Sexual man-shades.

I spied this pair of RayBan men's sunglasses today (although I think they would look equally chic on a certain type of lady), so enjoy the visual:

Hm. There's been more testosterone in my posts lately. 

De-stress dance.

It's essay overload / finals time, which means everyone should just get up and dance for a bit, obviously. Here's my fabulous friend Sandy and myself dancing terribly and de-stressing in the process:

Fashion's Night Out 2011 dates.

Today, Vogue announced the dates for Fashion's Night Out 2011: both the UK and USA events will take place September 8th, so put it in the diary, people.

Last year's event was truly amazing on a personal level, so I'll definitely be back. Here's hoping I get to meet the sublime Christopher Bailey (CEO of Burberry) all over again:

A Time Lord in Savile Row.

In all honesty, I'm not really a Doctor Who fan  -  no particular reason, I just never really got into it. However, I am a big fan of the dashing folk who play the titular character, most recently Matt Smith. And here he is, all pretty for a shoot in The Times, decked out in Savile Row's finest:

What can I say? I'm a sucker for a dandy.

McQueen exhibition.

I was ridiculously excited to learn today that there will be a retrospective Alexander McQueen exhibition  -  Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty  -  in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, running from 4th May-31st July (hence the excitement, as I shall be arriving in New York for the very first time on the 29th April for a long week!).

Considering that it is a little over a year since the designer's tragic death, as well as the house's role in the creation of Kate Middleton's wedding dress, the exhibition announcement comes at a most pertinent time. According to The Sunday Times:

"The show — which will feature about 100 examples of McQueen’s work — will span a series of galleries depicting the designer’s key themes, such as Romantic Mind and Romantic Primitive. Star pieces will include the dress worn by Shalom Harlow while being spray-painted by robots for his SS99 show and a gown made of silk and real flowers from SS07 that shed blooms as it went down the catwalk. (It will be displayed in a bell jar, adorned again with real flowers, which will decompose over the course of the exhibition to become potpourri-like)".

As the designer is a truly personal favourite of mine, this has to be my cultural highlight of the year.

Blake Lively for Chanel.

I've long thought that the beautiful Blake Lively would make a perfect Chanel campaign girl, so I was most enthused when I heard that Karl Lagerfeld had selected her to front a campaign for the iconic Mademoiselle handbag. Now that the pictures have been released, enjoy a visual treat:

NB: Yes, that is "Black Pearl" Lively is sporting on her nails, the latest 'it' colour from the brand  -  having purchased a bottle today, I can thoroughly recommend this shade of steely silver / forest first-hand.

Gaga catwalks for Thierry Mugler.

Paris fashion week has possibly never been so dramatic or, indeed, so fabulous:

English nostalgia.

Although Vancouver is proving ridiculously beautiful in a myriad of ways, I still harbour a very soft spot for my usual English habitat. Jourdan Dunn is one of my favourite models, and a fellow Londoner, and she's truly stunning in the Burberry spring / summer '11 campaign, which is shot on a gloriously moody Brighton beach:

Ubiquity of baby pink.

Just thought I'd share this passage from an insightful article by Colin McDowell in The Sunday Times Style regarding the spring / summer '11 couture collections. This particular excerpt focuses on the widespread nature of baby pink in the collections, namely in Chanel but also in many other houses  -  refer to previous posts:

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"Pastel pinks are too girlie for modern young women who buy their own clothes, but it is a shrewd choice for a collection created to be bought by men for women of a certain age (no woman uses her own money to buy couture), with their worrying hairstyles and make-up like a mask, snuggling into expensive furs. We catch occasional glimpses of them in the ritzier parts of London, but in Paris, they’re everywhere. And for these women and their men, the outrageously obvious, even crude bow to femininity that baby pink brings is absolutely in character with the part played by the wife or mistress of a rich, powerful man. Let us put aside our reservations, however, and instead admire Lagerfeld not only for understanding this market, but for meeting its needs so consummately".

The return of Gemma.

Without meaning to sound too fangirl-esque, Gemma Ward is my favourite model ever (pictured below on the cover of i-D), an accolade I don't award lightly.

Unsurprisingly, therefore, I was most cheered to read this article on the British Vogue website:

http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/daily/110201-gemma-ward-talks-heath-ledger.aspx

I'm just glad most of all that Gemma has begun to find mental peace. If this means she may come back to modelling in the not-too-distant future, then all the better.

More than Worthy.

I'm closing this couture sample special with some House of Worth spring / summer '11. Four words: crazy midnight butterfly war.

Who needs reality?

Oh my; the Elie Saab spring / summer '11 couture collection makes me want to play faeries in some verdant happy place:

Is it a bird? Well, yes.

I'm not dwelling on the Givenchy spring / summer '11 couture collection as I found it too analagous to autumn / winter '10, but I had to share this close-up shot of one of the designs:

Chanel couture.

I found one half of this collection rather underwhelming and the other the epitome of classic Chanel with a modern edge:

Painter in your pocket.

Dior is the first of the fashion houses to reveal its spring / summer '11 couture collection. Behold the beautiful mixture of architectural silhouettes and full-flowing fabric, combined with a painterly palette juxtaposed with bold red accents:

I missed my coat.

So I bought a new one  -  at $55 (£35), this was cheaper than shipping my camel baby over. It's chocolate faux-fur with mustard lining and gold-tone buttons:

Vintage + 50% off for you.

New location.

Just to let you all know that, since Monday 3rd January 2011, I have migrated to Vancouver in Canada on an university exchange, which is most exciting! I'll be studying at the University of British Columbia (UBC) for the Winter semester. Here's a sunrise view from my room, no big deal:

Festive greetings & mood.

Happy New Year, beautiful people! Hope 2011 makes all your dreams come true. Resolutions, anybody? Or is everyone just too cool / lazy?

Also, for no particular reason, here are some pictures of my London dressing table  -  what can I say, I was really excited about having a tidy room for once and I needed to test out my new camera, so let's call it some kind of virtual mood board:

Parlez-moi d'amour, Taylor.

Below is the really rather beautiful video advertisement for John Galliano's new fragrance, "Parlez-moi d'amour", starring Taylor Momsen:

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While I'm on the subject of Taylor, a brief side note: Taylor was absolutely right to argue: "I think women should equally be allowed to pleasure themselves as much as men. I think that if that has any more controversy than a man talking about pleasuring himself, then there's something wrong with the world". Contrary to what the media say, this comment is completely acceptable for a girl of her age because self-experimentation typically starts long before one turns 17. Onanistic habits in young boys are widely accepted, and it should be the same for girls; the issue of whether or not they're of the age of consent, which is the media's main cause for concern, is irrelevant when it comes to self-experimentation.

Top of the list.

All I want for Christmas is this truly luscious set by Mimi Holliday: