it's fashion, jim, but not as we know it

Laura Weir, of the Sunday Times Style Section, has just said exactly what I've been saying, but - as always with this brilliant journalist - she's said it better. In the piece 'IS THIS FASHION' ('now that street style is more about attention-seeking than anything a sane person might wear, Style looks elsewhere for everyday inspiration') I saw people I know, have had lunch with, have photographed.. I saw the past four and a bit years of my life flash by, saw the trajectory from being a lone woman on the street with my dad's vintage Pentax (film, not digital), looking for normal people whose style I admired, which led to my to growth as a 'blogger', which led to being invited to fashion week, to.. this. Being a Papp for people whose career is built around going to fashion week to be shot by people like me. And no one's paying me to do it!

Which is not to disparage this sweet girl. Who I don't know. For me, it's still about portraiture, about that thing in the eyes, when one soul recognises another, for a brief flash, and moves on. It's about engaging with the subject, as they say, and then - one hopes - passing that on to you.

But it's not, for me, about what they're wearing - style is part of something, I feel, that is innate, and for me, far more low key. And the circus that's been swirling round fashion week these past few years.. okay, it's fashion, but not as we know it. Or wear it.

I had just walked out of the dark, almost spiritual quiet - that boisterous hush - of London Fashion Week, backstage after a show ('thirst', etc), when I was hit by this circus. Not to criticise this lovely girl. But it's so far removed from why I started my blog, started shooting streetstyle.. words fail me. Read hers, they're so much better. And more succinct.

muze: raising arizona

Luminescent blues and Arizona Muze, at Matthew Williamson. Covent Garden, great venue.

denim blues

 




Funny old thing, denim is: I go thru stages - in the winter, for some reason - where I don't feel like wearing denim. It makes me feel sad, long for warmth and sun. But then, when I'm tan.. I love worn, soft, faded denim, with tan skin.

The darker the skin, the better faded denim looks.  Which is why, I'm sure, Ashish chose Leomie Anderson (as before, 'little leomie, all grown up'), for this look. Which isn't an easy look to pull off, but it's just gorgeous against her mahogany skin, don't you think?





And while they're saying that it's all about flats this season (I've always been all about flats), let's face it: when you're wearing denim overalls, nothing else, no jewelry, nothing, pretty white kitten pumps, not too high a heel, are just the ticket.




Grey's the same, for me. I don't like grey when it's grey outside, but in sun, with a tan.. and flashes of white, and fun thick gold jewelry, like a gold choker chain I'm on a roll with.. anyway, I was putting together this post, playing around with music - wanted to find some kind of blues song to go with it, and found a nice one, Eric Clapton live playing Rob Johnson's Kind Hearted Woman Blues, which led me to thinking about Cat Stevens for some reason, Hard Headed Woman. That's a nice combination to strive for: Kind Hearted, Hard Headed.

But God knows why this showed up on youtube, on the right hand column, along with suggestions for other Blues songs: a video for making and cutting black raspberry Alaska Soap Cake. It's twelve minutes long, and the colours are the opposite of denim, or grey, nothing to do with the Blues, but so inspiring for spring. I could eat this soap cake, it's so yummy looking.

Rainy snowy spring morning, husband's back from an indoor swim - I just couldn't do it, couldn't get up and out by 8:00 a.m., go out in the cold, the thought of going into cold water, no matter how much it's heated.. just felt like hanging at home, being lazy. Wishing you all a lovely lazy day, wherever you are, and if you're singing the blues, hope it's something good.

little leomie, all grown up

Aw, if it isn't little Leomie Anderson, at Ashish! I didn't even put the connection together until now. Another bit of serendipity, because I mentioned her in yesterday's post ('on beauty: for lily') - I had met her - wow, is it only two years ago? - at fashion week ('model's own: leomie'). I thought she was so sweet, and then we had seen her in a documentary series on the Premier Model agency, and thought, that girl is so grounded, so lovely, she's going to go far.

But still, you never know. And sometimes, just because someone decides to model for a while, then leaves the business to do something else, it doesn't mean they weren't great at it. It just means they found something that interests them more.

And yet, I've got to say, it made me happy to see she that was her. I wasn't sure, for sure, until I did a little search, and found this. Yup: definitely her. All grown up.

on beauty (for lily)

On my previous post ('backstage: the pretty girl'), I mentioned 'the models and the non-models', and said I'd be doing posts on them, too, as they have a beauty all their own. And then I got this comment from Lily, which I'm quoting in its entirety:

"To be honest, I'm rather disappointed that your 'Pretty Girl' looks so typical. Yes, she's very pretty, but she's also white, blonde, and blue-eyed. 

 Where's the dark-skinned girl with stunning almond-shaped eyes, who grew up being told that she wasn't pretty because she *wasn't* white, blonde, or blue-eyed? And who realized that she was stunningly beautiful anyway, on her own terms? I'd rather see her."

So, Lily, this post - which, uncannily, was part of the series that I'd alluded to - is for you.

I'm so interested in this concept of perfection in beauty (that 'blonde, blue eyed, white' stereotype) that I wrote a novel based in part around that theme, which I'm adapting - as we speak - into a screenplay. There are so many beauties - in terms of that colouring, those 'perfect' features - born every day in Scandinavia, Holland, Estonia, Eastern Europe, Russia.. it's no big deal there. And each culture's concept of beauty is so vastly different, anyway.. the idea that in places like Japan, the beautiful Japanese woman often wants to be more Western.. I agree, Lily. The most beautiful women - and men - in my eyes, have as often been Asian, or Black, or any blend, long as - I'm cringing as I"m typing this, but I'm going to have to say it anyway - their beauty radiates from within.

