I am a terrible blogger.

Aren't I?
It's been nearly a year; well for all intents and purposes it has been a year. That makes me pretty much the worst blogger ever.

Right, quick update then down to business: this year i graduated!
I also now work in fashion, in London town, which is a pretty glum place to be these days, what with winter, the recession and newspapers and magazines overrun with that most ghastly of terms: 'credit-crunch.'

But yesterday it snowed, and HOW. I woke up to a winter wonderland; sooty Holloway Road washed clean and bathed in a blanket of pristine white.
The buses were all suspended, tubes were down and HURRAH - no work.
I'm back at my desk today, but refreshed, rejuvenated and so ready to resume this blog.

So quick update; my style resolutions this year are:

a) to channel french chic,

b) to add a dash of English eccentricity, and

c) to invest in some pretty pastels to help me float into spring and out of this slump.

And with this in mind, behold my next 3 purchases:

1) Urban Outfitters silk blouse - in the most delectable lemon sherbet colour.




3) Lomo Diana camera in Dreamer - because lomo images are just amazing, and this camera is so beautiful it makes me want to lay down with it in a field of cupcakes.


4) Topshop Lolly heels - in a lovely blush pink.

I've also replenished my slew of American Apparel basics, but that's neither here nor there!
xxx

New Gen - Poltock & Walsh

If you're unfamiliar with British Fashion, New Gen might be an unfamiliar concept to you, so to clarify, New Gen is a British Fashion Council award scheme that recognises and supports new design talent. Since its inception in 1993, New Gen has helped establish many great British designers including Alexander McQueen, Matthew Williamson, Julien Macdonald, Boudicca, Sara Berman and more recently Giles and Jonathan Saunders.

London-based Poltock & Walsh were part of the New Gen line-up this season, and were possibly my favourite of the new talent at the recent London Fashion Week.
Fiamma Poltock (half English, half Italian) spent her childhood in the North of Italy, moving to Scotland at the age of nine. Katie Walsh (born in Canada, half Irish, half German) grew up in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to London in 2000.Since graduating from Kingston University in 2004, Katie Poltock and Fiamma Walsh first worked for Alexander McQueen and John Richmond respectively, gaining skills, knowledge and experience which they put to good use when they pooled their creative forces and formed Poltock & Walsh.

One of the highlights of the show was the amazing footwear; I've been yearning for a pair of the vertiginous feathery ankle-boots the models sported in the show, clothed in fine pheasant and quail feathers that nicely offset the tough silhouette of the shoe.
The clothes (and the designers) embodied fresh, edgy, youthful London, and Lula stylist Leith Clark (who, as readers of this blog will know, I love) has said of them, "I'm really excited about these girls. I love their enthusiasm."
Destined to become one of London's cult offerings, the collection had an easy elegance, with silky nudes, iridescent shades, plums and almost-blacks.Besides the striking feathered shoe boots (which each took six hours to make), I loved the the duo's use of folding and draping techniques on on silk shorts, dresses and skinny trousers.

I can't wait to see more of their strong, structured pieces next season. But until then, here's my picks of the best:

The Mighty Suze.

Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune wrote a great article that question whether the new seasons of clothes can ever be only self-referential, without harking back to retro styling; it really got me thinking about whether there can ever be fashion that isn't revivalist or doesn't references the past anymore.

She wrote:
"Is the future shackled to the past? Or can fashion move forward without any reference to previous styles or eras?
That is the fundamental question as four weeks of international collections closed with three powerful shows. Louis Vuitton sculpted a new silhouette, topped with a stylized hat, that emphasized a general smartening up - but also hinted at the bold fashion architecture of the 1980s."

Clearly sixties mod styling broke away from the mould entirely, as did fashions born out of the flower-child-hippie movement, and nineties pared-down, stripped back minimalism. But what about now? Now that shoulder pads, belted, empire-waist, simplicity, futurism, short, long, in-between, ruffled, colours, lace, texture, wool, nylon, neoprene, vinyl have all been done - now what?

For me personally the styles i keep cycling back all tend to originate (or were popular) in the late sixties: shorter skirt lengths, shifts, slightly flower-child, beatnik styling and Gallic or Parisian chic. If the styles I favour don't come out that period, then they still tend to have retro references - twenties flapper styling, the pulled-together forties... the eighties never really appealed to me at all, and then nineties actually feel too recent for me to talk about using those fashions as 'references'.

Anyone have an opinion on this? I'd be quite interested to know if I'm barking completely up the wrong tree.
x

Sonia Rykiel's Gallic wonderland

Sonia Rykiel is, as far as I'm concerned, the queen of quirky, beautiful, enduring chic. The SS08 show in particular has mood-elevating qualities that have until now been limited to large doses of pills/sugar/retail therapy (you pick). I know the fall collections are already out, but with the weather getting warmer these shows feel more... appropriate.

I often look at show pictures/footage and lust after items of clothing, I sometimes am particularly impressed by a collection, but I never look at images and just...smile. Rykiel sent out models in peachy chiffon and silk confections, who positively skipped down the runway, their lips a peachy tangerine and their pre-Raphaelite curls flowing behind them. They have never looked lovelier.

A strong start to the show, with full-skirted macs that chanelled ingenue-chic, which progressed into high waisted cotton skirts, dotty cancan dresses and matching bikinis and swinwear with the lustre of pearls. The glitterey eye shadow and hairbands provide an accessible way to channel Rykiel's vision. Delicious French eccentricity was displayed in all it's glory at the climax: diaphanous nightgowns accessorised with feather chubbies, softly curled hair and Peggy Guggenheim sunglasses.
Giddy, beautiful froth.

