i will want for nothing more

aka a lazy Sunday ode to Joanna Newsom, whose new song '81 is below and you should listen to it lying in bed whilst eating breakfast/lunch/meal approps to time of day; definately.

Joanna is pretty frickin' amazing, as it goes. I first heard of/saw her on another lazy (and MOST EXCELLENT) Sunday, which was in fact, not so lazy at all - at Latitude festival in 2008, at midday. She forgot most of the words to Sawdust and Diamonds and I was immediately enamoured with her.

Course that day will always be remembered fondly. Later in the day was Blondie and then INTERPOL; YEAH BOIIIII.

*ahem*

But!

She is also awesome in the fashion blog sense, being a purveyor of folk-y vintage dresses and floaty, wispy, ethereal garb which fits just so alongside her out of the norm voice and unusual instrumentation (what, how many harps do you know of in popular music?).

Also, she's big on the Rodarte, AND the Comme.

images from zimbio, wikimedia, mistermort, last.fm and google images

&& that last one is off of aforementioned Latitude fest.

Her new triple album, Have One On Me, is out on Feb 23rd and you can pre-order it here, which is exciting.

very fishy.

More tales of uni?

2 points:

- this is not completely random, honest. The fishing nets do have a purpose.

- I have no idea where I found this. Somewhere online. A blog of some sort, I assume. I read far too many to remember without saving the image with the name. Unlikely.

This is, in fact, a photo I included in my sketchbook (that old thing...) and is my main inspiration for my "one wow, show stopping piece" project. We have to do the one piece and then do some designing off of that in the form of a capsule collection.

Shall be posting my progress, but I'm going in this sorta direction:

*escuse to post simple but stunning Dazed & Confused + Victor&Rolf ♥ + Magdalena Frackowiak spread from this months issue*

I have 5 metres of tulle upstairs and am still fighting the urge to wrap myself in it and pretend to be a cloud for a while. That line went down well on Facebook.

So I am reusing it.

#lackofimagination

And yes, I did just use a twitter hash tag in a non-twitter capacity. It's the future.

ifb: Links à la Mode, Jan 28th

A Touch of Frivolity

Edited by Retro Chick

It’s been a long time since pay day and this weeks Links à la Mode brings a touch of much needed frivolity as we crawl into the second month of a new decade. Idiosyncratic Style takes Scooby Doo’s Velma as her style inspiration, Dirty Hems is inspired by dolls houses and Ode to Awe shows off her leopard print nails. Want something for nothing? A few Goody Gumdrops has an Aspinall of London bag to giveaway and Retro Chick (that’s me!) has 2 Valentine goodie bags to giveaway worth over £100 each. We’ve also got some great designer interviews and some practical advice.

On a more sober note there’s some timely tips from Sway, Sway, Sway! on how you can continue to donate to Haiti without getting scammed, Shoe Daydreams discusses Tanya Golds “Why I hate Fashion” article and Ventures of Jenn shares her opinions on the body image debate.

Bring on February!

Note from Editor : Please be sure to check out the IFB Conference at NYFW : Evolving Influence

Links à la Mode: January 28th

• 39th and broadway – 5 Questions To Ask Before Beginning a Career in Fashion


• A Few Goody GumDrops – A Few Goody Gumdrops and Aspinal of London are Giving away an ever-so chic and sophisticated beige patterned skin clutch!


• Analogue Chic – Looking good while doing stuff – braving the weather and the commute with a sense of style.


• Bonne Vie – Invest in Quality Denim; featuring How-To Tips from Denim Debutante


• Cafe Fashionista – Style Secrets: Cowboy Boots Made Classy


• Cindy Whitehead – The Modern Snow Bunny


• Denim Debutante – Aeropostale Gives Back with Teens for Jeans Campaign


• dirty hems. – In the Dollhouse – Miniature inspiration and a teeny resulting DIY


• Dramatis Personae – a feature & interview with the designer behind i am dorkas


• Fasshonaburu – I challenge myself to follow my own dress code regulations in order to wow up my day to day ensembles.


• fête à fête – Clarins debuts first certified organic beauty soap


• Idiosyncratic Style – Inspired by the sartorially underrated Velma Dinkley.


• Independent Fashion Bloggers – IFB Presents : Evolving Influence Conference NYFW 2010


• kaKofonie Of si(gh)lenS – Interview with Janeane Marie Ceccanti


• Ode to Awe – I review Minx Nails, plus my glamourous Russian Garnet cocktail ring


• Oranges and Apples – Vintage teenage hair inspiration


• Retro Chick – Valentines Day is on it’s way and Retro Chick has 2 goodie bags worth over £100 each to give away to help you celebrate!


