Canadian Winter

 

Happy Holidays! I am in Canada this winter visiting family, doing some snowshoeing while wearing a Toque and Mukluks and sitting by the fire with hot chocolate. 

Tip: Sprinkle some chilli powder and cardamon powder into your cup for a spicy kick.

IMONIQ Jewelry

IMONIQ is a fabulous new line of jewelry from Canada. Designer Monique Anderson mixes a variety of chains with stones, printed silks and other materials. Her jewelry is beautifully tactile and unique, I can see the necklaces spicing up your favourite grey t-shirt on the weekend or wearing one to a party and everyone wanting to feel it.

From top Gillis $285, Veronica $425, Vivica $275. Buy them here.


photo: IMONIQ

Liberty and Apple-Gorgeous gifts!

Liberty launches a collection for your beloved apple gadgets such as the iphone and the ipad tomorrow. My eye is on the beautifully embossed black calf leather cover for the ipad, £90.
Then all I will need is the ipad...

photo: liberty

Ford in Vogue

Photographer Steven Meisel has captured the top secret spring Tom Ford collection for Vogue.com. This is the first time the public gets to view his comeback womanswear collection after his private show back in September.
What a way to build up the hype by NOT letting the media in!
Check out the pics here, they are right on trend with the 70's, but this time very Tom Ford glam. I love this shot of the one and only Mr. Ford and Karen Elson, especially that fantastic necklace.

photo: vogue.com

Get the look from Topshop-Khaki eyes and Bordeaux lips

Get the 70's Marc Jacobs look for Spring for cheap from Topshop!
Going into the makeup department at Topshop feels like being a kid in a candy store. There are so many colours to chose from and they are all on trend. For the people still looking for khaki vert nail polish, they have it!!
I love the khaki green eyeshadows and the deep red lips for all the upcoming holiday parties.
Eyeshadows "Dirty Martini" and "Tarnish" for £6.50 and gloss "Volt" for £7.50.

photo: top- style.com

When the leaves fall...wear RUST

Autumn is in full swing in London as the leaves have littered the streets turning them to rust. What better colour to wear right now than of course, rust.
Whistles have covered the colour this season with some soft knits and a graphic animal print.

photos: top- own, shoes from Topshop. bottom-Whistles.co.uk

Irina for Lanvin H&M-The countdown to Nov 23rd begins!

If you check out the blogs you will have seen this already a zillion times over. I had to join in as I am so excited. Thinking of taking a sicky on the 23rd to check this out.
Also, Irina looks fantastic in the lookbook, what a perfect choice. 



photos:f ashionologie

Block Mid Heels-Killer platforms be gone!

I may work in the footwear industry but when it comes to choosing my own shoes they need to be comfortable. Anyone who knows me, knows I am not very stable on high heels, ankle sprains are known to happen but I also don't want to walk around in flats all day. So as all fashion weeks are way over, the stars are shining through. Personally, I think that the block heel will be very strong for next spring and I am looking forward to them. What do you think?
From top: Chloe, Marni, Stella.

photos: style.com

Frieze Art Fair

I visited the Freize Art Fair this weekend, it is hosted on the grounds of Regent's Park in grand white tents to allow for natural light to better view the artwork. This fair hosts galleries from all over the world with their best contemporary pieces to lure in those wealthy art collectors.
The place was full of interesting and eccentric people from the artists themselves to the curators, art students, wealthy art collectors and people like me who just went to take a look. Other than the great people watching the art was amazing too.
I noticed there were a lot of artists creating textural pieces by beading, sewing and knitting. There was one very large piece that was simply a panel of knitted wool in mustard yellow. I'm not sure why, but I am a sucker for super modern art like a simple block of colour and I love the warmth of knitted objects so this was a perfect mix of the two for me.

I am no expert when it comes to art but above are some of my favourite pieces from the fair:

The top one is by an Austrian artist named Gabi Trinkaus. She cuts up glossy magazines and collages them into portraits. This piece was made up of what looks like makeup adverts into a final piece that sort of looks like a makeup advert. This is my favourite piece from the fair because to me this shows our obsession with beauty and our need to patch up our imperfections. After reading about the artist she is referencing the aesthetics of advertising and media.

The next one I liked because it is made of string made to look like paint splatters and the third one I like because it is simple and graphic and I like the use of colour. (Sorry, artists unknown)

The best accessories from SS11- FENDI

 I love the colour combination at Fendi for spring and I especially love the tinted half-moon sunglasses.

Cycle Fashion-An Oxymoron?

I was caught in the rain yet again on my cycle into work today, not surprising as it has been rainy in London for three weeks now, grrrr.
I keep getting soaked because I am still desperately trying to find some sort of cycle rain gear that isn't fluorescent yellow and hideous. I know that's harsh, but the more I look for a stylish rain coat suitable for the bike the more frustrated I get and the more determined I get in finding one.

Is cycle fashion an oxymoron? I believe it does exist but I just need to find it!

