Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
To you all! Hope you're having great celebrations, bringing in the New Year in style. J and I will be dining at Naan in Bariloche. Hopefully it'll live up to the good recommendations it's had.
See you in 2010 :)
Marie Xx
And we're off!
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Tonight J and I fly to Argentina. For a mere 16 hours we will be airbound heading across the Atlantic to a far away land. Hopefully there it'll be warm, sunny, exciting and relaxing.
The e-mails have been very quiet for the last few days and I have enjoyed feeling like I'm relaxing ready to go away. We had a mad dash to get the house in order and all the packing done and now when this is posted we shall (hopefully) be taking off above London. Here's also hoping that Heathrow wasn't too hideous to get through.
Hope everyone has been enjoying their time off and are looking forward to their New Years Eve celebrations! xx
The e-mails have been very quiet for the last few days and I have enjoyed feeling like I'm relaxing ready to go away. We had a mad dash to get the house in order and all the packing done and now when this is posted we shall (hopefully) be taking off above London. Here's also hoping that Heathrow wasn't too hideous to get through.
Hope everyone has been enjoying their time off and are looking forward to their New Years Eve celebrations! xx
Happy Christmas one and all!
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Well here we are on Christmas Eve, and how time has flown. So I shall keep this short and sweet. To start a most lovely Mandarin Duck I found in St James park yesterday. I just love these ducks, so pretty and proud.
And to finish these winter leaves, no snow yesterday but it was cold! And the leaves had that lovely lovely frosting.
And to finish these winter leaves, no snow yesterday but it was cold! And the leaves had that lovely lovely frosting. Anyhoo, all the best for your Christmas breaks. Enjoy, eat, drink and be merry! Xx
Time marching on
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I cannot believe it's almost Christmas already. This time last year I was at home with my parents and sisters and meeting my little nephew for the first time. I was so excited about my impending wedding and concerned about the size of my waist.
This year I am at work until the last possible point. Very excited about our upcoming Argentina trip and still concerned about the size of my expanding waist. Someone said yesterday that apparently it is common to put on 1 stone in your first year of marriage. Something it seems I am giving a good shot at.
However for now I shan't concern myself with such trivial matters!
For the days are now beginning to get longer, there's a new year marching inwards, full of hopes and dreams. And memories of the year just past to store away.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading and following my words and thoughts. It means the world to me to get comments and exchange thoughts with you all. And of course I love reading your blogs too and 'getting to know you'. Hopefully we can continue this too in the new year!
This year I am at work until the last possible point. Very excited about our upcoming Argentina trip and still concerned about the size of my expanding waist. Someone said yesterday that apparently it is common to put on 1 stone in your first year of marriage. Something it seems I am giving a good shot at.
However for now I shan't concern myself with such trivial matters!
For the days are now beginning to get longer, there's a new year marching inwards, full of hopes and dreams. And memories of the year just past to store away.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading and following my words and thoughts. It means the world to me to get comments and exchange thoughts with you all. And of course I love reading your blogs too and 'getting to know you'. Hopefully we can continue this too in the new year!
Tweet, tweet - at long last
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So I've finally bitten the bullet and decided to join Twitter. It's been a long time coming I know, and I'm not sure why I've resisted so long but I am now going to give it a shot. I can be found at Wifeinthecity if you are interested. But to be honest it'll take me a little while to get used to it so apologies but it is incredibly boring at the moment.
Therefore if you are on Twitter can you either find me and let me know so I can follow you or leave your username in the comments and I will find you so I can follow you. And of course if you'd like to follow me I'd be delighted :)
See you over there!
M x
Therefore if you are on Twitter can you either find me and let me know so I can follow you or leave your username in the comments and I will find you so I can follow you. And of course if you'd like to follow me I'd be delighted :)
See you over there!
M x
MORE JOSEPH SS10!
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
It's taken me a while to get back to Joseph SS10 part II. A while that has been taken up by an exciting POP magazine commission, and getting my new logo installed as well as widening the visual register of the blog(thanks hapsical you are the best fashion blog geek ever). This is proper progress, and I have been jumping around the living room in a mental kind of hyper joy while my dog Walter looks at me wondering what the hell is going on, while outside thick snow is falling..
I have been having personal wardrobe issues with fashion of late. I don't feel that many designers are catering directly to me/my generation - me and Kate Moss, Stella Mc, Gwyneth Paltrow are of the age group in question.
So I'm pleased that Joseph is making waves in my head. I'm connecting its relaxed sexy urban look with luxe basics labels like Helmut Lang and rebuilding my idea of what fashion is for me, and how I can communicate who I am in a way that feels right with my clothes.
So here are the rest of my Joseph hot picks for Spring 2010 part one is here.
6.
Charles Anastase is a Parisian designer on the London scene. I like his aesthetic - and I LOVE his fashion illustrations, so am delighted Joseph collaborated with him on this T as well as a few other designs.
That's it on my Joseph own label examination for SS10. My next Joseph investigation will be to reveal which Givenchy and Haider Ackermann looks they have bought for the new season; writing that post will be a form of self-torture.
Want more? Then head to Joseph where they've got Charles Anastase at home on Joseph TV and an Isabel Marant interview.
It's taken me a while to get back to Joseph SS10 part II. A while that has been taken up by an exciting POP magazine commission, and getting my new logo installed as well as widening the visual register of the blog(thanks hapsical you are the best fashion blog geek ever). This is proper progress, and I have been jumping around the living room in a mental kind of hyper joy while my dog Walter looks at me wondering what the hell is going on, while outside thick snow is falling..
I have been having personal wardrobe issues with fashion of late. I don't feel that many designers are catering directly to me/my generation - me and Kate Moss, Stella Mc, Gwyneth Paltrow are of the age group in question.
So I'm pleased that Joseph is making waves in my head. I'm connecting its relaxed sexy urban look with luxe basics labels like Helmut Lang and rebuilding my idea of what fashion is for me, and how I can communicate who I am in a way that feels right with my clothes.
So here are the rest of my Joseph hot picks for Spring 2010 part one is here.
6.
I'm really into Lame for SS10. Joanna Sykes for her Sykes label has done the best silver Lame suit for spring 2010. These trousers are fab. Who knew the harem pant thing would become so mainstream? Olivier Theyskens was a pioneer when he introduced the drop crotch pant at Nina Ricci for AW2008.
7.
In terms of everyday fashionable legwear the noughties were dominated by skinny jeans, and then by leggings. So it follows that as we depart the decade the two should have become one. The great thing about a jean/legging is that though body-hugging, the garment won't require a crappy rendition of the Single Ladies video dance to squeeze into them. For Spring 2010 jean/leggings will be a staple, and these are damn good ones. As are the those by James Jeans which my colleagues on the fashion team at Grazia are obsessed with.
8.
This woven leather jumper is just what I would wear if I had toned, fit body and was working from my condo on Venice Beach overlooking the ocean. I would take my lunch break and rollerblade up and down the boardwalk. I would wear a bra underneath though.
9.
That's it on my Joseph own label examination for SS10. My next Joseph investigation will be to reveal which Givenchy and Haider Ackermann looks they have bought for the new season; writing that post will be a form of self-torture.
Want more? Then head to Joseph where they've got Charles Anastase at home on Joseph TV and an Isabel Marant interview.
