not your average photographer...
photographers are normally meant to be the ones pointing the camera at the fashionable and beautiful people. uh... not quite at fashion week. even the press were sickeningly cool... oozing style and originality. always a bit caught off guard when asked to have their photo taken (is it just a ploy to add to their mystique?) their candidness and sense of style is just too phenomenal to be passed up.
monochrome: has anyone read the april edition of UK harpers bazaar? they mention throughout that simple and sharp black and white (with accents of grey) is their forecasted biggest trend for spring. a trend i actually had not heard much about until i bought the magazine today. but here it is, alive and thriving, on two girls with markedly different senses of style. i have loads of photos of the photographer on the right. that hat! it is seriously divine - so luminescent and like a piece of painted artwork - the greys just sort of morph together to create this lifelike fur entity, just hanging out on top of her head. oh i love it. and those boots! with all the little studs... ah, so lovely.
seriously this girl is gorgeous. i love her (what looks like vintage) pink trench, especially when paired with the chunky black doc martins. umm... seriously, doc martins are having a moment. i remember having a pair of doc martin mary-janes when i was like, 9... too bad i don't still have those. anyway, they are great and i am appreciating that they have overcome the whole skin-head affiliation they had back in the 70s (seriously even my political theory professor wore a pair to class yesterday!).
basically i was just totally won over by these girls. they sort of seemed so uninterested in the hype of fashion week... like the total hysteria wasn't phasing them. they looked like they were there to do their job, and once the frenzies of people faded away (due to rain) they did too. i just think they look so cool, and there is something about having that big powerful camera dripped around your neck... which reminds me. a lot of the time photographers will ask if you want them to hide their camera out of shot when you shoot them. personally i like it.
these guys have such different style. i saw a photo of the gentleman on the left on another website.... but i can't remember where. he looks quite scandinavian to me (i am sure one of you out there knows who he is and will correct me on that...). his hair, glasses, beard, the structure of that coat... i really love it. have just noticed that he doesn't have on any gloves and is trying to hide his hands inside his sleeves... i totally sympathize with that. now, the gentleman on the right was pretty sly, just sort of fading into the background (although, that seems bizarre now - do you see his shoes? how could he blend in with those on?). he's pretty cool with that military inspired jacket, bright yellow sneakers, and big red bag.
shortly after i asked to take his photo everyone went mental for him and got down on their knees to photograph him. it's like their bowing down to him or something. ah, the power of a good subject.
update: have just found out that the chap in the yellow sneakers is Nedim Nazerali. he is a freelance photographer based in london and has an incredible website full of enticing photos that you can check out here and a seriously cool blog called creamsoda creamsoda (creamsoda just happens to be my favourite kind of soda... but i can't seem to find any good ones in the UK). anyway, check them both out. you'll be happy you did.
fierce feet..
brass details, black toe-nail polish peeking through, diamond print tights, lace ups and buckles...
flash your red soles... it is such an iconically glamorous look. am loving the funky cable knit leggings with metallic detail sewn through. totally off beat and unexpected with such classic shoes.
she was walking too quickly so they are a bit of a blur... but i love them nonetheless. the leather cut out detail, visible rubber grip on the sole, wooden heel...
oh the girl your facing directly towards the camera with the cropped trousers and fur hat... i love your shoes. where are these bad boys from? i thought they had chanel logos on the back of the heels at first - but when i zoomed in they definitely were not... but i couldn't make out what they were - crowns maybe? totally love the emblem on the back and am desperate to know who they are made by. also, honestly - there is an insane sock craze going on at the moment. i know it's been bubbling underground for a while... but it has seriously exploded and it presently everywhere. seriously practical - no blisters and your feet stay warm. oh, and it's pretty stinking cute.
also, hello hot mama on the right. those shoes are smoking. there were loads of people standing around and i just spotted these vibrant red satin shoes. they are seriously incredible and would spice up any old outfit. they remind me of valentino, and one of his beautiful perfect red dresses. am loving the fan detail at the back and the platform... they look very beautifully made and gorgeous quality. i didn't see anything similar at fashion week - these babies were one of a kind.
