Today, it is Monday

It's Monday and a total Bumday. The equation of partying since Wednesday plus brand new pyjamas equals not a hope of getting out of bed. When you add on another factor of my realising I have not two but FOUR projects deadlines in the next fortnight it means my bed is the best hideout ever; because if I can't see my desk then I can pretend it doesn't exist... at least until tomorrow...

He's a cool, young, New York fashion designer and yes he's probably most famous for dressing Michelle Obama for Barack Obama's inauguration. But Jason Wu started out designing clothes for dolls and his current collaboration with TSE cashmere company looks not so much like a life size version range of dolls clothing, but like what I imagine the wardrobe of a well-groomed art student with a penchant for burgundy wine and lengthy discussions about architecture and would look like, (not to be too specific...)

From a foundation of big basic t-shirts and pom pom hats are fine knits and the featuring of fur, silk and suede. Tweed overcoats and cashmere crewneck sweaters. An almost neutral colour range, bright red lipstick, and ankle boots., fine knits. Wu has created what I would call an exceptional look of youthful sophistication.



Also, if anybody is going to Japan anytime soon and would be interested in having a stowaway accompany them then please be sure and let me know: I fit all the critera. Fact.

Because... Comme des Garcons has opened a Trading Musuem in Tokyo. Not so much a museum filled with dusty old historic artifacts that are interesting in a somewhat education manner but a space wherein displays have a trading emphasis yet those who come to view are actually unable to purchase any of the collections. A shop where you are forbidden to shop. How excellent is that?!! Okay it might be a bummer if you were actually looking for new clothes, but think how many times have you wanted to go into a designer store but been too afraid because of that feeling of knowing the shop assistants know you can't actually afford anything in there, not even a single sock... and now that can never happen!

Shona Heath

Vogue October 2009. The beginning of the end (of my sanity).


Clothing from teatowels and mopheads: In theory, quite an interesting idea... In reality, a giant pain in the behind.


College coursework a.k.a the bane of my life... Maybe I'd make a better dropout?

what you wear

underwear as outerwear? check. i like. Compare it to the ballet, adding frills to the ordinary to make something extraordinary, cos when it's done well it's done really well. So no don't just put your bra on over your tshirt no no i think this only works if you're a skinny minny high fashion model whose flimsy non-underwired bras are for a more decorative purpose rather than having an immediate practical function anyway. Think along the lines of Jean Paul Gaultier, think of brasseries and girdles, or the newly acquired word in my vocabulary: "corselette", think of silk, think nudes and pastels. You don't have to look like you forgot to put your clothes on before you left the house in the morning; subtle nods towards the trend in an outfit are nothing strange to us, such as lace panelling and hook-and-eye clasps they've just now become a main feature. and i like.

marc jacobs

bottega veneta

Topshop

Okay so I'm the coldest person you're ever likely to meet and that said, I'm not ready to part with my thermals just yet (March is meant to be spring but it's still freezing?!) but some day soon... And so looking forward to the summer time and wearing underwear as day wear I think certain swimwear should be adopted as casual wear aswell... like these We Are Handsome swimming togs, their picture prints are so cool and the lion one sort of reminds me of the alligator tops Christopher Kane did for Topshop


Did anybody happen to see Off the Rails on RTE1 this week? I hadn't seen it in years, but the landlord finally got around to fixing the television that broke in October and I now have a Sky+ HD box (which isn't actually all it's cracked up to be, I never knew there could be so many channels and so little to watch!) But this Wednesday I watched Brendan Courtney in action. what? WHAT? what is that man doing?? He had to help a 36 year old mother of four make over her wardrobe.
This woman said she never has any time for herself as she's always looking after the children and the house and she also doens't like how she's so skinny because her lack of curves makes her feel unfeminine. So how did he decide to style her? In a shoulder-padded white blazer, a loose floaty chemise, denim hotpants, transparent patterened tights, and really high high-heeled silver boots. WHAT?!
The problems with this are
1) any item of white clothing + children = Disaster.
2) she wanted to accentuate her waist and curves instead of hiding it all under a shapeless top.
3) denim hotpants on a 36 year old in her position make her look like she's wearing something from her young daughter's wardrobe. Or mutton dressed as lamb, if you will.
4) So her days are spent between school runs and the supermarket which certainl doesn't mean she should be confined to wearing Echo shoes, but four inch stilettos are a teeny bit impractical...

82nd Academy Awards

Until tomorrow we shalln't be seeing who wore what on the red carpet.

This year the nominees for actresses in a leading role are - Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side; - Helen Mirren in The Last Station; - Carey Mulligan in An Education; - Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire; - Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia.
And nominations for those in a supporting role are - Penelope Cruz in Nine; - Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air; - Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart; - Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air; - Mo'Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.

So before all the glossy magazines are published and the gossip and bitching begins, I'd like to think of the Oscars with a romantic view based on the true glamour and beauty of old Hollywood style. Where the elegance and grace of women was founded on an air of mystery. We didn't know the details of their private lives, their relationship affairs, exercise regime, diet, sexual activities... They had a seduction that came from what we didn't know...

Audrey Hepburn & Julie Andrews 1965

Audrey Hepburn 1954
























Jo Van Fleet & Jack Lemmon 1954 Claire Trevor and Humphrey Bogart 1952























images from gettyimages.com


Also, I am in dire need of a haircut. Can anyone recommend a hairdressers in Dublin that needs models for training classes? My fringe has been swept to the side for weeks as it's long enough to reach my nostrils and the has-been-bob is now little more than a blob... I've been wrapping silk scarves into bows to try and hide the state of it but having seen the super cool wigs in Manish Arora's Fall 2010 collection I'm beginning to consider taking headwear on board fulltime

But no, seriously, recommendations PLEASE!!!

too sweet

Sugary shades of candy floss... I can't wear them but if I could eat them I'm sure my dentist would be seeing an awful lot of me...