THE GUY WITH THE FASHION WORLD IN HIS HANDS
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Posted by the Fashion Junior at Large
We all adore fashion photography, myself and the Fashion Editor at Large are obsessed - we are currently toying with the idea of being Number One Fans and heading to Selfridges today at 5pm to get Nick Knight to sign his latest book for us. But on another note, lately I have developed a new fixation on fashion illustration. Possibly because, once upon a time, I used to draw and write in equal measure. Then, when I was about 16, the journalist in me came to the fore and I haven't so much as looked at a pencil since.
Anyway, this revival of my interest in fashion drawing was piqued whilst watching a friend of mine put her under-graduate design portfolio together - complete with disgustingly gorgeous and detailed sketches of her graduate fashion collection. This has lead to my somewhat belated discovery of London bred illustrator Blue Logan, the nephew of Andrew "Miss World" Logan!!
Mr Logan an ex-model (who the Fashion Editor at Large met, on the very day he was photographed on above at the Red Bull Fashion Factory) just finished exhibiting at Art Basel in Miami. Go Blue!
We all adore fashion photography, myself and the Fashion Editor at Large are obsessed - we are currently toying with the idea of being Number One Fans and heading to Selfridges today at 5pm to get Nick Knight to sign his latest book for us. But on another note, lately I have developed a new fixation on fashion illustration. Possibly because, once upon a time, I used to draw and write in equal measure. Then, when I was about 16, the journalist in me came to the fore and I haven't so much as looked at a pencil since.
Anyway, this revival of my interest in fashion drawing was piqued whilst watching a friend of mine put her under-graduate design portfolio together - complete with disgustingly gorgeous and detailed sketches of her graduate fashion collection. This has lead to my somewhat belated discovery of London bred illustrator Blue Logan, the nephew of Andrew "Miss World" Logan!!
Mr Logan an ex-model (who the Fashion Editor at Large met, on the very day he was photographed on above at the Red Bull Fashion Factory) just finished exhibiting at Art Basel in Miami. Go Blue!
I want these fashion playing cards on my bedroom wall. Like now. Please?
The PPQ Crowd. Loving Pixie's heart framed glasses.
A portrait of Diane Pernet clad in trademark black.
Why oh why BA
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
My holiday is on the precipice of being ruined. Our flights are booked with British Airways and yesterday was the overwhelming vote to strike over the holiday period when we're supposed to be flying to Buenos Aires. For sure strike while I'm there, rendering it impossible for me to return. But before I've even got there?!
And here I'm going to be controversial, but I think they're greedy, chancing wotsits who think striking for two weeks will obviously be a good thing for a company which lost £300m in the first half of the year. Eeejits. They already get paid more than any other cabin crew! Grrrr...
Here's hoping Willie Walsh can sort this out and get me to Argentina on time!
And here I'm going to be controversial, but I think they're greedy, chancing wotsits who think striking for two weeks will obviously be a good thing for a company which lost £300m in the first half of the year. Eeejits. They already get paid more than any other cabin crew! Grrrr...
Here's hoping Willie Walsh can sort this out and get me to Argentina on time!
THE MAN WHO CAN
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I just totally adore my Fashion Editor at Large logo created by the very talented graphic designer/photographer/artist Neil Watson. I met him through my girlfriend (he works at her company Yellowdoor). This is the latest of many things we have worked on together. In the recent past we created the Matches seasonal catwalk brochures together often times toiling until 3am in our mutual pursuit of graphic design perfection. Love ya Neil!
Butterfly Head by Neil Watson
I just totally adore my Fashion Editor at Large logo created by the very talented graphic designer/photographer/artist Neil Watson. I met him through my girlfriend (he works at her company Yellowdoor). This is the latest of many things we have worked on together. In the recent past we created the Matches seasonal catwalk brochures together often times toiling until 3am in our mutual pursuit of graphic design perfection. Love ya Neil!
My favourite picture from the BFA's
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I laugh every time I see this photo I took of Antonio Berardi and the ever sociable Gianluca Longo of ES Magazine at the British Fashion Awards on December 9th 2009
And on to the next one...
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Last night was fun. The skating was pretty, although not on my behalf, more wobbly there but it's beautiful skating around at Somerset House as the light fades. My only complaint would be that there are a few too many people on the rink but you can't win them all!
Then glammed up we went off to Orso. No photos yet I'm afraid, a colleague was taking them and didn't bring in her camera today. But when I have pictures that are shareable I promise I shall share. Our meal was lovely, Orso is a very good restaurant with great service, good food and lovely wines to choose from. Expensive, but then I wasn't paying this time :) Plus it's quite a cosy restaurant so one I would recommend for an intimate dinner with a loved one.
I left at the right time, drunk but not awfully so, happily drunk shall we put it. Got home on the bus to a very drunk J. This morning neither of us were so pretty!
And tonight we are celebrating Christmas with our friends. It shall be another night of revelry which I'm not sure my body can cope with but we'll see.
Hopefully your Friday has been more productive than mine. Although one final tip, Itsu Detox Zinger is just the best thing when you have a hangover, ginger lime and apple all in a lovely drink. Yummy!
Have lovely wintery weekends. M x
Then glammed up we went off to Orso. No photos yet I'm afraid, a colleague was taking them and didn't bring in her camera today. But when I have pictures that are shareable I promise I shall share. Our meal was lovely, Orso is a very good restaurant with great service, good food and lovely wines to choose from. Expensive, but then I wasn't paying this time :) Plus it's quite a cosy restaurant so one I would recommend for an intimate dinner with a loved one.
I left at the right time, drunk but not awfully so, happily drunk shall we put it. Got home on the bus to a very drunk J. This morning neither of us were so pretty!
And tonight we are celebrating Christmas with our friends. It shall be another night of revelry which I'm not sure my body can cope with but we'll see.
Hopefully your Friday has been more productive than mine. Although one final tip, Itsu Detox Zinger is just the best thing when you have a hangover, ginger lime and apple all in a lovely drink. Yummy!
Have lovely wintery weekends. M x
It's party time!
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Tonight is our work Xmas do. We're going skating at Somerset House and then off for dinner. I've never done the outside skating in London thing so hopefully it'll be good fun, sure it will. And then for dinner the theme was glam so I have purchased myself a new dress from French Connection. More on that later, hopefully accompanied by pictures!
Let's see how I feel tomorrow...
Let's see how I feel tomorrow...
ABOUT LAST NIGHT.....AT THE BRITISH FASHION AWARDS!
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Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
My toe is still throbbing from when Mandi Lennard accidentally stepped back on it wearing spike heeled Lanvin boots while taking the below photo of Victoria Beckham and her friend and protector Natalie Lewis. But the distant throb in my foot - I'm calling it my toe hangover - is as nothing compared to what Karen Elson will be feeling this morning.
The delectable supermodel flown in from Nashville to present Grace Coddington with her Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator actually fell off the stage in the process of walking onto it. A drop of about seven feet. It was such a shocking moment, the noise of 1000 or so people clattering and chattering stilled to silence as we all imaginged the next award would go to an unsuspecting Paramedic. But she picked herself up to a standing ovation and later it was confirmed following a visit to St Thomas's hospital that she has a sprained thumb.
See Mandi's Colette blog here.
Picture credits:
Melanie Rickey & Sophia Kokosalalki: Fashion Editor at Large
Victoria Beckham and Natalie Lewis: Mandi Lennard
Karen Elson: Dave Bennett
I promised I would post a picture of me in my Sophia Kokosalaki dress (look 20 AW09), and who better to pose with for it than the fab Ms Kokosalaski herself. Sophia is such an amazing designer, and Caren Downie of ASOS.com, Harriet Quick of Vogue and Bridget Cosgrave of Matches all looked sensational in their Sophia K. Sorry for the grainy quality of the picture, but Sarah Mower took this shot and I think I had the camera on the wrong settings!!! Thanks though Sarah. It was an eventful evening (see winners list on the fabulous GraziaDaily).
