In pictures- highlights from A/W 14-15 Part 2

Again all photos belong to Vogue UK, Vogue Paris and Vogue. 

In pictures- A/W 2014-2015 (My highlights 1)

I have so many favourite looks from the catwalks this season. These are just some of my favourites. There are so many of these that I've had to separate them in two parts. Just looking at them brings me so much joy- I hope they do the same for you! :)
All pictures belong to Vogue, Vouge UK and Vogue Paris

In pictures: Paris couture week 2014

Throughout the months of January-March I skim through all glossies and their facebook pages to try and find some of my favourite street fashion during the fashion week seasons. I'm contantly overwhelmed by the kind of effort people make for these shows, puts me to shame- at the same time inspiring and terrifying. Please not ALL photos and courtesy of Vogue, British Vogue and Vogue Paris. 

I'm a self certified Blow-Ho, are you?

A few months ago a colleague of mine kindly saved a copy of the Stylist magazine for me because she thought I might be interested in their article about London’s up and coming blow bar culture and the authors addiction to being a ‘blow-ho’. What is a blow dry bar you ask? Why any Fashionista worth their salt would tell you they are a group of super efficient and super stylish blow dry bars scattered throughout London that offer 30 minute and 15 minute blow-dries for London women-on-the-go. Bars such as these are well established in New York but Hershesons were the first company to open up such a bar in London. And if you have ever been to one of their blow dry bars you will understand exactly why they thought their venture would be a successful one.

They claim that no other London hairdresser knows more about hair and I am inclined to agree.  My first visit to them was towards the beginning of last year, mostly out of curiosity than faith in their styling abilities.  I have very thick hair which is rather unmanageable but a Hershesons blow-dry does a wonderful job of calming my mane and making me look more…erm human. They have a catalogue consisting of 7-8 hairstyles and each time you visit you can choose how you want your hair styled. My personal favourite is the big + brushed, described as a blow dry that leaves your hair feeling ‘bouncier’ giving your hair ‘a more fresher feel’. Not sure about bouncy or fresh but big+brushed does add a spring to my step I tell you.

Hershesons are a little bit like Pringles (once you pop you can’t stop etc etc) and if you’ve been once you’re sure to go back. That is if you’re a blow-ho which I have already established I am. So addicted am I to their blow-dry skills that I go there at least once every two weeks. That’s at least £50 pounds a month (some months I can go three times) so £600 pounds or more a year simply spent on a blow dry. Ok so I never said I was practical when it came to my hair. But go on try it, channel your inner blow-ho (yes I’m really using that word); I promise you won’t regret it.

*Branches of Hersesons blow dry bars can be found scattered throughout London. Google hersesons blow dry bars for more details.

CA4LA- arguably the best hat shop in London

Last weekend I paid a visit to my favourite hat shop in Hoxton. Situated among rows of book shops and eateries on Pitfield Street, CA4LA (pronounced Ka-shi-la in Japanese) is a hidden London gem only to be found by those who truly seek it.Headed by Japanese hat company Weave Toshi, the shop features an array of mostly Japanese made hats, fascinators, hattinators (a combination of Hat and Fascinator) and hair bands. Their website claims that seventy percent of their hats are made in Japan by Japanese designers but sometimes they also collaborate with overseas milliners. CA4LA is their first shop outside of Japan and unsurprisingly it attracts a largely Japanese crowd. 

I was first taken there by my Japanese friend who had found out about the place through her Japanese connections in the UK. Described by London Time Out as ‘Rustic’ the shop has an uber cool warehouse-turned-art-gallery feel. The hats are arranged throughout the shop. Formal hats with lace overlay can be seen arranged on the window sill, fascinators and hairbands are scattered around one of the dressing table inspired shelves and bowler hats are stood on hat stands which in turn are arranged in what looks like vintage furniture.

Wooden floors, brick walls and black chandeliers enhance the arcadian atmosphere of the place. The shop assistants are all Japanese, incredibly helpful and polite. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any occasion to buy hats in this trip (I know, I know you never need an excuse to buy hats) but I did get to take pictures of the place with the managements permission. 

If you like slightly unusual and quirky hats then definitely pay CA4LA a visit. Don’t expect them have a large selection of headgear for formal wear. They are more the go to place for casual and chic pieces. Expect to pay between £40-£80 pounds for a piece depending on the type of hat. And if you do go please don’t forget to let me know what you think of the place by commenting on this post. 

Vogue Fashion Festival 2013- Alber Elbaz and Donatella Versace

Those of you that have read my previous posts will know that I promised to review the festival after I had been. So the following is my take on this very fashionable event.

On a slightly cloudy, gloomy Sunday afternoon I made my way to the 2013 Vogue Fashion Festival. Wearing a Giambattista Valli white skirt with sheer tulle panel paired with a flowery Zara blouse and my trusted Louboutins I felt pretty confident that I looked fashionable enough for Vogue.
My misguided notion of being well dressed only lasted until I walked in through the doors of the venue and literally crashed into the fashion brigade. They were definitely out in full force to support Vogue UK hosting the festival for a second year. Groomed to an inch of their life these women and (few) men looked like a sea of beautiful swans swimming in the elegantly transformed Queen Elizabeth Hall of the Southbank Centre.

As usual my attention went straight to the footwear. Everyone without exception wore beautiful shoes; it is unfortunate that I could not photograph them all without looking like quite the stalker. There were beautiful Chanel bags all around, so much so that I am afraid to say I got slightly put off by it all. Capes have definitely made a comeback as I saw several people sporting one.

There was an exhibition of sorts outside the hall for people to wonder around at their own pleasure. I had tickets for both Alber Elbaz and Donatella Versace which were one hour apart. I had also arrived slightly early therefore had time to have a good look at the stalls and exhibitions that were set up before and after my sessions. There was a Vogue beauty parlour set up where you could get you hair braided in different styles and have your make-up done. You could then proceed to the Vogue cover shoot stall where you could have your own Vogue cover shoot. They had all the accessories for you to borrow and I have to say I was tempted to have my own Vogue cover holding the Chanel's new Hula Hoop bag. In addition they were doing 'Vogue photoshop' on your cover shoot as well. It was a win win situation. But alas there were long queues and I didn't have the time nor patience to wait.

One of the walls of the exhibition was dedicated to past and present Vogue covers giving it a red carpet feel. Many people were getting their pictures taken with the covers as background. There were two cafe's on site, both very busy. The adjoining Vogue shop were selling the usual memorabilia sold at festivals (festival mugs, t-shirts as well as books by speakers).I bought a Versace black and golden t-shirt which turned out to be one of my best buys as Donatella signed it later in the evening!

First up for the sessions was Alber Elbaz. From YSL to Lanvin, I have always loved his work. After listening to him on sunday I became an admirer of him as well. Elbaz was just the right amount of funny and self-depricating during his hour long session. He was being interviewed by Alexandra Shulman, editor of Vogue UK who asked him questions  ranging from his experiences in the Israeli army to being the creative director of Lanvin for the past 10 years. Elbaz explained that his passion for fashion was 'never about clothes, it was women'. His aim is to design clothes for women that 'feel and look good on women'. It was refreshing to see a fashion designer talk about food quite as much as he did; at one point he referred to his new book as 'short and fat, just like me'. He also went onto admit that the only people he were jealous of were those 'that could eat forever and not get fat'. He was all praises for Victoria Beckham. Apparently Elbaz has always wanted to sing but due to being shy has never quite managed to take it up. He saw Victoria recently and told her 'Victoria if you can do fashion I can sing'.

On a more serious note he talked about how high fashion was moving into board rooms and meetings. In his words designers were now 'googling Africa rather than going to Africa' to be inspired. He left us with the words 'fashion is not about second skin, it's a fantasy. The fantasy of a dress'. Well his words sure made me fantasise about working with him (hey everyone should have a pipe dream!).

I did not envy Donatella Versace's task of following Elbaz after his incredible session. However, she surprised me. I expected her to be 'plastic-fantastic' but she turned out to be more 'fantastic-fantastic'. She was very funny and engaging with the audience. I had always dismissed her as a fashion designer who was more flash that fashion but she certainly proved me wrong.

Starting from her very close bond with her brother, to her first line for Versace, to loosing her beloved brother in tragic circumstances, she came across as a genuine, strong and very brave woman.  It must have been a very daunting task to take helm of Versace when she was still grieving. She explained that most of her arguments with her brother was regarding the lengths of skirts as she always wanted them to be 'shorter and tighter'. Unsurprisingly when asked what she favoured as her personal style she explained 'tight and figure hugging'. Really Donatella? We would have never guessed. She also seemed like an avid advocate for new designers. She had great things to say about both Christopher Kane and J W Anderson; both of whom worked for Versace. Incidentally they were also present during her session and sitting five rows ahead of me. How I held back my stalker self from going to ask for pictures I do not know. After her session was over she signed some of our Versace t-shirts; my only complaint was that though the queue wasn't very long she only signed t-shirts for the first 10-12 people. I understand that she has to go and get her private plane back to Milan as she is very busy but surely another ten-fifteen minutes wouldn't have killed her. But hey if Miuccia Prada is one of her close friends she must be doing something right.

Anyway, overall a very enjoyable day, I thoroughly recommend going next year. Just remember definitely dress to impress- these voguettes (is that a word?) take their fashion rather seriously.

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight