Dial F for Frumpy

I have been avoiding outfit posts like the plague recently, mostly out of laziness, but also because I felt like I was in a bit of a style rut, and nothing annoys me more than unnecessary, pointless or uninspiring outfit posts.  But I know what nosy monkeys you all are, and I have a bunch of new clothes that I am really delighted, with so here we go I guess!

Since I started my new job (yay) and no longer have to wear one brand all the time, I have re-ignited my love affair with charity shops. And thankfully, they have taken me back with open arms and bountiful supplies of cheap-as goodies. Like this acid lime green bouclé skirt. For £2. And the ’90′s tastic jumper for….£2. And my CryBaby-esque houndstooth blazer for the extortionate sum of £6. The shirtdress is also charity but from before and the hat was a whopping £5 in the Urban Outfitters sale. WINNING.

Me, wearing clothes. And a stroppy face.

As much as part of me wants to gloat at my new wardrobe on a shoestring, another part has a point…I think.

Point #1: I am dressing like a bit of a frump at the moment…Lots of midi lengths and things I am not used to wearing, so I feel like a bit strange. I am trying to power through, and just keep wearing them until I feel like a real girl, telling myself that it’s actually a bit glamorous and chic and ’70′s/’90′s as opposed to bat-shit crazy cat lady frumpy…RIGHT?!

Point #2: Charity shopping is amazing. Who doesn’t love a ridiculous bargain?!! Once you find a good charity shop, TELL NOONE. Ever. Seriously. Not even your best friend. Especially your best friend, actually. That bitch will steal all your £2 bargains quicker than anyone.

Point #3: Sundays are great for the following reasons: friends, coffee, food, and western films. Oh, and pikey rings that remind me of home!

Brigitte Bardot in Shalako (1968).

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sparkly bras & trashy runners

It’s not exactly a newsflash that the 90′s are back in a major way – they are the new ’80′s. I am old enough to remember when Blossom hats and X-worx were the-coolest-thing-ever in a totally genuine non ironic way, and Morgan de Toi was, like, totally Parisian and chic*, and 2Unlimited were the BESTBANDEVER. Thinking back, I made a lot of fashion mistakes in the ’90′s, even though I never had a Blossom hat.

I djed for the first time in a while over the weekend – my first set in London town. *shameless self promotion alert!!!! if you wanna book me for a gig, holla* As I was prepping my set, I came across a few tracks I had set aside. I can remember loving the tunes at the time, but I am only now realising how epic the videos and the FASHUN were. This is what you miss out on when you are busy being a tomboy in the 90′s. Had I paid as much attention to what they were wearing as I did to what they were singing/playing, I probably still would have become a dj but I could have spared myself some serious fashion disasters. And, probably, three mostly-wasted years in business school…So I guess the moral is, kids, dress like your pop culture references if you want to get ahead in life.**

not so much what the lead singer is wearing here, but more everything else about the video rocks. As does the song…

I pretty much want everything except her dodgy dance moves…Actually, feic it, I’ll have them too for the gas. I had this song on a tape (I believe it was called Greatest Hits of Dance, put out around 1992) and I used to listen to it on loop.

This video is TOO MUCH. I DIE. DIE.

*if you don’t get the references, head over to YouTube to educate your too-young ass, and stop making me feel old. Jeeez.

**this blog does not guarantee that dressing like cultural icons will make you successful. That bit was mostly hyperbole.

Animalism

I used to own a pair of zebra print ponyskin pointed toe kitten heels. It has taken me a while to be able to say that sentence aloud, but I accept it now. In fact, I imagine a point in the near future I will wish I never got rid of them.

A friend of my recently christened me Tiger Force, given my penchant for all things animal print and my endearing (mental) habit of wearing them all at once. I am clearly not the only one though. These are the animal prints I’m crushing on for summer.

When done in a subtle way, animal print is a great non-print, working as a texture to add to an outfit. When done in a not-so-subtle way, animal print cna be the WOW factor. So, I guess, like, it’s quite versatile? So, like, that’s good? And while the cat family has been the animal print du jour for some time now, snake and zebra seem to be making quite the comeback. Snake, when done right, is a great textural print. When done wrong however…..well, I guess there is a fine line between tragedy and comedy…

P.S. Let’s take bets as to how long it’s going to be before cow print pops up on the catwalks again….ss13, anyone? lol…

Proenza Schouler SS12

Isabel Marant SS12

Givenchy SS12

 

Just Cavalli SS12

Roberto Cavalli SS12

Just Cavalli SS12

SS12 Trend Watch: Tropical

SS12 is filled with so many trends I wan a sink my teeth into but none more so than the tropical theme so perfectly exemplified at Altuzurra.
I guess designers had a collective moment of “nothing says summer better than palm trees,right?!” RIGHT! Tropical prints are, well, you know. This year’s batch however simultaneously harness all the ropey connotations for charming nostalgia in a South Pacific vibe and shake free of them by mixing with block colour for a fresh modern feel.
Vintage feel AND block colour? Sure you had me at tropical…

Altazurra SS12

 

Roberto Cavalli SS12

Theysken's Theory SS12

Prabal Gurung SS12

Mary Katrantzou SS12

Roberto Cavalli SS12

image via style.com, dazeddigital.com

Cos I want to….

The other evening I happened across the Cos Ss12 lookbook while doing a bit of a tidy. On top of that smug feeling you get when you (I) hang all your (my) clothes back in the wardrobe, put all the books back on their shelf and rearrange your makeup and stuff into some semblance of order, I was happy to see this little lookbook. First up I love the fact that it is an object, and a beautiful one at that. While i love the availability of such a multitude of information online, there is something tacitly better about printed images. Especially when the printed images are of such cool clothes. I would be a better person in these outfits. All put together and considered and made up of beautiful pieces. They strike that difficult balance of being serious without being boring, and fun without being flippant. They are, in short, right on the money. There’s also an 90′s style off shoulder neoprene top in forest green that I just can’t get out of my head, it’s delish!!

