Uniqlo + Orla Kiely + Tavi = Fan Girl SQUEAL!

Ever since seeing the US promo pics of Cyndi Lauper and Tavi Gevinson I have been excitedly waiting for news of the UK launch.

Now I know!

Uniqlo, with these collaborations you are really spoiling us

I'm loving the orange sleeveless dress, pale blue boat print tee and the pink/red floral print shirt.

Can't wait!

What I Wore... to the BFI

Grey overcoat - Topman, sheer blouse - Primark, blue child's hairband worn as bow tie, chinos - Gap (dyed with Dylon in Sunshine Yellow), bright blue brogues - ASOS, clutch - Primark.


I love my new brogues, they actually came brand new and boxed from a seller on Amazon and they were £17 including P&P (last season ASOS was selling these for £55). They are super comfy soft suede and perfect to go with this seasons brights and pastels or to add a bit of colour to a neutral outfit.



I also love the BFI, it is a great place to hide from the rain (and it always rains when I go to the South Bank for some reason. I can spend hours looking throgh all the film books & DVDs in the shop, admiring the film posters, having a coffee or a vino in the bar or checking out the free screening room... sometimes I even watch a film!

Where is your favourite place to waste some time?

Mulberry announce new 'Del Ray' bag launch

Mulberry's new bag is influenced by Lana Del Ray's classic Hollywood style and has a cute bowling bag feel, it features the classic postman's lock which I love. Can't wait for the inevitable Primark copy to copy so I can get my £10 version! I'll give them until next month to turn it around.

But is Del Ray iconic enough to inspire a Mulberry bag?

Despite huge internet hype and hit song 'Video Games' becoming an instant catwalk favourite the backlash has well and truly begun. Lacklustre live performances, no shows and generally disappointing album reviews have already taken the shine off Lana's star. As a friend of mine commented the other day 'I'm even bored of the backlash now'.

Has Del Ray jumped the shark early and does this mean Mulberry may have missed a step on this collaboration?

This bag is stunning, I particularly love the dark cornflower blue colourway as shown above, to be honest I think it would be huge if they decided to call it the 'Katona'. I doubt it is going to recreate the phenomenal success of the 'Alexa' but I don't think even Mulberry will be expecting that for a minute. And on that note let's indulge in some 'Alexa' porn in the perfect colour for the new season...



Drool...

Ok, deep breath, back to Lana. I really don't care that Del Ray was 'outed' as trust fund baby Lizzie Grant, after all 'working class hero' John Lennon as everyone knows, was actually a nice middle class boy from a suburban area of Liverpool and trash-rock goddess Courtney Love's mother was an heiress. Rock and roll is all about illusion and recreating yourself - just ask Bowie if you don't believe me.

However one aspect of Lana's rise to fame disturbs me. Although if Del Ray has had a little 'work' or not has been the subject of much debate on the internet anyone with eyes looking at her Lizzie photos can see that she has had fillers in her lips. I also think it is likely she has had some rhinoplasty work done as well although it is hard to tell as she may just be using some clever contouring make up.

Now I have no problem with people having cosmetic procedures (in fact the first thing I will be doing when I win the Euromillions is investing in some kind of Face-Off style surgery where Liv Tyler's face and hair are transplanted onto mine) I just think it is a little sad that a very young and pretty girl has it confirmed to her (and millions of young girls watching her success) that in order to be successful you need to change yourself. I think that is a real shame.

Am I over thinking this or does anyone else agree with me?

Food not Fashion

Today I headed down to the river to take a walk by Somerset House and check out what all the fashionistas were wearing.

Then seeing all those slender people made me feel hungry so I took a walk over the river to the South Bank and had a wander around the food market they were holding their today. Is anything more beautiful than food? Does anything smell more alluring? I wish you could take photos of smells!

The Faraway Part of Town - Dory Previn

Sadly Dory Previn passed away, aged 86, this week.

The singer songwriter rose to prominence working with the great Arthur Freed in the 50's at which time she met, fell in love and married the composer Andre Previn. Together the two wrote hits for Judy Garland and Dionne Warwick amongst others including the theme tune to the gorgeously camp and melodramatic film of Jacqueline Susanne's Valley of the Dolls (big hair and candy colours galore, very SS12).

Dory's most famous song is 'Beware of Young Girls' which she wrote about her one-time friend Mia Farrow's affair with Andre. He subsequently married the much younger girl. Although Dory never forgave Farrow at one point calling her the 'vainest person in the world' she later praised Andre for his lengthy support of her through her various mental problems stating "He left me for another woman after I had left him for another reality."

Dory was incredibly talented. She was also frail, vulnerable and tortured. I hope she has her peace now and I am grateful for the music she has left behind.



