Romance

[Publication: Cosmopolitan Bride, Issue: February/March 2010, Title: Nostalgia Trip, Photographer: Antony Nobilo, Stylist: Sally Dixon]

Kick it

The wonderful thing about fashion is that it can be anything you want it to be. True fashion has never been just about covering your modesty or providing a uniform for a specific occasion; but more about pushing the boundaries of art and design into something so beautiful* and thrilling** it enhances our physical presence and provides us with something spectacular.

One of my favourite designers, Giles Deacon, gave us a hint of the surrealist tones and exaggerated brilliance of A/W '10 at his pre-collection, held at The Richard Ginori porcelain factory in Florence. Using everyday household objects such as buttons and safety pins, he warps and manipulates them to such extremes that you don’t even question their original function. From enormous headdresses of tangled spanners to mountains of plates with models posing on top of them, each flush of objects worked with his designs with kooky irreverence. And with promises of even more of these bold, original designs for the full collection, I can’t wait until his A/W ’10 show!

* [adjective] having beauty; having qualities that give great pleasure or satisfaction to see, hear, think about, etc.; delighting the senses or mind: a beautiful dress; a beautiful speech.

** [adjective] producing sudden, strong, and deep emotion or excitement

[Images: Vogue.com]

Cobalt

Mary-Kate Olsen, oh how I love thee. This cobalt, ruffled mini dress my favourite twin wore to the 2010 Golden Globes after party is to die for!

[Image: Olsen’s anonymous]

Spaced

Who says you can't mix futuristic shapes with vintage sensibilities? Not Jean Paul Gaultier, that’s for sure. I love the juxtoposition of the silver, geometric body-con with full-bodied natural wool from his Autumn/Winter 2009-10 Haute Couture show. Aces! ♥

[Images: Tfs, Alice's wardrobe wonderland]

Procrastination

Another day, another dime... Having a mixture of good and bad today. Just handed in my invoice for my first ever paid for fashion copy (amazing, amazing!) but I've got a STONKING hangover from last night - booze on Brick Lane on a Thursday is not a good idea! Just spent my lunch hour trying to sleep away the pain under my desk. Oh, the weakness.

But on a more worky mode, I've just come across an amazing fashion stylist, Hannah Teare, who we're hoping to use in the magazine I work for in the future. I hope so! Each beautiful image is filled with movement, humour, wonder - and more than a teaspoon and a half of quirky English eccentricity. Simply spiffing!

[All images: www.hannahteare.com]

Ice Queen

The sun poked his head out today and beamed out over the streets of London town. And for the first time since last autumn, I actually felt warm! So this is my final hurrah to the ice and snow of Britain’s coldest winter…

"In moody tones of gray and blue, Benjamin Alexander Huseby shoots models Hannah Holman and Antonella Graef for the latest issue of Dazed & Confused. Styled by Katie Shillingford, the duo wears an intriguing combination of tailored and unstructured pieces by Christopher Kane, Comme des Garçons and Balenciaga."

[Publication: Dazed & Confused: December 2009, Photographer: Benjamin Alexander Huseby, Fashion editor/stylist: Katie Shillingford, Models: Hannah Holman and Antonella Graef, Images: www.fashiongonerogue.com]

Squiggle

While I was researching quirky art things to do for work today, I came across The Doodle Bar. An innovative new creative space, littered with secondhand furniture from Freecycle and nothing on the whitewashed walls apart from a doodle of the Thames snaking through it, it invites people to doodle on the walls, tables – even the waiters – and create a unique vision of their imagined city. “A collage of doodlers hopes and fears,” as they so eloquently put it.

It’s already grabbed the attention of Vivienne Westwood, who previously held monthly film screenings at the venue, and is also home to the DoodlEarth exhibition - an interactive art installation formed by creative film makers, Squint Opera.

And even if you can’t draw to save your life, the freedom of doodling means that anything goes! Together with friends and strangers you can unleash your creativity, inspire, share, develop and evolve ideas and – best of all – have FUN! Special classes such as live drawing and yoga are available too if you really can’t get enough of this space.

So, doodle you want a go or not?


[www.thedoodlebar.com]

HeAd FeVeR

Alice bands
Turbans
Bows
Scarves
Fascinators
Feathers
Bowlers
Bandanas
Necklaces
Plaits
Leather
Micky Mouse ears...

...I want them all!

Below are some pics taken from two of my favourite blogs, Eight and Frassy. I'm going to try to get photo-creative too sometime later in the week and put some pic-a-tures up of my own...
{Watch this 'head' space}

[Images: Eight, Frassy]

Cape love

I am SO excited for the new autumn/winter fashion shows... only a month to go! Not that I’m an avid wearer of fashion trends by the way – quite the opposite probably; I tend to just wear what I like and shop vintage – but it’s always nice to see the new styles and designs and watch similar pieces worming their way into the highstreet and onto thrift store rails by their savvy buyers. (I mean, did you see how many jumpsuits and playsuits the shops brought in after the trend for ‘onesies’ last summer??)

I’m hoping capes are going to be one of the big fashion pieces for next autumn. Either long and snuggly or chic and cropped, they’re perfect for wintery months and a fab alternative to the revered trench. I love how they have an almost innate vintage quality to them too – which you could enhance further with an antique clasp or bejewelled brooch.

I brought a purple cape Rokit a few years ago, and although my sisters tell me it makes me look like the hazelnut Quality Street sweet, I adore it. But I have to wear it carefully. As it doesn’t cover my arms I tend to only wear it when it’s bearable outside – no minus temperatures or rainstorms, thank you very much! But you can also keep snug with clever layering, such as accessorising with woollen mittens, a furry deerstalker and a swathe of cosy scarves a la Missoni A/W ’09.
Co-co-coosssyy!

Daydreamin'

It's my first day at fashion college tomorrow - I'm doing a 9-week evening fashion journalism course at LFC - and, to put it mildly, I'm crapping myself. What are they going to ask me? Do I know enough? What should I know? Designers? Trends?? Photographers??? The most famous fashion editors in the world - past and present. Ever????? Agggh!

Ok, firstly, I think I should calm down; I'm coming here to learn after all. If I was already a world famous fashion journalist I wouldn't need to do a course, would I? And no one else in the class is going to be a top journo yet either. I hope. Gulp. And secondly, I need something to take my mind off it. In moments like this, one would probably go for the sauce and hope their cares wash away with the numbness of booze... (Tempting. Very tempting. I do have a bottle of wine under my desk...) I on the on the other hand am deciding to soothe my brain by pouring over the most beautiful fashion images I can find. I've just found the prettiest picture of Diane Kruger in an ethereal Valentino gown from last year's Césars (the French version of the Oscars). With her appliqué blooms and sequin embellishments she looks so summery - almost looks like lemon sorbet on legs! And then the polar opposite, a very sassy Daisy Lowe and Julia Restoin Roitfeld with her delectable beau at December's British Fashion Awards.What's not to love? ♥

[Images: Celebutopia, style.com, British Fashion Awards]