Leather and Studs

Kate Lanphear on Jak and Jil

I'm hardly alone in my admiration for Kate Lanphear. It's an undeniable blogger cliche to express awe over her style and almost-exclusively-black wardrobe.

Frequently captured by streetstyle photographers, Tommy from Jak and Jil has definitely snapped my favourite ever photo of Kate. Affirming how amazing hardwear can transform the simplest outfit, this photo now has desperate to acquire some leather to add to my wrists. Already knowing they could never look this good.

Topshop/Vintage/River Island/God knows where else

Tough as new boots

As promised, you now don't need to look at photo after photo of the Office shoes.

On a rare trip to Topshop at the weekend I felt uninspired by the clothes and so gravitated towards the shoe floor. Shoes are becoming failsafe instant gratification these days... so much so that I'm worried about ending up with a wardrobe full and having to walk around otherwise naked. Or at least in old AA basics, as that's all I seem to have these days.

So, the Emma Cook boots have been purchased, allowing me to pretend that I'm straight out of the Topshop Lookbook, from the knees down at least. Interestingly the boots look almost flat from the front - as they do in the lookbook photos - giving the illusion that your legs are about 5" longer than they actually are. Until you turn around of course.

Vintage striped top/ Boyfriend's old hoodie / Cheap Monday jeans / Emma Cook Topshop boots

Colour clash

I have Style Bubble to thank for highlighting the fabulous tights at last week's Eley Kishimoto show. Long term readers will know that I am a huge fan of hosiery. I just can't get enough and am forever ordering packages full of more and more coloured variations.

I'll now have to add EK to my dream hosiery file (I don't have a literal dream hosiery file... though maybe I should have) alongside Bebaroque. And of course the best thing about the Eley Kishimoto tights is their combination and contrast with the shoes.

When buying shoes - except perhaps for boring black - I immediately think of all the tights possibilities they will afford and I've decided that right now it's all about clashing colours. On my solitary jaunt to LFW I was lucky enough to be photographed a couple of times and managed to track down some of the photos. The colours are incredible compared to what my crappy Casio is able to produce, though it's a shame about the chip on the heel. A product of my vigorous Notting Hill Carnival dance routine.

I promise this will be the last post featuring these shoes. Not least because I've bought a pair that make these look dainty in comparison.

Pretty Personal Question

A week ago I had visions of attending dozens of shows at London Fashion Week. Turns out that due to schedules and other work commitments I'll be lucky to manage a couple. I did however make it to PPQ on Sunday and then hung around outside bothering celebs with a camera (Erin O'Conner & Nicola Roberts = lovely).

One highlight was getting into the tent 15 minutes early to watch the rehearsal which allowed me go actually look at the clothes, rather than be overwhelmed by the pounding music, camera flashing and necessary celeb spotting which took over as soon as soon as the show started. I did manage to snap a few quick photos with my rubbish camera, soon realising that the slow reacting flash meant I was only getting the back view of the outfits as the models headed back up the runway.

I did however unwittingly end up with an album full of new best mates and 'Nylon Faces' Peaches Geldoff and Cory Kennedy who seemed besotted with each other and sat with linked arms throughout the show. A match made in heaven, you could say.

The clothes lived up to PPQ's fun and almost cartoonish aesthetic with much of the collection in the most summery of ice cream shades. But there was also monocrome, colourblocking, nautica, prints and ripped light denim. Cohesion was provided by astronomically high platforms - though not quite as high as those at Charles Anastase - and some fantastic statement headwear; possibly the only out-there items in an otherwise very 'wearable' collection.

More than anything I can away from the PPQ show with a renewed excitement for fashion in general - more a product of the show and the buzziness than the clothes themselves - making me realise how much this has flagged in recent weeks with my hectic schedule, shopping draught and black/grey wardrobe pallet. I'm now itching to get to the shops and have hundreds of ideas whizzing round my head... just hoping I'll get a chance to before they all dry up.

PPQ SS08 - see everything here

Little Back Dress

Given that I went absolutely crazy for the last big spate of Topshop's designer collaborations - Schwab, Nicholl and Saunders dresses all vie for space in my wardrobe - it's strange that since then I haven't been keeping on op of them at all. Stranger still that Ann-Sofie Back - not a favourite designer but one whose outlook I admire - should bring out a Topshop collection in this season's LACE (bored of it yet?) and I don't even notice.

On a quick and solitary jaunt around Topshop last weekend I noticed Back's collection. This 'cowl dress' was my favorite piece. The strappy arm details are subtle yet set the dress apart from other lace offerings on the high street. Whether they're worth the extra cash probably depends on whether you have it just lying around. Personally I'd rather invest in something that's not such a ubiquitous 'trend', but I'll definitely have my eye on Ann-Sofie Back's LFW show later today.

Balmainia

I can't be the only one wondering how many times tartan/plaid can be declared the biggest thing for Autumn/Winter before people start to get truly bored of it. Still, despite my BritUgly post on being wary of trends, this is one which I don't mind buying into. I blame my Scottish heritage. Not that it's really necessary to 'buy' into tartan, having acquired so much over the past few years.

Still, Queen Michelle's post about her fabulous Primark trousers did get me thinking that the trouser was one tartan item that I'd been slightly wary of. While Michelle worried about comparisons with Russ Abbott, I feared Rupert Bear. Still, I was tempted by these Balmain-esque trousers and would even have considered swinging by the moshpit that is Primark's Marble Arch store if I hadn't encountered an alternative.

A short window in my shopping drought yielded both the dress in my previous post and these green tartan Unconditional trousers. After finding them with no price tag in Concrete's sample sale area I managed to haggle the price down to £25. The immediate reaction was to throw them on with the aforementioned dress for a sort-of-Balmain look. I'll aim to be a bit more experimental in the future...

Paint it black

Thanks to everyone for your patience during these posting lulls which seem to be getting more and more frequent. I can assure all those who were worried that the blog is most definitely still going and should be returning to a more regular frequency very soon. In truth, I must say I'm looking forward to posts which don't involve me apologising for the lack of posts...

Work is affecting my wardrobe in a number of ways. Being surrounded by cupboards full of clothes with no time to buy them - let alone blog about them - is a frustrating experience. There are also the restrictions on what can actually be worn with head-to-toe black required on certain days. Selina of Flying Saucer mentioned her difficulties in finding an all black outfit in her wardrobe, and the subsequent disaster which occurred after following one of my old posts. I blame myself!

Weirdly, though I seem to be drifting further and further towards an exclusive pallet of black and grey, when faced with the task of constructing a full black outfit I still struggle. I think it's the feeling of needing something, even if it's just a pair of tights, to break things up. On a recent all-black day I resorted to my boyfriend's ancient hoody and an annoyingly sheer Patrik Rzepski dress I picked up in the Two See sale. Annoyingly sheer as I love it but it necessitates the wearing of leggings underneath.

Topshop leather jacket / Old black hoody / Patrik Rzepski dress / AA leggings / Gold converse

Sorry about the poor quality photos. I can't quite seem to get a balance between no flash (warm but too dark and shadowy) and flash (grey and clinical) so I though I'd provide a bit of both. I use Casio Exilim. Any camera tips hugely appreciated.

Autumn days

At last, the moment all bloggers (except Rumi) have been waiting for... summer is officially over and we can all start easing ourselves nicely into our Autumn/Winter wardrobes. Long-time readers of this blog will know that for me this equals some serious tights purchasing and the chance to dig out the collection I amassed last year. Until I get round to that, I've been symbolically welcoming in the Autumn by wearing decidedly non-summery items in an almost celebratory way.

Last year I picked up a couple of oversized men's shirts for throwing on with jeans for those really-cannot-be-arsed types of days. Feeling a bit too scruffy or just plain boring in them, they didn't see much wear. However, when waking up for work at 5am this morning - not a daily occurrence - a huge thick checked shirt seemed the obvious thing to reach for.

Topman shirt / Topshop jacket / old cut offs

Uniqlo men's shirt / AA leggings / ASH brogues / Jelly Belly beans

I wasn't until I was sitting on the tube this morning that I realised the bizarre mix of textures I'd managed to achieve with my eel skin lame leggings, ribbed socks and patent brogues. It kept me amused for a good part of the day - I'm pretty simple like that.

Pressing repeat

It seems that now I'm working on an extremely demanding sort-of-fashion-related job, not only do I have no time to blog, I have absolutely zero time to shop for new clothes. In fact, I barely have the energy to think about what I would buy if I did have the time.

This whole situation is wondrous for my overdraft - it's shocking how much I must've been spending before - but slightly less inspiring for my wardrobe and I'm struggling to suppress a yawn when I open it every morning.

Thus, outfits and items are on heavy rotation and repetition. I don't actually have a huge amount of clothes as I tire of things easily and many end up on eBay after not so long, so if I've managed to create an outfit which I feel is reasonably successful and interesting then there's no way I'm going to wear it just once.

The same goes for individual garments. I hate to own up to my fickle attitude to what I buy but the newest stuff I usually worn the most, with my studded waistcoat by Makin Jan Ma getting some seriously heavy rotation.

I'm not sure if it was the booze or the studs but when stumbling on this smashed up ATM I decided to make the most of the hilarious (well, I thought so) photo opportunity.

Primark moto jacket / Makin Jan Ma waistcoat / AA dress / Office shoes / Vintage bag / Various jewellery

Blue suede shoes

Proof, if it were needed, that these shoes are so comfortable and easy to walk/dance/run in that they deserve status as a marvel of modern science.

Taken towards the end of the second day of Notting Hill carnival...

The bleached jeans How To

Since I first posted the Mosshart-inspired jeans there have been numerous requests for a detailed tutorial on exactly how to make them. To be honest, the process is so incredibly simple that it barely needs explaining, but hopefully this will answer any questions which some of you may have.

You need...

The pair of jeans you want to bleach - I used a blue/black pair, but I think that most dark colours would work well. Obviously don't use your favourite most expensive pair of jeans, as though this process is very simple it's also quite unpredictable.

The bleach. I think this is the area that has been confusing everyone and it took me a while to figure it out too. Unfortunately I can only speak for British branding, but I used 'household bleach' when making my acid wash t-shirt for a more subtle effect and 'thick bleach' for making these jeans. Basically, use the strongest stuff you can find. It may mention on the bottle that it can be diluted and used to bleach clothing. But we won't be diluting, oh no!

You also need glove to protect your hands. It's strong stuff.

What to do...

Take your jeans and completely soak them with water so they are wet through. Place them in the bath - or another suitable place - and squirt beach on all the parts you want bleached out. Be liberal in the amount but remember that any part that touches the bleach will lose colour. There's no going back.

Flip the jeans over - using gloves - and repeat the process on the back. Remember that the bleach is likely to soak through to some extent.

How the jeans looked after about five minutes...

Leave your jeans in the bath until the colour has almost faded to white. Don't worry if they look a bit yellow, the bleached parts will lighten further when you wash. You should leave them for up about ten minutes... any more and your denim may start to disintegrate.

When sufficently lightened, chuck them in the washing machine for a normal cycle.

Remove, dry, finished!

Now we can all look like Alison. I love the thought that she probably makes her own too.

You're so fancy!

I’ve previously discussed my love of fancy dress. It’s one of my favourite things. When a fancy dress event rolls round I can be sure to go all out on my costume, ideally to the point where I’m almost unrecognisable. The outfits are usually something I put together from my own wardrobe with a few small additions and there positively has to be a wig involved. Usually a blonde one.

Fancy dress parties with a theme are the best - the are just to many options otherwise - and this weekend I attended a 80s Movie themed party. There was literally not a moments consideration about my outfit. Blade Runner is up there in my top three favourite films, possibly even right at the top, and in style terms, the most memorable character is replicant Pris. The styling in the film and the make-up of Marvin Westmore adds so much that it really deserves it's own post. Pris is definitely one of my style icons - I remember watching Bladerunner I was younger and thinking she was incredibly beautiful and ridiculously cool in her all-black ensemble and spray on eye makeup.

I think good fancy dress requires attention to detail and a quick google search yielded a photo of one of Pris’ actual costumes as a museum piece. As the film is very grainy and dark this highlighted details like the colourful sheen on the shorts that would be impossible to pick out on screen. In the end, I managed to formulate a reasonably faithful recreation using what I found in my wardrobe, plus a pair of AA shorts and a wig.

