Archive | January, 2012

Versace by way of River Island

29 Jan

My ongoing search for a wedding-appropriate outfit took me to Westfield this weekend, which was quite good fun. I generally give Westfield a thumbs up – I’m not a great fan of shopping malls, but Westfield does what it’s supposed to do very well. Going on a Saturday afternoon was never going to be a calm, serene shopping experience but it had more interesting shops than I expected – COS, Prada, Urban Outfitters, Jaeger, John Lewis – and an incredible array of places to eat. It actually felt like there were more food places than shops, it was a world away from ~The Oasis~ at Meadowhall, home of so many teenage adventures.

Anyway – I didn’t find anything very exciting to wear, but I did get a remarkable River Island belt which owes quite a lot to 80s Versace. Always a good thing, right? It’s thin black velvet, bedazzled with gold, crystal-embellished leopard heads. It’s hideous, quite frankly, but just the thing to cheer me up after a disheartening afternoon’s shopping.

I can’t find it online, but it was £20 and there were loads in-store!

Thank Furcoat it’s Friday

27 Jan

1) Evidently the only things I watch on TV are Man Vs Food, Countryfile and BBC historical documentaries. The Timewatch series is fantastic and tomorrow there’s a promising-looking show about debutantes and the whole ~coming out~ season. The documentary focuses on 1939 – the year that was dubbed the last season because that whole thing kind of fell off during the war years, never to be reprised. I read Anne de Courcy’s fantastic book on the very same subject last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so this’ll be a right old treat for me. And it promises a Mitford or two. Find out more here. [This Timewatch show about the Empire State Building is also worth a look, if you’re into art deco.)

2) I’m hoping to see W.E. this weekend – I know it’s going to be shit, but you know my thoughts on Wallis. What better way to get myself psyched up for the fashion binge than Stylist’s slideshow of her best outfits? I find it weird they didn’t identify some of the most famous pieces (the Schiaparelli, mainly) but it’s still a treat. The above picture is interesting – Wallis is obviously the point, but damn that woman in the background looks incredible, I want to know who she is.

3) This is a nice introduction to Dolly Wilde, who I’m ashamed to admit I don’t know a vast amount about. The rest of the site is worth a poke around too!

4) I’m particularly excited about mermaids as a Spring/Summer 2012 trend and this massively indepth Fashionising post makes it all the more appealing. Art deco mermaid lemonade advert c/o Vintage Browser.

5) Mad Men‘s acclaimed costume designer, Janie Bryant, shares her vintage shopping secrets here. Awesome read and some great shop suggestions too!

6) Last weekend we had an unexpected visit to Two Temple Place, the magnificent home of William Waldorf Astor on the Victoria Embankment. It’s my actual dream house and it’s open at the moment for a nice William Morris exhibition, which finishes on Sunday. There’s no better place to enjoy some intricate Morris works than in the arts-and-crafts surroundings of the house, so if you’re around this weekend, make sure you visit.

Chanel x Las Vegas = dreams

26 Jan

I love Las Vegas and I love Chanel, so the fact that they’ve released a series of limited edition Vegas-themed bags to celebrate the launch of the new store in Sin City is clearly a match made in heaven.

The new outlet is the snazzy old Bellagio hotel, site of a couple of drunken scenes for me. Weeping at the sheer majesty of the fountains, timed to explode in time to a bit of Celine Dion… bloody magical.

All five of the limited edition bags are Classic Flaps (lol), albeit with a sprinkling of Vegas magic – I’m talking glitter, metallics and – my favourite – the sparkling dice charms. God I love a dice charm.

Find out more on The Purse Blog!

 

I finally get Elizabeth Olsen

26 Jan

I like an Olsen as much as the next girl, but hadn’t been entirely convinced by Elizabeth’s style credentials until this week. I mean sure she’s pretty, she’s talented, she’s presentable… but where’s the bananas gene? The mad nana aspect? So far, so pleasant.

A delight, then, to see her in this Topshop Tiger Sweater at Sundance this week. A rococo masterpiece, all black and gold, chains and tiger print. I particularly like the tigers standing proudly by a pile of foliage, which kind of resembles the dismembered corpse of a dinosaur. Or is that just me?

On the subject of tigers;

Awesome tiger-themed letter [click to enlarge, of course].

Dream Versace shoes that still haunt on my mind.

And another Versace tiger offering – a dress dating back (is that weird to say?) to 1994. Gianni at his finest.

Bone to be Wild

25 Jan

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have a reputation for a lot of things, but I think it’s safe to say that being well-dressed isn’t one of them. Even the most ardent fan would probably be forced to begrudgingly accept that their only real contribution to the fashion industry is a new and unique way to wear socks. Or, a sock.

