Last week I stumbled upon my New Favourite Shop. No, it’s not Shop at Maison Bertaux (although that also is just marvellous, with its Eley Kishimoto tees, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel stripy socks and APC everything, all with a side serving of pastries and coffee), but good old Waterstones in Piccadilly. This amazing building used to be the old Simpsons store (think quaint old-school department store that no one ever went to) but was revamped to become a five floor bookshop extravaganza.
On the top floor is the Fifth Floor Café which is café heaven, and happens to be adjacent to the fashion and photography book department. I bought Andy Warhol, The Day The Factory Died, a wee photo book of all his friends and associates arriving at his funeral – a veritable 80s-fest of Chanel bags and black Rayban Wayfarers. But I had to self-restrain from buying David Bailey’s NY JS DB 62 (a visual feast of photos of Jean Shrimpton in 1960s New York) and Richard Avedon’s portrait book In The American West as well.
There was also a nicely genteel bar adorned with framed posters taken from the book Cult Rock Posters by Roger Crimlis and Alwyn W Turner. The icing on the cake? A huge selection of Moleskine notebooks, diaries and travel guides (yes, I’m a stationery junkie) on the ground floor. What with all that and the magazine section I could practically spend an entire day there. Actually, I think I did.
Oh! Oh! I’ve been tagged by Overpriced Designer Man Bag (http://www.carryingcontraption.com/)! But it’s OK, it’s not one of those reeeaaaally looooong questionnaires so I’m gonna go for it.
Three Things That Everyone Thinks Are Gross, But I Think Are Cool 1) KFC. I know it’s not ‘real’ chicken, I know it’s pumped full of chemicals (or something) but I so don’t care. All I know is I constantly crave that secret ingredient and that tasty, crispy-crunchy skin.
2) Paying bills. I like the ritual of it all. I like things to balance and add up so when I pay bills it means everything’s tallied and harmonious and I can rest easy.
3) Ok not a thing but a person. I love Barbara Cartland, she of the pink chiffon frocks and too-blue eye shadow. In years to come, people will realise she was waaay ahead of her time.
Three Things That Everyone Thinks Are Normal, But I Think Are Gross 1) TV. There is so much crap on TV it really gets me down. I would much rather be on here finding stuff out and reading endless blogs about intelligent things like handbags, frocks and shoes.
2) Dinner parties. Or any large formal gathering where I don’t know people. I have ‘face-blindness’ (well I haven’t *actually* been diagnosed but I read an article about it once) so I’m constantly meeting people I’ve met before but can’t remember who they are or where I know them from. I also have a fear of striking up conversations with strangers so this tends to make matters worse.
3) Pubs. I don’t drink alcohol (much) and I don’t get thirsty. And I don’t like drunk people. And I don’t like SHOUTING ABOVE THE MUSIC.
I tag Mrs-Fashion (http://mrs-fashion.blogspot.com/), Pin Up Girl (http://styleaholic.blogspot.com/), Muze1990 (http://smellslikelonpardonis.blogspot.com/) and Lipstick Lady (http://smellslikelonpardonis.blogspot.com/).
You know how annoying it is when a trend goes mainstream and someone says, oh yeah, I’ve been wearing that for years’? Well, guess what? I’m one of those people. So I thought I’d do a post where I get it all out of my system.
Number one, the Chanel 2.55 bag I invested in my candy pink one years ago before the OC was even a blink in the producer’s eye. I wear mine with sweatshirts and second hand tees for a deliberate scruffy-posh effect and then what happens? That Mischa Barton comes along and steals my look right before my eyes. Grrr. Result? I look like a Mischa clone.
Number two, Converse These have been my wardrobe staple since about 1993 (uh oh, maybe I do need a change…) so how galling is it when every emo, chav and tory party leader decides to muscle in on it as well? Thankfully the move is going towards old skool £4.99-from-Woolies plimsolls now so I can reclaim Converse as my own.
Number three, aviators I’ve had my mirrored Cutler & Grosses for at least ten years and now, NOW, everyone’s wearing them –how DARE they! Luckily, they’re also wearing comedy oversized shades and coloured wayfarers so the aviators may be on the wane. Please let it be so.
