I miss

The goth phase of 2009. The new chic, ladylike goth that was introduced to us by the likes of Giles, Rodarte and Givenchy. With Givenchy we got leather, chains, skin-tight cuts and slim bodies and with Rodarte we got cobweb knits and loose punk chic. I miss it. I don't miss the shops being full of goth rip offs and seeing chavvy girls wearing high waisted leather shorts, leather look leggings and a cobweb knit jumper. But i do miss it being really accessible and available and this is a, most likely unheard, bid for that to return please.
The chains and sharp points of dominic jones jewellery are something I've been lusting after for a while now but a reluctant mother and a dwindling amount of money of course has gotten in the way of this. So I'm going to perhaps pluck up the courage this winter to wear my new rocks again. Paired with the right things i think i can make them look more Alice Dellal than Marilyn Manson. In the mean time here's some gothspiration:

It's a man's, man's, man's world.

So it's here again. Time to don ourselves in layers and huddle up around dry heat and convince ourselves soon enough the winter will be worth it for the snow, christmas and hot chocolate. Well I personally cannot wait. Autumn/Winter has always been my favourite season as it seems to be less repetitive and obviously, being the coldaphobes us British are, lots and lots of fabric, layers and detail.
Well this time around there's something I'm especially excited about. When I imagine androgyny usually the suit springs to mind. From the power suits of the 80's, inspired and enhanced by David Byrne's marvellous specimen in 'Stop Making Sense', to skin head girls in brogues and skinny ties. Well it's back. And it's very, very sexy.
With Chanel we had a post-apocolyptic view of the woman as he had his models burst through walls of dry ice and stomp across a wooden boardwalk, all the while clad is something a little detached from the norm for Lagerfield. There was raw edges, shades of damaged stone in charcoal and black. The only colours to be seen, in fact, were flashes of red and green which only added to the earthiness as images of lava and moss sprung to mind. As though the clothes were beautifully ebbing away upon the models. This was, I'll say again, very unusual for Chanel as usually the priority for the look is, whilst maintaining genius, detail and difference everytime, beauty. Don't get me wrong, these clothes were absolutely stunning, but they certainly weren't ladylike. There seemed to be that main component missing that made these clothes appropriate for the borgeouis to wear when sipping champagne and nibbling on caviar. This is a fantastic move Karl. Because, whilst these may, to some untrained eyes, seem to be almost unrecognisable as Chanel, we know just what he was thinking. This is a different kind of woman. This is a sexbomb. She's tough and has men falling at her feet as she strides around in loose tweeds and brogues. Hair loose and carefree she tosses it around as all eyes are on her every move. Thank you Karl, you've given us a really strong woman. Also it was no coincidence that this collection was shown on Independant Woman's Day. This is exactly the woman he's marketing for. So with the tweed, the bikers boots, brogues, loose suit cuts and layering of different lengths we're introduced to the woman of winter. The andogynous girl. Simply dripping in sex appeal and strength.
But Karl wasn't the only one with this idea. And harking back to the 1980's, Dolce and Gabbana gave us a taste of the dapper woman also. With drop-ctoch pinstripe pants, braces, stiff collars and trilbies, not to mention our favourite brogues decorated with their signature playfullness in the form of bright, block colours and polka dots, we were shown, again, what we would blossom into come autumn. As much as Karl's collection was very different, there were still tell-tale Chanel signs, the rough edges to the jackets and even the shape of them. All was the same with Domenico and Stefano. Their signature stars were dotted about and there was definitely an air of fun about the collection which one seems to get every time this beautiful pair get their thinking caps together. EVERYTHING WAS 80'S. Apologies. I'm very excited. With neon brogues, trilbies and a soundtrack that boasted Bowie, we know we're in for a mod treat and we know we are about to look amazing this autumn/winter. So dust of your velvet blazers and iron your suit pants because ladies...we're powerful this winter.

Submarine

Submarine by Joe Dunthorne isn't a recent publication. This is a fine example of when a film does extremely well, becomes a cult classic, and turns all of the trendy theatre goers onto a book that, otherwise, may have remained a best kept secret by those of the literary world that discovered it on their own. Of course the point of this isn't to make you feel bad about finding a book through publicity. Some of us simply don't have the time or the patience to seek out books in the same way we do music, or movies. On spotify we have related artists. If only this was available in the literary world.
However, you're in luck now that the film has brought Dunthorne some recognition because, not only is it a book likened to that of 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Chbosky and 'Catcher in the Rye', it's a beautiful piece in its own right.
Set in the dreary landscape of wales it tells the very familiar story of a coming of age boy tackling the every day obstacles of trying to fit in, the perils of high school and the everyday downright horniess of a teenage boy. The book, like 'Catcher in the Rye', manages to shape these insecurities through the beautiful medium of first person narrative from Oli, the protagonist, who much like Holden, manages to be blunt and hilarious, sweeping us away with the charm of his story.
He's technically a man on a mission, attempting to lose his virginity before his sixteenth birthday. Now to female readers this may be alienating, or at least that's the thought that would spring to mind. However in all honesty which boy isn't thinking this as their sixteenth looms? Which teenager doesn't feel the burden of that pressure? Which makes the book, to everybody it would seem, entirely relatable. To adults they've already been through it, teenage girls are chasing boys just like Oli and teenage boys are just like him. All of us teens are going through everything Oli describes. Except he's recounting it with a better vocabulary.
Over all the book's stunning and well worth a read. A review of the film will be up here soon because I'm yet to see it.