Bumper colour post

I absolutely love colour. I often realise I am leaving the house wearing about 8 different colours on shoes,top, hat, skirt and jacket. So I find anything with a rainbow of colours extremely appealing. I have discovered a new fix in this department in the way of Chris Benz. I especially like the outfits on the redhead as I now have reddish hair.

My original and eternal love is Marimekko, but they drive me bonkers with their incredibly tiny images and refusal to answer emails requesting a lookbook. On the plus side, at least you know I’m  not in any way being encouraged to write about them.

Tiny ladies in the distance; it’s like they don’t want us to see their lovely, stripey, colourful clothes.

 

And finally, some inspiration from a brilliant online outfit community called Wardrobe Remix, which seems to specialise in pleasant, colourful ensembles and has tens of thousands of members.

What Would a Nerd Wear. I love this red colour with all the black and beige. It’s the perfect work outfit, if you have a work to go to (sigh).

Fraxinilucia. This is so adorable and needs to be copied by me hastily. I used to embrace the whole “slip-showing” look at school, inspired by Sarah from Heartbreak High. I also love any red/blue/white combo.

Calivintage. This is a really clever use of colour because I don’t think I would have looked at the brown skirt and seen its potential. Bows always give me joy and I love the subtle colour palette between the flat yellow and then brown and red.

S

Make-Up Monday – All Ages, All Races, All Sexes

Intent on a universal focus, a collection that extends our range with new shades to match every international skin tone. But that’s not all. Because brows speak louder than words, two new products to help you express their style. In every language these are wow!

I am intrigued to see M.A.C’s new ‘multi-culti’ range that hit stores recently as it promises to extend its current range to match every skin tone. This is quite a claim and one that has been required on the beauty counters  for quite some time.

I fit into the demographic of white Caucasian skin so have always used their NW20 for a good colour match. I know for a fact that many friends from different ethnicities have not been so lucky finding good colour matches; it is about time that this changed. I think it is probably best to see this range as a good reliable collection for natural beauty rather than being blown away by any particular product or pigment.

Having said this, I would take basics in the looser sense of the word and focus on their use of the word ‘shades’ as the range seems to cover lipstick/gloss,  shadow, and blusher, as there is only a blot pressed powder for all-over coverage. I wonder if this is why they have added the brow sets to the range which feels slightly tenuous, although very on-trend, as shown by Chanel in their pre-fall 2010 show:

I am a little unclear as to why the brow-sets were added to this collection as I don’t think it enhances the ‘multi-culti’ claim. I tried to find a black model from this show to emphasise my point, and I know that Chanel and M.A.C are two separate companies, but why add brows to a range that declares international universality? It just feels like an afterthought to me.

I would love to hear from you whether this latest offering from M.A.C is what you have been waiting for and which other beauty brands provide, or disappoint, with their diversity.

V

Jimmy Choo’s latest collection – 24:7

Here are a couple of snaps from the London launch of the new Jimmy Choo collection at the very swish Connaught Hotel, which V & I attended a couple of weeks ago. This collection is meant to be more ‘every day woman’ than the usual fare. There were still skyscraper heels aplenty, but a couple of pairs of summer flats, like the black ones above, caught my eye. V & I both loved the blue structured bag above too. It is much more disco than every day though.

My favourite pair of shoes are these gold summer wedges. They make me think of floaty dresses and buttercup meadows:

A

Front row wages

It’s hard out there for celebrities and they’ve got to pay the rent on the penthouse somehow yeah. Here’s an interesting list rustled up by Fashionista.com on which famous people get paid what to sit on the front row at a catwalk show. Aside from the buttons being sewn on properly and not being made from the same material as plastic bags, this is why designer clothes are expensive.

Un sample:

A-List
Rihanna ($100,000 or more)
Beyonce ($80,000-$100,000)
Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen ($80,000 each)
Julianne Moore ($60,000)
Lindsay Lohan (circa 2006: $60,000; circa 2010; UNINVITED)
Colin Firth (pre-A Single Man: $5,000; post-A Single Man: $15,000)

B-List
Blake Lively ($50,000)
Leighton Meester ($40,000)
Hillary Duff ($40,000)

It’s not a huge surprise that Lohan’s stock has plummeted as she has rather spectacularly failed to keep it together these past years. I’m quite surprised that Julianne Moore would be such a money-spinner. After all, these fees are presumably worth it in terms of the endorsement because labels wouldn’t waste their money on fluff when all manner of labels are looking shaky – today’s is Zac Posen.

If you look at the full list you’ll also see that being B-list doesn’t automatically mean you get paid more than the C-list. Boring, mainstream brands have big budgets and they want people like Kim Kardashian turning up to their shows.

This is a US-centric list but I wonder if Alexa gets paid to turn up? Maybe just the honour of having bags and dresses named after her, and then sent to her in lovely beribboned boxes.

S

Love is a thing that can never go wrong…

I felt almost bad criticising Love magazine when it turned out to be pants in its first two issues. After all, I am happy to support creative endeavours, especially British ones, and I love magazines in general so I was willing to give it time to find its feet. Plus, the Beth Ditto cover was iconic.

But now that it feels like Love is actively trying to hurt me, I give up. It’s the coolest girl in magazine school, but no one’s best friend.

Katie Grand on why she chose to have loads of naked models on the cover.

