Bite Me, Autumn Lines

Saturday night. I am spending the evening quietly browsing the web, observing lookbooks, catwalk previews, exclusive Facebook sneak-peaks. Suddenly, although the temperatures and sunny days say otherwise, the fast moving world of fashion is dictating the end of the bikini. It is the dawn of the coat.

However, my darlings, I am not going to scare the best summer vibes away by listing my favourite winter cover-ups, simply because, I refuse to have any. I lack the will to think about the colder months. I am looking at new collections thinking about what to wear now.

Stella McCartney is launching a very fresh and colourful campaign. Her latest collection has some scrumptious dresses too delicious to hide under heavy jackets. They make stunning looks by themselves, with hot pink ensembles like the one heading this post. Sequined and ever so mergirl, we love it for just now. The designer also has a great Facebook page, very dynamic and quite fun. Worth “liking” if you wander around such spaces.

New York is hot and sticky as ever, the storylines in Gossip Girl ridiculous and sexually/romantically repetitive as usual. Truth be told, the only reason one steers her eyes towards such show is to be fascinated with the clothes worn by Blake Lively and co. This Diane von Furstenberg dress has been making headlines. Simple, colourful and effortlessly sexy. Feminine and ever so flattering. There will be clones galore.

Karen Millen has one of my favourite campaigns at the moment. I love how model Bregje Heinen has been styled. Her pale skin, blonde locks and the powerful red lips result in a stunning look. The backdrop is subtle and soft, focusing on the model and the clothes. I’ll probably only fall in love with a few pieces of said brand, but this photoshoot has me in awe.

And if there is a dress I wish I could be wearing this very moment, cold Martini in hand, enjoying the cool night breeze… Mango has it. Well, actually Scarlett Johansson has it and I want it.

So there it is, my darlings – don’t you dare ask me to look at winter coats. I simply cannot be responsible for what I may do to you 😉

Pictures: Stella McCartney, Trendencias, Karen Millen, Mango

Friday Thoughts – Super Heroes, Hair Heroes and Other Stuff

This Friday is starting to feel a lot like a fruitless Monday. The thought of having to work tomorrow fills my mind with “to do” lists, “what I’m missing out on” images and other random vibes.

In the news recently was the story about one of my childhood heroes, Wonder Woman, getting a style makeover. Truly the idea behind this is to prepare the grounds for a film about this vintage icon. Rumours months ago pointed to Beyonce Knowles as the woman to play the heroic role, and then it was Megan Fox, and then I lost interest. Sadly, neither of them would stand up to the best Wonder Woman incarnation of all time, Linda Carter.

On The Guardian online I have come across a really interesting report on hair trends amongst black women. Worth watching, it asks whether a black girl with blonde extensions is seeking to look “whiter”, or whether opting for a more natural look is a political statement, etc. Quite an entertaining watch and a chance to hear different opinions from fashion-forward girls, more conservative women and even some guys. To watch this report click here.

Finally and thankfully, it is the end of the SALE season. One thing I do during this period, is, after avoiding the frenzy for a few weeks, visit my favourite shops during the last week to find some real treasures and the usual unique things others discard and I tend to go for. A great place for doing this is Zara Home. I do find this store a tad over-priced. The items on sale are not of the greatest quality or exclusive, but I did however get four curtain holders like the one pictured above for next to nothing. Cute aren’t they?… and yes I know that’s not how you’re supposed to use them, but again, I do unique/odd things.

Additionally I finally managed to buy some fun coasters and also found a colourful mantelpiece for my coffee table. I have spent the morning decorating and it is a truly healthy thing to do. If you’re on a budget like myself, head to these type of stores now and see what you can find. Even the tiniest trinkets provide a colourful boost and a feeling of fresh renewal.

Pictures: M&S;, BBC and Fashion Limbo

Outfit of the Week – Retro Polka Dot on Boat

It is oh-so-quiet in Brussels today. The Belgian National Day. A day of debates, questions on division or unity and other politics for some. A day to relax, enjoy the nice weather and talk fashion, for me.

