Tuesday 23 June 2009

Fabulations and the Joie de Vivre

Today is the first day of the rest of what is going to be my fabulous summer...


Today is the first day of the rest of what is going to be my fabulous summer. The weather is beautiful and although some days grey has pretty much decided to stay warm. Barbecues and drinks in gardens are in abundance, weddings are being planned and holidays and honeymoons are being taken or heavily awaited upon!
Yes - today, although I’m finding it particularly hard to be completely exultant considering my Sicilian is a minute away from boarding his plane back to Sicily without a return ticket - is a very exciting day!
Summer is the time for FABULOUSNESS and although I have been pulled up on my excessive use of this word by the Sicilian, I don't care. Firstly he's not here anymore and secondly very seldom does he read my work anyway.
He asks me what I’ll do while he's gone, I pull my sunglasses down my nose and look over the rim for effect and simply say, of course with a hint of a joke, 'Be fabulous.' He can't help but laugh, he doesn't know that part of me and every other woman's life is seriously concerned with being fabulous. And when better to be fabulous, than in the fabulous summer?
Of course if we could be we'd be fabulous all the time in all aspects of life, our dream jobs would pay our dream salaries, we’d drive dream cars, we'd reside in dream houses in dream locations, we'd have our dream bodies and ridiculously dreamy boyfriend’s.

Nobody can be completely fabulous...

Unfortunately most of us are old enough and sane enough to know that nobody can be completely fabulous. I would like to believe that I am a fabulous writer – But I do not make a fabulous wage. I would like to believe I am a fabulous shopper - But can not shop in fabulous shops – (at least not all the time).
Amy Winehouse is a fabulous singer – But her addiction to intoxication, not so fabulous. See my revelation – or should I say FABULATION?!
And as we get older I think we concern ourselves far more with the importance of being fabulous, I suppose being fabulous coincides with success. I’m guessing if you feel successful then no doubt you should feel pretty fabulous.

Her career requires her to look young, healthy and glamorous...

I have a collection of friends who all are pretty much buying that one way ticket to fabulous; Friends that only date rich men, footballers or models, others that only wear designer clothes and shop in shops just because they’re expensive, others that refuse to wear one outfit twice and friends that only go to exclusive clubs and bars. All of these idiosyncrasies make us feel extraordinary, special – fabulous.
I won’t name any names, I’ll call them Angel Rae and Kimmie Parker – these two are concerned less with how to accumulate fabulous things and focus more on a fabulous lifestyle.
Angel Rae is an air hostess, her career is consumed by looking young, healthy and glamorous, staying in hotels and ordering room service, travelling the world, shopping globally – her tailor is located in Dehli and her favourite shop in America, she’s chin wagged with a seriously intoxicated singers weed dealer and plans gatherings in Barbados. She has very little time for boyfriends and when in London spends her time getting manicures, waxing and clubbing in Crystal. She’s rarely depressed or saddened, she loves her job which completely defines her life – therefore she loves this too. Sounds fabulous? – I think so.

They frequented Soho and Shoreditch house...

Kimmie Parker on the other hand is a student, like myself she wishes to build a career that is as infinite and as fabulous as you make it. She has always had it in mind to work in a field which brings her loads of fabulous perks. Her ex boyfriend was an actor, they frequented Soho and Shoreditch house, hobnobbed with the aspiring creatives and attended film screenings and premiers.
Kimmie, while she’s not studying works for a household Italian designer and spots Naomi Campbell and Sienna Miller from her shop window. She is completely connected in the world of fabulous retail and never pays full price for those fabulous forever purchases. Kimmie Parker recently told me after splitting with her actor boyfriend, ‘Oh I met a man at the Hogan party.’ I told her I thought it was too soon for her to be searching for men already, she replied, ‘Oh he’s gay.’ So then my next comment was, ‘So – what’s he going to do for you?’ Kimmie replied, ‘He knows lots of fabulous people that can get us in to lots of fabulous places where we can meet lots more fabulous people.’ Kimmie Parker is a networker and understands the importance of assimilation and association. She’s a theatre goer, a party goer, a shopper, a fashionista and determined to cater for her fabulous pallet. On nights out drinking in London Angel Rae tells me how much she loves Kimmie and how great she is, ‘She just seems to have no issues.’

Her sole ambition in life was to be rich...

Lila Carr, a friend of a cousin was at a barbecue on Sunday that I attended, she told me her sole ambition in life was to be rich and apart from sleeping her way to the top she was quite happy to do pretty much anything she needed to get there. She told me her life is accustomed to getting her hair and nails done twice a week, to driving a top of the range German car, eating out or getting take away every day and living in Canary Wharf.
‘I don’t have time for passions, for creativity or art.’ She told me she just needed a pay cheque and the best way she could get the kind of pay cheque she needed was to work in sales. I never asked her what her pay cheque was, but she assured me, ‘Trust me – I sell.’ I never doubted her for a second. She pulled out a book from her Louis Vuitton speedy bag, it was entitled,‘I Will be a Millionaire.’
I guess that that was Lila Carr’s idea of fabulous – money.


‘So, what does it mean to you, then – this fabulous life?’

‘So, what does it mean to you, then – this fabulous life?’ My Sicilian asks me.
I am glad that he has become intrigued by my pondering and hope he can endure the endless deliberating I am about to undergo.
The Hills and The City, Runs House, Desperate Housewives, Jackie Collins’ books and Vogue – these all feature characters with fabulous lives. Let’s not forget the queen of fabulous life, Sex and the City.
None of these fictitious or reality characters are happy all the time, their lives aren’t perfect, Carrie Bradshaw didn’t own her house and struggled to find love, but her passion was sex, relationships and writing, so she made that her career – that was fabulous, Mr Big was fabulous, her shoe collection was fabulous and she lived in Manhattan and that was fabulous too.

Anything we can aspire to is usually fabulous, I aspire to have a career like Candace Bushnell (Carrie Bradshaw), Lauren Conrad or Whitney Port. I aspire to have a life like some of the journalists in Vogue who in their articles just seem to have it all – PLUS free clothes.
Of course money can buy you all the things you need for a fabulous life – Holidays, Fine Wining and Dining, Bulgari Jewellery, Cartier Time Pieces, Bentley’s with Chauffeurs and children in Private Schools. But now so consumed with becoming a writer I know that recognition for my talent is far more fabulous at this point in my life than a pay cheque for work I am less consumed with. I suppose unlike Lila Carr, my grand plan for fabulousness isn’t to make money, but to become a writer, which in turn should make me money. The difference is you can be a fabulous writer without having the fabulous trinkets, of course if you said you were giving me a chauffeur driven Bentley and a book deal that would be doubly fabulous!

Once you have that, what isn’t fabulous?

So – after my deliberating I have decided that being fabulous is having that Joie de Vivre. Once you have that, what isn’t fabulous? Getting dressed is a fashion show, the pavement is a Catwalk, a glass of wine is an evening in a bar with conversation, laughter and amazing company, eating is a dinner party, a restaurant that serves your favourite food or a beautiful home cooked meal with family, you look and feel a million fabulous pounds and being gifted with multi tasking you do all of this while being dressed incredibly fabulously (of course).

So, here’s to a fabulous summer, fabulous outfits and most importantly to the Joy of Life X x

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Sunday 7 June 2009

Accessory Necessities

With shops like Primark, Accessorize, ASOS, Claires Accessories, Topshop, Miss Selfridges DIVA range and Hennes you can get accessoried up to your eyeballs with scarves, hats, clutches, belts, hairbands, broches and jewellery. You can even pick up some vintage look a likes!

For some serious vintage jewellery at some unfortunately serious prices i will always recommend Portobello market, however if you can't make it up to Portobello physically or financially, then Miss Selfridge is great for vintage homage.

So, if you're doing Recessionista Chique for fashion purposes, for savings and sensible spending or just love accessories, here are my ten top tips before i Bling and GO!

