Fake Fur, Films And French 75s

I like staying up late. I like sleeping late. I like two-hour lunches with wine.*
- Joan Collins 

So this is the one you've all been waiting for...I know, I know, since October. The Premiere, the new release, the opening act, top of the bill, talk of the town (I don't think so), king of the hill, top of the heap etc. When one consciously uncouples with ones clothes, one has to consciously recouple you know! My mind was a blue screen. To casually quote Baudelaire 'Nothing can be done except little by little'... So it's been a work in progress, this epic, montage, storyboard, flash-frame, cinema-scope, whiplash of clothes, swirling about in my head for these past weeks. So, please excuse the proverbial spewing of thoughts on to the (digital) page but here goes: often off script, 
definitely off auto-cue. 

I'd like to thank the Academy..........of friends for the, often aggressive, occasionally threatening, emails of encouragement, each one would leave me thinking You like me! You really like me! Sally Field style. I'd like to thank one friend in particular who said she wouldn't speak to me until I'd written my next instalment. 
(Happy now Kate?? Call me.)

Excuses out the way - OK so we've done January and some of February. Phew. But we still have some dark days ahead people. I am sure I've said this before but my friend says she prescribes herself fur and fake tan for these dreary winter months and I quite agree.  Except I am going to prescribe myself a tan and fake fur....oh and French 75s - but more on that later. I want to focus on fun February things not fitness things! I've thrown out the spirulina and the spiralizer, I have been intentionally careless with my gym kit. What follows are the contenders for the lovely things that have lifted my spirits during the colder months. I've cracked open the champagne, I'm opening the golden envelope.  I'm letting down the fourth wall. I'm ready for my close up Mr DeMille!

The nominations are:

Best New Arrivals

Fake Fur Coats

My main fashion joy in the past months has been fake, colourful fur, unreal fur, fashion fur or whatever you want to call it. It ticks all my boxes so I have been busy expanding my collection. Its warm, it doesn't hurt the little animals, it doesn't moult and (sometimes) it's cheaper. Obviously it all began with my Shrimps clutch (reminisce here) and then the obsession spiralized out of control. I'm 5 and counting. If you asked me if you could borrow my fake fur coat I genuinely, guiltily wouldn't know which one you were talking about.

I would also say no, FYI.

It's become a bit of an obsession. But the thing is doesn't matter what you wear underneath (I suggest pyjamas or nothing ooh la la - not really) they complete your outfit, make you feel like a movie star. They also cover up a multitude of sins and they make you wear colour in the winter. And people want to stroke you. Which is nice, depending who it is. So it's just all great really. There are lots of nice ones left in the dregs of the sales...so all that money you've saved on doing boring dry January, spend it on something that will bring you unremitting joy and warmth in these long chilly months.

Coat from Ainea

For those of you who follow me on Instagram, you will have seen my
Dulcie coat from Shrimps. It's my favourite, Kapow!

Coat from Story of Lola available at ASOS. Slightly bonkers.

Best Supporting Category:

French 75s
(nb. They absolutely will not support you if you drink more than 2)

I have also discovered French 75s! I was always aware of their existence but they've reared their rather beautiful French heads more recently. New Years Day was made A LOT easier with these wonders.  After seeing off  3 rather quickly though we were calling them Turkish 97s  and sluuuuring frankly my dear I don't give a damn! But everything and everyone starts to look rosy and attractive. Here is ze recipe from Simon Hopkinsons wonderful book (best person). SO easy! Best drink after a drought I say. Mix up a few of these darlings and drape yourself on the casting couch.

Best Trousers

Vintage. Tick! Moschino. Tick! Casino related. Tick!

Feather bra-let from Topshop. Vintage Moschino Casino Pants
from Lime Green Bow. Always, always bet on red. Shut up and deal.

Best Dresses

Notable costume performances have come from the following:

Malene Birger Silk Dress with jewelled pockets.

Vintage dress from Lime Green Bow. It's like a firework.
 It satisfies my inner magpie!

Lime Green Bow has a pop up shop at 201 Portobello Road right NOW!
Open for the next two weeks. Info here.

Best Score/Soundtrack

I Love You, Honeybear by Father John Misty. Splendid. Just splendid in every single way. 

Download it here.

An album about musician John Tillman's life, most songs are about him 'engaging in all sorts of regrettable behaviour.'
I like him already.

Best Item To Wear Even Though People Love To Comment On It In An Annoying Way:

Kate Moss for Topshop Silk Day Pyjamas
Cut to Christmas day 2014. INT. old house in the countryside - KITCHEN - DAYTIME - people shouting...My Kate Moss for Topshop Pyjamas. Worn on Christmas Day...you can imagine the jibes I got from the grown-ups. Going back to bed Grace? Forgot to get dressed Grace? etc etc. I pointed out that as long as I was wearing underwear it was all fine.