That said, I have long held a fascination for the meathead character played by David Sheridan in both the Universally Speaking and By the Way videos. You grow up on a diet of MTV2 and tell me you didn’t enjoy those videos, regardless of your thoughts on the band. Hm?

His Bone to be Wild t-shirt has been top of my fantasy clothing list ever since I first laid eyes upon it (that’s ten years, frighteningly) but I’ve never got any closer to finding it.

Miss Selfridge has something close at the moment – the equally pun-tastic Bad to the Bone vest. Close, but no cigar.

[Pic c/o V&A]

Of course both designs are presumably inspired by Vivienne Westwood’s Rock t-shirt, carefully crafted from chicken bones procured from her local takeaway.

I could make a joke at this point about living in South East London, DIY and chicken takeaways. But I won’t.

Masterclass in dressing: Marni Edition Winter 2012

24 Jan

I know everyone has seen these new Marni looks already, but I do love them dearly so here they are again. Inspirations include golf, rockabilly and deco shapes, and I am a card-carrying member of the Marni fanclub, so really it’s a no brainer for me.

Classic silhouettes are given a slightly bananas/art teacher twist with juxtaposed fur, plastic, neon and – obv – lots of neoprene and print. Click on the pictures to really gorge yourself in the hi-res details: that resin bow! The tiny tasteful star between the round beads! The tassels on the zips!

I’ve talked before about my fear of the art teacher look – it’s such a perilously fine line between Marni quirk and batshit crazy person on the bus with a problem. I know some people look at Marni layering and automatically freak out, but to me the above is a masterclass in how to do it, and do it well. Look #1 and #3 are just works of art to me.

Dreamy, the lot of it.

Some awesome pictures of middle-aged women in the 1960s

23 Jan

Another day, another lazy How to be a Retronaut rehash. What can I say? I really like these pictures and want to share them with anyone who might not have seen them yet. One of those mysterious sets of photos that don’t have much explanation or back story, the series is simply called: Middle Aged Women, 1960s.

What a stylish bunch. I recently got this Milly dress in the sales (still waiting for it to arrive, don’t think it’s going to fit, will keep you posted) and hope that it will help me be just an ounce as nicely turned-out as this lot. Add a bouffant, colour coordinating purse and some sensible heels and I’ll be sorted.

90% off at My Wardobe…

20 Jan

… Well, kind of.

There’s up to 70% off in the final sale clearance at My Wardobe now, and I have an extra 20% code off so… that’s basically 90% off, right?

Still not enough to make this Alexander McQueen Shearling Cape within my budget, but there’s tonnes of stuff for less than £100 and that’s before my sneaky extra discount.

Sale ends midnight on Monday – type in SALEEXTRA20 at the checkout for your extra discount.

Thank Furcoat it’s Friday

20 Jan

1) Thank you Laura for sharing this with me. I think me and Cher have a lot in common and frankly its bizarre we aren’t IRL BFF.

2) I found this picture of The Saguaro hotel in Palm Springs earlier this week and have been fantasising about staying in the colourful palace ever since. I’ll take the lime green block, please. If you do happen to be in Palm Springs, I also read this neat article about things to do in the area today so no excuse for just lying by the pool.

3) Linda Evangelista is my second favourite supermodel and this delightful Jonathan Adler needlepoint cushion celebrates her marvellous model ways. Maybe if you slept with it on your bed and refused to go to work, your boss might give you a pay rise? I dunno, worth a bash. It’s $60 at Kirna Zabete.

4) Weekly dose of Guardian animal pictures!!

5) Looking for something to do tonight? Lucha Britannia is bringing its own unique brand of lucho libre Mexican wrestling to the Resistance Gallery in Bethnal Green for one night only. Tickets are £15 and the dress code is described as ‘exotic, erotic, quixotic or just damn Luchatastic’ – which all sounds rather exciting. Find out more here.

6) Alternatively, come and see Henry Rollins with me! The beefcake babe is at the Southbank Centre tonight and there are still tickets available. I’ve seen Hank on every spoken word tour he’s done for the last five years and he’s always fantastic – even if you’re not a hardcore fan it’s impossible not to be engrossed by him. Remaining tickets here!

ELLE Italia makes me hate winter too

19 Jan




Another day, another glorious summery magazine cover. This time it’s ELLE Italia with lashings of beautiful Blumarine worn perfectly by Alima Fontana. I’m a sucker for pink, florals and an ostentations oversized print from a flashy Italian fashion house, so good news all round.

Etsy continues to be a magical place to find weird 60s psychedelic floral bits and bobs. See ‘Eye-Popping’ Neon Brooch and rather big (3.5″ x 3.5″) vintage Flower is Power pin.

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