Category: Fashion
Anything Goes..
There’s no getting away from it – part of the breathless anticipation of any Fashion Week are the Street Style photos of the good, the bad and the fabulous pretending they’re unaware they’re the players in their own performance.
An unfortunate accident? Or the latest accessory?
Because ultimately, even with this small number of elite beings, they’ll only be a select few who can really tick the boxes and dress the way you want to feel.
But they still all know to carry themselves with extreme confidence, no matter what they feel like inside..and as perception becomes more important than truth it makes these some of the most interesting, schizophrenic moments to secretly observe.
We’re no longer in the land of princesses. What we wear, even to posh events is becoming more generalised, more ‘every day’. Which is why these flashes of inspiration are so important – they’re within our grasp.
But innovative and desirable is still the holy grail.
(All photos by Tommy Ton from Style.com)
The pictures tell us: To change our spots, all we need to do is change our skins. Essentially, they give us hope.
Laters, Kate x
Gucci SS14 x
This sinks into your bones like fairy dust.
A flavour of the eighties except the more conventional ending flashes past.
A silky intensity exuding pure class, you get a sense of high..and those shoes certainly help…
It’s like catching fire..
Laters, Kate x
Isa Arfen x
A mixture of new and found, Isa Arfen is the London-based label started in 2011 by Serafina Sama.
Serafina graduated from Central Saint Martins School of Art & Design in 2006 and has since built up an impressive portfolio of experience: Marni, Lanvin, Marc Jacobs, Chloe, Louis Vuitton, Acne and Charlotte Olympia. It shows.
The label captures and enhances the subtle shift in the fashion mood – Soft but with feminine confidence..A walking statement of drama without causing offence.
Serafina says: ‘To me, fashion is about desire, beauty and fun. It’s not about dressing up in a costume. Isa Arfen is about a real woman dressing for her real life and really enjoying it.’
Edible..
Charismatic, eclectic, elegant and exuberant…it lights me up like a Lee Broom light.
Laters, Kate x
Dr James Barry x
Last week I was very fortunate to visit The Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret just by London Bridge with the wonderful Julie from Vintage Attitude. Hidden away, up a steep spiral staircase and nestled in the dark timbers of the attic of an old church the museum is caught in a sleepy, rather delicious time warp.
It was part of St Thomas’s hospital – a hospital that was described as ancient way back in 1215…
On one side is the herb garret and apothecary. And on the other – the oldest surviving operating theatre in Europe.
What stories these walls could tell.
But what really caught my eye was this picture of James (Miranda) Barry, an amazing woman who overcame the general prohibition on women studying Medicine by disguising herself as a man to become the first female British surgeon. Barry qualified in Medicine in 1812 and went onto train as a surgeon at St. Thomas’s. In January 1813, she qualified as a Regimental Surgeon at the Royal College of Surgeons and over the next fifty years she rose through the ranks to become Inspector General of the Hospitals in the British Army. No mean feat – and she must’ve been good because in Cape Town in 1826 this vegetarian, teetotalling surgeon performed the first documented successful Caesarean Section where both mother and baby survived. Barry even met Florence Nightingale during the Crimean War, who noted in her memoirs:
‘He kept me standing in the midst of quite a crowd of soldiers, Commissariat, servants, camp followers etc every one of who behaved like a gentlemen during the scolding I received while (she) behaved like a brute…After he was dead, I was told that (she) was a woman..I should say that (she) was the most hardened creature I ever met.’
Barry spent most of her laters years with her constant companion and manservant John (in the picture with her above) and it was only on her deathbed that she was finally discovered to be a woman. Barry was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London in 1865.
What a truly remarkable human being with an incredible story of which this must only be the very tip of the iceberg..an unsung heroine who surely should at the very least share the same historical podium as Florence Nightingale?…I am desperate to know more and now feel compelled to visit Kensal Green Cemetery to find her grave…I can’t help but wonder which name is on her headstone?…and what it might say?
Laters, Kate x
Natasha Law x
Natasha Law is the down to earth, incredibly talented older sister of Actor Jude Law. With her natural, caught in the moment works she manages to find the simplest of lines to create pictures that are both intimate and vibrant.
What would I give to have one on my walls??
