Monthly Archives for February 2012

Friday Late: Bright Young Things

I don’t suppose there’s too much point in writing about an event at the V&A which has already happened, but with my brain still frazzled from fashion week and not much else going on, you’ll have to deal with it.

As predicted, the Bright Young Things event at the museum was fantastic – music, booze, 1920s shit, a guest-list that read like a who’s who of my Twitter mates… what’s not to love? I made a smashing slogan badge (ably modelled above), drank Prosecco and Old Fashioned-s and generally had a top night.

Not really a review,  but points to take home from the evening:

  • Dom James and his Dixie Ticklers are a really fantastic band! They were in the main hall all night and played some fantastic rousing jazz numbers – you can find out more about them (and listen to them) here. I’m pretty sure they played the Jeeves & Wooster theme tune for me, but that could have been the booze talking.
  • The pop-up Cecil Beaton Photography Studio allowed you to pose in a mock-up of his famous (and my favourite) photo of the ‘Soapsuds‘ group. You can see everyone looking swell here – obviously there’s not one of me, seeing as how I’m allergic to photographs.
  • Jealous of my badge? You can learn some neato 1920s slang of your own here and then, I guess, craft a badge with it printed on.
  • One of the highlights of the evening was a reading of Cecil Beaton’s diaries – I know, how rude. I used to get in big trouble for reading other people’s diaries as a child and now it’s sold as entertainment? You can read the diaries yourself (and they’re dead worth it) by investing here.
  • Warwick University are putting on a production of Vile Bodies later this year and the dress rehearsal took place on the night. I only saw the last few seconds (too busy boozing, eh?) but the cast have a blog about the production here and if you happen to be in Warwick over the next few days, you can buy tickets for the play here.
  • Hugo Dalton’s floral illustrations were projected all over the V&A on the night – delightful stuff, which you can see more of here.
  • The next Friday Late is themed around the Spring Equinox. Bodacious. Why would you want to miss out? Find out more here.

Thank Furcoat it’s Friday

1) I am verging on obsessed with Vogue Italia‘s Steven Meisel gifs. Abbey Lee is here looking like a bonafide badass and you can see three more here – roll on the March issue when we can see the shoot they come from.

2) Rookie has done a really good round-up of the most stylish characters from John Waters films. It’s amazing.

3) Teen Vogue has rounded up the best show soundtracks from New York Fashion Week and made a Spotify playlist of them. Awesome!

4) Pictures of Chloe Sevigny at basketball matches.

5) Matt Ufford set himself the challenge of patting each of the 185 different breeds at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. And why not?

6) Tonight the V&A’s Friday  Lates programme is themed Bright Young Things! Held in honour of the Cecil Beaton exhibition, the event promises a theatrical production of Vile Bodies, balloon-infused portrait-taking, jazz music and a very bright young people-esque scavenger hunt. Scream! I’ll be there. Will you?

London Fashion Week palate cleanser: Priscilla Presley

Priscilla Presley has been a style icon of mine for a long old time – that hair, those dresses, that eye makeup…  and then there’s the small matter of Elvis.

This week, Retronaut posted a film of Priscilla celebrating her 21st birthday – that’s the goddess in all-singing, all-dancing, glorious technicolour.

 

 

Fashion Week palate cleanser: W Korea does pastel hair

Pastel hair shows no signs of going anywhere – big fat thumbs up from me, there’s few things more pleasing than pink hair. The amazing Kris Atomic found some awesome pastel-hued looks at London Fashion Week but it’s this W Korea cover that’s really spurring on my My Little Pony hair fantasies.

Celebrating their seventh anniversary, W Korea has stuck seven models in pastel wigs and Louis Vuitton on the cover – with a further seven collectible covers featuring the individual models.

You can see the majority of the collection on Tumblr where I went a bit bananas.

 

Thank Furcoat it’s Fashion Week: Watch all the London Fashion Week shows live here!

Thanks to my friends at Righster, you can watch all of the shows from London Fashion Week live on this very blog. How cool is that? The player will update every time a show starts, so just stay tuned.

You should probably also follow me on Twitter if you aren’t already, so I can let you know when I’m sitting in front of a camera waving madly…

Cool places to hang out during London Fashion Week

Mishkin’s
25 Catherine Street, London WC2B 5JS

My love of Mishkin’s is well documented and I definitely think I’m going to make it my HQ during fashion week. Greasy, deli-inspired comfort food probably isn’t the kind of thing you should be consuming when you’re going to be surrounded by beautiful people – especially when, like me, you are prone to spilling your food all over yourself – but the heart wants what the heart wants. And think of all that walking you’ll be doing, eh? Alternatively, just stick to the booze – how many calories can there really be in a gin fizz? Don’t answer that question.

