you can own the earth and still

The English weather is like a nursery rhyme. When it is good, it is very very good, but when it is bad, it is horrid. Four days ago I was delving into my summer wardrob, now I'm reaching for fur gilets?! I hate the rain, but if I can justify wearing peep toe shoe boots in the coldest of winter, a little bit of rain isnt going to stop me. These suede finish tie front peep toes remind me of something Pocahontas would have worn, had she chosen to wear heels. Perhaps not the most practical footwear for trying to catch your dinner - or painting with all the colours of the wind ;-) The gilet is purely for warmth, whilst the horse print shirt is an item I found in the 'men's section' of a vintage shop, a long time ago. Bearing in mind it just about fits me, gives a slightly worrying impression of the size of men a few decades ago. Fair enough if the shirt was a 'small,' I could comprehend being the same size as a 'small' man. However, the letter on the tag says...... 'L'.

Guns n roses

Finally took the oppertunity to venture into All Saints to find something to buy as my leaving present with the voucher. I adore the dirty gunmetal ring chosen (centre finger) - already had a handful of comments asking where I got the knuckle duster! Unintentionally it compliments my other favourite accessories, and works well with black - ideal considering its the easiest hue in my wardrobe. Happened upon the electra black wristband - somehwere in the closet - no idea where or what it is from.

I could have gone for an entirely noir/charcoal outfit, but the skies were blue when I left the house this morning, it seemed wrong not to wear an item that gave a nod to old mr sunshine and say thank you for popping out. Hence the rose bouquet print body con dress.

I can dream of ways to see you, I can close my eyes to dream

Summer dressing is tricky - if I think the key to cool is layering, and summer requires the less is more mentality, hiding beneath a multitude of layers is not an option. Instead, every summer I return to my fool proof collection of floral dresses. I've had the same summer wardrobe for the last four years. Floral dresses, cowboy boots/nude chunky sandals, cardigans and satchels. This summer im thinking of trying the maxi dress/skirt thing.

The floral dress pictured has been completely reworked, without any sewing or cutting. Initially a knee length dress with crew neckline and elasticated waist, the use of some safety pins and a Mimi Holiday bra, it was turned into a baby doll empire line dress; with plunging neckline and fish tail hem (ie. short front, longer back.) Criss cross back detailing gives the dress added quirk.

Leather wings

So it seems Kate Moss and I are on the same wavelength. But she beat me to a look and ended up in In Style wearing it! Ever since I started wearing the grey boyfriend jacket, I decided a nude/pale pink would be perfect for the summer season. I found the exact one I wanted on eBay, the deal was practically done and dusted - with mental notes made on all the outfits it would work with - when some cheeky geek outbid me at the last minute. That's why I never use eBay, I don't really understand it. Regardless, this oversize slouch nude biker jacket will do. It's a cross between a jacket and a shirt and exactly the right shade and weight for the fresh warmer weather that's decided to grace us with its presence.

Knit one, pearl one

Love this batwing big knit cardi. My mother had one from the 70s but I cant find it anywhere. Saw a girl wearing this and thought she must have thrifted it from a vintage/charity shop. You can imagine my delight when I found it in Topshop. I adore cardigans that look like they belong to your granny. Comfort with history (even if it is brand new!) I cant wait to wear it with denim cut offs (my addiction to contrasting volumes.) My only qualm is, I hate buying something that looks like it has been in your wardrobe forever. I suppose every staple has to be born at some point though. Wear with a fistful of silverwear and leather, so your granny cardi doesn't look 2000 and late.

Was still a nip in the air when I left in the morning, so added the fur stole which I have had for years, a freebie from a a supermarket fashion brand I used to do the PR for. Sadly, in between leaving the gym and arriving at work I managed to misplace it. Another one bites the dust :-( 

The big easy

Im sure I've mentioned this before, but I have a thing about contrasting shapes and the balancing out of volumes. By rule of thumb, a voluminous upper body, eg batwing baggy top or oversized tshirt, should be worn with a skinny bottom half ie. leggings, body con skirt and opaques, skinny trousers. Likewise, if the bottom is a maxi skirt, hareem pants, voluminous a- line mini, the top should be tight and snug. It's all about the balancing act.

Took the easy option and wore leggings with a huge floral top. And I mean huge. It's the easiest throw on piece, and requires no thought. It also has the perk of hiding everything and anything, particularly if you're having a 'fat' day. I could have smuggled 6 loaves of bread out of a bakery under that top - if I had wanted to. Negatives: if the wind blows, you run the risk of having a profile similar to humpty dumpty, but I hear he's making a come back in the style icon stakes ;-). Hair in a messy top knot, and the standard dousing of accessories. Done.

