Mikhail's Soft Blog

Selective indignation

2007-03-16T18:37:00.000-07:00

"and who would you LEAST expect in a mink?", Del Boy asked at the SSFF...:

Macca in mink
(Tabloid News - 12/03/07 - Daisy Kay)

You know it's a slow news day when the most exciting lead is a snap of anti-fur campaigner Heather Mills wearing a mink coat in... 1989.
The Mirror is delighted with their find, even going to the trouble of printing 40 little pictures of a mink's face, informing us that 'it took ALL these to make it'!
'The video will deeply embarrass the anti-fur activist, who last year called Naomi Campbell 'shallow and hypocritical' for wearing fur,' the paper scoffs.
(http://www.megastar.co.uk/meganews/news/2007/03/12/sMEG01MTE3MzY4OTUxOTk.html)

A taste of her own medicine for the golddigger everyone loves to hate. :-)
And it shows how often 'public outrage' about fur is a question of selective indignation. Anyone remember the fuss about the less htan popular Countess of Wessex wearing a fox hairband, somewhere abroad? Of a type where someone really had to have it your hands to be sure it was real fur? Like someone from the royal household... who couldn't keep him or herself from making a phone call to a newspaper?
Now, compare that to the tons of fur that Her Majesty has worn all her life, in full view on television - you'd expect that those at least would have been good for a minor civil war, wouldn't they?

Soft Spot TV ep. 8: Law for Seksi Biznismen

2007-03-12T09:37:00.000-07:00

It has come to our ears lately that several West-European nations are considering to include animal rights into their constitutions. I'm looking forward to the discussions. Will 'All animals are created equal?' be in there? With or without the proviso '... but some are more equal than others'? And if someone spots me swatting a mosquito or a wasp (I'm allergic to wasps), can I expect the Law at my doorstep? Or if get stung and survive, should I sue them? Does that mean that veggie-ism is going to be compulsory for all?
Obviously, animals are not created equal, unless you're a Jain-Buddhist. But who's going to draw the line? And by what standards?

After all this high-minded talk, time for some good old indecent and even immoral Balkan links. As usual, leave good taste in the umbrella stand at the door, if you can find some space left between the kalashnikovs.

* Ceca - Gore od ljubavi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrFev-svdgI
Ceca is a turbofolk icon. In the beginning of this clip I saw the snow coming down on Ceca's barely covered body and I knew there was going to fur in this one. And there was. Two coats even.
* Ceca - Lepi Grome Moj
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiAwGNDMtQM
I did...! I did see a pussycat! Some cuts with a feathered Ceca sitting in a non-escape-proof birdcage. Depending on your age, you'll be reminded of a classic Avengers episode or of Sylvester and Tweety.
* Goga Sekulic - Seksi biznismen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCjhLLRrpNU
A silverfox stole (with tail) and some very good feathers, in one clip. Find of the day, Goga is almost too seksi for her furs.
* Goga Sekulic - Gubim kontrolu
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VY7eeftE-8
Not my favorite kind of furs, but some furlovers may like the camera angle. Goga wants control - get it?
* Goga Sekulic - I lepsa i bolja
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkL5im4hkv8
For completenes' sake: soso fur, LQ video, although I think it's actually not a bad clip at all. Everyone you see is Goga, except for the two dancers (I guess). Three persona changes in one line, beat that Madonna. And okay, I like the synthesized bag pipes.

Ah, it might as well be spring...

Soft Spot TV ep. 7: Kylie's feeling much better, and Mikhail too

2007-02-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

It always amuses me when fur lovers tell me they don't like feathers at all - especially as a lot of them don't seem to know the difference, judging by the various upload sites. People, just watch the best version of Kylie's White Diamond, address below, and then let me know what you think.

France
* Lââm - le sang chaud ( feat. Princess Aniès)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFbBoCtclO4
French hiphop, but lovely fluffy bits. Note: avoid the low quality version, this is the good one (for youtube standards). Now, fluffy stuff and a good Laam song together, that would be something.

Ex-Yu
* Ana Nikolic - Vatra
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhUvcgbS00Y
Bad taste alert. Turbofolk (see Wikipedia) as we know it. The formula is: a dumb House beat, sex, some oriental and ethnic influences, sex, bad taste and sex; I love it. :-) Furs, feathers and nationalism and more sex are optional but frequent. Some furry bits in this one, including a classic white fox fur stole (with tail).
* Seka Aleksic - Crno i Zlatno
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_aG4_WUCK0
Bad tast alert 2. Turbofolk for the feathery people.

Ayu
* Ayumi Hamasaki - Jewel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhSkjzxfdwU
Lovely fur hood and cuff. Kawaii song too (giggles). HQ vid.
* Ayumi Hamasaki - Bold n Delicious
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKFKkgiJWi4
Repost, in case you didn't have it yet. I never leave the house without it.
* Ayumi Hamasaki - My name is woman (Arena Tour '05)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEyT-VA3Xxg
(Possibly a repost, I don't remember.) Ayu acting as domina in white feathers, thankfully the malesubs clear off after a minute. Great feathers - beat that Madonna. Version with subtitles. Video encoding itself LQ-MQ, sadly.

Kylie
Kylie Minogue - White Diamond (live Showgirl Homecoming tour)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_S5-J7BBsHQ
Probably the best feather clip EVER. It's so good it almost makes me weep. The HQ in the Youtube address is probably coincidental, but it is very, very deserved... Kylie iswearing ostrich feather (probably 'virgin', the top quality), costume designed by John Galliano no less, the dancers wear Lido-designed outfits with a lot of marabou feather (the stuff usually taken for fake fur). Now, just lets pray there'll be a DVD...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DE5l85Dkl8
Another version form a different angle, it says HQ in the description, well... HQ for a cell phone, but still nice
* Kylie Minogue - On a night like this (live Showgirl Homecoming)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6_h6_uQM0M
More feathers! Would have been as good as the above (not the cell phone version), but no feathery dancers in it. It still has lovely close up shots though.
The history of this costume is a case of 'every dark cloud has a silvery lining'. In the original Showgirl effect, it seemed the sky was the limit for the feather costumes (I suspect Kylie had been dreaming of doing something like all her livf, and she admitted in the past she likes playing the showgirl persona behind it, also see her performance at the Sydney Olympics), but the designer had to take some limitations in mind - after all, she'd have to move about in it a lot. After Kylie's promise to her Ozzie fans, who had to wait because of her tour cancelation to come back with an even bigger show), this limitation was thrown out of the window - physically, Kylie still had to hold on to the brakes as she's still recovering from her breast cancer. Hey presto, the new huge pink costumes, which I like at least twice as much as the more modest original blue one (which I liked as well).

More Lanvin

2006-10-28T09:04:00.000-07:00

As promised to Sheeny on the Softspot... the cover of this October's Numéro. There's a Twiggy-ish, 60s-ish fur editorial inside with the predictable emaciated models in war paint. This cover is far more attractive and inspiring than any of the pictures inside. The furs and the fashion make up for a lot though, and there are some nice ads -maybe more later. I might even try a better version of this scan, because it has suffered from reflection.

M.K.

Holiday loot part 3

2006-10-28T08:26:00.000-07:00

A stylish street ad for a jewellery brand somewhere in XU - no furs or feathers on the site that I know of. There still more to come - not bad for a Summer holiday.

Enjoy,

M.K.

How not to/How to... Albefurs

2006-10-17T02:12:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it's fun to bash bad websites, but often it isn't. A fresh example of the latter case is www.albefurs.com, a link brought to us by SSFF regular Hack__Jack.
Why wouldn't it feel quite the same to unleash our best irony - if not sarcasm - on this effort? Most of all - these people have been trying very hard. They've forked out for a designer who knows his Flash (wow!), there was a really amazing photographer at work and the products look promising too, in spite of the website.
Hold on, in spite of?
Yes. First of all, people don't come to this website to watch a Flash animation, they're looking for furs. There's a 'Skip' button, but it takes dangerously long to show up, even on my 3,2 GHz machine and broadband connection. If internetsurfers have a patience span of 20 seconds, Albefurs.com is one foot over the edge.
Secondly, there's the music. If talked about music on websites before, and to sum it up, it's almost always an annoyance, be it Beethoven or The Ramones. Sadly, Albefurs' music isn't Beethoven at all. Even if you have no other music running yourself or if you are in a noise-friendly environment, this is the kind of 'music' that makes you really, really want to go away after a minute or so. It gets to your nerves and it makes you want to smash things if you do hang around for longer.
Thirdly, there's the pictures. I love photography, I love fashion and I can tell you, these are wonderful pictures, which is exactly why it's a waste and a shame that they're so small, even looking at it from the shop's point of view. There used to be time when there were reasons to use small pictures on websites, but since then, let's say five years ago, things have moved on. No one's using a 640 x 480 screen resolution anymore and if there's anyone still using a 56K dial-in modem, he or she's probably living somewhere in the Third World - not a likely Albefurs customer. On the other hand, go to a serious photo gallery and you'll see that most if not all pictures are displayed at very large sizes. There's reason for that: 'Less if more' doesn't work for the size of good pictures. Photos have larger impact on a larger size. Add to that for furs: you'll get a much better 'feel' for the fur's texture if the picture has a decent size, and the fur's softness is obviously a major drool-factor when it comes to selling them.
The only reason I can think of making the pictures so small: it might disturb the page design. Now, the page design would be much more important than selling furs, wouldn't it? Whose priorities are we talking about here?

Excuse me for getting ironic after all. Some positive suggestions:
1. Add plain HTML next to the Flash, if you want to stick to Flash at all. Visually challenged surfers will love it too. Just because people are blind or have eye-problems, it doesn't mean they can't afford or enjoy a fur coat.
2. Ditch the music. Delete it. Burn it. Nuke it. Shoot the composer. Strangle the guy who told you it would be a good idea to put it on the site, and do it real slow. You don't want music if you want a people-friendly website.
3. Larger pictures. Are you proud of your product? Show it. Even better: put your logo on them and make them downloadable. For the foreseeable future they're going to do the rounds among online fur lovers, saying 'Albefurs-Albefurs-Albefurs'. They're that good, and who wouldn't want that?

Mope, grumble & rant

2006-10-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

One of the good things of having this blog is that - other than on the SSFF - I can allow myself to be gloriously off-topic.

The past three quarters of an hour I did a lot of thinking. This was no fault of my own, but apart from watching the text 'WINDOWS IS CLOSING DOWN NOW' or observing the gradual lengthening of the traybar down right on the screen of our laptop, I only managed to send a away one email and inspect a site - very briefly - on the SSFF. The reason was that the antivirus program needed its weekly update and the firewall got to a new version too. Both required rebooting. To counter your obvious objections, no, this isn't a very old laptop and I like to keep its setup rather clean. Now, imagine you switched on your tv set and you had to spend about 15 minutes to update some bit of crucial maintenance software in its prints, after which you'd have to switch it off again - perhaps only allowing you only a few minutes of the nine o'clock news - and repeat the process for another piece of functionality.

Still, some people think the worldwideweb is some kind of television. They believe you need more than just information and pictures - before you get to anything, you have to watch floating logos, one or two graphics twirling here or there, there has to be an agonizingly slow progress bar progressing somewhere and, of course, you need music. You can't have silent television, that would be unnatural and perverse.
Imagine how happy we were with the music on the site I inspected if you know one of us was suffering the consequences of a long day in corporate life. Yes, she was sleeping.

Music on websites is, all by itself, as mindbogglingly contraproductive and irritating as Flash animations.
People who are not listening to music while websurfing very likely have good reason. They're in a business environment, on a train, or there's someone dozing next to them on the couch.
On the other hand, people who are listening music while websurfing aren't happy with some piece of repetitive musical junk cutting through their Madonna or Monteverdi.

Which leads me to the conclusion that a baffling number of the people who are responsible for creating websites, probably don't do any websurfing themselves.

Soft Spot TV ep. 6: Mikhail fills his Ipod. (Fur and feathers.)

2006-10-10T06:01:00.000-07:00

These are all mp4s intended for use on an Video Ipod. You can play them on Quicktime or Itunes too, but if you have an older version already, these are of no particular use. If you don't have them however, you might like a lot of them, provided you stick to your favorite texture (fur or feather).
NOTE: Due to the place where they're posted, the links will only last a day or five from now!
So far, media-convert is the only fool-proof way I've found to convert .flv into mp4. It's takes some work though, so if you feel inclined to post some material too (conversion automatically results in a link), bring it on.
Fur
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=zytyiv Ayumi - Bold and Delicious. Should be a classic. Never leave the house without it.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=xkyocw Lilkim - Came back for you. Fur must-have!
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=caekce Dior Backstage . Huge collars and doll faces. I love this one.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=tesuvd Galliano Haute Couture ('decadent'). Oldie, very good.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=jksmkw Joan Crawford, Ice Folies of '39. Short fragment digitized by yours Faithfurry. Longer and better versions exist.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=syyxtm Ayumi wins award for No Way To Say. Great fox stole.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=bqvkpu Ayumi - Unite! (live). Okay, just one foxtail... :-)
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=yxfexl snejanaonopkaatdiorhcfw06bulkyfur.mp4 Two of this year's big Galliano/Dior furs. Of course, they always focus on the wrong coat...
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=owfapz Northern Pursuit. Classic BW furclip. YouTube post by Fibreway.

Feathers
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=rlvlgt Mugler. Stupendous feathers. Even fur people might like this.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=tnfoqb Ayumi in feathers. The one with her running around in black and white corridors.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=ctapvx Sylvie Vartan, Swannie, lots of feathers
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=rwygkm Dalida Mistinguett v3 Feathers.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=pvthdx Dalida, another Comme disait Mistinguett. v2 A little bit of feather. Sorry about the music.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=bhqxxf Alek Wek/Aurelie Claudel yesterday today (bit of feathers)
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=ryzjts Ayumi in feathers live. Even better than the 'Game' vid.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=bduogk Shirley Bassey in a yellow feather trim skirt.

No fur or feathers at all, just good music, to make up for some of the above.
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=iestkw Weather Report 'Black Market and Scarlet Woman'. No fur, just good music. :-)
http://media-convert.com/convert/?xid=htdaar Steely Dan, Hey Nineteen. Not from the 2againstnature DVD. P.S., Walter Becker is a gear slut.

My You Tube channel http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=thesoftspot (go to the playlists to avoid the things you don't like)

Enjoy,

M.K.

Soft Spot TV ep. 5 "When in Paris"

2006-10-06T07:13:00.000-07:00

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-xM3SatjTU
Haute Couture show of last year or so, HUGE collars and hoods, and cute kitschy porcelain doll-make up for the ASFR types

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a-5YrNW7Fo
Snejana Onopka in big bulky Dior fur, HC Fall/Winter 2006-2007

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz-t-5jvwUI
Dior Spring 2003 HC backstage. Has some nice nice ostrich feathers further on in the video.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3abKsbjNEoQ
Snejana Onopka in Fendi (sent to my by Jerry). For me, Fendi has been missing the Gasp!-factor the last few years, but for completeness' sake, have a look.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8yVQYi6k9ys
JP Gaultier Haute Couture Fall 06, Lots of furs but mostly badly filmed; some feathers

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du272gh13BE Alexander McQueen FW 2003, LQ video, but lovely bulky feather coat, shown several times.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIYHV6l7SFY
Same show, part one with some nice furs.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGx12uya0V0
Marlene Dietrich costume preservation. Some really nice shots here...

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZwCvYRFZ44
Marlene Dietrich singing La Vie en Rose in her big swan feather coat. Even the fur fans will love this.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6Js237qhEE
Zizi Jeanmaire in a breath-taking feather creation by YSL.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELhfFIL7Dmw
Dalida. Sorry, about the music, but I love this cotton candy/candy floss cape. (feathers). Also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk5zQSQ1HXw, different (LQ) version but also a lot of pink feathers.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDvDjEnLQps Sylvie Vartan, Je Chante pour Swannie. Four the feather people, you'll love this, really. Sylvie loves them too.

Blog "Disclosed 5 Hangin With The Princess"

2006-10-06T03:13:00.000-07:00

Ciao all,
As some of you know, I'm rather partial to things and people Venetian, even remotely Venetian, so I can't resist using this video to testdrive You Tube's blog option. Seriously, look at this one, and also at pt. 1,2 and 3 (look here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjPRkUEgAM).
'Venetian Princess' is one of those rare people who are genuinely funny without looking like they have to compensate for something. Being a 'nature lover' (eeeww) she'll probably hate *my* blog, but such is life.

Salvaged links June 2006

2006-10-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

I skipped dead links and a long discussion whose ended conclusion ended up in the Digest.

***
June 24, 2006, Del Boy
as to whether or not worth posting. HJ if you don't like this I'll send Uncle Albert round for 'words'
http://www.redfishdesigns.com/s.nl/sc.18/category.237/.f

(HJ:
: HO no Not "Uncle Albert " and "when I was in the : navy" stories .. plz for love of god NO!!!!!!!!!!!! )

***
For the Tigerskin Folks
Posted by Mikhail K. on June 24, 2006, 13:46:43
http://keskescans.blogspot.com/2006/06/julia-rzepecka-twoj-styl-july-2006.html
Not really my thing, but some may like it.

***
Bits
Posted by Del Boy on June 25, 2006, 14:14:05
Firstly it is that time of year - the magazines will now start to heavily feature fur. Vogue (US) July is ALWAYS decent (should be out any day)....
http://www.saksfifthavenue.com/main/ProductDetail_STL.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524446137914&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=282574492704189&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395222441&bmUID=1151235687290&ev19=1:1
http://a116.g.akamai.net/7/116/1463/infinite/origin.www.saksfifthavenue.com/media/images/products/enlarge/E0442848985420_v1_m56577569831247375.jpg
http://content.neimanmarcus.com/products/mp/NM-0S18_mp.jpg
http://content.neimanmarcus.com/products/mp/NM-0PJG_mp.jpg
http://content.neimanmarcus.com/products/mp/NM-0Q7M_mp.jpg
http://www.keimfurs.com/fashion.html

***

Little More
Posted by Del Boy on June 25, 2006, 14:46:34
http://www.instyle.com/instyle/trends/thelook/0,23460,1147388,00.html?page=1
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://portland.indymedia.org/media/images/2005/12/329649.jpg&imgrefurl=http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2005/12/329647.shtml&h=785&w=537&sz=83&hl=en&start=12&tbnid=6ElTkm1LzWcY9M:&tbnh=141&tbnw=96&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcoyote%2Bfur%2Bhat%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26sa%3DG
(some nice pics from the PETA crew) :)

***

Norway
Posted by votanodin on June 25, 2006, 16:25:11
http://www.thecelebritydatabase.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=88153&d=1150652375
http://www.thecelebritydatabase.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=88156&d=1150652375
http://www.thecelebritydatabase.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=88158&d=1150652375

[MK, oct 2 2006.: Actually quite good these, worth the hassle of getting a celebdb login.]

***
only one
Posted by votanodin on June 25, 2006, 23:24:53
http://img132.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc223&image=43318_rachel_hunter_l2.jpg

***
pic
Posted by Del Boy on June 27, 2006, 1:01:40
http://www.ismcdb.com/celeb/Simona_Ventura/foto/Simona_Ventura_@Vanity-Fair_n_51-2005_ph@Marco_Glaviano_05.jpg
http://www.ismcdb.com/celeb/Simona_Ventura/foto/Simona_Ventura_@Vanity-Fair_n_51-2005_ph@Marco_Glaviano_04.jpg
http://www.ismcdb.com/celeb/Simona_Ventura/foto/Simona_Ventura_STarTV1705.jpg
http://www.ismcdb.com/celeb/Manuela_Arcuri/foto/Manuela_Arcuri_@Diva-e-Donna_n_3-2005_ph@Franco_Marocco_03.jpg
[comment MK 20061002: fur and feathers; that's four pics Del Boy. :-) ]

***
links and updates
Posted by alohal10 on June 29, 2006, 9:43:49
Some pic links, updates and maybe new sites:
Looks like an update of the old Florence Mode site. Nice pics but unfortunately all flash:
http://www.francoviti.it/
5 good pics:http://www.yugsegodnya.ru/img/2322.jpg http://www.yugsegodnya.ru/img/2323.jpg http://www.yugsegodnya.ru/img/2325.jpg http://www.yugsegodnya.ru/img/2328.jpg http://www.yugsegodnya.ru/img/2329.jpg
One nice pic:http://www.missfloridausa.com/06-PreTaping/Taping08.htm
Furland site updated:http://www.russianfur.ru/Russian page is better. Links are broken on the English page:http://www.russianfur.ru/ru/shuba/shub1.php
New? Small pics but good quality:http://www.pushkinskiy.ru/
Maryfurs update:http://www.maryfurs.ru/e.g. http://www.maryfurs.ru/pressclub/showings/andreevsky2005/main_page.htm
Gallery update. Some huge hi-res pics in galleries [5] and [6]:http://www.helenyarmak.com/
FICA annual show was on June 12. (http://www.longislandexchange.com/articles/gossip/ficafurshow061506.html) Haven't found any pics yet. So far nothing on fur.org. If anyone finds some, post links here.

***
Aggregated links by Del Boy
Nice finds (and a fur skirt)
Posted by Del Boy on June 29, 2006, 18:29:59, in reply to "links and updates"
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v482/Preahya/gisele3.jpg

And couple more
Posted by Del Boy on June 29, 2006, 18:37:23, in reply to "Nice finds (and a fur skirt)"
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/2204/img0556uz.jpg
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/5028/img0589ah.jpg

***

The Soft Spot Digest (as of September 1 2006)

2006-10-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

No news in this issue, I just re-post it here for safekeeping. If you've never gone through the Digest, have a look, you might find it useful.

