If I was 14 and had had Malcolm Mclaren trying to tell me what to do and I looked this amazing with a flourish of gold eye triangles, I would have been snarling too!
Loving the gold match-matchy tiptop lip line…
Happy Holidays!
Photos from the darkside at Mishka Halloween Night, all courtesy of the uber-talented Karolina, for more of her work please go to: www.karolinaurbaniak.com
Designed by Margot Bowman: the invite to the Halloween Soiree
Hope you can make it to Mishka Vintage and join us for a spot of of styling up for Halloween.
My Mother and Baby Last Week at My Allotment.
Browsing the Nowness website last week, I chanced upon the blog and work of New Yorker Ari Seth Cohen. He has spent the past few years photographing, partying and celebrating those more foxy than silver, more Iris Apfel than shrinking violet; more likely to dye their hair violet than give up their love of sartorial charm and swagger. Given I have been raised by my own hot rocker mother, a woman whose mantra is ‘darling never give up’, and whose pilates-flexed limbs mean like her mind she is forever young, I too celebrate all that is wise, yet fun, fabulous, yet proud of the lessons learnt by these charming stylistas.
Most of whom are a generation+ older than my mother, yet never forget that more is more and a dash of lipstick, a pair of red trousers or a quirky felt fedora add colour, passion and texture to everyone’s day. I like the feeling that the best is yet to come and we can all still have fun and play with fashion: sometimes we are told it all stops at 30, taking a look at these portraits and knowing my mother and the woman she is yet to become, I can only say, ‘oh really?’
Iris Apfel: 80+ and still upholding the more is more mantra.
We have Mary Portas revitalising the high street and Channel 4 with her new shop (and the tv programme Mary Queen of Shops tie-in) for the 40+ woman at House of Fraser, proudly defying women to be in their power and purchase what really works for them. At the Paris Fashion Week shows this week, it really struck me as I gazed covetously at the Chloe catwalk, that these were the kind of clothes I would love to wear, without worrying something or too much was hanging out, while yet feeling I was in the room with enough of a fabulous quota for me to feel stylish enough that I could hold my head a little higher, my shoulders a little straighter: as I do when I feel good…
Kinga walking the Chloe Catwalk SS12
‘Young woman you’re going to be an old woman some day; don’t worry about it, don’t sweat it, everything adds character’… Ari Seth Cohen’s book is due out next Spring. Amazon are already offering advance order reservations: and who said past 50 women are invisible?..
She's Amazing: I styled this lady for Sunday Times Style in emeralds and YSL: over 80, she had been modelling for 60 years and somehow was the most beautiful woman in the room.
Going through my own archive I found this shot from a story for Sunday Times Style with Kim Andreolli. Bedecked in emeralds and YSL, this mother of all models, who had been in the game for more than a lifetime, said that her daily dose of yoga kept her young, flexible and alert. I celebrate both her beauty and the hope that with a little yogic discipline we all can aim to reach so high for so long…
http://advancedstyle.blogspot.com/
http://www.nowness.com/day/2011/3/23/1382/advanced-style-age-and-beauty
http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Style-Ari-Seth-Cohen/dp/157687592X
http://www.maryportas.com/
Mishka Vintage.
Anyone who has read my previous posts will know of not only my love for vintage clothing, but also my friendship – or indeed friendshop – with Lizzie who owns one of the best vintage clothing shops in London. Today between 5-8pm the lovely Lizzie at Mishka Vintage will be hosting a tea and cake soiree for all those who love their fashion with a dash of the sartorial swagger of a bygone age.
Mishka Vintage
212a) Middle Lane
London N8 7LA
Tel” 020 8341 3853
Mary Portas is a brilliantly British phenomenon. She transformed Harvey Nichols into the shop we all wanted to spend in; then she marched onto our TV sets, teaching her retail mantras to failing businesses, the charity market. From OAPs working in charity shops, to overly hair-gelled estate agents, her refreshingly real retail prowess made for gripping viewing, as we saw her map out how they could improve their businesses, we all felt her verve, her potent power at seeing where things could improve and wanted so much for them to listen.
Now with her store-within-a-store at House of Fraser on Oxford Street, Mary has identified a gap in the mid-market high street here in the UK, the over 40s stylish woman. Cecilia Chancellor is the model: a face at once familiar to anyone who remembers ‘The Face’ or my old boss the talented stylist Anna Cockburn’s 90′s fashion shoots and I think the perfect fit for Mary’s store and its image. En route to a Cornish weekend away she kindly answered a few questions about the store and why someone like me (a new mother with so little time to shop, that service now more important than ever) might like to go there.
1) Mary Portas at House of Fraser is a new collaboration for Mary, in that it brings her manifesto – her Maryness to Oxford Street, to a department store and therefore to a mass market who know and love her from her TV shows. How different do you think this is from what is on offer currently on Oxford’s Street, or indeed ‘the’ high street?