The delectable supermodel flown in from Nashville to present Grace Coddington with her Isabella Blow Award for Fashion Creator actually fell off the stage in the process of walking onto it. A drop of about seven feet. It was such a shocking moment, the noise of 1000 or so people clattering and chattering stilled to silence as we all imaginged the next award would go to an unsuspecting Paramedic. But she picked herself up to a standing ovation and later it was confirmed following a visit to St Thomas's hospital that she has a sprained thumb.
Get well soon Karen. Oh and by the way she was truly the most beautiful woman present last night. Eva H, Claudia S and Kate Mossy were all there but Karen was beyond radiant. After seeing her I want to wear a red dress!
See Mandi's Colette blog here.
Picture credits:
Melanie Rickey & Sophia Kokosalalki: Fashion Editor at Large
Victoria Beckham and Natalie Lewis: Mandi Lennard
Karen Elson: Dave Bennett
Kai Mayfair - Review
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As a follow up to my last post I thought I should tell you about Kai. We went there because I had won a voucher for it in a raffle and we like to go to nice restaurants to celebrate our anniversary. So this year it worked out as Kai. The restaurant is nicely decorated, somehow it still feels Chinese but obivously upmarket. We had a big table which was kind of separate from the rest, although in some ways that was good.
We figured since we had the voucher that we didn't need to worry too much about how much we spent, so J had soft shelled crab for his starter and I had steamed scallop and king prawn. Our starters were both lovely. They came out at different times but this was fine as we had been warned. And both were dishes you wouldn't cook yourself at home, which always makes the restaurant experience feel more worthwhile.
Then on to our mains, I had beef in a pepper sauce and J lamb. If I'm honest I was not so impressed with our mains. My beef's sauce tasted a little shop bought and wasn't great and J's lamb just wasn't much of anything.
I then figured I would push the boat out and have a pudding. I had the 'not to be missed' pudding which involved pumpkin cream, something I should have been wary of from the start. Again, nice enough but not amazing. Especially for the price.
Which takes me to my next point, this place is expensive, starters start at around £15 and go upwards and upwards. Mains are of course more expensive. Now I don't mind expensive when I feel like it's worth it. And I think our starters were, but for the mains and pudding I felt less happy with the amount it cost. Although I knew the ingredients were of good quality for that much I expected something more amazing.
However the service was superb, very nice staff, nice atmosphere.
So in summary I don't think I'd recommend it, I think it's just a little too expensive for what we had. If you really want to go and spend lots of money then have the starters and avoid the pudding I had and you'll probably have a lovely dinner!
We figured since we had the voucher that we didn't need to worry too much about how much we spent, so J had soft shelled crab for his starter and I had steamed scallop and king prawn. Our starters were both lovely. They came out at different times but this was fine as we had been warned. And both were dishes you wouldn't cook yourself at home, which always makes the restaurant experience feel more worthwhile.
Then on to our mains, I had beef in a pepper sauce and J lamb. If I'm honest I was not so impressed with our mains. My beef's sauce tasted a little shop bought and wasn't great and J's lamb just wasn't much of anything.
I then figured I would push the boat out and have a pudding. I had the 'not to be missed' pudding which involved pumpkin cream, something I should have been wary of from the start. Again, nice enough but not amazing. Especially for the price.
Which takes me to my next point, this place is expensive, starters start at around £15 and go upwards and upwards. Mains are of course more expensive. Now I don't mind expensive when I feel like it's worth it. And I think our starters were, but for the mains and pudding I felt less happy with the amount it cost. Although I knew the ingredients were of good quality for that much I expected something more amazing.
However the service was superb, very nice staff, nice atmosphere.
So in summary I don't think I'd recommend it, I think it's just a little too expensive for what we had. If you really want to go and spend lots of money then have the starters and avoid the pudding I had and you'll probably have a lovely dinner!
A REALLY DETAILED LOOK at JOSEPH SS10!
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One of the pleasures of NOT going to the press day of a label, is catching up on it all afterwards. The boon of off-pisting a press day appointment, is that one generally meets with a PR who has time on his or her hands, and can give feedback on how the collection went down with the press. Most pleasingly of all, the PR is not suffering from smile-muscle rigamortis locked in the upturned position.
So it was when I taxied to meet Imogen Crosby at Jospeh a week or two after the Joseph press day at their Brompton Road HQ. We had tea, chatted, wandered around the showroom ooh-ing and aahing and I took my time to really take in the changes in the brand and what Joseph is up to.
As I have said in an earlier post, the Joseph at Westbourne Grove near my Maida Vale base is something of a palace of design for me. I go in to try on Haider Ackermann and Givenchy (and cry that I cannot afford it), and then wander downstairs in the store to purchase some Joseph own label which, thanks to relatively new Japanese owners and a new design team in the shape of Alain Snege - ex-Collette - and Louise Trotter - ex-Jigsaw/Gap/Calvin Klein - I like a lot.
So without further ado, I present my edit of Joseph SS10.
1.
2.
These shoes are by Tiffany Tuttle, the daughter of the former US Ambassador to England. Her label is called LD Tuttle, and Tiffany has collaborated with Joseph to create these shoe/boot/sandals for SS10. What I like about them is that they're tough chic for everyday wear. The heel is not too high, and we all know it's about a lower heel for SS10. I remember meeting Tiffany Tuttle for a coffee in Maida Vale once; she is a former dancer and cool and edgy in that Rick Owens L.A way. After our breakfast she told me she wanted to take a walk to Regents Park, little did I know that meant she was heading home to the biggest house on the Park!
3.
Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
One of the pleasures of NOT going to the press day of a label, is catching up on it all afterwards. The boon of off-pisting a press day appointment, is that one generally meets with a PR who has time on his or her hands, and can give feedback on how the collection went down with the press. Most pleasingly of all, the PR is not suffering from smile-muscle rigamortis locked in the upturned position.
So it was when I taxied to meet Imogen Crosby at Jospeh a week or two after the Joseph press day at their Brompton Road HQ. We had tea, chatted, wandered around the showroom ooh-ing and aahing and I took my time to really take in the changes in the brand and what Joseph is up to.
As I have said in an earlier post, the Joseph at Westbourne Grove near my Maida Vale base is something of a palace of design for me. I go in to try on Haider Ackermann and Givenchy (and cry that I cannot afford it), and then wander downstairs in the store to purchase some Joseph own label which, thanks to relatively new Japanese owners and a new design team in the shape of Alain Snege - ex-Collette - and Louise Trotter - ex-Jigsaw/Gap/Calvin Klein - I like a lot.
So without further ado, I present my edit of Joseph SS10.
1.
This jacket is light and elegant yet its weighted down by chains to keep it in shape making it a perfect spring/summer jacket. It's very fashiony. A move on from the cropped jackets we have all been wearing, but still with the look of that. It will be good to wear with very short items (as shown), and really tight things like treggings of jean-leggings which will be the fashion staple of the year in 2010.
2.
3.
These leggings are real Python. Also in the Python area is a stunning sleeveless biker jacket. The khaki jacket is noteworthy becasue khaki cotton drill will be the denim of SS10. What I mean to say is it will be the fall-back hard-wearing fabric of choice for the fashion set. As we say in the trade - its a look!
4.
