Margaret Howell and Coco De Mer - London sample sales

I am in wonderful, snow covered, open fire, big dinner Yorkshire having a lovely time. But if you are in London, my advice to you is to hotfoot it to the Coco de Mer sample sale tomorrow at 108 Draycott Avenue SW3, as it's the last day and there will be achingly lovely lingerie at up to 90% off. If you see any Stella McCartney in a 32d/medium and are feeling particularly generous, you know what to do. 

I, however, shall be saving my money by eating other people's food and waiting for the Margaret Howell sample sale in March which I just found out about today and is making me fidgety with anticipation. See you there?

(Margaret Howell sample sale, 25th and 26th March, The Music Rooms, 26 South Molton Lane, W1K)

Sometimes I long to be the Margaret Howell woman

I am a fickle fashion fan and can't commit to solely loving, or wearing, one designer. But every now and then I wish I had a wardrobe entriely filled with Margaret Howell's clothes.
Although I missed all of London Fashion Week due to a very sad family loss, I have been searching out the shows I desperately wanted to see in the few spare moments I've had online.
Among them was Margaret Howell. Not a headline grabber. Not showy and flashy and most certainly not 'of the moment', Howell has always operated according to her own rules, turning out beautifully cut and refreshingly modest clothes that are easy to wear and make you feel good in your own skin. These are clothes that can be worn sans make-up on a miserable day and still make you look quietly confident and a little insouciant without even trying.
I currently own three Margaret Howell pieces - the perfect breton stripe boxy t-shirt which was an ebay bargain; a mannish blue wide pin stripe shirt found in one of the pricier charity shops in South Kensington; and one of the most expensive items I've ever bought, a below the knee, black cotton full skirt with incredibly big deep pockets on the hip. The skirt, bought last year at a sample sale just off South Molton Street, has become a cornerstone of my wardrobe - a piece I fall back on in difficult times when putting an outfit together seems like a chore rather than something to look forward to but also something I love to wear that feels like me and is suitable for almost every occasion. Plus it has those pockets. I love pockets. Pieces by Howell are that most elusive of things - timeless.
Plus Howell herself is refreshingly down to earth. Here's an excerpt from an interview with The Telegraph last year;

"Loved as she is, Howell is in many ways the antithesis of fashion. How does she fit in? 'I don’t,’ she says simply. 'We do a fashion show in the shop. It’s sort of all right, though I must say that whole week is an interruption of work.

"To me it is such a lot of time spent on certain areas like hair and make-up…

"I’m better out of the way, really.’

"On the day we meet, before my arrival, she has taken her car to be serviced and read a magazine article in the waiting-room about Anna Wintour, the whip-thin, dark-glassed editor of American Vogue. 'Anna Wintour and all that; that’s real fashion, isn’t it? That’s the world. It’s like when they all come to the show and chit and chat and drop all the names – I don’t know any of them – and “Have you got the right bag?” It’s certainly a clique and you feel outside if you are not in it.’ And do you? 'Yes, I do feel outside.’ Do you mind? She looks thoughtful, fiddles her crystal buttons. Then she smiles, 'Not in the least.’"

I am, obviously, a Howell fan and on the strength of the collection she presented at London Fashion Week for Autumn 2010 I can practically guarantee I will remain so for an exceedingly long time. Am particularly enamoured of the pop of red in the final few looks, which was totally unexpected in amongst the palette of soft greys, blacks, browns and blues... Excuse the ridiculous number of images but I am obsessed.

(images via Elleuk.com)

Today I am wearing a Howell tribute outfit, built around the black skirt with a cropped, short sleeved slate grey cashmere jumper layered over a tucked in grey and black check shirt done up all the way, black tights and crisp white lace-up plimsoles with a vinatge 80's big satin black bow hair clip for a bit of softness.

Beyond the Valley jewellery special

So, a few weeks ago EDF and I were wondering fairly aimlessly through Soho and popped into one of my favourite boutiques, Beyond the Valley on Newburgh Street, to have a nosey around.

