Never again will I do appointments in heels!!!

You're just in luck. My dinner date (sadly female and platonic) is running late, so I have just enough time to tell you about my day!

Tamara and I are in the middle of prepping for another big Charlotte shoot (this time editorial shots). It's much better than the last one - we're calling in lots of big names (Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Westwood - yum yum yum) - and I've just seen the call sheet and apparently we should be done by 2pm - amazing!!!

This afternoon we did some appointments - Blow pr, Starworks (via a mooch around Selfridges) and Browns. I made the mistake of wearing heels. Not big heels, but heels enough. Never again. Tamara was wearing her gorgeous Prada degrade heels (which make me want to weep with envy whenever I see them) and flew up and down Oxford street like she was barefoot. Argh!


First stop was Blow pr. I LOVE their offices SOOOO much. Their office is like my dream house. Big open plan warehouse space scattered with A-MA-ZING weird wonderful creations from all their uber-cool cutting edge designers. I took a million pics there - will do a separate post about them later!




With time to kill Tamara and I went for a browse in Selfridges. We were just gossiping in the food court when Tamara's jaw dropped and her eyes became the size of saucers. Slowly I turned around to see Layla. Obviously I had to get a pic of a girl brave enough to go to Selfridges in knickers....laddered Henry Holland tights, a cartoon top, 2 Blue Peter badges, a massive diamond encrusted gun necklace and some serious face jewellery!! Despite the get-up (god I'm sounding old!) Layla was actually a bit of a shy flower. I did manage to conduct the following brief interview though...
Me: OMG, can I please get a picture of you for my blog?
Layla: Ummmm....yes....
Me: What's your name?
Layla: Layla
Me: Where are you from?
Layla: Kent, but originally Cyprus
Me: Where do you get your inspiration from?
Layla: Music, tv, art....


Spurred on by our Layla encounter Tamara and I headed over to Browns Focus. Argh, it's just heaven. I love Browns world, you forget you're in the centre of London madness surrounded by French exchange students and angry bus drivers! I went a bit mental and kept picking strange Layla-worthy cutlery jewellery, and Tamara had to remind me who we were styling and what for! Typical me!


Me post-appointments looking as tired as I feel!! Because I've either been sitting on a sofa writing, or running round styling I've fallen into the dreaded leggings-black-hole of doom in the last few weeks. Today I was feeling a little slutty though, so opted for this teensy H&M zip skirt, and big Miss Selfridge demin shirt to hide my haven'tbeentothegyminanage-tummy and ridiculously for the first time in ages a bit of a heel. Lesson learnt - next time I decide to make an effort I'll do it on a sofa day!

Heaven is a place on earth...

God, I really do have to stop using songs as blog titles....especially bad tragic '80's ones....but it's true, I really really have! Today I was honoured (and I don't say that lightly) to be invited to take a sneaky peak at the brand-spanking new, all singing, all dancing, couldn’t-begin-to-imagine-in-your-wildest-dreams, Louis Vuitton Maison on New Bond street. There are no words, so here are some pictures (which believe me don’t even begin to do any of it any justice)….phew


He’s a giraffe with gold studded hooves, wearing 4 Louis Vuitton scarfs, AND a monochrome Louis Vuitton harness. If you can think of anything more utterly fabulous in the world I’ll give up chocolate for eternity.


For those who hadn’t noticed (which won’t be anyone who’s seen me in the last month), I’m having a bit of a headscarf moment (sparked by my mental fringe). Anyway, I usually use scraps or old scarves, but that was before I knew this existed. I need it. Imagine. It would be mind-blowing. I’d smile all day, and do good deeds and everything....promise!


Introducing the bag bar, aka. the moving wall of luxury arm-candy, aka. the LV bag enthusiast’s wet dream…


Yes, it’s the most luxe picnic hamper you’ll ever see. I can’t imagine quite where or how you’d use it, but I want it nonetheless. Defo going on my wedding list (YES, I know I need the boy first….small inconvenience).


