Blogs of interest: Klswan

So my very stylish and lovely flatmate Katie has just started her own blog, reviewing films. We're very 21st century and social media aware here!

It's a great blog and has round ups of films being released soon and reviews. Have a look!

And since I write a fashion blog, here she is, surprised this morning on her way to work! Katie would win the Olympic gold medal for stylish layering. And here's a great example.

Brogues and braces

I was feeling inspired by Kleidsam yesterday when I got dressed and so I whipped out my brogues and men's trousers and wore one of my favourite looks 'girls in classic men's clothing.' You can just about see the braces too, which I'd not worn before. I love them! So pleased I finally wore them.

At my mother's house, with a suitable back drop for brogues and braces.

Blogs of interest: Kleidsam

I came across this blog via, erm, I'm not sure... either What You Wore (the reader's part of What Katie Wore) or another German blog. I've been reading a few as practice to improve my German. I figure German fashion blogs are legitimate practice!

His blog Kleidsam is in English though and features Dennis, an extremely dapper guy from Hessen. I love what he wears: classic gentleman, brought up to date. It reminds me of a more conservative What's James Wearing? That's another favourite man's style blog!
Love the flash of orange and double jackets. So well brought together.
Brown check on brown check with blue check? Click for a bigger image to see it better. It's serious pattern matching. Masterful!

It's all in the details - like the cuff turned up on these jeans.
And the purple and brown. A favourite of combination of mine!

Blogs of interest: TokyoFashion.com

TokyoFashion.com

It's only in part a blog, but you can subscribe to the key section, which is the brilliant collection of street fashion photos of what people are wearing in Tokyo. I think street fashion photos are my favourite kind of blog. Is it the nosiness? Who knows?! But it's great!

Here are some favourites...
I just love what this guy is wearing! On the website, there's a close up which shows that the trim on his jumper is gold tassels. Brilliant! Or what about these girls? I can't even begin to describe their look. Maybe a sort of 90s sportswear crossed with 80s colour and 'ghetto' chic?! Maybe. And wait until you see the nails... Ok, so I sound like your mum, but how on earth do you do anything with those nails? I can guarantee you that she doesn't use a computer for a living.

I love the Edwardian school girl vibe going on here. One thing's for certain, there's no mistaking historical or childhood references in Japanese fashion. And this has a really sweet vintage vibe, which could be seen anywhere, but is perhaps cutsier than elsewhere? Interestingly, it's all modern. And finally this look. Check out her nails on the website. Beautiful. Very Indian looking.

Saturday night and I feel the air is getting hot...

A little post about what I wore on Saturday night for the RAAAAVE I attended. Seriously, if you'd told my geeky 16 year old self that I would ever end up going to a rave I would have laughed in your face. But there you go, even the most studious of us can end up raving.

My fashion memories of raves are limited but specific. Mainly the few girls at school who thought it was cool to turn up in their raver gear straight from a night out and wear it for the school day. The looked like this:
Except considerably rougher by lunchtime the following day and even more stupid, given that the sixth form dress code was 'work experience.' Nothing like fluro furry boots to make you stick out in a room full of Next suits.

I am not fully into the 'scene' - you know what I mean! - and despite habouring a childish love of tutus, I drew the line at wearing one. Here's what I wore for pre-Rave drinking.

Looking grumpy in the full length shot... don't know why! I shouldn't be, as it's a little outfit tribute to Alexander McQueen. The shoes are the only thing I own that's McQueen. I bought them years ago, in a sale for £35. Yup, £35. I love them. I just wish they weren't pale pink suede so I could wear them more. But hey, they'll be perfect for this summer's pastel trend!

The top and leggings are from Topshop, the jacket H&M, the shoes Alexander McQueen (I think it might be a competition with myself to see how many times I can say I own Alexander McQueen shoes in one post), jewellery - vintage jade necklace that belonged to my Great Aunt Peg, Accessorise charm necklace with a stone added that my mum brought back from Australia when she was 15 and my favourite SE1 leather bracelet from East Berlin.

More photos on Picassa here.

Given my fear of the Alexander McQueen's getting damaged and the fact they're 6 inches high, I changed before we actually headed out.


