Tuesday 22 December 2009

Holly Fulton for ASOS


Get the Scottish Designer of the Year / Swarovski Emerging Talent Award winner at this year's British Fashion Awards designs for a fraction of their soon to be costs at asos.com where Holly has designed a capsule collection.

Choose from dresses, skirts and neck pieces all ranging from £65 to £95, bargain.

Opening Ceremony boots on sale everywhere!



These v special Opening Ceremony boots are on sale across London so they must be in a shop near you too! Pick them up for as little as £205 in some shops, I have seen them in B Store and they look delish.

Anglomania x Lee Jeans


Wow, I just read on Catwalk Queen that Vivienne Westwood is teaming up with Lee Jeans for The Vivienne Westwood Anglomanie and Lee collection (catchy) to include skinnies and microshorts for the ladies as well as bondage and skinny jeans for the men. Colours will be dark indigo, metallic and printed designs, prices will range from £80 - £200 debuting in Westwood boutiques and selected retailers.

Cheryl Cole on the cover of Q Magazine


Q Magazine featuring Cheryl Cole hits the shops on 31 December 2009, it looks pretty epic. According to Q the shoot was inspired by Sin City whilst loads of people on twitter are saying she looks like Andrew WK.

The below image is the subscribers only issue, I think I prefer this one personally!

Monday 14 December 2009

Grey hair,,,the new black?


The brill Hanna Hanra has written a great piece in yesterday's Sunday Times Style about the new trend in hair colour - grey!

Check it out here

Sunday 6 December 2009

Paris, Paris


(photo found online)
I have been asked to write about my ideal weekend in Le Nouveau Paris based on the theme 'You, Me and Paris' or 'Toi, Moi et Paris' if we're being proper.

My boyfriend and I first went to Paris when we were both at University, he was studying in London whilst I was in Manchester so weekends were the only times we could see each other, it meant we spent a lot of money on trains and our weeks were filled with long phone calls and cheap nights out with our respective uni friends. We decided that Paris would be a perfect place to visit, after all it took the same amount of time on the train as it does to get from Manchester or London. We were both desperate to go to the cult fashion concept store Collette where I could stock up on international fashion magazines and ogle Marc Jacobs clothes that I couldn't dream of ever buying. We saw an exhibition in the Pompidou by artist Sophie Calle, one of the boyf's favourite artists and then made a super eight film of me under the Eiffel Tower which I hope, if we ever get married, to project on the wall.

However, that was then and this, is very much now. My perfect weekend in Paris would start with a stay in Mama Shelter, a hotel designed by Phillippe Starck ( I fell in love with him on the BBC show Design for Life) and a hotel I have kept my eye on since hearing about it a couple of years ago. Each room has an iMac television and Kiehl's toiletries. Mama Shelter is a stones throw from the music venue Fleche D'Or, which is where our friend's band played to (I wasn't there, but have seen a video) rapturous applause after a video my boyfriend made for them was played on French television the night before. So Fleche D'Or would be an obvious stop for some late night music and partying. Before then it would be a mission of ours to find the restaurant called Grizzli Cafe which had graffiti'd toilet doors and my boyfriend added to by carving SC (him) 4 HF (me) onto one of the doors - we're not usually taken to destruction!

(the Grizzli Cafe)

If we didn't make it to Fleche D'Or I would check out Paris Paris, another renowned music venue which I have heard a lot about or Le Regine where London's premium fashion pack clubnight Ponystep used to reside when the promoter Richard Mortimer was in Paris.

During the day I would head to the area around the Pompidou where there apparently are some of Paris' best vintage shops before heading to Collette again for old times sake. Then follow this with a wander down the Champs Elysees to see some of the great design houses flagship stores before heading to the Eiffel Tower, sampling some of Paris' fabulous truffles on the way - it would be sacriledge not to head to Laduree, Paris' famous patisserie which sells world famous macaroons and petit fours. You may remember they had a pop up store at Topshop around London Fashion Week in September and are fashion's favourite naughty treats.

It would be laden with shopping bags that we would make our way back to the Eurostar after our second trip to Paris, with even more memories under our belts (and lots of Laduree macaroons!)

Best weekend ever? It certainly would be.

New Look Press Day

I have been speaking to the lovely Daniel and Helen from the New Look online press office about the Idol range and the brand's upcoming collections. I was delighted to be invited to the New Look SS10 Press Day last Thursday, the atmosphere was really relaxed and the clothes were displayed in an easy to view way.

I am not a fashion journalist, so going to these press days can sometimes be intimidating but not this one, which I was grateful for!

