Lux Exterior: eyeliner

I remember when I was 10 and I used to read Top of the Pops and Smash Hits magazine religiously. ESPECIALLY when they gave away sticker sets of all the heartthrobs of the day like Peter Andre (back when a 6-pack meant abs not beer) and Kavana (remember him? nope?) and boy bands like 911, a1, and other numerically fixated yet talent deficient acts. Back then, I thought Alisha's Attic were THE SHIT despite having only heard one of their songs on a free compilation that TOTP gave out. I was obsessed with their leopard print clothes, bindis, dark eyeliner, Karen's bad roots and Shelley's red streaks. From the ages of 10 until 13 when I was finally allowed to dye my hair, I would spend my pocket money on hair mascara (remember THAT?) and sit in my room painstakingly putting gold and red streaks in the front of my hair. I can still remember the smell and the greasy smudges on my pillowcase. Ahh, youth...

The other evening, Monorail film club showed Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains (Lou Adler, 1981) at the GFT. Starring Diane Lane (The Outsiders, Rumble Fish), Laura Dern (Blue Velvet, Wild At Heart), Ray Winstone (Scum, Sexy Beast) - as well as Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols and The Clash's Paul Simonon - it tells the story of 3 teenage girls who, dissatisfied with their lives, start a punk band called The Stains who carry the motto "We Don't Put Out!".
Lead character Corrine Burn's costumes and hairstyle, which quickly become slavishly imitated by the band's legion of female fans calling themselves 'Skunks', are but a few of the things that helped make the film acquire a cult following of its own, with fans such as Courtney Love and the underground filmmaker Sarah Jacobson. If you haven't seen The Fabulous Stains, I urge you to hunt down a copy NOW.