Dungarees

I know this is a controversial topic so I’ll speak delicately: I like dungarees but I’m not like, everyone has to wear dungarees. Not everyone can be that person. But for those who are, who know the heady delights of the buckled straps and useful pockets, this is for you.

Best bride ever.

Probably the best princess ever now I’ve seen this. People wore dungarees like they were normal clothes in the 80s though. I have the evidence of both of my parents in them pre-me and therefore having to have proper jobs. I salute you Dad.

Chung wore these to a club, which I quite admire. The obvious problem with dungarees is that one wore them as a tot, which means they are sort of infantilising, as well as referencing of garages. And I think we may be finally exiting the ultra-twee phase that has taken over girl culture on the internet: I do not really want to see any more cupcakes or woodland creatures. I think this season’s pastel overload may finally have broken me.

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All the pretty pastel birds

I am in colour palette heaven at the moment with all the pastel, rosy pink, pops of neon and general fluff around. I appreciate it must be driving less whimsical souls a bit mental but I really enjoy “pretty” and so do the magazine editors. Funny that Elle and Vogue feature the same outfit, especially as it bears a similarity to the ubiquitous Miu Miu pastel dress of a couple of years ago.

I especially love the Elle cover with Alexa for it’s soothing colours and promise of shopping pages that will lead me to my perfect bow-embellished shoes and sheer or lace dresses. And I always love the Vanity Fair starlets cover – I love a starlet, especially when they rise to prominence via a teen drama. British actress Felicity Jones features on the cover. Sadly, Chalet Girl was a pretty hateful film so she’s yet to win me over and frankly they underestimated how my (and surely all viewers’?) love for Sophia Bush would derail any storyline that slights her.

 I have no idea where we are with the Lana Del Rey love or hate, you have to check Twitter hourly for that, blogs are such a slow medium! But I’ll still get this issue for its promise of introducing “fashion’s most fabulous florist”. I am a very committed consumer of flowers and am considering taking a course in flower arranging, plus I’m very bored with supermarket flowers and need to head to a cut flower market if there is such a thing to provide myself with resources. The downsides of floristry includes bug immigrants and very cold hands but I am prepared to suffer for my art.

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Rococo

This lovely Teen Vogue cover with Alexa Chung gives me an excuse to post lots of pictures of rococo and rococo-inspired stuff, some of it in my favourite colour-combos of pastel and neon. Strangely, I haven’t seen Marie Antoinette, but its visuals increasingly seem to be influencing fashion in ever-widening circles.

This final image is one of my favourite paintings, the legendarily uncool “The Swing” by Fragonard, which you can see in all its silly glory at The Wallace Collection. This painting was commissioned by some skeezy dude who wanted a picture of “a priest pushing a girl on a swing while her lover watches”. Very well, each to their own. The original artist, Doyen, was so shocked by the request he refused, but Fragonard was willing to comply. You can see her GARTER.

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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.

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Make-Up Monday – To blush or not to blush?

This picture of Rihanna should answer that question – the answer is…to blush!

London lacks blushing beauties. I’m a big fan of colour so cannot avoid the rows of powder and cream blush when scouting around beauty departments and make-up stores. The biggest benefit of blusher is the definition it provides (who doesn’t want razor-sharp cheek bones?!), not to mention that lovely healthy effect of looking like you have just walked in from a stroll by the sea.

Jennifer Lopez - looking like she's been strolling by the sea - don't be fooled, it is blusher! (Courtesy of Just Jared)

How to Apply

Do not be afraid of applying colour, the trick is to blend, start with a tiny amount on your brush and blend along the contours of your cheek bone, from the apple to the temple, then blend some more.

Alek Wek looking blusher brilliant on the runway

What to Use

The best way to find what suits you is to walk into any beauty department and have a play, for powder, grab a decent brush and away you go. I love M.A.C’s pink powder blush in Swoon and Bobbi Brown’s  Pot Rouge in Calypso Coral.

You want one with staying power but that you can build up gradually when applying. I think it is safer to stay with powder if your skin is uneven and prone to breakouts, however if you don’t wear much of a foundation base and have that lovely even skin then cream away. I love peach and red based for darker skin tones and pink and bronze based colours on fairer skin.

January Jones with peach blusher

Ole fave Alexa Chung rocks pink blusher and pink dress

Can’t you just picture yourself in your newly purchased winter coat, scarf wrapped warmly and beautiful glowing cheeks?

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Duffle coats and autumn colours

I spent a lot of time as a teenager wishing things were other than what they were. A big factor in this was my consumption of teenage magazines, including the dreadful US magazine Seventeen. When I saw the Orla Kiely coat, above middle, all my fantasies of being a cutesome college student were re-ignited. I was actually at university for a few years and while I was there barely brushed my (dyed black) hair let alone looked this adorable and fawn-like.

I love the idea of duffle coats but they really don’t look the way they should on me. The correct way to wear a duffle coat is to simply be Alexa Chung, and look fresh-faced and glowing, as if returning from a walk in a field. Quintessentially British in other words.

I do own a lovely powder-blue duffle coat that I look forward to wearing but it’s so snug there needs to be snow being blown at you by gale force winds before it really makes sense to wear it. I know I’m a nerd, but I’m also really looking forward to dry-cleaning it. It’s lovely to have a stack of freshly dry-cleaned coats and dresses all ready to wear. I’m also really looking forward to doing some wardrobe maintenance. No point having lovely things if they’re all in a pile on the floor!!!

I’m turning into my dad.

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Make-up Monday – Winged-Eye-Liner

I love winged eye liner – I saw this image of Sophia Bush (who yet again gets it right) and wanted to go straight home,dig out my favourite tea dress and emanate 1930s allure. Winged-eye-liner can take a while to perfect but it is well-worth the bother. Both glamorous when matched with an evening dress and grungy with day-time denim, it is this adaptability that makes it so great.

 

And here’s a few examples of that adaptability:

Effortless daytime look

Evening chic

Runway rules

Here a few tips to get you on your way to winged perfection:

1.       Practice, practice practice! Every eye shape is different so follow your natural shape from the inner corner starting with a thin line and then get thicker as you reach the outer corner.

2.       Tools – start with a really sharp pencil for definition, you can then go over the top with a gel or liquid liner using an angled brush.

3.       It sounds weird but beware of your socket crease! Depending on your eye-shape and the oiliness of your lid, you could start with a beautifully defined line and then twenty minutes later have nothing more than a smudge. Try Urban Decay’s Primer Potion or Laura Mercier’s Eye Basics to help prepare the lid for that longer lasting finish

4.       Keep it simple – keep the rest of the make-up fairly nude with a neutral lip colour, maybe match it with your favourite gloss, balm or lip tint. If you’re feeling red carpet glamour then try Sophia Loren’s red lipped look from the 1930s. (**EDIT** This look is from the 60s not the 30s! Sorry fact-lovers.)

Red lips & winged eyeliner = Glamourpuss

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Festival Chic

Glastonbury = all the fashion features talking about how best to ‘do’ festival chic. Now, I’m convinced this chic is pretty much unattainable for us mere mortals. Surely those celebs have showers in their sections? No showers and normal tents and 3 days in the rain do not for a chic gal make. I reckon Alexa Cheung had showers, surely:

I speak from experience – this is what happened to me at Glastonbury 2007:

Me modelling Bad Style Times at Glastonbury

My excuse for this was partly the mud and partly because I didn’t want anything nice to be muddied so took all my terrible clothes with me. This tactic has backfired. Firstly, dry shampoo is my friend. Secondly, leggings, leggings and more leggings.

Glastonbury Mud - my excuse

Note to self – must try harder.

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