THE SSFF DIGEST-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* The Soft Spot back up blog (that is, I'll back up some of the messages that I particularly like, and in case of Boardhost going down, I'll keep you posted there):http://mksoftspot.blogspot.com/
* Some links to watch on a daily basis (if you've got that kind of day)- http://www.sagafurs.com/ Brilliant pictures.- http://www.bwgreyscale.com/ After this excellent photo part was taken down but it it has revived in some form. Still interesting.- http://www.theplace.ru/forum/ pictures stay here only for a few days, almost like a Usenet group. If you post something from this site, you'd do everybody a favour to repost the picture on an imagehosting site.- http://keskescans.blogspot.com/. A blog with nice occasionally rare fashion scans. (Sheeny) - http://www.nysocialdiary.com/ during the fur-wearing season, and the occasional Dennis Basso show. I only wish Milan or Venice had a site like this...- http://www.gettyimages.com/ small pictures and often watermarked in a pig-ugly way (as if it helps to sell them!), but an endless source for fur and feather-clad celebrities.- http://www.corbis.com/ Similar, but better if it comes to older material. Look for 'fur woman' or 'fur actress' and you'll find some classics.- http://thecelebritydatabase.com/forum, suggestion by Votanodin. This is new to me, but people share videos here too, which might be interesting.- http://www.ismaster.net/newest_gallery.php(Del Boy: 'This is actually about the best site (as it is Italian and they sport the odd fur or two').- http://thumbs.globalnews.it/categories.php?viewmode=&cat_id=171&page=1(from Votanodin)- And as to Getty, here is a good one by Del Boy:"I often look at Gettty and Rex Features - and if I see a celeb wearing some nice furs I then go to http://forums.superiorpics.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0and I try to find the pics - often with success.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------*Clifford's favorite dog food:"My favorite brand of dog food is NaturalChoice Senior (in the silver bag). I also like peanut butter and pasta"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Share, share, share!- http://www.rapidshare.de/ Post big files so people can download them.- Also consider e.g. www.yousendit.com...- http://www.imageshack.us/index.php Our resident picture hoster. There are other good hosters too, just as long as you don't use Imagevenue. :->
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* Honourable mention:- http://sheenys-fur-fashion-scans.blogspot.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* While we're in a charitable mood... (from Del Boy)- http://www.oxfam.org.uk/what_you_can_do/give_to_oxfam/company/partners/co-op.htm- http://www.americanexpress.com/pes/uk/benefits/red/microsite/card.shtml?sourcecode=X63692RD05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------* How to convert Imagevenue links:(Posted by zb on March 8, 2006, 22:00:06)Hi! If the links to the imagevenue-pics only lead you to the front page, try the following:
1) link used for the example:http://img12.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp01fo1i-27565/loc252/48927_Gisele_B_Fendi_Fall00_03.jpg
2) Basic address is:http://img*a*.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc*b*& image=*c*(Had to insert a blank between "loc*b*&" and "image=", otherwise it would have looked like "loc*b*ℑ=" ... Please remove that blank!)
3) Replace *a* with the number after "http://img", e.g. "12"
4) Replace *b* with the number after "/loc", e.g. "252"
5) Replace *c* with the name of the pic, e.g. "48927_Gisele_B_Fendi_Fall00_03.jpg"
So you'll get a URL likehttp://img12.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc252& image=48927_Gisele_B_Fendi_Fall00_03.jpg(Again inserted a blank for better readbility, see above)Good luck!
-----------
* How to convert FLBG pictures?Another recurring question! In the current state of things, the big pictures have been taken down in their original 4 MB size, probably because of traffic overflow. I'm told they've been reposted in much smaller resolution, but they're still nice to look at. This is an example of a working URL:http://www.fblginc.com/asp/photo_2006/large_z/7554_4859_l_800.JPG
(And thanks to all involved in dealing with this question on this board.)
A lesson from this: we're not the small, double-figure band of aficionados anymore. On picture sites I've seen pictures getting hundreds of hits. Keep this in mind if you link to something big that's not on a professional, really solid Google- or Yahoo-type server.

