February 19, 2015

General Mayhem..

This is what I normally do on a Thursday..an engrossing, soul-enhancing, spirit-lifting art class in the sanctuary of a wooden hut on the green, leafy, quiet Common..

Today, this is my reality…it’s half term…so I’m at home..with the kids..and we’re working (??)(*&^%^%$£@!..hindering??) on a Top Secret project..which always seems like such a good idea in the abstract…

A happy worker!

I’ve now learnt that black gloss, children and white, blind dogs really don’t mix…pray for me..and my floors..and possibly my sanity..

Laters, Kate x

February 18, 2015

H-two-Oh! x

Caroline Herrera Fall 2015 will never be an out & out rock chic heroine..but Caroline Herrera is still a heroine.

There’s no slip and slide on an outrageous avantgarde walk of the wild. This is soft, respectful and poetic with a sense of attentive stillness and clever touches.

There’s so much to appreciate with her now seemingly old-fashioned stance of taking a theme like water, and milking all the inspiration from it: transforming, transfiguring, transmogrifying. With the materials chosen taking as much precedence as the silhouettes.

Where she needs it, the tone is strong and textural, adding a mean streak with a flash of red and killer-pointed shoes..

Or paired right back: Reflections on water at sunset..

Or snow on a frozen lake: Simplicity and peaceful fragility…(and a rather stunning wedding dress)..

(All photos Style.com)

Cultivated, charming and full of quality – it’s a commanding performance with an impressive range, always offering an underlying sense of knowledge and calm in a world too full of dragonflies..

Laters, Kate x

February 17, 2015

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

February 16, 2015

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

February 13, 2015

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

February 12, 2015

Jewel x

There’s a perverse delight in unearthing a bargain, and one of my best ever were these earrings from Siren London – not that you could buy this exact earring as they were actually my mash-up of two of their pairs…but it’s still possible to emulate.

The ‘kiss’ part was from one pair, and the lips from another – the ‘kiss’ earring was a ridiculously clever design with the word being a separate part of the earring which then hung off the main stalk of the stud and looked cunningly suspended just below the earlobe. The design meant there’s this blue-sky-thinking ability to use ANY stud earring to hang the word from. Sadly ‘kiss’ is no longer available..but ‘love’ is (tempted?) The lips were then the perfect foil to the words, but at £3.94 precisely one had to worry about their quality (having said that – I never got an allergic reaction wearing them) and how long they’d last..but now there’s a rather wonderful solution..

As requested in the original post, there’s now a posh version available..which means treasure, longevity and rapture..

Aamaya by Priyanka also has some other rather cheeky, desirable designs..

So here’s the thought: Indulge and mix them all up..sad face on one side with ‘kiss’…(yep..still got mine..)

Heart eyes on other with ‘love’..

Oh, how I laugh!

Laters, Kate x

February 11, 2015

Acing Accessories x

Sometimes it’s the littlest things that have the greatest impact…this safety pin earring…elevated from punk to pure tongue-in-cheek chic..

A kilt pin on your collar? Sassy and smart..

A casual, crafty cat bag then reflected by cat’s eyes..

There’s something about a Louis Vuitton bag that’s been tastefully graffitied..

Bring an outfit to life with bags of colour..

(All photos Tommy Ton from Style.com)

Or just accessorise with flowers and an appropriate shopping bag..

Laters, Kate x

February 10, 2015

Neuter not Neutral x

Have you heard about Selfridge’s new Agender Project? Starting in March, instead of separate departments for men and women, the shop will stock three floors of unisex clothing for browsing by both. So is neuter the new cultural shift and a serious re-thinking of fashion? Or the prophetic skid marks of car crash about to happen? Or just someone with an unerring nose for hype indulging in the need for a good, loud scream?

Selfridges says ‘We want to take our customers on a journey where they can shop and dress without limits or stereotypes.’ It can be argued there’s always been androgyny..and the men’s fall runway highlighted a further blurring of the gender lines. It was only a couple of weeks ago I was listening to a discussion on Radio 4 about a new brand of neuter pants by Play Out – a sort of boxer for boys and girls – I would’ve blogged about it, but I actually found the designs desperately ugly in a post-eighties germanic way that really shouldn’t see the light of day again. But it’s definitely a subject making waves..

(All photos Tommy Ton from Style.com)

I wonder how they’ll manage the button debate – (to the right? Or to the left? Or maybe a coalition??) – not that it’s ever stopped me nicking The Husbands clothes. But then women into men has always been so much easier – if I look in my wardrobe I’ve shoes, jeans, shirts and jumpers all from the mens departments because I prefer the heavier, straighter cut. Men into women? Why not? I love a bit of flower with my masculinity..

Whether or not this is an anathema to the wonderful diversity of gender expression and just another step towards global greyness and generalisation, it’s going to be interesting..but the truth is, it’s just an eight week project..maybe just enough to get people thinking..

Laters, Kate x

February 9, 2015

China Town x

On Saturday I took the kids plus Bella’s bestie to explore the delights of China Town in London. Charlie, freed from the constraints of school uniform opted for a cunning combination of shorts over jogging trousers..

Accessorised with a pink umbrella..

That was until he spotted this tiger hat..

Not that he didn’t fit in..the place was buzzing..

And tigers were a trend..

It’s not long till Chinese New Year and all the shops were red, vibrant and humming with life and such a variety of whacky and wonderful stuff that blew the kids minds. They spent their pocket money on dresses, silk pajamas, paper dragons, fortune cookies and fans..