Let Them Have Ladurée Cake

If there was a fashion bloggers' heaven it would have to be a Ladurée café with an endless supply of rainbow coloured macaroons and creamy cakes (with absolutely NO calories at all, bien sûr!)... and there is a new celestial installation on planet earth, in Covent Garden to be exact. So after our latest, totally exhausting shopping trip, intended to find a knee-length school skirt for Sarah, ending with pink jeans and green stilettos for me (and still no school skirt, but at least black jeans… [I really have to work on the dress code of English girls-only grammar schools, if it was for me black leather mini skirts, lace-up boots and whips for all students would be obligatory])… we crawled to ssee cake place.

The instant sugar flash nearly made me purr and so content I didn't manage to take many pictures, but if you want to see more I remember Shini visited the place a while ago and worked her usual photo magic... And if you are too far away from sugar heaven – I spent the weekend trying out the original recipe from the Ladurée cookbook… and will - bien sûr! - share my experiences. Stay tuned!

Ladurée Tea Room, Covent Garden Market, London, WC2E 8RF

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English Delight

Instead of relaxing and having fun I'm working towards deadlines, which totally serves me right for being unorganised and thinking I could take it easy just because it's summer. Since being a work slave is plain boring I'll just leave you with long-limbed Morgaine wearing a vintage Cynthia Rowley silk dress, which is pretty, but I think even better with a shirt-skirt wrap. Can't quite remember when I took a liking to pastels… bah, I just blame the ever hazy English light.

dress: cynthia rowley vintage, skirt: diy, shoes: m&s

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Captain Jack Sparrow

If I can do it, you can do it… because since I saw Vivienne Westwood explain how to create a really cool pirate tee I've done this again and again. The secret is: The hole for the head goes not on top, but in the front, slightly lopsided, and suddenly the dynamics all change. Playing with the bleach helps to get the I've-been-living-on-a-boat-and-haven't-showered-in-years effect – and you're all ready for your little pirate dance at the beach.

t-shirt: freebie from next/diy, bottoms: too old to remember, hat: carrefour supermarché

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Mermaids

First I found the corset and then I met Morgaine who's back on summer break from Royal Holloway University. Now, I am finding the corset pure torture to wear and impossible to breath in. But Morgaine is totally happy in it. 'Gives me a nice, straight back.' She surely must have some gills hidden under that hair…

And then I made the ultimate photographer mistake – I forgot to remove the hairband!

corset: 2^nd hand/asos, skirts: diy/ dyed and wrapped fabrics

Anatomical Looks





Okay, here's the anatomical knitdress I warned you about… I like it, but it does get looks; and I'm a bit confused – are these good 'oh-wow-what-an-amazing-creation' looks, or 'what-is-the-weird-woman-wearing' looks? (Plus, people in London normally don't bother to stare). Being a fashion blogger and all I should be able to look innocently and revert to my inner Anna dello Russo, but for the days I'm not feeling the angelic face and I-don't-care fashion diva I'll probably just wear it with a jacket on top (naah, I won't turn the collar up, I think in this case it's better worn without the shirt anyway).

dress: diy, shirt: marc aurel, fake suede shirt/jacket: m&s/2nd hand, judo belt: 2nd hand, shoes: dr.scholls

Take 10 #12 - Stolen Thunder Necklace

This was a difficult one because a) I didn't really fancy the necklace, b) I don't like gin, c) I didn't quite know how to 'style' it… which d) made me decide to photograph it wearing very few clothes (and if you are wondering what the heck the knitty thing is… it's the top half of my new anatomical knitdress – which I will show you very soon)… So e) in the end I gave it to Henry who absolutely loves it. Happiness all around was restored.

To see the full variety of necklace inscriptions hop over to my fellow Take 10ers…
1. MJ, 2. Sherin, 3. Paula, 4. Ellie, 5. Jen, 6. Harriet (who did the lovely collage), 8. Susie, 9. Sarah and 10. Vicki.

Thank you to Stolen Thunder for working with us.

Instant Fun

Yes, I've also fallen prey to the fun that's Instagram… the photographic, artistic (thanks to the wicked filter options) fast food to hours of photoshopping. It's such a perfect addition to blogging...

You can capture fleeting fashion moments…

tell the world what you're wearing today…

or just share general wanderings and loves...

In fact, you can do whatever you want, and just filter away. If you're also an iphoner you can find me at sabinepsynopsis (I usually share my newest pics on twitter, too). And if you're also an instgramer… leave me a note so I can follow you.

Happy weekend! ♥ ♥ ♥

All pictures taken last week on iphone camera, edited with Instagram filters.

Styling - To Do or Not to Do?

Yayaahah... Just when I started moaning it became real fun - because when you see your ideas put into action on proper models (who are not only thin and young and beautiful, but also incredible patient and blasé about having their hair pulled and their skin painted and generally being handled like an over-loved barbie) and in a proper studio with a proper photographer* it's wonderfully satisfying - and pretty addictive, too.

So, though I don't know if the 2 shooting days quite make up for the hours when we students struggled with vague instructions (95% had difficulties understanding English, which kind of aggrevated the problem) and not much support à la 'you can all leave now and do research'… my conclusion is:
The Saint Martins styling course is great fun IF you are an enthusiastic, independent soul, happy to get a feeling for what it means to work as a stylist** and spend some time with someone in the know. But if you want to be taken by the hand and learn specific information about the fashion industry, plus the in and outs of styling... this is not the right course.

One more shooting day to come… Wondering if I could make a bride. That's how it always ends, doesn't it... with the bride.

*naturally I had to jump in from time to time to take some pics, too – until he shushed me away.
**also - really important! - the styling course has nothing to do with 'personal styling' or 'how to dress best' – that's Gok Wan territory. 

Outfits put together by students of 'Styling for Beginners' course, Central Saint Martins

Bake Me Some Styling

The styling course is moving towards its finale – which comes with a photo shoot styled by us, the students. Somehow our group managed to brainstorm itself into 'vintage bakery' (I fear I've got to take the blame because when asked what inspires me all I could think of was my newly developed bread baking habit); and now I'm stuck with vague ideas and too few asseccoires (maybe I can make some necklaces from papermaché?) to create volume and whackiness. Wonder if all of this makes any sense at all…

To answer your question how I'm liking the course... I'm pretty underwhelmed. But there are 2 more classes to go and then I'll take a deep breath and share with you my wonderful experiences and deep thoughts about the pro and cons of styling classes… Muah!

clothes: mixture of vintage, diy and high street