My new little Luella lovely! Awwh.

Today was GCSE results day and I didn’t meet some of my predicted grades and so I- as hard on myself as ever- was in floods of tears and for a few hours I felt like the world was going to end and that I may as well just stop dreaming of university and give up everything and become a hairdresser.

But then I settled down a bit because a) I realised that my results are actually not that bad, especially when compared to many other people’s results, and, b) my sister gave me a present to congratulate me for passing all of my exams. I was still sniffling and drying my eyes whilst opening the present, but as soon as I clapped eyes on an oh-so-familiar pink dustbag, my face lit up. Inside the dustbag was, of course, a Luella bag. My darling sister (with a little help from my mum, I’m sure) bought me a Luella Lizzie bag! It’s really cute because of its tiny size. It’s patent red leather with a big metal daisy on the front. The bag opens up to reveal three inner pouches! This is just the sort of bag I’ve been needing for a while; I have a tendency to carry huge bags everywhere and sometimes I just want a little across-body bag to carry some money, my phone and my lip balm in. And this is the bag to do the job! I completely and utterly love it.

My sister told me she picked it up about 4 months ago at the Luella outlet at Bicester Village. The store (which was lovely) was clearing out all of its stock due to Luella having ceased training, so ma soeur was able to get it at a discounted price. I (rudely) asked out of curiousity how much the bag was, and she wouldn’t tell me the exact price but said that it was “pricey… but not too pricey”.

Above is the only picture I can provide of the bag at the moment. My camera’s battery needs recharging but I can’t find the charger, so I’ve had to use the webcam on my mum’s laptop. I always thought that it was a good camera, but today is decided to be a pain and take rubbish pictures and I wasn’t able to take the black and white feature off (I’m actually computer illiterate). I promise that I will take good quality pictures in colour as soon as the charger materialises.

Pretty eyes at Chanel

It was all about the eyes. Peter Philips, the Global Creative Director of Chanel make-up, said, “I recreated a paint, print texture that Karl Lagerfeld used on some of the handbags and shoes for this fall/winter RTW show” (source: talkingmakeup.com). Lots of Chanel’s Le Crayon Kohl Intense Eye Pencil was used, in classic black and also in clair, which is a new shade for this season. The skin was left as a flawless, porcelein base and the lips were au naturel to focus one’s eyes on, er, the eyes. I really like this look but, alas, I don’t think I could get away with wearing it in the real world, where lithe-limbed, leggy beauties and floaty frocks aren’t really in abundance.

Valde, Valli!

I loved Giambattista Valli AW ’10! The clothes were sophisticated and marvellous. The models were perfect, with fuss-free up-dos, perfect figures (well, obviously) and great, heavy black eye make-up paired with flawless skin. Everything was perfect, really.

It was the outerwear that did it for me. The opening look was, like many other opening looks this season, a camel coat. Instantly, I was hooked in. And then- just when I thought it couldn’t get any better- Frida Gustavsson emerged wearing the 6th look; a camel coat with a similarly cocoon-esque shape, but this time with a funnel neck and short sleeves, leaving the arms bare. It looked lovely the way it was shown, with Frida placing her hands in the deep pockets, revealing a bit of bare arm. Not the most practical of coats for the winter, perhaps, but one could still wear long gloves or, indeed, just long sleeves to solve this slight sartorial issue. There were also some lovely white coats in appealing fabrics, because who doesn’t like a bit of winter white?

Sheer black tights were worn throughout, reiterating Valli’s AW 2010 ideals: simple, clean, chic, sophisticated and feminine. Oh yes, this collection was feminine. Quite a few sheer pieces were paraded down the runway. I feel I must refer to another of my favourite looks here: a sheer white spotted top with a black bra underneath. Teamed with a solid black beaded/ruffled skirt, black tights, kitten heels and a pink belt, it looked grown-up and chic with a very subtle hint of naughtiness. The idea wasn’t sexiness. It was femininity. There was a bit of knicker-flashing going on as well, again put together perfectly in the form of excuisitely detailed dresses with white tops and black skirts with sheer panels around the knicker area. Again, tasteful, plain black underwear was worn underneath. Going more down the sexy route was a very sheer black floor-length dress (worn with a navy blue blazer sitting on the shoulders) that made the black bra worn underneath very visible. Still, though, it wasn’t wholly distasteful.

Basso & Brooke FW 2010

You probably saw it coming: the point at which I remind you all- one again- that I am all for prints. Prints excite me, blah blah blah, you already know that. It will probably not come as a surprise, then, that the main reason that I am writing a post dedicated to Basso & Brooke’s latest collection is that I loved the prints. I always love Basso & Brooke prints.  This wasn’t the most groundbreaking of collections, but what it did provide was a very welcome burst of colour and pattern.