So I took some terrible pictures on my iPhone, but Daniel assures me that the electronic press kit will be available soon so I can post some better images, however I did want to share some trends coming through for SS10, so here goes!

Idol
The clothes at Idol were, again, more rock and roll with lots of dark colours and embellishment so don't throw out your studs in Spring because they will be around for a while yet. There will be more Idol piccies posted in the different trends section, however, below is an idea of the direction their accessories and shoes are going in

Aren't these boots great? The highest bag is a homage to the Miu Miu studded pouch bag that is currently very popular (and v expensive!) So yeah, these are all on the list!

Maxi
There were a few maxi dresses on show but this was by far my favourite, it reminds me of a global hypercolour dress my sister had in the nineties - not sure I'd team it with that bolero but you get the drift


Printed Denim
By far my favourite piece from the whole day, these jeans are floral printed denim and perfect for Spring/Summer


Embellishment
From lace adorned denim to studded jeans, the collections were all heavily embellished with interesting design flourishes. I love the black dress from the Idol collection with the metal ring detail, it reminds me of Christopher Kane's MA collection - a definite must have.





Accessories
The accessories varied to match the collections, whilst there were studs and sequins on some bags, others featured more intricate leather work and lighter colours.



So there you have it, more pictures to follow when the electronic press kit comes through, thanks to Sam for her holding clothes up skills!

See by Chloe at La Garconne

Who doesn't love See by Chloe? Oh, don't answer that, I don't believe that anyone could dislike the brilliant collections.

It woud appear that faded denim is the name of the game here at La Garconne where they have recently added 11 new items including:

The Favourite Chloe Day Dress


Rolled Boyfriend Short


Chambray Jumpsuit


It's quite A.P.C for SBC, with fewer brights than previous collections, I really like the direction See By Chloe are going in. I'll settle for searching the vintage stores for some faded denim jumpsuits but If I had loads of money it would be great to go for the real thing.

Dogs In Vogue



Judith Watt launched her latest book 'Dogs In Vogue' in London last week - I cannot describe how much I love the idea behind this, dogs + fashion = my favourite things ever!

Anyway, lots of celebs turned up to the launch with their pooches (of course!) at James Purdey and Sons on Mount Street - which is near the Marc Jacobs shops in London's expensive Mayfair fact fans.

The book itself is a tribute to the dogs that have featured in Vogue over the years, Watt is a tutor at Central Saint Martins and chose to support Guide Dogs for the Blind to mark the launch of her book. She got in touch with friends and designers (most of her friends seem to be designers, luck) to create a limited range of t-shirts featuring the designer's favourite dogs, those involved include Christopher Kane, Erdem and Richard Nicoll.

You can buy the tees for £20 from John Lewis, all of them are white cotton and bias cut, all profits go to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.

In case you are interested, guests at the launch party were served mulled wine and winter pear juice, La Duree macaroons and petit fours, whilst their canine pals all left with a doggy goodie bag from pet food brand CESAR.

Here is Christopher Kane's t-shirt for the charity

So so brilliant!

AnOther LOVES


AnOther magazine have launched a really great new blog called AnOther Loves "a dynamic platform bursting with luxury product recommendations hand picked for you by AnOther's global network". They call it a 'daily edit' which the magazine love to share.

Such a good idea, but then what do you expect from one of the most creative magazine teams around. Recent posts include Rihanna wearing Dean Quinn, Bronze Bird Feet Candlesticks and the Maison Martin Margiela feather pen.

AnOther have also recently launched AnOther Reader which is a blog aggregator streaming all of the magazine's global network of contributor's favourite posts from their favourite blogs from the fashion, art, culture, design and everything else worlds. Once you are on Reader you can also share posts you like via Twitter and Facebook, nifty eh?

Stick it on your RSS feed and keep up to date with the best things on the web

Gaga on X Factor!

Punchbowl Blog have just posted the YouTube vid of Gaga's live performance on X Factor, so for any of you who got caught out by the earlier start time today check out Gaga's brill performance below...

Friday 4 December 2009

Topshop ss10

Topshop's newsletter featured two of their new looks for SS10, exciting!

They are Parisienne (with the bow headband) and Oo La La (with the bikini)

I love the black cardigan!

Thursday 3 December 2009

Wednesday 2 December 2009

Sunday 29 November 2009

Asos Extreme Looks




Asos have a new tab on their home page called 'Dare to Wear: Celebs Extreme Looks', well if anything on Asos is going to get my attention it's that provocative name. Of COURSE I want to channel Gaga, who doesn't?

Below are some of the best bits...


If I carried my laptop about...

Then this would be on my Chrimbo list...

