Thank You Father Christmas!

Season's Greetings one and all! 
It is just after Christmas, the season of shopping for clothes, of buying clothes, and of eating your own body weight in Quality Street. And now that we're all suitably sick due to the alcohol and sugar content of our bodies, it is time to look back on what was most important about this brief but sweet break. The gorgeous goodies we all got, Obviously.
Not all of these were got on Christmas day, per-se, but they were all acquired during this festive season and most of it I picked up in London where I spent this year's Christmas day. I expect buckets of envy as you look at these pics...
1. A Chocolate Brown Astrakhan Swing Coat With A Brown Mink Collar

Now, some people are a little reluctant to wear Astrickan fur even if they wear regular fur because it's not the nicest sounding fur in the world. I'm not going to divulge what it is on this little blog here but I'm pretty sure Google could let you know if you so wished to know. But I'm a firm believer in "what you don't know can't hurt you", so I'll just leave you  with this picture of a BEAUTIFUL coat and not the details of its origins. It falls just to my knees and the fur curls are really closely knit. The collar is mink (always gorgeous) but needs a bit of fixing. 

It was a gift from my fabulous NannyPeg who got in in Oxfam where she works. At a steal I'm guessing, as these things are not cheap if you buy one from a vintage dealer. PLUS, I get to think of some poor third world family who have been helped dig a well or something all because I have this wonderful coat! Megan 1-0 Bad Consumer Karma.

2. 1980's Black High Neck, Backless Evening Dress

Shit quality photo again, soz about that. But, I assure you, this is a jewel of a dress. Its polka dotted with a bow detailing at the front. The cut goes down to sort of the mid calf area, very nice on trend length. I'll need to wear VERY high heels with it though, but Christmas sorted that out too. More of that later. 

This was a present from me-to-me. £20 in Spittlefield market, London. One of my favourite places to shop, ever, in the world, ever. So close to Brick Lane, countless vintage shops and great bars. Also, you do feel a whole lot cooler walking around there then you do in Dublin. Bonus.

3. Denim Studded Jacket with Leather Cross Detail on Back

The collar is studded with spikes. There is a massive white leather cross on the back. It's made of denim. What more can I say? Well, I can say that it was bought in a stall opposite Rough Trade Records in Shoreditch. And, I can also say that it was an Ivory Jar design. Literally all the stuff on that stall was out of this world slick. White shirts with physiologically correct hearts printed on them. Lots of crosses. Lots of metal. This is a link to the designer's tumblr, I would suggest giving it a look, and I would also suggest ordering everything on the website. 

 http://ivoryjar.tumblr.com/

4. Black and Gold Perspex Knuckle Duster

I basically haven't taken this off in the last four days. It stretches from one side of my hand to the other which makes using my pockets tricky. But who needs pockets when you have a ring this fierce? £6 in Shoreditch. LovelyJubily. Designed by MEEN, again a London based design group. I'd check them out if I were you. Statement jewelry is brilliant for making a mediocre outfit look like you've put buckets of effort into it. 

http://www.meenclothing.com/

5. Deena & Ozzy Black Platform Heels

If a 70's Glam Star went Goth, they'd wear these shoes. 12cm of gorgeous, sexy, platform heels. Surprisingly comfortable too. I got these as an early Christmas pressie from my dear Mother and wore them to a wedding. Not a bother on me, and I never wear heels. The platform-heel is tortoise shell and don't we all love a bitta tortoise shell? They sort of remind me of the fetish trend of A/W11 and I do feel like an extremely fierce bitch wearing them. So all in all, very nice indeed. Maybe nice is the wrong word. These shoes aren't nice, these shoes would leave the next morning and never call you back. But, my god, they are serious shoes. And I'm pretty sure they'll look pretty sweet with that polka dot 1980's dress.

6. Vintage Croc Detail Ox-Blood Flats

I was working a lot in the week before Christmas, so I picked these babies up one day in work. You can't really see it in the horrendous quality photograph, but the leather is printed with a Crocodile Skin pattern and they are two different tones on Ox Blood. The buckle detail is in gold as well (it looks like silver in this shot). The shoes are circa the late 1980's. They hurt like hell, but that's never deterred me before. I was so in need of new flats and once these shoes realize that I will not lose my nerve and start breaking in all will be well with the world.

7. The Little Sprinkles On The Top of It All

I'm not a big make up girl. To be honest, I get really bored really quickly. At a push I put on eyeliner and lipstick but only when I'm "hitting the town" as they say. But the two beauty products I do spend money on are foundation and perfume. 

Being as shockingly pale as I am, Bobbi Brown is one of the only brands I've found that do a shade light enough for me (I use their lightest shade "Alabaster") and their Moisture Rich Foundation has good coverage without looking caked.  

Chanel No. 5. Classic. My Mum got this for me for Christmas because at a certain point in a young woman's life they step into the world of maturity. And that point is flagged by the arrival of their own bottle of Chanel No. 5. Once you're wearing this you could be wearing a bin liner (something I actually have done before) and you'll still feel great. The ultimate fragrance.

As you can see by the haul, it was a good year. And all of these, along with copious amounts of alcohol, induced great Christmas cheer in my heart! 

Hope you all did as well as me on the gift front,

Happy NewYears, Go live your lives, or whatever it is you do

xoxo

BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund Shortlist

The hot young fashion talent has been cut down to a lovely little list by the good people at Vogue and the British Fashion Council in their annual Fashion Fund award, which is going to be the focus of this particular post... well, one or two of the designers will anyway...
Drum Roll Please.......
My top pick of the shortlist are......
1. Meadham Kirchoff
Yes, as you may or may not know from my previous post, I LOVE these two boys! Their designs are cute, inventive, imaginative, lovely, refreshing, adorable yet slightly twisted... the list could go on...
For a full explanation of why I loved their last show so much please refer to my previous post but suffice is to say, it was good.
But the thing is, these guys are consistently good. Their A/W11 show was dark and creepy yet remained to be quite playful. All of it was 100% wearable and basically I wanted it all in my wardrobe, I do want it all in my wardrobe now. So if you're reading this lads, send us over a few samples. Cheers babes.
 
Loving the necklace, the little tiny creep of petticoat and the adorable shoes with the matching socks.

If I could get my hands on one of those hats I would be a happy, happy little blogger.

2. Mary Katrantzou
Well, all I can say is once you've seen a Katrantzou piece, you've seen it. Their distinctive, bold and eye catching. Her silhouettes are structured to an almost angular precision, with screen prints which are vibrant as well as ornate. The sort of stuff it reminds me of is Alexander McQueen prints, that sort of clarity. Its really striking.
And as well as all of that, it's not just her last collection which was good, but her previous ones too. S/S12 is floral, feminine and the shapes are unexpected, like this sweeping babydoll dress here..

Now, THIS is a suit...


3. Jonathan Saunders
I swoon, I swoon. Just. So. Gorgeous. From his 1940's-geometric hybrid A/W11 collection to his floating and delicate S/S12 one. Just so light, feminine and ...well, just gorgeous. Not only that, but his colour palette choices were spot on. Nice rich burgundy with splashes of brights in A/W. Those patterns and stripes.. It was all stuff that I just coveted as soon as a saw. Also, their men's stuff for A/W11 was really slick, like I'm pretty sure if I saw a guy wearing it walking down the street I would 1. fall madly in love and 2. stalk the living crap out of him the clothes were just that nice.
Then his summer collection was just so dainty, fragile even. All in light pastels and creams. It was sort of like a dream scene but on a runway. Like a deep inhale breath of country air. Yes, I did just say that...

I especially like the long, maxi dress with that amazing vine detailing.

And then a final bit of nice male model loveliness...

The patterns are so kitch and I absolutely love them.

Anyway, those were my personal picks for the BFC/Vogue Fashion Fund Award. Hopefully you've seen why I liked those three so much in particular, they just stood out from the whole group in my opinion.
So goodluck to those three, and any nice samples they want to send me will be more than welcome.

Now, to finish a college essay so I don't fail my degree...Although in that case I would have plenty more time to blog, and wouldn't you all be so happy about that!

Talk Soon
xoxoxo

Spring/Summer 2012...

Well I know that the Spring/Summer 2012 lines came out during the various fashion weeks OVER TWO MONTHS AGO, BUT as I have had this blog for what? A week? I think that this is the perfect time to mention them as it's not like I can do some crazy Back To The Future shit and write about them when they were current... So here it goes...deep breath....annnnd....


It's hard to think of what to wear next summer when it's so cold outside it feels like the gas in my lighter is going to freeze and I'm wearing two pairs of tights EVERYDAY, but on the catwalks in London, New York, Paris and Milan the swimsuits and crop tops were all on display. And light years away from the collections for this season.
    In general there seemed to be an overall softening of the trends we experienced for A/W11, as, like clockwork, Spring’s pastel tones hit the catwalk. For the most part the fetish trends which we saw from designers such as Alexander McQueen and Giles were almost completely gone, as was the harsh androgyny that dominated the catwalks of Stella McCartney and Dolce&Gabanna.
 Instead, it seems that the fashion world has simultaneously decided that in the period of economic uncertainty, when the world seems to be taking a daily step closer to the abyss of anarchy, what we need is fantasy. Pure, unadulterated, twisted and sometimes erratic fantasy.
       Giles gave us one of the most provocative of the A/W11 shows, the models dressed almost as repressed, over sexualised nuns. The result, though not for the faint-hearted, showed an acute awareness of how to flatter and synch with corsets and streamlined tailoring that was both highly sexualised yet feminine. This Spring however, Giles gave us a world completely removed from our own. Tailored day-dresses, suites and flowing gowns all in fabulous metallic passed elegant feathered beauties on the catwalk. What pattern there was abstract and in brilliant contrast to the silver hue of the show. Here, Giles offers us a parallel world of the outer space woman, most notably with his metallic 1950’s inspired day-dresses. 


The only reminder of the fierceness of his A/W'11 collection being the majestic (and slightly frightening...but mostly majestic) swan suit...Though the trousers add masculinity to this undoubtably powerful outfit, the choice of a sheer floating material softens the overall tone and it is important to remember that this was also the counterpart to a slightly less harsh (yet slightly less fierce) white swan suit.

Henry Holland, the golden boy of the British in crowd, gave us another brilliant and wearable collection this year with his House of Holland label. His outlandish patterns make his clothes immediately identifiable and every piece seems to radiate youth, even in these pastel colours which can seem to have been repeated every summer for an eternity. His collection, including cloud covered skinny-jeans and A LOT of tartan for me was the most accessible of the shows.

Holland’s fantasy here is in his choice of pattern and fabric, chain-mail, snake-skin and mesh all played a part in the collection. Yet all in such a way that I expect to see identical copies of his chain-mail body-con being sold on the high street before we get anywhere close to summer.

          
Meadham Kirchhoff, the fashion house of Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff showed another example of elaborate fantasy following on from the A/W11 collection which invoked the Grim fairy tales among others. Their S/S12 show was probably  one of the most spectacular pieces of fashion escapism seen on the London catwalk. Ruffles, corsets, chiffon, tulle, fur, embroidery…the list could go on. And it all comes in every colour imaginable almost. More like a performance piece at times, the catwalk was complete with balloons, girls doing their own makeup in their underwear and cancan dancers. Yet despite all this, the whimsy and the fantasy, the collection still managed to bring out perfectly tailored pieces and silhouettes that were youthful and flattering. While this ready-to-wear collection may be a bit more than some of us would be willing to head into your local in, it’s a perfect example of the fantasy the designers have decided to treat us to this summer.


I think one of the biggest surprises from these S/S12 collections was Dolce & Gabbanna. The van-guard of the androgynous look we saw dominating the catwalk of A/W11 spun around and brought out a show of 1950’s throwback crop-tops and day dresses, not unlike what we’ve been seeing on the high street in the past few years. In some senses a little disappointing, after being so individual in their previous collection. Not necessarily a bad collection but slightly lacking in that something that we can usually expect from these two…Although the see-through orange two piece suit was a bit of an attention grabber. That being said, they are beautiful clothes, well structured and executed. Just not quite the escapism we all need these days, but with a collection as vibrant as Meadham and Kirchhoff was there really any room for more fairy tale inspired shenanigans?


And finally, since it wouldn't be the same without it, time for a bit of Alexander McQueen. All I can saw is, Well Fucking Done Sarah Burton. Seriously, with the weight of the genius that was Alexander McQueen on your shoulders and the pressure to create something the man himself would be proud of you'd be forgiven for letting it all get on top of you. But not Ms. Burton. Not only did she design Princess Kate's wedding dress, she also whipped a fabulous collection out of the bag. Not too bad a year at all... It's astounding to think she's only been in charge of the house for three collections and she manages to create such a mature and confident one as this.
Well, I should just some out and say it, if Versace are one of my less favourite designers (as I said in my previous post) Alexander McQueen is definatly one of my favourites. And this did not let me down. Those ruffles. That lace. The bodices. The mesh. The mask-like-things. I loved it all! Seriously good stuff. Kept the girlyness we'd expect from S/S and subverted it as they do so well. Just Lovely.

Anyway, enough from me...go live your own lives or whatever it is you do...

xoxoxo

Popping my Blogging Cherry by Bitching About Versace for H&M

As the title rightly suggests this is me starting my first blog (well, first blog that doesn't make me so embarrassed I want to pull my head into the cavity of my chest and die), so in the spirit of first timers - be gentle with me.
But this Blog isn't about me, God no, it's about clothes. Yummy-Scrummy-Delicious-Mouth-Wateringly-Orgasmic Clothes. The sort of clothes that my little dreams are made of - Oh and some which are horrendous. Because, lets face it, everyone one loves laughing at silly things.

So we shall start off with a bit of a bitch. This time about one of the most talked about HighStreet-Designer calabs of the past year, you guessed it - Versace for H&M.
Now, in the interest of fairness, I'm not going to lie. Versace is not one of my favorite labels per se. Well, not one of my favorite labels at all, wouldn't even put them in the top 20, but this is not really the point of this post...I'm getting off track....Donatella is as trashy as this collection - What now? Who said that?...Anyway... Back to point - The Collection.

Wow, I love tight fitting dresses made from badly fitting material. Especially when the background is in a really hot yellow tint of leopard print...Not to mention my love of ugly impractical small bags that look like Paul's Boutique's reject bin.

Hotttttttt.
And finally a shot of the lady herself; the sexy bitch that she is;

Too Hott 2 Handle.

Try not to let this visually offensive collection upset you too much, it'll all be over by the time the collection sells out... Oh wait it did... In 24 hours.
This is another example of mass hysteria in relation to a High Street Colab. Unfounded, unnecessary hysteria. I mean most of the high street stores are producing far nicer things this season, we're filled to the brim with scrumptious delights at lovely prices. And don't get me wrong, I'm not a label hater what so ever. I'll be the first to admit that the cut and the tailoring of designer clothes are just nicer than most high street places. I recently rented a gorgeous black dress from Badgley Mischka for my recent Debs and never have I worn anything so Fab. But in all fairness, who can afford to own these things? Besides successful Bloggers (here's hoping!), celebrities (in the real sense, not Michelle Heaton Etc), and rich kept wives? Well, not me anyway...
So I make do with vintage and high street, seems to work for me, without the need to buy ugly "designer" goods from H&M...
Buy hey, that's just me...
xoxoxo
Talk Soon, This time about nice things, minimal bitching - well, maybe not minimal, we'll see :)
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