I love flat shoes (there, I said it). These are;
a. Louis Vuitton
b. Gold
c. With studs
d. And sequins
(In my best Greg Wallace off Masterchef voice) "Flats don’t get much better than this"…


SO amazing I’ve officially upgraded it from a bumbag, to an mmmmbag.


Katie Grand's installation. Amazing. I love this. I love her. This makes me want to walk around with a fricking bag ON MY HEAD - what a twat! Amazing!


And just so I don’t get accused of being a great big suck-up (although, I kinda am)…Me, in these, can you imagine? For humanities sake I steer clear of cycling shorts, and kinda think the rest of the world should follow suit. Good people at Louis Vuitton, two questions;
1. What were you thinking?
2. Why??

Better-late-than-never show reports!

After a month of fash-wan madness the shows are over, and as Fashion’s finest soak their sore feet and resume normal eating, I sat down with my lovely housemate Julia – Fashion Assistant of Harpers fame to discuss our 3 (and I was very strict on this) top shows from each city over a fish pie and Corrie…..after much deliberation here’s our final cut….

NEW YORK

3.1 Phillip Lim – Once again proving why Anna loves him, Phillip Lim’s exceedingly wearable collection was cute and sophisticated. The predominantly neutral collection of greys, caramels, mustard, black and white was lifted with some purple pieces. We heart.


Proenza Schouler –With their Hollywood frow (Olsens, Chloe Sevigny and Nicole Richie among others) you know that you’re going to be seeing a lot of this collection. I particularly loved the coloured fur collared coats and jackets, and naughty-school girl-esque pleated skirts.


Rodarte – Moments after the show Julia’s facebook status was ‘I want Rodarte to design my wedding dress’ – and we all know there’s no higher praise than that. There was therefore no way that the sisters weren’t making it onto the final list. Luckily for our friendship and the rest of the house I loved the collection too….I feel a Bride Wars type scenario coming on…..


LONDON

Burberry – When the fashion team returned to the office after the Burberry show all they were talking about was the series of sensational coats that hit the catwalk one after another until the whole audience was basically dribbling with desire. A Burberry coat has to be somewhere near the top of most peoples most stylish lists, and this is my fave from the collection. Christopher, if you’re reading this, I’ll have mine in a 12 please!


Louise Goldin – Space Military, eh? Not a look we’d necessarily go for in theory, but in practice (and when executed by Louise Goldin) it’s definitely something we’d like to have a go at in practice – I mean, how hot is this coat???

Christopher Kane – Leather, embroidery, flowers, lace – Kane, says Womens Institute – we say Victorian S&M den….either way we likey a lot!



MILAN

Dolce&Gabbana – The collection was all too beautiful, and it was almost impossible to decide on just one image. From negligee to tailoring, velvet to silk, polka dots to leopard – this was classic Dolce, and it worked for us. In the end I had to go for this image simply because of the headphones….can’t put into words how badly I want them!


Valentino – Precise and beautiful – from the white mini-dress opener, to the show-stopping red gown climax this was an expert collection - hopefully the first of many!


Moschino – Julia hates, I LOVE! Black and gold, Dallas meets Copacabana, ‘80’s bling-fest – Moschino pushed my buttons this season. Sadly the collection was a bit hit and miss - when it was good it was nail-on-the-head couldn’t be any better Moschino…and when it was bad it was La Senza bargain bucket bad. However for the cowboy hats/ sunnies combo alone they’re in my final cut.


PARIS

Balmain – Balmain ditched the whole rock chic studded thing, but still kept their edgy essence. The hard-wear has been replaced with elaborate embroidery and embellishment. This dress is so hot it burns….can just see Kate falling out a party in it…..jealous.


Chloe – Chic chic chicidy chic! Chloe always proves that you don’t need bodycon to be sexy (phew). This look really reminded me of Mary from The Uniform project who I snapped at LFW – in fact, it’s scarily similar, no?!


