easing my way into spring....
all i want to wear are little dresses and bare legs. bare legs... england, will you please deliver warm enough weather for me to reveal my whiter-than-white pins to the weak british sunlight in hopes of getting some colour? why does the weather man tell me that it is going to be hovering barely above zero this week?! this unworthy 'spring' weather is making my outfit selection a rather gruesome process. for example, friday morning, i barely fell short of a mini-breakdown over my lacking wardrobe and inability to make it out the house on time (you know the routine: nothing to wear so running late & running late so it's even more difficult to find something to wear... result to lying in bed in a strop and refusing to get dressed which only aggravates the unstable mood more - i know! get it together jennifer, you are only getting dressed, you've done this almost 8,760 times in your life you really should be able to put an outfit together by now - yes, that means i am almost to the end of my 24th year). anyway when i eventually made it out of my flat friday morning, after the calm help of my desperately patient husband, and headed into london this is what i was wearing. an attempted nod to spring with the pop of colour on my feet - but as you can see my mood was unable to deal with anything too chirpy - it was a bit of a sour start to the day (hence the slightly puffy eyes and less than glowing complexion, apologies my loves, deciding to put a photo up on a day when i decide to burst into tears first thing probably isn't the most flattering of choices). i had to put these photos up though because they were taken by shini (pictured in the post below) and it's not everyday i get such beautifully taken photographs of myself to share. so, enjoy... this was my feeble attempt of easing my way into spring.
Mulberry Scarf
Madewell Jacket
Zara T-shirt
Urban Outfitters Leggings
like a sorbet popsicle...
shini of park&cube is without a doubt one of the most inspiring girls i know. her sense of style is totally unique and she manages to pair the most unexpected items together in a way that just works (shaming the predictability of a lot of magazine editorials). there are so many beautiful elements to her outfit: pop bright colours in orange and green, pastel shirt buttoned up to the very top and layered under a lace top, chunky ring, kate kanzier nude heels, the wang braid... in theory all those elements sound like they would clash, but in reality they gel together to create this outfit masterpiece. a serious lesson in how to get dressed.
to top it all off she is the most delightful and down to earth person. for example: yesterday we met up in covent garden (yes yes, for cupcakes) and shini showed up a bit late due to unpredictable london traffic. halfway through she realized that one of the people sitting with us was the fabulous and insanely talented vanessa jackman. her reaction was to turn bright red, cover her face with her hands and yelp, 'vanessa jackman?! your vanessa jackman! i didn't realize, i love your blog, i'm such a fan...' see, totally adorable and utterly down to earth.
the motherload....
totally unexpected. leather lane in london is the home to the most fabulous shoe paradise i have discovered this year. on a market street sits this beautiful little shop with blacked out windows. you would never know that inside resides a serious shoe mecca. from ballet flats, boots, brogues, loafers, killer heels, and handbags, this little shop is an absolute dream. but proceed with caution, the items are seriously addictive. they are so reasonably priced that it is so simple to persuade yourself that you need a plethora of styles and colours.
be warned: once you succumb to the power of kate kanzier you will never look back.
it's the motherload of all shoe shops... more colours and styles then you can comprehend.
'it's like a candy shop in here. i don't know where to look.'
the shop is immaculately turned out with bright fresh flowers, a clean space that clearly shows off the merchandise and cheery helpful staff that are quick to get you all the sizes you are after.
they've got enough statement heels to keep the wags happy. pick your colour... they come in every shade imaginable. heel heights are also negotiable, opt for a stacked kitten or a skyscraper if you dare.
platformed, animal print, and bright colours.
there is something for everybody. when we arrived the shop was nearly empty. there was one customer, a woman in her sixties, trying to decide whether to go for a red or black brogue. she asked jill and i our opinions. jill told her that when she looked at the red pair her whole face lit up, which it really did. she smiled, and went for the red pair. by the time we left you could hardly move, the place was absolutely crammed. teenagers all the way up to grandmas were shopping in this place. there is seriously something for everyone. whatever your taste and whatever your budget. it is a magical little shop stuffed full of the kinds of shoes that i see people wearing and assume must have either been extortionately expensive or a lucky vintage find. well, there is no longer a reason to be envious ladies... you can get it here. i can honestly say i have never had a pair of shoes that have gotten so many compliments. i bought my green luella brogues last week and every time i wear them i have people asking me where they are from. two of my friends want me to pick them up pairs next time i'm in london. but don't worry, if you don't live in the UK - they ship overseas.
if you are able to make it to the shop you can even pick up some flowers on your way out!
who says stripes aren't flattering?
