Happy International Cat Day (8 August)! Pictured: dark princess of pop Lana Del Rey and feline friend, photographed by Ellen von Unwerth (I know - ugh! Gross!) in 2012. (I could just have easily captioned this image “Priscilla Presley circa 1968”). #internationalcatday #lobotomyroom #lanadelrey #cat

Today (29 July) is National Lipstick Day! Let quadruple threat (actress, dancer, chanteuse and sex kitten) Eartha Kitt be your guide. Now slather on a thick coat and give me a big sloppy kiss! #nationallipstickday #nationallipstickday2026 #earthakitt #lobotomyroom #sexkitten #oldshowbiz #kitsch

She’s ready for her close-up! On this day in 1974, the fiercely glamorous Faye Dunaway featured on the cover of People magazine. (The “hot summer movie” the headline refers to is Roman Polanski’s Chinatown). #fayedunaway #peoplemagazine #lobotomyroom #cheekbones #diva #kween #fierce #newhollywood

Four years ago today (28 July 2022) in Wood Green a female British Shorthair cat gave birth to a litter of kittens. One of her wriggling, mewling offspring was our own Eartha Kitten! Yes, That Bad Eartha (aka Eartha Angel, aka Eartha Quake) turns four years-old today! #earthakitten #lobotomyroom

1/ Seventy years ago today (2 July 1956) in showbiz history impossibly glamorous “Venus in Furs” Hollywood diva Elizabeth Taylor attended the Los Angeles premiere of Moby Dick and was captured by “the beatnik photographer” Earl Leaf (1905 – 1980). #lobotomyroom #elizabethtaylor #1950shollywood #diva

Happy Father’s Day! Pictured: a heartwarming family portrait of Count Mora (Bela Lugosi) and his daughter Luna (Carroll Borland) in Mark of the Vampire (1935). #fathersday #classichorror #belalugosi #markofthevampire #carrollborland #lobotomyroom #familyportrait #horrormovie #vampire #countmora

It’s the end of an era! Cocktail lounge Fontaine’s (the jewel in Dalston’s nightlife crown) closes end of July. And for the FINAL #LobotomyRoom cinema club at this beloved venue, we're closing things out in high style with The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield! Thurs 16 July! tinyurl.com/34r2sceb

Adieu to joyous, pioneering out-and-proud English artist David Hockney (9 July 1937 – 11 June 2026), whose death aged 88 was announced yesterday. Pictured: behold the glory of my favourite Hockney painting – his 1979 portrait of Divine. #DavidHockney #Divine #popart #lobotomyroom #lgbtqia #portrait

Happy birthday to perma-scowling death kitten of No Wave, Cinema of Transgression leading lady, high priestess of confrontational punk poetry, that fabulous babe with the fierce curves and even fiercer mouth who spews uncompromising truth from every orifice – #LydiaLunch (b. 2 June 1959)! #nowave

Pagan! Primitive! Taboo! This month’s FREE Lobotomy Room film club presentation is kitsch extravaganza Cobra Woman (1944) starring Maria Montez! 11 June at Fontaine’s in Dalston. Info: tinyurl.com/446t8h3s #lobotomyroom #filmclub #dalston #lgbtqia #mariamontez #cobrawoman #cultclassic #exotica

Attention, people of the UK! Hurricane Louise has swept into town! Seriously, much-missed ex-pat Louise (aka Weezie) is visiting London this weekend and we’re all looking forward to an emotional (and inevitably boozy) reunion with this madwoman. Pic: us at Viva Las Vegas Rockabilly Weekend in 2024.

Pause to reflect that 70 years ago today (13 May 1956), ultimate mid-20th century showbiz couple Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay met for the first time. A seismic moment in world history! (He was one of Mae West's onstage "chorus boys" at the time). #lobotomyroom #jaynemansfield #mickeyhargitay

Raise a glass! Today (13 May 2026) represents World Cocktail Day and the 220th anniversary of the first recorded definition of the word "cocktail" published in the New York tabloid The Balance and Columbian Repository in 1806. (I’ll have a Mai Tai or Negroni, please). #worldcocktailday #lobotomyroom

Released 45 years ago today (11 May 1981) by Island Records: Nightclubbing, the fifth studio album by everyone’s favourite post-punk freak diva / Afro-Dietrich / futuristic dominatrix from outer space Miss Grace Jones! #postpunk #newwave #gracejones #lobotomyroom #reggae #1980spop #diva #fierce

Happy Mother's Day! Elizabeth Taylor and her daughter Liza Todd photographed by Toni Frissell for LIFE magazine 1957. #mothersday #happymothersday #elizabethtaylor #lobotomyroom #oldhollywood #oldshowbiz #1950shollywood #lifemagazine #liztaylor #goldenagehollywood #motherandchild #mothersday2026

In Memoriam: his royal highness, Show Business Personified, architect of rock’n’roll and the artist praised by soul diva Etta James for having “the guts to be a king and queen all at the same time” - the divine #LittleRichard (aka Richard Wayne Penniman, 5 Dec 1932 - 9 May 2020) - died on this day.

