Love | I Know What I Did This Weekend

I thought the best way to start a new life is to 1) move to a different country, 2) start a new job and 3) throw all your belongings into a friend's shed and forget about them – which worked perfectly until friend needed the shed and we were faced with a massive amount of old stuff… What did I need 20 yoga mats for? And did I really develop films in this little black box? And, oh look, pictures of happy days in Australia! I haven't missed any of these things in the last 8 years, but can't bring myself to throw them away either.
After all this schlepping I feel the urgent need for a new pair of shoes. Ideally Camilla Skovgaard's dinosaur soles – but they're a bit out of my financial league; which is why I ordered 3 pairs at Yoox. (1 to keep, 2 to return – something that never works out.)

How do you deal with old things – keep, give away, storage, ebay...?

picture: camilla skovgaard, autumn/winter 2011, LFW

Style | Get-a-Hat

Okay, only Dee* wore a riding hat, but there were A LOT of hats at Somerset House - and they looked good. So good that I'm wondering if I might finally overcome my fear of hats this year.** Heya!

* I don't know how they do it, but every time I met Dee and Rory from Icone du Jour I felt happy. They just are the coolest and nicest couple.
** And if I knew the name of the girl with the red hat I would know where I could get one because I remember that she said her mum makes them – and this one is just perfect.
Update 28/02/2011 – Sienna is wearing a panama head from Pachacuti.

Picture taken at London Fashion Week, Somerset House

Style | Savoring Schwab, Luxuriating in de la Morena

The world of fashion is a weird and wondrous place – One day you queue and doors get shut into your face, the next you happen to spend your day sitting front row next to Sarah Mower (who a. advised me to do an internship at Louise Goldin. b. had already been to Mary Katrantzou in the morning and said it was 'very good', and c. explained she couldn't go to men's wear day because it was 'Gucci in Milan' today. Duh! Keep up, silly blogeresse!)

Maybe I feared to obscure Sarah's view, maybe I didn't want to lessen the experience, but I did not take any photos of the Marios Schwab show which I absolutely adored for its 'minimalism with a twist' designs. And while much more lady-like, intricate and layered the silhouettes at Emilio de la Morena were quite similar.

Summary: Red shoes are hot. I want a tight leather-wool Marios Schwab dress. No flats in sight, and let's sharpen our pencil skirts for winter.

Pictures taken at Emilio de la Morena a/w 2011 show, LFW

Style | Colour-Coded

As soon as Fashion Week started here in London my whole daily-catching-up-with-the-shows flew out of the window. Instead I'm hanging around at Somerset House, do get to see some shows live (the real thing is still unbeatable), drink litres of espresso and take pictures of people, like Roz and her mum who both know how to do camel to a T.

Picture taken at LFW, Somerset House

People | Pepper

I was not amused when the doors to the Bora Aksu show were closed into my (and many waiting others) face because 'That's it. We're full!'. In fact I was pretty sad because I had really been looking forward to seeing some hardcore knitting designs. Later I asked Pepper who works for FAB magazine what she thought of the show. 'Great!' Mmh, oh well, next time, hopefully... And anyway, I do love Pepper's turban. In fact, I love the whole outfit, and her name - and most of all I love her smile.

Photo taken at London Fashion Week, Somerset House.

People | Girls at Work

Fashion Week started slightly surreal for me. Yesterday evening Jill and I were asked to give a fashion interview for Next (I think we did fabulously discussing the upcoming trends and what we are going to wear in the next few days – just not sure the editors will see it that way, too) and this morning I walked straight into Scott Schuman and Garance Doré. I normally consider myself pretty cool in the face of celebrity (bumping into David Cameron the other day just about got a wry smile out of me – and a post, okay…), but Scott and Garance – they mean something to me! The Sartorialist was the first blog I ever read, and Garance… well, she's every girls dream bff, isn't she? Plus, to me they are still the gold standard when it comes to blogging and photography. So after standing in front of them like a fish on the shore, mouth opening and closing helplessly, I finally blurted something like 'I love you. You are the reason I started blogging… In fact, I think you are my parents'. No wonder they looked at me slightly worried…

When Garance started photographing a long-legged beauty I thought I can't just stand around like an idiot and secretly take pictures of herstare at her… Luckily I spotted this beautiful lady and remembered I've got a camera myself. (And don't you love her blonde hair ends? And yes, black is still THE colour at fashion week).

Pictures taken at Somerset House, London Fashion Week

Style | Bloody Good

Totally smitten by all the warm red tones at NY fashion week… I think my favourites are Ohne Titel. But the Jill Stuart pleated leather dress is also pretty amazing... What do you think?

The circus is moving to London tomorrow. Sharpening the camera as we speak.

Source of all pictures: style.com.

