that was hazy cosmic jive

day dress, strapy wedges, skirt suit, flared slacks, killer heels, graphic satchel, easy hang vest.

Now evidentally, none of the mid-range fashion brands have taken seriously their responsability of shamelessly recreating peter pilotto-esque space and galaxy prints. Lusting after all things intergalactic since the backend of last year, I'm still on the hunt of garments to help me act out my nebula fantasies (haha, just me or does "nebula fantasies" sound like a phrase that would be incredibly well suited to space fan porn? anyone?..) the disappearance of my galaxy print purse (the same fateful night I lost my camera) certainly hasn't furthered me in my quest. Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that. And well, what can I say, I'm a natural designer, allow me if I may..

"I present the "Hazy Cosmic Jive" collection, kindly named by Mr David Bowie himself, these silky pieces hang like carefree whispers with the occasional Hannah Gibbons scalloped edge thrown in for good measure. Snap up the collection before the Scientologists do, they've been poaching me to sell them rights to reproduce the pieces for their "uniform". I'll let Beck and Juliette Lewis wear them, but after that I draw the line."

What a pitch! I think I smell funding pie..

an experiment

i don't usually like posts that are filled with excuses or apologies, but in the case of my unbelieveably shiteous camera situation, I must do just that. my lovely digital got nicked at someones house and until that bonus we've been promised in march (um. yeah. right?) no self timer for me! i digress.

I was going through my drawers and had a sudden lightbulb moment.

a frilled skirt that I never ever wear + an american apparel scoopneck dress =that lovely la garconne dress?

in short, it's the closest i'll get and so an experiment ensued with lots of tucking and some "wait, do I look pregnant?" thoughts.

A weekend of Fashion Frolicks

I have a confession to make; while there was so much I wanted to post about this week, (the amazing london shows, anyone?) I somehow created a mental blogging block and just couldn't write. But finally here is a not at all brief summary of last weekend in London. Without getting all Miss World, I usually sigh when I read about the likes of Rumi and Camille off galivanting at Fashion Week, so it was rather amazing to be able to have some of my own fashion frolicks and the icing on the cake was meeting Chloe Sevigny! Eeh.

thursday: LOVE reading, yvan confusion.
arriving in london feeling a little flustered after an uncomfortable coach journey and a loss of enthusiasm over the outfit I was wearing, I headed straight to beyond retro for my traditional scout and stocking up on vintage finds. I also wanted to see if I could find some alternative outfit options for both the Topshop Unique show on Sunday but also to the Opening Ceremony Party that I would fingers crossed be popping along to on Friday. alas, the £72 sized gap on my debit card signalled a successful trip. To counteract all of that terribly draining work (!) I went across the road to Le Pain de Quotidien, where I indulged (or buried my head financially further into the sand, depending on your stance) in a homemade limeade and a scone while I people watched and flicked through my new copy of Love Magazine.



Now this is where things get bizarrely interesting.. I spot across the road this fantasticly dressed girl prancing along the pavement. She has a high blonde ponytail, is quite curvy and Swedish looking and is wearing a denim shirt in a way that actually looks refreshingly clean and simple. I then notice Yvan the Facehunter spot her and he starts to chase her and I just sit there slurping at my Limeade smiling to myself at witnessing this all unfold until for whatever reason she shakes her head at him when he approaches and he leaves pictureless. Then he starts to walk up the pavement towards me and as he is about to pass I saw to him that it's a shame that he didn't manage to get that picture because her outfit was so well put together. He shrugged in a slightly blunt way and said that she was in a rush which happens slightly and then looked at my notepad where I had been noting down the swedish girl's outfit. He asked in a tone which sounded rather rude "Do you write character studies because you aren't good at sketching, because you are too poor to afford a camera?" I looked at him a little confused, not understanding whether there was some kind of language barrier or whether he was just an eccentric type skirting the line between sarcastic and rude. I told him I couldn't understand whether he was taking the piss and he ignored this and asked what I did, to which I replied I'm a student and blogger, which didn't seem to interest him. Either way, we parted amicably and I stayed sat there for a few minutes trying to mull over in my mind what had just happened and kind of laughing to myself at his apparent high opinion of himself and his quickness to put me down for writing in a diary which was clearly not as worthy as his photography. ay, ay, ay..

