The Luella store is now open! It opened on Monday (cor they kept that quiet) and it’s looking rather good. In my five-minute recce I spied lots of dark wood (including reclaimed floorboards from the 17th century I’m told), painted carved horses heads, the obligatory freebie stickers and badges (um, I presume they’re free, I certainly nabbed a handful) and some gorgeous Luella-tastic clothes.
My favourites: pink cashmere knits, ‘Love, love, love’ T-shirts, bib-front shirts, metallic heart purses and – of course – handbags aplenty.
The shop is next to Jo Malone on Brook Street (off New Bond Street) but you really can’t miss it, it has a giant lit-up heart in the window.
On the whole I love fashion although I’m more interested in the psychology of fashion and the aesthetic beauty of clothes than simply what’s in and what’s out and what some overexposed celebrity is wearing. But it has to be said, sometimes I despair at what designers expect us to wear. I know I don’t have to wear it but if everyone else wears it I do have to look at it. So I hereby present my top 5 ‘”Euwww, I’m not wearing that” list.
Number one: Chloe’s orthopaedic clown shoes. Come on Paolo Melim Andersson you surely jest. This smacks of trying too hard and being ‘extra’ – ie shocking for the sake of it. Call me boring but I’m stubbornly sticking to my stack heeled boots.
Number two: Dolce & Gabbana’s metallic mini dresses Ow my eyes! These foil frocks are the epoitome of Dolce & Gabbana’s vulgar, trashy style. Tacky tacky tacky. That’s all.
Number three: Versace’s body-con dresses These were naff in the eighties and they’re naff now. There I’ve said it, so hate me.
Number two: Giles’ out-there knits Am I the only one who doesn’t *get* Giles? I can see the boy has talent but he seems so hamfisted with all his collections. He clearly has ideas but I don’t think he executes them with finesse, he seems too keen to shock. I am really hating these comedy cardigans. They seem to serve no purpose other than to offend me. And what the hell is that poor girl wearing on her feet?
Number one: Prada’s entire collection The plastic-y suits in vomit colours, the footless socks that flatter no-one and the teddy-fur outsize coats. Don’t even talk to me about the plastered-down hair! Emperor’s new clothes anyone?
August’s Allure magazine alerted me to a bizarre beauty phenomenon – Hairpetting. This is a new, um, sport? where the object of the game is to stroke a passerby’s hair without getting caught. WEIRD!
“Going back to the blogs, there’s a bunch of people who’ve said, “Oh, we liked the way he used to look, when he was grungy, and now he just looks like every Chelsea queen, blah blah blah,” and I just think, You know what, I’m just going to do what makes me happy. And I’m the same exact person, so if my haircut is too Chelsea for somebody, and if I’ve changed from funny awkward ’70s reading glasses to contact lenses, and if I’m tan now and in slightly better shape, well, it’s too bad. My behavior and my likes and dislikes are the same.”
Thanks to Maholofashion I read this fab interview with Marc Jacobs. I wasn’t sure about his geek-to-buff makeover but he explains it all in the interview. And also gives insight into his life. Guess what? He’s just like you and me, he has insecurities, he finds it hard to have balance in his life, he feels like an outsider (don’t we all?). Go Marc!
Read the interview here: http://www.out.com/detail.asp?id=22725