Furcoat set menu: Cod cheek popcorn, macaroni cheese to share and a gallon of gin fizz.

Simpson’s in the Strand
 100 Strand  London WC2R 0EW

Definitely not your standard fashion week fare, Simpson’s is a throwback to a bygone era where pudding, cheese boards and lashings of port were all vital components of a meal. It may not surprise you to note that it was a 1930s favourite (what?) and its wood-panelled walls have been well documented in works by Wodehouse (what?), E. M. Forster and Arthur Conan Doyle. Here’s an homage to Simpson’s from Something New, by Sir Wodehouse.

There are all sorts of restaurants in London, from the restaurant which makes you fancy you are in Paris to the restaurant which makes you wish you were. There are palaces in Piccadilly, quaint lethal chambers in Soho, and strange food factories in Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road. There are restaurants which specialize in ptomaine and restaurants which specialize in sinister vegetable messes. But there is only one Simpson’s.

Simpson’s, in the Strand, is unique. Here, if he wishes, the Briton may for the small sum of half a dollar stupefy himself with food. The god of fatted plenty has the place under his protection. Its keynote is solid comfort.

It is a pleasant, soothing, hearty place—a restful temple of food. No strident orchestra forces the diner to bolt beef in ragtime. No long central aisle distracts his attention with its stream of new arrivals. There he sits, alone with his food, while white-robed priests, wheeling their smoking trucks, move to and fro, ever ready with fresh supplies.

Furcoat set menu: The Ten Deadly Sins breakfast (Cumberland sausage, streaky and back bacon, Stornoway black pudding, fried mushrooms, baked tomato, egg, liver, fried bread, bubble & squeak and baked beans) washed down with a glass of Theophile. Just kidding, I’ve never had that breakfast – I’d stick with the Wodehouse, country house breakfast theme and take the kedgeree and grapefruit juice. That or ribs and a Martini in the art deco splendour of Knight’s Bar.

The Lyceum Tavern
354 Strand, Strand, London, WC2R 0HS

Probably the least fashion week place possible, the Lyceum Tavern has the advantage of being a) right opposite Somerset House and b) completely devoid of fashion people. It’s a Sam Smith’s pub so it’s about £2 a pint, inhabited by old men and if you’re looking for a quiet place to sit and type up some notes or, well, just have a few drinks, there’s nowhere better. I can guarantee you will not bump into anyone who might intimidate you. Upstairs is like upstairs at any Sam Smith’s pub – less character but really nice and quiet.

Furcoat set menu: A pint of Taddy and a bag of salted nuts.

One Aldwych
 1 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BZ

If you want a drink in spitting distance of Somerset House, the Lobby Bar at One  Aldwych is a much more sophisticated option than The Lyceum Tavern. Excellent cocktails – with a heavy emphasis on whisky – this place has been voted one of the best hotel bars in the world by the Sunday Telegraph and the Standard called it the most beautiful lobby bar in London. Fancypants!

Furcoat set menu: A Purple Jack – blackberries and peach purée shaken with Gentleman Jack Rare Tennessee whiskey and aromatic bitters.

The Coal Hole
 91-92 The Strand, London WC2R 0DW

I can’t believe I’m telling you about The Coal Hole. This has been my secret for many years, but I guess it’s time to spill. The Coal Hole looks like a bog-standard crappy tourist pub from the outside, but don’t let that fool you. The interior is pretty nice as far as London pubs go – all wood and low ceilings and the like. They have a smashing selection of ales and it’s pretty reasonably priced too. There’s an upstairs bit where you can scurry away and hide, if you need to escape fashion week funtimes. FACT! Gilbert and Sullivan used to perform here and, apparently, the name stems from the fact it used to be the coal cellar for the Savoy.

Furcoat set menu: Whatever ale they’ve got on will do, ta.

Da Polpo
6 Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7NA

It feels wrong to include two places from Russell Norman and Richard Beatty but seeing as they basically rule London’s food scene, it’s a bit unavoidable. And, Da Polpo is brilliant. I think the staff are probably the nicest people in the world and it’s beautiful inside two. Food is Italian/American comfort food and the old small plates mean you feel like you can order a million things and it’s totally acceptable.