Attention, Leather Jacket Lovers! Homoerotic beefcake illustrator and connoisseur of firm male flesh #TomofFinland (Touko Valio Laaksonen, 8 May 1920 - 7 Nov 1991) was born on this day! His wildly idealized, gloriously brazen “dirty drawings” fired the imagination of generations of leather men.

Farewell to Nedra Talley-Ross (27 January 1946 – 26 April 2026) – the last surviving member of irresistibly fabulous 1960s girl group The Ronettes, who has died aged 80. Rat-up your hair like a teenage Jezebel, slather on liquid eyeliner and crank up “Baby, I Love You” LOUD in Nedra’s memory today.

Happy Lesbian Visibility Day! (26 April 2026). Can anyone provide directions to Lesbos Alley? #lesbianvisibilityday #lesbianvisibilityday2026 #sapphic #sapphism #lesbianpulpnovel #lesbianpulpfiction #lobotomyroom #lgbtqia #vintagesmut #vintagesleaze #sistersaredoinitforthemselves #kitsch #lesbian

Released on this day (26 April 1980): Los Angeles, the ferocious debut album (produced by Ray Manzarek of The Doors) by LA punk royalty X. Pictured: portrait of X’s witchy twisted bride frontwoman Exene Cervenka by Edward Colver, 1979. #xtheband #lobotomyroom #losangelespunk #exenecervenka #punk

BOTD: #FrancoCitti (23 April 1935 - 14 Jan 2016). The Italian actor was a brooding, sensual and charismatic presence in several films directed by visionary Pier Paolo Pasolini, including my two favourites – the absolutely wrenching Accattone (1961) (pictured) and Mamma Roma (1962). #lobotomyroom

BOTD: ultimate dark angel of 1950s pin-up queens, vintage smut icon and perennial hairstyle role model for generations of female rockabillies – #BettiePage (22 April 1923 – 11 Dec 2008)! Frolic in lingerie, teeter around in extreme fetish heels or spank someone with a hairbrush in Page’s memory!

BOTD (21 April 1947): happy 79th birthday to streetwalkin’ cheetah with a heartful of napalm / world’s forgotten boy / chairman of the bored / possessor of the world's most sinewy torso, one of THE greatest live performers EVER – feral godfather of punk, #IggyPop! Portrait by Peter Hujar, 1977.

Precisely 50 years ago today (16 April 1976): unassailable Country & Western diva, bouffant wig enthusiast, force for good and one-woman ray of sunshine Dolly Parton arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport for the 8th International Festival of Country Music at Wembley Arena. #dollyparton #lobotomyroom

Happy Easter to those who celebrate! Pictured: festive “glamour shot” of young Angie Dickinson, 1961. #easter #easter2026 #happyeaster #eastersunday #retroeaster #vintageeaster #easterkitsch #easterbunny #easterbonnet #easterpinup #angiedickinson #lobotomyroom #oldshowbiz #buggsbunny #kitsch #pinup

Is it even Easter until the effervescent Ambassador of Americana Charles Phoenix posts his traditional Easter Meatloaf of Lamb? As featured in Phoenix’s 2019 retro cookbook Holiday Jubilee. #easter #happyeaster #easter2026 #easterkitsch #retroeaster #lobotomyroom #charlesphoenix #vintageeaster

Born on this day: suavely raffish and joli laid musical genius, dissipated 20th century Marquis de Sade of French popular culture once described by Vanity Fair as “the pungent flower of French manhood in all its Gallic glory”- #SergeGainsbourg (né Lucien Ginsburg, 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991)!

To commemorate #TransVisibilityDay (31 March): Andy Warhol’s legendary trio of gender-fluid superstar dolls (as celebrated in the Lou Reed song “Walk on the Wild Side”) Jackie Curtis, Holly Woodlawn and Candy Darling photographed by Richard Avedon for the June 1972 issue of Vogue magazine. #lgbtqia

Born 65 years ago today: ultra-freaky post-punk drag monster, performance artist, nightclub promoter, fashion designer, artist’s model, muse, musician, Australia’s twisted gift to the world and all-round visionary - Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 - 31 Dec 1994)! #leighbowery #lobotomyroom #freakdiva

BOTD: the incomparably fierce and regal Miss #JoanCrawford (née Lucille LeSueur on 23 March somewhere between 1904 and 1908. The precise year of Crawford’s birth is contested although 1906 seems to be widely accepted). Pictured: portrait of Crawford with her pet poodles in New York, April 1957.