• Shoe Daydreams – Fashion Influences (?)


• Style Eyes Fashion Blog – I have avoided eco and ethical fashion in the past because of the price but I have just discovered it is affordable and stylish.


• Style Symmetry – How to Choose Items at a Clothing Swap Party


• Sway Sway Away! – A passionate plea from a member of the global community to her fashionable brothers and sister: help Haiti!


• THE COVETED – Suzy Menkes, Facehunter, LeMads & The Coveted talk about fashion blogs


• ventures of jenn – on body issues

Look, I'm all included and stuff! I'm really getting some excellent feedback on the body issues post - thanks for the comments and emails guys :)

sheer genius

Another fashion156 alumni(?), although not a knitwear specialist(!).

Danish designer Louise Amstrup has mixed sheers and sporty fabrics in cool colours with hard edged prints of shattered glass and the like for S/S10, creating a feminine but contemporary collection.

The mix of silhouettes and shapes are interesting here: sporty, close fit pieces, panelling, overlays of sheer pieces, drapey volume, tulip shapes, big lapels, cinched waists, flowing fabrics and structure in all forms (pyramid shoulder details, anyone?) all feature, and all manage to seem modern despite most of these phrases conjuring the vintage idea. You can't tell me you don't hear '50s' at cinched waist, or '80s' at big lapels, right? There's even a little fringing/tassles up in there.

I suggest you click on through to Louise's website to see more of the collection and the range it covers while still being cohesive. Most good, most good.

There's a sheer, volumous coat that is to die, and I love the layering of different sheers in different colours in some of the looks. As previously stated this week, styling can make or break a collection, and I think it's just right here. The shoes are awesome.

Previous collections only cement Louise's aesthetic - an orange, sheer, draped tulip skirt from A/W09 is to an epic win; and there is leather and lots of ruffles here, too. I'll add, ruffles that don't make me want to throw things. If a ruffle can be tough; hard; then these are it. Lovely.

Currently stocked in a handful of shops in Europe and New York (check the website, linked above), including these places online (all still stocking A/W09): stylepaste, rousiland and koodos.

Big thanks to Frankie from Louise's press agency for sending over some big photos!

crowning glory

OH HAI.

I bullied Dean into taking pics of me on Monday; this is outcome.

coat; vintage Burberry/peach dress+gold jumper; thrifted/corsage&leggings;

H&M/belt; gift from mam/boots; ASOS/necklace; peacocks

BLURRRRRRRED.

These leggings are amazing. I bought them in H&M a couple of weeks ago and hadn't got around to wearing them 'til now. I was looking for some new wet look types cos my ol' faithfuls are starting to lose their shine, and I saw these for about.. 20 quid? They've got little holes - cutouts - in 'em, all up and around the leg. But the fabric they're made from is more rubber-y than my Topshop wet looks and as such they cling just right, don't fall down, and probably won't succumb to the same problem (see, the wet look effect rubbing is coming off of the jersey due to boot-wearing. Agh.)

On the subject of head accoutrements and leggings (for Sunday's dual activities of lounging about/going up the street for flour and a paper and coming back without the paper cos nowhere had the Guardian but with flour to make pancakes but then not actually making pancakes.)

hat; ebay/dress; off of placement/leggings; pixie market/cardi; vintage/boots;...somewhere/necklace; H&M

I finally got that damn hat back. It's been gone since July. I missed you, friend.
These leggings are my first Pixie Market purchase: they're awesome, in the sense that they're really good quality and double layered but not joined - I mean, they're joined at the waist but not at the hem, so you can have the mesh layer at a different level and differently scrunched than the cotton layer, which is pretty cool. But are stoopid because they're all 'one size fits all' and one size does not fit all as they keep falling down, and are baggy at the knees as well as scrunched. Doesn't help my stubby legs. Ach. Perhaps some taking in will have to occur. :(.

Oh, hey, I also found this on my camera - some rings (indie market/thrifted, respectively) and bra (M&S, yeah!) and jacket (Camden Market) + unplanned dishevelled hair from Saturday night:

fluff and frills

Ooo, 'ere, look, some more beautiful knitwear - today courtesy of Tim Ryan...

Annoyingly, he's one of those designers who it's very hard to find info on online, so all you have today is opinions and hearsay.

