John Galliano's new vision...and my lust for his shoes!

Pictures from houseofpomegranates.com and thehautetopic.com. The theme for Galliano's latest show was 'frozen Ukranian virgin brides'. Although to an extent it is totally unwearable, the whole idea entranced me. I'm not sure why...probably due to my romantic writer's sensibility. But anyway, I loved it, despite the fact that it is not even in my style range. I guess I fell in love with the story the clothes told. So, I found myself looking for a feasible way to include this into my new wardrobe (the wardrobe in my mind and dreams obviously, not real life - I wish!) and I found...shoes! Of course. I have posted the picture of my favourite pair that had me absolutely drooling... hurrah, for Galliano is feeding my shoe fetish!

Let's celebrate!

Happy 10th birthday Nylon! Here's to ten years of fashion enlightenment!

WTF?

Is it just me, or has the fashion/beauty industry gone totally insane these days? For sure, I love fashion. And who doesn't love beauty? I'd even go so far as to say I don't feel quite the same without my eyeliner, and that I'm a slave to fashion. But still, the image projected by some of the people and brands I admire is completely ridiculous. As Vogue magazine has recently proved with it's 'Shape' article, beauty is not being a size zero. Beauty, in fact, refuses to conform to a stereotype. We see black women, white women, asian women, skinny women, women with curves in all the right places, women who are athletes: and they're all beautiful. My wish is to see more women of different shapes, sizes, and types of beauty on the catwalk. I was thinking just now, "Well, the catwalk has to have slim women to show the clothes, but beauty can be-" but whoa! hold up there! Who ever said women have to be stick thin to wear and flaunt gorgeous clothes? Is there a universal law that says if your hips are wider than your waist you can't wear amazing clothes? No! So yeah, I want more curvy girls on the catwalks. Take model Doutzen Kroes for instance. Look at her here. In Vogue's Shape article she showcases her gorgeous athleticism, saying, "I come from sports...I've got a lot of muscle in my legs." Well, maybe compared to most stick-insect catwalk models she has muscular legs, but HELLO? Have you seen how gorgeous she is?? And this is the girl who is told she is 'too fat' for Gucci! Personally, I consider myself to have an 'athletic' physique, and as I'm a fencer I have a lot of strong leg muscle (more than slim Doutzen that's for sure!), and I'd like to think I still look good in my clothes! So what that I'm a UK size 10 to 12? I'm healthy, and I'm an athlete. So, girls, don't sweat it that you may or may not look like your favourite models in Vogue or Nylon. It's an unrealistic, and unhealthy, ideal. Just remember Doutzen. I don't think she's 'too fat' for anything. Looking at these photos, I think you'd agree she's just beautiful - like all of us.

WHAAAT???

Oh. My God. I may have just died and gone to heaven. A Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 with the possibility of MY MONOGRAMMED INITIALS ON IT? Are you even serious??

The Sartorialist

What an awesome guy. The genius behind The Sartorialist, photographer Scott Schuman, captures on camera the real style statements: on the street, not on the catwalks. Photo, above (top), shot by Scott Schuman, a model looking seriously cool (and skinny!) in Manhattan. Photo (bottom), shot by Mr. Schuman, Teen Vogue's fashion news director Jane Keltner at Stella McCartney, 'cooling up' her pretty polished look with Ray-Bans and rockin' ankle boots.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

I had an interesting experience at Borders the day before I was due to fly back to America. Usually, I enter a bookstore of any variety and it is like my own personal Mecca. However, this time, it was not to be. Probably because I was looking for the perfect book with intent, rather than browsing for pleasure. I NEEDED to find a book for my 8-plus-hour flight to the US. And for this reason, of course, I simply could not find a single book I was interested in. Eventually, after spending 3 hours searching fruitlessly, out of sheer desperation, I snatched up 'The White Tiger' by Aravind Adiga, the winner of the Man Booker Prize 2008. I figured if it won the Man Booker, it had to be decent, right? Oh yes. It did.

'The White Tiger' is the best book I have read in a very long time. I confess, the subject matter (a poor Indian boy who becomes a driver/general servant to a rich master, then murders him to gain his freedom, a whole lot of money and a shot at become a rich master himself) did not immediately grip me. However, the book itself was so well written that I could not (quite literally) put it down. It certainly made my two 7-hour flights seem only 45 minutes long. Highly recommended.

The highlight of Milan Fashion Week? Prada.

The model on the left, Cato, is amazing!! A new model making not-so-new, starry strides on all the major catwalks. You go girl!

The life of theatre...

Taken at the fencing European Championships 09, in the theatre auditorium, looking up into the ceiling structure.

Oh Mother Nature...

I really like this one. It's simple, but attractive. I used the macro mode on my camera, and left the flash on (even though there was a good amount of daylight) to show the waxy quality of the holly leaves. I like the effect. More camera adventures coming soon...

Dabbling in photography...

This one I call 'Spring Beauty'. I wanted the subject of the photograph, the flower, to be blurry, with the rest of the surroundings clear and sharp, to make the beauty of the flower more ethereal, showing the fragility of a new spring flower. From winter, spring. From stillness, life.

Serious girl-crush...

Is it just me, or has anyone else fallen in love with model Chanel Iman's charm? She's beautiful (naturally), elegant, and adorable, with a fantastic smile to top it all off. When backstage she's friendly and charismatic, as well as refreshingly eloquent; words roll off her tongue just as frequently as charm oozes from her very pores. And whoever she happens to be modelling (and it could really be anyone, from her namesake Chanel to Lanvin, as everybody wants her to model their creations), she pulls it off with flair.