These khaki's are by customised Alonzo Ester and shape up to be another of Joseph's collaborations for SS10. He has also created a studded parka. In his day job Mr Ester is a stylist and creative director and worked with Madonna during her Rhinestone period. I'm STILL wearing my Gap khaki's from two years ago, and in my mind I have replaced them with these already!
5.
I know this looks like a lovely short sexy very tight black dress, and it is. But having seen it in the flesh I can share with you that it incorporates sheer panels both through the arms and in swathes across the upper body thus giving it a fashion edge that is totally SS10.
MORE SOON ...Going out with my good friend Caren Downie fashion director of ASOS tonight and got to get ready...
SMACK MY STITCH UP
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Head down and focus on making those unique Christmas Cards!
The box of craft materials supplied by the girls is full of wonderful and bizarre bits and bobs, and I end up covering my Christmas card to the b/f in animal stickers and a My Little Pony ribbon (I hope he likes it!?!). It was fun fun fun, and the good news is the girls are hoping to stay open into the New Year, continuing events like ‘Bring and Bling’, and ‘Stitch and Bitch’. If you get a chance, GO!!!
The M.I.Y workshops will run from 10-13th and 17th-20th December, from Midday to Midnight at 9 Caledonian Road, N1 9DX.
Posted by the Fashion Junior at Large
Their promotional poster is as M.I.Y as it gets
Childhood friends Kristie and Coralie
The Fashion Editor at Large went to the Hidden Art fair last week at Brick Lane, and told me about how she bumped into Coralie and Kristie who run M.I.Y workshops appealing to young, creative (or just skint) types who want to make their own Christmas cards, jewellery, cross-stitch...whatever.Well, I did my graduation project/magazine on the M.I.Y movement, as the FEAL well knows, and am definitely of a mind that, for my generation, creativity begins at home.
What really set my pulse racing when I heard more about these two art graduates, is that they are not just popping up unpredictably at art fairs and the like, they have opened an M.I.Y bar!!! in Kings Cross and running themed nights called the likes of "Smack My Stitch Up".
So on Saturday the Fashion Junior at Large trudged through the rain to Kings Cross to attend "Kristie abd Coralie’s Christmas Cooler", and make stuff. Situated in a building that was once home to a gay bathhouse and more recently a sex shop (apparently the sex shop is still operating out of the basement, but the glitter covered door which links the two businesses is firmly locked) Coralie and Kristie, two childhood friends, have the quaintest most wholesome enterprise you can imagine.
It’s M.I.Y meets cocktail hour, held in a softly lit room with marvellously mismatched furniture. Crafty jewellery, home furnishings (Like Rescued and Revived’s ‘divorce cushion’ as Coralie refers to it – emblazoned with the message ‘I’m sorry. I overestimated forever. Goodbye’) and pick ‘n mix sweets stud the walls. Groups of girls (and some men as well) sat around enjoying mulled wine and cake whilst contentedly making Christmas cards with Pritt stick, glitter and bits of ribbon. Admittedly this was early in the evening, later it was more of a party atmosphere.
Head down and focus on making those unique Christmas Cards!
The box of craft materials supplied by the girls is full of wonderful and bizarre bits and bobs, and I end up covering my Christmas card to the b/f in animal stickers and a My Little Pony ribbon (I hope he likes it!?!). It was fun fun fun, and the good news is the girls are hoping to stay open into the New Year, continuing events like ‘Bring and Bling’, and ‘Stitch and Bitch’. If you get a chance, GO!!!
The M.I.Y workshops will run from 10-13th and 17th-20th December, from Midday to Midnight at 9 Caledonian Road, N1 9DX.
Check out the website: http://www.kristieandcoralies.com/
THINGS IN MY HEAD TODAY
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Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
1. What I'm going to wear tomorrrow night to the British Fashion Awards. I think it will be this by Sophia Kokosalaki:
I love it. It is so chic. But I'm in a quandry about showing skin. I think I have to. Skin is sexy. My g/f thinks black tights will be chic.
2) It's been over a week since my last confession... I mean blog. When one does have an untended blog growing virtual tumbleweed in the blogosphere, it is a stressful feeling. Especially when there are plentiful stories and posts to share and no time to release them. So now a stack of ideas filling two pages in my "Fashion Editor at Large" notebook are queueing up to depart my mind like buses waiting to leave a garage.
The reason for this long blank is that I have not yet mastered how to fulfil multitude journalistic commitments to Grazia and others while also blogging. The pre-xmas rush is always as stressful as it gets - talk about cortisol overdose, or in my case my cortisol stash is fast depleting. In the last week I have completed the Best Dressed 2009 tome for G's mega-stacked double-issue published on the 22nd December. I love doing the best dressed list, it is extremely intense and detailed but also fascinating how what we look for in a fashion icon changes so much in the space of a year. I think you will be blown away by our choices and omissions.
Clearly by the time January comes along and my new logo/ blog design are up and running, my special blog email address is delivering what I need, and the fashion junior at large and me are in place at our new office this kind of behaviour will be TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. In the spirit of us still being limey amateurs and newbies to the scene, I'm even letting the ridiculously beautiful Fashion Junior at Large swan off for the next three days on a modelling job with Rankin, but of course I made her promise to blog daily to share her experiences.
1. What I'm going to wear tomorrrow night to the British Fashion Awards. I think it will be this by Sophia Kokosalaki:
I love it. It is so chic. But I'm in a quandry about showing skin. I think I have to. Skin is sexy. My g/f thinks black tights will be chic.
2) It's been over a week since my last confession... I mean blog. When one does have an untended blog growing virtual tumbleweed in the blogosphere, it is a stressful feeling. Especially when there are plentiful stories and posts to share and no time to release them. So now a stack of ideas filling two pages in my "Fashion Editor at Large" notebook are queueing up to depart my mind like buses waiting to leave a garage.
The reason for this long blank is that I have not yet mastered how to fulfil multitude journalistic commitments to Grazia and others while also blogging. The pre-xmas rush is always as stressful as it gets - talk about cortisol overdose, or in my case my cortisol stash is fast depleting. In the last week I have completed the Best Dressed 2009 tome for G's mega-stacked double-issue published on the 22nd December. I love doing the best dressed list, it is extremely intense and detailed but also fascinating how what we look for in a fashion icon changes so much in the space of a year. I think you will be blown away by our choices and omissions.
Clearly by the time January comes along and my new logo/ blog design are up and running, my special blog email address is delivering what I need, and the fashion junior at large and me are in place at our new office this kind of behaviour will be TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. In the spirit of us still being limey amateurs and newbies to the scene, I'm even letting the ridiculously beautiful Fashion Junior at Large swan off for the next three days on a modelling job with Rankin, but of course I made her promise to blog daily to share her experiences.
A long long time ago...
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
J and I met and I didn't like him. And then we met again and we got talking and I thought now here's a nice intelligent kind of chap who likes food and wine. And we got to know each other. On November 1st 2002 we kissed. And on December 4th 2002 we 'officially' became a couple. Yes my dear readers, 7 years ago to the day J and I got together.
It wasn't a fairytale coming together, I was lying on his bed in halls musing to myself that since we were acting like a couple we might just as well be one. And from thenceforce we were M&J.
I originally went into the relationship thinking, why not? I'd never really had a proper boyfriend before and just wanted to know what it was like. And here was someone who strangely enough was willing to be my boyfriend, who I liked. So off we went. I never imagined that seven years down the line we'd be married. I thought it would last a few months, I'd go through my first break-up and move on stronger and ready for the next person. But it didn't work like that. The days passed, they turned into months, then years and we were still together, still happy with each other. Still happy in our relationship. We've never broken up and got back together. We've never really been close to breaking up. And truth be told I'm not sure how we've got this far without big hiccups, little ones of course, but nothing big.