Yesterdays style.com post on a Japanese based French designer Julien David gave me hope. His inspiration is "an elegant biking girl" from Tokyo. I like how the clothes are sporty more like street wear instead of "I am going to race in the Tour de France" sporty look. I like the short cape for light rain and the bike print is pretty cute too. Hopefully Julien Davids' first collection of this "sportif chic" hits stores somewhere near me.

Speaking of stylish cycling, I was in Milan a couple weeks ago and the Italian woman ride their bikes in high heels and the men ride in suits with perfectly polished shoes. I was impressed by their elegance on a bicycle. What do these people do on a rainy day? Maybe the women only go out on clear days or wear their trench coats to work which I find works well on drizzly days. These women also don't wear helmets, they know that this will give them terrible helmet hair and will not go with their classy outfits. Don't get me started on the bike helmet, I have given up hope on finding a cute one. My grey skate style helmet will save me just fine, just need to sort out the rest.

Bobbin Bicycles in Islington is the best bike shop in London by far, they sell super cute vintage inspired bicycles, great wicker baskets and a couple tweed capes to go with their vintage look.
As London is going through a cycling revolution thanks to the Boris bike hire scheme, we need more shops like this for the frustrated fashionable cyclist.

photo and quote from style.com

Details at Celine

I think most of us have been waiting for the Celine show this season to see what Phoebe can tempt us with this Spring. Following the current white craze Phoebe shows us how it should be done, with beautiful knits, quilting, interesting cuts and playing with white on cream. The flowy looks of the long trousers and the capes give you a feeling of freedom perfect for Summer.
The accesories were also fresh and exciting and I am sure we will see her new envelope bag on all the fashion editors come April.

Blush in Black and White

I have weeks of catwalk shows to catch up on and a pile of magazines to look through, somehow September went by so quickly and soon it will be Christmas! Hopefully I will have looked through everything by then.

The first magazine that took my eye this month is the second edition of The Gentlewoman. It actually caught my first attention because of the luxurious paper it is printed on. There are not many magazines out there that play with the tactile experience of the magazine. With the growing numbers of online magazines, I feel this is a very important part of a printing a magazine.
Other than that, this is a classy magazine that focuses on smart, inspirational and successful woman with an avant garde sense of fashion photography but with clothing that women really want to wear.

The Blush feature in this issue is brilliant. First of all, it is in black and white, we are talking about peachy, bronzy, pink blush here. Doing this feature in B/W focuses on the areas of application contouring the cheeks instead of distracting the reader with the colouring of the blush. The make-up artistry here is beautiful.
I also really like to 70's styling of the model, I can just image her wearing wide leg trousers with clogs sitting on a stool for the photographer.

Pretty Simple-Proenza Schouler

The Proenza Schouler boys have done it again. They have created a collection that is pretty but cool at the same time. This season, the simple pointed pumps and knee skimming skirts make this collection more ladylike. I also really love the tousled hair on the models, it finishes off the looks with a bit of nonchalance.

Spotlight: A Detacher

The second I saw Mona Kowalska's collection and I knew this would be my personal favourite collection from New York. It is not experimental or even directional, but the colours, the silhouettes and the casualness of the looks are completely me. This collection is just very wearable.

Fresh Spring Whites

Bright whites are a clear trend on the New York catwalks this week.
Alexander Wang did it best by layering different textures with hints of metallic and tan. Minimalism was done best by Rachel Comey pairing simple pieces that you can wear all summer, I especially love the calf length skirts. Then there was a entire parade of whites at Doori mixed in with some off white.

 from top: Alexander Wang, Edun, Thakoon, Rachel Comey, Doori, Preen. photos: style.com

London's Fashion Night Out-2010...Champagne and Celebrities

Last night's Vogue Fashion Night Out in London was a blast!

Last year I went to check out the free champers in Carnaby street and ended up scoffing down free mini burgers and buying a Garance Dore illustrated t-shirt at the Gap. This year, my friend and I went where the luxury brands are, and it was worth it!

At Kurt Geiger, we walked in and get handed an extremely large glass of champagne and are told everything is 25% off. whoo hoo!

At Bally, we had the pleasure of viewing some Central Saint Martin student winning shoe designs for Bally  while sipping very nice champagne and watching some amazing ladies try on very expensive fur coats.

                           

Then we wander hazily down New Bond Street and see Giorgio Armani standing outside the Emporio Armani shop, guest list only party though so we walk further down to Bruton Street. As we walk into Matthew Williamson's shop, some live drumming starts up as the designer himself enters the room. Good sightings so far!  

                              

We turn around and walk past Stella McCartney's shop and all of a sudden we are thrust aside by some desperate paparazzi to get a shot of  Gwyneth Paltrow walking inside! I tried to get the shot, but was impossible in the madness...the madness:

                              

I did managed to get my hands on the new Chanel nail polish shades while in Selfridges so it was a good night! Any bids on the Khaki Vert?

Imagine, there are 13 cities (only cities that produce a Vogue magazine) all having a fashion party at once, don't you love the sound of that? This event is just going to get bigger and bigger.