Furcoat set menu: Mortadella and gorgonzola pizzette, pork and fennel meatballs, chicory and pear salad and an old fashioned to wash it down. Then a cheeseboard.

Rules
35 Maiden Lane, London WC2E 7LB

Rules is allegedly London’s oldest restaurant and the trad English menu definitely reflects that – game, and lots of it, pies, roasts, puddings… All the good stuff. It’s a bit like Simpson’s in that you could happily bust your arteries there on something heavy and homely and delicious, but I’m all about the cocktail bar. You’ve always been able to have cocktails with your food, but now there’s a whole separate lounge which is as gloriously decadent as the restaurant itself and is the closest I’ll ever get to drinking in a gentleman’s club. There’s a secret entrance with a doorman and everything. Oh, and the oysters are only £2 between 12 and 4:30. BODACIOUS!

Furcoat set menu: The Rules cocktail – Champagne, gin and pear liqueur.

Beaufort Bar at The Savoy
 The Strand, London WC2R 0EU

For full-on art deco splendour, it has to be The Savoy, really. There are a couple of bars and restaurants to choose from, but the Beaufort is the most beautiful and the best example of the painstakingly recreated 1920s glory that cost them £220 million. It’s kind of intimidatingly beautiful and the fact that it inhabits the space previously taken by the cabaret stage makes it even more exciting. You can watch a video about the bar here to see a bit what it’s about – the gold walls! The drinks in birdcages! The kinda mad singing woman with a bob!

Furcoat set menu: A £61-per-glass flute of Krug

What I wore to the wedding that never was

So as some of you know, I was due to go to a wedding last weekend. Unfortunately, the eight hours of snow that fell in Sheffield on Saturday put pay to that idea. We were really holding out hope that we’d still be able to make it to the venue (a barn in the middle of the countryside, uh oh) but by the time we saw kids sledging down the main road with not a care in the world, it kind of became apparent that no vehicles were going to be able to get us there. I’m all for snow as a general rule, but it kind of sucked.

Anyway, as I’d spend weeks mithering about what I planned to wear I figured I’d share it anyway. Here’s what I wore to be stranded in a pub and go for a curry – Topshop grey and black furry stole, coral and gold tassled belt from Primark, dream gold shell clutch from Accessorize and favourite old earrings from The Earring Boutique.

wedding outfit

As for the dress, I ended up buying something from Primark… of all places. I actually went in every single women’s clothing shop in Westfield and couldn’t find a bastard thing I liked, but this Mulberry rip-off caught my eye and that bright apple green is always a flattering option for me. Also, I obviously wanted to be like Kate Middleton. Soz if you have an epileptic fit, it was the only way to disguise the fact that I looked like I wanted to murder someone.

Anyway, the good news is that I have another wedding coming up in March so maybe I’ll give the green dress a re-run. Or, more likely, I’ll buy something new that I actually like.

Shoe-horning my way into 1920s clothes

It’s a cruel twist of fate that the era whose style I’m most enamoured with – the 1920s, duh – is really the only one I can’t emulate. Flapper dresses are all about dropped waists, slim silhouettes and long, lean lines – none of which are particularly wearable when you’re short and ~curvy.

I think it’s worth remembering that the reason why most women in the 20s and 30s were so slim and flat-chested is because they’d survived the Depression and World War I – two events which didn’t exactly allow for much in the way of food, drink or merriment, you know? Selfish, selfish history.

Anyway, I can’t wear flapper dresses and that sucks for me. I’ve got a smashing cloche hat and a few nice deco-ish bits of jewellery and handbags – it’s close but no cigar, to be honest.

With the 1920s trend just about everywhere this season, it’s a painful reminder of what’s not meant to be. The latest dress torturing my soul is the Jessie from the Fusion range at Monsoon – not a shop I’d usually visit, but the detail on this is just beautiful and it caught my eye. I tried it in for a laugh anyway, and laugh I did. It looked awful. Hilariously so. I would have loled, had it not been so tiresomely predictable.

It’s not all bad news though. Monsoon also has a blouse version of the dress – how cool is that? Exactly the same, just cut off at the waist for a slightly cropped shell-shaped top. I wish every shop would sell blouse and skirt versions of their dresses, it’d make life a lot easier for me. Anyway, dead happy with this – the attention to detail is surprising and lovely, like the flower buttons and scalloped sleeves and silk collar. Just dead nice all round really.  Oh, and I have a pleated skirt the same shade, so I can essentially DIY my own version of the dress except with a more flattering shape. I WIN!

You can get your matching outfit here if you want to be more like me.