Wishlist

After the last couple of years where hemlines only seemed to get higher, and the general mood in fashion was playful and youthful, it feels a little like the mood has flipped on it's head with longer skirt lengths and all all-pervasive feeling of sobriety. Even the Sonia Rykiel show (for spring summer), while the prettiest I've seen in years, was charming and enchanting in a demure and beautiful way, rather than in-your-face sexy exuberance.

As a petite woman, I've embraced the higher hemline for it's ability to make my legs look longer and more lissome, and I feel a little apprehensive about the new skirt-length, worrying that it will swamp my wee frame. But after looking at the new season collections, I don't think the move is towards frumpy or dowdy, but more about best reflecting the times. The womanly silhouette is strong in these clothes, a strong endorsement of femininity. These are clothes that showcase the body, but not in the fetishistic way of body-con. Sophia Kokosalaki sent out dresses that still remained on the right side of flirty, short and swingy, but in more subdued metallics. You don't have to break out the nuns cassock just yet, it's just that the little black dress is looking fresh for the first time in years. (see the Balenciaga dresses below)

Designers are grappling with encompassing the prevailing mood (in both the economies and in fashion) in their collections. Gloomy economic prospects have always triggered sensible chic, and that is what we've seen this season. But is it just me or does austerity chic look very appealing this time around? If the economy's in a downswing, perhaps this isn't the best time to be investing in new clothes; what appeals to me right now is long and lean silhouettes, fitted black lace shifts, neat silk skirts and prim white blouses. It's the idea of sombre grandeur – harking back tot he time when women dressed up everyday, but twisting it so you don't actually spend all morning clipping yourself into suspenders.

I'm still waiting for Chanels' take on the new season, but I've drawn up a wishlist of what I love this season:

Andrew Gn:Sophia Kokosalaki:

I want: Sportmax Hair Bows in every colour.

I LOVE THESE BOWS.
I mean, i LOVE them.

I love them so much I just want to roll up in a little bundle and cry, because I cannot for the life of me locate a shop (online or otherwise) that sells them.
The misery. Sportmax has nailed this bow thing as far as I'm concerned. Winehouse's bows are too skinny-skiffle-rockabilly for my liking, Chanel's are too ingenue, and VV Roleaux just doesn't have anything in at the moment that catches my fancy ( a feat in itself- I could live at that haberdashery).
So when I saw these petal-soft, sumptuously coloured beauties at the Sportmax show I thought, 'sod the shitty salary, I want one of those', and away (online) I went, card in hand, determined to nab one for myself.

I saw some lucky ladies wearing them at London Fashion Week the week before- and they're as lovely in person as they appear on the runway. I now regret not running up to them and sitting on them til they told me where they'd bought them (or given me one, out of fright).

Which brings me to now: Sportmax, why hast thou forsaken me? And where can i buy your bows? It's no good putting something on the runway if you won't let us have it!

hmph.

I'm a Lover, not a fighter.

Australian fashion brand Lover, founded by Susien Chong and Nic Briand in 2001, inspires devotion in their fans. The muses that inspire Lover's strong and feminine collections – Patty Hearst for the 'Black Rose Army' (Spring/Summer 06/07); Rolling Stones groupies and biker babes for 'Altamont' (Winter 07) – probably strike a chord in fans of the label.

Their newly launched Spring/Summer line also includes the label's first foray into swimming cossies, and their collection (entitled Electric Ladyland) is inspired by that period in musical history, and the women who were a part of it: female punk poet pioneers, Marianne Faithfull, Patti Smith, The Slits, Poly Styrene and Chrissie Hynde.

Nic Briand had said in interviews of his other half that, "We always describe ourselves as the same record, different song," and it's this meld of different aesthetic sensibilities that dictates the label's blend of temptress and Lolita, siren and separatist. He goes on to say, "We both come from different backgrounds, but we share a similar sensibility and taste level. I like things heavier, Wu Tang Clan, comic books, Hendrix, and Susien is softer, Picnic at Hanging Rock, ballet, Roberta Flack."

They're clearly strongly influenced by the late '60s/early '70s, and their opposing individual influences add to the mix. The duo have produced a collection with a strong, independent presence of restrained whimsy that's sexy (but not overtly sexual) and is littered with irresistible pieces, from a pair of high-waisted denim shorts to a lovely western shirt. Have a look at their lovely understated, but marvelously flirty, swimwear below. Witty, pretty and with a definite narrative, this is a line to love and to fall in love with.

For more information about Lover, go to http://www.loverthelabel.com/

I heart Lula.

Lula's summer issue is out! Published in the UK by ex-Voguette Leith Clark (but it can be found at international magazine shops, or ordered online), this dreamy tome is chock-full of dreamy, color-soaked photography, whimsical fashion and minimal copy. It doesn't hurt either that the magazine has already featured all my favourite girls: Kirsten Dunst guest-edited Issue#5, Zooey Deschanel was featured in a fantastic shoot, Jenny Lewis was interviewed, Ellen Von Unwerth shot a story for them, Valentine Fillol-Cordier's been on the cover and Chloe Sevigney has made an appearance as well (page scan below).


Leith Clark appears almost to have tapped into my brain and put down on paper my exact aesthetic; she once said in an interview of her style, "Lolita is the wrong word, but I guess it's quite playful and eclectic. If I want to buy something, it's usually for some sort of nostalgic reason - because it reminds me of Alice in Wonderland or Little Orphan Annie. I think we are most true to our tastes when we are young and before anyone has told us what we should like."

Packed full of juicy, gorgeous, dreamy fashion editorials, and hardly any adverts, I can't wait to get my hand on this new issue. My only grievance is the spelling, OH the spelling! If something's going into print, you'd think a sub-editor somewhere might cast his/her eye across the text? That's the difference between a magazine edited by a stylist and one edited by a journalist. There's errors galore, something I'm ordinarily a stickler for, but I might let this one slide.
x