Mary: Because I’ve created a curated space; everything in it has been edited down for grown up women in mind. Where there’s just too much stuff in the shops my space cuts through all of that to exactly what women need and want. Then the design of the shop is hugely important; the space and the staff is all geared towards a great experience. You’ve got to see it and feel it to totally get it. Bring your baby in, the staff will take care of you and him and give you coffee….
2) What I love about Mary is her direct no-nonsense charm: she gets straight to the point and we admire her all the more for it. It became a saying in our house: ‘what would Mary say?’ when we experienced bad service in a shop or restaurant. With online shopping so prevalent now, is service even more important for retail’s survival? Will we pay a little more for a little more?..
Mary: Service is a no brainer. Customers want service that includes knowledge. The staff in the Mary shop had an exam before they were allowed near the shop floor. When they serve you, they will be able to tell you everything about everything in the shop; right down to how the shoes were made, and the essential oil in my candles and the story behind each one.
3) The over 40′s woman Mary has identified is a largely untapped resource in fashion, which I agree is more fool the industry, as these are the women whose kids have grown up, who have worked hard and
have more money available to shop. What do you feel are the differences in their needs and wants from a shopping experience and how are you satisfy this?
Mary: This is the no bullshit audience. They want quality at a
reasonable prince, they want sexy shoes that won’t kill their feet,
they want modernity and style that reflects where they’ve got to in
their life and their achievements. Its not twee. Its slick and cool.
No-one on the high street is doing this.
4) My mother is an extremely glamorous 60 year old: ex rocker, child of the 60′s; well-versed in the ways of boutique shopping, as she started with Biba and Bus Stop. These babyboomers are the ones with
the cash, more than my generation are in lots of cases AND they are eternally youthful, way more than their war bride parents were. However they don’t like showing their knees and i saw alot of above
the knees looks on your website. Is this something, along with the arm coverage Mary has identified, which you are intending to add into the collections?
Mary: You can’t lump 40 year olds next to sixty year olds. Melanie is 40 next year! I’m sure you are in your mid thirties, you would not want the same things as someone twenty years older than you, it’s about a spectrum. There are a few above the knee dresses because the audience is grown up women; and not everyone wants to cover their knees! There are also below knee dresses; structured high-waisted leggings that are like spanx for your lower half, and pencil skirts that hit below the knee, as well as wide leg trousers. Later in the season, I’m proposing chic tunics to wear with those structured leggings and it is such a good look on a grown up woman. So many people are asking about this; I’m not dressing geriatrics. I want modern women through the door; if you don’t like your knees, that where the super high denier tights I’ve come in. My hosiery collection is designed to go with the dresses; the colours are great.
5) I love the collaborations with British brands, such as Clarks and Biba. What more are in the pipeline?
Terry de Havilland perhaps, Eley Kishimoto? For those of us who like our fashion more edgy than Clarks can offer, but still want it age appropriate and fabulous?
Mary: I haven’t collaborated with Biba; Biba is a sub-brand of House of Fraser’s and nothing to do with me! Working with Clarks has been a phenomenal experience for all of uson both sides, and the whole point is that my shoes look nothing whatsoever like trad Clarks. The Clarks elements incorporated into myshoes is the high quality production values, old-school workmanship,and best of all the inbuilt comfort technology. We’ve developed our own colours, leathers, and lasts. This is Clarks, but not as you know it.
6) Christian Lacroix once told me that women over 60 tend to stop buying fashion. What can you do to entice them back into your shop?
Mary: Nothing, I’m not trying to entice anybody over 60. I’m trying to entice women with modern minds who don’t go around with a number attached to their sense of who they are.
7) What trends can you see translating from the catwalk into your store, ie appropriate for the market you have identified, in the next season?
Mary: I don’t see this market as a sub-group who are inspired by different trends than the rest of the market. This market is living in the same cultural landscape as everyone else; their needs are just slightly different, their desires are more sophisticated, and they put up with less crap because they can spot it a mile off. These are women, who if they had the budget would be shopping at Prada, Marni, Jil Sander, Donna Karan and DvF. There is nothing out there for them at a mid-to-premium high street level. My sister is at the top of her profession in the NHS; but she could never stretch her salary to Prada, only on big birthdays. When she came to my shop she was like a kid in a candy store. We’ve already set down some of our Spring 2012 trends. We’re feeling for sleek 1990’s inspired modern sporty silhouettes; we’ve got some spectacular prints in development with a contemporary artist, and there is a definite 1930s feel of opulence and elegance in the air inspired by the chic of Nancy Cunard and Diana Vreeland.
Do you intend to take this to other stores after London?
Mary: Yes. Manchester is next.
9) How hard is service with a smile?
Mary: I only employ happy people, service with a smile comes
naturally to them.
http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Mary+Portas/MaryPortas,default,pg.html
http://dianepernet.typepad.com/diane/2011/08/pret-a-portas-an-interview-with-mary-portas-for-the-opening-of-her-shop-at-house-of-fraser-by-tamara.html
Stylist Tamara Cincik for our series on the summer adventures of 2DM’s artists.
Memories of our wedding where we spent 3 peaceful nights in a Romany caravan in a Suffolk field close to where we were married at the ridiculously pretty Wingfield Barns, inspired me in a turn of thought where I thought how marvellous, yet utterly golden-tinged it would be if, instead of leaving England for the continent, we went West to Cornwall and Devon…
Jeremy, my husband was less convinced of the merits of this, but after 3 days of 30ºC heat in the city, I remained utterly adamant about the merits of the trip, as our baby boy ‘Dukey’ had been very unsettled by the balmy nights. So I booked 3 nights in a gypsy caravan in Devon, to be followed by 3 nights in an eco-pod in Cornwall.
3 nights in Devon translated to 30 minutes. We collected our Sainsburys online delivery food shop, changed the baby’s nappy and after looking at a picturesque scene of dog hair, stinging nettles and pig manure, realised that this was not the place to be with a 3 month old baby. So we scarpered. The owner kindly offered us a house rental, but we were a bit scared to accept.
Taking refuge in Totnes, a lovely riverbank supper: our first night out with Dukey, was slightly overshadowed by a sojourn in what can only be described as Fawlty Towers without the tweedy styling. Totnes’ answer to Basil had been busy with the laminator: we counted perhaps 15 signs, 2 containing poetry about toilet habits, if I use the term poetry loosely, in a bedroom the size of which is more apt for a bathroom than a room for 3. Space is obviously at a premium in Devon, as it wasn’t cheap; who knew Totnes is the new Knightsbridge?
The ecopod I had booked in Cornwall’s owners were very sweet in allowing us to bring forward our stay and we drove down through Exmoor the next morning – a place so beautiful it still feels rawly elemental.
The , Atlantic Surf Pods are set in land on a farm, over the road from the sea, close to Bude. Think Teletubbiesmeets The Hobbit: they are well designed, clean, cute and offering good quality barbecue and cooking facilities. All was lovely, the only thing I would say is going off-grid with a 3 month old takes verve and guts in the sunshine, in thunder and lightening, I think it is kind of nuts!
We agreed that had we paid for the nanny all week and had a few beauty/massage treatments – ie enjoyed a London staycation – for the same amount of money spent, we would have been left feeling less exhausted. A new mother’s back is sore on another level and all I can add is, ladies with babies should go more luxe than home on holiday, not less.
I take total responsibilty for the choice in holiday made: I guess it takes time for a new mother to work out where her old life ends, and her new one starts…
On the plus side, we visited two gorgeous Cornish places of verdant gorgeousness: The The Eden Project and The Lost Gardens of Heligan which I would totally recommend each for their individual visions of this green and pleasant land. And the clifftop evening with old friends who had spent the week surfing and staying in a field above the sea for the princely sum of £5 per night, overlooking the Atlantic; where we had a makeshift bbq-ed supper, albeit under 5 layers, was perhaps not a glorious sunset, but fun and epic in its beauty nonetheless.
Tamara Cincik http://www.2dmblogazine.it/2011/08/tamara-cincik-cornwall-ecopod/
by AMNESIA MAGAZINE14.08.2011
There’s nothing cooler than Sophie Ellis-Bextor. Her dark hair, the tattoo on her arm that reads ‘Family’ inside a red heart, the love with which she speaks of her kids and how they set up tiny clubs at home while singing and dancing together. Sophie is a pop star and our weak spot. Her latest album, ‘Make a Scene’, will make us dream at Amnesia on 21st August.
The cover artwork for ‘Make a Scene’ is beautiful. Sophie in black and white, her eyes wide open, calm, the mouth just opening. Almost like a Mark Ryden character. This inspiring picture makes us think of a teen Sophie, almost gothic. She’s glad that the pictures in her new album communicate so much: “I love that you love the pictures! The photographer is Ben Weller. I wanted something that looked classic and I love that eerie look that black and white photos have to offer. We worked together for a couple of days, to gather up the pace and relax, and the idea evolved into something slightly different. I love the pictures where my hair is kind of billowing. I would’ve loved the picture on the back to be the cover!”
The cover is not the only evocative thing. The title of one of her new songs, ‘Heartbreak (Make Me a Dancer)’, is also evocative. Just by reading it you can picture her dancing alone in her room or in some club, melancholy. Where can we find her dancing? “Probably at home with my kids. I love playing them the music I love and we’re always singing. They also have a record player with club lights in their bedroom, so we can always set up a home club. I also dance at clubs, but that’s normally when I’m working, playing a set or a live gig. If I have the night off, I’ll usually just meet up with friends in the neighbourhood or I’ll go out for dinner with my husband. I dance enough on stage!”
And speaking about stages. Imagining her on the Amnesia stage is a powerful image. So pale, so incredibly beautiful and slightly ethereal. It’s great to have a dark-haired pop star… Sophie, please don’t ever dye your hair blonde. “My hair’s been red, blonde, even pink… but I’ll always be dark-haired in my heart”.
