Category: fashion comment
A Modern Old Soul..
Atlantique Ascoli started with a quest to find the perfect blouse and using an innate confidence in simplicity and with a lightness of touch came up with a genius collection of seven pure white shirts..one for each day of the week. Each had a different hint of vintage and all had the suggestion of a well-run laundry and the smell of hot iron against soft, worn cotton. Now she’s expanding her palette..
The lines still remain classic, pragmatic and lovely..
Non-fussy yet feminine.
Discreetly charming with crisp lines and delicate gathers but there’s more choice in colour and style.
(All pictures from Net-a-porter.com)
It’s the stuff dream wardrobes are made of..the sort of clothes I wish I could cut out and keep. Instead, I can just gulp at the prices, admire the aesthetic and take the inspiration to look at my own wardrobe with new eyes – to see if I actually have 7 days worth of outfits..and for the UK that means 7 for sun..and 7 for rain…and maybe find out where the holes are…
Laters, Kate x
Birkies.. x
The rise of the Birkie shows no sign of abating, indeed it’s all praise for the fashion trend that works with any outfit, any where and even keeps the chiropractor smiling.
Except I have one unexpected niggle..the most comfortable shoe ever they might..but eewch! Give them a while and they can put up a pong that gives a goat cheese factory on a hot day a run for it’s money (I don’t think this happens to everyone, but google ‘smelly birks’ and there are enough results to prove I’m not an isolated incident)..mine reeked so badly they spent the winter months tied up in a plastic bag in the bottom drawer of our freezer in an attempt to kill off the evil, perpetrating bacteria. Sadly it worked for all of 5 mins..the time it took for them to de-frost. Loathed to throw them away, I’ve finally come up with a solution that thankfully seems to work..a regular wiping down with bleach..it makes the leather for a bit hard..but rather that than inflicting chemical warfare on the local neighbourhood and resident small furry animal population..
The company aren’t resting on their classic laurels either but are continually bringing out different colours and updating styles with subtle, clever changes – one of the best being the addition of coloured soles. Red?
Or Pink?
They are the no-brainer-must-have shoe of the summer…it’s just deciding how many pairs which ones to buy..decisions, decisions..
Laters, Kate x
Patullo-Jo Copeland x
This wasn’t the post for today..but there’s a gremlin in my computer that won’t allow me to upload new photos – one of the burdens of working by yourself is there’s no IT department to demand help from. The internet is also proving cranky..there’s a storm brewing outside and I’ve noticed when the air gets thick, so does the wi-fi. And it was a Bank holiday in the UK yesterday so everything’s a bit upside down..Charlie’s school bag never made it into school and I’m convinced today is Monday…which I’ll probably be grateful for when Friday comes..
These are photos of the work of designer Jo Copeland, working under the label of Pattullo-Jo Copeland. She worked in New York from the 1916 all the way through the major fashion decades till she closed her label in 1970 and for me, is one of fashions forgotten heroines.
She had an impeccable eye for detail and effortlessly understood the female form, knowing exactly what to exaggerate..and what to skim. These shoulders are a sculptural delight..
and make that waist look tiny.
She proves that good design stands the test of time even when the fickle finger of fame passes on..
Laters, Kate x
Savage Beauty x
How to write about Savage Beauty? Can McQueen be captured in an Exhibition..or in the limited bubble of a post? The answer is no, but one has to try. So I’m writing this with the sound track to Schindler’s list playing in the background – it’s an earworm from the exhibition I’ll carry in my heart for a long time…and has made me, for the first time in over ten years, order a piece of violin music just so I can play it myself, softly at night with the back door open..
Cleverly, rather than chronological, the exhibition is grouped in thematic moods: Romantic gothic, Plato’s Atlantic, Highland..each room with it’s own presence: feathery oily gloss, crow black, cloudy foxed mirrors, decadent gilt, hospital white, all dripping quietly with the dark.
Wandering, discovering, uncovering the rooms is like being lead through the Minotaur’s labyrinth in a time chopped and spun dream.
(All photos from Google..no cameras are allowed inside the exhibition)
The Cabinet of Curiosities at the centre is the living brain with flashing synapses and pulsing electricity: Barnacle breasted leather, swooping scooping skirts, spit and saw dust, rich blood reds, spruced and scarred, gossamer held on wings, flammable laughs, chicken feathers in a slaughter house, murmurs, whispers, the glint of gold, leather and bones that wink, the haunting and the haunted. We accept these creations for the sculptures they are, the devolution, destruction, superb craftsmanship and extraordinary vision often without thought for the true effort they took….the room that followed broke my heart.
Go without expectations and you will find Lee, the insecure anti-hero leading the pack, looking inside and always expecting the worst, his discomfort then projected outwards into pure magical McQueen creative gold.
Walking out was a strange journey back into reality.
Laters, Kate x
Food for Thought..
Banana Republic Fall 2015 is the faultless streetstyle collection of NYFW.
It’s the Collection for the realities of life: Meeting friends, the school run, a trip to the shops..a quick snap from the paps…it’s normcorm coolness personified..
And maybe that’s where I have my itch, my first wobble of a potential problem, hard to hold back and impossible to shake off..