And here is a magnificent outfit to celebrate all national holidays, or to go to a party on a boat like the lovely Nele did, wearing this beautiful polka-dot dress. You cannot appreciate it, but it has a frilly pink under-layer to make it even more fantastic. Pictured with work colleague Ounsi – Nele, I’m still waiting on exact details on where you found this jewel of a dress in the middle of Brussels 🙂

Picture: Dieter Quaghebehur

Shameless Campaign – MAC and Rodarte

Fashion with a heart. Ethical fashion. Organic Free Trade … all these good intentions are worth a million, because for all of these righteous few, there is always the big name, with the HUGE budget and reputation doing it all wrong and , God forbid, getting away with it.

These are my thoughts upon hearing about MAC’s new collaboration with Rodarte, via Big Fashionista, a fellow blogger.

The crime? Attempting to make profit from a horrendous subject matter – the female killings of Juarez. Rodarte claim to be inspired by the women working at the factories there, the (and I’m quoting them) “ethereal nature” of the place. It is well know that in this small town of Nothern Mexico hundreds of them are murdered on their way home. Their campaign depicts ghostly looking women. Death as subject matter, how arty.

The perpetrators? MAC and Rodarte reaching disgusting levels of insensitivity by naming some of their pieces of the collection Badland, Factory and Ghost Town.

Their defense? Following the blogger uproar both MAC and Rodarte have issued hardly apologetic letters. MAC, and I quote “will give a portion of the proceeds from the M·A·C Rodarte collection to help those in need in Juarez”

Verdict? Guilty as charged. Portion of the proceeds? If anything ALL profits should go to charity. If anything, this collection simply shouldn’t go ahead. If anything Rodarte and MAC should show some humanity and scrap the entire thing.

Shame on you MAC, shame on you Rodarte.

To read more about this, here’s some bloggers that have got involved, including Perfectly Polished, Big Fashionista and all of these below:

http://www.mizzworthy.com/; http://www.britishbeautyblogger.com/,http://www.bangsandabun.com/; http://www.ladyofthelane.com/; http://www.bigfashionista.blogspot.com/; http://www.bigfashionista.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.sofarsochic.co.uk/; http://www.makeupsavvy.co.uk/; http://www.sofarsochic.co.uk/; http://www.lesalondebeaute.com/; http://www.getlippie.com/; http://www.londonbeautyqueen.blogspot.com/; http://www.londonbeautyqueen.blogspot.com/; http://www.makeuploveer.blogspot.com/;http://www.sparklesandbows.blogspot.com/, http://www.healingbeauty.co.uk/ ;http://www.reallyree.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.just-nice-things.co.uk/;http://www.musicalhouses.blogspot.com/, http://lilooblog.blogspot.com/; http://www.ditzymake-up.blogspot.com/ http://www.clairewaterworth.tumblr.com/ ,http://www.beautymouth.com/

Picture: Big Fashionista via Temptalia

UPDATE: Via Perfectly Polished

“With pressure from the beauty blogging community as well as customers, M.A.C. responded with another statement today to the effect that they are donating $100,000 to a non-profit organisation to help improve the lives of women in Juarez and that it was changing the product names and Rodarte have also issued an apology.”

To read statements from MAC and Rodarte via the lovely Perfectly Polished click here.

THAT Miu Miu Dress

When a muse does a good job, inspiration occurs. When a talented designer has a good day on the drawing desk, artistic lines and curves form a dress on paper. Patterns are created, materials researched, pieces are cut out, then sewed together, finishing touches et voilà, the dress is a reality. And after a stroll on the catwalk and a well-chosen celebrity to sport the garment, a hot magazine cover is the next succesful step.

With all this in mind, what happens when a certain dress by Miu Miu gets to be on the cover of three major style magazines at the same time? It becomes the “must have” dress of the moment.

