Baked Olympics

Keeping with the Olympic theme I baked these walnut and blueberry muffins over the weekend with London related decorations. Yum.

It’s all Kicking Off….

With FROZEN MARGARITAS! I was invited to the press preview evening for the launch of The Book Club’s Olympic ‘Basecamp’  in the Old Street/Shoreditch area. There was ping pong, a paddling pool, themed cocktails, delicious food, live graffiti and big screens to catch all the events. It opens to the public from today until the 12th August, from 10am daily, and I highly recommend it as a great place to hang out and celebrate the capital’s three week festival of sporting achievement. I hope everyone has an amazing Olympics….GO TEAM GB.

The Book Club Basecamp
Leonard Street
London EC2A 4RH

Nearest tube: Old Street/Liverpool Street
http://www.wearetbc.com

Women’s vs Men’s Grooming

These two make up lay outs were taken from two separate shoots I’ve been working on recently. Can you guess which belongs to the male model shoot and which the female?

Phantom in the Garden

With the weather being as appalling as it is in the UK right now even the plants in my garden have come out in horror. Whatever animal has eaten this plant clearly has a taste for early Expressionist art because is this or is this not Munch’s Scream? I haven’t doctored this photo or touched the plant. Is this a crazy freak of animal nature or a caterpillar with really great art skills? As I write this I am off for a couple of day’s sunshine abroad as I can’t take this weather any more and clearly neither can my garden!

Valentino A/W Couture Paris 2012

There’s nothing like a full length, heavy looking, shapeless navy blue dress to encapsulate couture…. no, wait… The start of this show looked as if it had got confused with the cut out dresses from Stella McCartney’s last collection. Under the loose banner of ‘sensual but severe’, the rest was an odd mix of nunnery wear, sequins, curtain fabric, dreary prints and gothic widow. When Mr Valentino used to do the couture collection it was one of the shows to be truly excited about, but this? I just can’t work out who the Valentino girl is any more?

Source: Style.com

Maison Martin Margiela A/W Couture Paris 2012

This is such a house of mystery that you probably had to be there to understand any of it.  The fabrics look interesting, especially when you know that he likes to collect vintage and discarded items and rework them into his clothes.  There’s a crystal door knob in here and a windsurfer’s sail.  The models hiding behind masks isn’t new for him, but it does throw the emphasis onto the individual few designs he presents, which fulfil the couture requirement of an artistic vision beautifully worked.

Source: Style.com

Jean Paul Gaultier A/W Couture Paris 2012

I love Gaultier shows, looking through the collection is always such a pleasure. This time there were 58 looks with all the exuberance, artistic flare and joy of fashion that you could possibly want. Its theme was the androgynous world of Alfred de Musset and his mistress Georges Sand, and though the references might not all be widely understood, the slinky ladies and corseted men said plenty about dangerously dandies of both sexes, about flamboyant characters frequenting the bars and the salons of the era.  There was a suggestion of the flapper about the beaded dresses and the geometrical designs continued an Art Nouveau theme that is still contemporary.  It’s all a world away from the romance of Elie Saab and it’s this spectrum that makes Couture week so exciting.

Source: Style.com

Elie Saab A/W Couture Paris 2012

Elie Saab’s show was entitled ‘In Constantinople’s Wake’ but it doesn’t feel necessary to tease out the Byzantine references from this lovely collection.  He always seems to come in for criticism for being predictable and yes, you won’t find challenging shapes or off the wall new directions, but I think if you want to see undeniably beautiful dresses this is the designer to go for.  Even though these dresses are covered in millions of beads they still look sinuous and lighter than air. These are dresses that are made to be worn by old school Hollywood sirens.

Source: Style.com

Armani Prive A/W Couture Paris 2012

Armani Prive showed looks for the day featuring luxurious wide legged black velvet or grey crepe trousers, worn with flats but looking anything but casual, and deceptively simple tops, either in satin to offset the matte or vice versa.  Jackets were versatile in length and cut, some long and buttoned, some boxy and others barely on the shoulder.  I particularly liked the streamlined elegance of some of the evening gowns and the restrained palette of pale greys, mauves, black and subtle blues.

Source: Style.com

Givenchy A/W Couture Paris 2012

Ricardo Tisci’s work at Givenchy at couture level is always something to behold. These were insanely strong looking women, cloaked in mystique. They were goddesses of war, angels of death, priestesses of dark arts, sirens of allure, and all with intricate leather trimmings, beaded fringes and thousands of sequins on the inside of their capes.  I like the way he presents the looks: the obvious stillness gives his pieces a museum quality that suggests you are looking at something truly extrodinary.

Source: Style.com