Valentino: Artist for the Aristocracy

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Know your nervature from your pagine? Unless you have been to the Valentino: Master of Couture at Somerset House recently, or you work on the designer's dresses or you are in fact Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani himself then these terms may have passed you by. 

Pagine refers to the organza specific to Valentino's couture gowns. Oraganza is used in piles to create a page effect unique to his atelier. Impressive is the intricacy of his work and the sheer amount of beading used to create one of these ostentatious one off pieces alone. But to be aware of never having the amenity to own one makes you feel that there is a point where fashion balances on the shoulders of the upper eschelons of society. 

136 dresses are exhibited on a long converbelt, purposely built to showcase the Italian's artistry to the general public. In some respects I could have been at Madame Tussaud's surveying a recent waxwork sculpture or looking upon Dante's Inferno at Tate Britain. Something sinister, awe - inspiring even, yet allowing for a certain amount of detachment. It never fully engages the onlooker. The outfits are even more lifeless when displayed on a mannequin. I truly believe woman maketh the outfit rather than the other way around. 

As I will never go to a ball or meet the Obama's or marry the next King I feel all I can do is gaze at the gowns as one does through a snow globe, peeking entry to a world that is covered in mikado silk, tulle and paillette disks- one I will never set foot in. 

Red Valentino, Google Image

Shine bright like a diamond or other jewel

It is said that in times of austerity we become much more conscious of our appearance. Glamour and opulence come to the fore. Men wear suits and women don their finest accessories. Just look at any period of history when a recession has peaked, for example the Prohibition era. Most women would not look out of place in those times wrapped in a fur stole with diamond earrings of an evening.

It is difficult to be cautious and beautifully attired. I have tried to resist the allure of the cheaper high street store and found myself succumbing like a kid in a candy store. But with true testament to the saying: "All that glitters is not gold", I have had to learn the hard way with green fingers, holes in tops and splits in heels after only two months of wear.

For those of you looking for adding extra dazzle to any outfit which is worth the investment, then discover Lydia Courteille's handcrafted gems.

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One time designer for Dior you know you are buying something very special indeed. From skulls to roses there is a piece to suit your mood and the oversized rings will ensure you are way ahead of next season's trends.

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Alexa Won

There has been an unprecedented occurence. I am prempting it as I mean to say there will be an unprecedented occurence: featuring Alexa Cheung twice on my blog in one month. Credit where it is due she deserves an award for her versatile style. The crown has been passed (unofficially) down from Queen Kate at the British Fashion Awards as she won the Style Icon award. In this post I am going to select my favourite outfits of the chung in the last year, seeing as it is very nearly 2013.

Who would have thought a buttoned shirt with leather dress with echoes of dominatrix would work? The Chung rocks it at the Met Ball. The Fifty Shades of Grey generation of sexy secretary.

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Leopard plus fashion multiply Alexa equals a very cool holiday outfit. I wish I was reclining by a beach location in those cherry sandals and not de-thawing my toes whilst watching I'm A Celebrity.

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Who said in the summer that you cannot wear long sleeves with shorts? Just as I was about to throw out my Converse, Miss Chung gave me a reason to make them stay in the wardrobe.

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And let's face it she made and owned the androgynous look.

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She is the reason we own a leather biker jacket, a pair of loafers, trench coat, a chainmail bag and a polka dot playsuit. I cannot wait to see what she will pull out of her hat next. But one thing is for sure is a copycat of that hat will be on the shelves of every high street store in the land.

Ginsburg is still God

Two things I learnt last Friday night: Bella Freud was an assistant to Vivienne Westwood and Ginsburg is still God. This was at an evening hosted by the V&A in which Hadley Freeman, the Guardian writer interviewed Bella about her career which now spans over thirty years. It was an intimate affair and made me feel that the V&A is a tardis due to never realising there were so many rooms and lecture theatres at the back. Away from the main entrance and the throng milling in for the Hollywood Costume exhibition were a tight - knit core waiting for the youthful and sparkly - eyed fashion designer.

Kate Moss wearing 'Ginsburg is God' jumper

Freeman's interview went as far back as her childhood and growing up with having a world - renowned artist as a father, she said: "He treated it like an other professional job and worked those same long hours." When Bella told her father she wanted to pursue a career in fashion and attend art college, he replied: "But I thought you like doing nothing." This was relayed with humour as Lucien Freud designed the dog icon which can been seen on many of her knitwear pieces, showing his support for his daughter's chosen path.

Alexa Chung in 'J'taime Jane' an adage to Jane Birkin

Other anecdotes littered the conversation including Bella recalling the early burgeoning of success in the nineties with her 'Ginsburg is God' sweater. She told the audience that one day she heard a knock on her door and when opening it there was an excitable Japanese fan who could barely speak English but kept repeating: "Ginsburg is God!' Instead of being galled by this occurence Bella said she loved the fact that her fans were so determined to buy her line that they would turn up on her doorstep. Of course in the English tradition she invited the exciteable youngster in for a cup of tea.

The dog icon designed by Lucien Freud

And her fans were not just the fashion lovers in the Far East but she managed to accrue a cult following amongst the celebrity set in England. Very much a designer proud of her roots it was only right that Kate Moss should be seen with the slogan: 'Ginsburg is God' emblazoned across her chest, which by Freud's own admission created more of a buzz than any of her catwalk shows. Another time Bella recalls Jane Birkin calling her on the telephone about this design and personally congratulating her on re - focusing everyone's attention to the poetic genius. This conversation led Bella to feel she should create a phrase dedicated to Jane and hence: 'J'taime Jane' was born and worn by another well- coveted style guru, Alexa Chung.

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Bella Freud has worked with many British stalwarts in the past including Vivienne Westwood who she used to make lunch for in her flat and designed colletions for Miss Selfridge and Jaeger. Coming out of the lecture theatre I felt that Bella Freud has slightly been hidden away as an English charm and there should be a revival.  We should not be chanting 'Viva Forever' but 'Ginsburg is God.' 

Such stuff as dreams are made on

Lily Cole, Tim Walker, Google Image

Stand back, make way, roll up roll up.. the genius that is Tim Walker is in town. In each epoch or era there is a unique person who strikes out to tell stories which are head and shoulders above the rest. Before the invention of the printing press Shakespeare allowed his to unfold on the stage, Dickens sought celebrity through monthly periodicals, Roald Dahl, in the form of a paperback and Tim Burton projected his onto film.

Photographer Tim Walker's does not use words but his tales are just as powerful. His visual spectacles are the equivalent of triple chocolate treacle sundae that you feast upon until it dribbles down your chin. His fashion shoots encapsulate many different mediums: performance, literature, art and photography which leave you reeling like you have just dismounted a roller coaster ride from a freaky world.

Mulberry, Where The Wild Things Are A/W12 Campaign

His latest campaign for Mulberry has totally metamorphised the fashion giant from one that lay like a dormant bovine to a beefed up beast you would not want to mess with. In a similar way to the artist Dali, Walker plays on the idea of humanity's fragility, showing models dwarfed against a gargantuan ice cream cone, craddled next to a alligator or entangled in a tree's branch. There is often a clear and ever present sense of danger in his photography.

Models are in the thick of the action unlike a passive clothes horse their poses are suggestive of a fantasy world of dress up. His pictures emphasise the idea that you are a protagonist in your own fashion story and another outfit is a chance to play act.

Tim Walker: Storyteller opens tomorrow at Somerset House and runs until 27th January 2013.

We have some making up to do

Carine Roitfield, Google image

Smashing and boxing Carine Roitfield the MAC daddy out of the park is the US heavyweight, Smashbox for Boots. 

Sounding much like a voiceover for a movie blockbuster, which means you will forgive it as I have mentioned it, this autumn two cosmetics giants go head to head for most innovative beauty products to hit the British market.

I must commend Boots for unburdening women of the UK from watching QVC to order the Smashbox Photo Finish Primer by transferring it to its shelves and thus making it more accessible to all. But does that make it less desirable? I will admit to looking at the stand in the shop and not feeling the frisson of excitement that comes over me when a new make up line is released.

Boots Smasbox 'wish list', Google image

If the packaging did not have Smashbox written on it you may be forgiven for thinking it was a re - funk of Boots economy range Collection 2000, which by its name alone is outdated. On closer expection (of the price tag) you will find the most exciting aspect is the name, it therefore better deliver some miracles.

Ok maybe you do not need to be all kitsch and glittery pink to get people to sit up and take notice of your new concession but it does not hurt. It certainly works for aiming at the magpies of the world (i.e. me).

In the other corner of the ring is the Carine Roitfield, former editor of french Vogue and therefore the harbinger of chic and cool who has collaborated with MAC. She joins a new cult following emerging of Vogue editors who edge it up like constantly papped, Anna Dello Russo, editor of the Japan edition of the style bible.

Carine Roitfield collection for MAC, Google image

Her line is similarly black and minimalistic in uniformity with other usual MAC products however as with all of the celeb inspired ranges it is limited edition. This already helps to give a butterly fluttering. And hark there is something cute and unusual amongst the sleek lip glossies and mascaras, star transfers! Appealing to the sense of teenager in all of us when it comes to dressing up she has added tattoes that you can stick onto you face and outline with eye liner or pencil.

Ingenious! Only one slight problem is that they could be all sold out by the time I publish this post. Darn. Maybe mass produced Boots has its own charm in its ability to help out those less active fashionistas who are not the type to queue up for the new season Kate Moss collection in Topshop and prefer to buy their blusher at the checkout along with their papaya body scrub.

Ding! Ding! That is battle commences or is it the sound of my Advantage card racking up more points?

Free falling for Sky

I have had 'nough of hasbeens - no not the Swedish cool clog variety, I mean these pop stars and presenters who are regurgitated to be at the front of everything around. You cannot turn on the television nowadays without Philip Schofield at the helm and those on the wrong side of forty (Spice Girls) seemed to dominate the Olympics closing ceremony. It makes my teeth hurt.

No Doubt's new album fills me with doubts and just when I became stiffled with predictability so out of the doldrums of mediocre pop comes someone young and exciting. Sky Ferreira. Move over Del Rey who appears to have opted out of the underground circuit for the bright lights of the mainstream. Her collection for H&M has produced some more highly predictable fifties pieces for Autumn. Yawn.

Sky Ferreira at Paris Fashion Week

Ferreira's music is not try hard wacky like Grimes and not too pop to be sickly like Carly Rae Jepsen of Call Me Maybe fame. She does not also fit into the Robyn house music pop artist hybrid and therefore that makes her more appealing. She is just quite good. People like labels but sometimes you just want something to surprise you. It comes out of nowhere like finding an item of clothing in Marks and Spencers that you want to buy and wear. Suddenly it permeates your whole existence and you cannot remember a time without it. Ferreira is some such thing.