Best Shoes, Accessories and Headgear

Paul Andrew Velvet Fume Loafer from Avenue 32 sale.
The perfect smart shoe.

Charlotte Simone Popsicle. Love this. Although it should probably go in to the
Best Item To Wear Even Though People Love To Comment On It In An Annoying Way category.
 People like to tug on it and say 'What's this?'

Eugenia Kim Headband. Reminds me of Spring. Hurry up Spring!

And...THE WINNER IS my Victoria Grant wonder. Cocktail anyone? Don't mind if I do. This makes me happier than a seagull with a French 75....oh wait sorry a French fry.

Of all the gin joints in all the world....

Lifetime Achievement Award

You can read about when I first acquired this coat here. It can't be put in any other category - it stands alone. Slightly makes all the banging on about my other coats a bit defunct but hey! It's a star not a starlet. It's Oscar worthy. It's an old-hander. It's Meryl Streep, not Kiera Knightly. It's Robert De Nero, not Eddie Redmayne. It makes me feel like Marilyn when I look like Shrek. It's Gone With The Wind, not Fifty Shades of Grey. Its raindrops on roses. It's whiskers on kittens. It's the meet cute, it's when Harry met Sally, it's Casablanca! When I saw it for the first time I knew it was going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

That's a wrap folks. Don't hold your breath for the sequel.

The End.

Fade out. Roll credits.

*This quote bears absolutely no relevance to the blog post apart from the fact that I like it. February Vibes. Joan Collins gets my vote.

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Say No To Normcore! Wear Some Colour.

“The best colour in the whole world, is the one that looks good, on you!” 

― Coco Chanel

The other day someone I see quite a lot said to me that they had only ever seen me wear black and about 5% of my wardrobe! Granted the longest, darkest months of the year have been draaagging on but I insisted it simply wasn't true.

Then it occurred to me that actually, as soon as the clocks go back I turn to a uniform of  grey, black and at a push, navy. To me colour is for Summer. For work wear it just feels easier and smarter to wear dark clothes even though my boss said that black ages me. Thanks!

I was also made aware of  'Normcore' (defintion here) which is the new word for a trend that is sweeping the streets  - 'a notion of dressing in a nondescript and utterly conventional way' as a backlash to the fashionistas trying out-look each other. A palette cleanser one might say. I do understand the desire to dress in streamlined simple shapes and tones but too much of it can be a bit snoresome and not very jolly.  So with a hint of Spring in the air and the changing of the clocks on the horizon, I decided to make a concerted effort to dress in colour. To my delight we had that mini heatwave which made it all a lot easier and helped in consigning tights to the back of the drawer.

Not only did I do this as a personal challenge but it was also a protest. The purpose of this exercise was two fold: Firstly to prove that black is not the only colour I wear. Secondly to demonstrate (to myself ) that I do actually wear more than 5% of my wardrobe. My flat consists of  rails of clothes that never see the light of day, taking up what little space I have. (I often lie awake at night worrying that I will become the old lady who lived in her shoe.......s, and unworn clothes.) So I decided to try out a few things that had been lurking in the back of my wardrobe because I couldn't find the right occasion for them,or to be totally honest, I had forgotten I own. Naughty. 

Inspired by the new faces-in-places Prada campaign - a riot of colour, textures and patterns, I bid au revoir to Norma and Norman Normcore and turned towards the technicolor. It wasn't easy waking up in the pitch black and wearing a bright orange suit but I did it and it made me feel a lot happier about dismal old Winter.

 Try it! You'll like it.

The Prada Campaign

Inspiration from my Instagram feed

Just looking at these outfits makes me never want to wear black again.

First day out of the darkness....

Fur Effect Coat from Scotch & Soda

I've realised the key is TROUSERS! Who knew?! And non-black shoes. This immediately takes black tights out of the equation.

Silk Trousers from Calla

Embellished Jumper from Topshop 

Ring from Accessorize

So I had to get the tights out. I usually feel a bit iffy about black tights with pale clothes - I just think it looks weird but as there is black in the background of the fabric it looks alright.

Orange Suit from Zara

Jewels

My Carven Bomber Jacket which reminds me of a scarab beetle

Pucci-esque Vintage Dress from Found & Vision on Golbourne Road & Clutch from Shrimps

Colourful jewellery and bits and bobs helped keep my mission on course.

Tartan Scarf from TRAID (£1!!)  & Snake Clutch from ASOS

Creepy or lovely?  Hand Earrings from Butler & Wilson

Cocktail Ring from ASOS

Heart T-Shirt from Les Prairies de Paris

Then it got all hot. So I got my legs out.

Topshop Embroidered Dress & Marseille Ballet Flats from French Sole

Coat Inspiration from Kate Moss

Leopard Coat & Printed Dress from Topshop who are ON FIRE at the moment.

Then it got all cold again so I put them away.

Thakoon Addition Silk Jumpsuit

Ainea Fur Effect Coat & Russell & Bromley Flats

So it's back to permanently chilly now and I've thrown away all my black tights which in hindsight was probably a bit premature. All my trousers are in the wash and I'm cold! Nothing a holiday to Barbados can't sort out though...hurrah!

But more on that next time...

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Some Like It Hot When It's Cold

"I like to feel blonde all over"

- Marilyn Monroe

In the depths of  my memory palace I have a special place for people wearing white fur coats...I am magnetically drawn to them. It could have been Marilyn Monroe who triggered it. Back in 1999 when I was running wild, I bribed my parents into allowing me to take a day off school to go to the Christie's view in London before all her clothes and personal effects were auctioned off. I was there the with my nose up against the window from the second it opened and was there when the doors were closed - I was nearly forcibly removed. I spent the day forensically examining her driving licence, notebooks, film scripts, clothes...but in particular the furs.The obsession had begun with being blonde and wearing white fur coats.

From that day forth I turned my back on a life of truancy and instead decided my existence would  revolve around a bottle of peroxide (my hair took a very dim view of that eventually) eyelash glue and scouting out fur. These days I'm more of a brunette so I find the best way to channel Marilyn is to wear white and fluffy in coat form - it's such a lovely feeling and does wonders for the complexion in the grey of Winter. (Monroe famously wore white near her face to reflect the light - it works!). On a dreary old day a bit of white fur is just the thing to keep you toasty (ALWAYS vintage, never new)...as long as it's not raining. I have often been caught out by a passing shower and had to do the wet dog look/smell all day. So make sure you have an umbrella or some Febreze handy. The other rule when wearing white fur is to forgo red lipstick or lacquer on your lips...any red lipstick contact with the collar and you end up looking like you've been involved in the Saint Valentines Massacre. The latter will make you feel like you've got the actual fuzzy end of the lollipop.

Just as I was deciding on what winter coat would see me through until early March/April I saw this image of Rita Hayworth in all her glory on my Instagram feed from the super wonderful Another Magazine.Well that was that...I'm not very good at practical and before I knew it, I was bidding on more white fur coats on eBay. Argh!

I am currently on white coat No. 5. Coats 1 to 4  have been left in various locations and taxis around London (never retrieved) or eaten by naughty moths. The following are ones I've loved and lost or have been consigned to the pet graveyard section of my wardrobe:

This eBay classic saved me a fortune on heating. I look a bit trampy here.

This gilet was bought from Portobello market...my absolute favourite... but sadly it hasn't dealt very
well with the ravages of time.

Another eBay find. They said it came from a smoke free, pet free home. But I think they were lying.
I think they were keeping moths as pets.

Besides Marilyn, I take my inspiration for wrapping up for Winter from the following:

Lara in Dr. Zhivago - she knew what she was doing when the temperature dropped below zero.

Kate Moss. Just lovely.

Edie Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens fame. Check out the infamous documentary. The aunt and cousin of Jackie Kennedy living out their years in a decaying house in East Hampton, New York. Fascinating. Their style in particular.

If you have the ick about real fur or fancy a bit of colour in your life then there is AMAZING faux stuff out there. I would suggest checking out Unreal Fur which is super cool. A new company who is totally on my radar is Shrimps. I am OBSESSED. Just get on their joyful website. Or buy their pieces from Avenue 32. I've started with their Vincent Clutch but am saving for a coat. Topshop has lots of great furry things at the moment too.

My Vincent Clutch from Shrimps

 

Green Hat from Topshop

Fur Tippet from Charlotte Simone

 Earmuffs from Uniqlo

Yellow Faux Fur Coat from Topshop

White Coat from Unreal Fur

Wilma Coat from Shrimps

Grayson Clutch from Shrimps

Monster Fur Bag from Fendi

Vincent Clutch from Shrimps

This is completely nothing to do with anything but for the movie buffs amongst you, you'll know this is the final line from Some Like It Hot (best final line of any movie). I saw these Hugo Guinness t-shirts for J. Crew which are now on my shopping list.

So I turned out to be the highest bidder on this wonderful coat. Here it is, keeping me warm along with my favourite leather trainers from Common Projects and Sophie Hulme handbag. I am ready for a cold front!

 Right, pass the peroxide.

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