SWIMMING IN A RAINBOW

We may have only just passed the mid-point of Joyless January but I am already sure of my aesthetic for summer (a pastel rainbow with holographic highlights) and I'm busy daydreaming of a chilled-out holiday in warmer climes, sipping a cocktail, wearing a swimsuit made out of carpet.

Hold up a moment. A swimsuit made out of carpet?! You'll be thinking you've made some strange fashion choices Dotty, but this one takes the biscuit.. but no, bear with me! I've found a swimwear brand that ticks all the right boxes for summer - Auria boasts a dreamy colour palette and imaginative prints; plus is ethically produced using recycled polyamide, from stuff like discarded fishing nets, and indeed carpet.

I find the collection so pleasing to look at, and the shapes are perfect too: fed up of ruffles to amend and cut-outs to enhance, I'm craving simple one-piece suits, like you wore to do your 100m badge in school lessons. This will be designer Diana Auria's first collection and is a collaboration with illustrator Margot Bowman (you may remember the latter's work with the Topshop blog and the Town Hall Hotel) and I will be keeping a close eye on the website, waiting for the collection to drop.

GROWING OLD DISGRACEFULLY

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.

You can read a fantastic review of the Fam Irvoll collection at Intrinsically Florrie's magical blog.


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.

See the entire lookbook on the Wildfox blog.

Will you still need me, will you still feed me

When I'm sixty-four?

The Week In Outfits

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope you've had a good week. Finally I've found a half-decent place in my flat to snap outfit pictures.. I'm just not committed enough to go outside for photos in this weather, sorry! In fact, this week has been all about keeping warm; I haven't bothered so much with trends, and one day I wore so many clothes you couldn't distinguish where one layer ended and the other began (obviously didn't document that).






Boyfriend's ASOS jumper, Oasis shirt and pleather trousers, H&M bootsCOS dress, Dorothy Perkins bodychain, Oasis pleather trousers, Acne shoesVintage blazer, Oasis top and jeans, ASOS shoes

Fear not - I did wear socks with those shoes!

Some notable pieces: new jewellery from Dorothy Perkins - currently buy one, get one half price - golden bodychain and silver triangle ring. I finally seem to have sorted the orange COS dress into the drapes it should be in; I acheived this by throwing it onto the bed and once I picked it up it was draped perfectly. Brilliant. Nail Rock stickers look amazing, but are difficult to apply without creases. And naturally, the cat had to make an appearance..

Spring Forward

The transitional period always sends me into a bit of a tizz; we remain in the thick of winter, getting rained and hailed upon, but all the glossies are full of spring editorials and adverts. I accept that every January and August my mojo will be totally out of line, and I simply have to throw myself into it wearing new trends until something clicks into place. Sometimes it can be one new piece that completes the season's wardrobe, but often I style something from a previous year in a different way and the outfit is bang on. Moodboards are always helpful, too! Make your own by cutting and sticking inspirational pictures from magazines, and adding any patterns or textures you are currently feeling.

Here I've stolen my boyfriend's French Connection shirt in an attempt to emulate the Preen show I love so much - brightly coloured checks with pencil skirts. This would've worked a lot better with a lighter shoe (see above - the Aldo Rise Preen shoes or ASOS kitten heeled slippers) but there was no stopping me wearing my boxfresh Miista Hildas that day. 

Pastel jeans! Hard to pull off even if you are feeling superstylin'. I was reminded just how difficult it is to wear pale trousers when I had a coffee-and-berry-compote incident in Starbucks, though I do still enjoy the mix of ASOS grungy jumper (boyfriend's again - what is it with him having better clothes than I this season?) with sherbet lemon Oasis pants, dolly mixture ASOS shoes and Parma Violet hair. I refuse to stop using my enormous Zara bag - it fits in the near-A3 style.com/print magazine plus my DSLR - but perhaps this frosted bowler bag from ASOS may be more season-appropriate.

My stab at spring continues with more bright jeans - this time pink. Very pink. These are from some years ago, but I did have a whirlwind trip around Primark last night and picked up this cream with neon trim blouse; very useful to pull some springtime looks together (how cute will it look with the Topshop pink shorts suit - pieces here and here - come the warmer months?). The tweed jacket, black leather belt and black Miista boots ground the look and stop it from looking too wacky. I didn't realise quite how masculine this was until seeing the picture, though I do love how striking the look is. 

Slowly, slowly, my outfits progress into the new season. It's all trial and error at this time of year. Which new trends will you be trying in the coming months?

I Want Candy!

Although we are only nine days into spring/summer 2012 (if the glossy magazine's advertising is anything to go by) I am already crazy about candy-coloured outfits.

For me, it began with the delicious Louis Vuitton campaign; Kati Nescher and Daria Strokous in their Sundae best.




Then I found model heavyweights Frida Gustavsson and Lindsay Wixson hanging about on Brighton beach for Mulberry, with some pretty awesome oversized Brighton Rock.




Finally, as if that wasn't enough to send me into a sugar coma, this season's Vogue Collections features a double page spread of lovely, Loveheart-shaded goodness..




I was craving to create a moodboard that looked good enough to eat!






One valiant fashionista attempted to style the look using items of her own, which proved difficult as her summer wardrobe was bursting with last summer's brights. One part Parma Violet to another part Refresher, it's a good start.. but maybe for now stick to Rainbow Drop nails.