Pinterest for the UK
Last week saw the launch of Pinterest in the UK. Which you might think weird because, um, haven’t we in the UK all been using it for yonks? Well yes, but it seems the site is keen to have some more localised content too, which is why it has decided to flag up a few Brit bloggers and pinners to encourage some more UK-centric pinning.
Not that my pins are necessarily UK-centric (Ok, they’re categorically not), but there might be an underlying Brit style coming through… maybe. Anyway, if you’re a pinner, you can follow all or some of my Pinterest boards here. I’ve just created a new one called ‘gentlewoman style‘ which is my tribute to sophisticated, cultured women with a bit of a boy-girl twist. Continue reading
Club Monaco creates all-blogger look book (and launches it on Tumblr)
Club Monaco was an early adopter in curating inspiring content on its ‘Culture Club’ Tumblr. From fabulous architecture to offbeat coffee shops, since 2010 it has nailed the art of curating relevant content without ramming product down our throats. Plus its Tumblr is one of the few branded Tumblrs that I follow. (BTW, my beauty Tumblr is here…) Now it has achieved another first – the first blogger-cast Tumblr lookbook and a Club Monaco-branded Tumblr theme. Continue reading
What’s the fuss about Google Plus?
I joined Google Plus a long time ago but like a lot of people, I never really got my head around it. And at that stage you couldn’t have brand Pages, only personal profiles so I couldn’t have one for my blog. (It doesn’t like pseudonyms and refused to believe my name was ‘Disney Rollergirl’ for some reason – can’t think why). However a while later, when it launched Pages, I gave it another go and now populate it the way I do Facebook. I also follow a bunch of fashion bloggers and brands so it works like a kind of Google Reader, allowing me to read their blog posts and updates in an easily digested format. Continue reading
Vogue Festival 2013: the verdict
Was every panelist and speaker at Vogue Festival briefed to implore us to work hard and follow our dreams? Because that felt like the overarching message of the weekend at the second annual Vogue-branded event.
“If you’re really good at what you do and have a dream, It will happen,” said Alber Elbaz on Sunday, and when Alber says this you believe him. Of all the speakers I saw, he was the most relaxed, funny and passionate and also a brilliant storyteller. But pretty much all the key speakers put their success down to a mix of talent and tenacity, plus a personal point of view. Continue reading
WATCH THIS: Disneyrollergirl in ‘Style Xiu’ for Ebay China
Late last year, I spent a freeeezing morning filming this great video with NeochaEDGE – one of a series of three, produced to launch eBay Xiu in China. The videos, ‘Style Xiu’, followed a Chinese stylist, designer and blogger on their travels to London, Paris and New York, discovering style and fashion across the globe.
As a regular contributor to eBay UK’s Style Collective blog, this video features me being interviewed by the charming stylist and author, A Quiqui, in which we discuss London style, vintage finds and the joys of eBay shopping (obvs), surrounded by the creative chaos of Spitalfield’s excellent Thursday vintage market. My favourite thing about this video though, is the beautiful photography of London’s landmarks and scenery. Enjoy…
Watch this: a documentary about Fashion Week street style
I just watched Garage Magazine’s mini documentary on Style Bubble but in case you haven’t seen it, here it is again. Filming began a year ago and the result is a good 9-minute sum-up of the Fashion Week street style phenomenon. Tim Blanks makes most of the commentary but Imran Amed from Business of fashion is also featured, as is Susie Bubble and Phil Oh.
This London Fashion Week, I had a conversation with a well known street style photographer who mentioned that they have noticed a change. Some of their regulars have now decided they don’t want to be photographed, they’re actively ignoring street style photographers, even when in the past they were quite chummy. It’s not surprising to me. What die-hard fashionista wants to be seen embracing something once it’s been tainted with the naff brush? (I’m not saying street style is naff, but the bad publicity in this context could have that effect.)
What’s with all the pampering suites at Fashion Week?
Fashion Month seems to have reached an interesting sweet spot of industry and consumer focus. The public has proved just how much it loves to be part of the LFW experience – not just watching the live streams, but actively commenting, sharing and shopping. This we know, but I felt it more keenly than ever this season, due to bigger efforts made to share via technology (hello Topshop ‘be the buyer’ app, Burberry Beauty Booth and Matthew Williamson Vine videos). Continue reading
Karen Walker and Ari’s girls
Talk about eye-catching, these vibrant portraits of Ari Seth Cohen’s ‘Advanced Style‘ ladies are popping right off the page. Commissioned by Karen Walker to launch her SS13 eyewear collection, Karen Walker Forever, they’re a ‘celebration of eternal optimism’ and feature four stylish seniors shot in their own New York homes. Continue reading
Video: Into The Gloss
Wow, Emily Weiss’s INTO THE GLOSS gets 6 million page views a month. Here’s why…
Six years of blogging – the changing landscape
Well who’d have thunk it? Six years ago today, I started a fashion blog. This very one, in fact, albeit on a Blogspot platform with a slightly clunky white-text-on-black-background layout. If you scroll back far enough, you can see my early posts; embarrassing though they are, I’ve not deleted them as it’s good to remember the journey.
My six year anniversary coincides with a pithy New York Times T Magazine story by Suzy Menkes lamenting the blog mob and the changes in fashion media and critiquing. Do read it, it’s certainly thought provoking. Alas, Menkes does come across as slightly jaded in her disapproval. Flagging up the common practice of ‘bloggers’ (read: the Fashion Week style blogger elite) who get photographed in next season’s looks, often gifted by designers in exchange for coverage, she reminds us that real reporters don’t play the gifting game (or ‘bribery’ as she puts it). It’s a funny one I admit. On the one hand, why not help give young designers exposure by wearing their clothes, if it will give them a leg-up and boost your visual presence as well? On the other hand, when the pre- and post-show peacocking starts to get more attention than the shows themselves, then that clearly signals a change in how things are working. Is it dumbing down though? or is it just an evolution in how fashion is seen and consumed now?
Six years ago, no-one even considered any of this stuff. As a phenomenon, it simply didn’t exist yet. Instagram didn’t exist, Vine didn’t exist, Twitter was in its infancy and Anna Dello Russo was just another jobbing fashion editor. How would fashion have weathered the recessions were it not for fashion blogs, Fashion Week street style and the powerful role they played in opening up the fashion industry to the masses? More pertinent still; where will fashion, blogging and the street style strutters be in another six years time? I guess that’s for us to witness, while documenting the process…
Thanks for the last six years of support!
Image: Stefania Yarhi/Textstyles – NYT