I love the stripe. But think too deeply and this collection becomes an unsettling vision..like a serpent eating it’s own tail. We have fashion..we have street style..now we have fashion that is street style and because it’s so perfectly of the moment, there’s no sense of pushing boundaries or striving for the next artistic step.
It’s not that I don’t like it..I really, really do..and look – metallics and tassels again..
(All photos Style.com)
It’s faultless, flawless, impeccable – and feels like it’s been squeezed and prodded into life by a profit driven corporate machine…to produce the opposite of anarchy.
The truth is fashion has to sell, but it fundamentally has to walk hand in hand with creativity: We need a heart..but we need a soul too.
Laters, Kate x
Coach Journey..
NYFW is in full force with a royal gallimaufry (look it up) of offerings, each screaming for attention. But sometimes it’s the unexpected that catches the roving eye. This is Coach..a brand I normally associate with tan and handbags..
But these are tough, potent clothes designed for attitude with a modern, fit-for-combat edge, ready to fight the worst of the winter weather with chutzpah and style whilst keeping enemies at bay.
And there’s a duffel..accessorised with a bandana. What’s not to love?
These shoes nail the bitch sentiment…hard nosed, no-nonsense but with just a subtle sprinkling of fairy dust with their glowing gold and cheeky tassel. Never thought you’d like a kitten heel? Look again..
(All photos from Style.com)
This is functional dressing with eclectic additions, it’s hard and seductive, frank and forthright with an awareness of what’s happening…but a determination to strut their own path.
I’ll have some of that..
Laters, Kate x
Fashion Story x
In the focaccia bunfight of fashion, how is true style evaluated and who wins the cherry on the top?
We know sometimes less is more..
That it’s thinking out of the box..that magic moment when perfectionists take risks..
Finding that rare sweet spot moment when it takes brains and a perverse delight to play a swaggering fool. When you aren’t.
Elegance and body language is in the mix..
And it’s not about money..
Style isn’t beauty, it’s perfectly picked proportions.
That fine, hazy line between victim and genius, because there’s no beauty without strangeness.
(All pictures from Style.com)
Fashion is conforming to current styles and trends.
Style is throwing them out of the window.
Laters, Kate x
Finery London x
There’s a new label on the cyber-street..Finery London, led by Caren Downe who’s high street pedigree and gene pool includes buying director at Top Shop and ASOS.
She left ASOS disillusioned with the emphasis on commerciality rather than creativity…and has returned to fill what she sees as the glaring gap in the market: Women that know their style and want something more considered in the £40 – £250 price bracket, that magical hybrid of excellent design and affordable prices – and she’s certainly talking my language…
It’s a range cleverly jigsawed together – there’s a sense of calm and knowing, rare in the heart of the retail storm, with warm, welcoming air that gently blows you across the threshold..
The shoes are incredible..
With a rich current of ideas running under simple shapes, that cunning mixture of cool statements and strong balls.
Forensically clear with a sense of attentive stillness, but still authentic and heartfelt..I’ll be following this story with interest..
Laters, Kate x
Treading Lightly..
Yesterday I went to see the lovely Claire from Air and Grace at her new pop-up store on the Kings Road to catch up on all her latest news and styles. Claire started her label after spotting a gap in the market – she wanted shoes made for women, designed by a woman who understood what we really want – the true concept of beauty: style and comfort. It’s that word comfort that gnaws at something primal..
Her shoes are gloriously re-thought and inventively told, the tone is juicy streetstyle: classics with more than a twist..These are the Coachella’s with their glorious tan souls and beautiful stacked heels..the perfect ankle boot that’s been a hole in my wardrobe for forever…dress up, dress down..they cover all the bases..
And they have to be the most comfortable boot I’ve ever tried on. It’s rare you can walk a shoe out of a shop and spend all day urbanly running in them..but that is the beauty of these babies..
It’s all to do with the quality of the leather, the clever design..and what goes on inside each shoe..the focus of quality engineering that give feet what they really need.
Her range is impressive..but there’s more to come – The long stretch boots of my dreams? She’s doing them! the Coachella in ox-bood? Yes! The Coachella in leopard? Yes, yes, YES! Claire has a waiting list already..and I’m not surprised.
Seductive talking, well-heeled shoes for walking..dancing..and living. Isn’t the identified love the most powerful of all?
If you get the chance, all I can say is pop down to Kth & Kin boutique at 330 Kings Road and see for yourself..
Laters, Kate x
B is for Breton..
If all the cover stories are to be believed, stripes are going to be the big thing this summer. It’s quite refreshing after the years they’ve spent in the fashion wilderness, rejected for allegedly making all who wear them immediately 2 stone heavier. But now loose clothing and comfort are the holy grails of choice, stripes have been welcomed back to the fold with open arms. Hurrah! But top of my list for and ripe purchase is not for me – but for The Husband – I love the thought of a man in a Breton top, with faded jean, a loose navy cotton jacket and a pair of dark shades..
Not that it’s a new idea..Picasso’s top of choice..
A rather young Mick Jagger..
James Dean – added for beauty – could’ve done without the collar..
Goes to show – sometimes the old ideas are the best…
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 