Origami Magic

This is recession chic.  My sister’s boyfriend makes men’s shirts from £5 notes!

The Countdown to Christmas begins….

Two days into December already (I’ve been busy shooting about which more to later).  Happy Christmas Month, I hope everyone’s not too stressed with festivity planning and present buying.

Dear Diary

After a break away in Mallorca I am now back to blogging as often as I can. It was great after a pretty shocking London summer, weather wise, to spend ten days in the sunshine. So I am now catching up with New York Fashion Week, trying to write up as many reviews as possible and obviously London starts on Friday, although I might have a shoot over the weekend so I won’t be able to see all the shows.

Happy Christmas

I hope everyone is having a lovely Christmas wherever you are celebrating. There will be lots of exciting posts and behind the scenes from Fashion Week and photoshoots to come next year but until then best wishes for the holiday season and thank you for reading.

Dear Diary

I’m in New York this week, part work part pleasure, so my posts are going to be  miminal for the next  five days, but I’ll be back with some great photos I hope and news of the Big Apple as it starts the big freeze for winter.

From the Shopping Basket

Thess are a few favourites from my current A/W net-a-porter wish list, compliled after much drooling and dismay at the total cost of it all. I’ve decided dresses are going to be the only way forward this winter, there just aren’t enough statement separates out there to go together.

Erdem’s A/W winter collection was such a highlight for me last February and it would be great to own a piece of it. I love the swallow motifs and I really like the way this looks light and yet autumnally fluffy. I would think about putting a super thin belt with this and definitely relaxed make-up and hair as the dress is enough on its own. With the boy test this didn’t fare too well, but it’s a fashion dress and not necessarily boyfriend-friendly.

The first of two Jason Wu contributions to this list. This is such a staple dress. It looks warm and comfy and yet is tight enough to be sexy and chic. Dress it down with wrinkly flat boots or up with a killer heel. Hair up for this one as the neckline is so flattering.

This is Gucci so of course it’s super sexy and obviously not an everyday dress.  Great for a cocktail party though and the back is a great reveal for a hot date! I love the gold belt running through it. Killer berry lips for this one surely?

A body hugging dress from Carven. Now this definitely got the thumbs up from the boy test.It looks amazing with that soft twist and drape. It’s relaxed but sexy, made even more so by the zip down the side. The high neck leaves killer legs on show. It would look great with dark tights and maroon boots for a more weekend look.  A pet hate of mine is pattern/detailing that doesn’t continue round the back of the dress, specially in jersey where a plain back can be so unflattering and this does just enough to pass.

In saying that, this Jason Wu fails on the back continuation issue but makes up for it by being such a statement. Again it’s an event dress, but I love the drama of the gold leaf  against the rather demure shape.

Source: Net-a-Porter.com

Shakespeare´s Rough Magic

Any film based on Shakespeare is always a good deal for me but new pictures of Helen Mirren in Shakespeare’s The Tempest make  me even more excited. Controversially, Mirren plays  the male lead  in Julie Taymor’s adaptation of what was probably Shakespeare´s final play, about Prospero, an old magician on an enchanted island manipulating a cast of  wilful spirits, devious shipwrecked nobles, their colourful crew and his own beloved daughter Miranda, towards a redemptive end. Putting aside the excitement of the Bard, I have to say it should be visually stunning and the costumes look amazing. Also pictured below are Russell Brand and Djimon Hounsou.

Source: JustJared

Dear Diary

I am doing an internship at British Vogue for a month, which I am really looking forward.  For reasons of confidentiality I am not allowed to write about it,  so I apologise if the blog suffers meanwhile. I will however try and keep posting on editorials I’m inspired by and my photography etc so please don’t desert me because I will be back in full flow in August with lots of say about summer fashion and the build up to Fashion Week.

Pool Side…..

…..takes on a whole new meaning. Below are the photos from Marina Bay Sands’ new infinity pool in Singapore. Fifty-five storeys above ground and three times the length of an Olypmic swimming pool it really is quite something. It’s the world’s most expensive hotel and the building is supposed to look like a deck of cards. I love urban pools, they clash and yet complement city life so well. I love swimming too and the idea of finishing forty lengths and then looking out over the edge at the sprawling city of Singapore would be such a thrill and at night it must be stunning. I came back from Bali through Singapore a couple of weeks ago and  if I’d known this pool was there I definitely would have stayed for a swim!

Bali – Hi!

I’m back! After an amazing trip to Bali I’m home in London and hoping to be on some shoots this week and then I’ve got an internship at a magazine coming up for the summer which should be exciting, but for now back to Indonesia with a few impressions and some photos.

It’s a pretty long journey to get there: 12 hours to Singapore  and a connecting flight of 2 hrs 30 on to Bali. The island is a wonderful picturesque mix of beautiful beaches, lakes, mountains, lush paddy fields with a few volcanoes added in.  One of the most interesting things is that in a majority Islamic country this particular island has a mostly Hindu population and because the gods of the Hindu religion are  so diverse the statues and temples are all very different and individually beautiful. I especially liked that they wrap their gods in lengths of cloth to show respect and I think the chequered material and the draping in one of the pictures below looks very Alexander McQueen! Everyone drives a moped and I do mean everyone,  whole families managing to travel around on them weaving in and out of some of the most dangerous traffic I’ve ever known. I have never seen so many mopeds, not even in Rome.

Probably the most depressing thing I discovered there was that most villages had Croc shops! How that phenomenon has strayed as far as this idyllic island I do not know, but it’s a shame because there are amazing local flip flops and sandals, far cheaper and in more original styles. Thank god it’s too hot for Uggs out there!

I stayed in a really good mix of places, from  popular beachside resorts with tiny alleys full of things to buy, to tranquil hotels overlooking the greenish paddy fields that changed colour in the light, to deserted black sand beaches with no tourists for miles. It was a wonderful trip and I wish I could have brought some of the sunshine back with me!

A woman on Kuta beach surrounded by locals offering massages, pedicures, jewellery and clothes

Offerings left out everyday for the gods

Refreshing drinks after a 3 hour walk through the paddy fields

Into the monkey forest