Thursday 23 December 2010

SO ...

but back to the lecture at hand. perfection is perfected so I'ma let 'em understand from a young G's perspective.

- Snoop Dogg and Dr D.R.E, Nuthin But A G Thang

kiss.

LOAF LOOKBOOK

You already know we love Lazy Oaf. Well hello AW10/11 lookbook. I'm sure there's a song that goes "I want it all. I want it right now"












PS - let the payday lunch hour spending spree begin.

kiss.

Tuesday 21 December 2010

FRED BUTLER @ SKETCHBOOK










Finally I have located my little black note book (note to self a spring clean is definitely in order) and can therefore bring you my reporting from Sketchbook at the Design Museum.

As anyone currently residing in the British Isles or trying to enter or leave our frozen shores will know getting in, out and around is proving to be somewhat problematic due to ice, snow and variations thereof. This leads me to the night at the Design Museum where my poor map reading skills and icy conditions meant I arrived ten minutes too late to catch the Richard Nichol talk. Damn you TFL journey planner.

However, I did catch everything else and to get this rolling we’ll start with the beautiful, colourful and amazing prop, accessories designer and stylist Fred Butler.

Now for those of you who haven't heard of Fred you will have seen her extraordinary out of world designs upon the head of Gaga in 'Telephone'. Ah I hear you mutter. Now you see where my love of her work stems. Not Gaga but more Fred’s use of colour, the shiny and the origami structured nature of her work makes me feel very happy indeed. Describing her favourite colour she replied “this” and held up the clip that she was wearing which was part kaleidoscope in its use of an ever changing spectrum of light thanks to its full construction from iridescent acetate – I was hooked. Butler herself says of her love of colours I “don’t just take standard things that are recognisable” adding that she “hopes when people see my work they don’t know how it is done” – and it is this sense of mystery in her work that really pulls in many of her loyal fans and customers, that intrigue and web of design genius that makes you wonder how, how and how.

And in this industry she is open about the need to be prepared to work your way up and often for free “you have to be willing to do your time” the designer told us “this is an ingrained industry of hierarchies” she added, something I’m sure everyone in the field can vouch for.

Scattered amongst the images from Fred Butler are my shoddy images of the designer herself on the night (result of taking notes while taking pictures and being scared to turn on flash – I am not of the breed of women who can multitask) which shows that her love of colour extends right through to her own personal style aesthetic. An artist true to her vision – impeccable.

To this I add that real style is about being who you are, knowing what you like and doing it your way. These are who I class as the true trailblazers and trend setters out there – sorry mass trending.

Of her own entry to fashion, Fred revealed that at first she “wanted to be a fashion designer but the [fashion design] course was too intense – so I ending up studying art direction in fashion” which has done nothing but further her precise artistic vision. Surprisingly in this new age of techno innovation she claims to be “oldskool” adding that she “doesn’t know how to use computer programmes” – a girl after my own heart.

The ideas process behind her work is another area she delved into explaining that her “ideas come from an inherit aesthetic” and that when she starts working on her designs she “has a clear idea of colours” in her mind, but I like to “teach myself how to work [with materials and colours] like taking bright colours and mixing them up with pastels and metals” she told us.

I don’t know why but her work reminds me of Rebecca’s World – which in my head is a very vivid memory from my primary school years at William Bellamy Junior School. If you would allow me to reminisce for a moment. The story was of a young girl who looked from a telescope and was transported to another planet. I remember my active and insalubrious mind picking up every reference to gems and sparkle and colour not illustrated in the pages of the book and creating real visions in my mind which have stuck with me far longer than any art lesson. Also getting a starring role of the emerald green baddie in the school play further cemented the affirmation that I was a child meant for colour.

Post Christmas I will have hopefully received gifts i.e. money from family which means I will be able to buy a Fred Butler original at the wonderful Kabiri.

Pre Christmas why not get some hit tape from ASOS, although with delivery times and all the snow lark I talked about earlier this may not arrive in time for the day. So why not pop down to the V&A and get yourself a Fred Butler paper accessories kit – which on every level beats a 1000 piece puzzle with old man Johnson from next door over the festive season.

So there we have the Fred Butler at Sketchbook Live at the Design Museum interview come article. Hope you enjoyed and in the short term make sure you keep up with her goings on at her blog which she “loves blogging” on - adding “it’s like a good book and you’re addicted and can’t put it down” something I would definitely affirm..

Now for the others ...

kiss.

Monday 20 December 2010

SO ...

"You're not the boss of me now ... and you're not so big"

- Malcolm in the Middle.

