Old school beauty queen

I've always been fascinated with the past. This obsession is probably rooted in the idea that I'm never going to be a part of the 1920's, 30's, 40's, 50's or 60's so in my head they will always be enhanced, romanticised and only the brilliant parts dwelled upon. It's even seeped into my literature with a growing obsession with Richard Yates, a writer who's dower and supressed characters usually live in 1950's America downtrodden and beaten by the pressures and stereotypes of the era. Also by becoming interested in literature set in post depression years after the crash. I even glamorise this and think of how people would gather in downtown secret clubs to sway to Ella Fitzgerald or hustle and sing in their trinket town made of cardboard and scrap metal. This was a terrible time but there's something glamorous about a time that you were never part of.
This, obviously, boils down, mainly, to women and the fashion world of the time. In the 1920's the boyish frame was popular and drop waist straight dresses embelished with beads and sequins drapsed over the slender bodies of the wealthy women of the time. The 30's brought us gigantic flared pants and even more glamour in a time that money being spent on clothing was the last thing on the mind's of the people desperate for bread and a home.
50's of course brought us Dior couture at it's best rejoicing as the fabric rations were abolished and the huge swinging skirts and lady-like obsession struck the world.
All of these eras have something in common. They were all filled with women who looked the part. "I'm just nipping the shops it doesn't matter", was not something a lipstick lady of the 50's would ever mutter whilst still wearing her cleaning clothes.
I was talking with my mum about this just yesterday and she said that my nanna never left the house without pantyhoes and lipstick. This seems ludicrous of course to me, a child of the generation that wears pyjamas tucked into ugg boots to nip down to the post office or the mothers who never stop wearing jeans. This is not necessarily a personal boycott on comfort but I'm nostalgic for the glitz and glamous that, sadly, I feel is lacking from 2011's women.
I think it's disheartening that we don't take such pride, (I'll agree the strain on etiquette in the 1950's was a bit strenuous and this is not a bid for the return of this), in how we look.
With the return of the womanly form in a/w11 we saw Prada recreate some beautiful 60's tailoring and louis vuitton return filly to the curvaceous and sumptuous form that's very rarely celebrated nowadays. However nobody seemed to adopt this trend at all. Shearling jackets took off well, shearling boots followed, sixties casual shifts were bursting out of the seams of Topshop and river island. So where was the brilliance of the busom? The to-die-for-frame of the curvy housewife?
It's a shame we don't want to dress up. So next time you're deciding what to wear and you're having a confident day where you feel good and positive, show it in your clothes! Throw on something a bit glamorous and don't be afraid to be looked at. Because those looks are those of awe and wonder and a misplaced sense of 'I'm sure I've seen that somewhere before'.

a new woman

This is something i become every season as i decide which look i'm going to adopt or plural, because most of the time, of course, i'm in love with more than one collection/style/characer.
Last summer i wore maxi tee dresses with a leather gilet over strapped and buckled sandals and, when my feet could bear it, boots with a variety of patterned socks. I went super girly as well with layers of florals, chiffons and light and pretty colours. I liked the summer me however i feel that this summer grunge is coming back with a jumble sale beautiful twist.
This time round, whilst still remaining feminine, things are going a little edgier for summer fashion and I.
My attention was drawn to junya watanabe and kenzo and J.W Anderson layering and the boat feel was beautiful at watanabe. Combining this with the print inspirations from kenzo and i've got myself a look.
To coin a summary i suppose i'll be a nautical aztec traveller who hangs our with kurt cobain and rides on a boat sipping whisky and listening to the pixies. It's a good look in my mind and fingers crossed it'll be one that works out and doesn't turn out too thrift store mess.