Even thinking of any 'beauties' in recent years, the past half century.. Jackie Kennedy, while she was just a girl, graduated from Vassar, applying for an internship at Vogue (which she won - and turned down to be a 'girl about town' in DC with a camera, meeting the young Senator Kennedy) described her face as so imperfect - her eyes so wide she had to be fitted with special sunglasses .. or Twiggy. I mean, bless her cotton socks, she was no one's idea of pretty, at the time. Even Kate Moss, who I read recently that someone described her face as being the 'perfect proportions', beauty wise, has her uneven smile, her wonky teeth.. I think of models like Alek Wek, Fei Fei Sun, my god is she gorgeous, the first Chinese model on the cover of Vogue Italia..

The most beautiful women I've met and shot - models or otherwise - have not fit that stereotype. Leomie is one that comes to mind.


I could go on and on - and I hope to - but I'll stop, for now. Of the backstage shots I'm showing here, only one was a model in the show, and I'll show you tomorrow who that was. The other were simply beautiful women involved with fashion, just not on the catwalk.

Can you guess which one of these women is the model? Answers revealed in my next post.

Okay, one last thing - I guess I'm on a roll now. I think of Charlize Theron, a great big amazonian blonde beauty, classic Dutch/French Huguenot descent, white South African, who has tossed away her beauty (albeit temporarily) for roles like Monster.

She did an excellent film called Young Adult.  I feel it was the most courageous film a beauty like her could ever make. Not because of any violence, or car chases (altho, come to think of it, there was a car crash), but because she had the courage to play a flawed human being: a girl so used to trading on her beauty that she could afford to be cruel. And then, she wasn't the prom queen anymore, and her looks started to fade. And what do you do then, when you're not beautiful inside? 

mustard variations

Having shot street style for a few years now - four, to be exact - I'm not as interested in doing the classic posed shots. Especially not at fashion week, when everyone's either posing for, or shooting, street style. I much prefer the true 'street style' concept - as Bill Cunningham originally did, from his bicycle - of shooting off the cuff, as I'm running past.

And then the fun of realising things after. Like the way this girl's hair has that slight twinge of lavender, a lovely foil to mustard. And both are such quintessentially English flavours. Although I can't imagine ever eating lavender and mustard at the same time.

have a nice day

How's your day going?

the way you wear your hat

For your listening pleasure, click below to accompany your enjoyment of this post:


All set? Good.

One thing I saw a lot of - besides statement hats - were these woolley mammoth coats. I mean, a LOT. But I'm not sure how much was a fashion statement, and how much was survival. Yes, it was sunny, but this is FEBRUARY we're talking about. Yes, I'd love to be showing off my tan toned legs, but baby, it's cold outside.

ashish: tongue in check

Gotta love Ashish.. not a whisper of the iconic Burberry check on their runway, but Ashish has adapted it so beautifully, blingingly. With sequins.

Love also how he's done her hair, like she's been in a little roadster with the top down. And those kitten heels.

So much I want to show you from this show. At first I was underwhelmed.. it wasn't like his flowery collection a while back, but the more I look at my shots, the more I see. I thought this was a gloomy show at first, but his wit and sparkle is as effervescent as ever. He's just keeping his tongue firmly in cheek.

maria

Backstage, and on the catwalk, at Maria Grachvogel's show. As before.

There's something almost autobiographical about her work. It's beautiful and mysterious, and the girls are so young. Well, she's so young.

There is also something so spiritual in a beautiful show. But what goes on behind the scenes: that chaos, but also that quiet: it's hard to describe. It's a privilege to bear witness to it. I realise it's only fashion, but when it's a happy environment, as her show clearly was, it transcends fashion. It's just a celebration of life, and the creative spirit.

full circus

When I was a college student, my boyfriend was studying karate, and I started studying with him. He and his brother were black belts - his brother wrote the Karate Kid, based on my boyfriend's story - and we'd watch our Sensai sometime. He was tall, thin, and Japanese. We never saw him working out, not in the way we did. My boyfriend was relentless: he was like a young cat, in his prime: still a kitten in some ways, bouncing and pouncing and honing his craft, pushing himself to new heights of perfection.

Sensai, on the other hand, seemed to metaphorically lounge in the sun. Once in a while, when no one was looking, he'd stretch, do a quick move, relax again. And then, out of the blue, he'd turn into a tiger.

That memory went through my mind this week, at Somerset House. I was long past the point of enjoying 'passing the baton' onto the younger, hungrier bloggers. I was done with the circus. I'd watched something I had so enjoyed in 2009 - the anthropological aspect of street style fashion photography - become, instead, a vehicle to promote people, mainly young women, who wanted to be famous and envied for not doing anything. I was tired of people befriending me so I could be their Bailey. I'm not a Papp, and I was never getting paid. Certainly not the £1000 per photos, as claimed in Suzy Menkes' recent piece in the Times, The Circus of Fashion. And then - when bloggers  you all know and sometimes love - some who acted like my closest friends - started ambushing me and stealing my gigs to get ahead, I decided, enough is enough. I've got enough friends.

And that's when I stopped coming to fashion week.

But it's funny how something comes full circle: coming back now, with the distance of time, I could watch the next generation, with their boundless energy and enthusiasm, and see myself in them. And just like the weather turned miraculously, blindingly brilliant - if cold - I felt a kind of golden something beaming down on me. I didn't shoot much 'street style' - only occasionally asking someone to pose. Like this girl, above. I didn't even get her name.

But it gives me great pleasure, I must admit, to know that I've so honed my skills that nearly every shot I got, I like. It's because I didn't shoot any of the people that seemed to want to be shot. I just - as I did in my early days - simply went for people who seemed nice.

I could post every day for a year with the shots I got in three days. So I'll take it slow. One day at a time.