London Fashion Weekend 3

 Yes, its that time of year again and as usual, Susie and I attended London Fashion Weekend at Somerset house. Wearing my new Topshop Unique deco print shirt, with which I christened my new student discount, and embarrassingly enough, my chelsea boots, we arrived (with outstanding grace on the cobble stones) at 11:30 and promply went to pick up our Show Bags. As always, the show bag is an exciting part of the day and I was thrilled to see (to name a few) a Karl Lagerfeld designed coke bottle and Gu chocolate flapjacks, plus some rather funky looking eyelashes. The bag this season was designed by David Koma and I was rather impressed by the mint green colour- a definite branch out!

The show, once again styled by Miss Molly was one of the best I think London Fashion Weekend has seen over the past 4 years I've been going and I am more excited than ever about Autumn/ Winter!  managed to impress myself by getting from the third row (we just didnt get there in time!) to the first, which is now some Vodaphone VIP thing that not many people use, leaving a basically vacant front row, so when the lights started dimming I wasted no time getting down there. The new host, stylist Grace Woodward, who I had seen in the couple of 'Britain and Irelands Next Top Model' episodes  I watched this year, gave the standard introduction to the collections and managed to slip a couple of very unfunny jokes in there (no one laughed...) and kicked off the show with Jaeger AW11. They have done a few shows at London Fashion Weekend in the past and I still think they are great- amazingly wearable and very warm looking.The coats and knits genuinely made me wish it was colder! Accompanied by a £25 voucher in the show bags, I may be able to afford a pair of socks now! Next was a trend collection, aptly named "The Great British Autumn". A few things to sum this up are: Layers, layers, layers, muted palettes, mixed prints, chunky boots, plaid skirts, knits, scarfs and coats. As Grace Woodward said, we are basically channeling Helena Bonham Carter style here. Think eccentric, eclectic British lady. After this was the A/W collection of Bryce Aime. This was very much made up of structured and modern graphic prints. He claims the collection was inspired by the stereotypical militaristic features of an army barracks. I thought the combination of structure, tailoring and edgy androgynous silhouettes in his collection was clever and I really liked it, although I'm not sure I'd wear many of the looks! This was followed by another trend show, 'Le Rive Gauche'. This collection was quite similar to my style and reminded me of Audrey Hepburn and Alexa Chung. There was an abundance of texture- leather, silk, suede, fur, satin... Very French Chic and old movie style. It was, undoubtedly my favourite of the collections we saw and many of the looks included the clothes of Lucy in Disguise- Lily Allen and her sister's vintage shop venture. They had a stall which Susie and I payed a visit and after lusting after the vintage Ossie Clark gowns, made us wish we had an unlimited budget. The final collection was Osman. I would describe it as very luxurious, quite eclectic and dreamlike. Inspired by the artist, Catherine Yass's recent series of lightboxes, 'Decommissioned',  the looks had a very precise and modern feel. In particular, there was a very nice dress with a light pink leather bodice and a bright pink skirt. I want!

After fighting our way out of the tent, we looked round all the stalls from vintage to designer, all lovely and all out of price range. We revisited a couple of favourites then left in search of a PRET. I guess thats the end of London Fashion Weekend for 2011 but February is not so terribly far away is it? I say the same everytime but, highlight of the year for me!

 Saw some brilliant Street Style there and, if this inspires more people to go, the introduction of the Men's section meant many very well dressed guys!
Also you've probably noticed but I've rediscovered the formatting wonders of blogger of sorry about the random colours!
I will take this time to also make a vow not to blog about the chelsea boots for the rest of September.
LB xx

Net

Channelling some look between teddy boy and school girl (probably due to the satchel), I went out last night to a birthday dinner of Hattie's (happy birthday!) at Pizza Express! As it was, dog walking aside, the only occasion I left my desk this weekend, it is once again my only post to show for my weekend because I am officially the most terrible blogger ever. Needless to say, Im gunna make up for it as soon as I can with so many posts you will get sick of me!

I'm wearing:
shoes.... take a guess- the overwearing is shocking
trousers- vintage
printed socks- M&S
belt-vintage
net cape shirt- Topshop
denim jacket- topshop
satchel- Spitalfields market

These photos dont show off the full cape-ness of the shirt but it is pictured here (scroll to the bottom of the link). Homework aside, I am also pleased to mention that I finally got sewing again! I havnt committed to sitting down with the old machine in a while but now that there is our school drama festival to be thinking about, I made the leap and got going. I'll share the finished piece some time when its all finished...
Sorry for the sporadic posting...
LB xx

Sparkle

I saw this top in a vintage shop just off Brick Lane and Miu Miu instantly came to mind. The 40s are one of my favourite fashion eras and walking around in a sparkly haze of sequins lifts my mood like nothing else. Obviously, I spent most of the day listening to Davo's seemingly endless supply of hilarious Peter Pan/ Tinkerbell references but thats only to be expected. 