See the aforementioned covers below. (Elle UK, Vogue UK, W Magazine)

9 Things I Love About The Nineties

I recently went to a party but due to my bad back I couldn’t dance, due to the medicines I’ve been taking, alcohol was out of the question. I still managed to enjoy the long night, reason being the party’s theme: the buzzing 90s.

My childhood may have had the romantic 80s as scenario but my teenage years happened in the bubble gum fun, plastic fantastic 90s. Music and fashion began to strongly shape me. My bedroom walls were covered with pop stars, I bought trendy magazines and held make-up parties with my friends. All in all, I don’t look back in anger at the numerous style faux-pas, I truly cherish those years.

1- I realised how much fun being half British was. Brit Pop was kicking every single American band off the charts with the iconic Blur, Oasis and the super fun Supergrass. We were unique, we were different.

2- I wanted to be Justine Frischmann from Elastica (pictured below) – She dated the hot guys of the time, Brett Anderson from Suede and then Damon Albarn from Blur. Her band Elastica, blew my mind with their straight-forward girl power attitude. I loved her hair cut and when I finally plucked up the courage to emulate her coiffe, I entered a hair salon with a magazine cut out, and walked out looking like Mick Jagger… don’t ask.

4- Vanessa Paradis became my fashion icon – I believe her Be My Baby video made me want to dress à la boho-chic forever. It was not Sienna Miller who got me into wide-legged jeans, long beaded necklaces and knee-high boots – Johnny Depp’s wife had done it way before.

3 – The 90s wanted to be the new 70s. Hair was big with bee-hives in trend, make up was worn heavy in the eyes. Platform shoes covered in glitter and PVC clothing sported by Deee-Lite‘s lead singer were covetable and reproduced in photo shoots, catwalks and everywhere else.

5- Hanging out in a caravan had never been so effortlessly cool. Claudia Schiffer and Naomi Campbell starred in the 1992 Mango campaign pictured below. This fashion catalogue fascinated me. I was enamored with the long hair, chunky wooden footwear and more particularly, a brown suede waistcoat with long tassels – one of my best friends had one custom-made by her mum, and I lusted after it for years.

6- Beverly Hills 90210 – Before Rachel in Friends, before Carrie introduced us to Jimmy Choos, we all grew up wanting to be Kelly or Brenda, whilst many others copied Donna’s daisy predilection.

7- Bell-bottom jeans – I began wearing them then, and never has my wardrobe lacked a pair. As you probably already heard, these denim jewels are making a comeback.

8 – Madonna carried out her raunchiest moves during this decade. The Justify My Love video, the Sex book and, one of the finest moment in music, Vogue shook the world just at the start of the decade. Kylie Minogue followed suit in the sexy-kitten frenzy and my parents must have celebrated being let off the hook from having to explain the birds and the bees to this young Madonna fan.

9- Euro Dance music – awfully positive, chemically enhanced, truly fun. Corona, La Bouche, Venga Boys … endless bands to add to the one-hit-wonder catalogue. I’ll leave you with one of my favourite dance songs of the time – do you remember this one?

The Closeted Top-Less Dancer

My friends and I were strolling around New York’s East Village, looking for an post-dinner plan. In the city that never sleeps, what goes great after some Japanese food and candy-floss? Burlesque of course!

I’ll assume you all know that American Burlesque is not just stripping. The ambiance and theme of the show is not seedy but sensual, slightly comic and occasionally bizarre (if you need to read up on it, wikipedia helps). The place to go to was The Slipper Room, an iconic burlesque theatre-bar, in the heart of New York’s Lower East Side.

We each paid a small entry fee, took a seat and soaked up the atmosphere. We bought some drinks at the bar and soon the show began. The girls were beautiful, some curvy, some skinny, some had gorgeous costumes, whilst others had great dance moves. Each of them had their own identity and on-stage personality. The show is as varied as the girls starring in it. Live music accompanied the performances, and the audience loved it all. So did I.

That we went for a evening of burlesque is no surprise. It has been experiencing a revival in the last years with more theaters adopting the trend and more and more girls lining up to be the next Dita Von Teese (pictured below) or simply copying her style.

It doesn’t take much research to find workshops for wannabe burlesque stars or conferences on the subject. To continue with the revival, a new film featuring Cher and Christina Aguilera is due some time at the end of this year – though I’m slightly dubious about this project, wondering how much we will see of Aguilera, how “purist” the film adaptation.

A friend of mine who paid for her studies striping (I know, such a cliche, but this is actually true) would now easily decline taking part in any burlesque performance. She declares that stripping was never fun nor easy. However, there are a lot of women who are considering giving burlesque a go, even just once, and not for money.

Could this be that the modern woman is supposed to see past the traditional connotations of stripping and find some sort of liberating self-expression, or even a gain in power? Is it a reaction to the ever growing PC surrounding us in the media? Is this what Madonna meant when she published her Sex book? Are we all good girls in disguise wanting to be publicly naughty?

I look at myself in the mirror, and though I’ve always been a bit of a performer, would I strip for the sake of it? Would I find it liberating? The costumes are indeed amazing, but one thing is wearing them, and another taking them off. Whatever the purpose, whatever the reason, burlesque is out there, almost everywhere, more open and active than ever.

I cannot finish this post without directing you to the site of one of the artists performing that evening, Veronica Varlow. She owns an online shop featuring some seriously gorgeous retro dresses, skirts and accessories. Worth a visit.

Pictures: The Slipper Room, Dita.net

Love yourself, Love others Challenge

Maybe it’s because I’m frustrated that my health is not great right now. Maybe it’s because I only seem to encounter things that bother me and not many that make me smile … whatever it is, I’m being repeatedly critical of myself. I blame myself for the setbacks, focusing on my negatives. All in all, a very tiring, unhealhy and forever upsetting habit. Then, some days back I saw a post by Retro Chick and felt inspired.

She teased me. And how does Jess from Fashion Limbo get teased? With a challenge. She is requesting us readers to list five things we like about ourselves, and then, the easier part, pick 5 people in “blogland” and mention what we really, seriously envy about them.

So, my dears, here is me responding to the bid (bear in mind that although it may take you less than a minute to read this entire post, it’s going to take me aaaaages to compile any points…lets go!

1. My lips – they are full, part of the huge gob I have for mouth. I was blessed with a full pout and I love it, it’s easy to make up, just some simple gloss and off we go.
2. My tattoos – I hate when people/work make me cover them up. I am proud of them and never regret the day I had them done. I wish I wasn’t so scared of needles (or looking like a scary biker… without a bike) so I could have more done.
3. How pale I am – I love being this pale. I think it looks good with my dark hair and eyes and hate it when people are negative about it.
4. My eyes – they are very expressive, and look good with just some mascara, or with a dramatic eye shadow. I only wish I knew how to perfect a good “smoky” eyes look
5. My hips. They are part of my Mediterranean heritage and although my hip bones stick out, they look great in low rise jeans and with slightly fitted dresses.

Wow, I swear that this has taken me more than a week and many long moments of self-analysis. How terrible is the female nature? if we were talking negatives it would have been a quick and long list – men surely aren’t this self-critical, are they? You tell me.

Now for the 5 bloggers I love.

Gemma from Retro Chick for her gorgeous red hair, great smile and unique sense of style.

Sabine Clappaert from Muse for her long fit legs…she will hang me for this, but I’m saying it anyway.

Jennine from The Coveted because she oozes glamour.

Reena from Fashion Daydreams for her sexy dark looks.

And Jenny from The Style PA for having such a naturally pretty face.

Pictures: Retro Chick, Muse, The Coveted, Fashion Daydreams, The Style PA

And the Aaitski! Winners are…

After a delay due to some really annoying technical issues….picked via random.org, the Aaitski! competition winners are:

missielizzie

Grumpydudeness

Neslie

Congratulations to all of you!!! I will be sending out the t-shirts pretty soon so look out for them!!!

Picture: Aaitski!