Selfie Scrapbook

'Selfie trend is getting a bit sinister'

-The Telegraph, March 2014

This outfit post has been evolving for a while. I had the dreaded Storage Full thing on my phone so went about deleting everything surplus to requirement from my handheld. I embarked on a journey through my photographs and initially I happened upon a variety of selfies (body not face - nothing worth hacking into my iCloud for) taken in the loos of St John - sounds a bit grotty but they just so happen to be the whitest, cleanest WCs in London and have the best mirror for a full body outfit shot. So this post started as 'St John Selfies' throughout the year. But I only found about four which maybe was not enough to keep anyone interested. Coming across another series of photographs taken in three different musical venues over the summer, therefore three different sets of clothes, I thought this post could be called something reeeally imaginative like 'Gigs - What I Wore'. The variety of artists being Paloma Faith at The Roundhouse, Jonathan Wilson at Village Underground and One Direction at Wembley. One evening of lipstick and saxophones followed by beards, harmonicas and patchouli, finishing off with screaming, sherbet and cherry chap-sticks but blog-post wise I still wasn't feeling enthused. And then I wore boring things to the Paloma gig so that plan was scuppered. 

It shortly afterwards became a post about my mini trip to the States. A bit of a 'Miami Vice' vibe but I wasn't very committed to the idea and sort of ended  up just wearing  a bikini and floaty things and taking a few snaps that I thought were good to go. That was until my friend and I lay on sun loungers next to supermodel Erin Wasson for an afternoon and I ended up deleting all my photographs and vowing to only eat broccoli and smoke cigarettes for the rest of my life. 

Then just before I decided that it would be a full on shameless selfie post I was pouring over the weekend papers and read that Kim Kardashian is bringing out a book called 'Selfish' entirely of her and her bottom. It also reported that obsessive selfie-taking is now a recognised mental disorder. Argh! Quick! Delete!  But then it seemed like such a waste. So before I consign most of these shots to the trash and free up some storage space - here are some of the clothes I have worn around the town, things I've tried on, things I've been given and things I can't wait to wear. There's no common theme except for the fact they're nearly all of me and lots have been taken in bathrooms around the world. A selfie-scrapbook if you will. I hope it doesn't make you feel the need to suggest I urgently require a stint in the Priory sans phone and mirrors. 

THINGS I'VE WORN

First St. John Selfie. You may have seen this one before.

Loos of LouLous

My favourite Cedric Charlier bag which is having a moment again

Close up of my dress from Lime Green Bow. 

Bathroom up The Shard. If you look carefully you'll see this is also a 'Belfie'.*

Close up of my Zimmerman Splatter Dress

Me wearing a sink and some tiles in Polpo

St John Selfie #2

We went to a Caribbean music night in Miami.

The pale pink bathrooms of Soho Beach House. Another favourite Zimmerman dress
which matched the interiors.

Boring outfit for Paloma.

St. John - last one. In my new favourite Zara dress which will see me
through these weird weather days.

THINGS I TRIED ON (and MAYBE bought)

I was nearly sold on this Kate Moss for Topshop dress until I saw LiLo
falling out of a club in it.

Obsessed with this Bonwitt Teller silk dress at Lime Green Bow. See it here.

Favourite handbag. Apart from the fact I can only fit some earphones in it. 

Another wonderful handmade thing found in the charity shop on Notting Hill
Gate. It looks like a night sky.

Kenneth Jay Lane Ring from eBay

Victor Costa pale pink origami dress. Also from Lime Green Bow.
I am in love with this dress.
More on it soon.

Chanello

GIFTS THAT WERE GIVEN (from people who clearly know me very well!)

Lucky me! A birthday gift. Viennese gem from a flea market. Emerald green is my
favourite colour. And my adored Amethyst ring from best friends.

Lucky me again! Favourite birthday gift. I had been dreaming about owning this. My dream came true!
The most beautiful gold Bluebell pendant by Catherine Zoraida. 

Christmas present from my sister...VIP ONE DIRECTION tickets at Wembley! Hurray!
Up there with one of the best nights of my life. Dress from Topshop. 

One Direction gave us a watch! With their signatures on the back. Yes!

I actually wear the watch...with my LLBean Tote.

Things I will be wearing

ASOS Salon dress.

I was going to show you this on the next post but I got too excited.
My magical Portobello blanket coat. More on this next time.

Topshop. Too good.

*Handy Glossary

Helfie: a selfie of hair

Belfie: a selfie of the derriere

Welfie: a work out selfie 

Drelfie: a drunken selfie

Shelfie: a selfie of your bookshelf

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Fight Night

What to wear when you realise that you are about to spend an evening in the company of a load of glamorous and beautiful people out-dressing each other? It's been a while since I have been to a bit of a do...so I racked my brains to come up with something snazzy. As my friend pointed out, it's a boxing match...you don't have to look classy if you catch my drift! It ain't the opera. And in my opinion a touch of trash never hurt anyone.

