She's in Vogue

zest

2012-02-12T17:26:00.000Z

Creatures of the Wind s/s '12, Jumper - Topshop, skirt, boots, - APC, Canvas tote - Idiopix @ Etsy

It's after five in the evening and it isn't dark. I think it's safe to say that spring has sprung.

Ideally the above outfit is what I would be wearing today. I love the mish-mash of patterns and colours at Creatures of the Wind, and particularly that fresh, zingy lime paired with the somewhat fusty plaid. That's the inspiration I kinda want to channel, and there is something a teeny bit 70s about my chosen pieces together.

Key Notes: Lime. Pattern - clash. And I need new boots.

she's a lady

2012-02-11T14:33:00.001Z

Audrey in BatT, Hole CD cover, Queen Elizabeth, Meadham Kirchhoff s/s 2011, Courtney Love, Tavi

Following in Tavi's fine footsteps I wore a tiara out the other night. It was amusing to say the least, and I'd do it again. Exaggerating and mocking the prescribed codes of femininity, duh. Cindy Sherman! Judith Butler! Meadham Kirchhoff! (and it's just a little bit fun and silly too.)

Yours Truly and my one of my besties, Orla.

jean by david

2012-02-07T20:39:00.002Z

Literally sitting on the couch watching the rather contrived made - for - TV BBC4 movie, 'We Take Manhattan' with my mother. The movie concerns the then relatively unknown David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton's trip to Manhattan for a Vogue shoot in 1962. Curiosity got the better of me and I had to find the original photoshoot. Turns out I was quite familiar with some of the shots, as I reckon most people would be too, but I had never before seen the above two images which are my favourite. These two, especially the first, could fit well and truly into any editorial in 2012. Several of the shots in the shoot blur the boundary between fashion and street photography, possessing something of the instantaneous and vital nature of the latter. They say style is timeless. Proven here, I think.

had I the heavens' embroidered cloths

2012-02-04T23:42:00.000Z

It's a little odd. I have had this coat with several years...I think I got it way back in December 2005. That's a long time ago. I've always really liked it. It's pink - brown herringbone tweed with a soft, mousy fur trim. But, I was 15 when I got this coat, and I never felt quite at home in it; more so like I was dressing - up in my Mother's wears. It matched my Christmas clothes that year. I was channelling Russian princesses and Dr Zhivago in ashes - of - roses tulle and tweeds and a string of salmon pearls and camel wedge boots. I recently resurrected it. And somehow, I finally feel like I am wearing the coat and not the other way around as before. I feel rather very much at home in it now, and weirdly, considering my past relationship with it, as though it's very much me. It's the kind of coat that one had to grow into, I guess. Now, I call it my Maud Gonne coat. I am not even sure why, just that it reminds me of something from that era, and you know, I'm an old romantic like that.

Coat - Mango, Jumper - Sparkle and Fade @UO, Bag - Zara, Jeans - Bershka, Scarf - Topshop

further ramblings on personal style transitions

2012-01-30T19:41:00.002Z

Self - Portrait in Mirror #1. eh.

Two years ago I would never have posted a picture of myself wearing a jumper and a pair of jeans. Even a year ago, the idea of such a mundane outfit being given centre stage would have been inconceivable. Just goes to show that things really have changed. On New Year’s Eve I posted about the type of clothes I am after now and posting the below image is, I guess, a mark of that. I felt comfortable and warm and weather appropriate today, and I am happy to admit that.

Two years ago I wore frilled skirts and feathers in my hair, obsessed with wanting to stand out. I love people who stand out due to what they wear. I admire it so much – it takes guts. I’ve had my fair share of WTF looks passed at me over the years, and most of the time I have taken it on the chin. But I am not the same person as I was two years ago (although I have always, always advocated the need of a wonderful warm woolly), and where back then I felt comfortable in more out there ensembles, now I feel more comfortable, more like myself, in simple and well chosen items. I also want to ‘get the wear’ out of all my clothes – items that can be dressed up, dressed down and made look all shiny and new with a quick change of tights and an unusual necklace.

Without being all soppy about it, I want my clothes to express a part of me – something about the kind of person I am (let’s not try and figure out what a thick wool jumper says about me though, eh? Er...lazy, not too bothered probably...I would prefer practical and eh... fuss free... ). I dress according to whims and pretty much always have done. I have noticed though a bit more consistency... and who knows, maybe at long last I am beginning to find some consistency in my style. Regardless, I think I’ve finally learnt that I don’t need to apologise for not being ‘out there’ enough or not taking enough risks (as in sense I’ve been there; I’ve worn all the crinolines, red lipstick, zany tights, buttoned - up shirts, winklepickers, headbands, berets, midi lengths, maxi lengths, furs, feathers, sequins etc etc , and it goes without saying that I still love and ardently defend and admire that sort of 'fantastic fashion', just right now it's not necessarily for me). I am beginning to understand however, that being true to yourself is the only thing necessary in order to dress well and whether that means wool jumpers one day or flouncy layers the next, then so bit it.

Jumper - on sale in Zara, is there anything better than admiring something full - priced and then it goes on sale for a fraction of the original price. Happy days.

nothing seems to bring you down

2012-01-29T19:54:00.007Z

Paul Smith, Great outdoorsy coat via Turned Out, Eddie Borgo necklace at Netaporter, Debbie Harry stills - sunglasses, rust shirt, gold bracelet, Green beanie hat, acid wash sweater, both Topshop.

Note. I want to apologise for the lack of text in recent months. I guess I haven't felt as compelled to write here as much as I used to and find images more beneficial for myself just in terms of inspiration and reminding me of things.

helen

2012-01-24T00:12:00.000Z

Abstract Expressionist, Helen Frankenthaler in her studio, photographed by Gordon Parks for Life magazine, 1956.

while she was busy being free

2012-01-22T00:54:00.001Z

'Twin Set' editorial - Sleek magazine, a/w '11, Flannel shirt - Topshop, Reading: Amongst Women, John McGahern, Watched: The Artist (I cannot recommend this more!), Cy Twombly, Leda and the Swan (1962), oil, pencil and crayon, Grey knit hoodie, Topshop, Listening to: Joni Mitchell and She Hangs Brightly, Mazzy Star.

For what feels like the first time in ages I have some free time. Delightful.

dora

2012-01-15T18:58:00.003Z

These three Picasso's are all of the same woman, his lover Dora Maar, a painter, photographer and poet in her own right.
Soft drawing. New angles. Shattering of form.

for the riddles i have been fed

2012-01-14T14:46:00.000Z

Sunglasses, for the mildest January, The Row, PJ Harvey CD cover - twinkling with sunglasses, Vacant stares and red and white check from the L'Usine Lookbook, Metallic and plaits via Turned Out, Cosy couples - The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

I felt compelled to make a collage during my break from essay writing, or rather my mulling over the impending essay writing. Whatever. Collage making, be it manual or computer - based, soothes the soul, or so I've always been convinced.

january

2012-01-04T16:00:00.002Z

Cindy Sherman, Untitled Film Still #48, Chunky Knit via Turned Out, Portrait of Frank O' Hara by Mario Schifano.

The following stanza from the Frank O' Hara poem,'Mayakovsky' is read by Don Draper in Ep. 1, Season 2 of Mad Men:

Now, I am quietly waiting for
the catastrophe of my personality
to seem beautiful again,
and interesting, and modern.

The country is grey and
brown and white in trees,
snows and skies of laughter
always and diminishing, less funny
not just darker, not just grey.

It may be the coldest day of
the year, what does he think of
that? I mean, what do I? And if I do,
Perhaps, I am myself again.

i called upon a bunch of angels calling angels ain't you supposed to come and take away these blues?

2012-01-01T20:51:00.001Z

Wearing a party dress ( for New Year's Day dinner) and wading through an essay. Kandinsky, I love you, but your book is killing me slowly.

new roads into the future

2011-12-31T12:00:00.009Z

From 100peanuts via Ripped Knees, From Rief Liefhebber lookbook via Discotheque Confusion, Chunky sneakers - Opening Ceremony, Soft Knit - Tommy Ton, Sarah from the Sun via Through a Glass Darkly, Simple white dress and loafers, Sunglasses - Charles Anastase, Shirt and jeans combo ftw, Magazine image of perfect tote and knit via Thank You, Ok, double denim grunge, Green suede mini - APC.

As 2011 draws to a close, it’s only natural that one takes stock of how their style has progressed over the course of the year. Like Ana, I feel that my style has matured. Despite my love of anything ‘old’ or ‘vintage’ inspired, Betty Draper, put – together style, full skirts and fantasy fashion, I’ve always (and particularly in recent years and even more so in recent months as I will elaborate upon shortly) appreciated the practical mode of dress to a great degree. As much as I admire and to some degree covet, fancy and put – together ensembles, it means little to me if they are impractical and unsuitable for one’s day to day activities.

In the dying days of 2011, I wore my Dad’s old jumper a lot...probably too much even, my cropped leather jacket, battered boots, wrap scarves, boxy blue bag nabbed at the Zara sale, stretchy black mini skirt, a desire to wear lots of knitted layers, denims and kooky jewellery and I am still looking for the perfect 90s' black spaghetti - strapped dress . A while ago, I expressed my wish to wear outfits that could see me through from day to night by means of a quick slick of plumy lipstick and a sweep of smoky shadow. And let’s face it, I’ve always felt, with the occasional exception of a chunky or wedged heel permitted, like a bit of an idiot in vertiginous heels.

I concede that I am still partial to a sprinkle of sparkle and feminine frocks, case in point my Christmas post, but I am inclined to admit that this is becoming less and less so. I feel oddly faithful to voluminous skirts (I’ve rambled here and here about them, and probably a dozen times before), but right now, they are becoming a little incongruous within my own style. I hope that doesn’t make me some kind of fashion traitor – I guess what I mean is, I am becoming more aware that you can like something, love something even but that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to wear it.

I feel a little more boyish in my style. And like I’ve grown up. And maybe, that has happened too? I want to dress in an inventive manner but one that doesn’t compensate practicality too much. For example, on a snowy day two weeks ago or so, I saw two girls wearing knee high socks with miniskirts in college. No tights. This kinda shit is not on. Backwards step for the women’s movement and all. Put some fucking tights on. It's snowy - geez. Annnnyway, my point is, it is a much more impressive feat to dress well without forsaking one’s utilitarian needs. In addition, it is the little details – cut, buttons, fabric, the perfect accessory - that I am particularly invested in now, and I take this as a sign of my style maturing.

In 2012 I want to be a little more frugal. A little more thrifty and a lot less mega – store (ie. Topshop). I want to be a bit more certain of my style and a little less apologetic if it so happens to change. While taking risks and being creative, has always been at the heart of my fashion philosophy, an appreciation of something more subtle, modest and practical is taking my fancy for the year ahead too.

Happy New Year!

still in pyjamas

2011-12-26T16:46:00.002Z

Chelsea boots and seasonal colours via Coggles Streetstyle, Leonardo's pentimenti drawings are a new obsession of mine having been lucky enough to view some up close in the archival room of the British Museum, Kirsten Dunst being all free spirit-y with flowers in her hair and flora boasting tee, Minimal artist Eva Hesse - I am not one for minimalism usually, but Hesse (both work and artist) fascinates me, The Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg...one of these days I'll get there.

niceties

2011-12-26T13:50:00.000Z

The creamiest knit with black bow, Smoky eye palette, Jo Malone Pomegranate Noir perfume, Nostalgia in Vogue Book, Diary from Eva, White Lindor (I am a white chocolate obsessive), satin bra.

twenty fifth

2011-12-25T20:15:00.002Z

My past few posts have had a mildly emo vibe, maybe? In an effort to curb all that angst, here's some Christmassy cheer. Sparkles and hats and lipstick. Ubiquitous Topshop skater dress and H&M shoes that look nice but unfortunately, are annoying as hell to walk around in. One day in the year, I'll go for style over comfort...
Here's to drinking Baileys by the fire, turkey sandwiches, get togethers and box set/movie marathons. Merry Christmas!

From 'The Woman who turns Herself into a Fish', Eavan Boland

2011-12-24T01:02:00.019Z

a pale

swimmer,

sequin-skinned,
pearling eggs

screamlessly

in seaweed.
It's what

I set my heart on.

Yet
ruddering

and muscling

in the sunless tons
of new freedoms,

still
I feel
a chill pull,

a brightening ,

a light, a light,
and how

in my loomy cold,

my greens,
still

she moons

in me.

down down you bring me down

2011-12-24T00:36:00.003Z

(l-r) sheer and jersey, Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine, PJ Harvey - Mansize EP cover, Kate and Naomi, Fila jumper, hold - ups.

A compilation of 90s' inspired yawn. Ill fitting. Leisure wear. Sheer dresses and skirts and stockings. Throwing things together. Or at least, some sort of effort to do just that. Oxymoron maybe?

on the defensive

2011-12-23T01:09:00.000Z

Top, Irish artist, Alice Maher's Palisades (2003), Bottom, me wearing the below necklace (erm...useless photo).

It's totally ecofeminist.