on the move, coming out of Somerset house...
was standing around the corner of the somerset house tent when a show let out and floods of people came walking around corner. it was just barely raining, the worst had passed, but those lucky enough to have been at the show didn't realize it has been bucketing it down on us poor folks stuck outside... so as they were struggling to whip out their umbrellas, minds full of the magic they had just seen coming down the runway, i was trying to shoot them s as quick as i could. i just sort of love the combination of determined looking people coming 'round that corner on their way to the next venue - black umbrellas mirroring the bigger black umbrellas that we had been sitting under in the background. some very distinctive looks walked by... i love the hair and boots on the guys above.
'I can't wear these shoes to a model party!'
I have been meaning to show you these bad boys for a while. Basically, I bought them in a moment of panic... on day 1 of fashion week. I was in classes pretty much all day so was wearing some grunge-tastic student gear (i.e. leggings, converse, hoodie etc. - pictured below) when all of a sudden it turned out that not only was I having a blast (between classes) at Somerset House, but that we were going to some Oxygen model party that night. Yah, so you sense my problem, right? I could not wear those shoes to a model party. Naturally I would already be about half a foot shorter then everyone - and if they all had on heels and I didn't, well! that would just be a travesty. I would be like a little midget lost in a sea of tall gorgeous people... and we could not have that. So, we fled to Oxford Street (where all great fashion emergencies can quickly be remedied) in search of some fierce but cheap shoes. To my absolute surprise I spotted these little beauties in the sale section of Urban Outfitters they had a sticker on the sole that said 125.00 GBP but was marked through, and in its place said 19 pounds. Nineteen?!! Chiii-chiiiiing!! Primark shoes can cost 19 pounds sometimes. Oh, I was so happy. They were the only pair, they were in my size, they are death to walk in... but hey, a small price for a bit of 19-pound-glamour, they are real leather, and (did I mention?) they have the ability to transform any drab outfit into model-party-worthy perfection?! I was slightly petrified when I asked at the till if they were actually meant to be that cheap... luckily they were, and I headed off a seriously happy little girl... ready to take on the Oxygen models.
(photo credit to Jill for these pictures of Emerald and I)
p.s. sorry i don't have a photo of the complete outfit from that night - we didn't take any photos. but, don't worry i didn't just swap my shoes i swapped my top for something better too.
flashback...
Few individuals are capable of pulling off such an iconically era-inspired look with such ease... maybe that is because he isn't trying to recreate a specific era. It just so happens one rarely sees men in such well tailored suits, that when you do - they look remarkably out of place. It seems untrue that this is the same Somerset House that was littered with wannabe fashion-pack style junkies decked out in the latest designer inspired high street gear. Remarkably though it is... another testament to how diverse London style really is. We* spotted Donald as we were leaving and obviously wanted to shoot him. Probably staring and looking anything but sly, he noticed us and waved to follow him. So, up the steps we went and over to this little location where he casually posed like a pro. Clearly you can see we weren't the only people interested in shooting him. I can attest that there was no one around wearing anything similar to his bespoke Savile Row getup... well, after all it's bespoke darling - so how could they be? Interested in traditional tailored menswear? Check out his website here. It is filled with all sorts of articles and insight into the mysterious world of mens fashion.
* In case you are wondering the 'we' refers to Jill and I - she has also done a post on him here.
KAYU: bamboo sunglasses...
New sunglasses are always on my wishlist. A girl can never have too many sunglasses. So when I stumbled across these gorgeous items at Somerset House last week I was pretty much immediately sold. They are gorgeous, so lightweight and totally unique. Not the sort of glasses (ehem... wayfarers*) that every other person has, in the real or knock-off versions. They are absolutely one of a kind from the design straight down to the material and the brand's mission...
All these frames are made from bamboo, which it just so happens, grows twice as fast as a tree and restores itself in just five years. It grows naturally, doesn't need any pesticide or fertilizer, thereby making it a sustainable and eco-friendly material. These glasses are actually made from the Mao Zhu species of bamboo, and just incase you were worried... it's not the type that pandas eat.