And finally, someone give me a boy to play dress up with. I really want to know someone who wears this outfit, how Marlon Brando and awesome is it. In fact, their menswear is perhaps even better than their women’s offering, but that debate is for another day.

John Stezaker, you two faced so-and-so…..

John Stezaker has a really boring first name and a reaaaalllly awesome surname. It’s like steak with a Z. Wow! So I guess it goes some way to explaining his innate understanding of juxtaposition.

I am fascinated by his images, the deconstruction and blatant disregard for faces is sublime subversion. It’s like he wants to use the face but not as a face. Or maybe as a face but just one that you will never fully know or understand, all duplicitous and full of different sides. I think I like that though, it’s a pretty good reflection of people in general – for all the friendly faces out there, there is a forest you will never truly get lurking underneath. Or something along those lines.

John Stezaker

John Stezaker

John Stezaker

John Stezaker

John Stezaker

John Stezaker

image sources here, here, here, here, here, here and here. phew!

Blur basically lied to me. Fact.

It was David Bowie’s birthday just there at the weekend. I don’t really care that much if I’m honest but I heard Boys Keep Swinging on the radio and it reminded me of one of my favourite Blur songs. Turns out, that is because Blur sampled the Bowie song, but I only found that out today…I am sad that:

a) Blur aren’t responsible for one of my favourite Blur songs

b) I have such a terrible knowledge of Bowie, like how did I miss such a great song???? Especially given what an ENORMOUS Bowie fan my flatmate is.

c) I don’t own Ziggy’s wardrobe

images via fashiononrock.blogspot.com

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Natalie B Coleman….Be my friend

***NOTE: I am having a total wordfail/brainfart. This article is short on words as a result. It is not, however, short on thought. Luckily, Natalie’s work speaks for itself so I think I might just sit this one out.***

Check this out. Natalie B Coleman is cool. She’s Irish too, which is cool. And she did an MA in St Martins, which is really cool. And her collection is really really cool. Her stuff is girly without being saccharine, staying within the cool-girl zone. She plays with narratives but not annoyingly so, never sacrificing the aesthetic. In short, her stuff is the Shiiiiizzzzzz and I think I want her to be my friend.

Natalie B Coleman SS12

Natalie B Coleman SS12

Natalie B Coleman SS11

Natalie B Coleman SS11

Eva Zingoni. Or – Reasons Buying Cheap Shit on the High Street is Pointless.

This weekend I went shopping. Actually, that’s a total lie, this weekend I went looking at things that I would hypothetically buy or not buy, if I had any money. Which I don’t. But I digress. What I ascertained was that even if I had a bunch of money, I would still not have bought anything on my little browsing escapade. Everything I saw was cheap looking, cheap feeling and generally uninspiring. It reinforced my increasing belief that low-end highstreet stuff isn’t worth the samey-outfit-post Lookbook space it is ad nauseum posted on.

Basically, I have expensive taste. I don’t like mass-produced, generic, soulless crap. I don’t like things that are made to be thrown away. I like craftsmanship, and care, and design and beauty. I like things to be weighty and feel like they are going to last. In a lot of ways, and totally unintentionally, I have very ethical and eco taste.

Ethical and eco means different things to different people. I am by no means a paragon of virtue when it comes to sustainable fashion, but I am conscious of my choices and I do my best, and if every consumer could say the same then we would have a very different fashion industry.

Eva Zingoni @ Esthetica, LFW SS12

We also need designers that make sustainable choices easy for consumers, by providing ethical and sustainable choices that align with logical fashion choices. We need more people like Eva Zingoni, whom I came across at the Esthetica section of London Fashion Week, dedicated to sustainable fashion. Zingoni creates limited-edition garments using prestigious textiles. So far, so generic upper-end fashion. She uses prestigious textiles that have been salvaged from other famous fashion houses. Now you’re talking. The end result is extremely limited edition, couture-inspired, recycled fashion garments for everyday people. Having spent 6 years at Balenciaga customising their couture for celebrities and uber-editors, she has clearly picked up on the attractiveness of scarcity. However this type of scarcity is in terms of production quantity given the inherent limitations of materials, as opposed to than price, which is remarkably affordable. Well, it would be, if I had any money. Sigh………

Eva Zingoni @ Esthetica LFW SS12

So, to sum up:

1. Quality is always better than quantity.

2. Making better, slower fashion choices is good for your pocket AND the environment. Mostly your pocket, but that’s still an eco plus, OK.

3. Eva Zingoni makes really really cool clothes. Hence recycling is cool. Q.E.D.

3a. Check out her website, I do rather like it.

4. I am broke. As per usual.

Housesitter

I have a lil crush on Goldie Hawn. She’s a megababe. She’s funny AND hot. Birds aren’t supposed to have both. She’s up with Marilyn Munroe and Pamela Anderson for women who play up the bimbo thing to make themselves funnier. Genius.

Anyway I do have a point here – I watched Housesitter last night. Amazing. The OUTFITS. OH, the OUTFITS. Mom jeans and bodysuits with cropped animal print furry jackets and the best cowboy boots of all time ever (see above). Crochet dresses over full length body suits. The cutest black dress. And one of those curtain tie-back things as a necklace…..GAH! I love the 90′s.

The decor in the house too…Bit of an aztec rug in the living room. And that super cute little floral print chair 1992, 2012….20 years for things to come back into fashion. Just sayin.

And here is Goldie in walking talking full blown awesomeness….