5 reasons to love Jamie Bochert…she’s a 30 something model who stalks all the major catwalks with ears that stick out just a little bit, proving that beauty is beauty not perfection.
She fronts a band called Frances Wolf (and even managed to land a gig playing back-up for Patti Smith..in Paris).
She doesn’t believe the hype.
She prepares for fashion week…by eating.
(All photos from Google)
She loves to dance. Wild style.
Laters, Kate 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
If at heart you’re an emotional scientist when it comes to clothes, you’ll find it harder than the coating of Apollo 13 to resist the temptation of a vintage car boot..
The South Bank Vintage Classic Car Boot took place this weekend in London and was the bright, sunlit intermission on a rather cold, grey, damp couple of days. It’s a wicked combination of vintage cars..and everything else besides..go for a wander..go for a rummage..you never know what delights you’ll find..
One of which was Julie from Vintageattitude with her own stall! She always has such inventive, creative offerings..dog coats on the table (check out that tablecloth!), pom pom lampshades..and my personal favourite..hanging at the back..summer jackets made from vintage tableclothes..genius.
(A close up of her rather fabulous skirt. So true…I love her style.)
I want this fridge..
This is the poshest buggy I have ever seen..it converts into a tricycle when the baby converts to a toddler..and then hopefully a little hatchback..and then maybe a small maisonette??
This guys coat was made from a GI bag..Buster’s pretty cool too..
Such joy…I often feel that modern offerings are just the plastic parody of the past – it’s so much better to liberate the originals and I came away with bulging bags..but more on that in another post..
Laters, Kate x
Valentino is Maria Callas singing Casta Dive from Norma, at sunset on the cliff tops of Cinque Terre. It’s where the magic happens…(and it rips my heart out that Jean Paul Gaultier got their first…)
How unrepentantly this dazzles and drips with impeccably luxury..it’s exclusive enough to buy a true designer handbag..how very, very to buy a matching skirt as well..and what a stroke of genius to create the art of illusion between them, the designs responding to context with no limits to the possibilities.
Those little touches, like the initials of the models, quietly embossed on..
(All photos Valentino)
It’s that moment when the clouds part and a golden ray of sunlight streams down.
Laters, Kate x
To be humorous and chic takes real talent. Something designer Vivetta Ponti, through her label, Vivetta has in spades..handfuls of them…a detail I particularly like. 
In fact ironic, clever embroideries are the leitmotivs of the brand..
Is it a ruffle?
Or something else..
That skirt..pink on black?..or black on pink?
A peeping face and a clasped waist..
It’s fun, joyful..and it’s beautifully made, firmly deserving a place on the list of lust.
Laters, Kate x
I had a funny with Charlie last week. Nothing to do with wearing my glasses..or having a chocolate face..It was actually at his school..they were having an indepth class discussion about World War 1 and Charlie proudly announced that we have two of the ceramic poppies from the Tower of London, Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red exhibition at home. His teacher wanted to know if he could bring them in to show the class so the very next day, he eagerly went in with them for his very own, personal show-and-tell. He stood up in front of the class and spoke eloquently about the poppies being the first flower to grow on the battle fields of Flanders, he explained how each poppy represented the death of a soldier..then he was asked ‘And where do these poppies come from Charlie?’ He thoughtfully considered the question..and replied: ‘Tesco’s!’
…Naturally I’m gutted he didn’t say Waitrose..
Laters, Kate x
It’s taken a while to track down the designer of this coat..
Not surprising: It’s from an SS15 menswear collection…and is a rather nice – rare? example of an element of power women have in fashion…we have the most choice clothes-wise, nothing is forbidden or taboo..and then, when a talented, new menswear designer does turn up…we snuffle him up as well..
Wise women that we are…
This is all the work of 27 year old Central Saint Martins graduate Craig Green who debuted his first solo runway show in London..where the unthinkable happened..tears and cheers from the notoriously fickle fashion pack..and women running after him waving their gold-plated credit cards..
It’s easy to see the appeal..his work conjures up such contradictions as mesonic and pagan, protective yet vulnerable..layers versus movement..
But I just like it when functional clothes are plundered – fencing uniforms, riding clothes, army uniforms..let’s face it, any uniform..and the fact that it’s padded. I also revel in the joy that women know exactly what they like, and have no qualms stealing it as their own..
I just wish I had one…
Laters, Kate x
Chloe fall 2015 delves into the deep satisfaction of beautiful tailoring and boho chic. This coat: I lust. The soft retro cut, the wide lapels, the longer arms, the burnished brass buttons, the subtle height on the shoulders..the length (a pain to walk in, but oh-so elegant to see). Simple, exclusive, fashion gold.
It’s 70’s but it’s cultured 70’s – the tiny covered buttons, the thin neck scar..it’s elegant campari drinking on a balcony in Italy rather than bronzed beach babe with a bottle of beer.
There were dresses for the barefoot comtessas.
But my heart was beating for the tailoring: I could’ve easily eaten more and felt disappointed every time the music stopped.
But when you see Chloe and Burberry plundering the same creative vein, you know there’s something in the air: patchwork and ponchos are obviously the mind-candy of the moment.
The boho vibe is strong between them: But I still think it’s the cuts and tailoring where the true riches lie.
Laters, Kate x
Dries Van Noten Fall 2015 is that rare mix of beauty, intellect and empathy.
It’s what happens when fashion, art and history collide. The layering is exceptional – clever pieces, beautiful materials and brilliant lengths that reference the past – from the brocades of the tudors to the frills of the dandies. Combined with innovative textures and a lifeblood of ideas, the collection springs to life.
Long oxblood gloves with short sleeves..
Jumper dresses re-invented with brocade..
gold and decadence..
(I must get a quilted jacket)
High mixed with low..chinos with velvet and…more quilting..
Clothes made with a warmth associated with polar bears and snowy days..
(All photos Style.com)
It’s winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Laters, Kate x
I saw this first on a friend’s Facebook page (thanks Sarah Dezille) and found it incredible on so many different levels. These are the Tree Change Dolls – face-overs given to unwanted Bratz dolls by the artist Sonia Singh from Australia. Using simple nail polish remover and eucalyptus oil, she removes the original paint..and re-paints new faces. The dolls are then re-dressed in outfits handmade by her mother, transformed from something ready to be thrown away..to a true Cinderella moment…it boggles the mind to think they once even shared the same gene-pool..
Sonia was just doing this for fun..then she uploaded a few pictures on her dolls to Tumblr..and the effect went viral..
It’s not surprising..she’s created something so simple, so innocent..and for me, captured something utterly nostalgic and precious. Inadvertently her dolls have opened up the debate on the sexualisation of children and the increasing speed with which they now grow up. For me it’s less about that – I wouldn’t tell Bella not to play with a Bratz doll. But I love how something so simple can radiate an even stronger power: After years of drink, drugs and bad hair extensions, these Bratz have a new lease of life away from their whirling, high-energy, high-pressure existence and are now embracing and thriving in the type of life I’d like for my kids..
And there’s nothing to stop anyone else from having a go – there’s various Youtube films made by Sonia showing how to do it yourself which I thoroughly recommend..but I rather like her first film, explaining how it all started:
I think they’re wonderful, and hope, over the Easter holidays to create some UK versions with Bella (although I ‘d be perfectly happy just to find a quiet corner and do it by myself…)
Part of the appeal is that the eyes and expressions remind me so much of Sasha dolls from the 60s and 70s. A doll I never had but coveted – my best bud Ella had two! Not only did they have such enigmatic faces, but their wardrobes were to-die-for too..
(I’m sure it was my first experience of the power of clothes..)
It always amazes me how life works in cycles…Tree Change is the old-fashioned calm at the heart of the modern life storm…and I love it!
Laters, Kate x
Maison Bentley Style 