A strange source for one of our inspo quotes I agree but probably one of my favourite to be put up on Fried Eggs. For use next time THEY try it.

kiss.

DARK FETISHSM





Seeps into fashion in a way that makes you shiver but for all the right reasons. Pugh, McQueen and Braganza all being designers who embrace(d) the dark and fetish realms of society to deliver collections unlike any other.

Leader of the documenting and mood boarding of this is Twisted Lamb for all you dark fetishists or curious cats.

kiss.

MAISON MARGIELA ONLINE

My lunchtimes are usually spent in the heat of whichever building I am occuping which usually means one hour of internet surfing galore.

Martin Margiela is one website that brings retro to the www. - which considering the relative 'newness' of the internet takes some ingenuity for which Margiela is a master to the nth degree.

Love it.

Maison Martin Margiela


kiss.

TREAT ONESELF




Undoubtedly as we grow older Christmas can be one of the few times we allow ourselves a treat. I however, am of the thought that whenever you feel you deserve to treat yourself and can afford to you should – after all who else will.

Now that being said sales are both the perfect excuse and guilt easer that makes treating ourselves that much more easier. It cannot be missed that suddenly discovering that very thing you have been hungering for has been dramatically slashed in price sets off some sort of internal system which rings right through to actual purchase – this of course opposed to adding it to your online wish list where it sits unpurchased and all alone (that is unless your wish list is like mine in that it is very, very long – in which case the items on it are anything but lonely).

Take the Nicholas Kirkwood sample sale for instance. It was coming up to Christmas/end of year, just been paid, price dramatically slashed – the perfect treat me equation.

So as we draw the end of year and look back on where we have come since the beginning of the year ... go on treat yourself.

No matter the year you have had there is something you have done which you should be proud of sweetie and if you can’t think of it (trust me it’s there) use the fact that VAT is due to rise as the perfect excuse, sorry justification.

Holly Fulton for ASOS will be mine, especially as the weather continues to arrive in white flakes of frozen water. This dress can be nothing but the perfect winter accompaniment to cosy nights spent with the family, consuming too much grub and indulging in the return Dr (Who?) and then meeting the best friend to take the merry spirit to a festive party or two. Plus cue summer day lounging fantasies that are ripping through me right now this dress in its’ palette of powder blue makes those fantasies seem just that little bit closer. Also it is very a la the Marios Schwab SS11 collection that caused me so much joy during LFW and which I will be saving very hard for, so it too can bound off my wish list.

Holly is the nuts! I've already raved about my love of her in previous posts and being a Fashion East chic you know it's all on point. I'll do a more in depth Holly post when the delivery man arrives with ASOS box and maybe just maybe I'll do those outfit posts that other bloggers are so good at - although my unproportionate body shape and inability to take a decent picture will probably stop that plan.

Talking of which designer collabos are really taking steam. They’re honest, affordable and just as true to the designer as any of their designs. Notable in this cause are ASOS, Topshop and H&M who champion the art form of designer collabos but we must not forget not long ago it was H&M that had Madonna ‘designs’ in store (from Madge to Alber - wow ) so it seems an evolution has definitely occurred.

Either way I’m gonna stop rambling now and take the Holly Fulton from wish list to purchase.

kiss.

Friday 17 December 2010

LFW SCHEDULE


This morning I suffered a sudden onset of migraine. I blame it on being paid (not that bit) and logging onto the net to order my Proenza Schouler wallet come clutch and finding all colours where out of stock (that bit).

Damn.

You know how much I'm loving clutches right now.

Migraine averted via some Nurofen and a power nap in the toilet (yes it got that bad) I have decided that rather than dwell over the loss of the Proenza... I will treat myself to Meadham Kirchhoff at Topshop.

Hurrah.

It can not be lost on me that receiving an email from the BFC to highlight that the provisional schedule for LFW AW11 has been released might have had something to do with migraine vanishing. Hmm I wonder (check out the schedule here).

What didn't help was having to stumble across Millbank to the chemist and passing Burberry head offices looking like a crazed fool. Usually I stroll down Horseferry Road looking somewhat human and all that jazz and have polite conversation with the Burberry staff out having a quick smoking break.

Today whoever it was heads down and straight on.

Damn.

On Monday I will be sporting a brand new tee so ...

Hurrah.

kiss.

CARINE ROITFIELD







Alas. Elle est partie.

Merde.

My horror has put a halt to a half decent post as I succumb to the reality that my fantasy of strolling into Vogue Paris to work with her has now realised the fullest potential it will ever reach - that is me role playing my interactions with her on the 25 bus home.

Double merde.