Soft Spot TV ep. 4 "Beyond XU"

2006-10-02T13:48:00.000-07:00

Continuing our Balkan theme, just one little gem tonight, with thanks to my email pal Jerry who alerted me to this one, and a guy called Amitech on Googlevideo:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2577833703908385767
It's Çiljeta, who must be an Albanian singer. Or a Kosovarian singer, it's hard to tell if you don't know the lingo. The good thing she apparantely brought a nice silverfox jacket.
Also, I found 'Rozana', also in a fur coat but not as good and sadly, this clip is rather pixellated and LQ, technically speaking.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6172584938627802956

To add some of my own, doing a Google on 'Ciljeta' brought me to a page showing what's a model calendar, with some 'girlie' type fur pics.
http://bukuroshe.parajsa.com/kalendari.htm#
http://bukuroshe.parajsa.com/kalendari2006.htm

Enjoy!

M.K.

Soft Spot TV ep. 3: "When in Milan" (Fur)

2006-09-25T03:18:00.000-07:00

Posted by Mikhail K. on September 25, 2006, 12:10:10

On Google video:
This one was posted minutes ago on Google. I didn't see anybody's name with it, so I supposed linking to it won't be seen as stealing somebody's limelight. To our unknown benefactor, it's very good, thank you:
http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=3581319649860237185&q=fur+fashion (or look for "mi fur fashion" in Google Video)

And there's this one with Jaimy Pressly, I don't know what it's about, but it includes a bright red fur coat:http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-3581008880929231114&q=fur+fashion

A very quick look on the Sims2 fur coat:
http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=8638775430401756178&q=fur+fashion (of course it's not real, it's just pixels, sweety dah'ling!)

Videofashion News Vol.29 #43 Autumn/Winter 2005-06 (fur flashes): http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=6227684556108468553&q=fur+fashion

Possible reruns from the now lost SoftspotTV Ep. 1:
* Some street scenes http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=1249837140515245811&q=fur+fashion
* http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-534687121228382011&q=fur+fashion (virtually identical)
* http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=2874787960530381436&q=fur+fashion (Russian street scene)
* http://video.google.nl/videoplay?docid=-3408049851110651090&q=fur+fashion (same in slow motion)

Enjoy,
M.K.

On Walking Skeletons

2006-09-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

Last week finally saw some inside opposition against the catwalk's love affair with anorexia. Not long prepared to put up with 'walking skeletons' (words of the Madrid's organizer Cuca Solana), the Madrid Fashion Week banned models who were under the WHO norm. Consequently, a handful of waifs discovered the scale also had a nogo zone on the left and had to leave.

Predictably, not everybody agreed. In Paris it will be business as usual. One designer (I hope can get the gist through in translation): Some teens, if they're taller than usual, will just look unnaturally skinny in the eyes of outsiders.'

Uh-huh.

So, here's my question to you then: With all the talk about 'designer's artistic freedom' and 'discrimination against naturally gazelle-like models', what are minors - and we know there are 15-year olds out there - doing in a cut-throat business that
- glorifies a 'beauty' ideal that's not just unhealthy, but lethal in the long run?
- has an atrocious record when it comes to drug abuse?

Dior / Vogue fur and feathers

2006-09-25T01:28:00.000-07:00

Posted by Mikhail K. on September 25, 2006, 9:42:24

* At the risk that Sheeny already covered this:
- Vogue US September is a must-have, if you still can get it. I managed to lay my hands on the issue this Saturday; it has a number of very nice pictures in the ads and the editorials, and the yearly 'fur advertorial' is in there too. Also a nice 4-page feather (!) ad by Basso.
- Vogue Germany Oktober is interesting but not as good as the above. There's a fur editorial, but with pig-ugly models (almost a tautology these days, I know), which makes one feel this regional edition could do with some tender love & care by Anna Wintour herself. However, to make up for it somewhat, there also also some nice ads by Bonnie, etc. Apparently the people who have to sell the wares themselves know their business a lot better than some of the editorial gurus.
* I like this slideshow, although it has very little fur and the pictures are way too small:

http://www.madamefigaro.fr/cgi/diaporama/diapo?offs=0&cle=20060814.MAD0009

Enjoy your week,

M.K.

SoftspotTV, Ep. 2: "Bored and Dericious"

2006-09-20T12:33:00.000-07:00

(fur, fake fur and feathers)
Posted by Mikhail K. on September 20, 2006, 21:25:12

Ian P.'s efforts inspired me to do an other SoftspotTV episode. Thanks Ian!

Fur, or should I say FUR:
Ayumi Hamasaki wearing a really beautiful mink (and I don't use the phrase 'beautiful mink' easily!) throughout her clip 'Bold and Delicious. If anyone has a proper quality .mpeg instead of a Google file, I'd like to hear:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ParPy-zAFks
Avoid the 'live' version, it's unintentionally funny. Or should I say, 'Bored and Dericious'?

