This dress is one of my most treasured. It was salvaged from my nana's closet; a 1970s Marks & Spencer polyester number which I had tailored to fit me in 2006. Some years later it is erring on the small side, but I will wear it until I can no longer get away with it and particularly when no bending down is required, like when seeing a beloved band: on this occasion, Ladyhawke.
It was like being transported to the 70s for the evening, albeit a much more wholesome version of the decade. From the band's Fleetwood Mac sounds, to singer Pip's Hendrix-style Moroccan print shirt and shaggy hair cut (serious hair envy there), to the family introducing their young teens to the joy of live music by dancing the funky chicken. I loved every minute, and my new Miista May boots and perspex dreamcatcher necklace seemed fit for the event: 1970s glam rock/1990s grunge mash-up... a lot like Ladyhawke.
Stick two fingers up to the gloomy weather and wear Sophia Webster's summery sherbet shoes out in town on a winter's eve. Great with a cocktail dress and faux fur; best with a zingy swimsuit and not a lot else.
Today was a vast improvement on the rest of the week: my dad came out of hospital, my mum was well enough to get out of bed, I came back to Manchester and managed to eat my first meal in days (a veggie roast at Trof, it was delicious).
My friend Gaz has got a new dog - Ziggy Stardust, what a great name - and I spent a chilly morning, perfect weather for beanies and Docs, playing with her in a sunny park in Hulme. The ideal way to heal mind and body.
Someone had knitted the trees little jumpers for the winter... think we're gonna need a bit more wool.
If the old saying is true - you know: one is a sighting, two is a coincidence, three's a trend - then it is very likely next season you will be raiding your granny's wardrobe for her very best sheepskin-lined slippers.
Or perhaps not. But with three brands erring towards pensioner chic in their spring/summer and resort collections, it's fun to speculate what we'll all be like when we're sixty-four, and counting. Going to collect our pensions in pink tutus and turquoise eye shadow, with faded tattoos and saggy piercing holes... or conforming to the polyester pleat norm?
Fam Irvoll was my first sighting with No Thank You, Mr Botox. Ditching plastic surgery and fillers in favour of growing old disgracefully in flatform slippers, Fam's candy-bright spring/summer 2012 collection is like our good Queen Elizabeth on acid. Grannies are appliquéd onto chests and a knit dress features a glamorous fox-fur wearer.. totally politically incorrect nowadays, but does Granny care? Erm, nope. She's going to wear what she likes, when she likes, and you young oiks can stick it.
The coincidence was Sister by Sibling S/S13. Featuring delicate lace doily facemasks, twinsets, and their signature intarsia knitwear in oversized, psychedelic patterns, the entire collection was inspired by Poly Styrene of the X-Ray Spex - who pioneered granny clothing waaay before Alexa Chung even clapped eyes on a penny loafer.
Finally cementing the trend is Wildfox Resort's 2013 lookbook, Granny's Closet. I am sure you all know by now how I feel about Wildfox, but I really think this time Kim Gordon has surpassed herself. I'm totally drawn in by the rich old lady-wot-lunches, dressed head-to-toe in pastels, knitting furiously whilst fueled by gin. The whole lookbook has a touch of melancholy about it however: echoing the way it feels having lived a full and exciting life, now being somewhat lonely and isolated up in a huge Bel Air mansion, shunned by younger family members who only visit for their Christmas and birthday presents, and the odd Werther's Original.
Still, it's hard to be sad for too long when you're wearing Wildfox, and models Nyasha and Mila look like they're having the time of their lives in the glamorous house.
This collection is a tribute to granny and her perfectly mismatched style, her love of cats, jewels, travels and gardening, her hair that she never cuts, the old mansion she bought in the 90’s with the last of her savings, her big glasses she always wears to brunch, and that grandma spirit we all know and adore.
I first fell in love with Cleo B shoes when all the models rocked them at the Bottega fashion show back in April, and was overjoyed to hear that the Cleo in question is Cheshire born and bred, just like myself. I was even more overjoyed to receive an email informing me about a competition to win a pair of shoes by putting together a sa-weeeet outfit including the pair of Cleo B shoes of your choice.
I'm going to a wedding in December, and have already bought my (dream!) dress for the occasion - the Minkpink Stolen Moment skater dress. In normal land I would pair this dainty dress with stompy boots, a chubby fur, and lots of cheap hippy jewellery. Wedding land is a completely different ballgame, however - especially if you don't know the bride and groom all that well - so careful thought must be applied to ensure you're wearing something appropriate, but essentially still you.
The ideal Cleo B shoe for this situation? The Sucker MC. In pink.. duh. In fact this entire outfit is rather pink, a colour I wouldn't normally wear, but the dress just makes me come over all Clueless (but there again when am I not channeling Cher Horowitz in some way or another?) and totally colour co-ordinate. Jewellery can stay super simple - like this beautiful Pamela Love necklace with turquoise accents to match the Cleo B clutch - but elaborate headgear is a must for a wedding. I do think I will be buying this starry crown!
Look at the Sucker MCs from the side - a simple court shoe, with a graceful gold heel. The mother-of-the-bride will nod in approval. But from the back it's a whole different story - a gilded cassette tape, straight outta the hood in the 80s. Not that I have ever been near a hood, but at least if I won the shoes I could pretend.
Fingers crossed I win this amazing competition, as I really wouldn't want to be ejected from the church for wearing my Miista boots or yellow Dr Martens. If you'd really like to break my heart and make a better outfit, you can enter too - just post your dream outfit on your blog, then let the Cleo B crew know (via Twitter or Facebook) before 31st November. Good luck! But not too good, obviously.
Working in fashion retail (and especially a department store) you get kind of jaded looking at stores' new stock. Is that another sequinned dress? A new style of studded jumper? And the jeans you bring out every season in a slightly different shade..? Well, last week I spotted a new item in Warehouse and finally got excited about it. A floppy leopard hat. I go through leopard phases, changing my spots yearly or so, and right now I am thoroughly immersed in the print. I love to wear this hat with my furry H&M coat, and can see myself wearing it with my Evil Twin kimono and old ASOS booties, too.
You know what they say - triple in your teens, double in your twenties, and a single leopard item thirty and above. Trouble is the faster I approach the latter age bracket, the less I care what they have to say.
Oh, and you might notice that I am brunette once again. It certainly wasn't intentional - I used Garnier Olia in "Dark Beige Blonde" and the result was this horrid greyish, muddy brown. Somehow it looks better in pictures, but trust me, in real life it's dreadful. I can't get in touch with anyone from Garnier or L'Oreal (judging by their Facebook page they've probably been busy with everyone else's Olia-related complaints) so I will just tell you guys not to use this product... unless you fancy hair the colour of fresh sewage, that is. Good job I enjoy wearing hats, huh?