Necklace, Topshop.

'cause all i want is the moon upon a stick

2011-12-12T23:47:00.001Z

Today I wore my Dad's jumper. Because it's sort of Christmassy. But mainly because I was cold. I wore it with a broken chain made into a new chain. And with dark lipstick.
Missed the bus. Stormy weather. And so much to do.

december scrapbook - it was dawn in the storm

2011-12-07T22:02:00.003Z

Film Museum, Berlin.

I was in Berlin last week. It's true what they say. It's great.

Bought Sleek magazine while there. It's rather awesome with a great mixture of art and fashion articles. And this issue is all to do with gender and the blurring of such boundaries.

Rad.

Dress, Topshop Boutique.

I want a dress with thin straps so bad. This is kinda festive too. Minimal sugar plum fairy.

Right After, 1969, Eva Hesse.
Otherworlds.

Mother of Pearl, spring 2012.

Reminds me of Cassie from Skins.

Neat.

'My plastic signs probably express their souls.' - Matisse

Picked this interesting, large hooded coat up in a charity shop for €8.

don't leave my hyper heart alone

2011-12-03T15:30:00.001Z

Isabella and Philip.

Back soon. Promise.

i went out walking under an atomic sky

2011-11-06T21:41:00.002Z

thick cardigan with sheer black, midi skirts, turtle neck, fuzzy sweaters, regal/Scandinavian hairdos, pretty flats.
images via cheapskate chic, doppelganger

Hello everyone. Finding myself caught amid the throes of final year currently. If there’s a not a book to be read before the evening’s out, there’s three academic articles to trudge through or a research proposal to waffle about. On top of that, there’s a newspaper section to edit and still trying to maintain something of a social life. Of course, it’s little blogeen here who's been bearing the brunt of it.

In addition, I feel sort of compelled to change the direction of the blog a bit? Yet I am not so certain where... it’s all a bit fuzzy... and this isn’t the best time to start thinking about a shake - up either.

I regret to say that for the moment blogging is going to be a bit sparse...but bear with me...

new mod

2011-10-19T12:09:00.000+01:00

via stockholm streetstyle

She looks like a Rossetti. And manages to interpret the current Mod trend with a certain good humour and newness. Flawless.

london weekend

2011-10-12T21:36:00.002+01:00

I think the autumn months are the best time for city breaks. There is something nice about being able to wear a blazer with a thick coil of wool scarf and be sufficiently warm. With a few layers and even a jaunty hat, you're cosy and comfortable.
Plenty of art galleries, a Brick Lane curry and a few pints make for a very good weekend.

PS. This was my first proper time in London, would you believe? And is it a cliche to say, that I...heart it very much indeed..

take three

2011-10-12T20:44:00.001+01:00

Kim Noorda for Tank, via discotheque confusion

Just something frumpy and chunky about this which I like. From my mother's copy of Red magazine.

Playground get - up with Paul Smith trousers, for Independent magazine

autumn edit

2011-10-11T23:58:00.004+01:00

My first copy of The Gentlewoman - yay!, Hat - Penneys, it might get the odd look, but I am convinced that hats..are well..back!, Postcards - I was London over the weekend and saw some amazing exhibitions (l-r), the Gerhard Richter retrospective at Tate Modern, Degas at the Ballet at the Royal Academy, and Pipilotti Rist at the Hayward, Bag - Found this in my mother's wardrobe, from Italy I think, Sweater - H&M, for over leggings and midi skirts, and reading Women, Art and Society - good introductory book for all matters relating to women and the art world - representations and feminism.

october

2011-10-02T12:27:00.000+01:00

[1] Midi navy dress, Miss Selfridge. [2] Ubiquitous 90s' Moss in black mini dress. [3] Asos - I like this sort of shapeless silhouette at the minute, especially paired with chunky footwear as done here. [4] Charles Anastase s/s '09. Exceptional and extreme layering. Great skirt and great shoes.[5] Almost full - length black skirt with old - school runners. Juxtaposition, yo. [6] Thick knit, River Island. It's October. It's cold. Dress weather appropriate. [7] Bubblegum - haired Kate in party dress.

stripe on stripe

2011-10-01T00:09:00.003+01:00

The Row resort 2012 - This is a rather excellent display of pattern on pattern on pattern, Charles Anastase s/s 2009, Anastase boots, further CA 2009 - the tights, Random mish-mash layering - grungy pattern mixing at Joseph resort 2012.

I was flicking through family holiday snaps from some years back when I stumbled on photographs of my sister wearing a particularly fetching striped Topshop sundress. Immediately, I was inspired to dig the garment in question out from whatever forgotten corner it resided in. I need not have searched too hard as I found it neatly tucked away in said sibling's wardrobe, and luckily, she was willing to pass the dress onto me.

For me, it seemed almost like the natural thing to pair the dress with striped tights. I am not quite sure why this is, but it just seemed to make sense. I like the idea of layering pattern on pattern - there's something playful but confrontational about it. It's a little...how would you say...WTF.. but this can only ever be a good thing (or at least in my opinion!). The striped tights and overall silhouette has its roots in Charles Anastase's s/s 2009 show - an absolute favourite collection of mine. In that particular collection, I like how it's both very feminine in a traditional turn of the century manner but at the same there's all this transparency and sheer under skirts and suspenders - it's confusing. While I've not taken the hold-ups and suspenders on board, I did want to channel some of that confusion. My friend said my tights were 'zany'. I was delighted!

Dress - sister's (Topshop from a good few years back), tights - H&M, Boots - Topshop, Top - Zara, belt - River Island

sunday-monday

2011-09-26T21:35:00.003+01:00

s
Skirt - River Island, Top - UO, Jacket - Next, Scarf - gift.

I wore this outfit out on Sunday night, and due to a wardrobe malfunction wore it pretty much again the following day, just changing the top to a very similar one.

I think this sort of encapsulates the desire I had to transform the full-length skirt into something I could wear all the time, not just at night time events (see here). I like the idea of clothes being suitable for both day and night which can be manipulated quite easily to suit any social situation. Currently, I am bored of the notion of an entirely separate night - wardrobe, and am harbouring a fondness for a more subtly - toned wardrobe with simple pieces that can be styled up or down.

bandage

2011-09-25T17:45:00.000+01:00

Bandage tights - Penneys, Boots - Topshop.

meow

2011-09-25T15:25:00.001+01:00

Jeffrey Campbell kitteh-print booties.

I'd happily be a mad cat lady if it meant wearing these.

to a room with some lace and paper flowers

2011-09-24T19:07:00.005+01:00

Photos by Emmet Curtain
Here are some pictures of a painting I was working on at Societies' Day in college. Quite busy at the moment what with that back-to-college-rush. Promises of more wordy posts shortly.

and you're wishing you could set it right

2011-09-16T21:29:00.000+01:00

Bildnis Gerda, 1914, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.

Jumper, River Island.

darkness falls and she will take me by the hand

2011-09-16T13:22:00.011+01:00

Pink and white - 'Candy - coloured'..

Of the multitude of strange things at work in David Lynch's Blue Velvet, I've chosen the least threatening of all to discuss. There's nothing remotely complex about Laura Dern's wardrobe as high-school sweetheart, Sandy, but I like it precisely because of it's sweetness. The entire wardrobe is candy - coloured [Believe it or believe it not, I unintentionally made this pun... for those of you who haven't seen it, I am referring to Roy Orbison's "In Dreams" which famously features in the film, rendering the ballad rather eerie, especially with it's 'candy - coloured clown' opening'...] - pinks and lemons and virginal white as opposed to the mysterious and grown - up blue velvet robe of Isabella Rossellini's character.

Despite all the other bizarro shizz in this movie, I was primarily bothered by the fact that I couldn't set it in an accurate time. Sandy's wardrobe plays an important role here. While everything else suggests that the surreal mystery is probably set in the present day, Sandy's costume is indisputably 1950s - swishing full skirts, cardigans, floral prom dress, white cotton tops, candyfloss-soft sweaters and tennis shoes - and indeed, a shot outside her school of Sandy and her classmates could easily be mistaken for that sort of cutesy-kitsch Americana of Grease (even the name..Sandy..). Sandy is the wholesome, All - American, 'girl - next door' who so happens to become embroiled in this dark and creepy saga, but her clothes help to set her apart (there is a nostalgia about them...) and suggest something of her untainted goodness in this macabre portrayal of sullied suburban life.

Long story short, it's back to university next week, and I quite like the idea of a pretty skirt and cardigan combo.

So All - American - convertible, high school, and blonde Sandy.

Amateur sleuths.

Simple white summer top.

And again. And the diner.

Candy Cashmere sweater and pendant.

Coral notebook, Paperchase, Tea dress (Sandy wears a similar style dress in her first scene), Monki, T- Shirt, APC, Cashmere sweater, APC, Deer pendant, Forever 21, Duffle bag, APC, Tennis shoes, Margaret Howell, Skirt, Vladamir Karaleev at Topshop, In Dreams CD, Roy Orbison, Cardigan, Topshop.

i would be living down here on my own, on that damp and lonely Thursday years ago

2011-09-15T21:44:00.001+01:00

[1] Jarvis. Check and jumper. [2] APC parka. I need a new khaki parka. Now. [3] Sheer - backed shirt, Urban Outfitters. [3] Weiblicher Halbakt mit Hut, 1911 Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Obsessed with this painter at the moment. I love German Expressionist painting and Kirchner is a particular favourite. [4] APC burgundy boots. [5] Aztec cardigan, Asos. Cosy and colourful, perfect for autumn.

PS. Would just like to direct you to THIS post over on Mode and the Like. Noelani has written the sweetest things ever about me and my painting. And it makes me blush a little. I'd just like to express some gratitude as her post brightened my day blighted by flu.

up in my lonely room

2011-09-12T20:56:00.004+01:00

The worst thing about screen cap based posts is that they seemingly go on forever. In fact, I made over 80 caps of 84 Charing Cross Road this afternoon. Yes, perhaps, I have too much time on my hands, but there is no denying that there are a lot of things to appreciate in this really rather sweet Anglo-American bookish drama.

Starring The Graduate's Anne Bancroft as New York based writer Helene Hanff and a perfectly cast Anthony Hopkins as the reticent and reserved English bookseller Frank Doel, 84 Charing Cross Road is a touching true story of correspondence and friendship based on a mutual love and respect for second hand books. What I love about the film is the differing visions of city life it offers - Helene in her brownstone apartment situated in a leafy avenue somewhere in bustling and colourful New York city, and Frank in dreary post-war London where food still exists in shortages and rain pours.

It's impossible not to look on Helene's script - writer lifestyle in 50s' New York with something of lifestyle envy. She lives in the aforementioned apartment which has to be one of the cosiest abodes I have seen in cinema - writing desk, stacks of yellow paged books and bundles of parchment, typewriter, patterned quilt, end tables with little curiosities and mismatched lamps, picture frames, old radio and telephone, pencil holders with those chunky school-bus yellow pencils, coffee pot and notice board. While Breakfast at Tiffany's or Willliam Styron's Sophie's Choice provide visions of a male writer's New York apartment at in and around the same period, this is the lady's version. And what a nice version it is.

Her wardrobe is perfectly in tune with this lifestyle of busy streets, battered books, dinner parties, newspapers, typing, coffee and cigarettes. There's a touch of the school mistress about it...but only a smidgeon; Helene is too much of a witty urban intellectual to be dowdy after all. It's comfy and thrown to together and lifestyle appropriate The long over coats (does everyone in New York based movies/TV where ankle-skimming coats...the kind that are just thrown on and flap in autumnal breezes, or is this just me?), the comfiest knits, plaid shirts, granddad cardigans, midi- skirts, berets and Peter - Pan type hats, saddle and wicker bags and practical shoes for Central Park wandering, all in tones of emerald, navy, cream and grey. And of course, the reading glasses. She's literary! It's a given!

Now, tell me what's not to love about this?

I have wanted a wicker bag with two years. I think this is finally sending me over the edge.

Chinos and grey cardigan - Granddad, I tell ya!

My favourite cap. Cigarette, that pleasingly messy desk, the soft tobacco sweater, creamy shirt...too much to appreciate here.

Further workspace - crushing.

And again.

Telling old photographs suggesting something of Helene's loneliness.

Great 50s' slate grey coat, shirt and hat.

Smoking a ciggie out the window of her brownstone. And cutesy pot plants!

Neat check day jacket.

Silk headscarf.

Parchment and coffee pot.

Such a great outfit. Awkward skirt, loafers and soaks, tweedy jacket, saddlebag style handbag, beret and gloves.

Hurrah for pocket sized books!

And the bookshop on the eponymous road.

Loose plaid shirt and knitted waist coat.

Soft mauve and mint.

Notice board. And yes, we should all probably have a similar picture of Anthony Hopkins hanging up.

Horn-rimmed glasses ftw.

That excellent hat again and blush coat.

Hopkins spying books.

Great knit, good sir.

Just for the Chinese take-out cartons coordinating with the table cloth.

Stacks and stacks of books.

flowers i can do without

2011-09-12T00:48:00.003+01:00

[1] For some reason I have black midi-skirts on the brain. Something terribly straight-laced, even funereal about them (in the least weird way as possible) which appeals. [2] Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. Along with Annie Hall, it's my favourite 'fashion film'. I want to replicate Mia's make-up - light-brown shadow, dark brown in the crease, heavy black mascara on top lashes, light brown liner on water line and a tiny bit of mascara on lower lashes, pink blush and rosy lip. From what I gather anyway...I'm no make-up 'guru'... [3] Hope Sandoval. More 90s' mystical-y woman goodness. Super pretty.. [4] PJ. PJ. PJ. Cos she was sensational at Electric Picnic. And in general, she makes me want to wear more black. [5] Glitter - doused creepers. One of these days I'll get a pair...but for the moment consider them for further Gothic vibes. [6] Jarvis. Jarvis. Jarvis. Because like PJ, he/Pulp was/were amazing at EP too. I've got a sneaking feeling there's going to be a lot of JC to feature here. Oh he's too fabulous...Now, I don't use that word lightly...

bottle green

2011-09-09T16:30:00.002+01:00

Drawing inspiration from my favourite Annie Hall outfit. Pretty much living in these green jeans at the moment.

and i know soon that the sky will split and the planets will shift

2011-09-06T20:14:00.000+01:00

Patti performing perfect layering.

image via naivebones.blogspot.com

you are the morning, i am the night

2011-08-29T16:56:00.000+01:00

Elle, Sept 2011

school

2011-08-29T00:07:00.002+01:00

[1] Diane Keaton's tartan scarf in Annie Hall. [2] I really like this - matronly midi skirts and belted cardigan over at very cool blog Cavaan, [3] Kurt Cobain for his layering and fuzzy cardigan - I feel a bit weird posting anything Cobain or even mentioning Courtney Love as I did in my last post... but at the same time, it's a mark of how influential the blogs you read (in this case The Style Rookie among others...although what blog doesn't love the 90s at the moment?) impact significantly on your own taste and style. I am concious of 'buying' into this whole 90s' obsession but at the same time, it's not necessarily 'buying' into it...it's more that there's this certain mood in the air which can be captured through the clothes we wear and at the moment, it's the 90s. I think in 2011 there's a certain simplicity to 90s-isms that appeals. Besides, up to very very recently I made it through life without properly listening to Nirvana...so Kurt happens to be on the brain at the moment. Phew - long image justification..next up..[4] Sandals with socks. Yes, the original fashion faux pas..but, the wooly forest - green and rusty-red leather here works well in a 70s' granddad way. [5] More Keaton - I am a big fan at the moment. The polo neck, the waistcoat, the watch, the glasses - something school teacher about this that I like. [6] No idea where this is from, but I like the colour scheme and the dusty pink knit and the canvas carry - all. [7] Topshop booties...I need new boots for when college starts...[8] Lastly, a nice, practical idea for tying up curly hair via Refinery 29. And I appreciate the combination of school-girl grey, buttoned shirt and glitzy necklaces.

when I wake up in my make-up

2011-08-25T17:55:00.007+01:00

Inspiration: Swallow prints at Miu Miu, s/s 2010, Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby, Courtney Love in the video for Miss World, Seinfeld's Elaine teaming girly dresses with socks and boy - shoes , Madonna for the crucifix earring.

I had my picture taken recently for a college magazine. I wasn't really certain what to wear so rather than the convoluted, layer-y outfit that I was initially considering, I decided to wear my new dress and pull an 'Elaine'...ie. feminine dress paired with socks and scruffy footwear. The whole thing kinda reminds me of Courtney Love too [Yes, I've jumped aboard that train...Tavi to blame surely...] and is somewhat similar to her look in the Miss World video. It's a bit of a 'little girl' dress - indeed, a style popularised by Love in the 90s.

I wanted to put a picture of a nun into the above collage too. What with the navy blue, prominent collar and crucifix there's something of a 'nunny' vibe at work. Of course though, google images only appear to provide 'sexy nun' costumes when you search 'nun', and that wasn't exactly the look I as going for.

Photograph by Emmet Curtin

Dress - Red Herring, shoes - Converse, socks - Topshop, canvas bag, MoMA.

look at these my child - bearing hips, look at these my ruby red ruby lips

2011-08-24T02:27:00.005+01:00

[I love this demo cover....obsession with weird sunglasses continues.]

This is yet another image – heavy post but with some reason I hope.

A selection of PJ Harvey images (mostly 90s, I think. For the kinda grunginess I am into at the moment...) whetting the appetite for her performance at this year’s Electric Picnic. [Excited!]

I am by no means an expert on Polly Jean (I say this because my eldest sister is a massive fan and is much more well versed in her back catalogue than I ), but I am still very much enamoured by her. She’s a strange dichotomy of otherworldly fragility and this fierce, intense sexuality. Polly just seems like a woman who has lived, and her music reflects this (even though she insists her often creepy lyrics are non-autobiographical).

The Harvey song book is a deep pool of eerie torment, gothic themes and disturbing narratives, rousing raging revenge anthems, raw reflections and unflinching romantic sensitivity. Needless to say, there is a lot at work in her music – it’s experimental, eccentric and empowering. And while ‘empowering’ is a word largely associated with Beyonce/Adele these days (and I’m not hating on Beyonce or Adele. Really! I am a fan to a degree even...) - but it’s thrown out there mainly in terms of ‘You dumped me, but you know what? I am over it and you suck! And look how hot I am now!’. Of course I don’t want to compare such artists as that would just be silly, but Harvey does undoubtedly provide a greater complexity and ferocity to the notion of ‘ female empowerment’ – she’s strong, strange and sexy all at once and this is the intriguing thing about her. There’s no boxing PJ into any female stereotype, instead you can’t quite get your head around her.

Style wise, PJ is provocative. She likes slinky dresses and spiky heels and indeed, her 90s’ persona prefers revealing clothes particularly. But somehow the whole package is not as straightforward as slim girl in tight dress – she wants to shock just a little bit. She’s an image maker and shifter – one minute she’s wearing turquoise blue eye shadow with a stars and stripes bikini and bouffant hair and the next she’s stripped back and natural. There’s no second guessing.

Pretty Polly.

Man Size video.

Extreme make-up.

Fuck yeah.

The classic 90s' black dress. This picture also captures something of Polly's shy and sweet side. Indeed, it is amazing to compare her reserved nature when interviewed with her bold on - stage presence.

I like this. #90s' simplicity

Cliche 'rock chick' sort of thing happening here.

Make-up for the Down by the Water video shoot.

To Bring You My Love promo shot.

I like her orange-fuzzy sweater here.

Performing Rid of Me.

Such a sensational shot.

unlikely style hero #3

2011-08-20T13:42:00.005+01:00

Who? Woody Allen

What? Sure Diane Keaton is the real star of his 70s’ movies, but I find myself nodding in agreement at his check shirts in earthy colour combinations, tweed jackets with granddad elbow patches, belted chinos, army green utility jackets and the ubiquitous thick framed spectacles.

Why? Neurotic New Yorkers must be my thing at the moment, but it is their apparent trendlessness and casual approach to style that particularly appeals. And with Woody, it’s that old – fogey college lecturer look that is suitably season appropriate.

However, I watched Annie Hall again in its entirety for the sole purpose of making screen caps. I have too much Diane Keaton goodness not to share...

Key notes: Scholarly blazers, khaki green, grey, trousers and plaid flannel shirts.

This is my favourite. I want that army jacket.

Political and polished. Tweed with tie.

Blue shirt and blue denim - surprisingly all-American. Note Diane's casual khaki trousers and well-fitting grey t-shirt.

Check shirt and maroon sweater.

This is excellent. Elbow patches, denim and brown boater shoes.

More army type attire.

Ah Annie. She's the master of cool and casual clothes.

Mainly capped this shot because of the pot plants.

Grungy Woody.

I saw a recent picture of Woody wearing pretty much this outfit. It's timeless, I guess.

I love this cap. Woody in earthy neutrals and Diane in checks and denim.

Tweed over check.

Love Diane's look here. And sky blue and chocolate is a surprisingly chic colour combination.

I like the colours of his shirt here.

it's beginning to look a lot like autumn

2011-08-15T17:39:00.002+01:00

A quick flick through the blog's archive and I notice a pattern - July is barely out and I'm rhapsodising about the merits of autumnal dressing. Autumn is my favourite season - all that 'back to school' goodness and the crunchiness of just about everything - the leaves, the apples, the new books, the crisp air. I like autumn too because it means boyish colours -umber, wholesome greens, russet, burnt orange, deep blues and naveys - paired with battered boots and brogues and a bundle of library books. For some reason, autumn for me means embracing something of wartime aesthetic, consider buttoned - up shirts, the occasional floral and the aforementioned palette and outdoorsy footwear. There's a certain comfortable practicality that I want my clothes at this time of year to possess. Less frivolity, more utilitarian.

Shoes, skirt - Topshop, jumper, jacket, - Zara, shirt - Bershka.

I am mightily in love with my 'horsey' jacket at the minute....I'll save you from too much gushing though. To sum up - I like the pockets, the corduroy collar detail and the hood. Man, I love a good raincoat.

Autumn is a nice time too to try the odd new thing out. I've always been a bit wary of pencil skirts...but I was attracted to the bold orange stripes of this one, and needless to mention, the neat five euro price tag. It' s tricky piece to work with, but a challenge is always good, right?

Top, skirt, - Zara, shoes - Topshop, belt - River Island, hoop earrings- A-Wear

she was a beautiful boy

2011-08-14T14:37:00.000+01:00

Androgyny, loose t-shirts, cropped hair, eye-liner and hooped earrings.
Love, Feb 2009

unlikely style hero #2

2011-08-13T13:24:00.009+01:00

Who? Julia Louis - Dreyfus as Seinfeld's neurotic Elaine Benes.

What? So there’s something of a belated Seinfeld love affair currently happening in my household. In between the laughs (Seinfeld is actually too good), I’m spending my time trying to convince everyone else that Elaine Benes is in fact, a style icon. Elaine’s wardrobe is so nineties that it borders on the unpalatable. On the contrary, I can’t get enough of it. It’s all about awkward skirt lengths and dresses that just graze the ankle, oversized denim jackets, brooches, brogues and ankle socks, creepers (“WHY ARE MY SHOES A TOPIC OF CONVERSATION?”), fringed jackets, those boxy early 90s’ ‘working girl’ blazers, buttoned – up shirts, lace details, tartan scarves and anoraks, full-length thick wool over coats, waistcoats and florals...so much florals...

Why? Elaine is pretty much my soul sister I’ve decided (hair aside even!), but in case that’s not enough of a reason to dress in her 90s’ librarian – granny – free spirit mash- up manner consider the awkwardness of the shapes and silhouettes of her punchy getups – all those long skirts and prairie girl floral dresses. Or the certain grunginess that her wardrobe embraces which to our twenty - first century world -weary eyes takes on a whole new anti-fashion shade. There's a carelessness; a thrown – together sensibility to her attire. It can be feminine but there’s almost an irony to the ditzy florals – Elaine is 'one of the guys' after all. I like the authenticity of Elaine’s costume; how she frequently wears the same pieces and her penchant for brooches and jewellery provide a personal touch. And although back-packs are so very trendy now, Elaine is probably the real reason why I have to have one.

I heart Jerry and Elaine too much. Elaine wearing a very typical Elaine tea-dress. Also, note the sun hat.

And again. This time with her signature brogue/ankle sock combo.

Creepers. You gotta love a girl who wears creepers. It's a rule I live by.

Crucifix earring. Same rule applies.

So much going on here - leggings, fringing, floral midi-skirt...so bad, it's good?

(I am actually laughing even just looking at this picture...hilarious episode) Elaine in camel wool with buttoned shirt, scarf and her backpack - another Elaine signature addition.

Outdoorsy jacket and check scarf.

Love this. Mustard anorak and denim shirt.

Granny knit. Gotta love George's parka here too (Also, George. General lol)

This is actually a floral jumpsuit. Obsessed with her multiple ear piercings here.

Fringe jacket and diamanté cat-eyes - bit of country music singer tackiness (this is a good thing).

Blazer with lace collar and straight-cut jeans.

Boxy jacket and buttoned shirt.

Floral blouse.

Oversized denim and more floral - so Elaine.

That glorious back-pack.

Denim, gloves, anorak, backpack.

Straight - cut jeans and full-length camel coat.

Elaine is the master of ridiculous face expressions ("Face like a frying pan"). Librarian blouse and pearl hoop earrings.

The floral-midi - an Elaine Staple.

If all that isn’t enough for you, READ THIS. Proving those haterz wrong. An awesome article that says all I want to say and lovingly refers to Elaine’s look as ‘West Side Grunge’. In addition, it considers Elaine’s look to be quite hip and ‘now’ ....I have a feeling I have to discuss this further...

All images from this amazing tumblr dedicated to Elaine's wardrobe: Why are my shoes a topic of conversation.

oh the drama

2011-08-09T21:48:00.008+01:00

Rodarte a/w '11

I'm not exactly certain what this post is about. It's rather more an incongruous compilation of ideas that just so happen to mesh together. And an effort, I guess, to tie up a few threads here and there that have been floating around my brain space.

Firstly, there's Rodarte's fall collection. According to Style the inspiration was Terence Malick's Days of Heaven - a film I haven't seen but a quick internet sconce tells me it's a dreamy-landscapy-Malick-y affair set in early twentieth century Texas. The key thing I want to take away from the collection is those blues and the combination of the elegant tailoring of the jackets and the graceful fall and length of the skirts.

Next up, there's Diane Keaton in Reds. I've acquired something of a minor fascination with Keaton recently (it's impossible not to be if you watch of any of her 1970s' Woody Allen turns. The woman has got it.). Reds sees Keaton as anarchic Marxist/Feminist writer Louise Bryant. It's set roughly around the same time as Days of Heaven (circa 1917) and rather than the chic - city - androgyny that Keaton is best known for, you've got her bound in shawls and darks drapes of material with wispy auburn hair and defiant kohl-ringed eyes. But again [at this point the pattern becomes clear], you've got skirt length and you've got lenghty jacket, nonchalantly worn together. And there's some blue in there too...

There is the [large] possibility that this post was created just so that I could gush a little about Downton Abbey. It's been over six months since I actually watched that exquisite period drama but yet, here I am wondering why I never got around to posting a single image of Lady Mary et al. And goodness, Lady Mary. I trawled the internet in search of a full-length, good quality image of my favourite Mary outfit (see below) but to no avail. Navy blue skirt, cream shirt, and powder blue jacket and a gold locket [digression] that bears a striking resemblance to that worn by Chung on the June cover of Brit Vogue. This easily could have been an ensemble on the Rodarte runway. And so blue. Blue to match the startling azure of Matthew's eyes... Swoon.

And then there is a whole library of other references which are compiled for your convenience in collage format below. But to summarize, there's Virginia Woolf with her neat hair bundle, Edwardian women in fancy skirts and jackets and Countess Markievicz wrapped in great lengths of fabric also.

To conclude, the idea is [I knew there was a point somewhere in all of this!] taking the period silhouette of the long skirt and jacket and making it somehow modern with thick muted-toned scarves, sharp jackets, sophisticated darks, buttoned shirts and utility coats and layering, layering, layering. Of course, this is currently all a bit of head jumble that has so far only made me want to watch more period dramas, but perhaps, the ultimate goal is to make the long skirt that staple piece that I called for recently. And this is just how it makes sense to me.

Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Crawley in ITV's Downton Abbey, Facehunter shot (this is what I'm on about), Virginia Woolf photograph and painting, Countess Markievicz, Diane Keaton in Reds, Meryl Streep just being pretty , Susie (again Susie has this thing pit-pat), More Diane, Some heads from The Forsyte Saga (another excellent ITV drama (circa 2002), Edwardian ladies at the beach - fancy!

issy

2011-08-08T02:17:00.002+01:00

Finding myself sitting at my desk and painting a lot this past week. Rediscovering my obsession with Isabella Blow too.
Painted this in a sort of strange rush yesterday. More cartoonish than what I usually do and perhaps, more so than I would have liked, but hey, it's colourful just like she was.

birthday betty

2011-08-03T12:50:00.002+01:00

Betty close - up. The Mad Men dolls have that vintage Barbie look about them.

It's no secret that I am total Mad Men junkie. I am hooked. I love it. End of. No debates. I also quite like pretty and/or slightly random things/keepsakes that I'll eh..keep for the eh..sake of it. A few of my friends pooled together and got me a collectable Betty Draper Barbie Doll for my birthday recently. I was seriously impressed and quite touched to be honest - she ain't no cheapie Sindy!

Made of genuine silkstone and dressed in the sweetest floral dress with perfect blonde bob, painted nails and pearls, I am weirdly enchanted by her. I had to share!

Mad Men box. Annoyingly, I never took a picture of Bets all cosy inside.

A certificate of authenticity. This makes me feel important.

The lady herself. Swoon.

Detail of the back of her dress.

Do miniature lipsticks and compact complete with mini pink powder puff make anyone else extremely and perhaps, somewhat irrationally happy? Betty comes ready for the dinner dance with clutch bag.

I think I need the Joan doll now.

and the holy dove was moving too

2011-07-31T13:14:00.000+01:00

images via 10.17, style.

Need I say more?

the girl who stole his glasses

2011-07-30T17:50:00.003+01:00

Somehow I have recently become obsessed with Kurt Cobain. Now, this kinda statement makes me squirm cos the world is obsessed with Kurt and there's nothing really interesting about that, but somewhat unwittingly Kurt has become a style icon for me. Now, that's another statement that makes me squirm cos that's silly to say anti-fashion grunge god Cobain is somehow fashion-y, but let's just brush over that oxymoron, shall we? Besides I know for a fact that lots of people find KC stylish, so again there's nothing unique in that.

But but but, look here. My sister bought me these sunglasses from UO in Boston. They're plastic, super pointed, bright red cat-eyes. Utterly outrageous and somehow utterly Cobain. Teamed with a crucifix earring and stripes and I'm so fucking nineties. Where's my walkman, I most go listen to Nevermind.

bridging the gap

2011-07-29T18:09:00.003+01:00

The Marc Jacobs’ look on the left was one of my favourite looks from recent seasons. And on the right is an offering from Alex Wang’s diffusion line T by Alexander Wang. The looks are very similar- shiny full length skirt and thick wool winter sweater.

This look fascinates me. It’s like a sartorial (it pains me to use that word) metaphor for where we are now in fashion. Take the spectacular style of the skirt (will get to the length in a minute) and what is essentially the utter blandness, the day-to-day sloppiness of the jumper and bang! The gap between sober nineties fashion and the ferocious extravagance of much of the noughties has been bridged. Clever, no?

(Skip the following paragraph if you cannot stand more rambling on long skirts – I do this a lot!)

And then there is the length. I have watched with nothing short of an obsessive fascination at how the full-length skirt has gone from ‘out there’ to everywhere. Every third lady is sweeping floors (not actually sweeping floors) in a full-lengther. It’s amazing and great simply because they do look so great on everyone and they’re practical (can be worn day or night) and are exceptionally comfy. The point is though, the long skirt is quickly becoming a wardrobe staple more akin to the skinny jean as opposed to a flash-in-the-pan harem trouser sorta trend. By nature though I am something of a pessimist and am already fearing that moment when I decide ‘Hold up. I am sick of full-length skirts’ and that’s why I am proposing a promotion from mere trend item to staple piece. Now, that’s something that really interests me.

And back to the top. To cut a long story short, I think this provides a pretty good template for fall dressing, and isn't it sorta cool too that nothing much has changed in a year?

scruffy denim

2011-07-26T12:18:00.002+01:00

Kate Moss, G-Star dungarees via Asos, Alexa Chung, Random ed, Lily Donaldson, Chung, More Chung, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, Karlie Kloss for Vogue.

Blame it on a certain desire to dress more tom-boyish or even a severely belated appreciation for the neo-grunginess that was everywhere circa ‘08/09...I don’t know, but what I do know is that I want a pair of denim dungarees. Preferably the short ones. Or even a denim dress with dungaree straps. To be worn with stripes like Chung and maybe hair in some sort of ‘farmer chic’ plait with ribbon. Yee-haw?

let's go back to the start

2011-07-25T01:15:00.003+01:00

A shot of my notice-board. Re-done. This isn't too much of a change of what I had before but it is a good reflection of my personal style...ie. men's parka above 50s' skirt. Click to enlarge if you so please.

Whilst cleaning my room recently, I had a bit of an identity crisis. Thoughts that had been bubbling beneath for months suddenly came to the surface as I peeled away the countless magazine cuttings, collages and drawings that had papered my walls for years. The world is probably divided between those who stick things on their walls and those who don’t. Let’s just say, I would have had a good chance of running for lord mayor of the former camp. And winning.

For years I trawled magazines looking for tiny images of the stars of yesteryear – black and white Audrey Hepburn, bikini-clad Elizabeth Taylor, anonymous 1950s' couture models, Twiggy, Katherine Hepburn in trousers and a plethora of Debbie Harry papery-scraps, all orange eye shadow, cheekbone and teeth. That was the ‘vintage wall’. There was also the postcard collection (all paintings), my own drawings above my bed, the fashion collage above my desk, the enormous notice board and the other walls plastered with A4 magazine cut outs and the occasional arty piece.

Desk collage close-up: A drawing I did at a college get-together, The Mitford sisters, shot from Easy Rider ( I really like Easy Rider, particularly the soundtrack), Gandalf, The Jam, Grace Kelly, Picasso's 'Les Demoiselles D'Avignon', You can't really see her, but Vivienne Westwood is at the edge here, PJ Harvey, Van Gogh self-portrait, Millais' 'Ophelia', Churchill quote, Marilyn Monroe.

Desk collage close-up: Isabella Stewart Garner piece, Peggy Guggenheim postcard, Jasper Johns' postcard, Tim Walker Vogue ed, The Beatles, Cindy Sherman film still, Post card from McQueen exhibition, Max Beckmann postcard, photo of my friend Julie and I at a music festival a few years back (I'm wearing cat-eyes.), Breakfast at Tiffany's replica ticket, Maud Gonne piece, NME cover.

I didn’t take everything down. Eh...far from it. In fact, to regular eyes the walls are still ~~reasonably~~ very populated. But for me, every scrap that I did take down felt something like a tiny revolution. However, as my friend Eva wisely pointed out (who as it happens was conducting a similar project), removing these old weathered fragments gives the sense that you’re progressing or changing even. And it’s true, it did feel a little like that.

Desk collage close-up: Cindy Sherman film still, Klimt 'The Kiss', Max Beckmann 'Quappi en Rose', Seinfeld cast with Larry David, Vintage crinoline ad, Bob Dylan in concert, NME cover with The Clash, Kate Moss in Lainey Keogh.

So what about these thoughts that I mentioned in the first paragraph? These thoughts chiefly concerned my changing relationship with fashion. It has changed. Significantly even...maybe? The magazine montages only served to highlight what I had been suspecting for months now. And starting with the imagery: I now wanted images that really meant something to me or inspired me, rather than ‘cool’ but slightly random magazine editorials or outdated celebrity shots. I wanted images of Peggy Guggenheim, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, Tavi Gevinson, Susie Lau, Maud Gonne, The Clash, Vivienne Westwood, David Bowie etc etc as well as the old favourites like Debbie Harry and Audrey Hepburn nestled among snaps of friends and arty postcards. To sum up, I wanted well – chosen imagery. I should clarify that precisely the problem was that I had never taken anything down before. I rarely changed the images on my notice board and the cuttings clung to the wall were seemingly eternal artefacts of my existence. Indeed, the aforementioned Eva asked me a few months ago would I ever take anything down to which I replied, ‘never’. Funny how things change.

Noticeboad close-up: Debbie Harry, Joni Mitchell album cover, Bowie, ID (?) shot of skinhead hair

I feel as though I am rediscovering fashion. I want a type of fashion for me. A fashion that crosses over with my other interests – the type of music I listen to, the films/TV I watch, the books I read, my interest in art and my fascination for that particular type of creative woman (women like Guggenheim, Lee Miller, Gonne, Daphne Guinness et al).

Noticeboard close-up: Coco Chanel, Susie Lau, Princess Margaret and Marilyn Monroe on her wedding day to Arthur Miller nestled among old and beloved Elle eds

Of course, would I be right in saying that this is the fashion we all want? But even stating this is reaffirming in itself. It’s like going back to basics. A fashion that isn’t so trend led, or led too much by fashion-y randomers and all-too powerful magazines, but essentially just reflects you and what you are and your interests.

Noticeboard close - up: Betty Draper, Alexa Chung, Kate Moss's 30th Birthday party, Jane Birkin, favourite Elle eds, Bowie, Pixie Geldof (not a fan generally but a great punky Love ed), Patti Smith

Reaffirming this takes away a lot pressure. I have no problems with trying out trends or being trendy– I just don’t want to feel obligated to wear something just because it’s ‘in’ or perhaps, even more difficult to avoid is feeling obligated to wear something because it is all over some shop (cough Topshop). I am at a point in my life where I genuinely only want to wear clothes that I'm comfortable in and perhaps, say something about me. I want to wear Converse with my scruffy green parka and my canvas bag from MoMA and my rings and be done with it. But just as much as I want to wear a ladylike skirt and pretty shoes and lipstick the next day. I just don’t want to ever feel that my passion/interest for fashion is measured in how trendy I am. Because you know what? That’s bullshit.

Noticeboard close-up: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marianne Faithful, Alexa Chung, Audrey Hepburn and Kim Noorda for Margaret Howell

I didn’t mean for this to be so long (and needless to mention, I should apologise for my serious tone - ultimately we are only talking clothes here). But it feels like a weight off my shoulders. I never realised that reorganizing a few images in my room would cause me to reconsider so much. But I feel somewhat better. I am taking a step back for a while. Winding down and hopefully replacing this cynical eye for fashion with the beliefs I once had that fashion could be this great creative thing.

And that is exactly what I want to rediscover.

thank you note

2011-07-24T01:44:00.003+01:00

James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor chillin' (credit).

Much thanks to Rhona of Rose Tinted Uncertainly for compiling a lovely post inspired by She's in Vogue yesterday. It's really sweet and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (note: I generally am not prone to such. This though is an exception. And cute dogs. And the odd kitten).

life on mars

2011-07-19T17:52:00.000+01:00

The inimitable beauty of Bowie.

revisiting Nancy

2011-07-13T22:35:00.009+01:00

I first read about Nancy Cunard about four years ago in a British Vogue article about bracelets. Having been a bit of loony kid with a thing for bracelets (I’m talking those hedonistic years of about age ten to twelve), I was fascinated by Cunard et al and their deliciously bohemian wrist wear. I am a fiend for jewellery. It has been my longest and most enduring obsession, and while bracelets are not so much my thing anymore (due to my frustratingly scrawny wrists), I still find the idea of wrists jangling and glittering with bangles and bracelets enchanting in a sort of romanticised mystical gypsy - woman way.

The Man Ray portrait that reminded me of Nancy Cunard. Cunard was also a model for sculptor Constantin Brancusi and photographed by Cecil Beaton

Alas, over time Cunard got shelved somewhere in the recesses of my brain, until she was rediscovered by chance while I was in Boston. A portrait of Cunard, by none other than Man Ray at the Museum of Fine Arts caught my attention. Described as ‘a restless creative soul’, and clocking her heavy adornments, I made a mental note: Must Post.

Cunard is just the sort of early twentieth century upper class intellectual - artsy lady that I’m shamelessly partial to. These heiress women with their glitzy wardrobes, dazzling jewels and armies of talented lovers (cough Ms Peggy Guggenheim) appeal to me endlessly despite the not-so-charming ill effects of such lifestyles.

Chances are, even if you don't know the name, you've seen her picture

Truth be told, other that her desire for bedecked wrists, I didn’t know anything about Cunard. And what a shame this was. Nancy Cunard, as it turns out, was no lady of leisure, lounging about gilded rooms in oriental dressing gowns, but rather a terrifically interesting woman. Indeed, Cunard was an author, publisher and political activist campaigning largely against racism and fascism. Cunard rejected her upper class upbringing (Cunard was a shipping heiress born to a ‘British aristocrat and an American beauty’), and instead embraced an avant garde literary and artistic lifestyle. She hung out with and romanced everyone from Ezra Pound to TS Eliot and Hemingway, and found herself at home amongst the radical thinkers and anti-bourgeois opinions of Dadaist and Surrealist circles.

As a publisher Cunard was the first to separately publish work by Beckett (a poem titled ‘Whoroscope’, 1930) at her publishing house, Hours Press. After falling in love with the African – American jazz musician Henry Crowder, she became heavily involved in racial politics and civil rights in the USA and published a series of pamphlets on racial issues as well as a 900 page African - American anthology (Negro: An Anthology). By the mid 1930s Cunard’s political conscience had moved towards an strongly anti-fascist stance and was gravely concerned with the actions of Mussolini, accurately writing that ‘the events in Spain were a prelude to another war’. Throughout WWII Cunard worked tirelessly as a translator for the French Resistance and continued her humanitarian work. Her relentless campaigning on controversial issues of the day had left her poverty-stricken, and battling mental illness and alcoholism, she died in Paris in 1965.

Without ending on a tragic note, let’s go back to the bangles for a minute. Collected on various trips abroad, Cunard’s bracelets are largely African pieces in striking stacks for extra impact. It’s bold, brave and rebellious just like Cunard herself.

we'll set sail again

2011-07-11T17:31:00.000+01:00

Pre-Raphaelite dress plus army jacket equals perfect contrast.
(source)

beating the monday blues

2011-07-04T22:15:00.003+01:00

Best friends 4 ever like. My friends and I showing off our snazzy new elastic bracelets from Topshop. There is something very nineties about this.

Tights from H&M. Picked these up in Boston on sale. There is nothing like a new pair of tights. Especially when they're kinda weird. In a good way (I hope). These sort of remind me of a football team scarf. Or Hogwarts.

unlikely style hero #1

2011-06-29T22:07:00.006+01:00

While fashion editor of my university magazine this past year, I wrote a short recurring feature titled 'A Style Icon less Ordinary'. This is the same idea. I have always enjoyed those 'anti - icon' (as it was called in ElleGirl back in the day) features. They are a little fun, a little silly and often quite revealing about the person who wrote it. Don't think I'm only trying to be somewhat humorous though, I am dead serious. Never diss the unlikely!

Enter unlikely style hero numero uno...

Who? Gritty children's book author Jacqueline Wilson

What? My childhood heroine. Before I spent too much time on the internet or being hungover, I read a lot (specifically the glory days of like age six to say twelve). I wanted to be just like Wilson...except I'd illustrate my own books (eh Nick Sharratt eat your heart out).

[But] Why? My silver-haired sister was one of my first style icons solely because of her ring - cluttered fingers. I maintain an obsession with those who generously don finger furniture to this day - a ring for every finger is my ultimate goal...to be just like Jackie.

I am a horrible hoarder and am not going to relinquish my childhood books any time soon

Current daily ring count stands at five. (I have a few others which I don't tend to wear though).

Right: Turquoise and Marcasite - an 18th birthday gift from my friends, silver and large stone (my most recent acquisition, birthday gift from my sister and bought in Boston), Left: Silver and jade stone stacking ring ( need more of these!), rose gold wedding band (My great Grandmother's, and probably my most prized possession of late.), silver signet ring ( I got this way back when! My confirmation! Fits the pinkie!).

Coincidently, whilst on a bus in Boston recently, I met a middle-aged man who was keen to strike up conversation about my rings. Random Man: 'You've one for every finger!' Me: 'eh..there's still a few to go..' , Random Man: Do they each mean something different?' Me: 'Sorta...well I guess so... *trails off*'

that'll be the day

2011-06-29T17:28:00.001+01:00

90s' Moss, Jil Sander hot pink (again), Lilac matchy - matchy ness and tied shirts, Florence - plaits and funky shades, girly pink and grungy boots, pastel nails and super sized rings, bright holiday luggage (credit)

savage beauty: a response

2011-06-28T01:40:00.006+01:00

From the Romantic Primitivism gallery.

“People find my things sometimes aggressive. But I don’t see it as aggressive. I see it as romantic, dealing with a dark side of personality.”

While the internet is teeming with coverage of the Alexander McQueen exhibition, Savage Beauty, I really wanted to write something of a personal response to it having anticipated it so much and been lucky enough to catch it.

First things first, I would never claim to be the most knowledgeable of McQueen or even to have been his biggest fan (such a complex character warrants equally complex questions after all), but this exhibition is sort of, I am not sure how to put it, but it's really very special. And there is no doubt, that it provides a master class in exactly how an exhibition should be curated - it's perfect; everything from lighting to music to additions such as mirrored cabinets and dresses eerily rotating... it is astonishing.

I got to the exhibition at about half past ten in the morning. This is advised or even earlier (the Met opens at 9.30 I think). Passing the adjoining corridor later on in the day, there was an enormous queue, stretching back through the gallery for seemingly miles. Even at the time I got there, the exhibition hall was exceptionally crowded (despite no queue into the exhibition space) which does unfortunately hamper enjoyment a tiny bit. There is a good deal of weaving in and out of people and you might require something of a brass neck if you want a closer look at something.

Such technicalities aside, the exhibition was one of the highlights of my recent holiday. The pieces on show are, without being all gushy about it, breathtaking. There is no other word for it. At points (to be exact the Romantic Gothic room which is like a gothic chamber with gilt cabinets featuring some of McQueen's most extravagant and darkly glamorous creations) my eyes actually prickled a little with tears. It is incredibly moving and the apt McQueen quotes scattered throughout are especially powerful.

I guess, the most poignant aspect of the exhibition is provided in such quotes (in conjunction with the pieces they are displayed alongside). The quotes reveal McQueen's startling fascination with death: '"I oscillate between life and death, happiness and sadness, good and evil." These snippets into McQueen's psyche suggest that for McQueen, death was not something to be feared but a natural part of our disposition as human beings. Alas, the designer maintained that our existence on earth was all to fleeting to hold on to. He appears to have been simultaneously obsessed with notions of transience and making a mark, and indeed, McQueen embraced both with equal pomp. His utter preoccupation with such matters makes the magnificent clothing on display appear not so much tinged with tragedy but as remnants of some extraordinary war of the mind ( heightened by that signature slashed McQueen quality of many of the works exhibited). They are devastating in their tragedy as much as they are in their beauty and genius.

But aside from such melancholic matters, there is also the affirming nature of the exhibition - affirming in the fashion sense. People are all to generous to brand all fashion as art but I doubt there is any one who has seen this exhibition who didn't come away thinking: 'Mind. Blown'. And this is mind-blowing stuff. It's perfect and terrible, frightening and sublime, fierce and vulnerable all at once. It's like swallowing a sweet elixir laced with poison. Indeed, it is difficult to come to any complete conclusion about what McQueen really saw women as. On one hand, there are beautiful feathered ballgowns and McQueen's desire for women to be strong as opposed to 'naive' (a statement as regard this really struck a chord with me..and perhaps, deserves further consideration) and on the other, there's his fixation with form-constriction and S&M. Like with any artist, there are few clear cut answers.

On finishing the exhibition, my sister and I were exhausted. It's not very long, we're not talking a giant, open gallery space but it is very tightly composed and in my opinion, of a perfect size. We were amazed though at how, perhaps, without even realising it, what the exhibition took out of us. We were mentally drained, and the rest of the (enormous) gallery seemed liked an unnecessary mountain that needed to be climbed afterwards. We did wander about though, and as much as I enjoyed the modern and contemporary art works, I could not help but feel haunted in the aftermath. Somehow, I felt chillingly aware of the ephemeral nature of being - here today gone tomorrow - but perhaps ultimately, haunted too by the creative capacity within us all to both trouble and amaze and maybe even someday, to inspire.

For further info visit here.

And an excellent in depth review here.

Hologram of Kate Moss, Fall '06, on view at the exhibition (set to the heartbreaking Schindler's List's score)

birthday

2011-06-24T01:34:00.002+01:00

Yesterday was my birthday. And this is what I wore out to dinner.
PS. I never get anything in UO (due to location not because of stock) so it's a total novelty.
Have yet to get back into the blogging groove...
Back on track shortly.

denim skirt

2011-06-08T23:02:00.001+01:00

I finally got that denim skirt I have been craving.

Not exactly sure about it with the pale pink tights - I think that was just a whim. But, I can see this skirt becoming a nice summer staple in my wardrobe. Denim and stripes with the converse and a tan backpack. Yes.

Also, America tomorrow. And no interneting for awhile. Till then guyz.

bank holiday weekend

2011-06-06T17:03:00.006+01:00

From top - A chunk of my clothes. Trying to pack for my holiday today. I am going to New York and Boston on Thursday. My first time Stateside and I am very excited! Feel free to leave any recommendations!

Bottle with yellow rose. My friend and I spotted this weird 'Curiosity Cola' in Tesco last week and bought it. It was quite nice actually and I rather adore the retro bottle. I think it makes a rather nice flower vase. How crafty of me.

Yours Truly.

I am so late on the Mushroom nail polish trend. Please tell me what the latest 'it' shade is. Coral? Mint? Dove grey? Barry M Mushroom for anyone who is tardy with nail polish trends too.

Converse yo. Man, I am lame. I really really don't want to gush about Converse cos everyone on earth (with the exception of me up to two days ago has a pair), but I really really like them.

This isn't too exciting, but it's kind of simple and summary and I like that about it.
Dress, Cardigan - Topshop
Leggings, bag - Warehouse
T-shirt - Zara
Sandals - Nine West

haters gonna hate

2011-06-03T23:36:00.003+01:00

A few months back I was involved in a university activity whereby I had to stop random people on campus and chat to them about a campaign. In these types of situations (ie. stopping randomers) people are bound to be a bit rude and a bit irritable. It’s all part of the package and you just accept that it’s nothing personal if someone ignores you or is rude or whatever. However, that’s all fine and dandy until someone does actually say something personal to you.

Going about the task in hand, I approached a group of girls, told them what I was doing and handed them a flyer which they accepted. One of the girls then turned to the group and said something to which I don’t recall in its totality but where I do remember being referred to as a ‘freak’.

I was well within earshot, right beside them in fact and heard her perfectly. To be absolutely honest, I was shocked. My jaw dropped. I gasped. It had been a long time since I had been name-called in such a manner. While I admit the reason was not a pressing cultural matter, but rather due to a fashion related choice (to be exact: my beloved slightly cat-eye/'superhero’ red sunglasses), but still, it was completely unexpected and perhaps, you can agree, uncalled for.