Number four, pink jeans I bought my fuchsia Silas jeans three years ago to wear Matthew Williamson-style with turquoise and yellow. Now every nu-rave wannabe is on my patch so mine are staying firmly underwraps until the 90s all-black revival kicks in.
Number five, Edie Sedgewick/Andy Warhol Edie was my secret muse for years and like the snob I am I liked the fact others hadn’t heard of her. Now she’s everywhere. Stripy long sleeve tees and short hair are my thing ok, so back off people!
Er… do you think I’m being a bit childish? OK maybe I’m being a tad territorial but it does grate when you spend a lifetime nurturing your look and thinking you’ve nailed it and along comes a wave of Converse, pink jeans and stripy tops and suddenly the look that was “so you” has become mainstream and ugh…common! But hey ho, on with the show, I guess that’s the name of the fashion game, no? But before I go I just want to trademark the following three looks:
Chinos Chinos, khakis, utility pants, whatever you want to call them I’m on a quest to find some slim-but-slouchy ones as an alternative to jeans. Can I find any, even in Gap? Hell no. But when I do I’m making sure I snap up every last pair.
Sweater-over-the-shoulders There’s something a bit geeky about this euro-styling which is what I like about it. So I’m going to be hopping mad if I see even one under-30 Shoreditch hipster rocking this in the Hoxton hood this summer.
Judith Leiber/Kathrine Baumann minaudiere Oh my god, I have wanted one of these for absolutely years. They are so OTT and blingy that they’re just begging to disco-fy a scruffy jeans-and-tee outfit. Is it so wrong to want a Mickey Mouse minaudiere so badly?
Websites store cookies to enhance functionality and personalise your experience. You can manage your preferences, but blocking some cookies may impact site performance and services.
Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.
Name
Description
Duration
Cookie Preferences
This cookie is used to store the user's cookie consent preferences.
30 days
These cookies are needed for adding comments on this website.
Name
Description
Duration
comment_author
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_email
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
comment_author_url
Used to track the user across multiple sessions.
Session
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us understand how visitors use our website.
Google Analytics is a powerful tool that tracks and analyzes website traffic for informed marketing decisions.
Contains information related to marketing campaigns of the user. These are shared with Google AdWords / Google Ads when the Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked together.
90 days
__utma
ID used to identify users and sessions
2 years after last activity
__utmt
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests
10 minutes
__utmb
Used to distinguish new sessions and visits. This cookie is set when the GA.js javascript library is loaded and there is no existing __utmb cookie. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
30 minutes after last activity
__utmc
Used only with old Urchin versions of Google Analytics and not with GA.js. Was used to distinguish between new sessions and visits at the end of a session.
End of session (browser)
__utmz
Contains information about the traffic source or campaign that directed user to the website. The cookie is set when the GA.js javascript is loaded and updated when data is sent to the Google Anaytics server
6 months after last activity
__utmv
Contains custom information set by the web developer via the _setCustomVar method in Google Analytics. This cookie is updated every time new data is sent to the Google Analytics server.
2 years after last activity
__utmx
Used to determine whether a user is included in an A / B or Multivariate test.
18 months
_ga
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gali
Used by Google Analytics to determine which links on a page are being clicked
30 seconds
_ga_
ID used to identify users
2 years
_gid
ID used to identify users for 24 hours after last activity
24 hours
_gat
Used to monitor number of Google Analytics server requests when using Google Tag Manager
1 minute
Marketing cookies are used to follow visitors to websites. The intention is to show ads that are relevant and engaging to the individual user.
Pinterest Tag is a web analytics service that tracks and reports website traffic.
This cookie is set by X to identify and track the website visitor. Registers if a users is signed in the X platform and collects information about ad preferences.
2 years
personalization_id
Unique value with which users can be identified by X. Collected information is used to be personalize X services, including X trends, stories, ads and suggestions.
2 years
external_referer
Our Website uses X buttons to allow our visitors to follow our promotional X feeds, and sometimes embed feeds on our Website.