Style | Disco

When I saw this dress hanging lonely and abandoned at the sales rack in Topshop I thought 'For a tenner?! Come into my arms, pretty!'. Schlepped it home and started fantasizing over how to wear it… Next thing I know it's been annexed by Sarah. Magpies all around.

dress: topshop

DIY | Ballerina Infected Knitwork

During the knitting course* I relied on my usual modus operandi which goes: idea [leads to] action [leads to] idea doesn't quite work [leads to] I need to find a solution for my mistake [leads to] new action… And that's pretty much how I (just about) finished the dress. It got a double pocket because I had to cover up some stitching mistakes and my idea of creating Black Swan inspired detachable sleeves didn't quite work out either, BUT I also purchased a 2nd hand knitting machine, so this is just the beginning (I fear I keep threatening this as some form of self motivation).

*which is finished now. It was SO MUCH FUN. Highly, highly recommendable... I really want to tell you more about it, but I'm off to parent's evening - oh the joy!



dress: diy, shoes: zara, leggings: topshop

Style | The New Glossies

Know what? Yesterday is long gone and I've already changed my mind. Not only has it dawned on me that high-waisted flares are better for giraffed-legged people (i.e. not me), I've also fallen in love with the shimmer pants, which seem to be all over the catwalks in New York. (Plus, do you also see a red blue theme emerging here?)

IF I am becoming a bit quieter in the next few days, it's due to my resolution to not catch up with the fashion shows weeks later, but follow them eagle-eyed while they are actually happening (and that does take a lot of concentration)… But all this input needs to be processed so I'll probably be back with some kind of amateur catwalk analysis. That's gonna be fun, I hope. Muah, muah... Happy Weekend!

source of all pictures: style.com

Style | Treehugger

It's the time of the year when the run-of-the-mill fashionista (i.e. me) gets seriously confused because a) we are still stuck in winter, b) our minds turn to spring/summer, whereas c) the collections for next autumn/winter are around the corner.
So with my feet dug strongly into the ground (and arms slung around the tree for extra security… yes, I do blame Chanel's new ads for my new-found love of trees; just lucky there are so many fashionable props where I live…) I solemnly swear will try to wear...
a) high-waisted flares
b) flat shoes (though optically they fill me with fear, the idea of pain-free walking is kind of alluring)
c) colours, colours, colours (as already tried here)
d) any length between midi and maxi (floaty, please, but not palazzo trousers... gotta draw the line somewhere)

What does your – surely less confused – mind come up with?

trousers: new look (1994), bag: diy, jacket: edun, scarves: ???, sun glasses: armani, thingies around hands: cut-off socks, belt: 2nd hand

♥ | Her Dark Materials

I've been wanting to photograph Sarah wearing this skirt forever – I love its preppyness and how it hugs the curves in all the right places - but these days we only see each other when the sun has set (the blurry-eyed minutes in the mornings when we grabble for coffee and mumble train times at each other don't count). Hence she had to pose in the dark…

skirt: zara, vest & boots: topshop, feather boa (in top photo): claire's

DIY | Trials & Errors

The combination of not being quite clear what I wanted to produce in the first place and lack of technical skills led to this… which is something (you could also call it some kind of thing) and which definitely needs another top half and perhaps some sleeves (and I'm thinking 2 big pockets on the sides). And, guess what - because this can only be the beginning I decided I need a knitting machine.

Style | Shocking

In difficult times fashion is always outrageous. Elsa Schiaparelli

Whatever the reasons... Cannot wait for warm, neon-glowing days. What about you.. colour-infected too?

silk overall: katherine hamnett vintage, t-shirt: topshop (collar cut open), bag: coccinelle, pink clutch: optical express, belt: diy, shoes: chloe

Life | Totally Most Wanted

Sometimes I need to risk a slight hangover to check my theories and/or realise that…

· a proper mojito is still my favourite party drink.
· Marie Antoinette is a great dress-up movie and goes really well with popcorn.
· photo booths are so much fun!
· Sarah can make 3 men run for cocktails after the bar has closed. The girl has a bright future for sure.
· I can manage to have a long chat to a photographer thinking he's the cake decorator wondering why he is asking me all these photography questions. (The fact that he was holding a tripod didn't distract my theory at all. Nope.)
· bloggers are so much fun to hang out with
· I'm pretty sure I'll visit the Soho Hotel again – for tea, for drinks, just to use the bathroom… It's one stylish hotel.
Just leaving the question: Shall I get myself a cowboy hat or a major perm and dye my hair orange?

Thank you to Helen and all the people from Vouchercodes.uk for organising (and inviting me to) to the Most Wanted Fashion Revolution Party.

All pictures taken in the Soho Hotel, London.

DIY | And I Thought It Was All So Easy...

This is it. This is the dress that made me sign up for the machine knitting course at CSM. All I could think of when I spotted it (on Kazuko’s blog) was: 'I want to be able to make something like this!' By now I've learned that these John Rocha dresses are all hand knitted, but it's too late… I've started my struggle with the knitting machine and realised that putting the designs that are in my head into reality is so not easy. No worries, I'm not going to bore you to death by sharing all my knitting thoughts… Just one little thing - beige and pink? Lovely combination, no?

I'm off to the Most Wanted Fashion Revolution Party tonight. Petit fours and macaroons, and watching Marie Antoinette. Should be good. Muah, muah!

dress: john rocha