In my first year of secondary school, we had an event where we didn’t have to wear our uniform for a day. I was all dressed up; nothing really outlandish but I guess not exactly what anyone else was wearing either, and someone stuck a label on my back saying ‘Loser’. When that girl called me a ‘freak’ that day, I was transported back some seven years previously and briefly made feel exactly the same way.

I have never considered myself a very individual dresser, but I do acknowledge that I take risks from time to time and am willing to try out new trends. In recent years, I have toned it down a lot. When I was about 17, I used to dress far more ‘out there’ compared to now, and at this present moment, my tastes are drifting to a more simple pared down aesthetic (ugh! If I had a cent for every time I have said this recently!) and slightly more practical and comfortable clothing with longevity as opposed to faddy trend pieces or ridiculous sparkly fripperies.

But I digress. Before you think I went home and cried myself to sleep and wallowed for three days, moaning to any poor soul who so happened to cross my path. I didn’t. I got over it and pushed it to the back of my mind (likewise, I am not painting myself as some brave warrior either...it’s a case of sunglasses for God’s sake, we’re not talking life and limbs here...). But what’s the ultimate point in this heart to heart? I guess I was disappointed; disheartened that narrow-mindedness and name calling can exist in the university, so called ‘free spirited’ environment. I didn’t know the girl. I never saw her again, couldn’t pick her out of a line – up, but her sheer intolerance of someone else’s appearance, disgusted me.

As I said earlier, I am by no means some discount version of Daphne Guinness or Susie Lau (who actually used to refer to the negative response her clothing would garner in public from time to time in the earlier days of her blog) when it comes to outrageous fashion choices...but if a pair of wacky sunglasses can instigate such a negative response...it certainly makes you consider that sometimes stepping out in bizarre or even just slightly ‘out there’ clothing is a brave move all in its own right.

PS. I can’t actually wear the sunglasses in question anymore as they were very cheap (Five euro at a festival if we're talking specifics here!) and are now peeling. I am on the look-out for proper pair of cat - eyes though!

start of the summer

2011-06-01T16:45:00.001+01:00

Yet another inspiration post..bear with me. Trying to find my feet since finishing my exams ie. cleaning my room and aimlessly sitting around.
I am though quite clear about what I want to wear at the moment...well I say 'clear' loosely, I do tend to be a bit of a flake after all. This sort of sums up what I am after (sort of ...I still want to shamelessly embrace the bright colour trend at the moment...), but other than wild flirtations with luminous colour (yellow, pink, orange, green..the whole 'taste the rainbow' spectrum), I want to scamper about in denim with runners, shirts and stripes and I am hankering after a refreshingly utilitarian backpack. I am also obsessed with socks at the minute - ankle socks with heels and knee-highs with midi skirts. A nice pair of chunky heels wouldn't go amiss either...

i saw sunflowers growing up

2011-05-22T18:41:00.000+01:00

On my mind today: Denim skirt and top - Topshop, the perfect back - pack [source], Alexa Chung for Vogue UK June 2011, Alexander McQueen's Savage Beauty exhibition at the Met, Portraits of Joanna Newsom in orange and red by Glynis Selina Arban

it's just good manners

2011-05-22T01:34:00.006+01:00

As I mentioned in yesterday’s super speedy post, I caught a glimpse of the Queen on Friday during her visit to Cork. Unfortunately, she was a good deal away from me, but I still saw her and you know, it was pretty cool and all.

I surprised myself with how readily I jumped on this Queen bandwagon, but it’s safe to say that the majority of people here in Ireland (myself obviously included) following her four day visit, really warmed to the sprightly old lady. It was a hugely exciting and momentous occasion and not one to be regarded apathetically or cynically, considering our traumatic history with Britain. And anyway, she is so dainty, you cannot help but like her just a little bit.

Watching the news last night, journalist Olivia O' Leary made a really astute comment, remarking on the symbolic nature of Queen Elizabeth's green ensemble on arriving in Ireland. Yeah...the cyncial amongst us (and there are a lot, and generally I reside amongst them...) will guffaw at such a statement, but it is a rather nice statement to make, and also a nice commentary on the way clothes can and do possess the power to be somewhat political. Besides, the Queen is a very well dressed elderly person and I always appreciate a set of pearls and an extravagant hat. Throw in a diamond crown and it makes it all the better.

This post is for my friend Michele, with whom I enjoyed a great day in honour of the Queen’s visit.

[source]

Some regal inspiration, if you so please.

green piece

2011-05-20T22:16:00.003+01:00

The gorgeous Claire of Young Shields, Yoko Ono's "Sun Piece", miscellaneous image, A.P.C., Acne, the always cool Stevie of Discotheque Confusion, Garance Dore image of (Jil Sander/Jil Sander esque ?) ensemble, a seriously delightful dining room, miscellaneous image x 2

Having a green moment. It's summer. I am almost finished my exams and I saw the Queen today.
I want denim A-Line skirts, stripes and eh...green a plenty.

spot the difference

2011-05-18T21:11:00.005+01:00

Gerhard Richter's Horst with Dog in the home of former MoMA president Agnes Gund and

Louise Lawlor 's Pollock with Tureen (1984).

I find this kind of thing interesting and wanted to share. Postmodernism, wah.

With the risk of sounding like my lecturer, what statement does the grand piece of art make when its taken out of the gallery and placed in some rich man/woman's home?
While studying I came across the profile of Gund's home. If you click the link above, you can see other examples (perhaps most particularly the Lichtenstein...I'm just fond of Richter) of what Lawlor is questioning in her work.

(maybe for another day...eerily similar to the question I rather unsuccessfully answered in my exam today. Never mind)

All time favourites.

Cassie and Deb in sailer tops.

More coherent posts soon. I promise.

sundae (should be studying scrapbook)

2011-05-08T18:59:00.005+01:00

Strictly speaking I am still refraining from blogging for the time being, but I felt like sharing a few things today.

Skirt - H&M
Top, Cardigan - Topshop
Shoes - Bershka

I had a family occasion today and wore my new skirt. My mother actually bought me this skirt in H&M while she was in Boston recently. It's a 'midi' and I quite love it. Peach pleated silky material with rust, blue-grey and buttercup-coloured pattern – I think it’s insanely pretty, I can only gush! It is on the right side of granny-ish too, something which you know I am always keen to embrace and play around with. While I stuck with that sort of demure/ladylike thing today, in the future I’d like to pair this with my coral wedges, socks and a contrasting t-shirt.

Painting of the day: Madame Recamier, 1800, Jacques-Louis David

Gosh, she’s lovely.

From the Louvre website:

'Madame Récamier, gracefully reclined on a meridienne with her head turned towards the viewer, is dressed in a white antique-style sleeveless dress and is barefoot. The room is empty except for the antique-style sofa, stool and candelabra. She is seen from some distance, so her face is quite small, but this is less a portrait of a person than of an ideal of feminine elegance. Madame Récamier (1777-1849), although then only twenty-three, was already one of the most admired women of her time. The daughter of a notary, she epitomized the social ascension of the new post-revolutionary elite. Her husband, older than her, had become one of the principal financial backers of the First Consul, Napoleon Bonaparte. In their mansion, restored by the architect Percier and furnished by the cabinetmaker Jacob, the couple entertained numerous writers, some of whom - like Benjamin Constant or Chateaubriand - fell passionately in love with Madame Récamier. '

And gosh, Joanna is always lovely. A lullaby for the day:

caution: rant ahead

2011-05-02T01:19:00.008+01:00

I love a rant. Especially when it’s something I am really passionate about. And readers of this blog will know that one of those things just happens to be The Full Skirt. The following quote from a Sunday supplement has seriously ticked me off. Consider:

"It's finally happened - we've had our fill of Mad Men style...real women don't wear the sort of asinine, full skirts favoured by the rather beige Betty. If nothing else, they're impossible to do without looking annoyingly prim and smug, and like you're in fancy dress..."

Bashing ma fave show forever aside (even I have to admit that Mad Men fashion trend coverage and general gushing over MM can become nothing short of exhausting from time to time......actually scratch that, I for one would never describe Betty as ‘beige’ and probably anyone who has ever watched more than five minutes of the show wouldn’t either....but whatever..), but describing The Full Skirt as ‘asinine’ and not something to be ever worn by a ‘real woman’ (seriously, I thought there was a ban on that ludicrous phrase?!) has instigated such a fury in me that I have had to temporarily return to blogging (even though I am supposedly refraining from blogging for the time being due to impending exams...).

Yours Truly wearing beloved nine-layered full skirt. 'Course I'm just being ridic..

I hate this common idea that anything out of the ordinary is considered impractical or ridiculous. Pedestrian views like that earn no brownie points from me, I’m afraid. I enjoy wearing full skirts because I believe they inject something of the fantastical into my run of the mill life. I don’t wear them so that I can ‘pretend’ to be fifties’ housewife, but rather feel it’s important to wear clothes that can be unexpected and not entirely accepting of what the status quo deems should be worn.

It is views precisely like this (supplement's) one that perpetuate the notion that women have to be dressed in a certain manner in order to be (a) considered attractive and (b) taken seriously. And surely, we can all agree that such opinions are downright insulting and should not be taken lightly.

Personally, I don’t really see what’s so ‘asinine’ about the full skirt...but perhaps, that’s just crazy old granny-ish me?! I don’t consider such skirts as fancy dress...yeah, they’re fancy but not costume, there’s a difference. I’m not going to rehash my previous full skirt post, but I am firmly of the opinion that the full skirt is a very political garment that raises a lot of questions regarding notions of feminine appearance and what this means. Regardless of that, I don’t think there’s anything ‘asinine’ in one’s effort to try and feel a bit special, a little bit grand, goddamit a bit of a princess (all the rage now what with recent royal weddingry) as they go about their day to day activities. But then again what would I know, I’m a ‘prim’ and ridiculous ‘rather beige Betty’....

And now back to the study...

2011-04-27T20:34:00.001+01:00

Willem De Kooning, Untitled

It really does pain me to do one of those 'Be right back' posts, but as circumstances arise I'm afraid I am left with no alternative. Besides, I really will be right back.

postcard

2011-04-19T12:21:00.002+01:00

A birthday message to my sister (and keen reader of the blog, mind you!) in Boston.

Dear Fiona,

Happy Birthday! I’m not so sure how happy you’ll be to see me wearing your skirt and scarf, but it was a once off occasion I assure you! But...I was going for a...cough...Audrey Hepburn sort of thing, and surely, as a fan I thought you would appreciate my attempts...

I am at home today and trying to study. I started reading Wide Sargosso Sea – should have read this ages ago, I think I mentioned it before – but it’s short and exceptionally well written. I’ll let you know how I get on with it.

I have the Art Soc exhibition tonight, looking forward to it. And it’s sunny here and you are missing the snooker! I am sure you are keeping tabs though!

Sammy is being annoying – dramatic and silly and generally quite bold, you know how he is though. And that cat Mikado! Ran into the house the other day and ate Sam’s food! Who knew animals could be so bothersome?!

Anyway, I hope you have a good day, looking forward to seeing you soon – films will be watched again!

Lots of love,

Kat x

sunday

2011-04-17T22:02:00.001+01:00

Mother of Pearl a/w 2011, Paul Weller, Justine Frischmann for I-D 1994, Asos lookbook

It is Sunday and I have so much to do.

But, more bright inspiration.

For the week ahead.

Well, for when I go shopping.

Sometime...

The wardrobe is painfully empty of what I desire right now.

Ps. I know it's silly of me - but I reached 400 followers today. Aw yeah.

Thanks you guys!

new colour

2011-04-15T12:54:00.009+01:00

Skirt - Zara

Top - H&M

Shoes - Topshop

Belt - River Island

I found this skirt in the back of my wardrobe the other day. It’s an item I’ve had with two years but can count on one hand how many times I’ve worn it. I like the bright green though and pairing it with the stripes is the sort of Jil Sander inspiration that is playing constantly on my mind at the moment (see my last post, and really I am by no means alone in this). And the coral wedges provide just that bit more colour too.

And while 'Brights' are the ubiquitous trend for s/s, this is the first time I have really wanted to embrace that. I particularly like the idea of pairing brights with neutrals or stripes like above to prevent 'bright-induced-nausea'. Yeah...I invented that ailment, but you know what I mean...

the... dare I say it...must have

2011-04-14T18:12:00.003+01:00

I hate ‘fashion phrases’ like ‘what’s hot/what’s not’, ‘in’, ‘out’, ‘bang on trend’ and ‘must have’. They make me want to vom all over the place. And while I generally try to refrain from such moronic jargon, I will wheel out the ‘must have’ term on this occasion.

I was shopping a few weeks back in Topshop with Mummy Dearest when I saw the above sleeveless top with exposed zip in coral, and despite its seemingly non-descript quality, I really really wanted it. I didn’t actually buy it though (Mother wasn’t convinced by the 'sheer simplicity'), and I am now residing in utter regret. Goddammit.

This top is ....a ‘must have’ though. It is the epitome of what we want to wear right now. And while it is so very simple – no designs, no frills, no details, no gimics –, it is this very simplicity that attracted me to it. And of course, the clean, bright colour.