One of my favourite pieces was a parka, but of course it was no ordinary parka. Forget a fur-trimmed hood and dull khaki shades- this parka had a fur collar and wowed me with its crazy, colourful all-over print. So cool. There was also the it item of lust that almost every fashion house worth its salt showed this season- a camel coat- which at Basso & Brooke was a rather simplistic, collarless number. The said coat was one of the few solid pieces featured in the show, which I thought were a nice antithehis to the abundance of prints… there should have been more solid pieces, in my opinion, to balance out the collection more. The ongoing theme within this collection was to take simple pieces and to jazz them up with prints so they were more desirable. And guess what? It worked. I would be much more inclined to buy a wonderful printed shift dress from this collection than I would be to buy a plain shift dress from an equally desirable label.

Pronouncing the trickiest names in fashion!

We read the names and know and love the clothes. But can we pronounce all of the names of our favourite labels? Because fashion is an international thing, there are often some names in the fashion industry that look odd to us. Hopefully if you’ve ever been confused about how to pronounce the name of a designer or label then your problems will be solved after reading this little guide which will teach you how to pronounce some of the trickiest names in fashion! If I’ve missed any out and you’d like to add to this list, please leave a comment on this post!

Andrew Gn = Andrew jen

Ann Demeulemeester = ann de-moo-le-mee-stir

Azzedine Alaia = az-a-dean a-lie-ya

Balmain = bal-ma (“ma” as in ”magic” rather than “march”)

Burberry Prorsum = bur-berry p-roar-sum

Charles Anastase = charles anna-stars

Christian Lacroix = chris-tee-an la-kwa

Comptoirs des Cottoniers = con-twar day cot-on-yay

Eley Kishimoto = eel-ee kish-ee-mow-toe

Falke = fall-ka

Giambattista Valli = gee-yam-bat-easter var-lee

Gianfranco Ferre = gee-anne-fran-ko fair-er

Giuseppe Zanotti = ji-sep-ee za-not-ee

Hermes = er-mez

Herve Leger = her-vay lej-air

Hussein Chalayan = who-said sha-lie-on

Jean Charles de Castelbajac = je-on sh-arl de cass-tell-bar-yak

Loewe = low-ev-aye

Maison Martin Margiela = may-son mar-tan mar-gel-a

Marchesa = mar-key-sa

Narciso Rodriguez = nar-see-sow rod-re-gez

Ohne Titel = own-er tee-tal

Proenza Schouler = pro-n-sa shoe-ler

Ralph Lauren = Like the name Lauren (which rhymes with ‘foreign’), rather than ‘le-ron’, if you know what I mean!

Roksanda Illincic = rock-sand-der ill-in-ch-itch

Salvatore Ferregamo = sal-va-tor-ray fer-ray-gah-mo

Thierry Mugler = tea-air-ee moo-glay

Yves Saint Laurent = eve-san-lor-ron

I compiled most of this list myself, but I did consult the rest of the internet when it came to the really tricky names that I had no idea how to pronounce myself!

Balenciaga FW 2010

There are so many words that I could use to describe Ghesquiere’s latest RTW collection for Balenciaga… innovative, intruiging, interesting. Exciting. Smart. I could go on, but instead I am going to keep things short and sweet by saying that I completely adore this collection. And why wouldn’t I? There is an eclectic mix of textures, colours and styles. It is all very interesting. The pieces in this collection are the kind of pieces that one drools over whilst gazing through a shop window, too scared to go inside but too absorbed by the wonderful craftsmanship and attention to detail that it is impossible to walk away after a few seconds of taking in the view. Oh yes, these are pieces to enjoy. I can tell that Mr Ghesquiere enjoyed making this collection.

Then there were the colours that I loved: the cool blues and tangerines and pinks. Especially the blues. And then, as if it couldn’t get any more exciting, there were geometric prints. These hinted at the fact that this was a rather futuristic collection; instead of using more traditional (and should we say dull, after seeing this collection?) techiniques, the garments in this collection were evidently created using a wide range of new technology, hence the exciting new techniques we witnessed here.

Duty free spree!

I just went to the Duty Free. No fake tan was purchased but to compensate i bought YSL Faux Cils mascara, Estee Lauder Sumptuous Mascara (because I’m going to need it at some point), Vogue Paris, Vogue UK and a tube of Lacasitos, which I assume are the Spanish, less tasty equivalent to Smarties. I shall be occupied on the plane.

I also have a pair of cat eye sunglasses which I just snatched from a table in the cafe. I did wait for about 40 minutes before deciding to snatch them. OK, I’m a thief…