Just Say No!

I promise that I am not that catty type of person who looks people up and down when they meet some one new, I don't give people a fake smile which fades the instant you stop looking at me. I don't whisper or giggle about people to distract from my insecurity and I don't judge people's choice of clothing......most of the time.....

Come on lady! There's just no need!

I apologise for any offence caused by either my post or these rainbow dipped flares.

“Style is knowing who you are, what you want to say, and not giving a damn.”

- Gore Vidal

It's a Waiting Game

So I am holding fast to my earlier blogged promise of abstaining from all kinds of shopping until I have worn everything in my current wardrobe but my goodness is there temptation!

For my last birthday PinkChilliPop very kindly gave me treasure - a velvet bag of golden coins.

Liberty Golden Coins that came to the very generous voucher total of £60.

I have held tightly onto those beautiful coins, determined to only let them out of their velvet pouch for something incredibly special.

  Recently, I found the treasure I want in exchange for my golden fortune.

These beauties are necklaces designed by a New York contemporary designer called Alexis Bittar. They are part of his Miss Havisham collection and the 3D design comes in both Silver or Rose Gold, as you can see.

I think it is stunning - beautifully simple, classic and yet manages to look brilliantly modern.

So I have £60 worth of treasure and the necklace is £75.....which means that I can't get it until I have worn everything in my wardrobe, risking the chance that they may leave their glass cased home in Liberty before I have fulfilled my promise!

Oh the pressure! How many wardrobe changes can I realistically achieve in one day in order to complete my task in time?

In the meantime I shall distract myself with the decision of whether to choose silver or gold......

silver or gold....gold or silver.

"Adornment is never anything except a reflection of the heart." 

~"Coco" Chanel

Latest Clicking and Clacking

Just thought I'd share a peek at the last knitting project I have just done having been blogging about deciding which project to get stuck into.

As a main birthday present for my friend B (who I took to the Grace Kelly exhibition) I decided to knit her a mohair shawl which could be utilised in many ways to suit all the seasons.

It took aaaaages but I was pretty proud of it and luckily she seemed to love it.  The pattern showed how by adding buttons to one side it could be used as a wrap/shawl, snood or even just a scarf.

Mohair is certainly not my favourite yarn to knit with as it's so fiddly but you can't argue with how prettily it knits up. Plus, when I can, I love giving friends something I made just for them. It feels better then any cheesy card to let them now how much I cherish their friendship.

 "When confronted with a birthday in a week I will remember that a book can be a really good present, too." 

-Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

London - I Love You

One of my favourite places in London, day or night, is the Southbank.  It makes me think of my 14 year old self desperate to get to London and pursue my dream of being an actor.  Whenever I am strolling through there, surrounded by the National Theatre, the London Eye, Westminister and Big Ben I am filled with pride that I am doing exactly that.  It continually inspires and props me up should I be having a 'London beat me up' day.

The other night I was walking through the Tower Bridge area and having never been along that part of  the river at night I was stunned at the beauty of all the contemporary buildings blazing with light against the context of the historical Thames and Tower Bridge.

 Please forgive the iphone photo quality!

"As to London we must console ourselves with the thought that if life outside is less poetic than it was in the days of old, inwardly its poetry is much deeper."

- Goldwin Smith

In the presence of Fashion....

I had such a lovely Friday night! As a birthday present for a friend, I took her to see the Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A (thanks to a lovely chum of mine who works there and snagged me some recession friendly freebies) and it turned out to be one of those perfect Friday nights out in London.

The weather was gorgeous so we started the evening with a cheeky glass of Rosé and a natter then made our way to the exhibition.  We had just got in and started absorbing the first collection of beautiful dresses when a girl rushed up to us and asked if we'd like free tickets to the fashion show that was about to start in the opposite hall ummmm...YES PLEASE! 10 seconds later we were seated in the stunning Raphael Gallery devouring delights from a London based designer called Osman.

The setting was gorgeous and the show started with 2 dancers, 1 male dancer in a navy Egyptian style sheath looking tunic with a gold encrusted collar and a female dancer in a fuller tulle style dress.  They both used their physicality to enhance the material and style of the clothing and set the tone for an exotic and opulent experience.

Unfortunately my camera was awful and so I only managed to get 2-3 barely decent shots but annoyingly not of any of his collection in detail.  I won't rave on about how stunning it was, without pictures but I will definitely be looking out for him! I will just say that the crystal studded wedges were a-mazing!

We managed to sneak a quick hello to my friend who'd sorted the Grace Kelly tickets and headed in to a whole other era of fashion.  It was simply divine! Go and see it if you can, her style was remarkably elegant, sophisticated and yet appeared effortless. 

Getty Images

We learnt lots about her and her fairytale life of model then Hollywood star, Oscar winner then real life Princess of Monaco! One of the things I liked best about her is how she felt very strongly about choosing classic pieces that would enhance her physical qualities and prove economical - she would wear an iconic dress several times over many years. How often do you see that in today's disposable fashion world!?

 

After deciding which dress dresses we'd like to take home (my favourite thing to do at fashion exhibitions) we headed out for more vino and nattering.  My friend, the birthday girl, knew of a great little pub in Brompton where we had a bottle of vino, delicious bar snacks including salt and pepper squid and courgette fries and chatted and laughed til it was time to go home.

Fabulous!

"I don't want to dress up a picture with just my face"

-Grace Kelly

Huuuge Vintage Sale!