Experts may recall that the same make up was used in the Dior Fall 2006 Couture show, with Bladerunner’s Pris cited as the inspiration. It actually took me just a few minutes to apply and it certainly makes a dramatic statement. To be honest I think I’d like to wear this make-up everyday, though I don’t think my pillowcases would thank me…

They will be mine.... oh yes, they will be mine....

I usually feel that when I've actually told someone I'm thinking about buying something - whether it's real life friends or blog readers - it's like I've given up all my powers of consideration and have resigned myself to the fact that I'm going to buy it. When the idea is out there, the unstoppable shopping force just seems to take over...

And so I'm pleased to report that the too-small DMs weren't my only foray into the 'ugly shoe' of late. I also picked up the Pelvis Creepers (still loving that name) and since I did I've been regretting the day I even suggested they were ugly. I now realise they're pretty much perfect and am actually wishing the style and shape was even more bizarre and exaggerated. And that's not to mention the fact that they are THE most comfortable pair of shoes I've ever worn. Seriously, it's almost like walking on clouds.

I can't help thinking that that they call for a sort of cartoonish vibe in a PPQ or Luella theme - one I'm unable to recreate from the contents of my wardrobe. Until I can, I'll probably still be wearing them with anything and everything. A comfort factor this high is just to hard to pass up. As a long-time chunky heel devotee, it seems that this could be the start of a very beautiful friendship with the stiletto. Providing it comes with a whacking great platform.

Doc swap?

After months of last minute eBay auction losses, postage problems and general confusion I finally have a pair of Doc Martens in my possession. And I must say, do feel quite the bad ass.

It's been about eight years since I retired my teenage pair - which makes me sound old - and I'm already wondering how I coped in the years in between. Already I can see my Docs being the only shoe which has the potential to get me excited about wearing flats. And that's some achievement.

Yet sadly, this story doesn't have a happy ending... It seems that weeks of working with statuesque models has made me realise how teeny tiny my feet are (I'm usually a UK 4.5) but it has also made me a little too confident in their teenyininess.

After a day mooching around my flat in my new size 4 docs - for mooching read posing and doing high kicks - I'm on the verge of accepting that they could potentially cripple my feet. Though a subscriber to the No Pain No Gain school of thought, I don't like to feel like my feet are permanently in a vice and thus am facing the inevitable long process of relisting the boots on eBay and bidding for a pair in size up.

If any tiny-footed reader has a pair of size 5 black DMs that they'd like to swap for a smaller size, speak up now!

London party people...

Believe it or not, but on the rare occasions when I'm not blogging about clothes, reading about clothes or making television shows about clothes I like to actually go out; preferably somewhere with affordable booze and loud music.

For those Londoners who are similarly inclined, my boyfriend and some friends are putting on a summer party tonight - FRIDAY 15TH AUGUST - at the inimitable A10 Russian Bar, just up Kingsland Rd from Shoreditch.

It's £3 before midnight and the party goes on til 5am. With crazy visuals, even crazier outfits, hip-hop, bassline, party music AND a free glass of champagne on entry, it's not to be missed!

More information, included mixes, can be found on their MySpace and blog. It'd be great to see some readers there - I'll probably be working on the door for part of the night so do say hello if you come down.

These flyers really don't go with my blog...

More Marjan

I was slightly amazed to discover that Susie Bubble doesn't have some kind of incredible online shopping compendium saved somewhere in her hard drive and instead is a random online shopper and browser just like myself.

Rather stupidly, I don't usually bother to save sites of interest, preferring to email them to myself when I first discover them and then usually forget about them all together until a random light bulb moment weeks or months later.

There are however several online boutiques that are so ingrained on my brain that I'll return to them again and again. This is not to say I ever really buy anything - my lack of Visa usually puts a stop to any real life purchases - but top of my hitlist is Welcome Hunters, an LA based store I have posted about previously.

I'd been cyber stalking several items in the Welcome Hunters sale for a number of weeks, waiting for payday and growing more and more distressed as the smaller sizes of said items continued to sell out.