So tonight we shall be dining at Kai, to celebrate this time spent together. And to toast to the next seven years. And I shall be thinking about how we can make the next seven as wonderful as the last seven.
So here's to relationships and love, because today I feel like it. Happy weekend's to you all. M xxx
It wasn't a fairytale coming together, I was lying on his bed in halls musing to myself that since we were acting like a couple we might just as well be one. And from thenceforce we were M&J.
I originally went into the relationship thinking, why not? I'd never really had a proper boyfriend before and just wanted to know what it was like. And here was someone who strangely enough was willing to be my boyfriend, who I liked. So off we went. I never imagined that seven years down the line we'd be married. I thought it would last a few months, I'd go through my first break-up and move on stronger and ready for the next person. But it didn't work like that. The days passed, they turned into months, then years and we were still together, still happy with each other. Still happy in our relationship. We've never broken up and got back together. We've never really been close to breaking up. And truth be told I'm not sure how we've got this far without big hiccups, little ones of course, but nothing big.
So tonight we shall be dining at Kai, to celebrate this time spent together. And to toast to the next seven years. And I shall be thinking about how we can make the next seven as wonderful as the last seven.
So here's to relationships and love, because today I feel like it. Happy weekend's to you all. M xxx
Kazakhstan Part II
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
I think I may have promised more on Kazkahstan so here goes. We stayed in the Radisson in Astana, a five star hotel (lucky us) which was huge and lovely. My room was on the 12th floor and the first thing I thought when I walked into it was how huge the bed was. I tried showing in the photo below it's size, truly you could have fitted three people in there, should you want to. You might also notice my travel companion keeping the bed warm. As hotel rooms go it was good, well equipped, underfloor heating in the bathroom, giant shower, good TV, coffee and tea facilities and even an iron and ironing board. So I was fairly impressed. Plus going back to the bed, it was soooo comfortable.
So then I thought I'd share another view from my room, the space in Kazakhstan was one thing which really struck me. It's just on another scale. As the 9th largest country in the world with a population of around 15m the population density is vastly different to the UK. And you can see this in the cities, with huge roads and big buildings. Beyond the city is the steppe. A flat landscape which goes as far as the eye can see, without coming across anything else. Also because the city is relatively much smaller the sky is darker and bigger. You can really see the stars, feel free and look up in wonder.
On a lighter note the hotel had their Christmas decorations up when we arrived. I couldn't help but pose with the life sized bears they had in reception. My mama would hate these bears, papa probably would like them. And me I stroked them whenever I walked past, hello bear!
I have some more city pictures to share. Another post soon hopefully!
So then I thought I'd share another view from my room, the space in Kazakhstan was one thing which really struck me. It's just on another scale. As the 9th largest country in the world with a population of around 15m the population density is vastly different to the UK. And you can see this in the cities, with huge roads and big buildings. Beyond the city is the steppe. A flat landscape which goes as far as the eye can see, without coming across anything else. Also because the city is relatively much smaller the sky is darker and bigger. You can really see the stars, feel free and look up in wonder.
On a lighter note the hotel had their Christmas decorations up when we arrived. I couldn't help but pose with the life sized bears they had in reception. My mama would hate these bears, papa probably would like them. And me I stroked them whenever I walked past, hello bear!
I have some more city pictures to share. Another post soon hopefully!
GOING TO EDINBURGH.....
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large from a high speed train going very fast to Scotland
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Never travelled first class on a train before, but I am to Edinburgh right now. It definitely beats flying up as you can work, blog!!! wi-fi at 125mph, talk, eat and relax on the way. I'm launching a charity shop with Grazia, Save The Children and Mary Portas in the morning. It's a follow-on from the Westfield one we did in the summer. Doing it felt like a most worthwhile thing. So I'm back for more. Got to give back. Anyone in Edinburgh reading this should come down tomorrow (Dec 1) from 10am - we've got donations from Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Holly Fulton, Graeme Black and Pringle (and more) for goodness sakes! The charity sector and Scotland hasn't seen anything like it. "Mary's Living and Giving Shop" is at 34 Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh. Will post pictures by phone in the morning (another new technique I am attempting to master).
.JPG)
Never travelled first class on a train before, but I am to Edinburgh right now. It definitely beats flying up as you can work, blog!!! wi-fi at 125mph, talk, eat and relax on the way. I'm launching a charity shop with Grazia, Save The Children and Mary Portas in the morning. It's a follow-on from the Westfield one we did in the summer. Doing it felt like a most worthwhile thing. So I'm back for more. Got to give back. Anyone in Edinburgh reading this should come down tomorrow (Dec 1) from 10am - we've got donations from Christopher Kane, Jonathan Saunders, Holly Fulton, Graeme Black and Pringle (and more) for goodness sakes! The charity sector and Scotland hasn't seen anything like it. "Mary's Living and Giving Shop" is at 34 Raeburn Place, Stockbridge, Edinburgh. Will post pictures by phone in the morning (another new technique I am attempting to master).
Ooh la la.
A few of my favourite things... III
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
The weather in London has been miserable, rain, rain, rain and yet more rain. Plus the wind and the general greyness, it's enough to get one down. So I have been utterly grateful for the next in my series of favourite things, my Hunter welly boots. These are the things of magic, they are sturdy, fun and most importantly keep my feet warm and dry.
It's one of those things I've always hated, wet feet, especially wet feet in nice shoes, which are then wet feet in nice ruined shoes. So having wellies has become an essential for me. Plus it means I can behave like a four year old and jump in puddles with glee.
So for those city dwellers who are fed up of wet feet, go get some Hunters! And even if they seem a little pricey they are the best, my last pair broke within about three months much to my upset and so from now on I will be tried and tested!
I am only slightly upset that I went for plain old Aubergine and not something a little jazzier. Maybe for the next pair I can branch out :)
Dorma Pot Pourri
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Upon my return to London I came into the office to find a little bag of goodies waiting for me. Excitedly peering into it I pulled it all out rapidly to explore and found beautiful packages, cream and gold and elegant.
One such package was a box of Orange and Cedarwood Pot Pourri from Dorma. I am not normally one for things like Pot Pourri, we used to have it at home when I was little but since then it is not something I have thought about having. Plus living in rented accommodation one tends to care less about extra details to make it look and smell really nice. So it was a surprise to find myself so delighted at this beautiful box of shapes which smelt so good.
Now it is sat in our living room, spreading it's gentle but natural smell throughout and making me smile when it looks so pretty. And it's also made me think that these are the kind of things it's worth buying quality products for, which this Dorma one definitely is.
One such package was a box of Orange and Cedarwood Pot Pourri from Dorma. I am not normally one for things like Pot Pourri, we used to have it at home when I was little but since then it is not something I have thought about having. Plus living in rented accommodation one tends to care less about extra details to make it look and smell really nice. So it was a surprise to find myself so delighted at this beautiful box of shapes which smelt so good.
Now it is sat in our living room, spreading it's gentle but natural smell throughout and making me smile when it looks so pretty. And it's also made me think that these are the kind of things it's worth buying quality products for, which this Dorma one definitely is.
And so I shall see what other goodies there are in this little bag and recommend this as something which could be both a great present for someone else and to yourself when you need something a little bit more luxury to perk up a room. Check out the Dorma website for more info!
ALL ABOUT THE FABBEST GIRL IN FASHION
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
FASHION INSIDER #2 YASMIN SEWELL
Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
Following on from last month's Fashion Insider interview with Sarah Mower, this month I bring you one of the best buyers in fashion, Yasmin Sewell.
Yasmin is one of the best respected and well-known fashion buyers in Britain, and is something of a celebrity in her homeland Australia. One Aussie summer I happened to be down in Sydney visiting Yasmin for her 30th when I spotted her in a celebrity magazine labelled as “the other woman” in the break-up of a famous Australian actor!!! Far from being the other woman, she has known said actor since childhood, and they were having fun on Bondi when the photograph was taken. Though, that is not to say she hasn’t had her fair share of actors. She was married to the delectable Rufus Sewell for most of her 20’s. Lucky lucky... But ANYWAY. That is not what I am here to tell you. Yasmin Sewell is a great friend of mine, and her story is an interesting one and not what you would expect. Her talent for picking fashion winners is rather prodigious: she was all over Christopher Kane the second he graduated, and was the first to champion ACNE in the UK. Her latest discoveries are numerous. I also admire that she gives her time for free to young designers such as the wonderful J.W Anderson, a talent of the future to be sure. Yasmin has exquisite taste, and her eye for what women want is up there with the greats. She is the creative consultant for Liberty, and at the Liberty press day last week, I could see her influence as clear as if it were her fingerprint. For the cost of a mere glass of white wine (she doesn’t drink much) and a few nibbles, Yasmin agreed to let me interrogate her about her life and career, how she came to develop her famously good taste and end up exercising her buying prowess in the fabulous fashion stores of London.
AND THEN YASMIN TOLD US EVERYTHING!
I left school at 15. I wanted to be free. I was rebellious. The teachers said “She has SO much potential.” I thought “What the fuck do they know?” The truth is I didn’t know what motivation was.
My teacher Mrs Nichols changed my life. She put me forward for a job with McGrath Partners estate agents. John, the guy who owned it, was a 26 year old self-made millionaire and motivational speaker. I got the job as an office assistant. Within three days everything I thought about life turned around. The job became my higher education. I don’t know where I’d be without it. I learned everything about business and running a company. By the time I left when I was 18 I was helping John run the company. Today he is a billionaire.
I call those days my Gloria Estefan period. I was a Lebanese girl in Sydney. I had waist length curly hair and my figure was more curvaceous than it is today. I wore conservative suits to work.
I shaved all my hair off when I was 19 and became the door bitch of a nightclub. After that only the kind of guys I liked would whistle at me in the street.
The single biggest event of my teens was the moment I fell in love with Rufus (Sewell).
Three days after I shaved my hair off I was sat in the Pacific Blue Room, a hot restaurant on Oxford Street in Sydney when Kiefer Sutherland walked in with this weird looking guy. He had these big big eyes. He was staring at me, and I was like “who is this weird guy?” Then a few minutes later I looked back at him, and that was it. It was love. The man was Rufus Sewell. A week later I had moved into his hotel. He was making a movie called Dark City. We became inseparable. Three months later I moved to London. That was it. I was 20.
London was all about building a career. Interning. I liked fashion, but I didn’t know what aspect.
I worked on the shop floor at Browns. I was just discovering my personal style. Then Rufus and I went to New York. I interned at Harpers Bazaar with Tonne Goodman. Then back in London I worked with Alison Edmond at Harpers and Queen as bookings editor.
Browns inspired me at retail, but I felt they had a snobbish attitude to service that was a bit old-school. Well it was 1995. I thought to myself “something is missing here”. John McGrath trained me in service, he is revolutionary. No pretension. For him good service had to be efficient, co-operative and about making the customer feel fantastic.
My “Eureka” moment came when a Sydney boutique called Museum asked me to buy some clothes for them. So I just made a few calls and did it without thinking.
Buying the clothes was such a buzz. There I was picking a dress someone would want six months later. Someone will buy it and it will make them happy.
That period made me. Within a few months I had found a shop that looked like a fashion design studio. It was upstairs, you had to ring a bell to get in and when you got there you could hang out as long as you wanted. I was 22. It took 18 months to launch. I called it Yasmin Cho. Cho is the name of my best school friend. People called me Yasmin Cho for years. The store was about embracing the avant-garde of the time. We were selling Susan Ciancolo, Imitation of Christ. A.F Vandervorst.
I remember seeing Rick Owens in the back corner of some dodgy showroom in Paris in 1998.
His jackets were just amazing. Now he is one of the best-selling designers in the world.
I was surprised that seeing and spotting and getting these designers seemed so easy to me. Was no one else seeing what I was seeing? After a while I realised I must have a good eye. I had no history as a buyer. How was I supposed to know?
I had no rules, no boss, no one saying “look at the sales of last season.” It was just about love.
With Yasmin Cho I took a lot of risks. Some didn’t pay off. In the end I failed. I had the wrong advisors and lost the business. I was screwed over. I let it happen. Failure was a privilege. Now when it comes to business I don’t let people mess me around.
Experience breeds caution. But it doesn’t mean the cowl neck that didn’t sell in ’99 won’t sell in 2009.
You never really know if something is going to work. But when I was at Browns from 2005-2008, and first saw Christopher Kane, I knew. If something doesn’t look like it will work, you’ve got to push it. Call the top five fashion journalists and the top ten customers and make it happen.
The secret of being a good buyer? Being tuned in. You’ve got to know what is happening. I get inspiration from what I haven’t seen. I can sense when a trend is coming to an end.
I listen to journalists. Big customers are influenced by magazines. Sometimes I buy things I don’t love but that the press love because I know customers will buy them.
My biggest success as a buyer was backing ACNE back in 2005. I had just arrived at Browns and when I walked into my office for the first time there was a pile of about 200 look books. I remember throwing them all away except ACNE. That was a good example of liking it because I hadn’t seen anything else like it. Their aesthetic didn’t exist then, and I knew that as SOON AS I SAW IT that it was going to be huge. And it was.
You’ll never see me in leggings and a tank top. I’m very petite – a size 6 – but I’m pear shaped with not the longest legs in the world, a 23 inch waist and a D-cup. You could say I have hidden curves. So I dress to accentuate my best bits which are my long neck and long, thin arms. Me in a pair of Sass & Bide skinny jeans? Yikes! Me in my long Sophia Kokosalaki dress? Yeah!
At one point in my life I listened ONLY to Marvin Gaye for three years.
Today I’m rocking a “portfolio career”. I work for Liberty, do a TV show for Fashionair, I mentor young designers and consult for designer labels and retail brands. I’m pretty happy.
Thanks Yazzy xxx
Yazzy is wearing a top by TOGA. (Last season, sadly)
http://www.yasminsewell.com/
Photo credit: Chris Brooks
>
Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
Following on from last month's Fashion Insider interview with Sarah Mower, this month I bring you one of the best buyers in fashion, Yasmin Sewell.
Yasmin is one of the best respected and well-known fashion buyers in Britain, and is something of a celebrity in her homeland Australia. One Aussie summer I happened to be down in Sydney visiting Yasmin for her 30th when I spotted her in a celebrity magazine labelled as “the other woman” in the break-up of a famous Australian actor!!! Far from being the other woman, she has known said actor since childhood, and they were having fun on Bondi when the photograph was taken. Though, that is not to say she hasn’t had her fair share of actors. She was married to the delectable Rufus Sewell for most of her 20’s. Lucky lucky... But ANYWAY. That is not what I am here to tell you. Yasmin Sewell is a great friend of mine, and her story is an interesting one and not what you would expect. Her talent for picking fashion winners is rather prodigious: she was all over Christopher Kane the second he graduated, and was the first to champion ACNE in the UK. Her latest discoveries are numerous. I also admire that she gives her time for free to young designers such as the wonderful J.W Anderson, a talent of the future to be sure. Yasmin has exquisite taste, and her eye for what women want is up there with the greats. She is the creative consultant for Liberty, and at the Liberty press day last week, I could see her influence as clear as if it were her fingerprint. For the cost of a mere glass of white wine (she doesn’t drink much) and a few nibbles, Yasmin agreed to let me interrogate her about her life and career, how she came to develop her famously good taste and end up exercising her buying prowess in the fabulous fashion stores of London.
AND THEN YASMIN TOLD US EVERYTHING!
I left school at 15. I wanted to be free. I was rebellious. The teachers said “She has SO much potential.” I thought “What the fuck do they know?” The truth is I didn’t know what motivation was.
My teacher Mrs Nichols changed my life. She put me forward for a job with McGrath Partners estate agents. John, the guy who owned it, was a 26 year old self-made millionaire and motivational speaker. I got the job as an office assistant. Within three days everything I thought about life turned around. The job became my higher education. I don’t know where I’d be without it. I learned everything about business and running a company. By the time I left when I was 18 I was helping John run the company. Today he is a billionaire.
I call those days my Gloria Estefan period. I was a Lebanese girl in Sydney. I had waist length curly hair and my figure was more curvaceous than it is today. I wore conservative suits to work.
I shaved all my hair off when I was 19 and became the door bitch of a nightclub. After that only the kind of guys I liked would whistle at me in the street.
The single biggest event of my teens was the moment I fell in love with Rufus (Sewell).
Three days after I shaved my hair off I was sat in the Pacific Blue Room, a hot restaurant on Oxford Street in Sydney when Kiefer Sutherland walked in with this weird looking guy. He had these big big eyes. He was staring at me, and I was like “who is this weird guy?” Then a few minutes later I looked back at him, and that was it. It was love. The man was Rufus Sewell. A week later I had moved into his hotel. He was making a movie called Dark City. We became inseparable. Three months later I moved to London. That was it. I was 20.
London was all about building a career. Interning. I liked fashion, but I didn’t know what aspect.
I worked on the shop floor at Browns. I was just discovering my personal style. Then Rufus and I went to New York. I interned at Harpers Bazaar with Tonne Goodman. Then back in London I worked with Alison Edmond at Harpers and Queen as bookings editor.
Browns inspired me at retail, but I felt they had a snobbish attitude to service that was a bit old-school. Well it was 1995. I thought to myself “something is missing here”. John McGrath trained me in service, he is revolutionary. No pretension. For him good service had to be efficient, co-operative and about making the customer feel fantastic.
My “Eureka” moment came when a Sydney boutique called Museum asked me to buy some clothes for them. So I just made a few calls and did it without thinking.
Buying the clothes was such a buzz. There I was picking a dress someone would want six months later. Someone will buy it and it will make them happy.
That period made me. Within a few months I had found a shop that looked like a fashion design studio. It was upstairs, you had to ring a bell to get in and when you got there you could hang out as long as you wanted. I was 22. It took 18 months to launch. I called it Yasmin Cho. Cho is the name of my best school friend. People called me Yasmin Cho for years. The store was about embracing the avant-garde of the time. We were selling Susan Ciancolo, Imitation of Christ. A.F Vandervorst.
I remember seeing Rick Owens in the back corner of some dodgy showroom in Paris in 1998.
His jackets were just amazing. Now he is one of the best-selling designers in the world.
I was surprised that seeing and spotting and getting these designers seemed so easy to me. Was no one else seeing what I was seeing? After a while I realised I must have a good eye. I had no history as a buyer. How was I supposed to know?
I had no rules, no boss, no one saying “look at the sales of last season.” It was just about love.
With Yasmin Cho I took a lot of risks. Some didn’t pay off. In the end I failed. I had the wrong advisors and lost the business. I was screwed over. I let it happen. Failure was a privilege. Now when it comes to business I don’t let people mess me around.
Experience breeds caution. But it doesn’t mean the cowl neck that didn’t sell in ’99 won’t sell in 2009.
You never really know if something is going to work. But when I was at Browns from 2005-2008, and first saw Christopher Kane, I knew. If something doesn’t look like it will work, you’ve got to push it. Call the top five fashion journalists and the top ten customers and make it happen.
The secret of being a good buyer? Being tuned in. You’ve got to know what is happening. I get inspiration from what I haven’t seen. I can sense when a trend is coming to an end.
I listen to journalists. Big customers are influenced by magazines. Sometimes I buy things I don’t love but that the press love because I know customers will buy them.
My biggest success as a buyer was backing ACNE back in 2005. I had just arrived at Browns and when I walked into my office for the first time there was a pile of about 200 look books. I remember throwing them all away except ACNE. That was a good example of liking it because I hadn’t seen anything else like it. Their aesthetic didn’t exist then, and I knew that as SOON AS I SAW IT that it was going to be huge. And it was.
You’ll never see me in leggings and a tank top. I’m very petite – a size 6 – but I’m pear shaped with not the longest legs in the world, a 23 inch waist and a D-cup. You could say I have hidden curves. So I dress to accentuate my best bits which are my long neck and long, thin arms. Me in a pair of Sass & Bide skinny jeans? Yikes! Me in my long Sophia Kokosalaki dress? Yeah!
At one point in my life I listened ONLY to Marvin Gaye for three years.
Today I’m rocking a “portfolio career”. I work for Liberty, do a TV show for Fashionair, I mentor young designers and consult for designer labels and retail brands. I’m pretty happy.
Thanks Yazzy xxx
Yazzy is wearing a top by TOGA. (Last season, sadly)
http://www.yasminsewell.com/
Photo credit: Chris Brooks
>
Kazakhstan Part 1
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
We arrived back late last night after a very long day travelling, I was already pretty tired from the trip but that really slayed me. So I was much relieved to crawl into a warm bed with J last night and drop my head on the pillow to switch off.
Kazakhstan was fun though. We worked hard and it felt like a really valuable trip workwise, plus the people we met were overall absolutely lovely and I was so well looked after.
So to start with below is a picture of the view from my bedroom window in our hotel in Astana. Hopefully it gives you some idea of what the city is like, there's a lot of construction going on, so in almost every view there are cranes. But considering the city is only 11 years old it's doing pretty well!
More to follow soon but a few things to catch up in the office first, hope everyone is well and I shall try and catch up on all the lovely posts I've missed and the news.
Hope you have great weekend's! xx
Kazakhstan was fun though. We worked hard and it felt like a really valuable trip workwise, plus the people we met were overall absolutely lovely and I was so well looked after.
So to start with below is a picture of the view from my bedroom window in our hotel in Astana. Hopefully it gives you some idea of what the city is like, there's a lot of construction going on, so in almost every view there are cranes. But considering the city is only 11 years old it's doing pretty well!
More to follow soon but a few things to catch up in the office first, hope everyone is well and I shall try and catch up on all the lovely posts I've missed and the news.Hope you have great weekend's! xx
A FIRST LOOK AT OASIS SS10!
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
I really enjoyed the Oasis press day for Spring/Summer 10. The people there are my friends and I was lurking around watching the whole press day get organised, so on the day itself I actually didn't attend like a journalist, more like I had a cuppa and chatted to the design team about how their collection seemed to go down with the press. Oasis have really raised their game lately, they have an excellent shoe and handbag designer in Emma Christmas and the Creative Director Nadia Jones (sister of Kim Jones) has taken the brand to a new level. Go Girls! And boy - Iain Ewing is the talented head of design there. Oh and not forgetting Yellowdoor whose art team concieved the lookbook. So because I wasn't marauding around with my girlfriends camera (she put her foot down yesterday, and I bought my own one today - a spanky Lumix G1) I asked the team for a sneak preview of their SS10 lookbook, and in that way chose my Oasis top ten pieces. So here they are.
I really enjoyed the Oasis press day for Spring/Summer 10. The people there are my friends and I was lurking around watching the whole press day get organised, so on the day itself I actually didn't attend like a journalist, more like I had a cuppa and chatted to the design team about how their collection seemed to go down with the press. Oasis have really raised their game lately, they have an excellent shoe and handbag designer in Emma Christmas and the Creative Director Nadia Jones (sister of Kim Jones) has taken the brand to a new level. Go Girls! And boy - Iain Ewing is the talented head of design there. Oh and not forgetting Yellowdoor whose art team concieved the lookbook. So because I wasn't marauding around with my girlfriends camera (she put her foot down yesterday, and I bought my own one today - a spanky Lumix G1) I asked the team for a sneak preview of their SS10 lookbook, and in that way chose my Oasis top ten pieces. So here they are.
Black suede pencil skirt with fringe panel. Mmm..this one is as good as the ACNE one I saw in Paris.
These leggings make me happy. They have a Cirque du Soleil meets Pans People thing thing going on
Loving grey suede for SS10. This is a fringed biker jacket. Very Garth Brooks in Manhattan
I'm probably a bit late picking up on this shoe shape. Surface to Air did some similar, and Chloe Sevigny also created some a bit similar for Opening Ceremony. These are my first bet for the fashion shoe of next season.
This is how I will be dressing on next summers jaunt to Patmos. I like how the stylist Fran Burns used the belt of the cotton printed shorts in the models hair. Oh and a denim jacket with fringing and gold chain? Give me some!
This is my favourite piece I think. I'm so into these African prints at the moment. I'm call them Traveller Prints. They are the sort of thing you wear when you've cut loose from urban life and chilled out so much you've got to the point where going to the shop is a big event in your day. I imagine finding a dress like this in a hot dusty street market, buying it, and living in it all summer. Need baggy pants in this fabric too.
Oasis are always doing clever little mini-collections, and this dress is part of their naive Trompe L'oeil range.
I saw Olivia Palermo in a pale grey trouser suit the other day, and it reminded me that a woman can look very sexy in a suit in the daytime, and not at all butch. Olivia has inspired me, and this is two-piece definitely on my shopping list for spring.
One of my Grazia colleagues, Siobhan, is really backing the shift dress for spring. I didn't see the shift dress thing at first viewing of the collections, but now the shows are over I am seeing them everywhere. This is a lovely dress.
Ok, so I will not be wearing spray on jeggings (or in normal speak jean style leggings) next season. Heaven forfend. But I think anyone with a touch of flamboyance about them will be able to carry of this suede tunic with copious fringery. And it is in pale grey suede! Mmmmm.
WHY DO I FEEL SO WILD?
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Posted by the Fashion Junior at Large
So, as you may have guessed from previous posts, much of our time recently has been occupied with attending press days. There has been a great deal of cooing, and LOTS to absorb, mentally compartmentalise and digest.
So, as you may have guessed from previous posts, much of our time recently has been occupied with attending press days. There has been a great deal of cooing, and LOTS to absorb, mentally compartmentalise and digest.
One trend we noted is tropical birds – camp flamingo pendants and parrot motifs etc (Liberty went all out and had an actual parrot at their press day. How can you not love that?). It’s all very flamboyant – quite the opposite to the current preoccupation with the fiercer side of wildlife. I don’t know if it’s the increasingly cold weather or the fact that I’m broke perhaps, but I’m loving all the stags, tigers, wolfs, foxes, panthers, and anything else fighty and bitey swarming retail at the mo. I am Fashion Junior at Large, hear me ROARRRRR!
Stella McCartney, £185
Christopher Kane, £210
John Hardy, £300
ASOS, £30
CHUFFED WITH SELF TODAY
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
Last night at the Campaign Media Awards in London Grazia was given an award for the best campaign in the media and home shopping category. Triple yay! What did we win for? The fact that just over a year ago we moved the entire magazine - desks, computers, phones - to a pop-up office in Westfield, and actually created an issue from there. People thought we were mad, (we are) but it was a brilliant, exciting and ground-breaking project and the entire team worked their buns off. It was a huge group effort - and though I am truly crap at logistics, I have my good points, and one of them is that I came up with the idea to do it in the first place! This is where I can allow myself a little nod of satisfaction. And maybe a little jig around my office. Oh sod it, I'm gonna do a Jensen Button and spray Champagne around. But think I will save that for the Team Grazia Christmas party....
Last night at the Campaign Media Awards in London Grazia was given an award for the best campaign in the media and home shopping category. Triple yay! What did we win for? The fact that just over a year ago we moved the entire magazine - desks, computers, phones - to a pop-up office in Westfield, and actually created an issue from there. People thought we were mad, (we are) but it was a brilliant, exciting and ground-breaking project and the entire team worked their buns off. It was a huge group effort - and though I am truly crap at logistics, I have my good points, and one of them is that I came up with the idea to do it in the first place! This is where I can allow myself a little nod of satisfaction. And maybe a little jig around my office. Oh sod it, I'm gonna do a Jensen Button and spray Champagne around. But think I will save that for the Team Grazia Christmas party....
MY VISIONAIRE LOVE THING
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
posted by the Fashion Editor at Large
I love Visionaire. Have loved it since day one. I even own a couple. I have the one with a scrap of Madonna's dress in it, which was curated by Mario Testino, but I CANNOT FIND IT! I just looked through my entire bookcase (essentially a room of my house) and it's not there. I have a storage nook at the flat I rent out, so I'm heading down there later to rummage. Luckily, my Visionaire with the Diana Vreeland Memos is in place on my shelf. DV is one of my all time heroines. I have read her autobiography ten times; even seen the play of it. And her Memo's are inspirational, not to mention her book Allure which can give me back my fashion editor at large mojo when I feel depleted. ANYWAY. A friend of mine in New York alerted me to the new Visionaire 2010 which is an electronic calendar with 52 curators selecting one artists' work for each day of the year. Some of the curators are Natalie Portman, James Franco, Mary-Kate Olsen and Marc Jacobs. I love it, and want it. It would be the most perfect Christmas present to self, and when this blog launches all proper like in January with an office, and our very own email addresses on fashioneditoratlarge.com Visionaire 2010 will be the perfect desk accessory.
For any like minded readers NOW is the time to make your order, especially if you live in the UK, as delivery times are three to six weeks, so I am ordering mine today from http://www.visionaireworld.com/
I'm pretty happy knowing my Vreeland Memos Visionaire is safe and well and living on my bookshelf!
Astana - Kazakhstan
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
It's about -13C here, cold, really really cold. And so dry. But kind of amazing too, so much space compared to London. Busy busy busy to be honest so apologies for not having commented much but I'm taking photos to share when I get back.
Until then, enjoy your weekend's!
M xx
Until then, enjoy your weekend's!
M xx
Friday fun photo
Crossing the Blues, University of the Nations, Social Work and Education, Shop Clothes Online, Radiology Information Social Work and Education
Isn't this photo amazing? It took me a little while then I was sat there going wow! What a moment to have got.
Isn't this photo amazing? It took me a little while then I was sat there going wow! What a moment to have got.
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