American retail assistance please

My parents are currently in New York, before they set off on a roadtrip down to Florida. My dad is super-excited!!one! My mum wishes she was at home in London. But the most important thing is that they are in America, and this means presents for me.

But since my dad last went to New York (he has relatives there so goes every few years) the exchange rate has weakened and I’ve grown up. The first time he went, me and my brother got massive bags of American sweets, comics, magazines, all that good kids’ stuff. Except Hershey’s, that shiz is horrible.

Is there anything left you can only get in the US or can get there much more cheaply? I’m not too concerned about weight and bulk. I just don’t know what to ask for! Any help, dear jetsetting or US-dwelling readers?

S

Why? Just ‘COS’

I popped into Cos the other day and picked up a copy of their A/W collection magazine. I enjoyed the crisp photography and how it didn’t feel too much like an enormous advert, despite being exactly that. Good content and ample visuals helped on their part, and an inate love for Cos clothes probably helped on my part.

It is an unwieldy A3 format but that didn’t put me off (although I can imagine how it might put me off in the future).

The Front Cover

Cos clothes have a habit of looking a bit rubbish on the hanger and then incredible on the body. Unfortunately, I’m not certain whether this photography really gets across how interesting, yet simple, the clothes are. It certainly does a little bit but not the full glory.

I still haven't seen The September Issue but it is on my Lovefilm list

Sam Taylor Wood is interviewed in the mag.

I’m always a bit sceptical of shop magazines but this is a good ‘un; artistic and without the hard sell.

Accessories

The back cover - The End.

New magazines

I know we’re all very excited about the new Dasha Zhukova-edited Pop magazine but frankly, I spent my magazine money on Love a few weeks ago and I am bitter about it, so we will discuss it no further, except to say that I saw a couple of the beautiful Klimt-esque Tavi covers at the Tate Modern shop and I wanted them. But I walked away, and instead Sting’s daughter keeps looking at me from where I have placed her by the bed, ready to tear out all the good pictures when I have time.

Chosen purely for being "intriguing", Coco is undeniably beautiful and as quick-witted and silver-tongued as the average garden snail.

What I really like about Tavi is how eloquent she is. She does all fashion blogs a favour by writing in a coherent way without emoticons, about topics she is passionate about. I think she dresses well according to her own tastes and that’s good enough for me. As well as being photographed in her now trademark standoffish pose, she wrote a little blurb and it was much better written than a lot of the rest of the magazine, much of which was dross in need of a spellcheck.

Tavi in Love.

I had little to no interest in the heirs to the Playboy fortune, and I really didn’t need to hear about how boring lesbians are when they’re not busy being skinny fashion plates. It seems as if whoever wrote that article for Love hadn’t actually read Beth Ditto’s awesome cover story the issue before. The message of this little article was that lesbians should stop conforming to stereotypes or being political. Truly, under this banner slogan from a straight, married person, lesbians of the world can unite. Cats will be left to die in the street and sensationally talented but non-skinny vocalist kd lang will be declared bankrupt.

In other mag news, I actually spotted one I’d never seen before while prowling around WH Smith’s the other day (I spend quite a lot of time hanging out near magazine racks it seems). Why would anyone launch a magazine now unless it’s going to be amazing? The main question that needs to be answered is why anyone would launch this magazine at all, because look at it:

What does the title mean? It is clearly not a home or design magazine, it’s a fashion magazine. I was going to scrawl comments on this picture in MS Paint but they would all have been “?” as I am confused by everything. What are these bumps that lingerie can solve? Were there no better pictures of Cheryl Cole available? Have they been banned from using pleasant fonts?

I’m not averse to a personal makeover magazine. A long, long time ago there was a magazine called Looks that was all about “making the best of yourself” and it actually wasn’t too soul-destroying: as a young teenager I found a lot of the advice in it rather helpful. But then it didn’t look like someone decided a knock-off hybrid between Yours and Look was a brilliant commercial venture.