Beyond the Valley is a great place to find small labels and really different jewellery and, although they have an online shop, nothing beats a trip to the shop itself as they always have something new on their shelves. Every time I go in I come out itching to buy fabric and make things. Sometimes I even get as far as the buying fabric bit. Right now there's a small bag of creamy diamante studded tulle, the after effect of our last visit, staring at me from a bedroom shelf and making me feel guilty about having failed to turn it into something wearable. 

As ever, this particular trip flagged up a number of great designers I didn't know as well as giving me an opportunity to caress a selection of super soft, fine and witty cashmere knitwear by Kind, which always makes me happy.

Kapow Wow made me want to make things more than any other. St Martin's graduate Mia Morokawa creates crazy ruffled neck pieces that look stiff and hard but are soft to the touch and surprisingly wearable.

(images from www.kapowwowobjects.com)

Also by a St Martin's graduate (they do get around, don't they?) Momocreatura takes fairy-tale woodland creatures and adds some rather nasty gory touches. I loved the more than slightly macabre pierced animal pendants, brooches and bits and pieces. Bit too dark for regular every-day wear, in fact really quite creepy, but I badly want a piece none the less. 

(image via www.momocreatura.com)

But my lust-o-meter was really raised by Noemi Klein. Google might confuse her with the No Logo author, but I think I know which one I'd rather be friends with. 

I especially like her twig collection, which would go rather well with my twig horseshoe ring by Alex Monroe.

(images via Beyond the Valley)

Her bird skull pieces are also pretty awesome...

That's all folks.

Fashion week armour on a budget

So, it's the day before London Fashion Week kicks off and I am off work sick. When colleagues come into the office coughing and sneezing I know it's only a matter of time before I am as sick as a dog - whatever anyone has got I'll always get it worse. I think my colleagues think I'm a wimp, but I can't help it. It's all very frustrating, especially because it's been happening a lot recently, even more than usual.
I'm starting to feel more like a functioning human being this evening, but the skin around my nose is red and raw from sneezing, my eyes are watery and my face is puffy and spotty. Forget trying to wangle invitations to shows and parties - I'm more concerned with not looking like cack.
Being stuck at home wrapped up in blankets yet again, and with JFK on the other side organising an exhibition in Japan, I've been reviewing some recent purchases and planning my armour for the shows I've been invited to.
The chief weapon in my arsenal is a pair of ludicrously high dove grey suede, lace up platform ankle boots.  They were a complete bargain, drastically reduced in the sale (the black version was still full price), and will ensure I can see everything from the back row by making me about six foot tall.
I'm planning on dying them black after their first couple of outings, as the grey suede will get dirty in seconds. I've been wearing them while I've been lying on the sofa and pottering about the house to try and gauge how painful they're going to be after a few hours on my feet, and they are going to hurt. A lot. But I think it's worth it.

Carvela Skittle boots

I'll be wearing them with, among other things, a pair of black Acne pre A/W 09 Jasmine trousers - an ebay bargain - with a slouchy claret coloured oversized Nicole Farhi knitted jumper layered over a black silky Cos vest.

pic via Acne Studios

And to top it all off, my new trophy, a huge dark green silk vintage Chanel scarf, another bargain from the Cabbages and Frocks Saturday market in Marylebone.

This whole outfit cost me less than £100. This makes me feel good.

Quote of the week - Anna Dello Russo

The fashion director at large for Vogue Nippon is a serious collector of high fashion. She's among the few who eschew make-up, focusing solely on the clothes, and for me she's up there with Daphne Guiness as one of those rare creatures who can really pull off head-to-toe catwalk looks of the most avant garde order.

But life isn't easy for a serious fashion collector. For serious fashion, just like serious wine, serious books and serious art, needs to be stored properly. It can get pretty intimidating, especially if you start buying voluminous couture dresses that weigh more than a whole creche of children or delicate furs, raw silks and hand painted fabrics.

And so this quote of the week is dedicated to anyone that has to live with Anna Dello Russo. Brrrrrrr.

"Collecting clothes is complicated because the clothes need a space and the right temperature. You really destroy clothes if you leave it there, no? It’s dusty, it’s hot — it ruins the clothes. It’s so freezing in my house! The clothes need to be cold . . . no more than 15 degrees Celsius." Anna Dello Russo via Fashionlogie.

