Last weekend I fell in to some kind of Etsy k-hole, and although I have no recollection of how… somehow ended up looking as masonic watches. I then wound up looking at masonic crockery. It’s nice, isn’t it? That watch especially… the skull is the second hand!
It’s not totally out of nowhere; the United Grand Lodge (masonic hall) is my favourite building in London – I’ve been to it a bunch of times for various fashion shows/award ceremonies/hair events and it really is incredible, regardless of what you think of freemasonry. I also went last year during Open House London, where they had people showing you around and talking about the history of the building. The best part was that they were handing out Q&A booklets, which included the question; “Why do grown men run around with one trouser leg rolled up doing weird handshakes?” I love their brutality! Nice to see a sense of humour in such a mysterious group. One revelation from the open day was the news that the roof is entirely tiled – in all my countless visits, I had no idea it was tiled, I always thought it was painted. It’s so bright gold IRL, you must go if you ever get the chance. The building is enormous and has all sorts of secret tunnels, star-studded ceilings and all-seeing eyes. I bet they’d appreciate it if I wore my watch.
Lovely London boutique My Sugarland is hosting a stylish car boot sale this weekend, as super stylist Zoe Lem has a clearout. The TV and celebrity favourite is getting rid of all sorts of styling clothes and props – and you know what that means? All the best stuff. We’ve all got giddy during a fashion editorial, only to scan the credits and see the heart-sinking words: “sequinned skull cap, stylist’s own”. Well, here’s your chance to rummage through that stuff.
Visit Sugarland HQ in Angel between 10am and 6pm on Sunday 30 January, to get your mitts on all sorts of treats – with prices starting at a teeny tiny £5. My Sugarland say there’s gonna be vintage and designer clothing for women, men, and children, as well as props a-go-go.
I would say I’ll see you there, but unfortunately (well, sort of) I’m going to Manchester this weekend with work. Curse the hair industry and its Sunday/Monday weekends. Anyway – it’s bound to be full of one-off treats so get your butts up there. Ca$h only!
This lace top from River Island is one of my most worn items of last year. They call it a ‘shacket’ on the website, but clearly I’m not going to use that term. I don’t normally have any interest in any kind of military finishing, but I can handle these black velvet faux-frogging strips because the lace is so nice.
I’d just like to point out the cow-print border you might be able to spot there. Ah, the cow-print border. This is my childhood bedroom at my mum’s house, and the look I went for when I redecorated aged about 13 was pink, silver, and a delicate touch of cow-print. Nice huh?
Anyway, I found these pictures languishing in my ‘stuff to blog’ folder, and even though I’m 99% certain this jacket is no longer available, it definitely opened my eyes up to River Island as somewhere to shop. While it’s come on leaps and bounds in the last few years, it’s still not really my kind of place – and their website is so bad it makes me want to jab rusty nails in my eyes. Still, I’ve bought quite a bit there this year already, so onwards and upwards eh?
Last night I was invited to a screening of Vidal Sassoon The Movie, the upcoming biopic of arguably the world’s most famous hairdresser. The documentary spans Sassoon’s 60+ years in the industry, tracing his path from a London orphanage to international success, with a fair few adventures along the way. Following Michael Gordon, founder of Bumble and bumble, as he sets out to document Vidal’s life in an upcoming book, the film tells the story of how Sassoon revolutionised the world of hair.
And it’s really hard to coherently express just how Sassoon changed things. Like Mary Quant changed fashion with mini-skirts, like Steve Jobs changed technology with the iPod – he changed everything. Prior to Sassoon, women went to the salon once a week for a wash and set – that was that. You didn’t do your hair at home, you didn’t use hair products at home – you went to the salon for your weekly appointment, and your hair stayed in place for seven days.
Sassoon didn’t just change hair with his pioneering geometric, Bauhaus-inspired styles (although he did do that, and how); he changed how women wore their hair completely. His ‘wash and wear’ philosophy meant women could do their hair themselves, at home, and just go to the salon for their six-weekly trim. They were no longer slaves to the salon, and their new looks were loose, free, and easy to look after. He freed up their time, allowing them to get on with more important things. Like his buddy Mary Quant, Sassoon gave women a new lease of independence, and let a whole new generation of young people look and feel radically different to anything that had gone before.
He is the most inspirational hairdresser in the world, hands down, and his vast knowledge and passion for the subject is incredible – even now in his 80s. He is so enormously intelligent, it humbles you – architecture, philosophy, literature, music, science… he is enormously well-read, and passionate about learning. He’s also hugely political – growing up as Jew in East London he had first hand experience fighting Oswald Moseley as part of the 43 Group, and later served with the Israeli Defence Forces to fight the Arab-Israeli war.
The film will be on general release in May 2011, and even if you aren’t a hairdressing fangirl like me who loves all things Sassoon, there’s still plenty to take from it. If you have any interest in 1960s culture, it’s a doozy – the imagery above is just a teeny trailer-sized snippet of the feel of the film, and there’s plenty of great swinging sixties London footage to enjoy.
Here are some of my Sassoon favourites…
The world-famous, still relevant, incredible, scientific, mathematically complex, Five Point Sassoon cut. As modelled by Grace Coddington. Yes, Grace Coddington.
The famous Nancy Kwan cut. Almost better than this are the shots of the cut in action – she started the day with nearly 3′ of hair.
Sassoon cutting Mia Farrow’s hair for Rosemary’s Baby – hundreds of photographers came to watch, and they added a line in to the film where she says it’s a Sassoon cut. Check out the older lady in the back with her ‘oh no he di’n't‘ face.
Oh, and here’s the trailer for Vidal Sassoon The Movie! Go see!
I finally got my roots done this week after some abominable amount of time. In celebration of no longer looking like shit, my colourist and I decided to go a bit brighter than usual – if you catch me in natural day light, I somewhat resemble a red setter.
Anyway, to celebrate having really red hair again, I decided to wear something suitably pink today – no colour combo is better, amirite? We all know that colourblocking is a popular catwalk trend for this summer – and the very fact that a made-up word has become a verb suggests it’s going to be a biggie.
This old M&S silk dress I dug out fulfils everything I was going for – and you don’t even to have think about the concept of colourblocking because it does it all by itself. Neato! In order to ease the pain of taking pictures of myself, I have taken to using every effect in the book to disguise my hideously disfeatured self. That, and the fact that this dress is impossible to photograph have made life a little tricky. You can see how it actually looks, here!
I have a sickness for Louis Vuitton monograms, this much is true. But c’mon! Who wouldn’t be delighted to receive a heart-shaped LV coin purse with pink leopard lining? It’s like the dictionary definition of bundle of joy.
I got sent some new Aveda goodies at work the other day, and while the products themselves are as brillo as I’d expect from Aveda, I was also impressed with the makeup bag they were sent in. It matches my twee little bedspread!
A bit of preliminary Percy Pilbeam research reveals that the bag is from Sally Walton, who designs under the name Carry-A-Bag (fnar). The hand-sewn bags are constructed from vintage and recycled fabrics, including some treat-time Sanderson prints. As well as makeup bags, specs cases and coin purses, you can also get your mitts on a huge array of totes and shoppers. Very tasteful.
I’ll save the products themselves for another day, but check out these neat brushes which they sent too. Nothing like a kabuki brush, and Aveda’s is a dreamy black and red colour. Rothko-esque, some might say. The brush set is as eco-responsible as you would expect from Aveda, and the flax-infused handles are really pleasing to look at, kinda like 70s woodchip. Mmm.
Bloggers writing about Barbours is a doozy, but I couldn’t resist drawing your attention to this juicy Liddesdale which is currently on ASOS for a mere £70. Love that purple and fuchsia combination; reminds me of the best ever Mac wallpaper.
The Liddesdale is currently languishing in my ASOS ‘Save for Later’ basket. Not because I’m not going to buy it, but because I am currently participating in the Crave It // Save It competition. Open until midday London time tomorrow, one lucky entrant will win the contents of their saved-for-later bag. Neat huh? Only rule is you can’t go over £300, which is fair enough. My bag is full of more coats, heaps of ASOS own-brand rings, and a couple of summer dresses. Because I need more of all those things.
Enter! Why not? It’s just like making a wishlist with the added bonus of maybe winning it.
The spotty blouse which I spied at the New Look press day is in store now, which can surely mean that summer is just a week or so away. Right? In the summer I want to wear it with a bright blue or baise green skirt, but I haven’t managed to track one of those down just yet.
For now, I thought I’d make myself look like more of an idiot than usual by wearing it with a similarly dotty print. The skirt in question is this one from Topshop Boutique, which appears to have vanished entirely off the website. As ELLE astutely point out, it is a particularly modern shape – below the knee, and knife pleated to perfection. I have already decided it’s my favourite skirt – congratulations!
A couple of months ago a reader asked me for advice on vintage shopping in my hometown of Sheffield. I finally returned to the motherland this weekend and took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping… all in the name of research. Sorry for the shit pictures, people in Sheffield seemingly get weirded out [...]
Hi guys! This page got deleted when I moved over from my old blog but after some extraction work down at the coal face, it’s back in its rightful home. This guide is now… several years old so undoubtedly some stuff is out of date and I guess a lot of places will have closed. [...]
