Naked Graveyard: Issue 4

Hey friends,

If you’re like me, you love to be hipped to interesting music, books, movies, and people. With that in mind, I’m using this month’s issue of Naked Graveyard to introduce you to one of the creative people I love most on social media, Maudlin Alice Ludvinsky AKA Maude.

Check out Maude on YouTube here.

In November of 2024, while I was writing the manuscript that would become my 2025 novel, How to Saw a Man in Half, Maude reached out and offered to put together a curated playlist of songs for me to enjoy while I worked and, holy moly, did she come through with some bangers! Not only is Maude a connoisseur of eclectic and esoteric sounds from around the globe, but she is also a fashionista of some of the most niche and adorable aesthetics.

Check out Maude on Spotify here.

I reached out to Maude and asked if she would answer some questions about her art for the newsletter and provide some photos and descriptions of the looks she’s most proud of. I’m beyond thrilled to present Naked Graveyard’s first interview. Enjoy!

NG: We’ve described you as a fashionista. Is that the correct term for what you are?

ML: Sure! Though fashionista is maybe a little too close to Maxxinista, someone TJMaxx’s marketing team dreamed up who peppers their wardrobe with finds from the Maxx racks…one of my favorite tops is from TJMaxx but still. I think the word that most accurately describes me is clothes horse. I am someone to whom apparel and accessories are of endless interest and intrigue. I also kind of consider myself to be an originator of sorts, in that I like to think certain sartorial schools of thought start with me. That’s where my aesthetic laboratory comes in, I love to dream up new combinations of words to describe the experiments I’m constantly running. Anyone who has followed alongside my antics knows I’ve been generating unique looks that are aesthetic mashups of sorts: bimbizarre (a combination of bimbocore and weirdcore aesthetics), flappergoth (when a 1920s it girl listens to Sisters of Mercy) and that kind of thing. Basically, I’m a big-time bullshitter.

NG: What are some of the names you’ve given to your maximalist aesthetic?

ML: Well like what I was mentioning, one of my favorite things to do is come up with new aesthetics in the aesthetic laboratory for my own amusement. When that happens, they usually get their own unique name. For example, taking bimbo y2k aesthetics as a starting point and putrifying them with a more surrealist weirdcore approach results in (what else?) bimbizarre. That is probably my finest work when it comes to naming aesthetic experiments.

NG: Wigs, trucker hats, victory sashes … are there any fashion no-nos?

ML: For me personally, going with the obvious choice is the only thing I absolutely never want to do.

NG: Your looks are always changing. The perception is you have a bottomless wardrobe from which to pull from. Are you ever afraid you’ll run out of room?

ML: I technically already have!

NG: Where do you have the most success acquiring items used for your outfits?

ML: It’s a tie between ebay and depop. Out in the real world my favorite shops are actually usually antique stores. While I don’t usually score clothes that fit me there, I do love to pick up props, hats, musical and aesthetic inspiration, and of course costume jewelry that no one wants!

NG: The photos and videos you share on social media all appear to be taken in your home. Are the outfits we see you in online the same ones you wear when you walk out into the world?

ML: Yes and no! I am not and have never been someone who dresses up to go grocery shopping. Because I hate grocery shopping! Errands do not deserve me at my best. But when I do dress up to go out, the only difference between that and my online fashion sensibilities is I take comfort into consideration much more. I admit I do have some shoes that have never been worn out of my house.

NG: Who are your fashion icons?

ML: The first ever source of fashion inspiration for me always came from movies and cartoons. When I was a kid I wanted to be Bugs Bunny and Marilyn Monroe combined. And just look at me now! But more recently, I have to say my fashion icons are John Waters & company, Paul Reubens, Noel Fielding, everyone in the film Beyond the Valley of the Dolls (1970), Enid Coleslaw from Ghost World (2001), Bootsy Collins, Carol Kane, Elaine Benes of Seinfeld fame, Penelope Garcia from Criminal Minds, Liza Minelli and Barbra Streisand in their heyday, Madonna, Bette Davis, Blythe dolls, Shelley Duvall and iSpy books.

NG: You often pair your fashion videos with music and audio clips from films and TV shows. Do the clips inspire the looks, or do the looks inspire the clips?

ML: That’s probably a chicken and egg scenario!

NG: Have you considered designing and marketing your own line of clothing and accessories? If so, what would you call it?

ML: I absolutely once thought of somehow starting my own apparel design company called Quirque (a portmanteau of Quirky and Cirque) but recently I’ve felt weirdly self conscious about contributing to the apparel manufacturing environmental crisis. Visions of mountains of clothes on the beaches of Ghana haunt my dreams. So I think finding a way to repurpose existing garments or other materials and upcycling them into something new and unique to my vision is what I’ve been daydreaming about instead. Maybe that would still be called Quirque!

NG: What does the rest of 2026 hold for Maude?

ML: I have no earthly idea but I’m hoping I’ll be able to keep my energy up, avoid burnout and keep on creating!