The Everything Post

So once again I have been a bit crap with posts- no excuse really, other than a severe lack of blog - savvy skills on my part. Due to this deplorable blogging behaviour I have decided to give a brief round-up of everything that has been of interest to me as of late in the world of fashion and surrounding areas; a hard task considering the infallibly rapid pace that fashion continues to move at, but i've tried... 

Film

I recently saw the adaptation of what was originally a coming-of-age novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. Touching, heartening and nostalgic ( the film is set to a perfect soundtrack brimming with gems from the 70s and 90s), it is a must see for anyone who enjoys a a good tear-shed and moral enlightenment :)

So the much hyped Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel documentary has finally landed on DVD, which I cannot wait to see. Featuring archived interviews with the original fashion empress herself, the documentary is expected to paint an appropriately charismatic and colourful portrait of  the late, great and extraordinarily stylish Mrs.Vreeland. 

                                                                                                                                                           Book

As if opening its first UK store wasn't enough, the ever-creative retailer Opening Ceremony have now released a book which i'm lusting after (early christmas prezzie mother?!). Full of contributions from the O.C founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon as well as their painfully cool circle- Terry Richardson, Alexander Wang, Chloe Sevingy and Spike Jonze to name a few- the book celebrates the stores tenth anniversary, and is sure to be an inspiring read. 

Shoot

If you've visited any hipsters tumblr as of late you'll have probably seen Wildfox's White Label intimates shoot; i've definitely jumped on the bandwagon and am just a little bit in love with the so-bad-its-good quirky 80s prints from the collection. Inspired by the concept of a 90s Juliet Capulet, the mix of grungey aesthetics and dreamy soft-pink lighting is well and truly on point.  

Music

Although the sixteen year old XXYYXX is another in a line of scarily young producers who have caused me to guiltily reminisce about how unproductive I was at that age, his self-titled album has been on repeat for me recently. Oh so perfect for a chilled night in, i'd say the album sits firmly in the James Blake-esque 'post-dubstep' category, featuring 90s r&b samples and lots of other electronic elements that are sadly far too technical for me. 

Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid m.A.A.d City is another album i've been loving, his angsty lyrics being great for pretending i'm an olympian at the gym. The EP's autobiographical elements and guest features from the likes of Mary J Blige and Drake ('Poetic Justice' - above) make it a must-listen. 

London Fashion Week: Street Style

During Fashion-Week mania my flatmate and I made a beeline for a spot of outfit snapping at Somerset House. I've never found a place where people are so willing to be photographed; a haven for street style bloggers!  

Tube reading material 

                                                                                   

Blue-rinse hair made chic!

Sportswear & face jewels making a good combo

Pastel hued gym-wear 

Father and daughter (!)  channeling the biker trend

A glamourously grungey group

A sophisticated pair in all black

Synchronised geometric colour blocking

Varsity jacket envy

JW Anderson X Topshop

During my time in London I managed to dash to  Topshop Oxford St to experience the launch of  a match made in fashion heaven, JW Anderson for Topshop. The Irish born Jonathan William Anderson graduated in menswear from LCF, yet has since expanded into the world of womenswear, giving his designs a signature androgynous style. His Topshop collaboration is inundated with quirky prints such as zebra, tortoise and tartan patterns; with youth and pop culture being at the forefront of his inspirations, Anderson's collection was bound to be exiting. 

Cheeky changing room snap; alas this beautiful bombers price tag was a little too much for me!

Awkwardly modelling my beautiful JW scarf!

Spring/Summer 13 Favourites

Hey blog, its been a while. Festival trips beside the med (its a hard life), followed by interning at a styling/photographic studio (more on that later) during the infectious excitement  of London Fashion Week have kept me a very busy bee over the past few weeks. I've only just sat down and properely looked over the recent shows, resulting in a not-so-consice accumulation of some of my favourite looks. Sports-luxe seems to be a trend still in abundance for next year; i'm definitely not complaining. I have also come to the realisation that I seem to have some sort of infatuation with crisp white fabrics, along with mesh panelling and of course a good chunky sandal. With Paris' offerings still on the pipeline, fashion has already got me yearning for Spring/Summer '13 before i've even considered the subsequent real-world seasons! 

3.1 Phillip Lim

Alexander Wang

Assembly

Christopher Raeburn

Clements Ribeiro

Dion Lee

Helmut Lang

DKNY

Jonathan Saunders

Lacoste

Marques Almeida

Marc Jacobs

Prada

Rag & Bone

Simone Rocha

Thomas Tait

Tophop Unique

California Soul

I've been sporting the tomboy-meets-surfer-'just thrown on'-when-in-fact-carefully-contrived look quite a bit recently; I guess its a bit of a vicarious way of living out my ultimate 'California Summer' Blue Crush-esque fantasy. Whilst theres no chance of that happening anytime soon in dear old Blighty, one might as well dress the part!

Music Monday

A personal favourite from Channel Orange, available to stream on Mr.Ocean's tumblr. Whether the man is straight or gay, his silky smooth vocals are always a winner for me, and who can blame him for creating a bit of album hype? 

Haven't listened to Tyler the Creator for quite sometime; found all that 'swag' business pretty irritating. However Tyler's 'Summer Camp' mix dropped a couple of weeks ago, and it definitely has some sunny weather favourites in there... A.T.C.Q's 'Bonita Applebum', Madvillain's 'Bistro' and Sleigh Bells' 'Rill Rill' are all must-listens! What more could you want (oh yeah, sunshine)... cop it here .

Fashion & Art Collusion: V&A

I'm currently mooching in London for the week, meaning i've had the chance to go to some of the great exhibitions the city has to offer. First stop was the V & A for the museum's recent 'Britain Creates 2012: Fashion + Art Collusion' exhibition. Commissioned as part of the London 2012 festival (is there anywhere here that isn't revolving around the olympics?!), the series showcases a number of collaborations between visual artists and British fashion designers, underlining fashions strong and longstanding relationship with art. 

Jonothan Saunder's and Jess Flood-Paddock's 'Life' saw many glass panels screen printed (a signature Saunders technique) in a myriad of warm colours. This gave a rather mesmerising illuminative effect; one woman was clearly affected similarly to me as she went so far as to touch the exhibit, resulting in a stern telling off. The large number of panels was designed to interestingly reflect the  notion of mass production of fashion.

The effects of positive and negative space in shoe designer Nicholas Kirkwood and Simon Periton's 'Dissecting Waltz' gave the heels used in the artist's hanging mobile eye-catching silhouettes. Different parts of the shoe in some respects came to 'life', reflected in the movement of the objects; this gave a poetic stance on the craftsmanship of shoes.   

Inspired by an old yoga handbook, the figure in Peter Pillotto and Francis Upritchard's 'Arch' was covered in illuminative sequins. This intricate body suit gave the appearance of  the slithe, scaley body of a fish, strangely reminding me of a favourite childhood book, 'The Rainbow Fish'!

Matthew Williamson and Matt Collishaw's 'Lepiszoulo' played on Collishaw's extensively detailed photographic prints of crushed insects, whereby Williamson painstakingly embellished an image of a fly. This gave a beautifully iridescent quality to the photograph. 

Mary Katrantzou and Mark Titchner made use of Katrantzou's well known colourful, kaleidoscopic prints, presenting a selection of multi-layered landscapes in an animation entitled, 'Tint the pallid landscape (off to the wars in lace)'. Various words deriving from from the qualities olympic and paralympic athletes hold could be seen on-screen (strength, courage, precision and so on).

Giles Deacon and Jeremy Deller's untitled piece was, as stated, a 'suit of armour for an athlete'; a full body 'running suit', the garment was inspired by William Morris' famous stained glass works. The exotic adornments of Papua New Guinea communities were what sprung to mind for me, perhaps due to the feathered head-dress. 

The graphically pleasing exhibition book featured the thought-processes of the artists. Other collaborations included the ever-experimental Hussein Chalayan (surprise, surprise!) and Gavin Turk's music based 'Four Minute Mile', Paul Smith and Charming Baker's 'Triumph in the Face of Absurdity' and Stephen Jones and Cerith Wyn Evans' 'Celestial Bonnet'.