Baby blues like fresh spring skies; pale yellows like fluffy Easter chicks; pastel pinks; peppermints; lilacs; lavanders; sweet shop colours on a pretty palette.

At Burberry Prorsum there were surprises from Christopher Bailey where the classic trench coat has been transformed with shoulder and texture details and the whole collection is wonderfully twisted and draped


And lucky for us, Lipsy have some very serious imiations available


Versace seems to have reverted somewhat to Donatella's love of sex-on-legs dresses, but it's the shoes I'm lusting after:


Oh yes, also Versace have the perfect sunglasses. Perfect to wear with all the lovely candy floss colours or even so perfect as to be worn in the miserable rain with sensible shoes and dreary clothes under a big black coat, who cares?! who cares that we'll never get a summer worth speaking of where the endless sunshine would be a totally substantiated excuse for buying something otherwise considered a worthwhile purchase only by those more-money-than-sense folk?

...............................................................................................................................

I also did some work experience over the weekend as a dresser at a Toni and Guy show, which was pretty cool to say the least. The clothes had come from London with the Toni and Guy team and taking directions from the art director and the creative director I was in charge of seeing twelve models were looked after. The show included on-stage demonstrations, a section of looks from London fashion week and one where the clothes were by Irish designer Joanne Hynes.


The three dresses above are Giles Deacon, and the girls below are wearing Joanne Hynes

/

Today has found me hungover and wanting to dress more like i used to last year on hangover days where the layers and the scarves accumulate into a big mess like my own state.

A bit like this:



photos from facehunter.blogspot.com

So the 90's are making a comeback

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6XE1XRiLeY

Everybody, yeah
Rock your body, yeah
Everybody, yeah
Rock your body right
DUNGAREES are back, alright...

Well doesn't it seem like a logical continuation from the wave of jumpsuits and playsuits that were around last year?

Dungarees. I always wanted a pair. Actually I did have a pair once but I can't remember them given I was four or five at the time; mum had me dressed in a navy and white striped OshKosh B'gosh pair with one red and one green shoulder strap and purposely mismatched-to-match red and green socks. Bless.

Then a very gangly 14 year old me decided I really, really wanted a pair. But that there was the problem - my legs; they were just too long and I couldn't get any to fit. It was hard enough finding jeans that reached my ankles whilst managing to stay up on my waist not to mind having to worry about torso lengths and associated wedgie discomforts....

So I gave up hope and moved along from the idea resolute to one day fulfil my fashion dreams when I have a big belly bump. Because pregnancy is all about the dungarees, non?

NON!

Because now it's Spring and nearly Summer and it's 2010 and people are talking about dungarees and they're doing it in all seriousness.

I would advise, however, that they be worn with light fabrics such as silk or chiffon and steer clear of checkered shirts, cotton t-shirts, and pigtails!

From the catwalk collections we have:

Ralph Lauren

Richard Nicoll

Roberto Cavalli

Roland Mouret

Jean Paul Gaultier

Denim still features strongly but isn't as dominant as it was in the past and they're now available in a good range of materials such as crepe and printed silk. On the high street denim pairs are starting to appear and there are even some pretty floral prints to be found like these ones from ASOS and H&M:

it's like a bounty

Like a bounty: when you think about it you should technically dislike it but at the same time you can't help but like it. Recently this is how I've come to think of clothes shops such as Urban Outfitters, somewhere that tries to mass produce an individual look. I don't know how their merchandise works, the designing or buying process behind it, but it seems to me that they raid the wardrobes of typical Lower East Side hipsters which have been formed over time through the raiding of Salvation Armys, small vintage shops, street sales and mixed with a bit of trendy high street like American Apparel, then take the contents to the factory and reproduce each item. So in theory I like this style, the general look of a poor art student who spends all their money on books and coffee, whose clothes (if they could speak) would have stories just as interesting to tell as the person wearing them. Now I can't say I dislike high street shops promoting this look because that's a ridiculously arrogant statment to make and would also be like saying I'm against most of the main shops out there, Topshop included. I just think dressing in a certain way should reflect the sort of person you are and this arty hipster style suits the sort of mildly eccentric individual and is put together in a more unintentional manner as they are simply drawn to scavanging and collecting, rather than your average girl with disposable income who can walk into their closest Urban Outfitters and replicate the look for ten times the price. This rant is supposed to be leading me on to Alexa Chung.

I do love her style. And were I to be asked if I had a style icon then no doubt her name would probably make it close to the top of my list. Which is why I'm between two minds as to her recently designed collection. I like the pieces and the general style but at the same time am hesitant to completely love it as I still hold my reservations regarding all the look alike copycats it will lead to...

She has designed a range for Madewell's Fall 2010 collection which features Alexa-inspired long sleeved dresses, peter pan collars, striped tshirts, high waisted shorts, sweeping knee length skirts. For the launch she wore a pair of black velvet high waisted shorts with a white safari shirt, and many of her friends modelled for the night includind Pixie Geldof and Poppy Delevegne. However, in an interview Chung herself said "It's actually a bit weird to see everyone walking around in the clothes today because they all look like me." Which is sort of the point I'm trying to make... What do you think? Do you like the collection?