As much as I always stop and drool whenever I pass a Smythson shop window, I’m kind of over shelling out silly money for address books, notepads and diaries. And yet the news of a collaboration between Smythson and Ed Ruscha fills me with intrigue and more than a little longing. What could be nicer than a notebook customised by the artist who created the above wordy works? The range of Art diaries (which also includes contributions from Rachel Whiteread, Gary Hume and John Baldessari) launches in October, comes in two sizes and all proceeds go to charities of the artists’ choice.
Isabel from Hipster Musings? – Keeps me young and is neck-and-neck with another girl in a blogging competition and needs your votes. Go here… now!:
Jen from Mahalo Fashion – the longest posts ever, how does she find the time!
The rules for passing on the award: 1) When received, you may post the premio to your blog. 2) Link to the blogger you received it from. 3) Give it to 7 blogs 4)… link to those 7 blogs 5)…and leave those seven bloggers a comment about receiving the brilliant premio.
I’ve been feeling a bit under the weather recently so decided to give myself a day off last Friday and accompany D on a business trip (read record shopping) to Brighton. I thought a day out out of the rat race complete with some bracing sea air and a tasty fish-shaped lunch might cheer me up. And blow me, cheer me up it did! I didn’t really make much of a plan which I think was a good thing. I started off in Kensington Gardens where I went to the only shop I’d heard of, Snoopers Paradise, a kind of run-down vintage market that was actually mostly full of dusty tat with the odd gem – just how I like it! I found a wee cluster of geek badges, plenty of old telephones and typewriters, a caseful of crucifixes and a boxful of zips. Now if I were a Susie Bubble or a Kingdom of Style Michelle or Marie I would have snapped them up to fashion into some sort of choker/cuff/headpiece arrangement, but being lazy old me I just took a photo of them but bought the badges. I also spied some Margiela-tastic mens boots about 6 sizes too big for me. No matter, I still enjoyed the gentle pace of Brighton browsing with no pressure to buy. Following my market once-over I parked myself in a nearby caff for an hour to scarf a buttered teacake, catch up on some work and read Vogue. Bliss. After some light deckchair action on the seafront, I met up with D for a fab lunch of squid followed by lemon sole followed by a delicious oh- go-on-then posh rice pudding at Due South (‘the best seaside restaurant in Britain’ – Observer Food Monthly). To walk off the lunch the exploring/shopping/ambling continued and I came away with a Helmut Newton autobiography for £6 which I know is gonna be a top read, plus a 1920s mirrored tray that is going to go above the wash-basin in our bathroom. All in all, the perfect end to an imperfect week.
There was once a time when fashion followed a strict order. The Shows were twice a year, the sales were in January and July and new season merchandise would hit in February and September. Oh how it’s all changed! These days there’s a whole new mini- season called pre-fall or pre-collection which bridges the gap betwixt summer and autumn and means we still have lovely new things to eye and buy, even while the sale rails are bowing under the weight of their wares. A knock-on effect of this is that magazines – needing to be ahead of the curve – preview the autumn collections as early as the July issues (which come out in June), with August (which comes out in July) usually publishing an entire supplement of runway pictures and additional editorial to satisfy our huge appetite for newness.
Which means that bloggers have to get there even faster! I’ve moaned before about the lack of real newness in collections reports. I hate reading about the ‘new’ boho or the ‘new’ nautical when really it’s the same hippie dresses and stripy jerseys we bought last year. So this time I’ve cherry-picked the trends that I think are properly new, as in a departure from what’s gone before.
Winter Florals One of my biggest bugbears is the proclamation of ‘summer florals!’ year in, year out. This time though, florals have carried through to winter in a darker guise and I really like it. I particularly like how you can reconfigure your existing summer floral frock/blouse/scarf by layering with darker tights and knits and boots – an easy way to work the trend while Using What You’ve Got. If you do want to buy new, go for calf length silk satin in a loose slouchy shape as seen at Derek Lam or a fitted shift as seen at Bill Blass. Fabric Mixes This one I love. A real indication that the seasons are merging, this says ‘keep things adaptable and non-committal’ e.g. layer sheer chiffons with leather and knits, try a sleeveless jacket over a mohair sweater or mix light and heavy fabrics in one garment Christopher Kane stylee – that way you’re prepared for all climate-change eventualities. Guipure Lace Prada’s infleuence on fashion is undeniable and all eyes are on classy black lace for autumn. Think outside the box – as well as dresses (which looked fresh layered over polonecks at Dolce & Gabbana), consider lace tights (seen at Emma Cook), ankle boots (at McQueen) and bags. Or why not all three together? The New Sexy Who knows how this one came about but by some massive zeitgeist stroke, the Italians we’ve always relied upon for in-ya-face sexiness have done a three-point turn and overnight instigated a new puritan aesthetic. Well, maybe that’s going a bit far but still, the slut-o-meter was turned down several notches with Roberto Cavalli showing prim party frocks and high-necked coats worthy of Madame Sarkozy while Dolce & Gabbana’s models were literally covered head to toe, from tight-fitting rollnecks to woolly tights via almost-frumpy long skirts and no-chance-of-a-fumble poodle-knit coats. As for Gucci, although there was still plenty of suggestion in Pat McGrath’s sultry smoky eye make-up and Luigi Murenu’s pefectly tossed centre-parted hair, the clothes were all about the layering and covering up – so you can be sexy without showing skin (reality TV wannabes, please take note).
Hero Hosiery To ram the ‘new sexy’ point home, just about every designer of note eschewed bare legs for some form of tights coverage or other. Rodarte showed cobwebby goth hose with their fairytale dresses, Alexander Wang and Vivienne Westwwod gave us DIY ripped tights, D & G provided tartan tights to go with their homage to HRH Balmoral headscarves-n-kilts and Missoni revisited sheer black tights for day (who thought we’d ever see that look come back?). Meanwhile, Louis Vuitton went to the logical conclusion of printing its monogram on sheer black tights, creating the season’s must-have accessory in one swift masterstroke. Watch this space for my forthcoming Q & A with Laura Godsal, the lady who created the hugely successful Mytights.com.
Pics: Style.com Top to bottom: Bill Blass Derek Lam Christopher Kane Christopher Kane Prada Dolce & Gabbana Emma Cook Alexander McQueen Gucci Gucci Gucci Chanel D & G Eley Kishimoto Missoni Sonia Rykiel Vivienne Westwood Louis Vuitton
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