The colour is particularly the element that elevates this from ‘meh sleeveless top’ to ‘oooh sleeveless top’. I know its a thing for colour to be the ‘story of the season’ (more of that talk...bear with me!) for s/s and even more so this year. I want to pair one of these tops with my long grey jersey skirt in a sort of homage to the show of the season (and one which I predict will resonate for good while to come), Jil Sander. Colour and Simplicity have never appealed more.

monday

2011-04-04T22:26:00.007+01:00

A quick collage I made of s/s inspiration.

Peach (although, it's beginning to get a bit tiresome...), Vibrant colour, Green, Midi skirts, Long skirts, Wedges, Knee high socks, Innovative layering.

image advanced style, via the man repeller

Watch the video linked below, please do, it's so very short, but SO very special. I actually saw this first on What Will I Wear Today's Facebook page. But, it's precisely why I find more mature women so inspiring. I posted last week about my fascination with elderly women's style, but somewhat crucially failed to mention the risk-taking of such women. THIS is what is especially awesome. You gotta love their 'I don't really give a shit' attitude. More of this, I say.

'You don't want to look crazy. The object is to look as chic as you can, but your average person in the street would never wear this.'

This link makes me so very happy, please click!.

I'm not trying to be all hipster on you and post a blurry I Phone shot..but rather had to use my Dad's camera and didn't fix the settings properly.

I was thinking though that I generally don't do those sort of 'well, this is what I wore in College today' outfit posts, so here's one for a change. Nothing exciting, but I think perhaps, it's interesting to see what people wear when they're just hanging around or making essay deadlines like I was today.

Btw I cut my hair...maybe, more on this to come...

Skirt - River Island

Shoes, Cardigan - Topshop

Shirt - Zara (was my Sister's)

running around

2011-04-02T17:00:00.002+01:00

I was sitting outside the Student Centre in college a few days ago (if you know me in ‘real’ life, you will be well aware that this is no isolated event by any means...) when a thought occurred to me. There was a line of girls sitting near me and each one was wearing a pair of brogues. Something clicked then. The former old footwear staple of the ‘indie chick’ (cough) had now become a fully fledged feature of the mainstream.

The brogue has an interesting history – menswear roots, boarding school connotations, Teddy Girls... to Bang! sometime in the noughties the brogue became the footwear choice of ever vintage – loving, canvas tote carrying, indie band-bopping girl. Topshop, of course what with its ENORMOUS influence and vast and varied selection had a big part to play in their quickly growing popularity. In a way, it marked the creation of a whole new sartorial code – Brogue –wearing girl equals cool girl.

I have noticed something recently though, the brogue, now as a staple for all, is no longer the only indie go –to footwear of choice, but in a somewhat bizarre turn of events in recent times (indeed, this could class more as prediction rather than recital of fact), the runner has seemingly made a return. While these sort of statements generally make me cringe a bit because, come on now, the runner hardly disappeared from the shops or anything, I have, however, noticed a re- emergence of the runner among bloggers and 'Streetstyle Snappees' (coined a term there, maybe?!) who perhaps, in the past would have been precisely of the more Brogue – wearing variety.

Taylor Tomasi (Garance Dore) (also, super outfit, no?), Lisa C, Stevie with New Balance runners

Justine Frischmann, Susie Bubble's Liberty Nikes

Facehunter, Damon Albarn, Isabel Marat sneakers (Garance Dore), runway show (Lisa C),

Fancy (Garance Dore), Dapper in runners(Facehunter), Converse (Facehunter)

Needless to mention, I will not be retiring my brogues to the trash just yet – I like them and their connotations TOO much. But saying that I like the idea of runners re-establishing themselves as ‘fashion’ again. That’s interesting and I’m keen to see where this might lead to. It’s also a further note in that stripped – back – practical, 90s’ approach that is so very relevant right now. While I can’t see myself heading out to Champion Sports and buying a pair of Nikes anytime soon, it really is about time I got a pair of Converse at least...I know...have never owned a pair ...mort for me too...

style is like wine...

2011-03-28T22:48:00.002+01:00

My friend Michele and I have a running joke that she knows everything about me, and to be fair she knows a lot (...) . She recently sent me a link for a blog catering in, how shall we say... mature street style, Advanced Style. Michele is well aware of my supreme fondness and appreciation for well dressed people of a more mature variety.

I find elderly people continually inspiring in the manner in which they dress. And for a number of reasons. My mother jokes that I dress like a granny and while this may not be true all the time, there is certainly some fact in this. Big cardigans, long skirts, tweed, checks, button up shirts, pearls, handbags, brooches, gloves, thick knit tights all bear a granny vibe and feature frequently in my own attire. And it’s not just me, among many others, style blogger extraordinaire Tavi of The Style Rookie continually looks to the older generation for style inspiration.

Peggy Guggenheim, image from Advanced Style, Tavi of The Style Rookie

Jean Paul Gautier a/w '11, Iris Apfel, Grace Kelly

Image from Advanced Style, random image, the Duchess of Devonshire for Vanity Fair

I think one of the main reasons why our grandparents are increasingly becoming our style icons is partially to do with a desire to reclaim some manner of ‘effort’ and put – togetherness in our dressing. Often it is deemed a faux pas to express either in an outfit: ‘No I cannot have shown a thought process in my outfit!!!’. When I see a well dressed elderly lady or gent, it’s this put-togetherness that strikes me. Often neat and tidy and fastidious in their attention to detail – polished shoes or a perfectly pinned brooch. Of course, I am quite the granny too in the sense that I cringe and die a little when I see too much flesh exposed...

But it’s this detail, detail, detail – meticulous and intriguing and often seeped in personal resonance. Sloppy dressing is fine some of the time, but being a little put together can sometimes and surprisingly be the more interesting of the two. Happy Matching!

spring thinking

2011-03-28T13:02:00.002+01:00

Francoise Hardy, William Morris wallpaper, Jane Birkin, Edna O' Brien

Morning sunlight beyond the curtain, Cassie from Skins, Simone de Beauvoir

Rome window, Clemence Poesy, stripes and denim.

why paint?

2011-03-20T18:33:00.001Z

Henri Matisse, 1905, Woman with a Hat

I study art history, and my classes are predominantly concerned with the question: "Why paint?". "Why paint when we have photography?, "Why paint when we have film?", "Why paint when we can shove a load of stuff onto the canvas instead?", "Why paint when when it no longer has a place in society?", "Why paint we can make art from physical objects now?" , "Why paint when we are no longer able to distinguise good/bad art?". etc etc

This is one of my favourite paintings.
The colour. The colour. The colour.
And I think it pretty much answers the question: "Why paint?".

oh na na what's my name

2011-03-15T20:47:00.001Z

I'm an awful procrastinator. I was meant to post this about two months ago, but somehow never got around to it. Like a few other bloggers the lovely people at mynamenecklace.ie offered me a necklace, and while generally I don't do these kind of things, being the narcissist that I am, really did want a necklace with my name on it. Besides, Carrie; need I say more?!
It's a little kitsch, it's a little fun - what's not to like?
Check out their website here

Oh and yeah, aren't I cool with my Rihanna.

2011-03-12T11:21:00.001Z

in awe

2011-02-28T09:11:00.000Z

It's 9 a.m. and I have two deadlines to make, but I had to post this.

I caught some of Live From the Red Carpet last night, and when I saw Cate Blanchett's dress, I actually exclaimed:'OH my goodness'...not something I generally utter..

True, you cannot go wrong with Givency Haute Couture (as Coco at Coco's Tea Party reminded me; last year it was Zoe Saldana in the dream Givency gown.)

Cate looks so elegant and and statuesque in this most intricate and exquisite of dresses. This is how it's done.

out of this world

2011-02-20T19:22:00.001Z

Several years ago I visited the Peggy Guggenheim Gallery in Venice with my family, and surely, it is one of the most special and intimate art collections there is. Situated in this glorious Palazzo on the Grand Canal, the museum houses startling pieces of modern art. If asked to sum up the museum and the experience in one word, bright is the only word for it. The museum itself, although small, is bright and light - filled, the art – the Kandinsky’s, the Picasso’s – all so bright and vivid and mesmerizing in their shocking colour, and the sun outside hot and bright in the picturesque courtyard.

Vassily Kandinsky, Landscape with Red Spots No.2, 1913 (source)

The Venetian museum’s art collection is astonishing. I can remember staring at Kandinsky’s Landscape with Red Spots No. 2 , not knowing what it was about, but knowing that those vivacious multi – coloured daubs of paint stunned something within, and that there was power in that colour. Or a Francis Bacon quietly tucked away in a corner and a bronze cast of Brancusi’s Bird in Space residing in the hall way – it doesn’t get much better.

Nude Descending a Staircase, Marcel Duchamp, 1913, The Empire of Light, Rene Magritte, 1953-54, Study for Chimpanzee, Francis Bacon, 1957.

But, the really fascinating thing about the museum is the woman behind it. Peggy Guggenheim was a fascinating and some might even say scandalous woman. From her father’s tragic but morbidly – glamorous death aboard the Titanic to her affairs with artists including Max Ernst and friendships and affiliations with artistic heavyweights such as Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp and patron to none other than Jackson Pollack, Peggy had a sensational life – as bizarre and as enthralling as the modern art she was partial to.

Peggy before Picasso's On the Beach, 1968, (getty), Peggy and Jackson Pollack with Pollack's mural in background, (source), Peggy holding an artwork by her daughter Pegeen Vail, 1948, (source), Peggy's portrait by Man Ray, 1924 (rijksmusuem)

Peggy was no angel – now, there’s an understatement. She had poor relationships with her children and seemingly spent a life recklessly pursuing men to make up for the premature loss of her beloved father. But regardless, Peggy is rather brilliant. In 1942 she opened her New York gallery, Art of This Century Gallery, which played a critical role in providing a platform for new artists’ works in New York at the time. Her image was cultivated as art patron rather than art dealer, and Guggenheim commented on the opening of her gallery: “Opening this gallery and its collection to the public during a time when people are fighting for their lives and freedom is a responsibility of which I am fully conscious. This undertaking will serve its purpose only if it succeeds in serving the future instead of recording the past.” Indeed, Peggy seemed to be wholly aware of the democratic aspirations of abstract art.

In 1947 she closed the Art of This Century Gallery, and in 1949 she established herself at the Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal, Venice. Peggy’s collection contains masterpieces by Picasso, Braque, Kandinsky, Duchamp, Magritte, Miro, Mondrian, Malevich, Dali, Pollack...a who’s who of abstract, surrealist and Dada art of the early twentieth century.

All art and sensation aside, my particular fascination with Peggy has a lot to do with her trademark butterfly sunglasses...I’m a sucker for the weird and wonderful. I hear she quite liked couture too AND just take a look at her beloved Lhaso Apso doggies whom she was buried with.

the beautiful ones

2011-02-13T14:05:00.004Z

Morrissey, David Bowie, Jarvis Cocker,
Paul Weller, Brett Anderson, Paul Weller,
Jarvis Cocker, Alex James, Brett Anderson,
Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey, Alex James, David Bowie

"English men are more effete - than those of other cultures. From Byron to Shelley to Jarvis Cocker by way of Morrissey, the English affection for the Dandy, the fop and the long - haired, snake - hipped male lives on."
- Luella Bartley, Luella's Guide to English Style

And so, I quote Luella again. I think this is going to happen A LOT.

But, she's right though, isn't she?

There is this certain type of elegant male rock star that England does seem to breed. And I, for one, love this pretty guy with his guitar and undercurrent of masculinity - the sexual ambiguity of it all.

The floppy dark hair and the excellent and meticulous sense of style, the cheek bones, the cigarette and occasional dabbling in make - up; a deliciously androgynous concoction.

Also, so nineties too..and that's such a good thing right now.

images: lastfm.com, ohitsthe90s.tumblr

further

2011-02-06T23:56:00.004Z

I am really enjoying thralling through the spring collections at the moment. Perhaps, because yes, spring has seemingly sprung, but also, a lot of designers hit the nail bang on the head for me this season.

I love the MaxMara collection above. So simple what with a clean - lined, late 90s' - ness that just seems so now at the moment. I also love the bright colours - zingy lemon and oranges and that brilliant shade of purple - pink. I love the cute little belts and the shorts and the colour blocks. Like Jil Sander's collection, it's zeitgeist capturing.

Although, Paul Smith's collection is fussy in places, I am a compete sucker for anything teddy boy - ish (the hair) and also, a buttoned shirt and general androgyny. Also, brogues..yes, please.

reconsidering the full skirt

2011-02-06T02:22:00.007Z

Dior Haute Couture Spring 2011

The thing about Dior couture is that it is always about the full skirt.

The full skirt begins and ends with Dior.

The full skirt is Dior.

But what is it about the full skirt?

Last season saw the obsession with the full skirt go universal, spreading far beyond the House of Dior. Rather than Dior and his New Look, it was all about Mad Men, and Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton and Prada and ‘the new woman’ etc etc. With this resurgence in popularity, it is now more obvious than ever before that the full skirt is a contested garment – but, how feminine really is the full skirt?