a lot of people have a love-hate relationship with stripes. we love them because they are so darn cute and appealing, but hate them because we fear they'll make us look wider than wide. whatever your feelings it's impossible to deny that they are everywhere. the classic breton stripe has been incorporated into the most exclusive designer brands (givenchy), the lowest of high street shops (pick them up in primark by the bucket loads), and every sailor-themed movie you have, or will, ever see. i ran into emily in oxford yesterday. she is one of those girls that just happens to look immaculately turned out every day. even when she says 'oh, i'm having such a bad hair day' - i can't help but think i wish my hair looked like hers on a good day. but aside from her lovely blond locks (and that enviable thick wang-esque braid) she has a great sense of style. definitely classy with a bit of a twist. a lot of people would automatically shy away from a striped body-con skirt, but emily pulls it off perfectly. with the loose draped black cardi, whimsical print scarf, and cute little bow flats she brings it straight into day and gives it a grown-up vibe. well done emily. way to show stripes can be worn in a variety of ways and that they can indeed be flattering.
all items of clothing are from Reiss (where emily works). shoes from primark and gold necklace from a jewelers in greece.
in review... laid back or grown-up chic?
there are definitely different types of people at fashion week, different levels of extremes and outlandish behaviour. at one extreme are those who where inappropriate female body parts as headwear and barbie dolls as shoulder pads while at the other are the clueless pedestrians who have inadvertently stumbled into fashion week without realizing it. those who rock the latest 'it' accessories (hello alexa bag) versus those who just lug around a cloth carrier bag. sky high heels versus trainers. elaborate looks versus jeans and a t-shirt. they come in all shapes, sizes and varieties. of course, we wouldn't want it any other way either... that's what makes it interesting and all the more fun.
i noticed these two girls who both looked very normal and down to earth. they weren't trying to stand out and get their photo taken. not sure what they were doing, maybe the one above is a model? i'm not really sure, i didn't ask. but their style sort of represents for me, in review, the two competing ways that the relatively normal person can dress at fashion week. of course you can mix them together to suit yourself, but these two looks definitely stood out and were quite prevalent among the fashion pack. the girl above has a really sweet laid back style. i love the soft feminine skirt paired with the leather biker jacket. the massive red scarf adds the perfect pop of colour and the bottom studded bag gives a little nod to the wang-meister. very iconically model off duty.
a more grown up chic look with killer heels and a shaggy fur jacket. am loving her soft grey bucket bag (again, with little studs). they key to this look seems to be in the heels (the higher and more extravagant the better) and the fur (just make sure you have one). so which are you? would you pick the flats or the heels? the leather or the fur? personally, i think i'd go for a bit of both.
p.s. don't know if you've noticed but i'm currently sitting at 99 followers, will you help a girl out and follow me if you aren't already? thanks my loves.
playing dress up in shoe paradise...
nothing beats playing dress up... especially when you've got a massive shop full of toys to try on. i was slightly infatuated with this bright green little baby above, while jill placed her elfin green clad stems into every colour brogue you could imagine. thank you kate kanzier for being patient with us while we faffed around in your merchandise.
'it's like a circus in there...'
what they wore and what i saw in the first 10 minutes of stepping into somerset house on day 5 of LFW... clashing prints, brocade, plaid, red socks, pops of white, dual-toned print bags.
beauty trends: liquifed stark black brows, sharp and wide fringes, top buns, studded head bands (for boys).
double decker plaid, grandpa's cardi, white shirts buttoned up to the collar & the return of the jean jacket.
drastic juxtapositions of style - the light versus the dark side: ethereal in pink and purple paisley maxi dress, bright yellow socks, silvery blonde hair, fur neck warmer or avant garde in geometric black head gear, layers of black fabric, frills, pointed shoulders.
which are you? the angel or the demon?
jill photographs my partner in crime and fellow style crusader emerald while wearing a double whammy of leopard print. enough fur on site to drive peta off the deep end...
the 'personalities' of fashion week. both of these men are totally off the wall and visually are such a contrast to one another - although their out of this world fabulousness brings them together. who they are, what they do: that i don't know... but they sure get followed around by photographers! a bit like animals in a circus perhaps?
as always, if you recognize/know anyone in these photos please let me know who they are.