I put this strange encounter behind me, resolving to get some "Yvan testimonies" from some fashion folk over the course of the weekend who might be able to enlighten me into his personality.

friday: red lippie and chloe sevigny
after two days of two and froing texts between myself and jeanie resulting in a confirmation that we would indeed be hitting up Chloe Sevigny's Opening Ceremony launch party at the Double Club and I let myself get ridiculously excited; it'd put off any mad jumping up and down action on the off chance that it wouldn't happen. As anyone will know, I worship at the Church of Chloe and after a sunny afternoon spent wandering the streets of Primrose Hill, I headed back to Oxford St to splash out on my first red lippie from Chanel. I didn't want to overthink what to wear to the party as I knew it may induce a panic attack and therefore plumped to go down the Jen Brill route of bold lips. Met Jeanie and her lovely mates Sarah and Fotis at Angel and off to the Double Club we all trudged where we spent the rest of the evening tutting at the expensive wine, feeling smug about the long line of people waiting outside and nudging each other everytime Bay Garnett walked past until finally Chloe made an appearance and we snapped and gasped. Jeanie very kindly obliged to act as photographer when I plucked up my courage to ask Chloe Sevigny for a picture. I knew that if I didn't, I would forever regret it and quite possibly one day turn into one of those ghosts who haunts and scares the bejesus out of people just to make of for their life "losses".

Thankfully she was obliging and kind but rather unthankfully we both look rather moody and not entirely flattered in the picture.

We left early to catch the last tube home and passed Henry Holland on the way out, and sticking to my blogger promise to take plenty of photos, I asked for his only to be greeted with a coiffed and "cooler than thou" exterior. What a charmer.


others spotted at the double club: pat mcgrath, bay garnett, katy england and bobby gillespie, camilla al fayed, alexis taylor, phoebe arnold, henry holland


saturday: i spy kate lanphear at topshop unique
Sticking to my "keep it simple" dressing philosophy, I scraped my hair into a high bun, pulled on a grey rollneck, body con mini, flats and swiped on a faithful flash of red lippie and channelled my inner beatnik at the Topshop Unique show. Along with Disneyrollergirl, the loveley Hayley from the Topshop online team, and Michelle (as well as her Prince Barry) from Kingdom of Style we waited restlessly in line for the show to start as the likes of Daisy Lowe, Pixie Geldof sauntered past to go inside. With an expectation of nebula graphics and a general Peter Pilotto style ode to galaxies, I was a little disappointed by this season's Unique collection which leaned a little too much in the direction of Nu Rave Clubkid with Neons and glowsticks, though some of the big knitted cardigans had the potential to look lovely in a most pared down context. For me, the collection was a little harsh on the senses, though I'm always interested to see which standpoint designers will take during this economic climate; unabashed antidotal denial ala Marc Jacobs or sombre and pared down ala Armand Basi? In this case, the design team settled for the former.







others spotted at the unique show: karlie kloss, alexandra shulman, kate lanphear, pixie geldof, daisy lowe, susie bubble

cccoming up

a post is in the pipeline. detailing my weekend of surreal, lovely, bizarre, at times unsavoury but then at times completely perfect shenanigans.

i leave you with a teeny tiny idea of the look I wore to the Topshop Unique show. a head shot just to show my hair and new red lipstick (that I splashed out on this weekend). this was after not only a day of show watching, in depth blogger discussing, strawberry beer sipping, but also a long stint on the bus back home. umm, niice!

i've worn the lippie everyday since; I shall shamelessly admit it's the single track road to making you feel like jen brill and adding a sufficient interest to a perfectly drab outfit. infact bizarrely all it took was a trip to london and about 24 hours for me to find a look for spring 2009 that I'm rather in love with. a channelling of beatniks and old school tomboys in cashmere polonecks, simple v neck pullovers, tights and a regression back to flats along with a new subtle snakeskin skirt (more on this all later) and a track jacket which I'm still feeling my way with. and not forgetting my clubmaster glasses.

A quick update from London

Thanks for the comments, guys!
Glad you liked the video as it was my first try on just the basic Windows Movie Maker to those who asked, and didn't really know what I was doing. All trial and error..

In LDN without internet access so I'm sneakily in the Apple Store on regents St standing next to a crazy guy who is dancing away to videos of latin music on youtube. fun!

but I'll be sure to update at the end of the weekend when I'm back home. Had a bit of a bizarre run in with Yvan (Of Facehunter fame) and don't quite know what to make of him, but more on that later!

