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Okay, so I was in Texas last week and bit remiss with the whole updating thing. I will do a whole post on the pleasures of Austin (many) and the buys in the Houston Galleria (Louboutin's and Alexander Wang) once I've worked out how to use MY NEW CAMERA!
But first - the ever important fantasy shoe of the week. These were featured in Stylist, the free women's fashion handout in London. Apparently they cost £805, which is pretty steep but when they are this delicious I can see how beauty could override wallet unfriendliness if you were so inclined. With these I could be a forest imp of extreme rad-ness. Sigh.
On a cold crappy February there is nothing like a hat with a whacking great bobble to make everything a bit warmer and jollier. FACT.
p.s. Still don't have a camera, so demonic red eyes due to camera phone. I don't *think* I am the devil.
I bought this little shoulder bag / purse in a charity shop in Ipswich today before my Uncle's 60th birthday party. It cost £2.20 and I'm sorry, but it is totally cute. I do love a good charity shop find. I am thinking sun, cut of jean shorts, white tee, brown flat sandals that this bag. For this situation I also two pairs of sunnies in T.K. Maxx - one pair by Etro that will fit this outfit and another that are v. 50's by Jigsaw - will be going for a Betty Draper look in them instead!
As the cold continues in London I keep thinking more and more about getting on that plane and being in Oz. But what will I do when I'm there? Aside from my brother's wedding I will be mostly shopping, eating pho and going to the cinema (I love the cinemas there for some reason, they really float my boat).
This is Brunswick Street in Melbourne's Fitzroy - my brother lives just off the street itself, so it will be prime hunting ground...as you can see it's a great mixture of independent boutiques and yummy cafes (and a kebab shop you'd go to when sober).
Gorman is one shop I always enjoy. It's a brand founded in Melbourne that has that very laid back Aussie style, but also stocks other great finds too - shoes and accessories from around the world that always seem to catch my eye and then hook in my wallet. Plus, as the brand isn't really known in the UK you know that anything you get from the clothing line will be pretty a much a one off here.
I'm hoping that with a bit more time there we'll really get to hit the charity or 'op' shops too. My bro says S, his girlfriend is on first name terms with the assistants there. Cross fingers that means good buys!
The last time I went to Australia about 2 years ago I had just missed summer - hence wearing thermal leggings in this picture. Hopefully this time there will be a smidge of heat around. I am bursting to wear shorts! sandals! and tee shirts - without a million layers.
Oh yeah, and also shopping. Minor detail. Bonds underwear end of line stores on Smith Street, Chapel Street boutiques, Myers and Brunswick Street in general.
A bit like Gossip Girl and Topshop, Alexa Chung has suffered from too much hype recently. It gets a bit boring after a while - and for me whilst she looked amazing on the cover of British Vogue this month, the photos inside were a bit "meh". I don't like her new lighter hair and with her popping up at every ruddy show from here to kingdom come these days it's all a bit clothes horsey for my tastes.
But this pic reminds me of how, what made her in the first place, was a haircut. Pre the dark bob, she was a rather striking, funny presenter who wore some great clothes. But with the choppy bob she became something more than the sum of her parts. It was her Liz Hurley safety pin dress moment, albeit less desperate and far far classier, but it catapulted her into the public domain as an icon.
I know hair can make or break a look. Which is a pity, because for me, I just can't do it. Hair. I just don't have the skill, inclination or time to make my hair anything. Ever. How much I care about my hair is up there with how much I care about drugs, horror movies, cars or tanning, in that they just don't figure in my life at all.
My hair gets washed after the gym, dried in winter and then tied back. In a couple of week's time I am hoping to get the new Brazilian Blow Dry at my salon - a treatment that promises easier to style, glossier, more manageable hair. I wonder if it will be a turning point for me, or if the only thing that will ever sort my lack of hair know how will be a NBF who happens to be a hairdresser?
With trips to Houston / Austin, Texas and Melbourne, Australia lined up in the next 2 months I know that spending money is a foolish thing to do.
But testing my resolve are these beautiful creations from Proenza Schouler at Net a Porter. If I listen carefully I can hear them singing to me about how my life will be instantly better and flooded with a bucketful more sass if I owned them.
From now on I will be giving my fantasy shoe of the week, which will hopefully work the same way as walking around a shop with an item you know is impractical / too expensive / silly - just walking around holding it and then putting it back tricks your mind into thinking you owned it, if just for a little while.