Hermes – Hermes came straight out of left field with an English gent/ Sherlock Holmes/ Penguin out of Batman vibe which was thrillingly unexpected. Not a look I could work (you can’t really work the whole androgynous thing with boobs)….I am seriously considering a bowler hat though!


McQueen – Lee McQueen’s final collection was shown as a salon show rather than on a catwalk. As usual his collection was in a league of its own; regal, dramatic - a fittingly beautiful send off.

No shows for the wicked!

Sadly there was no fashion fun for me today – duty called, and like a dog with a bone I went running. As I padded round the office barefoot in leggings and T (i.e. what I like to think of as my daytime pj’s) drinking copious amounts of anything caffeinated and stealing chocolate biccies off my friends desk I kept one eye on the catwalks through the power of tinternet. Here are my thoughts on LFW Day 4.



Osman
Now, this was a confused collection if ever I bumped into one. It started off with some rather nice, very wearable, Osman at his best black jersey dresses. A few looks in I was wondering whether he was going to pick up the baton from his SS10 collection which was all white, and do the all black thing this time. Sadly not though; all of a sudden the catwalk was awash with a strange dove grey and blue check. Then followed a bright coral, and shortly after a bright blue in the form of a strange pajama-esque set (and not in my leggings and T kind of way). There were also lots of loafers. Now, I don’t mind a loafer, but if we’re all gonna suffer trotting from one side of the city to the other, in the cold and rain in towering heels then I expect the models to do so too (and yes, I know I’m a big fat hypocrite because I chickened out and wore flats yesterday, but that’s not the point)! Somewhere in-between all of this there was a cute satin embellished dress, but it go lost somewhere in the sea of check and mohair. It was less of a collection, and more like a trip round H&M. If only he’d have stuck to the black.





Erdem
Erdem was undoubtedly the golden ticket today – it was the show everyone wanted to go to, and the one everyone was raving about (always the way)! When the Editors returned to the office there was talk of near tears and breathless beauty….it seemed he’d hit the fashion nail on the head. Eagerly I searched for the first pictures to appear on-line, and I can’t say I’m disappointed. Blown away would probably be a more accurate description. As I clicked through the images I could feel my heart rate rise – like ripping open presents on your birthday, one after another after another, the painfully perfect, neat, precise little dresses kept appearing as if by magic. If I were rich – I’d buy the whole collection – 30 stand-out show-stopping outfits for every occasion – weddings, garden parties, birthdays, engagements – everything would be covered! Perfection.

These boots were made for walking....just not on my feet

I don’t know what’s with me at the moment, but I only have eyes for boots right now, and though I do love my new Aldo’s I just can’t stop yearning for more; flat, platform, open toe, mesh – every I turn there are more boots begging me to buy them! Top of my lust-o-meter (my list of things which I love, but can’t afford or wear), scoring a stonking 9.5 are these beauties by Christopher Kane for Versus – aka. The boots which won’t love me back. Not only are they totally out of my price range at £900 (ouch!), but there’s also a waiting list (not that this really matters to me because of my first point, but thought it was worth mentioning)! The problem is I can’t move past them, and every time I go out to look for something to see me through the winter (and replace my rather battered and smelly Gap biker boots from last year which are currently soldiering on with the help of some Odour-Eaters – tres chic!), all I can think about is the perfect biker/ Chelsea combo, the soft soft shiny leather, and obviously that big old glistening rock! Nothing else even comes close. It’s like when you first fall in love all and can’t imagine ever feeling that way about anyone else again, ever. Sadly though my love costs a month and a half’s rent – rent which I can only just afford as it is. I’ve even tried justifying it at cost per wear. At £900, if I wear them every day from today all the way through to April (which let’s be honest is beyond unlikely), then they’ll still cost me £6 per wear, which isn’t really a bargain now is it?! So, it is with deep regret that I admit that this love is to remain unrequited. All I can hope now is that Toppers or ASOS feel the same as I do and create a boot ‘inspired’ by them in the next couple of weeks….I live in hope.