I LOVED this programme, thank you for making my Sunday's so wonderful Mr Curtis.
Thursday, 30 September 2010
Marni & Soojin Kang
Well if I could afford this I would be like a pig in clover, Consuelo Castiglioni is a genius of cut and colour, I always love her trousers yet few high street shops seem to pick up on them. Still a girl can dream and copy and paste into a scrap book.
These tops are lovely too.
Furniture by Soojin Kang, the colours of Marni really reminded me of this furniture which is beautifully conceived and executed
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I love old school furniture %5B1%5D.jpg)
Wednesday, 29 September 2010
Something for the weekend?
Most weekends are interminably dull.
Kitty who always packs considerably more into her weekend often asks about mine, what is to say dull, dull, dull.
This followed by quite frankly one of the worst training days I have endured for years, a whole Monday of my life I will not ever see again.
This weekend we did manage to see Town, sans Leyla as it was a 15, I loved it, very impressive cinematography, the best review of the film was in The Times:
"If you're going to make a serious bid to re-establish yourself as a winsome leading man in a film you've made yourself, the one thing you do not do is cast mad Men's John Hamm in the same picture. It's like trying to show off your five-a-side skills by picking Lionel Messi to be on your team"
He just drinks the screen up.
This coming weekend is a very different ball game staring on Thursday night with Hamlet at The National followed by a 50th birthday celebration of the wife of Emin's uncle we call 'money bags' so, great food and the ritual humiliation of me on the dance floor. I am trying to persuade Kitty to come just for moral support!
I have just printed my Frieze Art Fair ticket the excitement is palpable so plenty to look forward to, not least the absence of Emin and Leyla for a week at the end of October allowing me free reign to reorganise the house.
Finally if you need cheering up play scrabble with Kitty, she entertained us throughout a rather wet two week stint in Scotland playing this game, her rules are make a word with as many letters as you can and then and only then look to see if you can place the word on the board. If that fails make a word up and ask quizzically what it means! Yesterday she announced that if only she had a D an E and a R she could spell Udder! I pointed out that the premise of the game was to use the letters you had, not spend an age wishing for letters you don't have.
Like I say hours of entertainment in such a small package.
- Get up
- Walk dog
- Washing
- Gym
- Food shop
- Cook
- Vacuum
- Tidy
- Walk dog
- Despair at the lack of anything to watch on TV
- Bed
Kitty who always packs considerably more into her weekend often asks about mine, what is to say dull, dull, dull.
This followed by quite frankly one of the worst training days I have endured for years, a whole Monday of my life I will not ever see again.
This weekend we did manage to see Town, sans Leyla as it was a 15, I loved it, very impressive cinematography, the best review of the film was in The Times:
"If you're going to make a serious bid to re-establish yourself as a winsome leading man in a film you've made yourself, the one thing you do not do is cast mad Men's John Hamm in the same picture. It's like trying to show off your five-a-side skills by picking Lionel Messi to be on your team"
He just drinks the screen up.
This coming weekend is a very different ball game staring on Thursday night with Hamlet at The National followed by a 50th birthday celebration of the wife of Emin's uncle we call 'money bags' so, great food and the ritual humiliation of me on the dance floor. I am trying to persuade Kitty to come just for moral support!
I have just printed my Frieze Art Fair ticket the excitement is palpable so plenty to look forward to, not least the absence of Emin and Leyla for a week at the end of October allowing me free reign to reorganise the house.
Finally if you need cheering up play scrabble with Kitty, she entertained us throughout a rather wet two week stint in Scotland playing this game, her rules are make a word with as many letters as you can and then and only then look to see if you can place the word on the board. If that fails make a word up and ask quizzically what it means! Yesterday she announced that if only she had a D an E and a R she could spell Udder! I pointed out that the premise of the game was to use the letters you had, not spend an age wishing for letters you don't have.
Like I say hours of entertainment in such a small package.
Tuesday, 28 September 2010
My next bag
No silly not this one, (see below)this bag actually, love Marni though I do, represents all that is bad about handbag design. Why do designers insist on a capacious bag with a tiny handle that prevents you from opening the bag wider than an inch. Oh yes, you can remove the handle, but at a busy check out? It just does not function, yet the shops are full of these bags.
My sister is Queen of Handbags she has more bags than I have owned in a lifetime, they are lovely too, Lulu Guinness, Orla Kiely even a Vivienne Westwood, unlike the monsters on this post they are all very girly, proper handbags that swing sweetly from the crook of your arm.
I in stark contrast have never left school in more ways than one, I love a good satchel, my favourite was the one I had from Mulberry. In general I like a nice cross body bag currently very much in vogue at the moment. Only recently I caught myself using a battered old shopper along with my handbag which is silly really. Another problem is I tend not to swap bags during the week, because you can guarantee I will leave my train pass or phone or purse in the other bag, so one bag has to last day to day for one term at least.