I tried to dress the sequins down a bit with boyfriend fit vintage Levi's and a Topshop leather jacket, and I think I might have succeeded- the trick is to keep jewelry minimal. I have to apologise once again for over wearing my Topshop Chelsea boots but I dont seem to be able to help myself- they go too well with everything I own...

I am officially back at school, as of last Tuesday and the homework is piling up already. Art A-Level is not looking like such a wise choice any more, something that I was pondering whilst staggering home with a pile of massive coffee table books on artists from the library. Im sure it will all be worth it in the end! As I've spent the majority of the weekend at my desk, and indeed most of the week, as well as doing a mega wardrobe cull, I havnt had much of a chance to blog but Im trying to work out a system dont you worry! Work aside, London Fashion Week is very very soon and alas, my lack of invitation to any show is once again apparent... However, I will be standardly front row at London Fashion Weekend so its not all bad. No idea what Im going to wear though! Any how, back to my poetry homework!
LB xx

Wu

Seeing as its been quite a long time since I did a catwalk post, I thought today was the day, after seeing Jason Wu's Ready to Wear Spring 2012 collection. It jumped out to me because it basically embodies my style (well not right now because its cold and raining). It goes from almost androgyny, my autumn inspiration to structured ball gowns, which, were I invited to a ball and had a budget-less spending spree, I would wear without a shadow of regret!

 Keeping to the trends with a collared shirt- I love the mixture of a breezy, printed shirt with a short to long skirt, a combination I am now eager to try and oozes sophistication but also quite playful and young.

 I want this dress. I can think of so many occasions where this would be perfectly appropriate. Just look at the subtle structure of the skirt and the amazingly embellished top. Love.

 This has joined my "Top 10 Princess Dress" list, which lists all the dresses I would wear if I were royalty, like Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday, or possibly on the red carpet. Yeah, I know what you're thinking- dream on...

 I dont know about you but I saw this and immediately thought of Louis Vuitton, what with the hot pants. Although I wouldn't wear them out, I love the embellished collar on the shirt.

This seems to me perfectly wearable and I love this look. It doesnt have the same Wow factor as the pink dress but it has the same sophisticated glamour.

Needless to say, the rest of the collection is equally fabulous. As to other things I am currently longing for, a catalogue came through my door thins morning from Wrap London, which, after a quick browse, I have decided has to be stocking my wardrobe. There is a slight problem with my non- existent funds but its still very nice to look at- the website is www.wraplondon.co.uk
I really recommend you have a look- my personal favourites are the Saskia velvert dress and the fur coat...
LB xx
Images- Style.com

Edge

Today, I experienced the life of a buyer as me and my friend Katie attended the London Edge fashion event at Kensington Olympia. We were representing Katie's work experience company, Go Stationary, so with our official looking BUYER passes we entered the weird world of London Edge. With a definite punk/goth/skater theme going on we felt somewhat out of place but we were quick to find a number of vintage stalls which made us feel right at home once more! Because all the stalls were samples, intended for trade, we sadly couldnt buy anything but we collected a vast number of business cards for our networking troubles. London Edge is a place where people can walk around in ball gowns and fetish lingerie (and Im not talking Louis Vuitton here either!)alike without people batting an eyelid, and for a change I felt both over dressed and under dressed! We watched the various collections on stage, models chained together at the ankles, we legged it after accidentally treading on a woman's metre long train (she didnt seem to take it wall...) , we lusted over the abundance of creepers (One day in the not so far off future, I will buy a pair) and we rested our tired heeled feet in the juice bar (yum). On the whole, day well spent!

 Im wearing :

Blouse- vintage

jacket- topshop

sunnies- Marc by marc jacobs

trousers- topshop

clutch- vintage

socks- accessorize

boots (SORRY)- topshop

 Katie

The top floor was enhabited by skateboarding ramps and stalls so we didnt linger up there for long!

We went home via Brick Lane (standard) so expect some exciting outfit posts in the coming weeks!

With exam results, some time at Reading Festival, Yorkshire and at my desk trying to finish my summer work (which I did NOT leave to the last minue...) there hasnt been musch time for my blogging which strikes me as an omen for the coming term, destined to be phenominally busy. Im warning you now! But with school starting tomorrow, marking the beginning of my life as a 6thformer, I havnt got time to panic!

LB xx