“[W]e took eight women who are generally acknowledged as the most beautiful in the world, got them to show off their bodies — widely regarded as the most perfect in the world — and photographed them all in exactly the same position for the cover. We did this to show how much they differed physically from one another, which is why we also printed their measurements.

“The point is that ‘perfection’ is not fixed, timeless or transcendent. It varies, as the measurements of our cover girls show.”

This is the worst kind of fashion nonsense: that a difference in measurement of at most a couple of inches is “diversity”, or that this is a brilliant “idea” and not just marketing. I object very strongly to the publishing of the women’s measurements at it is only going to trigger normal women readers into judging their own bodies.

To illustrate the point, Penny Luxe has layered all the covers over each other to show just how gloriously different the set is:

I just can’t be bothered with this sort of crap any more; it’s not art to show thin women in high heels, it’s objectification, whether you like the way they look or not. I’m not against nudity and I don’t have a problem with thin women, I’m just fed up with being spoonfed one version of acceptability: very thin and hairless. It’s not even beauty any more, a diet and a bikini wax is becoming the bare minimum of what it takes to be considered a normal woman.

S

Topshop. Is it over?

Reading this article over on the Guardian about how Topshop has lost its mojo has made me think. When was the last time I bought anything in Topshop? It’s been a long while. When I have money in my hand, I run straight to Cos for staple t-shirts, I buy jeans at Gap and if I want an amazing party dress it’s French Connection or maybe Asos. There used to be nothing I enjoyed more than going to Topshop Oxford Circus and coming home with something cheap and shiny to add to my magpie’s collection.

There’s a combination of factors in my losing interest in Topshop. For a start, it’s not cheap anymore. You can still get a vest for £10 (I imagine) but you’re probably looking at a starting budget of £40 for anything else. And the quality hasn’t improved – it’s still a high-street shop and fond as I am of it, you are in denial if you think it’s not sweatshopped by some poor unfortunates on another continent.

In most minds, this wouldn’t matter but it’s also true that the desirability of the clothes has gone down. The designs aren’t edgy, they look homogenous. The expansion to America and elsewhere has taken the shine off the quirky Britishness of it all and it doesn’t feel like it belongs to you anymore.

Or perhaps it doesn’t belong to me anymore because I’m too old and out of the Little Girls’ Club? Last time I went there I actually felt out of place and I’m in my 20s. I felt too big for the clothes even though I come in under their specious size 14 cut-off point (if you can find one on the racks that is). When I worked in Topshop I served women of literally all ages (not sizes however) and I imagined I would shop there my whole life. But when I go in, even though they have pretty things, something stops me from parting with precious pennies for it. It doesn’t give me that uplifting feeling anymore.

I can’t believe I just wrote a whole post about somewhere I am choosing not to shop these days, but that just shows what a massive part of my style Topshop was. Maybe I should go on a reccy and see if I can find something to change my mind because I’m not sure I’m ready to let go.

S

March Vogue

This is a rather cool cover in contrast to the endless parade of ballgowns. Not that I want Vogue to become too street but, despite the clogs, I love this Alexa cover. What is the last taboo I wonder?

Nabbed from the Alexa Tumblr.

S

Make-Up Monday – Awards Season Part 3 – The Grammys

Oops! WordPress has been playing silly buggers and forgot to post V’s makeup post on Monday where it belongs. Here it is in all its glory. – x S

So, just as we were getting used to all the safe pretty neutrals at the Globes and the SAGs I am happy to report that this is not the case with the stars from the world of music last night at the Grammys. The red carpet was covered in big hair, glitter, feathers, thick bushy brows and colour definition all round. Admittedly, some of the looks were not to my taste, but Musical divas I salute you, for your extravagance and no holes barred attitude…

Ke$ha: The one to watch? – America’s answer to Lilly, Florence and Natasha Khan.

J-Lo: Beautiful locks and smoked up eyes virtually to the brow-line, slightly unfortunate shading over the nose.

Rihanna: Forever the chameleon, love the hair, and the base make-up, although I question the tarantula-esque long lashes.

Lady GaGa: So without the sunglasses she actually has beautiful almond shaped eyes, love the lashes, definition of the brows and the Barbie pink lips. And the wig? That is quite something.

Beyonce: The lady of the night – fairly safe make-up to offset the questionable silver strands of sparkly hair that contrast sharply with the blingtastic earings.

Adam Lambert: Doing it for the boys – Well applied make-up and Jedward inspired hair – I will leave you to decide.

The biggest disappointment of the night for me were the Kings of Leon – normally so hot, uh boys, get to the barbers!

V

Images courtesy FabSugar and JustJared.

My Cameo

The cameo method, where an image is carved in relief against a background of a contrasting colour, was originally used on signet rings. In England, it underwent a revival during Queen Victoria’s reign. It has always struck me as very Victorian perhaps worn on a choker or swinging on a longer chain adorning a matronly bosom. A little old fashioned, a little twee but also quite elegant, harkening back to a time when one might have had a butler to make cucumber sandwiches to enjoy on the verandah.

This little beauty is available here on Etsy.

A

Starlets be stealing my style part II

First Rachel from Glee, now Hailey from One Tree Hill.

And here is a not-great photo of me from New Year’s Eve wearing said dress.

a) I need to wear these dresses more pronto because they are clearly becoming overexposed.

b) I need to start watching less flimsy TV. But I love it.

S