I found inspiration in the unlikely guise of Victoria Beckham. I can honestly say I've never before looked to VB for good fashion ideas. The only thing in common I have with her is that I too keep my mouth closed while being photographed. But I saw pictures of her and Mr. Perfect at the Met Ball recently - simple in white and I knew exactly what to do....which was call my dry cleaners. I was thinking WHITE and I was thinking JEWELS and I was thinking FEATHERS.



 In the Reiss sale last Summer I bought a pure white jumpsuit sample which I found in a heap on the floor of the store collecting dust-bunnies. I took it to my beautiful laundrette and left it there.*
Until last week that is, when it came in to its own on the most beautiful night of the year so far.

*we have a storage arrangement as I have run out of hanging space and he's got loads.

VB & DB

This is the beautiful blogger Natalie Joos of Tales of Endearment.
She gave me the idea to add  feathers and go top to toe white.
 Follow her on Instagram!

The evening was The Charge Ball held at the glorious Syon Park in Chiswick in aid of Tusk - a really wonderful charity which funds wildlife conservation, community development and environmental programmes across Africa. To learn more about their work visit here

Syon Park

I was terrified of doing the white thing. All it takes is a bump, knock or elbow and it's game over. The last time I wore white, somebody sloshed a glass of rouge down the front. I spent the evening in a portaloo with a tin of table salt and a sympathetic friend. I proceeded to run the dress under a tap and then sat on a stray receipt which then imprinted the following on my bottom  'PERCY PIG X1 £2.50, LADIES TIGHTS 20 DENIER X1 £3.73, CASH TENDERED' etc etc. I had to go home.

The carrier bag contains a change of outfit in the event that there was a code-red wine incident. 

Or in case I got too close to the blood, sweat and tears.

Boxing. 

Then this happened, ringside. My life is complete. The style guru Marc-Francis Vandelli appeared like a vision in blue satin and kept growling at my feathers all evening, in a good way. Apart from my hand looking weird, this is one of my favourite pictures of all time. Hello new screensaver.

NBF

Apart from a small mark I came away relatively unscathed despite getting pretty close to the action and gallivanting until 3am. So it's going back to live at my laundrette until I feel another Posh Spice moment coming on.

Ciao for now!

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Grace Swears By

I think I'm suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder. I'm concerned about getting rickets what with the Vitamin D deficiency. The only thing that appeals at the moment is either a holiday or staying in bed all day wearing a onesie, eating biscuits. 

Since I have a job to hold down I thought I would not do the biscuit/onsesie thing. So with a clean slate and self improvement on the mind I  prescribed myself a bottle of fake tan and sought solace in some little things that would automatically make me feel better about January.

SMYTHSON DIARY

The best. Nothing like a new diary to list resolutions (like 'Blog at least once a week'...pah!!)...to-do lists and to get planning. In this glorious mustardy, canary-y yellow it's like a beacon of light in the bottom of my handbag especially in grey old January...pages of promise. It's definitely a large expense to foot at the start of the year but if you think about it as cost per compliment it's TOTALLY FINE....

FOUNTAIN - LA MOLECULE DE BEAUTE

This stuff is very peculiar. I can only describe it as tasting like what I imagine rat poison would taste like. However it contains something called Resveratrol which is the beauty molecule found in Japanese knot-weed and red wine. Sadly it tastes the exact opposite of red wine. I can't quite identify what has happened over the last month I have been taking it but my friend said I looked about 5 years old and my skin feels....tighter?! I mean obviously I don't want to reverse my ageing so much that I look 5 but you know...There's also the 'Youth' version which tastes like Ginger flavoured phlegm. I'll get back to you on that one. I've only managed to hold down one teaspoon so far. But do try the other one - it does super things.

ASOS COSTUME JEWELLERY

The last thing I want to do is buy clothes in January once Christmas has left me looking like an oversized cocktail sausage. So to get a quick fix of buying something cheerful that I don't have to squeeeze in to I headed to ASOS and purchased some of their insane and insanely good costume jewellery. I typed in words like 'jewel', 'cocktail' and 'oversized' to the search mechanism. The most bonkers stuff tends to end up in the sales too which is great so it's cheap cheap cheap. Type in 'UFO'. Yup! I have those earrings! The other good place to check out is The Outnet - especially the pieces by Kenneth Jay Lane.

ANYTHING THAT WORKS ITS MAGIC OVERNIGHT

Aesop Rosemary Leaf hand cream and Rosehip Lip Cream, This Works Deep Sleep Stress Less (I have mentioned the wonders of this stuff before here) and Christian Dior Abricot Crème for nails. It's quite a lurid orange which is a bit disastrous when in contact with clean white sheets but it works wonders on brittle nails that aren't dealing well with the ravages of time and weather. I've also been putting some on my lips but I'm not sure that's right so maybe don't do that.

FLOWERS

Simple I know...but I defy anyone not to feel a bit cheerier with bunches of  colourful blooms around them.   

PHYLIA DE M.

I read about this in an article by India Knight in the Style magazine last year who raved about it so much that a frenzy was whipped up and it completely sold out. Just as I had started to resemble a scarecrow and my poor hair had been frazzled to a crisp, I managed to get my paws on the magic potion. It's a three step situation (Clean, Condition and Connect) and sometimes I can't be bothered but after a bit of consistent use my wintry, lacklustre and stringy hair is looking definitely less mop like and a lot more swishy.

NEW UNDIES

Nothing is more depressing than having to put on underwear that matches the colour of the rain clouds. I've thrown out all my grey-in-the-wash bits I've had since forever and replaced them with these! They make you feel REALLY happy in the morning before putting your armour on. Try Topshop here and the Agent Provocateur collaboration with Penelope and Monica Cruz here which is half the price of the main range and just as good, if not better.

CANYON JUICERY

The recent festivities left me feeling like a minced pie having done things like consume chocolate coins for breakfast ten days in a row. SO with a plan to turn things around quickly I tried to jump on the green juice bandwagon that is sweeping the world. I bought a blender and some eye-wateringly disgusting supplements. After a particularly bad kale and chia seed smoothie experiment, I wandered to Joseph on Westbourne Grove where they have a Canyon Juicery shop within the shop. These are cold pressed, gag-free juices made for any ailment you may have and are completely delicious. They deliver too so when I'm sitting at work eating cake, one quick call and I can undo the damage by swigging on this! That's how it works right? The Good Green made me feel very virtuous and the Sweet Potato one tastes like nice things.

CHARLOTTE'S MAGIC CREAM

How can you resist anything that says on the box 'The magic dew of youth and luminosity in a jar'?! - especially when the skin on my face looks like a worn out sock. This cream from the make up maestro Charlotte Tilbury is a truly lovely product that transforms your skin in seconds, smells rather nice and has really substantial, quite old-fashioned packaging that is reminiscent of Hollywood dressing-tables.

When the cupboard is bare - financially speaking - I think its good to spend what little money you have on things that bring immediate joy and comfort. A bunch of flowers for your bedroom, bright underwear, a new scent*, colourful trainers to incentivise you into actually doing some exercise, a diary to make to do lists....all these things are a lovely way to pick you up and see January as the start of something wonderful.

*I have rediscovered Apres L'Ondee (After The Downpour - how apt) by Guerlain. I first wore this when I was 17 purely because Linda Radlett the heroine in The Pursuit Of Love did. I thought it was the most glamorous thing. It is completely delicious and has clearly stood the test of time. And look how lovely the bottle is.

UFO earrings from ASOS

Apres L'Ondee by Guerlain

Dior Creme de Rose Lip Cream

Underwear by L'Agent by AP

Essie Nail Polish

Follow Your Dreams Notebook by Smythson

Asics Gel-Noosa Trainers

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Space Oddity

Sorry! Having said it's all about The Great Gatsby, it's actually all about David Bowie no?

The AMAZING exhibition at the V&A (beg, borrow or steal a ticket)...the INCREDIBLE documentary on the BBC...he's everywhere. In a good way. Opening the May edition of Vogues 'More Dash Than Cash' I was thrilled to see a feature on metallics and Burberry's SS13 collection. At first I thought it would be hard to do a bit of a Ziggy Stardust salute without looking a bit like an space oddity myself, but on second thoughts what with all the holographic, body-con, cut-out and metallic (Oh you) pretty things around at the moment it would be silly not to give a nod to Bowie's sartorial splendour while he's on trend. Ground control to a Major shopping spree I'd say. Sorry.

                 

If on the other hand you like something a little more subtle, maybe one of these will add some stardust to your ensemble: 

Headband from Topshop

Earrings from ASOS

Cosmic Sneakers from Nasty Gal

Lunatic Clutch from Charlotte Olympia

Glitter Clutch from Mawi

Starburst Ring by Kenneth Jay Lane

Wind Swept Wing Glasses by Jeremy Scott for Linda Farrow

If this absolutely isn't your vibe but you like a bit of Ziggy, then take your protein pills and put your helmet on and get yourself down to the Non Stop Party Shop and get one of these:

Or get your scissors out and get snipping...

Cut-out Dress from Topshop

Gem Shoes from Miu Miu

Gem Drop Earrings from ASOS

Bowie Paper Doll Book from here

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