The latest collection (I believe S/S09. Y'know, I'm really posting these at the wrong time, aren't I. Just when the new ones are coming out, I'm just catching up on last season. Guh.)

These are S/S08, so I am definately posting these are the wrong time, maaaaan...

I think the first pic sums up what caught my eye here - asymmetry caused by seaming detail, with some slouch&drape (all one word. New feature description since everyone's doing it these days.) - beautiful. You just know it would look good on.

I could, of course, be confused as to the timeline of the collections, given that previous, more brightly coloured pieces form the front page to Tim's website. (Reliably informed that these are indeed A/W09 - no S/S10 collection, Tim?)

Pics from ooooo, all over. Probs some from knit kicks, but I forget where else!

The pannelled pieces and massive fluff are so...cute? And fun, and crying out to be in an editorial. My, yes.

PS, voting closes tomorrow ;)

around town

So you might've noticed the Vice badge over to the right there, and I believe I mentioned in passing that I was now a Vice magazine Student Ambassador...as that goes, I get a ton of information for the promoting from Vice.

I'm not gonna write about everything, obvs - as I always do, I'll write what I damn want, it's my blog. But as it goes, I was gonna write about this anyway cos it's all relatable.

So, long-ish time readers and friends will know about my travelling adventures in October, all over Europe (newer readers, archives - Oct last year - gogogo) and also about my shiny iPhone times (as a christmas present...). I went a bit app mad upon getting said iPhone, as I'm sure most do, but both that and this app would've been mucho useful in October. Gah.

Nike True City (download it here!) is a guide to 6 European cities (ones I went to and everything!), as added too by people in the know - clubs, bars, food places, shops...it's like google maps + wikipedia + "i heard from a friend of a friend of a friend that there's this cool place down here.." all rolled into one.

I heartily enjoy that the above screenshot is of Berlin.

I guess they also point out where Nike stores are...?

I downloaded it a few days ago, but since I am in none of the cities currently it's a bit wasted on me right now. I shall certainly be using it next time I'm in London, or if we do indeed traverse to Berlin at Easter as planned.

Some of us were gonna go over this weekend just gone, for fashion week, but it never materialised.

*sniff*.

I love Berlin...

Hey, if they need a Newcastle one I am available for pointing out excellent places.

loops and bounds

See, now, I did tell you it was knitwear week. Clearly I am a bit of a fan of loopy types...

This is Derek Lawlor, S/S10, another CSM (MA) graduate, who uses wax cord to make his embellishments. Vidi:

Loving; properly properly loving; the cropped jumpers and vests, particularly the one up top. And in look 4. And 7. Yesyesyes. All very futuristic and stuff.

No news yet on stockists, but fingers crossed pieces will get some distribution!

And some more looks - I think from his graduate collection; don't quote me on that. A little Pugh-esque, a little monochromatic. Don't love it as much as the above looks, but it's still loadsa awesome.

pictures and stuff from knitkicks and fashion156

oh, S/S 10, lemme count the ways I love you.

Swear to God I've posted about future classics before, but can I find it in my history? Can I fuck.

Anyways, S/S10 is COMING SOON on their website (above, above) so since my love for the label is pretty high I thought I'd show you what was a-happening.

What is happening, evidently, is drapey, arse-bearing, stripey, floral, sheer, monochrome, dotty, clashing, slouchy, bright, and sparkly. All at once.

J'ADORE.

Particularly?

Look 2 - slouchy coat perfection.

Look 8 - this jacket thing is amazing, non?

Looks 9/10 - oh come on, do I need to explain this? Floral without being at all twee, interesting colours, amazing cut and drape. Head to toe floral never looked so good.

Look 15 - sparkles in the front, sheer in the back. It's like a backwards mullet (...business in the front, party in the back...). Only, it's not, cos it's party ALL. OVER. Oh yeah. I was gonna be all "although, orange? idk." for a second there, but then I realised it would totally clash with my hair and that's totally the look I'm going for. Oh my yes.

Look 16, 17, 18 AND 19, goddammit. - the stripes, the sheer polkadottedness (that is a word; shutup.), and of course the slouchydrape.

Ahhhhhhh.

I just wish these pictures were bigger.

It prompted me to look at the sale(!) for the previous collections. Some favourite pieces (sheer, drapey...) are below. Particularly the first one (want, need, want), but at £510 in the sale, I think not. Sorry FC, no can do.

pictures from fashion156 (linked to the right!) & future classics site.