'my flesh coloured legs are grossly inadequate...'
liquified metal, lace, bare legs covered in geometric colour blocking, oversized contorted buns and sculptured drop shoulders all came flowing down the runway at Eun Jeong's Fall 2010 show. the collection was pretty mesmerizing. the models resembled post-apocalyptic ethereal beings who were covered in gorgeous draping and lush fabrics...
lace detailing was used on dresses and coats to create a more romantic vibe to the sculpted pieces made in thicker fabrics.
loved the chunky leather wedge brogues and the bright primary colours splattered on all the model's legs. some came in the form of ankle socks, others stopped just under the knee, while the rest went all the way up the legs... could this be the next trend in leg-wear that could compete with karl's tatoo clad pegs?
the only downer was the uncomfortable feeling that swept over me when a few models came down in t-shirts that were cut unfortunately too short. nobody wants to see crotches flashing at them covered in nothing but a nude coloured thong... not the highlight of the show. another girl had the top of her crinkled knickers sticking out the back of her trousers... some slight underwear issues.
back details: edwardian style tailoring and heavy embellishment.
chiffon layers bounced with movement.
Keisha Buchanan: former member of the Sugababes who looked way more classy than I would have expected. her dress was totally gorgeous and she sat up so straight and looked incredibly attentive throughout the entire show.
this photo makes me feel a bit dizzy when i look at the people in the background... yikes.
click here to see all the looks in a less blurry format. there are some beautiful pieces that i wasn't able to capture.
buttery bad girl...
you know those people that manage to look so well put together and classy yet maintain a very cool vibe at the same time? Hedvig is one such person. looking totally gorgeous with beautifully manicured nails (colour was a chanel-esque griege) and perfectly bouncy curls, she manages to balance those girly elements by incorporating tougher pieces into her look. her buttery cream leather jacket and bad-girl brenda bag bring her look bang up to date. am loving her doubled up scarves and that goreous...
choices, choices...
like kids in a candy shop we oooh'ed and ahhh'ed for ages, walking around, poking at all the different ones... trying to decide, trying to narrow down our options. it was so difficult. but in the end we were triumphant... both of us found two pairs we wanted to take home. sadly one pair that i was after happens to be sold out in my size so i will just have to wait until they get more in... you know when you are told you can't have something and all of a sudden like a wave a furry you must have it.... and suddenly your life just isn't complete anymore? okay okay, i may be acting a bit dramatic, and alas, it's not as if i left empty handed. quite the contrary.
lovely a4 size carrier bag that not only fit my shoes but also my new april elle. also, since it isn't paper it didn't disintegrate when i was cycling on my bike in the pouring rain. i was totally worried that my shoes would be soaked but there wasn't a drop on them.
tah-dah! my lovely 'green luella brogues'. these were my favourites straight away on the website but then i wasn't sure if green suede-y shoes are really my thing... i mean, do i really want green brogues? it turns out i really and truly do. can't wait to wear them because not only are they totally adorable they are so insanely comfortable. they are so soft and squidgy inside - seriously they are divine and more perfect than i had anticipated.
p.s. photos of the very cool interior/exterior coming soon.
'i have never eaten a cupcake...'
say what?! never eaten a cupcake?! it is true, believe it or not... at the first blogger cupcake party, which was held today in covent garden, we had a cupcake rookie. it was so great and very exciting. much to her dismay though we insisted on documenting the incredibly momentous occasion...
actually Hedvig was a total trooper and didn't even mind being photographed while biting into her massive cupcake... such are the kinds of moments that modeling prepares you for! while some of us were more acquainted with the cupcake world we weren't as poised when it came to the photos! i for one just gobbled mine up as quick as possible, and as you can see Jill insisted on hiding behind hers... they are so gorgeously delicious though, can you blame her?
so while the cupcake party was a great success we did have a few inevitable issues - Jill and i were running late, because we were ridiculously infatuated with a shoe-candy-shop and had difficulty pulling ourselves away from the place. Hedvig arrived at Ella's only to discover that it was closed. being short staffed, i.e. 1 employee and errands to run, doesn't bid well for hungry customers. it worked out in the end though. we all found each other and Ella's reopened... we even had another very special birthday girl join us... but i'll post more on that later. for now, just remember if you can get to london save this date for the next cupcake party: 2nd April. you wont regret it.
it's all a blur...
london fashion week ended ages ago... but i'm still sifting through photos and finding out surprises about who the people are that i shot. i didn't ask a lot of names, there just isn't time always. it has been so fun to have people contact me to say that they are 'that person' in one of the photos or even seeing pictures of people i shot on other sites and discovering who they are. the girl pictured above is one such example: i saw her before the eun jeong show, but didn't manage to get a great photo. lots of people and lots of movement - so it was nearly impossible to shoot anything decent. with that said, i still tried... she had on the most intense shoes (super high wedge with crystal straps), spotty tights, leopard print coat and big (geeky) black frames. all things i love. she was totally working it and looked like she really wasn't too fussed or self-aware. i think i spotted her sitting in the front row during the show and wondered who she was... anyway, thanks to Vanessa Jackman and this post i discovered that she is Magalie Suvelor the editor of DIRRTYGLAM magazine. although fashion week is long gone i still feel like i am sifting through all the images and continue to be surprised by the whirlwind of it all.