Fur:
* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-eoXDjf1ho, or look for 'Ayumi Hamasaki step you'. Black fur collar and trim in some parts.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSBXUIsfXWI or 'Ayumi Hamasaki (Miss) Understood. The commercial for the album.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6hl7AN6PN8 or 'Ayumi Hamasaki Mister Donut'. Ayumi wearing a blue fox fur coat throughout a commercial. Kawaii...

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pRTavFlEOM Ayumi accepting an award for her song 'No way to say, and performing it, while wearing a white fur stole. It might be fake, but it's so good I really don't care. Or look for 'Ayumi No Way To Say Live'

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO-VBb13J88, The clip for the same song, different furs.

Fake fur:

You Tube. Fake Christmas fur in fact. Including the bag, which is a neat detail, IMHO. Look for 'ayumi boss santa'. Love the music too, much better than her regular stuff.

Feather and fake fur:

* On Youtube, look for 'Nina Hagen Torgen place'. A long interview with the German singer Nina Hagen. She's wearing a very fluffy marabou bolero and cute fake fur leg warmers throughout. For those of us who understand German, it's in German and somewhere she explains in her own Nina-ish way that she doesn't want to hurt animals, but feathers should be okay. Sure Nina. Nina being Nina, I can appreciate that one.

Feathers, er... FEATHERS:

* One more Ayumi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJngIKUnZO8
The middle part of this long clip has her running through corridors wearing a lovely ostrich feather outfit. Don't ask me why. There's also a shorter, feathers-only version of this clip (look for 'Ayumi Games intro')

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2hYaXyPz24. YES! The same feathers but live, and she also brings along some feathered friends, after the bondage weirdos have gone. Sort of Kylie-meets-Madonna, but better.

* On Google video, look for 'Phyllis Diller interview'. Another interview, a looong interview with comedian Phyllis Diller. She's getting on a bit (just a bit), but she's also wearing a nice ostrich trimmed gown. Actually, I think she's cute and funny too.

Enjoy,

M.K.

(http://file.verycd.com/img/music/ayumi.jpg)
(http://i3.yesasia.com/assets/24/622/l_p1004162224.jpg)

Holiday Loot pt. 2

2006-09-10T13:34:00.000-07:00

Introducing S n e z a n a B a b i c.

Enjoy,

M.K.

Holiday Loot pt. 1

2006-09-09T15:27:00.000-07:00

A wonderful place, this Ex-Yu. Except some of their CDs won't play on my computer...

Kate 2

2006-09-09T14:46:00.000-07:00

Kate, fair Kate...

Kate Moss doing Dietrich 1

2006-09-09T14:43:00.000-07:00

Well, what can I say. The last of the supermodels that's still super.

My 'back from holidays' SSFF post

2006-09-01T12:24:00.000-07:00

20060901

Hello all,

I'm back again; thanks to all for keeping this place alive and well!

I spent some time in a strange place called 'Ex-Yu', where they have singers of the type that you don't take home to mother too soon (because it might make your mum jealous of their furs, ha!). Anyway, I enlarged my collection of fur- and feather-carrying CD covers. A local bonus is that they sell some of their CDs in DVD boxes, which aren't just more solid than jewel boxes but also giving better scanning material. Awaiting my scans, here's some related material:

http://img505.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sanjadjordjevicpevaj0oi.jpg (fake)
http://www.balkanmedia.com/m2/doc/4223-1.shtml (small real ones)
http://www.yu4you.com/items/sr/cd/item_2826.html (page link to the pic you should see below this message - small one, but this is one of the CDs that I got, so wait for the larger MK scan some time soon).

And yes Ian, I got some feathers too:
http://www.radio-tv-zabava.com/Neda%20Ukraden%202005.jpg (big pic, and there's more in the CD booklet).

I wonder if this is just a Balkan thing, or if our readers in the rest of Middle/Eastern Europe have collected similar material?

M.K.

Welcome

2006-09-01T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hello all Soft Spot fans,

I'm finally given in to worldwide peer pressure and doing a blog too. Not as replacement for the Soft Spot Fashion Forum, but as a backup and an archive for my own posts there, a headsup for good material there, and perhaps for some personal, not so SSFF-related stuff. Also I hope the ads here are less obtrusive than on Boardhost, and you can RSS to this blog.

To those who have never heard of the SSFF: it's a moderated pornless and (almost) hatred-free messageboard about fur, fake fur and feather related fashion, and a bunch of really nice people.

Enjoy,

Mikhail K.