1 - Bags


For shoppers, totes and general day bags it's always easy to become attached to one particular bag - do try and mix it up a little and don't be afraid to add some colour to your bag collection. If like me, you refuse to be adventurous with designer bags (all my designer bags are always neutral in colour) then i would definitely reccommend River Island, their bags have all the designer intentions and all the style, without the huge price tag!


Never under estimate the power of a clutch bag. Evening bags should be saved for the evening, but universal clutches carried during the day can look sexy. Quirky clutches are cool for drinks during the day and add that extra something to an outfit. ASOS is great for high fashion clutches with lots of detail, the last one i bought was £13 and is similar to the D&G envelope clutch. Never forget Accessorize for their trademark sequined embellished clutches - i was given a Union Jack sequined clutch from Accessorize for my birthday this year, it's the perfect accessory for a white tee, jeans and a blazer.


2 - Jewellery


For those of us too scared to look too classic, but love the tailored smart looks that we've seen on Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo ss/09 wear an oversized ring, huge earrings or a statement bangle, this says that you don't take yourself too seriously. Miss Selfridges is great for statement jewellery.


Gucci Ad Campaign ss 09

3 - How much is too much?
J-Lo and Eva Longoria front row Spring 09 DVF NYC



Don't be afraid to over do the accessories from time to time. Fashion isn't about imitating, it's about innovating. There are rules, if you wear big earrings you can't wear a big chain or necklace, or you can't wear two statement rings at one time - forget this! Apply and don't apply it when it's appropriate. Sometimes accessories can be the main focal point of an outfit and you can pile them on like you would decorate a christmas tree.



4 - Colour
Louis Vuitton a/w 09/10 RTW

Marc Jacobs a/w 09-10 RTW


Colours do not have to match! I find that colour matching is too obvious - we learned the colours of the rainbow when were three years old - there's nothing creative about wearing matching colours. It's a given!
You don't have to wear a ring the same colour as your top or hair band, your shoes do not need to be the same colour as your bag or anything else you're wearing. Do not stress over colour matching - colours just need to compliment each other.



5 - Nail Varnish

Do not underestimate the power of nail varnish. Nail varnish is the perfect accessory and says loads about your style - pastel colours are more quirky and stylised, darker colours are sophisticated, bright reds and hot pinks are sexy.


Coloured rings and nail varnish shouldn't clash in colour!




7 - Scarves, Earrings & Sunglasses



If you are a true fashionista you will notice the difference between a black tint or brown tint sunglass, i try to match glass tints with my outfits. Brown tints i usually wear boho, black i will wear with black or more sophisticated looks. I never wear black lenses with thick rims as i find them way too harsh for my face. For designer glasses i would always bank on Ray Ban aviators.

Cindy Crawford, Vogue Paris 08

If you love boho and ethnic looks then head scarves and oversized glasses are perfect - especially with a HUGE pair of earrings. Earrings can completely define your whole look and says loads about your personality and style!




Kate Moss for Topshop
8 - Waist Belts

Marc Jacobs a/w 09/10

Very rarely do i wear dresses without a belt to cinch in my waist. You should wear the belt at the smallest point of your torso to pull you in at your slimmest point. My favourite waist cinching belts are embellished with gold buckles and screws. I have one belt in four different colours from Primark - it's one of my favourites for dresses and seldomly do i wear a dress in the evenings without one of these belts around my waist.

9 - General Belts

I never wear jeans without a belt - unless i am wearing a particularly long top. If you can see the top of my jeans then you will see a belt. The kind of belt you wear can define your outfit, for casual day time belts i tend to stick to chunky manly looking belts or vintage. If i am going for a rocky look i will wear a black belt with silver hardware, for a boho look it's always brown and i always think gold compliments brown better than silver. For more sophisticated looks patent belts are nice with either a delicate buckle or a statement buckle.