with the blur of fashion week to the side, i am back to my real life... i.e. studying and writing lots of essay (14,000 words worth over the next 5 weeks to be exact). so if you are ever wondering where i am or what i am up to... just picture this building: the radcliffe camera. situated in the centre of oxford. not too shabby to look at, right? it's gorgeous inside, and so beautiful when the sun is shining. so, i'll be spending my lunch breaks sat outside, drinking coffee and people watching. am going to try to capture some oxford street style for you while i am sitting there... and when i meet people i can hand them this little beauty. wahooo... new blogger cards!
which, brings me to my last point: i have been overhearing a lot of seriously negative people lately (two example: young girls talking about how un-pretty their friend is and a guy that cycled past me today and shouted 'stupid people' at some individuals that were crossing the street - but not at a crosswalk). i know this isn't anything new, and that i probably moan a lot about people too... but it just got me thinking. when i first started this blog it was kind of critical - poking fun at people who didn't really dress to suit their shape or just wore things i thought were pretty hideous generally. my brother-in-law (michael, you know who you are) mentioned to me a couple times that maybe it wasn't that nice and maybe i should try to be a bit more positive... but 'come on, michael', i said... 'some people really do look bad' (for example: a girl i shot wearing white linen with her underwear showing through... these people should be saved from their fashion sins, right?! - by the way, we even made a little video of him documenting his adamant belief that everyone has their own sense of style and shouldn't be judged for it - pretty hysterical because he got camera shy at the last minute). back to the point, it wasn't really a conscious change, but my posts have become more positive.
anyway, basically these two things (negative people & new cards) just sort of got me thinking about my blog. i know it is still kind of a baby compared to some others out there, but i am totally chuffed each day to read all the comments you guys leave and to see how many people have visited. so thanks for popping by when you do and leaving your thoughts. on the topic of your thoughts: what do you think about the whole negativity/critiquing thing? and is there anything you especially like seeing on here?
p.s. i know this was a text-heavy post so congratulations if you made it through the whole thing. i will eat a cupcake in your honour tomorrow...
dear mom, i need some new shoes...
i feel like i have just been let in on the most fabulous secret. a shoe secret that is. a shoe secret so great i feel it has the power to totally transform my shoe life. have you heard of kate kanzier? honestly, it's my new shoe fairy... delivering ridiculously beautiful shoes that are affordable. i thought i must have made some mistake when i looked at the website. surely, surely, they meant to put a 1 in front of that 30?! her shoes are totally gorgeous, practical, come in a plethora of colours, and are oh-so-stylish... and from what i can tell could easily be mistaken for a pair of churches (which come in at 350GBP instead of 30). so basically it's a match made in shoe heaven. i feel like these are the kind of shoes my mom would want me to have, don't you mom? don't they just remind you of the shoes you wore back in the day? it is so hard to pick favourites... these are seriously like brightly coloured sweets in a candy shop.
are these babies london's best kept secret? did everyone out there already know about these, have you all been keeping me in the dark? they've been featured in all sorts of magazines so i really don't know how they managed to slip past me. so i haven't actually tried on a pair yet or seen them in person. but if they are half as good in real life as they look in the photos i think i will be in for some serious trouble. am going to pop over to the shop in london after my class (it just happens to be a 10min walk away) on friday so i will let you know how they are! oh, and if menswear inspired shoes aren't really your thing they've got a big collection of ballet flats (starting at, brace yourselves, 20 pounds), heels, and handbags.
p.s. incase you have forgotten mom, i wear a size 38.
hyoni kang...
like a flash of light... she was gone before we hardly had the chance to realize she was running past. but from the 'ooo's' and 'ahhhh's' that came pouring out of everyone sitting under the umbrellas i had enough sense to turn around and try to get a shot. she was clearly in a rush to get somewhere... or at least get out of that nasty rain. hyoni kang won the ford models supermodel of the year contest back in 2008, being the first east asian model to do so, and i am sure she had important places to be. a while later she came walking back by again, on the phone and looking determined to get somewhere. none of us got up to take her photo, she was nearly out of sight when shini said, 'i've got to go try' (or something along those lines) and ran over to talk to her. then i realized (earth to jen, get with it!) that i should go take shini's photo taking hyoni's photo... sadly my heels slowed me down (lesson learned), i was a bit late, and once again she was off in a flash: such is the life of a supermodel i suppose.
