Casa de Cadillac
A shot of the iconic Casa de Cadillac in Sherman Oaks. For more of my photographs, follow me on Instagram.
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Filtering by Tag: STYLE
Anna for August
Love the gender play in this video featuring queer icon Anna Shumate for Playboy. Directed by Brooke James.
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Buck House
Yesterday I went to go check out the Buck House, which was designed by Rudolph Schindler in 1934. According to the LA Times, “The Buck House may be the most beautiful house in Los Angeles.” Previously, I visited Schindler’s own house in West Hollywood, which is phenomenal. What a lucky thing to live in LA.
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Happy Hump Day
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Meet The Artist Turning Blowup Dolls Into Fashion Designs
Image credit: Nicole Daddona
This story was originally published on Forbes.com in July 2020. It has been lightly updated.
Nicole Daddona, who goes by Friday, is 32, lives in Los Angeles, and is, as she puts it, “an artist, comedian, fashion designer, filmmaker, and toy designer” who’s created a popular line of blowup doll fashions. If you’ve ever dreamed of owning a handbag with the face of a vintage blowup doll on it or a coat covered in blowup doll faces, Friday has you covered. Here, Friday, who’s also the editor of FRIDAY Magazine, explains how she got into blowup doll fashion and why her designs are so coveted.
Susannah Breslin: How did you come up with the idea of turning blowup dolls into wearable products you could sell?
Friday: Last year I was living in a retirement community with my dad in Connecticut for a few months. I found a vintage blowup doll at the thrift store and immediately purchased it. I've always been drawn to blowup dolls. I just think they're such a fun part of pop culture. I've always made things out of other things. I used to go to the dump with my dad a lot as a kid and turn little trinkets I'd find into accessories I could wear. When I was in high school, I made a chair out of recycled plastic bags. I like upcycling and turning things into other things a lot. After having Judy—which is the official name of this style of blowup doll—around the house for a few days, I knew that I wanted to keep her with me always and that the best way to do that was to turn her into something wearable. I cut off her face—which sounds terrible, but was oddly cathartic—and assembled a very poorly made prototype of what is now the Blow Me Judy Bag.
Breslin: Where do you source the blowup dolls from?
Friday: At first I was getting them from eBay and thrift stores when I could find them, but after posting the bag as a pre-order for sale and getting a larger and more positive response than I anticipated, I knew eBay's blowup doll supply was going to run dry quickly. I found a manufacturer who makes blowup dolls, and now I source the blowup dolls from them directly.
Breslin: How do you manufacture the blowup doll products?
Friday: At first I was making them myself, but each bag was taking hours to make, and I was getting injured a lot by my sewing machine, so I knew I needed to find some manufacturing help. After a lot of research I was able to find an amazing manufacturer to help with production.
Breslin: Are the items made entirely from blowup doll materials, or do you add other materials?
Friday: The original prototype was, but after wearing it out a few times I realized that the vinyl material of the blowup doll's body wasn't going to be sturdy enough for longtime wear. I like a bag that's sturdy and can fit a lot or a little while also being great for casual or classy events. The Blow Me Judy Bag is all of that and more. When it came time to manufacture the bag on a larger scale, I did a lot of research. It was important to me that the bag, like everything I sell, was made of all vegan materials. I found a great vegan leather material that was the same color as the original blowup doll's hair, and that's what I use for the bag, which is essentially supposed to be the rest of the doll's head.
Breslin: The Blow Me Bag is $89 $150. How did you settle on that price point?
Friday: $69 seemed too obvious. I wanted to pick a price point that would cover my expenses, labor, and time. I run Magic Society completely on my own. I do all the marketing, customer service, shipping, web design, photography, product design—you name it—myself. The price point is on the lower end in the world of designer handbags, which was important to me because the Blow Me Judy Bag is definitely a designer piece, but I wanted the price to be something I'd be willing to pay for a designer bag. I also see it as a piece of collectible art and myself as an artist, so hopefully the value will go up over time. My dream is that one day it will be in a museum between Pedro Friedeberg's hand chair and Warhol's paper dress.
Breslin: Is the Blow Me Judy Bag your bestseller? How many have you sold?
Friday: It sells really well. So far I've released two pre-orders of 100 pieces each. I'm just about to sell out the second pre-order.
Breslin: Why did you choose this model of blowup doll?
Friday: Judy's the one! Out of all the blowup dolls out in the world, she's the most iconic. She has a classic design that's been around for decades, so she has a warm nostalgic feeling about her. I like that she plays it classy with her closed mouth, but we all know what she's really got on her mind.