10 - Hair and Make Up


Gwen Stefani Elle USA



Don't be afraid to experiment with your hair and make up. Buy hair clips and pins, try new hairstyles and do your make up so that it compliments your face shape, your outfit and your hair!
Wearing a jump suit you might be tempted to wear back combed hair, bright eye shadows and dramatic blusher - tranforming the the outfit right back to the eighties! With a strapless dress you might want to elongate your neck by wearing your hair up. If i wear my hair up or off my face i pay particular attention to accentuating my cheeks and eyebrows - this helps to sculpt the face, giving your face more definition. My best buy for face sculpting is the MAC facial sculptor, however all you really need are some darker and lighter blusher shades. The trick is to brush a darker shade of blusher on the area of the face that hollows if you suck your cheeks in, this makes your cheek bones stand out more without having to put loads of red blusher on!


11- Forget the Rules



Apply and discard rules as you please, afteral they were made to be broken! The key is to experiment - if trying it out means getting it wrong - then, GET IT WRONG!


Of course the best accessory in life is the Joie de Vivre - without the Joy of Life nothing else counts!

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Wednesday 3 June 2009

London Clothes Show Live - Rundown

Sunday 31st May at eight o clock in the morning i was trying on outfits and readying myself for the London Clothes Show Live - considering i went to bed only four hours prior to waking up it was the easiest waking up i had ever done on a sunday morning. I was excited, excited to get dressed, to be out with the girls and indulge in a complete 'girly' activity.

The second i entered the Excel exhibition area i felt overwhelmed, it was literally a girls idea of heaven, there was shopping, demonstrations, style tips, sunglasses, make up, nail varnish, clothes, bags, jewellery, accessories and to round off the whole evening - a fashion show hosted by Caryn Franklin the everlasting face we associate with The Clothes Show, who still looks absolutely amazing!

Like all fashion events the day commanded any fashionista to make an impact with their attire, this was a place where women dressed to impress and you could see as two women neared each other - like lions in the jungle they all sized themselves up against the next.

The exhibition featured up and coming designers, some Topshop boutique members, quality beauty and cosmetic brands like B, Benefit and OPI and a huge area dedicated to all things vintage. It was a good place to shop, considering there was everything under one roof, lots of promotional deals and many one offs, however if you are a serious shopper and fashionista and begin to consider quality, design and have a general knowledge of what's in the shops and where to buy you could have been slightly against over purchasing clothing at this particular exhibition; for example a vest with an oversized bow fixed in the centre of it was priced originally at £25, my friend told me she had bought this exact vest the day before for £8 at Portobello Market. However by the end of the day prices were slashed, some by almost 75%. B began to sell all testers for £1, my shopping and fashion beneficiary managed to come away with a whole load of B products.



The exhibition launched new boy band Vice, who pranced around the designer beach and made their small claim to fame taking pictures with the younger occupants of the exhibition. The boys body popped, flipped, sang and paid homage to Johnny Bravo with their pick 'n' mix style of dress. They were nonetheless entertaining and i took pleasure watching them, i maybe should have made the effort to disguise the look of amusement on my face while they performed inches away from me.




The fashion show was highly entertaining, a combination of dancers and models, great music and some really creatively styled outfits. The All Saints range and rocky looks really made a statement, this section featured jackets with shoulder pads, ripped and dyed denim and a general rock/trendy look.

My only fault with the fashion show was the shoes, they were absolutely horrendous, for some reason shoes for some people are a secondery thought, however you would never expect this attitude in a fashion show. I love shoes and hate to see people get it wrong , the wrong shoe can kill an outfit, in this show, at most part they did indeed get the shoes wrong. Models were wearing the same shoes they wore with the rocky All Saints styles in the Beach section and then again in another section. This really did let the whole show down for me - it almost made the show feel amateur. My firend and I sat and laughed at a blonde model who strutted down the catwalk in shoes that looked like she had stolen them from her grandmothers orthopedic shoe selection - and this most definitely was not a stylish grandmother!

Moving on to less negative comments, i made very few purchases at the exhibition; Benefit High Beam which had a promotional discount and cost me £13, the famous new leggings, The Jeggings which were a fiver (£20 in Topshop) and lots and lots of accessories at £2 a piece! My best purchase was of course the accessories!

Our girly day ended with some chit chat and rose in Canary Wharf - it was a complete perfect day for any girly girl - Friends - check, Shopping - check, Lots of talking and laughing - check and most importantly, lots of wine - check. x x x
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