One to watch - Ricardo Dourado

While other blogs are obsessed with A/W 2010 already thanks to New York Fashion Week (best shows thus far for me Rag & Bone and Preen - some New York style mavens might think this is blasphemous but I'm not feeling the Wang), I'm still hunting for my big S/S love.

But if someone put me up against a wall right now and said I was only allowed to wear one designer this season, Ricardo Dourado would be a serious contender. Like Wang, he excels at the off-duty model look but with a more European twist.

30 year-old Dourado is hardly a familiar name in this country, but he's been on the scene in Portugal for four years now. I stumbled across him at Wolf & Badger and it was true love at first fondle.

His 90s grunge inspired S/S catwalk show features light silk jerseys, washed cottons and a muted colour palette. Sadly the youtube video demonstrates how some gawky models can ruin a show. Unusually, the stills actually give a much better idea of the quality of the collection but it is much, much better in the flesh (and on someone with a bit more of said flesh that those models).

His lace-up wedges knock the Atacomas out of the water (I have it on good authority that Elle have called in a blue washed pair for a photoshoot) and the man himself is even nice to bloggers, responding to our emails in person and seeming genuinely pleased that we like his work.

Check out Dourado's blog here.

Alexander Wang, the internet and Alexander McQueen - a few thoughts

Yes, fashion month is back and as hectic as ever. It's had one of the saddest starts in its history, casting a grey pall of tragedy over the entire industry and leaving fashion lovers around the world reeling, but the show must go on.

For bedroom fashion writers like me this season promised to be especially exciting thanks to the increasing number of live streams that allow us to be, this evening, at Alexander Wang's show at New York Fashion Week while simultaneously watching something about the Orwellian future of the web in a warm and toasty living room in North West London with the laptop balanced on top of a sleepy and happy cat.

I'm not sure that video, even a live stream, can ever really convey the true atmosphere of a show - I've been to a few and there really is nothing quite like it. But it is, never the less, exciting. Especially when it's done by Nick Knight's fashion-web pioneering ShowStudio and therefore or impressively decent quality.
I especially like that they're showing people coming into the venue, so you get some of the hum of fashion chatter in the background and can check out the coats being worn by the fashion editors, buyers, bloggers and hangers on as they spill in out of the cold snow-driven New York street (or cushy town car).
While I can't see the point in reviewing a show via Style.com pics, stiff and still and removed from their context, the increasing availability of live streaming is really opening up fashion shows to fans of every ilk, from the obsessed to the critical to the casual lover.
However for all this talk of inclusivity and opening up the fashion world to a wider public, what live streaming essentially offers is a two tier display where the favoured get invited to the show and the plebians only get to watch it online and are grateful for it.

The late, great Alexander McQueen in his last interview, published in today's Times, said he imagined broadcasting his future shows live to guests, sending them interactive viewing pyramids instead of inviting them to big catwalk shows. Sadly, the pressure to deliver something bigger, better and faster every season took its toll. I am wary of entirely laying the blame for the death of a man I can not claim to know at the door of the industry, but I don't think it's entirely unfair to say that the fashion monster has claimed one of the brightest of its progeny.

As both my friend over at Layer and Swathes and fashion intellectual Colin McDowell have pointed out, the pressure created by making the next season instantly accessible online before we've even begun to understand (or wear) the previous season's collections is possibly not the best way of creating an environment that can support serious talent. In almost every other industry talent is given time and space to grow, but fashion is relentless in its quest for the new. When everyone in the world has already seen an image of your best piece a million times before it even hits the shops and the ubiquity of information has allowed the high street to copy the next big trend months before hand, the pressure on designers has never been greater. And there are increasingly vast amounts of money and kudos at stake.

I don't think the industry has yet worked out how to handle the internet. It's experimenting and trying, to varying degrees of success, and it has certainly succeeded in creating an amazing online community where fans like you and I can pontificate over collections just minutes after they hit the runway. But by overloading us with information they risk tainting their product through overexposure and devaluing their talent, making their jobs even more demanding and vulnerable.

Sitting here awaiting the start of the Alexander Wang show, part of me can't help feeling that the mystery and magic of fashion is being stripped away.