BE STILL

Simple and I love it - from London designer Jaida Hay. 

[Jaida Hay]

HOW NICE FOR YOU

I'm trying to take my style (and this site) in a new direction - and thank God Magenta 8 just sent me a some pics of their new collection. The garments are everything I'm looking for at the moment - well tailored, chic and clean with precise, sophisticated lines. So nice - and weird I haven't heard of this brand before - Apparently it was started by a Peruvian designer called Giovanna Velasquez. 

I would love to get my hands on some of the cropped jackets and short capes to style as day looks - I highly recommend having a look at the website.

GON' HEAD

I haven't been totally truthful - I actually have been to London Fashion Week this season. I was invited to EcoLuxe by the lovely designer Ilya Fisher, who makes beautiful handmade silk shibori skirts (more on her later methinks). 

I was really curious to go because EcoLuxe is full of designers who have committed to making sustainable clothing - a good cause. Also, lots of them are quite interesting; my favourites by far were the co-founders of Etrala, Emilio Portes Cruz and Maria Rodrigues Liñan. The clothes they make remind me a little of Monki - very playful, with bright whimsical details - like bright lining in the coats, pockets and hoods, as well as contrasting trim on collars. First pics below (all from their fb): 

{Maria and Emilio}

{Pieces!}

{More pieces}

OPEN YOUR EYES!

More of Lola's LFW drip feed - this time Georgia Hardinge A/W 2011. Some photos Rosie and I took at the showcase.

{title is a quote from the film True Romance}

THE KEY IS IN THE LIGHT, THE KEY IS IN THE WINDOW

The Beautiful Deluge of Alice Palmer AW11, photos by Rosie Allt, www.rosieallt.com (click to enlarge)

The Stage

The Audience

The Dress

[Title is an excerpt of a letter Allen Ginsberg's mother wrote to him in a letter after reading HOWL]

IN MY DREAMS YOU WALK DRIPPING FROM A SEA-JOURNEY ON THE HIGHWAY ACROSS AMERICA IN TEARS TO THE DOOR OF MY COTTAGE IN THE WESTERN NIGHT

I'm not the most buttoned down person in the world, so at first it was a struggle for me to relate to the super-coiffed, slickly manicured looks from Jasper Garvida AW11. The tailoring looked too heavy, the cutouts and thigh-high slits dated, and the hardware and knotted accents seemed like they belonged on a cabinet, or wrapped around my great aunt's winter curtains. I sat there grumbling to myself, "Scarlett O'Hara only wore curtains because of the WAR, today we have more CHOICES..."

Then he started in with the graphic prints and keyhole cutouts... and I pretty much shut up.

And as for dowdy embellishments, LOOK AT THIS KEY BELT! I MEAN LOOK AT IT. I can't comment because my mouth is full of humble pie/crow.

So, I found some things to love. The way Jasper worked with the ligher fabrics REALLY worked to me, I suppose because a silk or a light jersey just can't sustain heavy accents and willy nilly cutouts that looked like some 10 year old's construction papered art project. Anyhow, by the end, he really got his point across. And won a cynic over.

[This post's title is the last stanza of HOWL by Allen Ginsberg]
[All photos by Rosie Allt, www.rosieallt.com]

WHY DOES ANYONE DO THE THINGS THEY DO?

Just when I feel jaded with the whole fashion scene, I get invited to a show like Hynes and Steele, where I had to hold myself back from storming the runway and snatching the clothes right off the models. I do like style that is a little eccentric - for example, the other day I walked into a vintage shop to do some browsing and caught my reflection in the changing room mirror - I was wearing a silk paisley print blouse, velvet blazer, blue leopard print headwrap and bright turquoise rimmed sunglasses. All in a day's work for the Crazy Cat Lady. :D All photos by the incomparable Rosie Allt.

NO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY SAY

Zed Eye was in a more sombre mood this season, but her clothes are still superlative. I'm not going to ruin this with a lot of words so I'll just show you the pictures (taken by the super talented Rosie Allt), and try and recreate the experience by including some of the Adele songs playing while the girls walked the runway.

The designer


And more Adele - !

LISTEN UP

I've been attending fashion week for 3 seasons now, and I've been really lucky to have been invited to 16 shows for the S/S 11 season in London and Stockholm and to have seen lots of different and amazing designers in both cities.


This time last year, I got my first ever fashion show invitation from Jasper Garvida, and my GOD he has turned it out at every show he's done since. Every season, there is more press, there are more fans, the queues get longer, and Jasper gets better.


I recognized his attention to detail in the headpieces and pleating, and I even saw a crochet dress peeking out that reminded me of S/S 10. However, Jasper also moves his brand forward. This season was very polished, very sparkly, and his dresses and separates have serious red carpet and black tie potential.  He gets it SO right - all the pieces feel modern, whimsical, feminine and completely appropriate.


How does he do it....















[Now, WATCH UP (ha). Here's a clip from one of my favourite films, Underground. It's a sweeping, epic Yugoslavian film by Emir Kusturica that shows the two different lives of best friends as a result of World War II,and the life of the woman they both love.]

[photos from jaspergarvida.com]

A GUIDE TO RECOGNIZING YOUR SAINTS

I loved attending the Zed Eye S/S 11 Show at La Geneve North's Saturday 'A La Mode' show for London Fashion Week. I have to say, I think was my favourite runway show to date, and that's saying a lot (mineral makeup and fishnets in the goody bag, well done Yolande)!


The collection is called Tribal Romance Revisited and is inspired by Nigeria (by the way, if you are wondering I am not Nigerian. I have however met lots of talented Nigerian fashionistas). I've seen several designers who aim to take traditional materials and modernise them using Western styling and techniques, but none that have worked as well as this collection, and none have looked so universal. I could see all kinds of women wearing these clothes.... including ME.


Lots of unconventional materials used here, like feathered epaulettes and belts, and spiky stilettos. Can't find my USB adaptor but when I do, I'll upload detail shots of everything. Anyhow, this is definitely worth a second look.

[This post's title is the title of a 2006 semi-autobiographical film by director Dito Montiel  about growing up in Astoria in the 80s. It's got so much honesty to it, it's one of my favourite movies. Reminds me of "This is England" which is another 2006 semi-autobiographical film about growing up in the 80s, but instead it's by director Shane Meadows and set in some English coastal town - and it's another of my favourite movies. Anyways, look above for the trailer to "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"]

[All images from zedeye.com]