Grab it while you can!

ChiliPop and I have loaded a huge amount of vintage goodies on the treasure trove that is Ebay.

Last year we accrued a huge amount of vintage wares and had a very successful stall on Brick Lane....but eventually...we wanted our lie-ins back and so are now shifting the remainder of our stock from the comfort of our beds.

Have a peek and pass it on, it doesn't last long!

“Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping.”

-Bo Derek

Too Many To-Do Lists!

Audrey Hepburn

I feel so exhausted! This week, full 7 day week has been i.n.s.a.n.e! 

I (and The Big One);

found a new flat

....had a lot of mess to sort....

started another p/t job, 

did a LOT of work,

had waaay too many business meetings,

informed utility services and closed accounts,

cleaned the flat top to toe for viewings,

found a TON of stuff to sell at a Car-Boot Sale which I did today 

and then took the remnants to charity bins,

did some more work and now I am blogging before bed.

Oh...and I did find a small window of time to watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'.

 Next week is to be muuuuuch calmer......althought current plans include;

work,

BIG Ebay vintage selling session,

open house viewings for this flat,

housework (in order to make viewings considerably less awkward then, 'please excuse the.....'),

packing,

more change of address notifications,

viewing new flat's refurb process,

and....knitting - well a girl can wish can't she!?

Audrey Hepburn

"...the only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away."

- Holly Golightly, Breakfast at Tiffany's

Get out your Castanets.....

I always know when Summer is approaching because (other then the weather and the 'please bring water on your journey' underground notices), the Royal Opera House start advertising their Big Screen Season.

I can't tell you how much I look forward to it! I have seen so many gorgeous ballets and operas that without this free public screening season would not be able to afford to share and delight in.

Imagine my excitement when I received the eflyer and my favorite Opera was first on the list
- Bizet's Carmen!

1896 American Production Poster

Fiery, passionate and vivacious!

Watch the trailer here 

Tuesday 8 June 7pm - find your nearest Big Screen here along with synopsis and all other scheduled performances.  I will be wishing for a perfect summer evening and planning a tapas style picnic to enjoy it all with......Hola!

"Let us have fantasy, boldness, unexpectedness, enchantment -- above all, tenderness, morbidezza!"
- Bizet

Pack up your troubles.....

I'm moving!

I am so excited about a new space, choosing where to put things, making everything clean and organised and starting as I hope mean to go on.....I'd love to be that girl, the naturally neat and organised girl whose stylish and charming belongings each have their very own place. Nothing's cluttered, everything's placed perfectly (without looking like it took any effort at all).

I am ruthlessly going through all my books, clothes and bits and I'm determined not to pack anything that doesn't fit into my new fantasy life of order and beauty.

Ho hum a catalogue life for me!

"Have no fear of perfection - you will never reach it"

- Salvador Dali

Treasure to share...

I have just discovered Buffy Sainte-Marie the Aboriginal/Canadian folk singer who is responsible for a lot of the iconic folk songs we're all familiar with but as covered by Donovan, Joplin, Diamond and Cocker.

I thought I'd share one of her early performances of 'Cod'ine' which documents her struggle to break her codeine addiction.

Bette Davis, we love you.

Bette Davis is one of my all time favourite actresses, in every performance she brilliantly demonstrates how powerful emotional repression can be. Today I watched 'Mr Skeffington' for the first time and it was fabulous, I learn so much from watching her.

Bette Davis and Claude Rains are fantastic and the clothes and hairstyles are simply delicious!

Just check out the original trailer.......

...how could you resist??

"Attempt the impossible in order to improve your work"

-Bette Davis

P.S. Check out Dark Victory, The Old Maid and Whatever Happened to Baby Jane for more stellar Davis.

A Declaration of Abstinence

This is it, a public declaration - I acknowledge openly and wholeheartedly that I have waaaay too many clothes! Thanks to loving trends, themes and concepts coupled with my hoarding and bargain seeking behaviour, I have rails that are buckling and drawers that are overflowing. 

So the promise is - 

Until I have worn everything in my wardrobe at least once I will abstain from adding to my already ridiculous stash (this includes shoes, bags and accessories).

 - Eeeeeek!-

While I feel (fairly) determined now, I am aware that my voracious appetite for every edition of; Elle, The Sunday Times Style; Vogue and Marie Claire will test both me and my earnest promises.  However I WILL remain strong.....wish me luck!

 "Elegance does not consist in putting on a new dress"

- Coco Chanel

A Tea Party of Happy Madness!

So PinkChilliPop's Mad Hatter's Tea Party has been and gone and it was FaBuLouS! The turn out and outfit effort was superb!  I particularly loved the table dressing, it was loaded with playing cards,  teapots of cocktails, gorgeous Roving Chef iced and bejewelled cupcakes, pots of bubbles, vases of sunflowers and best of all pens to draw on the tablecloth!

PinkChilliPop was a beautifully camp 'Alice on Acid' and she was ably supported by Kings and Queens of Hearts, Mad Hatters, White Rabbits and several gorgeously kooky ladies.  There were masks, presents, gloves, brooches and all things pretty.

I was, as previously blogged, a White Rabbit - Time? Time?  - I had a brilliant time!

"Mad Hatter: Have I gone mad?
Alice: I'm afraid so. You're entirely bonkers. But I'll tell you a secret. All the best people are."

I wanna be Rhiannon!

......or maybe just Stevie Nicks!