Recently though I have noticed that once I have squeezed all I need for the day in my handbag my shoulder aches with the weight of everything, so I have found it more comfortable to carry a shopper. Answer? I decided I might as well forgo the cross body bag and buy a decent leather shopper instead.
Which brings me to this slice of heaven below. Pheobe Philo certainly knows how to make a covetable handbag, all of her bags from Celine were divine.
This is a perfect example of what I want and was apparently the bag of fashion week.
I love this one too, but as I do not have a cool £1,500 knocking around, (well I do, but it is currently paying Daisy's Uni' fees) I had to search for something a bit cheaper. Plus can you imagine spilling a yogurt in this bag? I would weep...Where to find a nice bag? Well I have always favoured TKMaxx, you get a huge choice and room to wander around road testing it. I narrowed it down to 3 last week but something irritated me about all of them, either the lining was too much or it just had one handle when I like two, or with his one it had black lining which means you can't find anything without a torch. However after a whole week of deliberating I went back to buy it because it ticks so many boxes. I could not find it so left it. A week later I went to have another look and after 20min's of trying even more bags out I saw it on the sale rack. It was already reduced to £60 from £130, and now was a billy bargain £43! It is butter soft leather full of fabulous pockets with the prefect length handle. Two days in and paper work and packed lunches have successfully been transported.
My sister is Queen of Handbags she has more bags than I have owned in a lifetime, they are lovely too, Lulu Guinness, Orla Kiely even a Vivienne Westwood, unlike the monsters on this post they are all very girly, proper handbags that swing sweetly from the crook of your arm.
I in stark contrast have never left school in more ways than one, I love a good satchel, my favourite was the one I had from Mulberry. In general I like a nice cross body bag currently very much in vogue at the moment. Only recently I caught myself using a battered old shopper along with my handbag which is silly really. Another problem is I tend not to swap bags during the week, because you can guarantee I will leave my train pass or phone or purse in the other bag, so one bag has to last day to day for one term at least.
Recently though I have noticed that once I have squeezed all I need for the day in my handbag my shoulder aches with the weight of everything, so I have found it more comfortable to carry a shopper. Answer? I decided I might as well forgo the cross body bag and buy a decent leather shopper instead.
Which brings me to this slice of heaven below. Pheobe Philo certainly knows how to make a covetable handbag, all of her bags from Celine were divine.
This is a perfect example of what I want and was apparently the bag of fashion week.
I love this one too, but as I do not have a cool £1,500 knocking around, (well I do, but it is currently paying Daisy's Uni' fees) I had to search for something a bit cheaper. Plus can you imagine spilling a yogurt in this bag? I would weep...Where to find a nice bag? Well I have always favoured TKMaxx, you get a huge choice and room to wander around road testing it. I narrowed it down to 3 last week but something irritated me about all of them, either the lining was too much or it just had one handle when I like two, or with his one it had black lining which means you can't find anything without a torch. However after a whole week of deliberating I went back to buy it because it ticks so many boxes. I could not find it so left it. A week later I went to have another look and after 20min's of trying even more bags out I saw it on the sale rack. It was already reduced to £60 from £130, and now was a billy bargain £43! It is butter soft leather full of fabulous pockets with the prefect length handle. Two days in and paper work and packed lunches have successfully been transported. 
Saturday, 25 September 2010
I HATE cleaning
I once in the dark days of my misguided and somewhat cavalier youth went out with someone wholly incompatible to myself. The primary problem when leaving home is you invariable meet people out of context. Back in the safety of York it seemed easy to have fun with boys but relationships in London, well that was really not too easy. This boyfriend's parents lived in a fairly modest new build in an anonymous town in the Midlands, but what absolutely mesmerised me was his mothers ability to clean. I mean industrially clean, she would walk through the door don an apron put the dinner on (incl veg!) and set to with a vacuum cleaner and a can of polish. Once done dinner would be served, then tidied and finally washed up after before she sat down to sew or knit. She was so unassuming that despite being promoted at work from machinist to a supervisor she never told a sole, not even her husband.
So now I have lost Daisy and the au-pair I may have more space but I am back vacuuming and and dealing with the chaos of the kitchen. I am in awe of this woman who seemed to get stuck in with a tenacity I can only dream of. I hate cleaning, really I get no pleasure, I ooze resentment from every pore of my body when cleaning. A moment wiping is a moment lost from reading writing or painting. I guess it is genetic, my grandmother lived in complete chaos, piles of newspapers toppled over books and puzzles, shelves groaned under the weight of detritus and cupboards would spill their contents with a sigh of release on opening the door. She once opened the oven door and surprised herself by finding a cooked piece of beef...she seriously pondered as to whether it was worth the risk reheating it! When she died we found money in just about every packet of food in the cupboard, her whole life was chaotic.