Missing out on this incredible Marjan Pejoski dress - which readers may remember I've had my eye on for months - was particularly distressing, but there was nothing like a peek at the AW08/09 Pejoski collection to get me all excited again. It's currently up on their blog and due to hit the Welcome Hunters online store in early September.

Marjan Pejoski AW08/9. A fellow fan of the 'ugly shoe'.

U.G.L.Y you ain't got no alibi

Several bloggers who share my taste in footwear have described some of their collection as ‘ugly shoes’. Personally, I don’t really understand the term, as the features of these so called ‘ugly shoes’ - chunkiness, unusual shapes, thick straps - are much more visually appealing to me than anything delicate and dainty, as I assume they are to their owners.

For me a truly ugly shoe would be something like the post-1980s entries in this NY Mag article - click through if you dare. I’ve never found myself simultaneously desiring a shoe whilst contemplating it’s ugliness... Until now. Witness the stiletto creeper.

Every time I look at these shoes I seem to be experiencing some kind of bizarre sartorial doublethink. It’s quite possible that the dilemma will only be put to rest by actually buying a pair.

Layering-not-Layering

Alongside the feeling that one shouldn’t wear head-to-toe black another annoying part of summer is the lack of opportunities for layering. Luckily some bloggers - and designers - have come up with ingenious ways of achieving some kind of layered effect without the added sweat-inducing fabric.

Since introduced to Fleet Ilya through Style Bubble I’ve been fascinated with the idea of layering one of their Restraint harnesses over an outfit. Unlike this fantastically androgynous Dazed and Confused editorial where the harnesses are worn alone, I’d love to try one over a floral dress for contrast or - more predictably - over something tight in grey or black.

Financial restraints (no pun intended) mean this is complete fashion fantasy, but while I’m yet to see anyone attempt a Fleet Ilya-esque DIY, both Lulu and Queen Michelle have recently experimented with projects which can be layered over clothes.

Although I don’t possess anywhere near enough skill to attempt something of Fleet Ilya proportions, I plan to hot-foot it down to my local bead store to pick up some chains and possibly a few zips so I can satisfy my layering desires until the summer waves goodbye for another year.

Richard the Obscur

Try as I might, I've never been able to fully embrace bright colours. Yet, just when I think this blog is taking a serious turn towards the dark side I stumble across a designer that makes me feel positively neon in comparison.

Previously designing under the name Macabre, Richard Söderberg's new Obscur moniker holds less morbid connotations yet retains an undeniably dark aesthetic.

Citing Ann Demeulemeester, Number 9 and Rick Owens as influences, the Swedish designer uses thin and light materials to allow his all most exclusively black SS08 collection to retain summertime wearability. It's menswear, but androgynous enough to be considered unisex.

Still, the collection is by no means beach-ready, but it's good to know that in the seemingly never ending sea of floral minis there are designers out there who have the needs of us summertime goths at heart.

All Obscur SS08

Work work work (pub, club, sleep)

I hate hate hate doing posts apologising for the lack of posts, so I'll make this the last mention of it. Work has really taken over during the past couple of weeks and may continue to but I'm hopefully going to achieve a work/blog balance which means a eight day gap in posting won't ever happen again.

It's strange that when I was young, August seemed to signify the height of summer - what with it being the only month with no school - whereas now August feels like the end of the summer season and the start of a new one. Whether it's the fact that the hot weather seems to come and then go earlier every year or that I now think in purely fashion terms and have my shopping eye on the AW collections, by the time August rolls around I'm totally over summer and desperate for the next thing.

Recent hot weather hasn't served my bored-with-summer outlook particularly well and I've found myself waking up and praying for a grey day outside. Last Friday, when I wore the outfit below, I deliberately sat drinking gin in my flat for a few hours before going out, just so the weather would have cooled down enough to allow me to wear tights. Seems my inner goth is surfacing yet again...

Adam & the Ants t-shirt from eBay / Urban Outfitters skirt / Vintage bag / M by MJ shoes

Speaking of work... there is a facebook group for the fashion series I'm currently working on. It's about as mainstream as you can possibly imagine, but I'd love you all to sign up and invite your friends as we're looking for different people to appear on the show every week.