Dory's strong signature look throughout the height of her 70s fame - big hair and bigger glasses



An earlier look but just as strong. As a 60s girl at heart I just adore this hair and make uo combination.

Pink makes the boys wink

Ugh... I don't know what is wrong with me recently, I'm getting so.... so.... so GIRLY! I am sooooo excited about the launch of Laura Ashley's collaboration with Uniqlo.  As a child of the 80s I spent a lot of time being dressed in long, floaty, ruffley, frilly, ribbony princess dresses by my mum, she just adored Laura Ashley (aspirations above her station to be honest but if ever there was an era for a bit of social climbing that era was the 80s).

 This is probably why now I tend to favour an androgynous or gamine tomboy kind of look now.  But all of a sudden I'm getting all hot and bothered about pink and florals.  I blame the lack of sunshine.

This t-shirt is coming to a wardrobe near me soon (6th Feb) to be worn with pastel trousers and as much acid yellow as I can find.

Think Pink

My new found obsession with pink for the upcoming season is becoming so overwhelming that even my terminally fashion unaware boyfriend commented 'you're really into pink at the minute aren't you' which is a level of observation previously unknown.  My newest bubblegum crush are these babies

I'm picturing them with  rolled up jeans, pastel cashmere and my boy's over coat or alternatively with black opaques and a little black mini dress.

I WANT!!!

W.E or M.E M.E M.E?

I  love Arianne Philips' work.  A Single Man was styling elevated to art, her recreation of June Carter's look in Walk the Line made my heart go howdy and Andrea Riseborough's costumes in W.E have to be seen to be believed... but if today's Oscar nomination leads to a win on the big night I can just imagine Madonna trampling long time fash pal Arianne to the ground as she runs to collect the statuette babbling about how she stitched every last seam herself with her freaky, veiny monkey-talons.  Ugh.

 Anyway, to take your mind off that, here's a gorgeous picture of the most stylish king-stealing upstart of all time, Wallis herself.

Drool... This lady gave seriously good collar, eat your heart out Alexa Chung!

Still it is reassuring to know that even one of the most stylish women of the 20th century had an occasional 'circle of shame' moment... even if this is one of the most inventive methods of covering your nipples on a frosty morning I've ever seen

"David Darling, they'll never suspect we are international peanut smugglers now"

"Well done Wallis, but what I really want to know is can you spin those badboys?"

Chanel Joins the Mile High Club

Wow.... From the sleek sophistoluxe lines of the outfits to the picture perfect plane interior set,  Chanel's whole runway show today appeared to be some kind of Avant Garde protest against ABC's alleged cancellation of trolley dolly drama Pan-Am.

Could it be Karl's balls that Miss Ricci is so smug about having in her tote?

Justify My Love

The ubercute Paddington Bear style bags produced by The Cambridge Satchel Company are almost ubiquitous accessories amongst bloggers.  With their wide range of colours including neons and metallics and their collaboration with high street fashionista one-stop-shop Urban Outfitters they can help anyone add an easy dash of eccentric British schoolgirl chic to their look.  Personally I'm partial to a satchel but it's the sleeker simpler lines of The Music Bag that truly sets my fashion pulse racing and this season I am lusting after this candy pink bag...

Ok, so the bags are well made from good quality leather and thereby a worthy investment BUT this colour is so of the moment I can't justify this purchase to myself in those terms... except my wardrobe consisting mainly of autumn/winter colours - navy, mustard, burgandy and grey - could really do with a splash of colour to bring it up to date and this would definitely be a better use of cash than blowing my pennies on a pile of pallor draining pastels in Primark...

What I really need is a sugar (pink) daddy to take the decision out of my hands!

Beauty Review - L'Oreal Sublime Mousse

Having been blonde for quite a while now I have decided to give into the siren call of red hair once again and hit the bottle.  As I spent at least half my teenage pocket money on Wella Colour Mousses I was quite excited to try the Sublime Mousse which I bought in Flaming Copper.  


Once mixed the dye comes out of the pump action bottom as a nice light foam but this becomes liquid far too quickly, soaking in to the hair almost immediately.  I was surprised by how tricky this then became to spread, instead of the normal section by section colour application the instructions recommended massaging the foam into your hair gently like a shampoo, but this just was not possible!


So now I'm a little torn,  the application and coverage was awful but the colour is so pretty I think I am willing to risk giving it a second chance.  Next time I will treat this as a standard home dye and apply section by section rather than attempting the application as advised. Hopefully it won't turn out like this again.....

I like it - what do you think?

Disclaimer: Image is for representation purposes only.  The 'used to be with' It Girl would like to clarify that Geri Halliwell is not, and has never been, a With It Girl.