Get a load of V V

There has been a lot of buzz around indie popstrel VV Brown over the past few months, enough for her to enter my peripheral consciousness and prompt a Youtube trawl to find out what she's all about. Pleasantly, I kinda like her happy, poppy, "doo wop indie" sound.

It's the kind of music that reminds me of my childhood spent listening to Elvis Presley and trying to tease my, frankly unmanageable, think afro hair into a slick quiff, whilst perfecting my lip curl and jumping around like a possesed wind up toy. Ah... Good times...

It helps that Ms Brown is utterly gorgeous and quirkily stylish. I do like a good dose of eye candy in my music videos. "The suits" have been quick to jump on the cool kid status bandwagon and purveyors of fine mobile phones, 2 for one cinema offers and music sponsorship, Orange have had V V design their orange poncho for Glastonbury this year, which means that I can use this totally gratuous shot of VV with said Poncho on my blog.
Isn't it fetching? Don't you want one for your very own? Well, there are 100 free limited edition ponchos up for grabs at Orange's Chill 'n' Charge tent at Glasto this weekend.

Now let's see a bit more of the divine Ms Brown in action, shall we?

Outfit of the week 07/04/09

Isn't London wonderful when the sun is out. After a couple of days of sunshine (finally!), people actaully smile at you on the street, the chat to you on buses and you in turn gurn at screaming toddlers and can actually bear to be around a few hormonally challenged young 'uns. It's like it's a different city.

And when the sun is shining I like to look at summer dresses and make up pretty summer out fits like this one:The shirt dress is perfect for summer a nice little girlie, checked number. I like that it's red, because - in case you haven't heard - I have a thing for red anything but also red is a great summer colour. I could have gone vaguely Americana and teamed with a denim waistcoat and cowboy boots but where's the fun in that? Instead I've decided I want the full on summer treatment with accessories in an even brighter colour - yellow.

I'm calling this "lazing on a sunny afternoon" after The Kinks. Video below for reference kiddies.


Outfit details:
Dress, Warehouse
Corsage, Evans
Belt, Dorothy Perkins
Bag, Aldo
Hightops, Reebok @ Schuh

I want it now! Topshop rainbow brief case, £35

I have long held the opinion that no matter how much you may like what you do for a living, some days work is just... work. And it's a non-stop, angsty, stressy slog that starts the moment you leave the house and join the general flow of drones until you get back home again. It's doubly annoying in the winter when you have to get out of your bed in darkness and return in darkness. So depressing.

So yay! for springtime and also this lovely rainbow brief case, which should bring on an instant personal ray of sunshine that'll combat any work related dreariness with it's cheerful, colourful presence.

So bright and colourful is it, that I am convinced it was actually made in a factory in the mythical land of Oz. Could it have magic powers to immediately make you bolder, brainier and more loving of your fellow man? Who cares? It's gorge.

De Stijl too

As promised, my other De Stijl outfit. Click on images to enlarge.



Black dress, H&M
Blue, cowl neck jumper, Topshop
White belt, Next
Yellow legwarmers, H&M
Platforms shoes, ALDO,
Red snood, thrifted

Dressing in De Stilj

Oh dear lord, it's almost the weekend again! Why, do I exclaim, you exclaim - in your mind - with a question marks popping off like fireworks behind your eyes? (Yes, feeling rather poetik ovah hia. Join me, hmmm?)

Well, I was going to do a little update on my weekend of Kultcha in lovely Norwich and here we are with a nother weekend approaching. Honestly, I don't know where the time goes, or why there's so little of it.

I spent the weekend with quite a lot of art actually. But I was particularly struck by the Constructed exhibition at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts. Among other works were a few from the Netherlands art movement De Stijl (The Style). I'm not going to bore you with a lecture about De Stijl but if you want to know more about it go here.

I was captivated by the paired down abstracts, the use of geometry and lines and the strict palette of black, white, grey and primary colours yellow, red and blue. It was.... soothing. Apparently, this is supposed to be the desired effect as the De Stijl is supposed to be all about purity and spirituality and wholeness.