Don't you love the eyelashes? I had such fun with them! I changed into M&S hot pink tights, H&M shorts and white trainers. Oh, and stacks of fluro jewellery including shag bands. Do you remember them?!

A big thanks to my lovely friend Chris for taking the photos of the outfit before we left, they're the best quality I've had yet! And to Emma, for allowing me to use her photos of me out. I must remember my own camera...

If I wasn't selling it, I might have worn this out too. Check out the shop for similar things!

Zoolander film (and a small-ish rant...)

I love Zoolander. I think it's healthy to appreciate it, it shows you're aware of fashion's occasional (ha ha) vapidity... A new Zoolander film is in the pipeline and is currently being researched at Paris Fashion week. The director is Justin Theroux, who is attending Paris Fashion Week to "immerse himself on what is current in fashion."

What do you think Zoolander might include? And do you think they can top Magnum?
I mean, I know it will be difficult to top the staggering and unique beauty of Magnum, but they can at least try.

Perhaps the new Zoolander will deal with the curvy debate which is still causing waves? Or what about the tiny proportion of models who aren't white? Only 16% percent of models who walked in New York Fashion week weren't white. 16%! At least it's better than 2007 when apparently almost no models were white.

And while we're on the issue, why hasn't Vogue Italia's launch of Vogue Curvy and Vogue Black caused more of a stir?

I'm trying to work out why they thought this was a good idea. I mean, is there anyone else who's either curvy (i.e. not a size 4) or not-white slightly offended at the singling out going by Vogue Italia? Why on earth are there separate websites for (please read this with very much sarcastic quotation marks) 'fat' people and anyone who's not white but still interested in fashion? It's as if they're putting a giant label on you that says 'you're not quite right for the main stream but we recognise you have money to spend so we'll court you anyway.' It's insulting.

It feels as if anyone who isn't size 4 and white has to be singled out and given special treatment. Why aren't people more up in arms about this? Seriously, their quotation about Crystal Renn is 'When charm is at the top, size doesn't matter.' Are they really trotting out that old chestnut that personality makes up for a big bum? Because that's what it sounds like they are saying to me. 'She's an interesting person, so we'll forgive the fact that she's not super skinny.' Come off it!

Crystal Renn looking HOT HOT HOT for V magazine in an issue not dedicated to size - yup, she's in an ordinary, 'we're-not-making-a-big-deal-out-of-the-size-thing' photo shoot. Shock horror.

And as far as I can tell, the blogs on the matter seem to be happy about it. Why?! Why aren't they integrating curvier and non-white models into their mainstream website? Now that would be revolutionary.



ps - comments would be appreciated, I feel I could write much more about this!

pps - the free shipping offer runs out on Sunday so get in there and buy!

A little bit of what I'm wearing...

For some reason I was immensely pleased with yesterday's outfit. I think mainly because it was a day I wasn't doing anything and could have got away with zero effort - i.e. an old t-shirt and jeans. Somehow the whole thing just came together really easily. It was very comfortable but felt rather effortless and chic - or would have done if the shirt was ironed. I really need to buy an ironing board.

A Reiss jacket on sale about 6 years ago, H&M blue grandad collar shirt (btw, who else is massively excited that H&M will be selling online soon?!), Accessorize flower necklace on sale, Zara jeans, my current Converse trainers and some Cath Kidson red fingerless gloves (they don't stock them anymore, but I found these ones on Etsy which I love.)

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that's none of it is vintage... that's right, I love and sell vintage clothing but don't wear it all the time. Shock horror! Well, I don't wear vintage all the time, and I'm not ashmamed of it! It's something I intergrate into my wardrobe but it's not a way of life or dressing. More on this subject anon, for there is plenty to say.

The gloves were a final touch, I liked the extra shot of colour they added. I wore them all day - they're brilliant, on a string, like children's gloves. Very useful for sitting at a cold computer when your blogging!

Thanks to my lovely flatmate for taking the photos.

Oh, and don't forget to check out the shop, the free shipping promotion only lasts until the end of February! That's Sunday!

Bafta loveliness!

I thought the Bafta outfits were generally superb. There were some really great dresses but here are the people who stood out for me...