Marc by Marc Jacobs laptop case, net-a-porter - £50


Topshop 'Dress Me Up' celebrity dress hire


(dress donated by Christopher Kane)

Who doesn't love Toppers, especially when they com up with great new ideas like the 'Dress Me Up' dress hire project with all proceeds going to Age Concern and Help The Aged. The Dress Me Up initiative offers customers at the Oxford Circus store the chance to hire very expensive dresses previously owned (and worn) by celebrities, you can hire the dress for two days for a measly £40, on returning the dress you can then put a bid in to buy the dress when they are auctioned.

Generally your Christmas party dress is a 'one wear' and unless you are a millionaire you come up with the age old dilemma of wondering whether to buy from the high street and turn out in the same dress as Julia in HR or you spend a lot on something more expensive that you never wear again.

You could be hiring Frieda Pinto's yellow Burberry Prorsom, Kate Moss' Lanvin or one of Nicola Robert's bespoke GIrls Aloud stage costumes. Now, I'm not sure whether I'd fit into to any of those being over a size 6 and all but what can you do?

Dresses donated by:

Freida Pinto – Burberry Prorsum
Kate Moss – Lanvin
Peaches Geldof – Dolce & Gabbana
Scarlett Johansson – Nanette Lepore
Julia Restoin Roitfeld – Roberto Cavalli
Dita Von Teese – Jayson Brundson
Nicola Roberts – Bespoke Girls Aloud stage costume
Sophie Dahl – Vintage
Naomi Campbell – Own label
Erin O’Connor – Zac Posen
Little Boots - Vintage
Olivia Palermo – Armani Exchange
Alison Goldfrapp – Bespoke stage costume
Whitney Port – Own label
Kimberley Stewart – Antik Batik
Donna Air – Ronit Zhilka
Jourdan Dunn - Hervé Léger
Katy England - TBC
Katie Grand – Marc Jacobs
Zandra Rhodes – Own label
Clements Ribeiro – Own label
Meadham Kirchoff – Own label
Danielle Scutt – Own label
Marios Schwab- Own label
Emma Cook – Own label
Richard Nicoll - Own label
Christopher Kane - Own label
Jonathan Saunders – Own label

Flat boots for those rainy days

I'm a bit in love with my brown ankle boots, they have a small heel and a gold buckle more than that they are perfect for this horrid weather.

I can't help noticing that there are tonnes of gorgeous flatty boots on the high street, so for anyone who is interested here's a few I have picked out whilst internet window shopping over the weekend:

Topshop - Ambrose boots, £65



Urban Outfitters - Lace Up Strappy Boot, £85


Vivienne Westwood Anglomania for Melissa Button Detail Ankle Boot, £75


See by Chloe trapped Laced Flat Ankle Boots, £390


The See by Chloe boots are really special but everytime I see them I can't help but think that by putting some studded cuffs around your Doc Martens you can achieve the same effect. I have got some of these cuffs from eBay.


Nifty, eh!

Wednesday 25 November 2009

the new IT dress?



This Pre Spring 2010 Acne dress is amazing, I cant help thinking we'll be seeing a lot of cool ladies rocking it soon.

Monday 23 November 2009

Bernstock Speirs launch online shop



Super cool Brick Lane hat shop Bernstock Speirs have had their hats placed atop the heads of likes of Will Young, Sharon Stone and Kirsten Dunst.

Designers Paul Bernstock and Thelma Speirs have collaborated with the likes of Peter Jensen, Emma Cook, Agnes B and Richard Nichol and now you can buy their hats by clicking here

True fact, I can access Paul Bernstock's wifi from my room - if only I had the password!

Beyonce in a New Look dress? Truefact



I love the Idol collection at New Look, so does Beyonce, that means were basically best friends right? Wonder why she didn't invite me to Mahiki with her where she rocked this look? You too can make like Bouncey and buy this dress for a measly £20, win!

There are some Idol things in the sale on the New Look website, including these two studded bags which are a steal at £20 each.

Saturday 21 November 2009

Majorelle Gardens - Marrakech

The boy and I have just come back from Marrakech where we managed to catch some rays and visit the Majorelle Gardens in the New Town owned by Yves Saint Laurent who restored the gardens after the death of artist Jacques Majorelle and donated them to the city of Mrrakech.

The gardens themselves are beautiful and feature an awful lot of Majorelle Blue, a colour copywritten by the artist. The gardens also house a memorial to the late YSL as well as an exhibition of YSL's Season's Greetings posters all of which feature the word 'Love' and the year they were created. I feel in love with these posters and have made it my life mission to own at least one.