The lean lines and the smokey eye. The flash of leg and the indecorous sexiness of leather. All of which she credits to her close friend Mr Tom Ford who indeed modelled Gucci on her ability to be sexy and classic yet present an element of rock that thus far most influential Vogue Editors do not (notably the Great Dame Wintour) manage to interpret. All that aside Vogue Paris was given a sharp and direct edge. The advertising and visual identity of the magazine lifted to a new platform and ultimately this bled back into French fashion from the past decade. Balenciaga. Chanel. Lanvin. That Carine factor cannot be lost in analysing the way these fashion extraordinaries have evolved within these early years of this millennium.

Here is the 411 from Vogue UK.

Images courtesy of Jak and Jil.

kiss.

Thursday 16 December 2010

SO ...

"Trying to be different is boring and ultimately the same as all the others - indeed therefore defeating one's aim to be different i.e. unique. In order to be different you must stop trying and just be who you are - since we are all unique individuals [each created entirely differently] it would appear by just being yourself surely one has achieved the actual aim - non?"

kiss.

SPRAYPAINT DREAMS

For every person in any field of passion there is a definitive moment that cements your love and defines that through whatever means necessary this is where your passions lie and where you will aim to enter, with all your hearts strength, to be.

This moment eclipses all other feelings that cease to matter, so that in a blink of an eye your view point changes and every sense in you feels as though you have found what it is you are meant for.

We can all find an example of that poignant moment in our lives where you understand what your talents are and more importantly where you can use those talents.

It realises a genius that you can understand, one that is relevant to the person you are or aspire to be and creates a cultural icon for others like you.

Be it Elvis. Martin Luther King. Jesus. Their followers who were alive during there lives will all have a personal and shared moment in which they understood exactly what was happening. A cultural hiatus in which all else stops, the heart beats just that little bit faster and something stirs deep within you.

Here is mine, experienced at age 11 ...


kiss.

Tuesday 14 December 2010

NEWGEN





The British Fashion Council (BFC) has announced the winners of NEWGEN Topshop sponsorship for the AW11 collections set to take place 18th-23rd Feb 2011.

And with that we kick off the countdown to LFW. Already? I hear you cry. But wait have you checked out the list of winners. Ah, now you understand the excitement.

I mean ... we have Fashion East hitting hard again with our faves Miss Gray and Co. Remember how much I loved her? Then we got some Chau to get stuck into, whose shoes are right top of my 'must get into my posession list' for 2011. That blade heel is a now and future classic. Got some stupidly ridicoulous skinny Fendi jeans I picked up from the charity shop for £2.99 that would love to meet them bad boys (YES the charity shops I frequent are that good).

Also on my list of shows I'm gearing to check out is Yang Du who may I add is a Sketchbook fave (look at the exclusive pictures they gave us from her '09 collection)... now that is proof enough that you guys are gonna' have to keep up with them over at their HQ.

Much excite in this corner of the world.

Gets to clicking around some of them links and get your pre (mature) fashion week game on.

kiss.

Monday 13 December 2010

PEEPERS

As I begin the frenzied excitement of reaching the next ton of peepers let me take this moment to wish some crazy, egg shaped love to all of my peepers from all around the globe and say hello to some new peepers from ...

BAHRAIN, ITALY, NEW ZEALAND, ROMANIA, CROATIA, INDIA AND TURKEY.


Welcome to my humble abode and I love you all.

kiss.

WISDOM

"Women were very important in Byzantium. They had a way of even dominating men. A man who was not handsome could not succeed,"

- wise words from Mr Lagerfield on the inspiration behind the Chanel Byzantine collectin.

kiss.

WAH!


Our WAH of the week isn't nails more a blank canvas for you to create your own piece of WAH nail art magic.

So allow all those returned Christmas presents and get yourself (sorry your friends, family and lovers) a gift voucher to get themselves all WAHed up for NY, trust me if I got a WAH nails voucher (s) I'd be more than made up (hint, hint la famile).

kiss.

VOGUE.COM IN MY CLUTCH

Vogue UK dot com has undergone a minor but noticeable change in it's appearance. At first I aligned the change with a one day push on the Bottega Veneta clutch bag sometime late last week but today I have noticed it is Dior that the twinning of colours, texture and background is related to. It's all very bloggy to me in the sense of that 'scroll down but background stays stationary thing' that blogs are very good at doing.

Anyway this leads me nicely into the subject of clutches. Ooh, I love a good clutch, from childhood my love was cemented by the carrying of my mothers cream leather and gold gilded clutch that signified an elegance, class and style that no other bag (nor my young years) could muster up. This love has returned more recently to me as a way to get over the giant bag syndrome that has haunted me the last few years. Give me a space and I'll fill it - often with useless and trivial items (endless satchets of ketchup lifted from Wetherspoons anyone?). With the clutch I am forced to edit and select my junk to a few key pieces.