My mother although considerably more houseproud would never clean unnecessarily, our houses while superficially tidy were always in need of a lick of paint of something fixing. I too have learnt to just keep on top of the cleaning and whilst it never quite looks sparkling, I hope it is good enough. I am aware that given the choice between chaos and clean I choose my grandmothers house every time bet even so I am in awe of this woman whose memory lingers on long after the relationship.
So now I have lost Daisy and the au-pair I may have more space but I am back vacuuming and and dealing with the chaos of the kitchen. I am in awe of this woman who seemed to get stuck in with a tenacity I can only dream of. I hate cleaning, really I get no pleasure, I ooze resentment from every pore of my body when cleaning. A moment wiping is a moment lost from reading writing or painting. I guess it is genetic, my grandmother lived in complete chaos, piles of newspapers toppled over books and puzzles, shelves groaned under the weight of detritus and cupboards would spill their contents with a sigh of release on opening the door. She once opened the oven door and surprised herself by finding a cooked piece of beef...she seriously pondered as to whether it was worth the risk reheating it! When she died we found money in just about every packet of food in the cupboard, her whole life was chaotic.
My mother although considerably more houseproud would never clean unnecessarily, our houses while superficially tidy were always in need of a lick of paint of something fixing. I too have learnt to just keep on top of the cleaning and whilst it never quite looks sparkling, I hope it is good enough. I am aware that given the choice between chaos and clean I choose my grandmothers house every time bet even so I am in awe of this woman whose memory lingers on long after the relationship.
Friday, 24 September 2010
Take one pair of wool Toast trousers
Finally, finally he leaves the house and I get a couple of hours top play dress up. Only the light has gone and now I have a hideous yellow cast. Just use your imagination, I did try to stand beneath a spot light but with little success.
I realise this is not a pair of trousers but I just wanted you all to know that I can occasionally buy things other than from COS! Is this not a lovely tunic? Yes, not hugely flattering, but hey I love stripes plus even more I love grey, what's not to love?
The Toast trousers were from eBay*, when I bought them they were really cheap and only on arrival did I realise they were very high waisted and thus not very comfortable. They were worn once for my Turkish New Year debacle and that was it. Now they seem better, maybe I have trimmed some muffin top off who knows, but it is with tremendous trepidation that I try on trousers not worn for a couple of years. Can you imagine how depressing it would be if I could not do the zip up?
I should really try them with a shirt tucked in but time was short so I played around with proportion instead.
Left to right
I realise this is not a pair of trousers but I just wanted you all to know that I can occasionally buy things other than from COS! Is this not a lovely tunic? Yes, not hugely flattering, but hey I love stripes plus even more I love grey, what's not to love?The Toast trousers were from eBay*, when I bought them they were really cheap and only on arrival did I realise they were very high waisted and thus not very comfortable. They were worn once for my Turkish New Year debacle and that was it. Now they seem better, maybe I have trimmed some muffin top off who knows, but it is with tremendous trepidation that I try on trousers not worn for a couple of years. Can you imagine how depressing it would be if I could not do the zip up?
I should really try them with a shirt tucked in but time was short so I played around with proportion instead.
Left to right- How utterly lovely is this jumper? A billy bargain from Next, I bought it in a size 20 to get it really baggy, it is sooo soft I almost can't wait for the weather to cool a bit so I can wear it. I said almost...
- Now this is a COS top again with wool, so very warm, I specifically bought it to wear with these trousers but guess what? The bloody blacks clash. I am gutted as it was my planned outfit for a housewarming party next week, le sigh
- The stripy shroud..but I love it so who cares.
- Ha, two in a row, have you ever loved something so much you buy it in two different colours? I have this cardie in a grey cotton, yes from COS, I love the structure and so when they did the same cardie in super soft black wool it was a must buy as it was in a lovely beige marle.
I really laughed at Belgian Waffles perfect description of Japanese asymmetric shrouds with massive sleeves made of boiled wool. Oh the cap so fits me I know. Sadly I do not teach at Goldsmiths or work on Cork Street but my heart goes via there daily
Thursday, 23 September 2010
The genius of Paul Smith
I loved the setting of his catwalk show, I love the juxtaposition of art with clothes. And what clothes, the colours were delicious and so was the fluidity of the silhouette.
It looks like wide leg trousers are back, not so good for the vertically challenged but hey why should I care you get to wear beautiful shoes I get to flounce around in these beauties!
These two images from style.com
This amazing shot from The Sartorialist
How I love a button back cardie.
It looks like wide leg trousers are back, not so good for the vertically challenged but hey why should I care you get to wear beautiful shoes I get to flounce around in these beauties!
These two images from style.com
This amazing shot from The Sartorialist
How I love a button back cardie.
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