I also made the discovery of the pair of spandex shiny leggings at the back of my wardrobe this morning - the kind Sandy wore in the final scene of Grease when she became 'cool.' They scream touch me.

Layer cake

 

    

As much as I love the idea of minimal summer dressing, transitional weather has to be a layer addict's dream. Unpredictable weather, and at least a 17% chance of showers at any one time, in London a hood is pretty much a necessity. Especially, if like me, you'd rather fill your bag with fun stuff like dry hair shampoo and lipglosses that smell like bubblegum, rather than lugging around a brolly. 

Layering in my opinion is the key to taking a look and making it your own. It's the flash of a cuff under a long sleeve top, a hood spilling out over a boyfriend jacket, a shearling gilet over a leather biker. The same applies to accessories. Layer up and edit down until you are satisfied. Or, if you are like me, pile them on...... and leave the house. 

Transitional weather is also the perfect excuse for afternoon tea. When it's mid May and freezing outside, its the ideal oppertunity for a pot of English breakfast and a piece of cake. Don't mind if I do.

                       

Pour me a heavy dose of atmosphere

I've always thought Sunday's should be spent browsing the vintage treasure coves of Brick Lane and

Columbia Road flower market. This Sunday finally bit the bullet and head East bound for a test shoot for a handbag label. Columbia Road is a labarynth of houses with hobbit sized doorways only just wide enough to walk through - converted into vintage clothes and accessories shops, cup cake bakerys, art gallerys, shops selling one off hand crafted bits and bobs and of course the market itself. Stunning selections of flowers and burley market stall owners. 'Have you got a body guard love? Would you like one?' was just a sample of the banter being thrown around that afernoon. 

Being my second location shoot this week - i'm starting to get used to the difficulties shoots can encounter with the unpredictability and curiosity of the public. However, they did lend a helping hand, and provided props we could only have dreamt of shooting. One guy offered his beautifully obedient chubby little sausage dog (unfortunately we had to give it back) and a garden boutique let us shoot in their sardine tin sized back yard with vintage benches, plant pots and bird cages. Just before the daylight came to a close and the market had disappeared, an Italian couple let us shoot the models on their vintage scooter - all packed up with flowers they'd bought from the market. Sometimes the best shots are taken at the end of the day, just before twilight. 

The last shot is of the model's own shoes, I love.

Fish, Chips, Cup o Tea, Bad Food, Worse Weather, Mary F*cking Poppins... London.

This week, had the pleasure of assiting a men's high end fashion shoot on location in London, working alongside Tanja Martin (stylist mentioned in previous post). Tanja's vision was to take a well dressed man and place him amidst the tack of typical tourist attire - a combination of noisy European school children, over eager Americans and snap happy Japanese. Where better to head for the ultimate in tourist fashion faux pas than the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace, street performers and fair ground rides of South Bank, lions of Trafalgar Square and statue of Eros in Picadilly Circus. It was an exhausting but inspirational experience, and gave me an insight into the styling of luxury menswear.

(A cheeky shot I managed to take whilst on the shoot -

check out the kinky thigh high boots donned by the guard...)

Unfortunately the previous week's sunshine decided not to show up for the party, so my hasty warm weather choice of shirt dress and thin leather waterfall jacket was a big mistake. Resorted to borrowing a burgundy Lanvin cardigan from the samples, surprisingly it worked. Refusing to be caught out for the second day running, I layered up with hoodie, leather biker jacket, snakeskin leggings and a couple of vests.

Close your eyes, give me your hand

Darlin', do you feel my heart beating? Eternal Flame - Bangles no.1 classic.

Following the sad departure of my armlets (some lucky suspect in Zara swiped them from under my nose whilst I was busy sampling a sequin embellished biker jacket i'd found on SALE,) bangles are now my armour of choice. The more the merrier. It seems I can't get enough of the suckers. As my friend mentioned the other night whilst we dined in temperatures equivalent to dining al fresco in the middle of November, I looked like I had a bionc arm that could do some serious damage. Fashion with self defense benefits. Sweet.
Word of warning, not suitable for libraries, offices, quiet sections on the train or any other locations where noise is monitored. Tucking into a bag of Snack a Jacks on the train home from work one eve, I was subject to a fair few dirty looks. This was understandable considering there are approximately 20 rice cakes to a bag, so at least 40 journeys of the hand to and from bag to mouth. That's a lot of bangle jingle jangling. In the end, even I got sick of the racket, so took them off. But some grumpy so and so's are never satisfied and the dirty looks continued due to the crunching of my salt and vinegar afternoon tea. The removal of noisy bangles I can handle, but I refuse to resort to sucking rice cakes to avoid noise pollution. Needless to say, ol' misery guts was left to grin and bear the crunch.

In the buff

Everywhere you look there are articles popping up about Chanel's sell out nail hue Particuliere. A gorgeous minky taupe colour, classic and subtle and the polar opposite to the severe midnight ink and gothic rose tones that were the fashion of fingertips last winter. When looking for the perfect nude shoes or dress, I always fixate on this mushroomy colour, and Chanel have gone and thrust it into the limelight in the form of a nail laquer. As much as I loved the Jade of the SS10 Chanel catwalks, there is only so much mileage you can get out of a green nailpolish, and as serene as it is, there isn't an abundance of looks that work alongside 'mint green'. Chanel's Particuliere is one step closer to melting into any ensemble, a minky milky taupe paint, the kind of colour you'd get if you left milk and white chocolate buttons together to mingle in the sun.

But for even more wearability, tis the season to go nude. Not to be mistaken with the french manicure or a peachy tint, this colour is so inconspicuous it could almost be classed as a 'non' colour. Duo personality shade, it has the ability to be both delicately feminine whilst slightly creepy. The closer the colour to your skin tone, the better the nude hue - think those freaky mannequin hands, where fingers and nails blend into one - and you've pretty much got it.  

Finding the right shade is key. I absolutely adored the Essie nailpolish, Jazz that I spotted on my friend last week. However, when it came to trying it on, it made my hand look like it belonged in a morgue. So make sure it compliments your skin tone.

Nail laquer is fast becoming the quick fashion fix for the immediate wardrobe update, minus the guilty price tag. Whoever gets to come up with the quirky names for nailpolish must have a lot of fun - Tea with the Queen, Minky Muffs, Pillow Talk and Baby Breath are to name but a few that I have come across whilst writing this post. It must be like playing pick and mix with your favourite words. Possibly almost as fun as Ben and Jerry must have thinking up those creamed ice flavours, the ultimate in cool jobs.

Aviator jackets and the death of the cupcake

Apparently, as stated by Sunday Times Style last week, cupcakes are SO last season, and the stylish new kid on the block is the macaroon. If purchasing the below from Lola's Kitchen makes me unfashionable, then I reckon I can live with that.

However, sometimes I wish things didnt make it 'in fashion.' 'In fashion' then leads to accessible, which results in overexposure...and then 'no longer fashionable.' With macaroons, the very nature of their exclusivity is what makes them so special. To be fair, being born in Paris, they were always going to be chic. But the fact that you have to hunt them down to purchase the beautiful little treats from Laduree and Pierre Herme gives them that je ne sais quoi edge. As soon as they are announced 'on trend and in fashion' its just a downward spiral before they lose their 'untouchable' status. (Bear with me, this post does relate to fashion eventually.) Take the cupcake. Carrie featured eating a cupcake in an episode of Sex in the City. Soon after, England cottoned on to the US cupcake craze and Hummingbird Bakery and Lola's Kitchen were born. With their rainbow piped icing sprinkled with crystilised rose petals, freeze dried strawberries and glitter, they are every girls eyegasmic food. Sure enough, everyone jumped onto the band wagon, and all of a sudden you could get cupcakes from Tesco Express. And then the magic was gone.

I have yet to fulfil my dream of visiting every Laduree tea room around the world. Ok, so far I have only crossed Paris off the list, but since visiting Paris, I have made it my silent mission to visit the Laduree tea rooms in Tokyo, Monaco, London and Switzerland. However, if macaroons become available from your Sainsburys Local, this fairytale mission will have to be aborted.

My fashion link relates to the Burberry AW10 collection. I have been a long time lover of shearling, trying to find a brown distressed leather jacket with a shearling collar trim and cuffs.They are difficult to source and unless you can find an oversized vintage men's version, they come with a hefty price tag. Acne have pretty much my ideal, but at £750 a pop, its always been a no go. Then, this season, Burberry decides to take inspiration from the two World Wars and unleash the aviator jacket. With its HUGE oversize collar and sheepskin detailing, it is 100% spot on.

However, in the back of my mind all I can think is - you b*stards - now every high street and its mother will be racing to see who can get the trend onto the shop floor the fastest. The accessory that I have lusted after for years all of a sudden becomes everyone's A/W must have, before I even had a chance to own/wear it!