In a direct weird moment of coincidence Susie recently posted about her return to the iddy biddy bag and cue another moment of feeling like I've walked into a secret party. Frankly, if it's good enough for Style Bubble it's got to me good enough for me. And with all this talk of this I'm gonna' be naughty and let you know that one of the projects I'm working on soon involves Susie herself - my dear how far we have come since being fired ay!

But I digress.

If you wanna get all 'fashiony' I guess this all ties in with the return of sophistication, glamour and minimalism that is awash with design houses and SS11 collections. But that all sounds all too 'fashiony' for someone who has a deep obsession with Fried Eggs and Britney Spears so I turn to my point earlier the smaller the bag the less junk in my trunk.

So far I have ...

crackberry, YSL Touche Eclat (which I didn't realise did it's magic on dark skin tones too - very pleasantly surprised), Oyster, uni and debit card, keys, baby Soap & Glory hand food and tiny Book of the New Testament & Psalms.

Sorted.

That aside there is a definitive list of clutches I'm swooning over right now. I guess as with 'It bags' there are a bevvy of 'It clutches' to which we have the Alexander McQueen, Lulu Guiness, Proenza and Bottega Veneta leading in the league of clutches.

But until I obtain employment enabling bank account to swell past £ ... (well £0 would be a good starting point) I will have to suffice with Primark studded envelope clutch and a perspex box clutch I've spotted in the ASOS sale.

kiss.

SNOW WHITE







They (the weather watchers aka the weathermen/women) claim the snow is due to make a come back this week so ahead of all the obligatory pictures of people's snowmen, snow covered cars blah, blah, blah, here are some actual pretty snow scenes courtesy of Lomography.

kiss.

SO ...

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"

kiss.

NICHOLAS KIRKWOOD








Jeesh it's been a pretty long minute since I last blogged - I feel so bad. But not so bad as I have a new pair of Nicholas Kirkwoods to ease the guilt. So Susie as usual gave us all the heads up on a bevvy of sample sales and although I didn't make it to Alexander McQueen and Christopher Kane - I got paid just in time to make the owning of this pair of Kirkwood's a reality and for that I am a very delighted woman.

I've even managed to overlook the fact that the weather is so cold I turn up with severe frost bite of the big toe every time I so much as head past the front door. I've even overlooked the fact that I have gained another heap of unwanted pounds. Bloody cosy hot meals. All this seems small fish compared to my new stunners.

You like them?

I've taken to looking at them every few hours and tucking them to bed alongside my pile of Bazaar's, Vogues, iDs, etc.

So as I begin to make up for lost blogging time take a chance to look around and see what sample sales might be out there (psst a little birdie tells me Saloni might be one to watch out for) ... see you there!

kiss.

Saturday 4 December 2010

DESIGN OVERTIME










As I have subtly dropped hints about for the last week or two a special event presented by Sketchbook magazine and hosted by the Design Museum hit the shores of the Thames, overlooking Tower Bridge, this Friday night.

And reporting the night after the night before is yours truly. The event itself was just the perfect mix of insider knowledge, joyous workshops and social gathering. Alongside inventive Sketchbook staff were the designers themselves and tucked into this mix where the illustration gurus, add a delightful handful of art and fashion students and enthusiasts and sandwich between the ever helpful Design museum staff and you have a night to remember.

The night featured what I describe as magazine brought to life with live interviews with Richard Nicoll, Fred Butler, Bora Asku and Amy Moleyaux. Simply smashing.

And with a twist that brought back my college days there were live workshops to help us all relearn the fundamentals of fashion sketching and collage with Gabriela Mot, an illustration workshop with Tomomi McMaster, fast paced drawing and a celebration of the energy of live fashion illustration with Stephen Stone and a live performance by installation/performance artist Jan Goodkin.

I got to meet part of the Sketchbook team and had our Gemma on hand to give me the inside guide to who's who - seriously I can't wait to get to work as a Sketchbooker.

In other parts of the night I took the chance to peruse through the Drawing Fashion (hosted by Grazia magazine) exhibition on the 1st floor and took great interest in the way fashion illustration has developed over the decades. A magical journey through its history and definitely a must see for any illustration or fashion enthusiast.

I will post my reports from each of the designers who spoke on the night during the week as I don't want to bombard you with all the delights in one go. But for now here are some pictures from various points during the night (excluding the interviews) to tickle your fancy if you will.

kiss.