Meeting up with Jeanie of fatfashionassistant.blogspot.com later. So if you don't hear any more from me it's because she turned out to be a fifty something male.. Fingers crossed we're going to an opening ceremony party but not sure yet. I hasten to add that I'm a little bewildered by all of this. I'm really not usually the type to run off to london for exciting parties, it just kind of..happened. but as i said updates soon and I promise I'll be a better blogger at commenting.

Stevie xx

What to wear to Fashion Week

Now, I won't get on a high horse and act all cool and uninterested, because I must admit I'm very excited to be going to my second Topshop Unique show on saturday. The last collection was brilliant and with whispers of a space theme doing the rounds this one could top the last, as galaxy prints and anything cosmos related are just my cup of tea.

of course, there is the ever present question of what to wear. seasoned fashion editors and industry insiders alike will play this one down; and fair enough too because after traipsing around show after show, relentless waiting, and watching as the novelty slowly wears off, they'll be thinking more about their next looming deadline.

but for the amateurs like myself, this squeal of delight slowly turns to nervousness at the prospect of choosing an outfit to wear as you stand in the same room as alexandra shulman (well, alex..not so much.), kate lanphear, alexa chung, roisin murphy et al (namedrop, me?).

ah, what the hell. I'm off to London tomorrow morning and still haven't packed. I ended up making a "The Row" and Taghrid inspired video instead (the irony of procrastination!) which considering my complete lack of knowledge in the editing field, I'm fairly pleased with.

I may or may not get a chance to post until after the show on saturday, but shall be back with a fun little report and some snaps hopefully.

81 OSCARs and one bedsheet

Let's not beat about the bush, where the recession is concerned, celebrities are getting hit big time. the OSCARS are approaching but instead of appointment books filled with A List fittings, tumbleweeds have rolled across the showrooms of Chanel, Dior, Valentino and Armani Prive. Temperley and Marchesa have had not a dot. With no business celebrity stylists have taken to the streets, I noticed Rachel Zoe crouched over a paper cup and cardboard sign the other day. Her pennypiping wasn't quite up to scratch though. In the absence of a dress budget, Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, Anne Hathaway, Penelope Cruz and Freida Pinto have all been experimenting with crepe paper and sequins. Sharon Stone has been tearing her hair out remembering the days when she could afford that famous GAP ensemble.

Clealy time is not on their side with the ceremony five days away. But luckily I have some solutions to help. All these stars will need is a bedsheet. And possibly some dye if their purses will allow. "But we'll all look the same!?" I hear them shriek. Oh ladies, ladies. Where is the creativity, the imagination! Between you you've thrown yourself into roles about concentration camp guards, destructive addicts and mental patients (and that's without even getting started on Anne Hathaway..) where is your vision? A bedsheet is the most versatile garment of all and I'll show you the options..

before i bottle it.. the first video post!

alas, yet again, after much anticipation, christmas day has now been and gone. i had a chilled day with the family, basically consisting of eating, intervals of sleeping and enough stretching of legs to then justify another portion of trifle or a turkey sandwich.

shame on us and on gluttony. but otherwise it was a rather modest christmas. everyone tightening their belts and all that, but personally, i found it rather refreshing to have a pile of presents that wasn't toppling over and reeking of decadence. and the quality of my lovely gifts were not at all compromised, but more on that maybe later.

i returned home at the end of the day to rather belatedly discover that yes, I can record videos on my laptop with sound (albeit quiet sound) and hurriedly recorded my first mini video blog before fear could stop me!

i'll try to minimise excuses as I think it's best just to get on with it, but you will need to turn up your volume a lot as I have a wee microphone, and as I say in the video, this is really a bit of an experiment. it's bloody nerve wracking posting this thing though, as I realise I sound rather public schoolish, which is not at all me!

ack, what the hell, just watch and let me know what you think..

And I guess now we're on to proclaiming HAPPY NEW YEAR!

ps, now that christmas day has passed, the advent posting has stopped. it was fun this year, but I'm glad to be able to blog without wracking my brains for any kind of seasonal fashion reference!

advent season: day eleven; topshop christmas party

last night was the topshop christmas party, and it was the most fun i've had in a very long time. i can tell you, keeping your expectations low works wonders. the first half of the evening was spent wandering around swapping outfit information and generally touching everyones dresses and oohing and ahhing over shiny shoes.

i went in my new leather fringe skirt (we're getting married this sunday) and a slouchy AA tee, pictures another time.

i don't usually post personal pictures, but as it was a topshop party, it only felt right! plus i love that everybody at my work is incredibly stylish yet no one comes off looking like a hipster camera whore.(with the exception of andrew maybe, in his wayfarers. but he's a total sweetie and i'm saying this affectionately!)

oh, what was I saying about hipster camera whores? me and leo taking the piss..

advent season: day nine, fairytale of new york

this weekend my door had a makeover with a lick or two of blackboard paint, and if anyone finds themselves pottering past a hardware store, i urge you to dash inside and get a tin yourself as it's the most had I've had since.. well, since I was last messing about with a chalk and blackboard aged 5.

the nyc skyline started off as a little "fantasy" view and an incentive to keep chucking fivers into my new york savings pot, but i thought a seasonal reference was a must and so it's a little tribute to one of the best of the christmas songs, "fairytale of new york" by the pogues and kirsty mccall.



and for added new york spirit, take a peek at this old paris vogue editorial.
from way back in 2001, the year that carine roitfeld started as editor-in-chief.
when i look at these images, i feel like i can feel the buzz of the streets and to me the images remind me of that "first time in the big city" excitement.
let's close our eyes and imagine standing on a street corner downtown with a bunch of friends, balloons and bubbly cheering in the new year. because wouldn't that be the perfect way to welcome 2009?

food for thought

the undeniably cool fleurette of dead fleurette has put into words something i've been pondering over the last few months..

does posting outfit posts make that person pretentious and egocentric?

all that posing and pre arranging, it's a little contrived, and hey, anyone who has taken outfit posts including myself will admit that it's not exactly spontaneous, unless of course you have a personal paparazzi, ie, a mate or boyfriend, and in that case doesn't that make you more pretentious?

often i feel a little uneasy about this "photo generation" we seem to have become, constantly feeling the need to document our every move and every person that we encounter. i admit, i carry my camera everywhere with me out of thyis quasi-fear of missing on capturing a perfect moment, but i often feel it's lame that it goes without saying that evidence of a successful night is getting tagged on facebook.

BUT at the same time, we're fashion bloggers, so why not! Just because you might take photos of your outfits, it doesn't make you some vain cory kennedy-alike hipster, it's simply about sharing and documenting what we're wearing, and besides, if you're proud of an outfit and feel good in it, why not stick it up? it's when people share that a huge archive of inspiration can be created.

If personal style posts are accussed of being pretentious and contrived, then surely so many realms within fashion and fashion blogging fall into that category.

ahh, my head is spinning and i'm being tugged in both directions! it's debate time! get involved, rant, please!

kate and johnny

and the adidas trainers that she loved so.

more sharing of the 90s Kate love.

i'll take her glasses, and his boots.

ps, at the risk of sounding all "look at me!" lisa corneliusson over at swedish site LLC just posted a little interview feature that I took part in, and it's pretty cooll y'all. lovely to be amongst such a bunch of great bloggers, with the knight cat, tommy of jak and jil, and am-lul also featured..

the english translation is a bit shaky (click below) so here are a few of the answers I gave in "good. proper. correct. english"!

You are drawn to characters in films and books - tell us about a favorite!
Fictional characters are one of my top sources of inspiration, so it's hard to choose! Women who are independent, a little crazy and oddly stylish usually hit the spot. So Marla Singer from Fight Club for her grubby old prom dresses, Natalie Finch from Running with Scissors for her spontinaety, Sloane Peterson from Ferris Bueller's Day Off for her fringe jacket and nonchalence. And Margot Tenenbaum because she chopped off her finger and deems it something to boast about.

Tell us about yourself and how you came about to start Discotheque Confusion.
I started Discotheque Confusion two years ago when I had been toying with the idea of creating a fashion zine but the blog seemed a cheaper alternative! I live in England, a couple of hours from London and I'm a few months away from the end of college.I plan to spend the next year saving like a madmad in order to hotfoot it over to New York where I hope to live for a few months and intern within Fashion PR.

Why do we find ourselves being in love with Erin Wasson all of a sudden?
I think that when we are exposed to so many typically "fake" looking women in the world, to see a side of Erin, who has a tomboyish side that is so undeniably sexy is incredibly refreshing and also inspiring. Her style is so simple; a pair of cut off shorts or a thin white tee; it's accessable and the fact that she skateboards just adds to this "badass" factor which I think people who have an interest in fashion find appealing . We love her because so often everything within the fashion world is about perfection. So when Erin rocked up to the CDFA awards with her leg in a cast and crutches and she still killed it, our love for her was confirmed.

just a girl. and a t shirt.

Living in such a high-tech world seems to have people nostalgic for the past. Old fashioned snail mail and care packages are favoured over impersonal texts and emails. Most prefer the instant pleasure of a Polaroid to a digital camera. Just as mixtapes ruled in the 80s, we still gravitate towards homemade labours of love.

this homemade appeal is what drew me to i ♥ boxie, a small dalston based tee shirt company which has cuteness and unashamed cool in equal amounts. now here's a thought; how about wearing your heart on your tee shirt rather than on your sleeve?

i came across the i ♥ boxie site a few months back and after reading about moxie (as the mastermind is approproiately named) and her soft spot for typewriters and a desire for embracing the story behind the tee shirt and it's wearer, i fell in love and dropped her a line.

though many of the tee shirts are made in duplicate numbers (but you can opt the bespoke "t spoke" way) they're all very personal in that they're inspired by a place or person special to moxie and their slogans tell a story. if you order a tee for yourself, expect the story to come typed (with mistakes and all) on a little typewritten page; i find little novelties such as this so refreshing and so much more rewarding than getting some old tee in a polythene wrapper from X online store.

another reason to heart moxie is because of the price, which at £23 a pop is certainly no piss take, especially when the personalised tees (you drop them a line with your own slogan) cost exactly the same to "encourage people to have their own tee that tells their own story."

check out the loveliness http://www.iloveboxie.com/

** to clarify, this is my (i guess you could say..) "policy" on chatting shit about amazing products.. I'll only feature products that I genuinely love on this blog, regardless of any freebies or incentives, because selling out smells badd. i got in touch with moxie to let her know i was going to feature her lovely tees on the blog and she kindly offered to send me one of my own. thanks again m. x **

the pearl jumper fiasco

sorry for the topshop whoring; but you know you would too!

igotitigotitigotit!

i guess i should have kept you abreast of the pearl jumper fiasco, but finally all the drama is over and thankfully (okay, maybe there is a God..) it all ended just swell.

this month at work has been the month that we get to buy items on our uniform allowance (a not too shabby 75% off) and bearing in mind this fact, there have been items i've had my heart set on for at least a month and waited to get it on the cheap.

the pearl jumper is this item. and what happens? a couple of days before I can claim my lovely discount, alexa blooming chung steps out in the very same knit and swooosh, it sells out.

gone, vamoosh!

after much frustration, agonising and emailing head office in search of what had now turned to resemble the holy grail of style quests, some incredible person returned the item to our store.

and well, i haven't taken it off for the past three days.

eeeeeeeh!

knucking dusting

l-r pippin nyc, topshop, gothic store, urban outfitters, topshop, topshop

the ring collection continues to grow.

rings are my main vice in the jewellry department. i never ever wear earrings and instead load up on knuckle bling, alternating between these and wearing about three at a time or threading one through the thin gold necklace i always wear.

the matter of the ring must be taken seriously (indeed!), and like any article of clothing, there are the inevitable muses who lead the way. for me, these are whitney port for her staunch dedication to always updating her ring and nail polish combos and to mary kate whose pinkies look naked without a smackering of metal.

of course there is also the ever raging nail varnish issue of to chip or not to chip*. i must say, i fall into the former category out of sheer laziness and maybe because i take a teeny bit of pleasure in the scuffiness.

so what's your relationship with rings?

*sorry jess (at sick) i know it's your pet hate!

in the name of fashion

i was having a little read of young shields, the blog of the lovely claire and found myself having a sympathetic giggle at the comments she got at school about her fantastic diy ripped jeans. i'm sure most of you (as you're such a stylish bunch..) have also received many a "witty", or not so witty reference to your clothes before; the type that make you shake your head in a vaguely amused way and say "well done guys.." and i thought it would be cool to share some of the tales.

so, i'll start. on friday, i wore my wet look leggings and got

what's funny is that it is usually guys (those two examples varied from the age of 17 to about 60) with a cheekily knowing piss-take tone in their voice, who think they have said something hugely original and proceed to crack themselves up laughing, even when you've heard the exact same comment twice already. it's actually pretty funny! just as long as what they're saying is appropriately witty and intelligent as fashion will allow!

big hugs to hannah metz who created these gorgeous little illustrations for this post. if this is your cup of tea, be sure to check out her blog for more lovliness.. and the snaps of her house because it's the coolest ever.