John Rocha at London Fashion Week

Posing with my very stylish friend Simeon

Sorry this has taken so long to get out - it's been in my drafts for ages but in between travelling and sorting myself for uni I haven't got round to putting it up til now. A while ago now I was lucky enough to go to the John Rocha show at London Fashion Week. In light of the occasion I decided to go with something a little more directional than my usual style, dabbling in the double print trend. Prints are something that I have found myself gravitating towards more and more lately as I find they really lift a simple outfit and fit in well with my desire to wear lots of colour. Although I have owned this vintage 80s suit for ages this was the first time I had worn both halves together. I normally just wear the jacket but really liked the effect of the whole outfit and found the large print and muted tones meant it wasn't too overwhelming. I paired it with a simple back stiletto, silk vest and gold belt to give some extra polish without distracting from the main event.

 

 I arrived early and had a wonder round the courtyard checking out street style although I didn't take many pictures, feeling insecure with my obviously inferior compact camera. I also spotted a few people from blogs that I read such as Stella from Stella's Wardrobe and Diane Pernet from A Shaded View in her usual veil and sunglasses. Of course I was too shy to say hello but it was still funny and a little surreal to spot people who's lives you have read about so much - it is different to a celebrity sighting.

In the Vodaphone Lounge

My friend had got hold of Vodaphone VIP tickets and we were finally allowed into the lounge to gorge ourselves on prosecco and nibbles before the show began. Suddenly the doors opened and we rushed out to get the best position. We were standing at the back about halfway down the catwalk but had a surprisingly good view.

Waiting...

The collection was beautiful, with a big emphasis on texture and femininity. All the models were crowned with headdresses made out of organza which almost like roses and gave the show a whimsical feel. The prevailing silhouette was demure, flaring at the hips into skirts that fell to the knee or below or were layered over cigarette trousers. Although the show started ebullient with brightly coloured dresses embellished with fringing and ruffles which were layered with charming sheer jackets and coats it quickly progressed into muted pastels, yellows like old newspaper, to a second half that was much more somber and had a much more minimal feel. Some of the detailing remained but overall silhouettes were sharper and more tailored with a palette of black and white. Set against The Kill's 'Pale Blue Eyes' this gave the feeling a love affair unravelling; optimism and enthusiasm fading away into sadness and resignation.

 

Camouflage

Now that I'm no longer on holiday and Britain's mini heat wave is over I am trying to get myself back into covering up and breaking away from short, light, bright things. I absolutely adore this field print top from Zara, the colours are perfect for the end of summer and it is in a lovely silky fabric. I paired it with a pair of Miu Miu jeans that were an amazing find on clearance at TKMaxx a few years ago. When I got back to my parent's it suddenly struck me that i would be perfectly camouflaged on the recently harvested fields on our farm so I persuaded my mum to take a few pics.

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And When the Day Comes it Will Have All Been Fun...

What a great weekend this has been. Saw two artists that I absolutely adore live; Perfume Genius on Thursday and The XX on Monday, in between basked in the sunshine in the Kent countryside. If you don't know Perfume Genius then you should, he has a beautiful soft voice and sings amazingly written haunting songs. But I'm afraid you can't. I liked him first and he is already becoming far too popular - I missed out in his London gig this winter because too many people share my view on him. Yes, I am one of those people who listens to independent music and gets upset when it achieves greater success. I know it's selfish but I don't want to loose the privilege of intimate gigs and cheap seats (his gig was at The Union Chapel in Islington). No one will care when I say "I liked them first". The XX on the other hand need no introduction. Despite a sound that is very different to the majority of chart music they have become extremely popular, particularly since winning a Mercury Award for their album 'XX'. I was be lucky to get tickets for their gig for their new album 'Coexist' at The Empire Shepherds Bush since it sold out in minutes. In fact, after refreshing the page incessantly for about an hour before tickets were released I missed out on getting standing tickets in the time it took to enter my credit card details!

Perfume Genius at the Union Chapel

Here we. Here we. Here we f***ing go!

DAY 1: Dress up Friday was Fairytale themed. DRESS & EARRINGS: H+M, HEADBAND: random stall at the festival, WINGS: Angels

Hello again, sorry for the absence. I went away the weekend before last to T in the Park and have only just got caught up with things back here! I've wanted to go to a festival since I was still at school  but till now I've not been organised enough to get tickets. So when my friend texted the night before T in the Park tickets were released to ask if I wanted to go I didn't hesitate, practical considerations of getting from London didn't cross my mind.The title for this post is the Scottish chant that happened for pretty much every act, as first we were quite confused what they were saying (especially my Ukrainian friend) as it changed based on the name of the act. Also please excuse the dodgy poses in these photos - I wasn't doing outfit photos per say and these are the only shots that show what I wore!

