted to send our love along with this great line from Joyce Carol Oates' Blonde...
Motherhood

Motherhood

I said goodbye to my son, Earl, this week. I took him to Melbourne, Australia where he has a part in a film. He turned eighteen on the plane...
The wheel of becoming

The wheel of becoming

My husband did a series of on-stage ‘conversations’ in the States a while ago and a friend of ours sent him these words in an email as a response...
Warning. Listen at own risk.

Warning. Listen at own risk.

“I want to put up a song that is savage and raw and defiant and completely racked.” That’s me talking to my husband. He is sitting at his desk. “Why?” he says. “I don’t know. I just do.” “You mean you really want to blow everybody’s mind unconditionally and forever?” “Yes, I want to put up a song that has an impact beyond what we can expect from a song. Have you got any ideas?” “There is a song I know that will take people to a place from which they may never return. How does that sound?” “I’m ready!”...
A lovely letter and Martha Graham

A lovely letter and Martha Graham

Thank you for the gems of beauty you are offering us on the Stuff Page. One needs to be reminded from time to time that there is beauty in this world...
Testimonials Galore

Testimonials Galore

Thank you Susie for making the most beautiful dresses in the world. My latest photo shoot of my organic vodka would not be complete without your yellow and pink silk dresses...
Camille Paglia on charisma

Camille Paglia on charisma

“Charisma is the numinous aura around a narcissistic personality. It flows outward from a simplicity or unity of being and a composure and controlled vitality...
God and Job and Jung

God and Job and Jung

My husband and I received a letter from a friend. The letter had a lovely Carl Jung quote in it...
Maya Angelou – A Brave and Startling Truth

Maya Angelou – A Brave and Startling Truth

Maya Angelou composed the poem, A Brave and Startling Truth for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations in 1995. This beautiful and genuinely astonishing poem flew to outer space on the Orion spacecraft. I think the poem is very much in keeping with this present cultural moment, our moment now in time and space. Read it an unhurried pace. The final lines are so charged with hope and aspiration and wisdom – the whole poem shorn of irony and cynicism to present us with a brave and startling truth; that ‘we are the miraculous, the true wonder of this...
Stuff post love No.1

Stuff post love No.1

I just wanted to say thank you so much for the Stuff Page. I go to this discovery every day with great curiosity and joy. The way you propose life gives me wings! 
Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire’s Wife No. 8

Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire’s Wife No. 8

The divine Sienna Miller wears the Yellow Silk Hummingbird Dress while attending the Chaos party in New York City...
The Holy Trinity – Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach and Hal David

The Holy Trinity – Dionne Warwick, Burt Bacharach and Hal David

Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s songs are some of the greatest songs ever produced and Dionne Warwick was the divine cypher that stood there and let the songs roar through her. Her performances of them are extraordinary. I was looking for her amazing TV performance of A House Is Not A Home from 1964 (which is an exercise in almost Zen-like stillness) and stumbled upon her performing Alfie on Dutch TV in 1974 and I was completely floored. I have always adored this song of existential questing with Hal David’s beautiful lines, As sure as I believe there's a heaven...
Thirty Questions for Susie

Thirty Questions for Susie

How would you sum up what you do in a sentence? I am stardust zooming through space that sometimes makes dresses...
In eternal praise of Debbie Harry

In eternal praise of Debbie Harry

I don’t know what it was about Debbie Harry that me fall in love with her when I was a young girl. There was a kind of dreamy, erotic nonchalance about her voice that had me (and all my boyfriends) weak at the knees. But mostly I just wanted to put up this amazing photo of Debbie and celebrate the astonishing forethought of wearing matching red boots, lipstick and knickers. Such vision!  IN THE FLESH Darlin' darlin' darlin' I can't wait to see you Your picture ain't enough I can't wait to touch you in the flesh Darlin' darlin' darlin'...
In praise of Jane and Serge

In praise of Jane and Serge

Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsburg created some of the most radical and perversely gorgeous pop songs ever recorded...
The last of the girls – Girl No. 5

The last of the girls – Girl No. 5

In the beginning we promised you five girls. The other four girls were devoured within minutes...
All things must pass – Teresa of Avila

All things must pass – Teresa of Avila

I was reading John Donohue and he wrote something about the wonderful poet and Spanish mystic, Teresa of Avila...
Sappho of Lesbos