For every pair of glasses sold KAYU funds one sight restoring surgery in the developing world. Why? You might be wondering... well, it turns out that 80% of blindness in the world is curable or preventable and there are 36million people out there who are blind, who could be treated! Jamie Lim, the founder of KAYU, is trying to bridge the gap between technology and access - helping bring innovation and medical treatment to those who can't afford it themselves.
Not only does the brand have a double-whammy of a mission (health & environment) they also produce incredibly stylish items. There aren't any massive obnoxious logos, just the little one on the inside you can see through the lenses. They have a variety of shapes and you can get them as prescriptions or as sunglasses. You can find out more about them on their website here. In case you are wondering, no, they haven't offered me a free pair or anything like that - I just really like the frames, the vision behind the brand, and was completely won over by how sweet and down to earth Jamie was.
Jill modeling her favourite pair.
*despite my annoyance at the amount of people that have wayfarers i do still love them, okay, i can't deny that.
navy reworked...
i spotted peaches geldof in the tent at somerset house as i was waiting to go into the eun jeong show. at first no one noticed her, she was chomping away on an apple, and talking to her friend. i didn't want to act like an obnoxious paparazzi so attempted to be sly and shimmied over near her and took the above photo. as i was doing that, casually and discreetly i might add, two other ladies came over and got in her face and started screeching about how they could offer her free clothes to wear to events and started snapping her photo... i suddenly felt pretty mortified and darted back to where i was sitting. i couldn't resist though, i wanted to get her photo. even if it hadn't been peaches geldof i still would have wanted to get her photo. she looked seriously stunning.
wearing a navy coat with gold buttons, bright red dress (poking out just the right amount), and super high black strappy heels. she couldn't keep both feel firmly on the ground the whole time i saw her... it's a wonder she didn't tip over. she looked way more put together and lady-like than i would have imagined. not at all the hot-mess image portrayed in the magazines. she was also way thinner than i had expected, but surprisingly not in a gaunt sort of way... more like she had been on a few runs. apologies for my inadequately blurry photos, but i just wanted to show you my take on what the elusive celebrity is like...
it is remarkably sunny in the UK today. i woke up singing black eyed peas 'i got a feeling' but substituting the words 'tonight' for march and 'night' for month... it is scary the sort of euphoria sun in the country causes. it has been such a rarity lately that it actually feels like a bit of a drug. so today, to my excitement, it was warm outside and perfect weather for busting out the much neglected sunglasses. i spotted this lovely girl, izi, sitting outside starbucks with a group of boys. i asked if i could take her photo and one of them said, 'ah, she gets that a lot', 'really?' i asked, 'uh... no.' was the reply i got. well, i would have believed it. she is naturally gorgeous and pretty much oozes a sly confidence. i asked her if she was a student, which it turns out she is. i seem to remember seeing her around starbucks a lot, does she ever go to class? 'yah, but it was sunny today...' quite right izi. i definitely agree. march has started off with an incredibly beautiful beginning... definitely not the sort of day to go to class.
izi wears: vintage jacket, grandmother's floral top, topshop shorts, dorothy perkins shoes.
thought you might like a little break from LFW style... i have still got loads more to show you from it though, i hope you don't mind?
the people you meet when hiding from the rain...
At Somerset House on Tuesday it was pouring down with rain and freezing. I sought refuge by the Lavazza coffee van and luckily wound up with some pretty great company. This is Kit Lee of Style Slicker. I took the photos of her below before I met her - as you can see she's got a great sense of style. I love the little pops of red. She refers to herself as being an 'amateur photographer' but her work doesn't look very amateur to me. She had lots of backstage access to the shows at LFW and her blog is filled with incredible photos of all things beautiful.
Meet the man who runs the blog composed of gorgeous and candid photos of some of the worlds most beautiful people - Altamira: Models off Duty. I can't lie to you, he is a bit of a legend. He moved to New York with 'no friends, no family, and not even a room to rent' and now gets flown around the world to document the beautiful things that take place at and around extraordinary events. I only met him briefly. Like us, he was seeking shelter from the nasty rain. He was so down to earth (see the camera tucked under his jacket?) and was off to try to score some free soup that apparently was lurking around in one of the buildings.
Shini of Park & Cube. I have said it before, but that wont stop me from saying it again - I adore her blog for the beauty of the photographs as well as her honest and funny take on things. She has incredible style and isn't afraid of trying off-beat things... but somehow manages to look totally natural in it, not try hard at all. She is totally devoted to what she does... carrying around a massive bag with two enormous cameras all day - pain is no issue. Also made me laugh when she attempted to eat her chocolate crepe and nutella started oozing out of every pore of the poor thing... messy, but looked seriously good.
This is David Nyazi. There was a bit of a frenzy happening around him... everyone wanted to snap his photo. Turns out he's been attending fashion week since 2006, I suppose you start to develop a bit of a following at these things? He's got a blog called the Nyazi Report. It's full of witty entries (for example the latest on the way bloggers are influencing the fashion world) and inspiring photos... lots of beautiful shoes, accessories, and style.
My blogging world mentor - Jill of Street Style London. She is the most genuine and giving person - willing to make the effort to help anyone out and doesn't do it looking for anything in return. Outgoing, determined, motivated, ambitious, she is always searching for the next shot but doesn't take herself too seriously. She booked me in for my first haircut I had gotten after an 8 month neglect and is always willing to meet up for cupcakes and a chat. She is great, and her blog is great too. She has such a beautiful insight - her words are often as breathtaking as the photos that accompany them. I absolutely adore her and appreciate the way she has taken me under her wing and helped introduce me to this wild world of blogging. She was photographing these girls below (who are models) and while they were just standing there doing the typical stand-there-and-stare-straight-pose she said, 'no, no, do something... you know, model-y' - and this is what they did. I thought it was pretty cute.
retro accessories...
oh, the incredible difference a few well chosen accessories can make.
angel wings...
described by vogue as 'tribal chic that goes to church,' nathan jenden's fall 2010 models sported the newly termed 'angel wings' (i.e. white eyeliner flicked up at the edge of the eye). this girl is either a model from the show or is the quickest person to spot a trend on the runway and incorporate it into her own look (this was taken the same afternoon the collection was shown in london). after all, the combination of angel wings and black lips traditionally have been a bit of a rarity.... i'm guessing she's a model.
MISSED THE FLIGHT TO MILAN...
alright, these two may not have actually missed their flight to milan... but they do look so refreshingly out of place in london. they exude a quirky yet classy vibe and look entirely well groomed. they are rocking simple colour palettes, traditional shapes, hats, structured handbags and are standing with the confident poise of a true gentleman and his lady. not things you see too often. they look sophisticated but young and happy. not too stuffy but so chic. i absolutely and totally love it. the only thing that could have made it better? possibly a polka dot green bow tie on the gentleman... but otherwise they are pretty near perfection.
* update: have just been informed that this is Alize. Check out her blog here. Turns out she is actually French... I may have got the Milan part wrong, but the chic part definitely still holds up. Also, the gentleman's name is Matthew Zorpas.
it wouldn't be london without a little...
yep, that's right - rain. what else my dears? this is england after all. snow challenged people's style in new york and the rain posed a challenge in london. luckily i could take cover under the big black umbrellas at somerset house and cozy up next to a heat lamp with a latte. it came pouring down by the bucket loads on tuesday afternoon. it wasn't pleasant but everyone still managed to look immaculately turned out... a little water couldn't slow this group down.
geometric shapes paired with waffle knit chunky cardigan and scarf.
a juxtaposition of worlds.
kid-like umbrellas and big furs.
so many great looks going on here... i especially love the girls outfit in the middle - there is something incredibly fresh and modern about long straight skirts.
hooded and on the move.
trying to keep up.