Saucer of milk for the S-drive today. I’m going to go and have a lie down now.

x S

Where I like to blog

When I had a job I used to blog on the sly from inside a a little cubicle with my desk inside it, which had loads of my stuff pinned to the felt and put in nooks and crannies. I am not into clean desk policies; I think it’s nice to be able to carve out a little space for yourself wherever you are. Also, I need distractions and stashes of food on hand or I go a bit crazy. Maybe office life isn’t for me.

Anyway, now that I don’t have a job, I am back in my preferred location, which is by the window in my flat, keeping an eye on potential wrongdoing outside and checking my Google Reader every five minutes. Here is where I sit:

S

Something from Nothing

Recently a friend asked me where I shopped and how I put outfits together. I found this seemingly simple question almost impossible to answer and I’ve been pondering the answer ever since.

A fuller answer will have to wait for another but I did say one thing, and although it seemed absurd to me, even as I said it, I’ve since come to fully believing it:

If you want to dress better, then go into a shop and pick up ugly things to try on

Now, this comes up with more than one caveat – firstly, this advice is more sound if you feel that your current style is in need of modification. As everybody’s definition of ‘ugly’ constantly changes, it’ll force you to try on items you may never have touched before. And you could be pleasantly surprised. This approach has certainly worked for me and I’m constantly amazed at other people’s ingenuity when teaming one item with another.

I saw another example of this today and feel that it illustrates my point well. You may have noticed the recent trend for crop tops? Why, I hear you cry?Well, that was also my initial thought but then I saw how blogger Diamondcanopy had incorporated this white lace Topshop crop top into her daily outfit and it made a lot of sense.

Blogger Diamondcanopy (photo courtesy of Diamondcanopy)

I recently moved jobs and got a great £75 Topshop voucher as a leaving gift. I intend to raid the sales racks and go for all the ‘ugly’ things. It’s going to be great.

A

 

 

 

AA “Basics” fail

I feel like the guiding principle of American Apparel – simple, colourful basics manufactured in a reasonably ethical way – has gotten lost somewhere.

S

Makool

I am suddenly into yellow and I have spotted two lovely examples of yellowness today.

Firstly, independent designer Makool makes this romantic dress with stiff puffed sleeves and a draped collar. It  evokes some period of English history, I’m not sure which, and I like its slightly structure nature. The skirt is light and flippy and makes it look like something you’d want to wear at a country cottage perhaps, without looking too fey.

I also spotted the lovely Jane of Sea of Shoes wearing an amazing yellow and black dress – yet another example of the excellentness of yellow on blondes:

Image courtesy Sea of Shoes

S

Top Trends

There are always lots of trends, and trend spin offs, in the shops and on the streets of London. All the way from suede harem pants (you cannot walk in them, you don’t look cool) to brightly coloured summery sandals, they are everywhere you look.

I tend to rely on little details to make me feel like I’ve ‘got it’. Please don’t try and make me explain what ‘it’ is – that can only lead to an involved soul searching about why I need small things like that to make me feel good. But suffice to say, ‘it’ means something like knowing that you look cool in a new and interesting way that you hadn’t tried before. And this summer, I can see that there will be a few trends that will hold the test of time (like the shoe boot):

i) Rolled up sleeves and trousers – don’t buy new blazers/jeans/trousers, just roll up your current ones. This works well on lighter spring fabrics as well as older denim. Slap on a bracelet, or five, to show off your joints and ta-da,  you have attention to detail.

Rachel Bilson rolls up her sleeves - I still love this outfit (I fear we have featured it before)

ii) Bracelets – to stop those exposed arms getting chilly. Will we see the return of the anklet this summer with all those ankles around? I sincerely hope not.

iii) Cropped jackets/cardigans – denim, leather, cotton, anything as long as it is cropped. I do love a good cropped jacket but I wonder if it is a bit late to ‘invest’ in leather, like all those magazines keep telling me to do.

iv) Shorter hemlines on dresses – this is rapidly becoming a problem for me in the workspace. Nothing is appropriate anymore unless it is worn with floral leggings.

v) Oh yeah, floral leggings and thong sandals. Honestly, it is like the summer Ugg.

vi) And finally, heels – they are here to stay, or so it seems. I just refuse to do summer feet AND heels unless absolutely necessary, and then only for short distances. Yes, they look brilliant but there is nothing to save your poor feet from the chafing and the ‘breaking in’ stage. And you can’t just hide them away until the scars heal.

A

That summer feeling

One wisp of a warm day and I am daydreaming/agonising over summer and the necessity of dressing down and holiday style. I go out a lot more in the summer and there’s more lazing around outside – this year my boyfriend’s brother and his girlfriend have a patio and a garden and will be having barbeques, at which they will look like people out of The Talented Mr Ripley, i.e. beautiful and poised. I will be hanging out there and hopefully going on holiday at some point – cue the daydreams of warm air, coloured drinks and summery bohemian times.

At around the same moment, I saw some cool printed Numph leggings in Elle that I wanted to share on here but which do not seem to exist anywhere. Elle had no stockist in its list so I suppose it’s a matter of going to the concession in Topshop Oxford Circus and having a look through their stuff. Instead, for my prospective summer outfit, I’ve chosen an awesome scarf of theirs I managed to find on a website called http://www.divinetrash.co.uk.

Continuing the chain of fashion thoughts, Elle magazine reminds me that the new issue has a giftcard attached that contains £15 to spend at Kurt Geiger. As it happened, I was planning to buy some sandals in KG anyway so I was pretty delighted with my money off. If you plan to use it, please note it needs activating online before you arrive at the shop…(thanks for doing it for me A!)

So with summery things in mind, Elle magazine, Numph and Kurt Geiger, here is what I imagine myself wearing while I lounge in the park with my lovely friends on a Saturday in June. I’ve already got the sandals, so bring on Spring and Summer.

S

 

p.s. I finally bought a camera! Expect some pictures of me in my new sandals (post next week’s pedicure though).

London Fashion Week

I got the chance to go and peek around the trade exhibition at London Fashion week a few days ago. Lots of designers, ranging from the teeny-tiny boutique Minna.co.uk, through Stephen Jones the milliner to Oxfam Originals (who gave me a very nice cotton bag), had stalls promoting their wares. Although I didn’t get to see any catwalk shows (I was there during the Peter Pilotto show, darn it!) it was fun to look around, sit in the press lounge with a cup of blackcurrant tea and find out about new designers or get up close with designs by those I’d already heard of. I also spotted Mary Portas, Erin O’Connor AND Susie Bubble! I was too shy to introduce myself as a fellow blogger though.

If you’ve never been to a trade show then you’ll never have had the pleasure of experiencing the wonder of the press room. I was until recently a journalist and used to go to conferences with wildly varying qualities of press rooms. The best ones had free lunches, pastries and decent drinks, comfortable places to sit and wireless internet. The worst ones were basically a trestle table with some press releases on. LFW’s was very chic and had free bottles of water and free juice. My companion Tom and I (boyfriend of A and rather better photographer than I) enjoyed some tea and flicking through all the fashion magazines available.

The Stephen Jones hat display

 

 There was a theme of “make-do-and-mend” going on, which reflects both the now firmly embedded move towards the mainstream of ethical clothing, and the whole recession thing. Mary Portas was there running a “Charity Shop” where she put together outfits for members of the public and celebs including Peaches Geldof. Also, Oxfam Originals is launching a new, campaign fronted by celebrities including Natalie Imbruglia (I actually bought White Lilies Island so consider myself to be something of an expert on her). If you’ve never been to an Oxfam Originals shop, there are about 6 of them and they cream off all the really good trendy stuff to go in them so they are worth checking out. Back when vintage was the hippest thing you could possibly wear, it was a goldmine and I used to visit the one in Covent Garden in between visits to Topshop Vintage.

Mary's Charity Shop, featuring the back of Erin O'Connor's head.