Again, I really liked Edith Bowman's dress. She often gets a lot of stick for the way she dresses, but I really like her style. I think she looked gorgeous last night, something a bit different and very modern. Not everyone is keen on her hair but I like it up and pulled back from the dress.


Pictures from Zimbio.

Best actress winner Carey Mulligan also looked amazing. The dress was perfect for her. Quirky and interesting without being weird or too out there. Such a hard line to walk but she does it so well. Vionnet is a really interesting brand. Originally run by Madame Vionnet from 1912 it's been refounded more recently. She was known as the Queen of Bias and vintage dresses of her's sell for thousands of pounds.

Picture from Cosmopolitan.

Finally, a word for Romola Garai, who looked fabulous in Erdem. I loved their last collection and have been pleased to see a fair amount of it on the red carpet. I do wish she'd worn a different colour of shoes though. Maybe a blue to pick up the dress. Otherwise, lovely!

Picture from Cosmopolitan.

And of course, for the best round up as ever, Red Carpet Fashion Awards has all the info. And doesn't the lady behind it look stunning herself?

Blogs of interest: Matisse Forman

I thought I might start a weekly feature on interesting vintage fashion blogs I come across. For the first one, it's an Australian blog called matisseforman.blogspot.com.

Matisse Forman is a model and stylist based in Brisbane who together with a creative team express their 'passion of creating beautiful images that are visually delicious through fashion, art and photography.' And they certainly are lovely images! Mainly using vintage clothing, they create images with a slightly dreamy, nostalgic flavour that are saturated with colour, keeping them modern and fresh. One to watch in my book!

A few favourite images...

How beautiful is this image! I love the hair and flowers. It reminds me of Roberto Cavalli Spring/Summer 2008 'candyfloss hair.'

The smoke in this picture is just so atmospheric. I'm not encouraging you to smoke now mind you!

What the Gaga?

I'm coining a new phrase: 'what the GaGa?'

It's to describe an outfit so bafflingly brilliant that either Lady GaGa wore it or someone else is taking their inspiration from her. Rightly so.

It was inspired by a comment on Red Carpet Fashion Awards, which I thought said 'What the GaGa?' but after searching every blog I read for the post, actually just said 'What the...'. So I claim full creative ownership!

Now get out there and start using it! Here are some of the best Lady GaGa outfits to get you inspired...

I would love to know what the Queen thought of this!



Only closer inspection, I'm not entirely sure this isn't actually Lady GaGa's hair that's been made into a hat... does anyone know?


How awesome is this china doll look? I love the touches that bring out the story.

Susie Bubble wears the Etsy seller I posted about!

Hello lovely readers! And now I know I have some, thanks to google analytics - hello people from Finland, Norway, the US and India - gosh, you're a lovely international bunch! Thanks so much for reading this :) Say hello in the comments, I promise I won't bite!

Just a little post today to say that Susie Bubble, author of style bubble, one of the UKs most famous fashion blogs, has done a post where she's wearing the necklaces of an Etsy seller called Giia that I posted about too. I didn't buy any as I have no money, but see, they are great pieces! Other people agree!

Apparently Giia is an Etsy favourite, so maybe that's why I came across it. I can't remember where I did now. Anyway, here's a picture of Susie Bubble looking lovely wearing several of the pieces...


(The photo is obviously from style bubble...)

New stock

Ooh, I'm excited about the new stock we have in! And, not only that, we have better photos of the old stock. Can't ask for more than that.

Red harem trousers

Spotty red shirt

Remember I made the What Katie Wore t-shirt? Here it is again! Multi-coloured blazer

Awesome 80s blazer

Green 80s jacket

Acorn jumper

Denim shirt

Mustard shirt (on a side note, I don't know how many of you will remember the last time wide leg trousers were cool, but these grey ones are from them.)

I'm not exactly fond of this photo of myself, however, I do love the trousers.

Mustard coat

Yup, those are Alexander McQueen heels. They're NOT for sale. The almost equally awesome cardigan is.

Getting inspired by the latest Prada and Celine campaigns with headless models. A lovely 40s silk shirt.

A lovely 70s/early 80s shirt.