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.

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All hail the Great Gatsby

As I’m sure you all would have heard by now, Baz Luhrmann’s Great Gatsby will have its UK theatrical release in UK on the 16^th of May 2013. There has been so much anticipation over this film and not just because it is a movie version of Scott F Fitzgerald’s literary classic. If you haven’t read the book I highly recommend you do so (preferably before the movie version is released). It is very easy to read, highly entertaining and I promise you that you will fall in love with Gatsby’s devotion to the undeserving Daisy Buchanan- one of the most selfish heroines ever created in the history of literature (my sole opinion of course)!

However, as great as the book is I do not want to discuss its literary merits; I am far more interested in the buzz the movie is creating in the fashion world. This month, the cast of the movie have appeared in numerous fashion magazines (Carey Mulligan in Vogue USA, Leonardo Dicaprio in Esquire and the whole cast in Vogue Australia) who have taken the fashion of the film and combined it with the 1920’s era of glitz, glamour and jazz. Some photos from the shoots are attached throughout the post.

Catherine Martin, the film's costume designer, who incidentally happens to be Luhrmann’s wife, collaborated with Muccia Prada on costumes in the film. They created over 40 looks for the film inspired by archives from Miu Miu and Prada. The Brooks brothers worked with her on the men’s costumes. This does not come as a surprise as the brand was the go-to-place for men’s clothing in the 1920’s. Added to this Fitzgerald himself was a patron of the brand. And you will agree, I am sure, from the picture attached that they have done a fabulous job of bringing the 1920’s American gentlemen on screen.

In addition to the fashion of the movie, the movie has also inspired high fashion and high street designers alike to bring the 1920’s back in vogue.  Have a look around your favourite retail stores and you won’t be able to take two steps without seeing fringed dresses, 1920’s head bands or pearls. Given that Gatsby is a giant sartorial gift wrapped with Luhrmann magic, it is safe to say that I will be buying my ticket in advance to go see the first show!

Vogue Fashion Festival 2013

I am very excited to announce that my tickets for the Vogue Festival 2013 have just arrived! Vogue in association with the Southbank centre is running its 2nd annual festival in London this weekend (27-28th of April). The idea is that leading designers, photographers, celebrities, models and fashion editors will be giving audiences a unique insight into their lives and work through interviews, panel discussions and talks.Unfortunately, I cannot attend both days of the festival as I am out of london for most of the weekend but I have managed to get tickets for Alber Elbaz and Donatella Versace on the Sunday. I am so excited! If you are keen to go I suggest you log onto the official Vogue festival website on

( http://www.vogue.co.uk/special-events/vogue-festival-2013) and see if tickets are still available. Tickets cost around £40.00 pounds each plus processing fees.If on the other hand you can't go then watch this space as I will post a review of my experience next week.

History and Influence of trousers/pants on Fashion

I recall being rather surprised when a friend informed me that it was only during the early 1900’s that wearing trousers in European cultures became acceptable. My surprise was partly due to the fact that Chinese and Middle Eastern cultures (Harem pants anyone?) have long been following this trend.  So why did it take so long for Europe to come round and how did trousers become our most essential wardrobe staple? Ok so maybe this is not the case for all of you but I certainly cannot live without my jeans and black trousers.

Looking into this issue I came across an early 20^th century French designer by the name of Paul Poiret who is cited as being one of the first people in Europe to design trousers for women. Inspired by costumes he had seen on the Opera Sheherazade which is based on a famous collection of short stories from the Middle East called 1001 Arabian nights, he created wide-legged and loose fitting trousers for women thus introducing Europeans to Harem pants. I’m sure his designs must have created some outrage at the time.

It is often said that Gabriel Coco Chanel loved her harem pants and we all know (only too well) that what Coco loves we love too. Chanel was into designing clothes for active working women. She made sure her clothes were practical so that women felt relaxed in the clothes that they wore. Therefore, trousers instead of corsets took a centre stage in her collections. She was rumoured to have famously worn her boyfriends’ suits and designed riding trousers for women, a novelty in the 1930's as women usually rode wearing heavy skirts forcing them to ride, rather uncomfortably I assume, side saddle. 

People continued to be equally fascinated and horrified by the idea of women wearing trousers throughout the 30's and onto the early 40's. It did help the cause though that Hollywood actresses such as Katharine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich had started to wear trousers regularly. Even at the beginning of her career Marlene was known to single out masculine clothes to wear and garnered a reputation for having an androgynous quality. At the same time some people believe that Hepburn’s rebellion against wearing what was considered to be the norm at her time changed the perception of how women should dress.  

1950’s unfortunately dictated that women wear dresses rather trousers as trousers made them less ‘feminine’. Fortunately this trail of thought did not last very long and 1966 saw Yves-Saint-Laurent introduce Le Smoking tuxedo suits for women. Yves-Saint-Laurent was seen by many as having empowered women by giving them the option to wear clothes that were normally worn by men with influence and power. However, even so until the 1990’s trouser suits or pansuits were considered inappropriately masculine. In fact until the 1990’s women were not allowed to wear pansuits in the United States Senate.

Since the 1990’s though we have not looked back. Whether you are wearing jeans, pantsuits, shorts or jumpsuits I am sure you will all agree that we are ‘wearing the trousers’ more often than not. I find there is something liberating about wearing trousers in the 21^st century knowing that about 5 generations ago this would not have been considered appropriate. How do you feel about trousers? Do you find it empowering or do you think that only dresses and skirts doth a lady make? 

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Legalisation of gay marriage in the Western world- But when will the rest of the world catch up?

If you haven't been keeping up with current affairs recently, there is a huge debate going on in different parts of the world about legalising gay marriage. Some countries around the world and some states in USA allow LGBT individuals to have civil partnerships but many do not recognise marriage legally. Marriage is considered to be a social and legal union between two people which recognises their rights and obligations as well their commitment to each other. The countries that deny the rights of LGBT's to get married are essentially saying that this is only allowed if you are a male and female couple wanting to enter into 'holy' matrimony. Well actually it no longer needs to be 'holy' as civil weddings are also legal in most countries so really you need to be male and female in order to get married. I don't know about you but I find this to be a gross human rights violation. The fact that as a straight woman I am allowed to get married as I chose whereas my friend Robert in the states has to be content with a civil partnership to his partner of 10 years I find very unfair. What gives us the right to proclaim a heterosexual relationship better than a homosexual one? I know many heterosexual couple very unhappy in their marriage and know many gay couples very very happy in their relationship. And don't you dare give me the religion angle- not all of us believe EVERY SINGLE ASPECT of the holy books.  Also, there is no 'cure' for homosexuality, REALLY!

I was raised (at least for the first 8-9 years of my life) in a city called Dhaka in Bangladesh (google it if you don't know where it is!). Bangladesh is predominately a muslim country which though not overtly conservative (we are not made to wear head scarfs etc), still has similar values to most conservative religious countries. I grew up not knowing anything about the LGBT community; the idea that a man and a man or a woman and a woman could be in love and want to get married was alien to me. My first exposure to homosexuality came when I was in boarding schools in Kenya and the United Kingdom. Both of the schools were Church of England schools and considered homosexuality to be an abomination. Throughout my school life we were taught that marriage is for men and women, abortion is a sin, no sex before marriage, believing in God was my only salvation etc etc, I'm sure you get the picture. I have been horrified and ashamed by some of the Facebook status that came up on my feed during the UK same sex marriage debate- unsurprisingly almost exclusively from some of my old school friends.  It would be easy to blame a religious institution of breeding this kind of hate from a young age in young impressionable individuals but the truth is many conservatives around the world hold the same kind of belief regardless of their religious or cultural beliefs. 

Change is always difficult for people to understand and accept but ultimately it does happen. Take for example the end of slavery, the fall of the British Empire and now the shift in perception of gay marriage. Two hundred years ago if you told someone there would be a black president in the United States surely they would have laughed at you (best case scenario!); a hundred years ago if you told the British Raj that there would be an Indian revolution in a few decades they would have mocked you. However, it did happen and sooner or later gay marriage will be legalised along all of the western world. UK recently passed the gay marriage law and the United States is currently debating the issue in the supreme court with many people coming out on the streets to show support. 

The question is how long will it take the rest of the world to catch up? In a world where homosexuality is still punishable by death in some parts of the world, when will we see a major shift in perception and acceptance of all regardless of their colour, gender, creed and sexual orientation? I recently read an article published in Bangladesh where for the first time gay individuals anonymously spoke up about their experiences of being gay in a muslim country. Most of them felt hopeless and spoke about their plans of moving to a country where they are accepted for who they are and given the option of pursuing a relationship with someone publicly. I have also read in the past that in the Middle East lesbians are marrying gays with full knowledge of their sexual orientation to stay in the closet. Once married they are free to pursue same sex relationships as in the eye of the world they stay a 'respectable' conventional couple. The same can apparently be said about China. It is sad and unfair that people have to go to these lengths to hide such an important part of them but it also gives me hope that people in countries like mine have started a dialogue about such issues. I doubt I will get to see it in my time but maybe our grandchildren can build a world where secularism and acceptance triumphs over religious extremism and right wing conservative ideology. Pipe dream you say? Well go figure!

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