Looking at the work, I was struck by how the primary colours lent a playful, childishness to the rigidity lines and of the monotones. It made me think about what it would look like to dress in De Stijl. Monotones, shot through with a bit of colour would be perfect for work and maybe it would have a calming effect on my hectic day. It didn't really but I looked like a Mondrian while I worked my arse off! (Click on images to enlarge).

Grey boat neck dress, Next
Yellow polo neck and stripey cardigan, H&M
Grey beret and red neckwarmer, thrifted
Red shoes, Schuh
Grey tights and black legwarmers, Primark

PS: I've got another outfit that I just haven't had the time to get off the camera, but as soon I can I'll post it.

TO ADD: See the other outfit here

Shoe Lurve: Chloe wedge shboots, £225 at Yoox

I am not now, nor have ever been afraid of wearing yellow. In fact I positively embrace it. Especially if I can wear that colour on my feet in the form of these bright yellow, patent shboots.

They are ugly, but in a good way. I love the shape, the way that the leather smoothly covers the entire shoe and that exaggerated bit of heel/sole.

For some reason these shoes remind me of a sports car. It must be the sleek lines and the shiny pop of colour (oh dear, fashionspeak!)

They'd be great for dressing up jeans or dressing down a cocktail dress. It's times like this that I wish I had a bottomless bank account.

Shoe Lurve - Red or Dead Maxa, £69.99 at Schuh

It's no secret that I like Mary Janes. It's even a less of a secret that I like bright colours. So it's a no-brainer that these shoes from Red or Dead are rocking my world right now. The jewel bright colours and contrasting pink lining are gorgeous (and, oh look, there's pink and green again).

There's a nice, manageable, 3.5 inch heel and it's all finished of with that enormous brass buckle, which leaves the shoes just the other side of cute.

If I have one niggle, it's that the buckle is emblazoned with the Red or Dead logo and - FYI guys - let's be a little more discreet. If I've bought a pair of shoes, the last thing I want is to be someone's walking billboard.

Their perfect round-toed loveliness, is just the right alternative to sandals for this summer's round of parties. They also come in black or tan, if you are at all interested. I prefer them bold and bright.

Outfit of the week 18/04/08

All this incredible-disappearing-sunshine weather is getting me all depressed, so cheer myself up , I thought I'd put together a fun casual summer outfit with lots of colour and quirk. Am still very much on the frills tip, hence the frill tiered top and skirt. I love a bit of a juicy colour contrast - orange and mint green, green and pink, orange and pink - these are some of my favourite combinations for eye-catching colour.

A touch of sheer colour with contrasting sheer tights from Jonathan Aston (I'm thinking pink but no pics available). And just for the sheer pereverse hell of it, I'm chucking in some floral detail from this cute shopper and adorable leather cuff.

There. I feel better already.

In an almost evenly split result, 55 per cent of you rate this outfit was a sunshiny Do and 44 per cent of you thought it was a bit too much Don't.



Click on image to enlarge

Tiered top and skirt, £28 each, both at Warehouse
Floral shopper, £10, and floral cuff, £15, both at Miss Selfridge
Flat bow pumps, £28 at Office
Sheer tights (various colours), £.395 at Jonathan Aston

Tribute to Marimekko at H&M

Finding myself with a few spare hours on my hands yesterday, I decided to put them to good use by checking out the Marimekko tribute collection at H&M. I was expecting frenzied shoppers would've scooped up the best of the collection but was surprised to find everything featured on the website (and on countless blogs) was still there. I'm not sure exactly when the collection hit stores, but it didn't look to me like they were doing a roaring trade.

There may well be a reason for this. While normally I love loud colours and prints, these clothes weren't quite doing it for me. It had something to do with the shapes. It seemed to me that the entire collection had been done with far taller girls than me in mind. The heavy skirts, though quite fetching, were too long and and overwhelming, the three-quarter length trousers were not the most flattering and the tops were a little bland and predictable.

What I did like though, were the accessories- a great pair of colourful geometric earrings, a huge breastplate of a necklace made from layered, metal discs, matching fabric covered disc necklace and chunky bangle, and two tone giant sunglasses that came in their own pouch, were my favourites.