This is JW Anderson and it's just divine. The colours surprised me as they seemed to range from good-enough-to-eat oranges and purples to dusky colours that looked washed in delicately. The pleats in the skirt gave it a stylised look rather than looking jumbled and the arrangement of everything was the key to it's success. AND THOSE BOOTS! They look as though they've been dusted with snowflakes or some kind of magic dust that grants people wishes. And the fringing on the others was something to die for. The metal, pagan looking circles reminiscent of dreamcatchers, and the sweeping chiffon all contributed to quite a witchy vibe but updated for summer as the sheer maxi's in-which is something i'll be making and trailing around in with the summer blossom skimming the edge. The witchy vibe is something i've been channeling in winter with layers of wool, chiffon, lace and velvet and i think it's something that can be well translated to summer with less layers and lighter ones. These colours really work layered on top of one another as each one shines through the fabric. Stunning.



This is wonderfully nautical junya watanabe who is one of my favourite designers anyway but with the relaxed stripes and the layered feel it's definitely something i'll be using ebay and charity shops to attempt to replicate. The stripes are used in different directions which creates a great sense of pattern and stops them becoming repetitive. I could go on about how much i love this but they speak for themselves. This woman is quite high society i image as though she fools everybody of how nice she is when actually she enjoys a shot of tequila and singing irish folk songs when the yaught parties get boring and she sails off in a pea green boat.


Kenzo's possibly my favourite. Layering is always hard to do in summer as it can quickly become hot if you employ the wrong fabric on top of another however they seemed to do it whilst making the pieces look fresh, light and a breeze to wear which could, of course, be part of the whole illusion of how the fabric is cut and put together as, after all, this is the genius of a designer. The patterns reminded me of the lawns of doll houses and how quaint a stately home's tapestry's may look like. The hint at a silk bralette under it all was perfect to tie it all together and there's the naughty streak to employ and exploit in it all, after all it's always the innocent ones.
It all looks so easy and soft and delightful to wear and i'm made up that there's somebody who created something that means i can be inspired and wear my favourite floral jumpsuit which is divinely soft and loose enough to layer.
So as you can see i'm excited about summer fashion but i don't want snow, presents, family times and real coal fires to end just yet so i'll be inspired subtly by these and employ perhaps an ahead-of-the-time winter version.

Fashion inspiration...

Can be found in the strangest of places.
It seems that from s/s09's collections largely inspired by ice cream we've taken a dive head first into a sweet shop with sweet clothing that's simply good enough to eat. From s/s to winter now and we got the darker, deeper taste of liquorice as Bertie Bassets and Laduree macaroons inspired Miu Miu and Balenciaga's collections. Yet again we seem to have a sweet inspiration for s/s11 as we've gone full circle to sacharin, E number filled neon sweets that your mother always told you to stay away from . The ones we crave due to their influence on our hyperactive tendencies. Neon was seen at Christopher Kane as the ladylike vibes were translated yet again and pencil skirts and matching jackets in neon lace graced the catwalks leaving all women envious of these painfully bright ensembles. It also featured as a strong streak in Meadham Kirchhoff as they channeled chiffon layering that really reminded me of Rodarte a/w10. The layered colours and the candy shades were reminiscent of a rebellious marie antoinette with lots of frills and grunge acid bright hair and the odd leg warmer here and there. As we know of these guys you have to be someone who braves the new styles and isn't afraid to think outside the box to don these beautiful garments and there was a definite sense of the ideal woman to wear these. She's slightly kitsch; the sort of woman with lots of flowers and strange collectors items in her home and somebody who was a bit naughty at school. The collar was also carried on and the colours in the hair matched the clothes beautifully. These neon pioneers really got me thinking about in your face combinations and beautiful ways of layers and clashing but in a working way and i'll later post my outfit that was inspired by these sweet tooth saints.
There was also a definite gothic vibe with all of that floaty fabric and grey and black mixed with the gaudy tones looked like modern day witches with their crimson lips and their washed out hair hues.
In a word these collections were a winner. And nobody's blaming you for getting a craving for Wonka's Nerds.

...

Her stomach was showing slightly and the moon's milky rays cast dancing shadows across it in the dulled cold of the room. She swore and smiled and shadows danced with the tendrels of her locks and the conversation gradually slowed to a muted bliss. He had a faint scent of cologne, sweat and cigarette smoke. The smells clung to his hair and she inhaled deeply she felt at home wrapped in the smell of affection and brute machoness.
They'd spent the entire summer hand in hand, having picnics and reading to each other in enhanced accents and serious tones. Their passion rang deeper than the words that spilled from the pages and I knew things would never be the same between us all once this thing between them had commenced. It was complicated and an ache that throbbed in the hearts and stomachs of all the teenagers that we ever encountered. We were all suddenly extremely aware of our superficiality ; or at least the mess of it that we seemed to have fallen into.

From Russia with love

I've recently, out of nowhere, become rather infatuated with russian inspired fashion. The fur hats, the layered ruffles and the blatant embrace of the beauty of when the frost bites has really got my fashion ticker going and i've been looking into ways in which i can translate this into my own wardrobe. Like the minnie mouse trend this was something that popped into my head which, when looking into the fashion archives, I realised wasn't my doing at all-it has been subconsciously planted by the fashion gods.

Kenzo for example was somebody that i went to for inspiration with their fur trim everywhere and their lengthy coats in florid detailing and bohemian prints. Yes, it's an old season and according to the fashion cliche something that is 'so last year' is strictly forbidden as fashion inspiration. However i find this ridiculous and still consult old issues of catwalk reports as though they are forgotten pages from the bible. Or i refer to my many-a-scrapbook which doesn't JUST focus on the season at hand.

I was swept away by the wonderful mixture of prints, colours, textures and fabrics that went with this trend and cannot wait to start mixing it up in my own wardrobe and trying it out for myself. Hello winter-for this i won't mind you being cold:

s/s

Once again the punk side of me will come out to play this spring as-surprise, surprise-the dripping-in-leather biker look is back. However, as predictable as it was, it's really surprised me and some of my favourite quirky micro trends of a/w have been injected in when nobody was looking.
Christopher Bailey has once again made me swoon with his wicked ways with fabric, tailoring and celebration of the female form and power. His leather clad girls really stole my interest and here's why:

it seems that miu miu's innovative and nostalgic use of bertie basset liquorice colours, (even then a dark take on s/s10's candy floss pastel pallet), have been transformed into small adornments in this series of stunning pieces. Whether it be gaudy colour combinations of yellow and green or the small mint green belts, (again translated from winter's skinny belt), Bailey has succeeded in, yet again, tantalising our fashion taste buds.

I'm more than happy that leopard print has also been carried on as i'm not quite prepared to stop donning my mad men inspired faux fur jacket in leopard print. I love how from season to season something that is theoretically exactly the same, (a print, a cut, a fabric etc), gets transformed into something new without a completely different meaning and feeling in the wearer. I particular like the idea of walking holding the shoes-this seems to speak to me a lot as a girl who doesn't often wear heels i'm rather inspired by the strength of a woman who's willing to admit maybe it's not all about the heel and perhaps this is also a clever pun about the comfort of monsieur Bailey's clothing.

I'd love to pretend it's something from this collection that i'll be saving up for but i think even if i saved for months i would not be able to afford a statement piece. Perhaps a pair of tights if i'm lucky?

NEWYORK

Okay so i've neglected my blog COMPLETELY at the moment and i've severely missed it. But it's all going to be okay in the end - at least it will by march when i will be attempting to save enough to buy ANYTHING for s/s11.

Okay so once again i'm back to Alexander Wang. I just can't get enough of the new york grunge that he so effortlessly emulates.
In an interview shortly after the show he said; "Notice anything? NO BLACK!" which is of course one's first reaction. Watching these powerful, pure, angelic women strut down the runway there's something not quite right but you can't put your finger on it. Then the white hits you. There's no sludge shades and there's certainly no black. Except for the odd flash of gold and grey there isn't a colour in sight. But why? When challenged with this very question he himself used the word purity. There's a beautiful juxtaposition between the angelic crispness of the white and the military feel to it. His women are always so powerful and there's such a blast of presence when those wang girls walk creating a deep lust for the garments in anybody watching. The crispness emphasises the sharp angles and the starch structure. Watch out for Wang because you will undoubtedly want to be one of his sexy angels.