Sappho of Lesbos

Little is known of Sappho but that she lived on the island of Lesbos, wrote lyric poetry that was honoured and praised by Plato....
Nothing Compares 2 U

Nothing Compares 2 U

Prepare to be blown away. Little Jimmy Scott (1925 – 2014) was an American jazz vocalist famous for his high countertenor voice...
Walt Whitman on nature

Walt Whitman on nature

“After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, love, and so on — have found that none of these finally satisfy...
Lee Miller in Hitler’s bathtub in 1945

Lee Miller in Hitler’s bathtub in 1945

Lee Miller’s life was as extraordinary as her photos. A Twenties fashion model who became a Surrealist and later the only female combat photographer in Europe...
Langston Hughes and Billie Holiday

Langston Hughes and Billie Holiday

What can purge my heart of the song and the sadness? What can purge my heart of the song and the sadness? What can purge my heart...
Krishna steals the garments of the unmarried gopīs

Krishna steals the garments of the unmarried gopīs

Here is a little story from the tales of Krishna and a gorgeous painting from a beautiful book on Krishna Art...
Merilee Rush sings Angel of the Morning

Merilee Rush sings Angel of the Morning

I love this song. I heard it first back at school but it was released in 1968. It is a simple pop song, but the lyric was astonishing and radical in its day – various radio stations refused to play it – and even today the words seem strangely uncomfortable; the story of a woman leaving her stranger-lover’s home where she has spent the night and walking into the streets in the morning and wanting nothing from the man, casting no blame and taking full responsibility for her actions. It has that gorgeous line, “If morning’s echo says we’ve sinned,...
In further praise of Julia Margaret Cameron

In further praise of Julia Margaret Cameron

I just found this photograph as I was looking through an old book I had of Julia Margaret Cameron’s photography and, well, I don’t know...
CIRCE BY H.D.

CIRCE BY H.D.

Circe is a goddess of magic, sometimes portrayed as a nymph, witch, enchantress or sorceress. Circe was renowned for her vast knowledge of potions...
Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire’s Wife No. 7

Girls behaving themselves in The Vampire’s Wife No. 7

Tumbling-hair, picker of buttercups, violets, dandelions. And the big bullying daisies through the field, wonderful with eyes a little sorry...
On Diane Arbus and influence

On Diane Arbus and influence

I was sitting at dinner with my dear friend and Vampire’s Wife collaborator, the photographer Polly Borland and I asked her...
Clara Rockmore plays Hebrew Melody

Clara Rockmore plays Hebrew Melody

I received this question from Elsa from L.A. who says she is a great fan of the Stuff Page and wanted to know what music I listened to...
A child crying for his mother – Part 2

A child crying for his mother – Part 2

A month or so ago, I did a Stuff post on the origins of the Hare Krishna chant. I had written that the chant was supposed to replicate the crying of a child...
Testimonials galore! Thank you!

Testimonials galore! Thank you!

Hello! Just writing to say that I am mesmerized by your vampiric world: the site, dresses, charms and the stuff section...
Daughter, be of good comfort

Daughter, be of good comfort

And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any...
My husband’s first love

My husband’s first love

I came down for breakfast this morning wearing a long, black velvet Vampire’s Wife dress and my husband commented that I looked like Morticia Addams...
Wise words from Yolandi Visser

Wise words from Yolandi Visser

I fink u freeky and I like you a lot. I fink u freeky and I like you a lot. I fink u freeky and I like you a lot. I fink u freeky...
The crying of a child for its mother

The crying of a child for its mother

The Hare Krishnas say the transcendental vibration of the chanting of the mahämantra is exactly like the crying of a child for its mother...
Let the waves roll over us

Let the waves roll over us

“Arachne was a shepherd’s daughter who began weaving at an early age. She became a great weaver, boasted that her skill was greater than that of Athena...
A letter from Frida Kahlo

A letter from Frida Kahlo

“The most important part of the body is the brain. Of my face, I like the eyebrows and the eyes. Aside from that, I like nothing. My head is too small.”
Joni Mitchell was warning us back then

Joni Mitchell was warning us back then

Joni Mitchell’s performance of her song Woodstock for the BBC in 1970 is a form of perfection...
Jude Thaddeus - The Patron Saint of Lost Causes

Jude Thaddeus - The Patron Saint of Lost Causes

There are times in any business when things just don’t work out as you want and if you were of a certain brittle spirit you may think that the entire world was conspiring against you...