So my advice to you is, if you're not tall and you still want a bit of Marimekko in your wardrobe this summer, make a beeline for the accessories before all the best bits are gone.

Outfit of the week 26/03/08

I'm feeling in a colourful mood this week, anything to stave off the gloom filled horror that spring is turning out to be so far. Still where there's colour, there's hope and the moment I laid eyes on this red shirt dress from French Connection the future seemed a whole lot brighter.

I've gone for a slouchy, daytime/weekend look with the dress layered over a long-sleeve tee and red socks layered over yellow tights (I know! Colour, remember?). It's finished off with funky sneakers and an even funkier canvass bag.

Time to go out and cause some traffic mayhem with your multi-coloured self.

71 per cent of you rated this outfit a technicolour-tastic, Do
28 per cent of you just don't do multi-colour and rated it a Don't

Click on image to enlarge

Dress, £65, French Connection

Blue, long-sleeved tee, £6, Dorothy Perkins

Sneakers, £29.99, Rocket Dog at Schuh

Canvass bag, £10, New Look

Yellow tights, £4.95, Pamela Mann at My Tights

Ribbed knee high socks, £9.95, Tabio

See more outfits

Comic book character

I love dressing up. Not the "I'm off to a party dressed up to the nines" kind of dressing up, but the kind where you dress up for the drama, to become someone else or just another facet of your character.

And I've noticed that bubbling under all the other trends for spring/summer is this playful, colourful, kooky trend that borrows heavily from comic books. Which is great, because I've always wanted to dress up like a super hero but, like, everyday. So I made up some collages based on cartoon characters whose style I would totally steal. Click on the images to make them larger.


Betty and Veronica
Pink plastic sunglasses, Jeepers Creepers; pink charm clutch, Betseyville, flat multicoloured sandals, Opening Ceremony; perforated yellow courts, all at ASOS
Pink satin trim prom dress, Oasis
Taupe and yellow slingbacks, Chie Mihara at Kurt Geiger
Pink t-shirt, River Island
Cassette and boombox earrings, Mount Phoenix at Etsy
Eggplant unitard, American Apparel
Purple princess pendant, Glitz4Girls
Runway image, Manish Arora spring/summer 08 from Vogue.com


Betty Boop
Red frilly socks, Leg Avenue; Bunny pendant, Anna Lou; red fascinator, all at ASOS
Stripey dress, Warehouse
Floral blouse, Jasper Conran at Debenhams
Graphic tee, Esprit
Red plastic sunglasses, Miss Selfridge
Red and black t-shirt dress, Urban Outfitters
Red, white and brown, wooden heeled t-bar sandals and red and white wedge canvass shoes, Office
Black and white flat brogues, KG at Kurt Geiger
Lace face mask, Just For Fun
Black and white asymmetrical sunglasses, Escapade
Red plastic cutout alice band, Glitz4Girls
Black poloneck with pink collar, Lazy Oaf
Runway image Luella spring/summer 08 from Vogue.com


Green Lantern
Tromp l'oeil tee, Lazy Oaf
Two-colour tights, American Apparel
Specs pendant, zip stud earring, Topman
Green and black wayfarers, Urban Outfitters
Green and brown, wooden stack heel t-bar, Faith
Green lace-ups, Solea at Kurt Geiger
Lime alice band, Glitz4Girls
Dress pendant, Lisa Galibardy at ASOS
Runway image, Manish Arora as before


Minnie Mouse
Teal blue plastic sunglasses, Jeepers Creepers; black and white cutout socks, Emilio Cavallini; cerise and white spotted flat canvass sandals, Irregular Choice; at ASOS
Blue polo shirt with red collar, Diesel
Blue sailor tee, Lazy Oaf
Blue and yellow frill hem skirt, Mount Phoenix at Etsy
Red high waist shorts, American Apparel
Mouse ears, Party Tracker
Blue cross-body vanity case, Topshop
Multi-coloured wedge court and multi-coloured peeptoe both Office
Yellow smilie face button, Topshop
Pink plastic specs, Just for Fun
Runway image Luella as before


Silver Surfer

Bat mask, Just for Fun
Wide studded belt, Warehouse
Panelled head band, Marios Schwab for Topshop
Enamel monster pendant and silver monster pendant, Cos
Silver heeled lace-ups, Ash Sound at Sniff
Beaded and sequin cape, Kate Moss for Topshop

Is it a shoe or is it art?

A Mondrian for your feet - Irregular Choice Mule, £69.99 at Schuh
Click on image to enlarge

The moment I saw these unusual, colourful, strappy mules from Irregular Choice, several things occurred to me:

a) As with most IC shoes, they are thoroughly impractical...
b) ...but gorgeous to look at
c) I would really like to hang these on my wall...
d)... like a Mondrian
e) But these are supposed to be shoes, right?

Way before the "it" shoe was a twinkle in the eye of the designer marketing machine, IC have done the kind of shoes that make a statement. Their aesthetic might not be to everyone's taste but to girls like me who like their footwear with a bit of drama and/or a sense of humour they are spot on.

Unfortunately, I get the feeling that IC never let a wearable shoe (let's not even talk comfort, that's a whole different shoe shop) get in the way of an interesting design. And therein lies the problem. I have a long and illustrious history of really liking IC shoes, the evidence of which can still be found in the back of my shoe closet. Never have shoes looked so good yet hurt so bad.

I don't get it. Everytime I see IC shoes, I'm a drooling wreck but I know even before I put them on that they're not going to work in any practical way. Why, when shoes look this good has no one figured out exactly how to make them wearable and why am I still drawn to them despite the obvious drawback?

Could there be a rationale for shoes as object d'art, shoes that you can leave on the coffee table as a talking point or display in your own little shoe collection to be seen not worn? Because if there is, then I would buy these shoes in a second. As shoes they may be a total failure but as art? They're kinda perfect.

Designalike: YSL plexiglass star necklace Vs the copies

Okay, it's no secret that the world and his wife and I have been lusting after the stupendously covetable plexiglass star necklace from YSL but let's face it, an almost £2000 price tag for what amounts to a piece of fashion frippery is enough to put off all but the most dedicated followers of fashion.No doubt, copies will be all over the high street in a few weeks but if you simply cannot wait another minute then get yourself over to simply-must-have.com where they are currently doing a roaring trade in a passable copy for £38. They've even taken the time to make the same necklace in single colours if you'd prefer. Just don't blame me if everyone you pass on the street is wearing one just like yours.On the other hand, if you like the idea of a burst of colourful stars round your neck and you like the idea of these colourful stars being affordable and not worn by all and sundry to boot, you can get this quite funky starburst necklace from The Offset Shop.com for a measly £18. Bargain!

Five of the best... statement necklaces

I've only been back 2 minutes and already the lust is on. Supersized neck candy is suddenly my number one crave fave. I'm talking about the giant, pain-in-the-neck, bold and brassy necklaces that have suddenly popped up like some enormous pox infestation on the high street (sorry about the multiple medical metaphors... sometimes I just cannot help myself *sigh*)

Whatever the case is, I'm loving it. I can't wait to clash ASOS's gorgeous multi-coloured breastplate of a necklace with some sunny brights (anything to get over this distinctly unsunny weather) and River Island's faux vintage crystal collar will make even the most severe little black dress look whimsical. Must. Shop. Now.









I find myself without Photoshop, so excuse the rather uninspired visuals.

Necklaces from top: Miss Selfridge floral, £12; Mikey animal heart, £18; La Redoute colored discs, £13; River Island crystal, £29.99; ASOS enamel, £14

Outfit of the week - 01/02/08

This week I'm back on back on Oli again. They have some quite interesting offerings in their spring collection. I spied this JJ Park skirt and blouse combo while surfing recently and, seeing as I am in the middle of what can only be termed as ruffle lust, it caught my eye immediately. I love the pleated bodice and the cute floral applique detailing (this is a subtle way to do the floral trend if your not into colourful blooms everywhere) on the blouse. And the skirt just makes me swoon with pleasure.

I suppose this is sort of a party outfit, really. At the very least I'd call it smart. I hardly ever do monochrome (what can I say, I'm a colourful chick!) When I do, I tend to stick to the tried and tested formula of black and white + a touch of red = good to go. So I wanted to play around with that a bit. So I've added these adorable tan shoes and a multi-striped bag to add some less predictable interest.

71 per cent of you rated this outfit a cute Do and 28 per cent of you thought it was a bit boring.



Click on image to enlarge

JJ Park pleated rosette blouse, £60
JJ Park ruffled tiered skirt, £65 both at Oli
Office floral vamp t-bar, £55
Aldo multi-coloured stripey bag, £20
Accessorize ribbed opaquue tights, £8

I want it now! Miss Selfridge chiffon tie-neck blouse, £30

Okay, I know I tend to bang on about chiffon, tie-neck blouses. There's a reason for this: they are just about one of the most versatile items of clothing that you can get.

They can be dressed up or dressed down as you please. You can wear them under waistcoats or t-shirts, with jeans or skirts or dresses. You can wear them done-up and prim or played-down and louche.

But the other reason why I'm lusting over this particularly delightful piece of froth is because it's acid yellow, y'all! Let me just point out how incredibly hard it is to find a shirt like this, at this price, in anything other than boring black or bland cream and maybe you'll understand when I say: This blouse is a must have.

Place your orders now. Trust me, you will wear it till it falls apart.

Five of the best... Party dresses

The party season is upon us and I'm sitting here wondering, "where did the year go?" Which is a frighteningly short hop from thinking, "where did my life go?" and getting all depressed. But hey ho! There are parties to be had and party dresses to be worn. So here is my pick of the five of the best.

My favourite is the blue jewelled number from Coast. I love that tailored look. I also really like the Monsoon Storm dress, which incidentally is also blue. This is not because I love blue. This is just fashion mavens' way of letting you know that BLUE is THE colour for this party season. Got that?! Well, HAVE ya???


If those two dresses weren't so gosh darned cute, I would avoid that colour for a long time. This. Is why people rely on the LBD, it's just so much easier to make it your own. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to do something perverse with the accessories to channel my frustration.

Click on image to enlarge

Clockwise from top: Coast jewelled, £160; Julien MacDonald strapless, £60 at Debenhams; Monsoon Storm silk satin, £65; Coast applique hem, £175; House of Fraser off the shoulder, £120

Outfit of the week 20/10/07

So... y'all did not like the last outfit of the week so much. I guess it may have been something of an acquired taste.

This one, I like. So there. It's based on this cute but plain grey dress from River Island, that needed some livening up. Yellow goes great with grey and - unlike when teamed with black - you don't end up looking like a giant bumble bee.

I really like the grey knee socks layered over yellow tights - my new obsession is layering hosiery. I have to say, Accessorize is my new favourite place to get coloured tights because they have them really thick (90 denier) in a variety of bright colours. They also have some amazing patterned tights.

For the rest, I thought I'd try some clashy colour play to de-Stepford the look. Hence the different coloured, belt and shoes. But I couldn't resist the grey bag with the black patent accents. I think it all works well together.

Click on outfit to enlarge

Grey dress and bag, River Island, £34.99 and £29.99, respectively
Yellow roll neck sweater, Debenhams, £12
Purple belt, forever 21, $7.80
Yellow tights and grey knee highs, Accessorize, £5 and £6, respectively
Teal green shoes, Schuh, £59.99

85 per cent of you thought this outfit was a colourtastic Do. The rest of you wanted me to stop punishing the grey dress.

Crocs! What are they good for?

I hate crocs and so, apparently, do other people. Who knew?

Outfit of the week 01/10/07

So two things have led to this outfit:
1. Last week's outfit was all black and I have to bring back the colour.
2. I've been inspired by Ms Spinach's excellent Vogue Girl images.

I'd really like to play with colour more in my outfits. Maybe when I finally get round to it, I'll have some pics of my attempts to show you.

It was really hard to get the angle on the French Connection dress to work so apologies if it looks a bit wonky!

Click on outfit to enlarge

Purple dress (worn as top),£70, French Connection@ASOS
Teal dress, £35 and ochre belt, £15, Miss Selfridge
Yellow tights, £5, Accessorize
Teal ankle boots, £75, Office

100% of you rated this outfit a rainbow-tastic do.