Soon after I met Emily & Cal, I saw this delightful girl outside the V&A, where I was about to meet Mr. Dot for lunch. Her eyes are the most gorgeous shade of turquoise, and she laughed when I said I loved her style, & mocked her own aqua gloves. She said the coat is from Pinko which I gather isn't terribly expensive.
This a less common, but to me, more interesting trend I'm seeing lately: to accent the all black uniform (which seems to be dominating London streets like Victorians in mourning for Prince Albert), rather than with leopard & beige, with bright colour. (I love what -h said yesterday: leopard is a classic and she's always thought of it as a 'neutral').
She told me her name but I didn't jot it down right away, and it's plum gone out of my head. For some reason, I think it's Laura. Let's just call her Laura until I hear otherwise. Isn't she lovely? Very classic English, I feel. But with an aquamarine twist.
By sheer coincidence (or is there really such thing as coincidence?) while I was shooting 'Laura', Mr. Dot was already inside the V&A, and met a couple from Holland. This is Monique, also rocking the black & bright look with class. Both girls just radiate inner beauty, as well as outer, I feel. It is so true, what Kate Moss said: beauty really does come from within, it's not about piling on the slap.
p.s. A passing comment by the wonderful Photodiarist today - (it's in my comments) introduced me to an Italian company I'd not heard of, called Costume National. Because I am a curious creature, I googled them, only to discover their website is in Italian. I'm kicking myself my friend BK & I didn't pay more attention in Italian class when our friend Valeria was teaching us in NY. (I have such respect for bloggers who comment in English when this is not their first language, and wish I could repay in kind: it feels wrong to only speak English, but I"m so bad at languages!) Anyway, I found 'donna', then was laughing at myself because I remembered 'borsa' from an exercise we did (it means 'bag'), but couldn't find shoes! It was a nice little Italian lesson.. pantaloni, cool, got that... gonne.. nope, that's skirts.
Ah! Calzature! These are shoes! Finally, success! But is 'stivali' the name for boots, or just THESE boots? I don't even know if this is what she mean, but aren't they OH SO RAD?
I love how Laura used turquoise to add some fun in her ensemble.
ReplyDeleteI agree with H that leopard is a classic. And a neutral. And it never really leaves fashion consciousness - it only takes a back seat to some trend before being revived as a "new" trend. In any event - back to color. I am about to bust out into color today - I found some blue Costume National boots - not bright blue but definitely a blue. But what to wear them with . . . have to go figure that out. P.S. Love the scarf on the second girl.
ReplyDeletelove the blue gloves!
ReplyDeletelove&style!
they are so cute :)
ReplyDeleteI left an award for you on my blog :)
have a great day, xoxo
Hey -- those aren't the boots I got but man, those are RAD. Mine are a darker blue - not quite midnight -- maybe deep sea blue with a dark heel.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the main reasons I love buying clothes in neutral tones - because you can buy accessories in fun colors to add personality to your look. Loving the aqua gloves! :)
ReplyDeleteWow, she is beautiful and ever so chic. I wish I could emulate that kind of "Put together-ness"
ReplyDeleteI love the blue...the eyes, the gloves, and the earrings. All different shades, all great.
ReplyDeleteI do love a pop of color with all neutrals.
Also, your posts are great. I love that they always seem to be in different locations...looks like you are enjoying the city!
Thank you, Amanda (thank you all!): re locations, I always worry that I'm being boring with posting about the same places, but I get really attached to favourite places. So if I friend wants to meet for lunch or coffee or whatever, if I can pick the place, I"ll pick my regular spot. Lately - since I started blogging actually - it's been the V&A, but I have many favourite spots. And yes, I"m so enjoying this city! After all these years, I'm still in my honeymoon phase about it.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I loved, too: I couldn't quite get it in the photos, but her eyes are absolutely luminescent: aquamarine.
daisychain: You can, and do, emulate that 'put together-ness'. In fact I'm wondering now if I"m confusing her name with yours.. (I'm so bad with names, esp. now I'm meeting so many new people every day). She wasn't remotely.. how can I put this, she was very fun & casual & self effacing. It was all like 'these ratty gloves? Really?' She was just having fun with her clothes, and she was clear to point out to me that nothing was expensive.
cafe fashionista: I know, same with me. It's funny how suddenly, in the past week, I'm looking at black in a new way with these bright accents. I've been doing that for years with bright gloves: they're usually pinnk but this year I think I"m going for aqua.
Photodiarist: I'd love to see the boots you have then. Thanks for turning me onto Costume National. When you first said you had blue Costume National boots, I thought that was some American expression that had come up since we've moved: like Girl Scout boots. Watch: I'll find someone wearing them tomorrow. That is so typical of life.
Thank you all! Hope you're having a lovely MOnday wherever in the world you are. xx
Laura is so pretty. And yes, her eyes is gorgeous. i love how the bright colors pop in a dark ensemble. =)
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Laura is really pretty!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could bump into you at the V&A as well :) (I go there all the time ^^)
xxx
Jill: Here are the ones I bought at Barneys (40% off) but in dark (but not too dark)blue:
ReplyDeletehttp://store.costumenational.com/item.asp?tskay=575F9B61&cod10=44189789SH
No, they are never boring! Even if you feature the same place a few times over, all of the people you photograph are always so different!
ReplyDeleteThe blue touch is darling and most uniqu, I must try that!
ReplyDeleteXOXOX
Libby
http://fashionconfectionairy.weebly.com
the girl is truly beautiful with her smile - but what i really is the photos themselves - just wonderfully captured moments, xx
ReplyDeletethose boots are crazy but so cool. quite unusual to see such a color for footwear, especially boots.
ReplyDelete"laura" is so, so pretty. (and did anyone notice her beautiful quilted ballet flats, very chanel!) her coat may be inexpensive but it sure looks otherwise. if i lived in a cold climate, i'd have to get a coat like that! classic but very mod.
excellent post, J. sorry i've been a bit lax on commenting and on correspondence in general, as family just arrived from the States for the holidays (i could not be happier!) and everything else has taken a back seat!
xoxo
love the blue gloves*°*°°
ReplyDeleteThe girl with the blue gloves has great taste. i live in France so it's really neat to see the little differences between French and English style!
ReplyDeleteLa Société de Mode
lasocietedemode.com
La Societe: can you tell me please a bit about the differences? We live in a very French part of London because the French schools are here. But I haven't been to France since starting this blog, & I'd love to hear what you think the differences are. Will check out your blog right.
ReplyDeleteStyle Odyssey: thank you & totally understand. Have a great time with your family!
Photodiarist: love those boots, too: gorgeous in leather. Those look black but maybe it's the lighting, or maybe they just have them in black. They look very well made.
So grateful for your comments, & Iris: if you see anyone that remotely resembles my photos, with a camera, please introduce yourself! Would love to do a little street shoot.
Love the boots!
ReplyDeleteCheck out our blog!
www.MontrealFashionMinds.com