Breslin: Is working with blowup doll materials easy or challenging?
Friday: It's 1,000% challenging! The mask part of the doll is flexible plastic, which is very thick and difficult to sew, but makes for a sturdy bag. The vinyl the body is made of is difficult to wrangle in the Los Angeles heat, but it's all worth it when I catch Judy's hypnotizing gaze.
Breslin: Your blowup line is amusing, but it's also sort of disturbing. In the product description, you even refer to the Blow Me Judy Bag as a potential "relationship ender." Do you think your blowup products are beautiful? Terrifying? Art?
Friday: I definitely think of it as all of the above. The blowup line is pop art personified. It's high fashion and lowbrow all at the same time. Magic Society's slogan is "Lowbrow High Fashion.” I don't think anything sums that up better than the Blow Me Judy Bag. The good thing is that the blowup line is a great conversation starter. It also makes uptight people uncomfortable, which is always fun. Gotta love scaring Karens.
To quote Delia Deetz, "This is my art and it is dangerous," kind of sums up most of the work I do. From the films I make with my directing partner Adam Shenkman to the clothing I design, I like to make things that dwell in the subconscious, touch on surrealism, and most of all amuse me. I know in a world as big as the one we live in that there are like-minded people out there who will get it and get something positive out of my creations.
Breslin: Have you gotten any interest in carrying the Blow Me Judy Bag yet from, say, Nordstrom?
Friday: Not yet, but hit me up, Nordstrom! I'm ready to take this line all the way to Fashion Week and confuse the masses. London. New York. Paris. Milan. Retailers, drop me a line! Magic Society will cast a spell over you!
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ZOË BY PURIENNE
From YouTube: “Saint Laurent Rive Droite, through SL Editions, is pleased to present a new book, featuring Zoë Kravitz photographed by Henrik Purienne.” You can buy a copy of the book for $135 on YSL.com.
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Susannah Breslin's Writing Style
Generally I think AI is a parasite that leeches off of creatives and generates garbage, but occasionally I interact with it. Recently, I asked Meta’s AI search function on Instagram what my writing style was. The answer was … well, it wasn’t exactly wrong. Does AI know my writing style better than I do? Maybe.
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Data Baby in Fuchsia
Love this Instagram post from @bookswithbrady featuring my memoir, Data Baby: My Life in a Psychological Experiment. Buy my book here, order a signed copy here, and read what people are saying about it here.
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Asian Mannequin
An Asian mannequin on Hollywood Boulevard. Follow me on Instagram for more photos from my life in L.A.
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L.A. Triptych (Blue)
The State of Journalism
In case you were wondering about the current state of journalism …
Enjoy my work? Get "The Tumor." It’s been called "a masterpiece of short fiction."
Ban Billionaires
45 Likes, 3 Comments - Susannah Breslin (@susannahbreslin) on Instagram: "💰BAN BILLIONAIRES💰 hoodie by my buddy 🖤@claytoncubitt🖤 #banbillionaires #getmoney"
My photographer friend Clayton Cubitt is producing some amazing works-for-sale as of late. I had to own his BAN BILLIONAIRES hoodie. The design is slick, and the sweatshirt is a cool cut and the softest material ever.
Enjoy my work? Buy "The Tumor." It’s been called "a masterpiece of short fiction."
@Target
The Red Queen
via Style.com
Baddest Bitch
Bad Girlz
Photo credit: Jennifer Graylock via HuffPo
My Valentine
For Valentine's Day, I bought my husband this NRA "Coexist" T-shirt.
"This 6 oz., 100% preshrunk cotton shirt is the perfect balance of humor and attitude. Carrying a subtle, yet compelling message, it spells out the word 'COEXIST' using rifles, pistols, magazines, ammo and the venerable NRA shield. To really drive home the message, we’ve added 'A Free People Must...' at the very top of the t-shirt."
[NRA]
Chanel Mannequin
Chanel mannequin, Las Vegas, NV / Photo credit: Susannah Breslin
Nice Kitty
Photo credit: Imaxtree
Girl Gangs
Photo credit: Hassan Hajjaj
"His confident, upbeat portraits of young women wearing veils and djellabah while posing on motorcycles subvert preconceived notions of Arab women; his subjects are traditionally clad but defiantly modern, bearing bright smiles and the markers of youth, independence, celebration, and fun."
[Taymour Grahne via Kottke]