When Christian Dior designed a series of collections in the post war period it was all about exaggeration of the female form. The New Look introduced the enormous form fitting/form constricting, inevitably beautiful full skirt into the female wardrobe. The full skirt became an important symbol of the constructed fantasy society in a world reinventing itself after war. The female form was certainly glorified in Dior’s creations, but whether the full skirt was a true representation of femininity or a caricature playing to male expectations of the female body is open to debate.

Dior full skirt 1950s, January Jones as Mad Men's Betty Draper, Ingres, Portait of Madamn Moitessier, Elle UK editoral 2010, Louis Vuitton a/w 2010, SJP as Carrie Bradshaw

The changing lengths and shapes of skirts is a fascinating topic, and with the emergence of the mini skirt in the 1960s, suddenly, Dior’s skirt was matronly. With little leg on show in comparison, it is perhaps, difficult to consider that the full skirt could ever have been perceived as playing to the male gaze.

Indeed, it’s strange how the perception of garments can change overtime. While I love 50s’ full skirts, a part of me realizes that there was something not entirely feminine about them in this period. They certainly accentuated the female form but to what degree, celebratory or otherwise? In the social context of the day, the full skirt was just another element in a society dominated by man with the passive, albeit exceptionally dressed , woman by his side.

Close up of a full skirt at Erdem s/s 2011

But, can the full skirt be considered in the same way in the twenty - first century?

In my opinion, nowadays the full skirt can be viewed in an entirely different manner. Society has changed astonishingly since the 1950s and therefore, it is impossible to view an item like the full skirt in the same way. The full skirt now can be considered as a bid to reclaim some of that femininity that over time has been lost. Accentuating the female form in the manner of Dior, is far different to the manner in which body con dresses today aim to do the same.

The full skirt is political. It may conceal in comparison to some of our modern wardrobe choices, but it retains some of Dior’s original fantasy - and an element of fantasy and fun is something I believe clothes should generally try and possess. It’s not granny-ish and fusty, but it’s a garment enriched with conflict and social debate. It celebrates the female form, it always has done, but now it is women reclaiming the full skirt for themselves.

spring 2011

2011-02-05T00:04:00.003Z

Row 1: Cacharel, Rochas, Jil Sander, Johnathan Saunders,

Row 2: Johnathan Saunders, Stella McCartney, Johnathan Saunders, Cacharel

Row 3: Mary Katrantzou, Christopher Kane, Jil Sander, Erdem,

Row 4: Rochas, Rochas, Christopher Kane, Prada

A few of my personal favourite looks.

Probably more to come.

images - style.com

is this goodbye?

2011-01-31T21:13:00.007Z

2007 was the year I started blogging and therefore, the trends/collections/etc of that time are particularly significant in my memory. In 2007 everyone was still debating over Kate Moss, obsessed with Balenciaga’s ‘Boho tec’ collection and Style Bytes was the number one style blog. While not an obsession per say, there was plenty talk about Cory Kennedy too on blogs. ‘Who?’, some might ask in 2011.

Cory was the epitome of the hipster craze that resurfaced circa the mid – late noughties. Kennedy was an ‘internet celebrity’, wild child, rich kid spotted by Mark Hunter (AKA The Cobrasnake) in September 2005. She took up an internship with Hunter and was frequently featured on The Cobrasnake website. Kennedy went on to become the face of Urban Decay cosmetics, appeared on the covers of Nylon and The New York Post, had a campaign shot by Terry Richardson, and graced the cover of the Los Angeles Times, with a several page article titled "'It Girl' Interrupted”. And if you are so inclined, you can still catch up on Cory’s...ahem...cough...not- exactly ‘It Girl’ – any - longer antics on her blog (itscorykennedy.wordpress.com/).

Cory is the perfect example of the noughties’ famous – for – doing - nothing phenomenon, but perhaps, even more interesting, is that there is something of Edie Sedgwick about her - one second she was ‘It’ and the next, well chewed up and spit out (of course, not to the same tragic extent as Edie, but there is a certain similarity in the sort of fame they both experienced). Incidentally, a snoop through her Fashion Spot thread proves to be very revealing, from early comments gushing: ‘I love this girl’, ‘Cory rocks’ ‘So glad she has her own thread’, 'I wish I was that cool when I was 16' to later comments exclaiming: ‘She looks awful’, ‘What happened?’, ’She lost her spark’, ‘She tries to hard’, ‘I pity this girl’. Indeed, a clear and rather sad indication of her fall from grace.

Cory Kennedy, for Nylon, Jack Kerouac, Edie Sedgewick, Cory with Mary Kate Olsen, Cory for Russh

Cory was the archetypical female hipster, and who’s to say that Cory’s not a hipster anymore? No one, instead rather, we’ve moved on, Cory and co. are generally not the sort of people we want to emulate any longer. The hipster subculture of the noughties was a far cry from the original hipster subculture. The term originally appeared in the 1940s, and since then has come to describe young, generally urban, middle – class people who reject mainstream culture. In the past, figures such as Jack Kerouac have been associated with the hipster movement. A 2009 Time article provides some of the best statements pertaining to the modern hipster: ‘Everything about them is exactingly constructed to give off the vibe that they just don't care.".. “ take your grandmother's sweater and Bob Dylan's Wayfarers, add jean shorts, Converse All-Stars and a can of Pabst and bam — hipster."

To a certain extent the noughties' hipster did reject the mainstream, but for most people the modern hipster trend was, and especially now, considered as a vacuous pursuit of the ‘cool’. Rejection of certain mainstream values and expectations can be commended to a degree, but their obsession with an effortless yet inevitably constructed image, recklessness and sloppy demeanour (despite often being significantly well off) reeked of distaste to many.

In 2011 it would appear that the hipster subculture is on the way down. It will be a slow decline (Subcultures start somewhere else and then spread slowly. By the time it is taking off in one place another one is beginning elsewhere.). The early 2010s are likely to express a shift away from the sloppy and ironic dressing as favoured by Cory Kennedy and her fellow noughties’ hipsters. I think there will be a new desire to look put together (albeit in a simple, fuss free manner with a focus on quality and longevity) as opposed to looking thrown together.

pink is punk

2011-01-23T15:56:00.007Z

For Christmas I got the best book ever *hyperbole*... *ish*. Luella Bartley’s ‘Luella’s Guide to English Style’ is truly awesome. Luella IS me...or at least, she gets me...no mean feat, mind you. We wax lyrical about the same things – well dressed old women, punks, mods and the whole sphere of brilliant British subcultures, fashion and class, The Clash, Vivienne Westwood, tutus, ‘fashion is fun’, irony and contrast and juxtaposition...I could go on, but I won’t.

Of course, Luella is my ultimate girl crush (my heart still hasn’t healed since her label ceased trading last winter..). But, her fashion is MY fashion. I agree with every single thing she says in this gorgeous tome. Luella, I owe you a lot. Clearly, we’re soul sisters. Oh yes.

Moving on, before I self combust in rapturous applause, I was absentmindedly flicking through the book when I stumbled on one of the final chapters, Pretty in Pink (it’s the sort of book you can pick up and thumb through , plus it has pretty pretty illustrations and lovely scrapbook – y, fuzzy well chosen images), .... Only to read this:

“What gets forgotten in the tyranny of saccharine pink that is foisted upon little girls...is that until the Forties blue was considered, a girl’s colour (The Virgin Mary didn’t wear pink.) Pink was for boys. Pink should still be for boys. Pink looks great on boys. Maybe Miss E (Miss England, the ladies of England that Bartley pitches her book to) should take a leaf out of the boys’ book and think of pink as a genderless colour, part of her androgyny.”

Wait what?! I am not sure, maybe this isn’t the kind of thing to have most resolutely bowled over, but hell, I was! I had never thought about the origins of 'pink for girls' before, but of course, trust Luella to provide some food for thought. Like Ms. Bartley, I love pink. Although, I don’t wear too much of it, I am drawn to it and its complete spectrum from palest peach to brightest Barbie. For many girls, pink is an entire fascination, an obsession to obtain pink things, and needless to mention, there is little method in this madness.

Pink for girls and blue for boys is the most basic of gender related issues. Why and how was such a colour code assigned? Therefore, the idea that this is a relatively modern phenomenon is thoroughly thought provoking.

Parisian Woman, Renoir, Queen Elizabeth II, Susie Bubble, Marie Antoinette, Woman Sewing in the Garden, Mary Cassatt, Madonna detail, Cimabue, Alexa Chung, Virgin of the Rocks, Da Vinci, Kate Middleton engagement.

A small bit of research later, I discover further proof of this concept’s modernity and the slightly shocking revelation (it is shocking though, isn’t it? Or did everyone know this already all to me?) that blue was perceived a more ladylike colour in comparison to pink until relatively recently. According to the Ladies Home Journal in 1918:

"There has been a great diversity of opinion on the subject, but the generally accepted rule is pink for the boy and blue for the girl. The reason is that pink being a more decided and stronger colour is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl." (source)

It’s nothing short of bizarre in our society where pink is the non – verbal code of femininity to consider that this was not always the case, but yet why not? There is nothing in the psychology of men or women to prefer a certain colour, but rather it is like most gender attributes socially constructed. This is only further proof of how those attributes are subject to change over time.

David Bowie, random image, Vivienne Westwood, still from 'Pretty in Pink', Debbie Harry, Paul Weller Agyness Deyn, Johnny Rotten, Luella Bartley Fall 2007, The Clash, White man in Hammersmith Palais.

And back to Luella who argues that pink is the most punk of colours. I love this:

“In a drunken, semi – existential discussion in the Colony Room with Paul Simonon a few years back, he told me that The Clash used pink equipment for one of their tours. ‘Pink is the only true rock and roll colour’ he said. This was a pivotal moment for me; it gave validation to my uncertain, but adamant, position on the importance of PINK (besides being one letter away from PUNK)...Pink is in short another social code.”

Conclusion? I’ll leave the debate about pink being foisted upon females for someone more equipped than me, because really I’m just pleased that pink is punk.

hello january

2011-01-22T20:55:00.001Z

Alexa Chung, Elle UK new cover, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, Debbie Harry, group of skin head girls, Paul Poiret design.

Difficult to believe this is my first post of 2011! Have been abnormally busy recently and alas, haven't had the time to doss around blogging and whatnot. But, I am back, that's the main thing, right?! I didn't make any resolutions to quit blogging or anything daft like that, I'll have you know.

Anyway, here's to more posting, and hello again to all.

2011-01-01T00:00:00.002Z

she loves you yeah yeah yeah

2010-12-31T02:05:00.005Z

So, if I was to nominate one item from my wardrobe that I wore far too often in 2010 it would have to be the dress I got for my birthday back in June (although just to be wholly accurate, there was also a peach - pink dress with corset detailing...perhaps, another day). This was the ‘old granny’s nightie’, sheer mauve and lace dress from Topshop. It was elevated to the status of ‘much loved item’ for a number of reasons:

1. Those sleeves: Loose, sorceress sleeves were one of the biggest ‘stories’ of 2010, and boy, did I love them...and heck, this love story ain’t over yet. These sleeves make me want to cast spells and pick daisies in meadows and dance at twilight under starry skies...ahem...

2. High neck (not visible due to ridiculously thick scarf): I like dressing like I am 90 from time to time. It’s oddly liberating, dare I utter such a thing, but it is. The high neck with the little lace trim is sweet and Victorian, and indeed, I also, on occasion, like to feel as though I am in some ITV costume drama, and well, this dress facilitates that.

3. Dress up/Dress down: The single most important function of a dress – you should be able to wear it acceptably (of course with some choice tweaking here and there) during day or night. I don’t want to sound like a gushy mother, but this little one can do just that. Throw over leggings and belt her (as above), or wear with pastel tights, heels and diamond headband (as on my birthday). Oh, you little wonder, you.

4. Colour: A pretty, but a slightly unusual hue, adds to the old – fashioned feel.

5. Detail: Exposed zip on the back. A trendy detail which I always appreciate.

6. Eh...I think that’s enough gushing for one day. You get the idea. I like the dress.

penny lane

2010-12-27T18:11:00.003Z

I'm having a bit of a sixties moment.
Like many, when it comes to fashion, the sixties is my favourite decade. It's where it all began for me..obvs not in the literal since, but rather in the since that sixties' kids in their Mod suits and minis made me realize what clothes could be, and what you could be in certain clothes.
And for that reason, sixties fashion is something that I have always felt particularly loyal to.

Needless to say though, I don't do head to toe sixties on a regular basis. Like with everything, it's a mood thing more than anything. But right now, it is in full flow, a sixties stream of inspiration - The Beatles, Twiggy, leopard print, false lashes, bobs - all that cliched sixties' goodness.
I like this peter pan Topshop dress for it's somewhat kitsch take on leopard print, almost 'silly sixties', and paired with ridiculous false lashes (my first time wearing them) the kitsch element is in full (sixties') swing.

dress, bag - Topshop, shoes - penneys

2010-12-25T00:19:00.000Z

Grace Kelly gift wrapping, image - weheartit.com