A lot!!..also quite fancy that green leather skirt…
Laters, Kate x
Salvage Yard x
A few months ago Caitlyn Moran, writer for the Sunday Times, wrote an article on the deficits of money. She decided that once she had money she always chose the easy option..got an Event, need a dress? Buy it. But without it she was forced to be creative – rumble through wardrobe, find something, get sewing machine out. Go to Event as the new Lady Godiva. Her conclusion was that her brain was far better and more inventive in her desperate youth than it is today…and that the ability to adapt and alter is something we need to treasure and nurture.
New bedside tables perhaps?
A rather dramatic floor lamp?
A unique piece of Art…
Just because..
Fur coat, no knickers in the downstairs toilet?
Stunning.
A kitchen..or a new industrial office?
A new headboard?
Life is really what you want to see.
Laters, Kate x
Earrings x
Do you remember these earrings from a post way back? They were as cheap as chips and came from the website Siren London – but they’ve been one of my best purchases ever, hence the follow up.
It was hard to tell from the original picture how everything fitted together for wearing – I’d wrongly assumed the words were the butterfly – but no, the earrings come in three parts – the stud, the word with holes to slide onto the stud and then the butterfly. It was also a concern that the low price (£3.50) meant that the quality of the metal would cause problems..but I think that’s where these earrings have proved such a success..
The way they’re designed means you can use your own good quality stud earrings, then customised with the slide-on words….pure genius! I went back and bought some additional designs as well for mixing and matching (the flowers and the claws are new) though the words remain my firm favourites.
(The new earring box is a pill box from Muji..perfect for storing all the little bits together)
I couldn’t resist this extra pair of earrings even though you can tell how badly they’ve been made by the fact that the pearl is on the same side for each earring. Short trouser mistake. At least I only wear one earring at a time and wear something else in the other ear, like the ‘love’ design..and so far no bad ear lobe reaction..though I fear it’s only a matter of time..
But they were made to be joined with these..
So now all I need is a rather fabulous proper gold jewellery designer to run with this idea and start making proper witty versions so I can wear them forever and ever and ever..
Laters, Kate x
Another Walker..
Koppola – Maasai beader.
This season Karen Walker, Goddess of eyewear, is using her product advertising platform to highlight her work with the United Nations’ International Trade Centres Ethical Fashion Initiative whose task it is to promote sustainable business over aid dependency.
Velma – Assistant.
Each pair of her new sunglasses will come with a screen-printed pouch made by Kenyan Artisans, with a further option of buying more embellished, more expensive pouches as well.
Winnifred – Supervisor.
In a clever, human move that perfectly illustrates the interwoven connections within the project and Karen Walker’s thinking, the workers and makers have also become the models and the faces of the glasses.
Beatrice – Craftsperson.
She says: ‘The Campaign captures our innate optimism, our love of maximum-impact in the images themselves and also directs attention to Kenya in a positive way. The images help to bring visibility to how fashion can be a vital vehicle out of poverty.’
Rason – Maasai Beader.
Florence – Artist.
Anton – Metal Caster.
All photos by Derek Henderson
The workers are no longer the forgotten force but have personally created the Work of Art this Campaign is by owning the visual story and underlining the simple fact that beauty is around all of us in our every day.
Effective, clever..and stunning.
Laters, Kate x
Walker-lust
Isabella Blow as Joan of Arc by Tim Walker
Yesterday I had the treasure of going with friends to indulge in the Isabella Blow exhibition at Somerset House. If you get the chance, go because it was a pure joy to be immersed in her original, outrageous and extravagant world: Blow found normality in the perfectly absurd and utterly fabulous and, with her instinctive eye for style she had an unstoppable enthusiasm for creative genius – she was happy to break boundaries with those special people prepared to leap out of the mediocrity trap with her. Reflecting afterwards, we talked about the rich source of inspiration that English eccentricity is and I mentioned the photographer Tim Walker, another lover of high drama and magical thinking. My lovely mate Galliana D’ove had never come across his work..so Galliana..inspired by our trip and wanting to luxuriate in the delights of maximalism for a little bit longer, this post is just for you!
Laters, Kate x
Rachel Comey x
Rachel Comey is a Master in the art of adding loose without adding weight.
So maybe it’s not surprising that she originally started out by designing Menswear. She swapped to Womenswear inspired by the number of women sneaking into the Menswear section to buy her clothes. She’s never looked back.
She looks to the past and is inspired by vintage with little sips of rebellion.
It’s not about showily declaring yourself.
But rather great riches in small spaces.
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 