Ever changing moods....

London, 27th of March 2013


So, I have to admit, I disappeared, I disappeared into a dark place where a never ending winter took my soul to. I searched for it in mountains of chocolate, I searched for it in gallons of red wine and I searched for it in hours spent observing and shopping for the new spring/summer season that never arrives...so a few kilos and many summer purchases still with tags on later, I finally found it!! Still grey and freezing outside at 0C, and still wearing the same old coat and sheepskin boots, BUT, I am off to the Alps and its promises of cure...Spring skiing never fails to uplift my mood, the thrilling exercise, the sunshine, the cold beer in a t-shirt on top of a snowy mountain, the people watching, some more exercise or perhaps a dip in a warm swimming pool, all followed by some apres ski over indulgence, and then it all starts again the next day, in that exact same order....

So the fashion, the new fashion only happening in pictures, if you live in London...

I have noticed a few comebacks lately, of labels I had pretty much considered done and dusted. Take Louboutin for instance, they have come up with the most adorable pair of must have (although not for me at 120mm height) "pivichic" pumps, seen in the most bankable feet around, they really are gorgeous and not too extortive at £475.00, but really, who can walk with class in heels that high? My money would be on the pink version....







                




             

The other noticeable comeback has been Dolce and Gabbana, I mean, who doesn't want to be that girl in those stunning advertising campaigns, the places, the beautiful family, the over the top, yet so gorgeous clothes.....

http://www.dolcegabbana.com/dg/woman/advertising-campaign-gallery/


Then, there are their must have slippers, the new ballerina flats of this season...

                           

For me though, I want a pair of crazy shoes, I want a pair of crazy shoes that are finally been made SANS platform....my Valentino rockstuds are great in that department, next, it will be these:



                                               

In this business, legs will always be high risk...on the slopes or in town. Non?

xx.

                                                              

Back from Paris

London, 7th of March 2013


So it is back from Paris where arguably the most relevant fashion week shows were drawing to an end, the cafes served mediocre food, a beer costs 10 Euros and a hand gel 4 Euros!!! And without having attended any of the shows, I can only speak from street observations....here are a few things I love and a few things I can no longer bear....

Am still loving:
-Chantecaille make up, specially the HD powder and the label's eyeliners
-skinny jeans, preferably J brand, but Paige "Edgemonds" are great too and ALWAYS mid rise
-thin gold bracelets
-ankle boots (with short skirts if you are under 30 and have great legs)
-coated/waxed pants, doesn't have to be black, J brand has a gorgeous red one coming for A/W 13/14
-summer wedges of moderate height
-simple one strap stiletto sandals SANS platform
-bi or tri colour handbags, Celine, of course
-white, white, white, on anything but leather shoes
-Gianvito Rossi shoes
-rockstuds Valentino


Tiring of:
-mid parted long curled hair (even Giuliana Rancic has realised enough is enough!!!)
-Isabel Marant, same old, same old, season after season and escalating prices (we urgently need a substitute for this "staple, can't live without" label!!!)
-hyped Saint Laurent, as above, more of the same old without the Yves and sadly still making "Tribute" ridiculous platform sandals
-hidden wedge trainers copied everywhere
-feline look eyeliner
-hyped Sophie Webster shoes, who does she know in London? every week in every magazine/newspaper and her shoes are just a badly crafted (in Brazil sadly) copy of her old boss's designs at Nicholas Kirkwood???!!

Needless to say, NO, NO, NO:
-logo handbags
-anything Tory Burch
-evident logo sunglasses
-cotton leggings

Nice, but hit and miss labels at the moment:
-Carven
-Iro
-Isabel Marant
-Maje
-Dagmar

Always a hit:
-Helmut Lang
-Rag and Bone
-Schumacher
-Duffy
-Brooke Gregson silk bracelets
-Oliver Peoples sunglasses

For the £££££oaded this season:
-Etro
-Belstaff (gorgeous after gorgeous jacket, knits and dresses, fierce but ladylike)
-Missoni (yes, back to beautiful, not all stripes)
-Peter Pilotto
-Mary Kratantzou
-Rick Owens
-Vsp of Vespucci
-Ferragamo (great white and off white leather in everything)

Online tip: shopbop.com for jeans, best prices from the US and Fedex speedy deliveries with import duties included in the final price, great customer service too.

How much do I love this jacket by VSP Vespucci?
http://www.vspofvespucci.com/collection/9/SS13

More labels report next time....

And so it downs on me...

London, 28th February 2013.

So, today I find myself wondering if I have inadversely found the answer which could help the millions of "type A" personality women (and men to a lesser extent), who suffer from anxiety disorder - I am a pro at anxiety disorders, believe me. It all starts with shoes again....

A few months ago, I purchased a gorgeous pair of Martin Margiela acrylic wedge shoes (not to everyone's taste, I know) and after wearing them to the theatre just once, I felt such absolute agony, I left them resigned to the back of the shoe cabinet where so many other pairs of uncomfortable shoes and their high price tag live, that was until yesterday, when I glimpsed them in there and decided to take them out to our local shoe repair shop, the guys there guaranteed me they could stretch them exactly where I needed (width) and they had no doubt I would be wearing them again: "come and collect them tomorrow - £6.50 for the service". Well, I can barely describe my ecstasy when I put them on and they had been transformed into the best fitting shoe I had tried on in a very long time and as comfortable as anything on top of a 10.5cm acrylic wedge could possibly be!!!! So ecstatic was I, that I decided to wear them while running around doing some house chores, just to confirm there really had been a miracle...well, there was indeed a miracle, I am still wearing them as we speak and in the process, I discovered how much wearing high heels slows you down, instead of my usual breathless running around trying to do millions of things at a time, I had to take it all slowly from such height and finish each task without rushing on my feet and then suddenly, it occurred to me: Is this why Victoria Beckham insists on wearing high heels whatever the day, time or occasion? Personality type A and prone to high anxiety she certainly is, so perhaps she has been laughing, behind those dark glasses, at our ridiculing her all along. She always knew that without those heels to slow her down, she would simply not make it!!!

On the subject of footballers wives, I cringe with pain each time one of them wears an item from a designer I actually like, because to me, it signifies the end of aforesaid designer's desirability  (Louboutins come to mind). I had recently returned from a fabulous Christmas holiday at home in Rio, where I bagged a gorgeous pair of bikinis by super glam label Vix (funnily enough not half as famous in Rio as it is in Europe), only to find, on the very day I landed back at Heathrow, that Coleen Rooney was glancing the first page of most English newspapers holidaying in the Caribbean, showing off her pregnancy bump AND you guessed, a pair of Vix bikinis, don't get me wrong, she is rich and famous and looks pretty good, or at least as good as those of us in the short and round body shape category can look, but God, did it kill it for me??!! I mean, really, Coleen Rooney's taste?? Do I feel so fashion sassy anymore?? Obviously not!!




Which bum do you think look smaller?










You can buy Vix swimwear at net-a-porter.com, matchesfashion.com or vix.com.br, just make sure you choose the correct cut, larger cut/coverage makes your bum look larger NOT smaller.

Till next time....

I'll be back

London, 27th February 2013

And so, it has been a long time since my last blog... I am now literally (excuse the pun) back from a somewhat turbulent bout of mid life crisis that although not quite as bad as Michelle Obama's bangs, affected many areas of my life for the past 2 years, none the least, in the case of the agonising decisions one faces when the nest is emptying and you have left your own passions and dreams behind, as if dormant for five years, in order to care for your off spring, oh - that ungrateful duo of teenagers!!!! and now you are facing the prospect of, what I view as, a shallow life of girlfriends lunches, shopping expeditions, gym (if you are lucky enough to have the willpower to constantly work against the force of gravity) and social calendar organiser, or you get back into the workforce and fill your days with a little more purpose. I had recently decided on the latter and after a "disastrous first day non-start of a possible fashion business partnership with the wrong person that would never have worked", I have decided that re-opening my own business is the only way forward, economic crisis or not, but, I have one more moody teenager to see through to uni and say a slow and sad bye bye to, so meantime I will blog!! I will blog endlessly about fashion, oh my old love: fashion!! 
I will also gladly answer any styling questions you might find me fit to, but beware, grumpy thoughts are never far from a 45 years old woman's mind, so bear with me during any unexpected outbursts.

So I will start by being smug, very smug indeed (don't women just love that in each other, smugness?). I am winning on a long fought campaign, bordering on a vendetta really, against those horrific, so called "fierce" platform shoes which have enthralled women's hearts and ridiculed their feet for a few years now. Shoes are, thank the fashionable Gods, slowly returning to classic forms, classic with a twist actually, and a perfect example of shoes, which although not brand new in design - they have been around for a season or two now, do embody the perfect marriage of fierceness, comfort and class, are the Valentino rockstud kitten heel. I must admit to not being a great fan of gladiator styles ankle straps (short legs) or studs (over 30), but after catching a glance of these on the feet of a London fashion week front row attendee, I fell hopelessly in love, so fierce, yet so ladylike....yes, mine are on order, in nude, to help elongate the stubs I was given for legs. Aren't they just fabulous? Valentino delivers online to many countries, check their website for more styles and colours. PRICEY at  around £600, because you're worth it....










Apart from shoes, has anyone noticed the new (?) idea of wearing long gorgeous necklaces back to front? a la Oscar winners Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence? I find it quite sexy really...






And this all happens when I had not even had a chance, financially, to indulge in the current jewellery trend for thin gold bracelets!!!! how so very futile...