Weekend Wanderings

Because of work and family commitments the time that I get to spend with my boyfriend is quite limited this holiday and so whenever we have a full day to spend together we want to make the most of it while neither of us is too tired from a long day at work. On Saturday we got up early (for a weekend - neither of us are morning people!) to run some errands, the sun was shining so I decided to give this lime green skirt that I picked up in the Motel sample sale it's first outing. However five minutes after leaving the door I had to run back to the flat to put on a slip as the wind was meaning it was a constant battle to avoid showing the whole of London my underwear!

SKIRT Motel - VEST Tesco - CARDIGAN Uniqulo - EARRINGS Gilda's Tryst

Once I was more suitably attired I headed out again to spend the afternoon wandering round Soho, Oxford St and Mayfair. I finally told the other half about this blog (I still feel very self concious about this activity) his first question? Do I bitch about him on there. I then persuaded him to take some outfit photos to me which led to me prancing around moronically in an alleyway. I was having too much fun for most of the photos to be flattering, my face scrunches up in a very unfortunate manner when I laugh, but a few were salvagable.
After, staggering home to snuggle on the sofa with the deliciously trashy Bond film 'You Only Live Twice' before braving the rain to catch up with friends.

There were some nice 60's clothing moments in the film, however (clearly thanks to Mr Bond's sexual powers) I couldn't find many stills of women wearing more than a bikini!

Raspberry Crush

JACKET Chemistry - VEST Topshop - TROUSERS Zara - SHOES Russel&Bromley - EARRINGS Gilda's Tryst - SUNGLASSES Asos

Summertime. Light lunches. Bright colours. Fresh fruit with cream.

I wore this outfit to lunch at the Farmer's club, we ate on the terrace overlooking the Thames and enjoying the sunshine. I love wide legged trousers, they feel so elegant but don't wear them that much as I feel they generally need heels. Today I decided 'sod it' I'll wear them anyway clashing them with a lime green blazer to amp up the summer feel. Excuse the perturbed look, I was only able to get this one photo as we were in a hurry afterwards.

Home-made raspberry froyo with fresh berries and liquor

Out of Focus at the Saatchi Gallery

I loved this piece by Maro Pascual, a simple, classically shot portrait that could'vecome from a yearbook but the presentation of the ripped and then framed photograph draws you in to wonder about the girl's backstory giving an unsettling quality

 A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to go to a private view of the new exhibition of photography at the Saatchi Gallery, 'Out of Focus', organised by Times+. I went along with a friend of mine who is a brilliant photographer. Below is a snap of us outside the gallery, I'd decided to try a tonal look, I wasn't quite bold enough to go with 100% one colour (nor is it possible with my wardrobe) but I liked the combination of the two shades of blue and the pop of yellow.

SHOES: Russel&Bromley - TROUSERS: Vintage, Balda - BELT: Vintage - T-SHIRT Made by me BAG Fossil - EARRINGS Gilda's Tryst

It was a real pleasure to get a guided tour round the exhibition by the curator, a charming french woman who pointed out key pieces in each room and explained the reasons for grouping certain artists together which was particularly interesting given the lack of a structured theme and the fact the featured artists are relative unknowns.


The show is probably the most enjoyable as a whole of those I've visited at the Saatchi. It explores different methods of photography, going beyond capturing images to the manipulation of existing images from archival footage and magazines as well as abstract works using film damaged during processing. However I found that there was less work that seemed to have the level of 'shock factor' for the sake of it that is often offputting in Saatchi's collections.I wonder if this is because of the medium that the exhibition featured, as photography is relatively new there are more subjects that are yet to be comprehensively explored or can be looked at in new ways. It also means that we have less preconceived notions about what photographs should be, so although the featured collages and manipulations are not what would normally come to mind with photography we are more open to these new ideas.

 Follow the jump for some of my favourite work in the exhibition

Country Girl

T-shirt made by me

Jeans by Punky Phish

Shoes from Topshop

Misc. jewelery

Another rather lackluster outfit post of what I threw on to go to the shops. Please welcome the guest model accompanying me; one of my four Ridgebacks, Tara. Also note the reappearance of the star t-shirt I made the other day - such an easy item to just throw on, especially now it looks so much better thanks to an iron and wash to remove the chalk pattern outlines!

We had lovely early-autumn weather today; blue sky, sunshine and a spot of a breeze. I spent the afternoon reading Checkoff's plays (now read The Seagull and Uncle Vanya) I can't quite decide what to make of them; I certainly enjoy the way the dialogue was written and particularly with the Seagull got into the plot but I can't decide what the author is saying - there seems to be a lot of criticism of intellectual/artistic types, is this his view or is it just for humour? In fact throughout one wonders if these characters are to be pitied (feeling the pinch, regretting life decisions...) or if this is satirical perhaps even mocking the protagonists for not appreciating how much worse off they could be. Defiantly something to look at further. Does anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

I also spent a bit of time wondering around the yard taking photos of some of the animals and flowers.