The McQ AW11 lookbook is here!
Posted: August 25, 2011 Filed under: autumn/winter, London, rock 'n' roll | Tags: Alexander McQueen, fashion, Highland Rape, McQ 1 Comment »Yesterday McQ posted their AW11 lookbook on their tumblr and I want pretty much ALL of it. You can see the whole collection on their website but here are the pieces that I love the most:
My picks from McQ AW11
A skirt for the country side, a work dress, a casual chic look, a military-inspired trouser with a cape (Sigh, capes!) and a very beautiful lace dress that I need to go and see up close (Just me or does it remind anyone else of McQueen’s Highland Rape collection?).
For more information go to m-c-q.com.
(Style) Icon: Patti Smith
Posted: July 1, 2011 Filed under: fashion and art, New York, rock 'n' roll, style icons | Tags: ATP Festival, Because The Night, fashion, Horses, Karl Lagerfeld, Marianne Faithfull, Mick Jagger, Patti Smith, Punk, style icons, The Rolling Stones, Uncle Karl, Watusi Leave a comment »
Godmother of Punk
Last night I happened to watch the episode of Ab Fab where Marianne Faithfull plays God. Today is Kate Moss’s wedding day. This got me thinking about women in rock (although KM technically isn’t IN rock but she counts anyway) and inevitably led me to the girl who invented it all. The Godmother of Punk, Patti Smith. Considering how kick-arse this woman is, I manage to get really cheesy the way I keep proclaiming my love for her. You’ve been warned! I love that men and women like her equally. She’s a style maverick and she’s a huge inspiration to me in that department. She keeps cropping up in my mood boards and research for shoots. She’s on top of my celebrities-I’d-love-to-meet-list (Not a very long list. It’s her, Mick Jagger and Uncle Karl.) Curiously, I don’t remember when I discovered her music. It must have been early on because it feels like she’s always been a point of reference for me. I do remember hating that bad ‘Because The Night’ cover in the 90s, though. Blasphemy! Patti on the other hand did some amazing Rolling Stones covers (I love the Stones on their own. Imagine how much I love the idea of them plus her!). I saw her performing some of those covers live at the ATP Festival a few years back and it was a revelation. This woman is a study in taking no bullshit and being smart and kind at the same time.
OK, I’ll take my fangirling elsewhere and will leave you with one of her songs that I really, really love. Do the Watusi!
Summer Sales – ALL SAINTS Edit
Posted: June 24, 2011 Filed under: retail, rock 'n' roll, shoes, shopping the highstreet, summer sale | Tags: Agena, All Saints, Bell, fashion, Kei, Theta Leave a comment »
Agena dress was £65 now £45.50, Bell maxi skirt was £45 now £22.50, Theta heel was £165 now £115.50, Kei dress was £165 now £82.50
A few more updates from me before you run out tomorrow morning to battle it out with the masses. What would I do without All Saints? They just make my little black heart sing. As you might have gathered, I love dark, edgy stuff but I don’t want to look like a teenage goth from Camden High Street either. All Saints fulfills all this. There’s always a fair amount of draping and black and grey and boots and deconstruction. All for a reasonable price. I love that even when they do colour, they work with tones I can get behind because they are so muted. This time I won’t get into why I like each individual piece that I’ve picked. They all just represent what I like about the brand and generally go very well with my personal aesthetics. That’s all 
Helmut Lang, part 2 – Fall/Winter 2011 preview
Posted: June 13, 2011 Filed under: New York, rock 'n' roll | Tags: chunky knits, Fall/Winter 2011, fashion, Helmut Lang, layering, leather, muted colours, skinny jeans, transparent, winter wardrobe 2 Comments »
Coat with double leather collar, the skinniest jeans in burnt orange
When I went to preview Helmut Lang Resort last week, I had a thorough poke through the Fall/Winter rails as well. While the principles in terms of materials and silhouettes stay the same for this collection, a few new things are being introduced. Most obvious for me were the occasional dots of colour throughout. There were rusty oranges and mustard tones that broke up the more neutral shades. I feel that the skinny jeans (and I mean SKINNY) pictured above will bridge this season’s brightly coloured J Brands well with the usually more muted tones of a winter wardrobe.
Layering up: transparent blouses for FW11 at Helmut Lang
The other quality that I noticed was that these are clothes that will lend themselves very well to layering. Rather chunky, cropped knits together with transparent blouses (most of them with beautiful skinny suede belts) over very skinny jeans will look chic and put-together while keeping you warm come winter.
It's all in the detail: structure meets fluidity
One of my favourite pieces was the burnt orange dress above. I love the structure of the leather detail against the very fluid fabric and the draping. It’s a perfect example for the brands ability to use just enough detail to keep a garment from being bland but not enough to drown it.
For more info and a stockist near you go to helmutlangjournal.com.
FR by Fashion Rocks Sale
Posted: May 27, 2011 Filed under: accessories, bags, easy style, emerging designers, jewellery, leather goods, rock 'n' roll, trends | Tags: anchor, Angel Jackson, Bjorg jewellery, blazer, charm, draped dress, draping, fashion, Fashion Rocks, Feathers, Forrest & Bob, insect, Joseph, necklace, pendant, Preen Line, See by Chloe, t-shirt, tote bag, tux Leave a comment »
1 Forrest & Bob t-shirt was £41 now £20.50, 2 Bjorg Love Story Classic Charm 65 was £60 now £45, 3 Joseph blazer was £479 now £359.25, 4 Angel Jackson bag was £495 now 247.50, 5 See by Chloe vest was £140 now 105, 6 Preen Line dress was £350 now £175
The Fashion Rocks online shop has a sale!
Most of us know Fashion Rocks as the event that brings together the worlds of music and fashion to raise money for charity. But they also run an online shop stocked with great pieces by household names and less well known designers alike. The sale going on at the moment offers up to 50% off. I had a look through and picked a few hero pieces: Anything with an anchor on it instantly gets my attention. I think it has something to do with my stripes obsession… When you look back a couple of posts, you’ll find out that I’ve been trying to persuade everyone that insects are a trend for a while now. Same goes for white tuxes – are you convinced yet? I can picture Kate Moss carrying the Angel Jackson bag. I don’t think you need any more prove of its rock credibility! This See by Chloe top satisfies my craving for something unabashedly pretty and I can never resist some deconstruction in a garment, dresses in particular.
Unfortunately, Markus Lupfer is not discounted but so incredibly cool I’m happy to pay full price. There’s also a ravishing collection of (discounted!) Red Valentino pieces on the site. I love so many of the items (minus that dreadful clog) I couldn’t decide which one to include in my selection. So I decided to link to all of them.
Silk Ribbon Embroidered McQueen SS11 Box Clutch
Posted: May 16, 2011 Filed under: accessories, bags, rock 'n' roll | Tags: Alexander McQueen, box clutch, clutch bag, embroidered, fashion, iris skull clasp, Lee McQueen, Sarah Burton, silk ribbon 1 Comment »
clutch bag £1,195 at alexandermcqueen.co.uk
Alexander McQueen have launched their Spring/Summer 11 clutch bags. Their accessories are a thing of beauty but I love the one above in particular as you can feel both, Lee’s and Sarah’s influence.
Band Tees
Posted: May 1, 2011 Filed under: challenges, easy style, festival season, rock 'n' roll | Tags: band t-shirts, Beastie Boys, ebay, fashion, Grateful Dead, Guns n' Roses, Patti Smith, Ramones, Rolling Stones, The Clash, The Smiths, tour t-shirts, vintage t-shirts, Violent Femmes Leave a comment »
1 Beastie Boys 2 The Clash 3 Grateful Dead 4 Violent Femmes 5 The Smiths 6 The Rolling Stones 7 Patti Smith (signed) 8 The Ramones 9 Guns n' Roses
Music is a huge part of my life. My taste is quite particular but also covers a lot of different genres. I hate saying ‘I listen to everything’ like a lot of people do. I don’t. Generally, you won’t find any pop or RnB or Hip Hop in my collection. On the other side I’m rather partial to some Duran Duran, Mary J Blige or NAS. It’s probably not exactly necessary to explain what kind of music I like as the t-shirt collection above is a dead giveaway. Hanging out at gigs as a teenager exposed me to tour t-shirts a lot. I still love them and ever need more! more! more! of them in my wardrobe (The Billy Idol reference was not intended but is very welcome to stay!). But great ones are hard to find. Amplified is good but can feel a little inauthentic. The Holy Grail of band t-shirts are, of course, original tour tees. But they are hard to come by. Maybe you find the odd one in a vintage shop but lazy as I am I cannot bring myself to comb through piles and piles of nothingness to eventually walk away with one. So, obviously, what does a girl do but turn to the interwebs for advice. I came upon a website called defunkd which featured a post about 20 Best Real Vintage T-Shirt Stores. Which in turn pointed my towards ebay. I looked around a bit and liked the above. The beauty of it is that whatever kind of band or artist you like, you’ll probably find the according t-shirt there.
Personally, I love wearing them with skinny jeans, a blazer, a few bracelets and heels or biker boots.
There’s also a good selection at t-shirts.com but I haven’t tested the site yet.
And here are the links but ebay being ebay, these particular items will be gone in 3, 2, 1…
Beastie Boys/Licensed to Ill Tour 1987
The Clash/Combat Rock Tour 1982
Patti Smith (signed)/European Tour 2010
Guns n’ Roses/GnR Was Here Tour
What I’d wear to Glastonbury this year
Posted: April 28, 2011 Filed under: easy style, festival season, rock 'n' roll | Tags: All Saints, angora socks, Asos, Beyond the Valley, cross body bag, Elle Plain, fashion, festival season, festivals, Glastonbury, Hunter wellies, J Brand, kimono, Laura Bailey, Made, music, Ray Ban, sockshop.co.uk, sunglass hut, Topshop Leave a comment »
1 Beyond The Valley 3D Forest Print Silk Kimono Jacket With 3D Glasses £220 at asos.com 2 Ray Ban aviators £123 at sunglasshut.co.uk 3 Laura Bailey for Made Mingi necklace £45 at made.uk.com 4 J Brand 1042 Rio (in Leon) $152 at jbrandjeans.com 5 Hunter Original Adjustable (in aubergine) £72 at hunter-boot.com 6 Elle Plain Angora Knee High Socks £8 at sockshop.co.uk 7 Hera Cross Body Bag £95 at allsaints.com 8 Floppy Pocket Vest £12 at topshop.com
Now, I know this is not the most innovative festival outfit. But that’s not what I think it should be. When I grew up going to a festival was all about being comfortable and wearing something you don’t mind ruining when you roll around in the mud. I keep seeing pictures of people at festivals and they’re in pretty little dresses and all I can think is: How the hell does she sit down in the grass in this thing? So, bottom line: It’s all about practicability for me. Trousers or shorts are almost a must. But that doesn’t mean you can’t dress them up a bit. What you see above is my take. I stumbled across this kimono which is really where this look started. I saw it and immediately thought: I have to find a way to wear that to Glastonbury!
What are you going to wear to festivals this year?
And here are the links to the items I used:
Beyond the Valley silk kimono at asos.com
Ray Ban aviators at sunglasshut.co.uk
Laura Bailey for Made Mingi necklace at made.uk.com
J Brand 1042 Rio at jbrandjeans.com
Hunter wellies at hunter-boot.com
Elle Plain Angora socks at sockshop.co.uk
Hera cross body bag at allsaints.com
Fantasy Shopping – Zadig & Voltaire edition
Posted: April 26, 2011 Filed under: classics re-imagined, rock 'n' roll | Tags: bohemian, fashion, leather trousers, millitary, rock 'n' roll, skull, Zadig & Voltaire Leave a comment »
1 Swimsuit Star €140 2 Jean Perla Huile €210 3 Jacket Officier Vilna €310 4 Top Tribal Silk €220 5 Pull Atsui Deluxe Cashmere €298 6 Dress Uffie Deluxe €530 7 Toptank Doobie €105
I was having a look through Zadig & Voltaire, one of my favourite Rock ‘n’ Roll meets luxury labels, and found myself day-dreaming about what I would like to buy from them. So I decided we need a new feature here – fantasy shopping. These are my picks from their website. I’m particularly fond of the jumper (5). I’ve seen it in their Hampstead branch a few weeks back and it just feels sublime! Generally their knits are to die for. But it’s not just that the cashmere feels nice, it’s also about unexpected details and giving classic materials an edge. Right up my alley!
Order online or find your nearest stockist at zadig-et-voltaire.com
