Just a note

Unfortunately I am little run off my grey - pixie - booted feet at present, so it may be a week or two before I can post again. No worries though, I have already got an idea for that post and am busy covering my walls in inspirational magazine cut outs to keep my mind ticking over.

In the mean time, if anyone wants to send me an early Christmas gift, I would love these Christian Louboutin shoe boots, worn here my Naomi Cambell in the Vogue UK December edition. You all know how I have been going on and on about high heeled oxfords and shoe boots and just for the record I am obsessed with mod fashion. Just look. These are shoe boots and patent and monchrome and totally mod! I am in love!

This winter I'm gonna be a femme fatale

One of my favourite things about fashion is getting into character, adapting a look from an era and channelling it through your clothes, hair and make-up (but obviously keeping it a little modern in some way to avoid 'just walked off a film set syndrome'). For that reason I am in love with the whole 1940s trend this winter. Red lips, elaborate hair dos, floor length dresses, Dior - esque full skirts; heaven in my eyes. Although fashion in the 1940s largely reflected the turmoil of that decade, the lasting image of 40s fashion is that of the Hollywood sirens and the seductive glamour of Film Noir.

Those femme fatales of the silver screen, are some of the most loved throughout Hollywood history. Lauren Bacall, Veronica Lake, Ingrid Bergman, Katherine Hepburn to name a few, were the red lipped vixens who inspired this years autumn/winter collections. Gucci, Dior, Roberto Cavalli, Louis Vuitton and Valentino all had obvious 1940's elements and several collections had floor length satin gowns reminiscent of those worn in 40's cinema.

Uber - glamorous a/w 2007 pieces inspired by 1940's screen sirens (From top - Just Cavalli, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Dior, Gucci and Valentino)

To achieve the sultry glamour of 40's femme fatales -

Some fashionable looks of the 40s - Rita Hayworth in a dazzling floor length dress, shirt and belted skirt combination as worn by Ingrid Bergman, Lauren Bacall wears a trench and scarf for fashionable day wear and Lana Turner is the epitome of Hollywood excess and grown up glamour in the final two pictures.

Veronica lake, Rita Hayworth and Ava Gardner are still much loved Hollywood icons today

Of course in many ways 40's style is defined by it's iconic hair and make up rather then it's clothes, for indeed it is the signature hair and makeup of this era which is often how it is identified, for it can regularly get muddled between the 30's and 50's fashions.

Veronica Lake's peekaboo hairdo is obviously the most celebrated, as the a/w catwalks will tell us, as so many shows looked to her for inspiration. Hair was central to the 1940's look, elaborate 'dos finished off every look. Side partings and glossy waves smouldered on the silver screen. Of course make up was a major element too - matte red lipstick, well groomed brows, lashings of eyeliner and false lashes for extra seduction.

(I fully own up to going a bit heavy on the pictures for this post, but really there is no point talking about the femme fatales and their sinuous gowns when there are just so may jaw - dropping -ly fabulous pictures.)

Iconic - Veronica Lake

All that Glitters

I am not a hypocrite, I have always been rooting for her, despite that post from a while back. I know that reading about Kate Moss can get as tiresome as seeing images of Victoria in tacky outfits but regardless I was so glad to see that Kate has finally made a Topshop collection worth buying, that I could not resist posting about it. Anyone in the Great Britain/Ireland area will have seen practically every celebrity magazine with Kate's smiling face beaming from the cover. Yes, I did put smiling, beaming and Kate in the same sentence. It seems she has finally sorted herself out. Gone is the matted, tangled hair with roots showing, gone is the greasy, blotched skin and must significantly gone is that slimy, overrated slug - Pete Doherty. Enter the New Kate. New haircut - honey blonde choppy, 70's bob with a fringe, new rockstar boyfriend - Jamie Hince, guitarist with The Kills and a wardrobe that has never looked so cool or glamorous. Rejoice! Looks like Kate isn't going to give away her style icon title that easily. (Lets just forget that little perfume mishap, shall we?)

Last week, Kate celebrated the launch of her new Kate Moss at Topshop collection for the party season ahead. A star studded party ensued, and star studded it certainly was - Naomi Campbell, Lily Allen, Sophie Dahl, Elle Macpherson, Kelly Osbourne to name a few and even a performance from Grace Jones. I have not seen Kate looking as fabulous as she did for that party in a long while, utterly glamorous and radiant. Black satin catsuit from the new collection, vintage, beaded, 20's flapper - girl cape, dark, glittery eye makeup and most importantly the smile that was captured on all those magazine covers.

That same week saw Kate in another stunning outfit. Continuing the flapper theme in a beaded, tasseled dress at the Swarovski Fashion Rocks Gala in London, Kate really shows the rest of the glitterati how it's done on the red carpet.

Kate's first Topshop collection proved a bit of a disappointment. It was certainly wearable, but it lacked punch for there were only so many button down vests and one shoulder dresses, one could stomach. The autumn collection was definitely better, more original and there were a few stand out pieces. However, what irritated me about this collection, was that some pieces seemed entirely un - Moss. For example, that sweet candy pink, preppy knit vest, not exactly rock chick was it? The new collection has a 1970's disco queen, Studio 54 feel combined with all the beads, sparkle and vitality of the 1920's. Of course the rock 'n' roll theme continues, but this time it all about glamour, glitter and night time. As Topshop say about the collection - "Kate's new designs encapsulate luxurious after - dark glamour with a quintessential Kate twist."

Highlights include -

Glamorous and sophisticated, Kate Moss's Christmas collection certainly glitters