The Red Shoes

Elliott Smith – Bye

Shirt: H&M (similar).  Skirt: vintage (similar).  Shoes: Rising Taste.  Tights: Nine West (similar).  Belt: Macy’s.

Photography by Jessica Peterson.

The Inspiration

These photographs are loosely inspired by the iconic ballet film, The Red Shoes. Read my review on Dignity Zine.

The Music

We all knew Elliott Smith was melancholy, even drug-addled for a time, but his suicide was shocking in the worst way. Who stabs themselves to death — twice — in the heart? Then again, some suspect Smith was murdered by his girlfriend or drug dealers. If you didn’t know his backstory (childhood abuse, heroin addiction), you could enjoy the poppier notes Smith struck on Figure 8 and XO. Smith made love-gone-wrong sound downright upbeat. “Somebody That I Used to Know” is a fine example of Smith’s brisk and bouncy acoustic guitar work. Smith’s last album, From a Basement on the Hill, was released posthumously and is, not surprisingly, almost entirely free of happy moments.