back on the street: life of pi

Spotted Emily near Dover Street Market, in Mayfair. She was lovely to talk to - works in the fashion industry, and was warm and friendly. And - because you never know until you start taking someone's portrait - she was the most zen subject I've had. I'm looking at the photos now: I took about eight, maybe more - when I shot in film, if you look back to my posts in 2009, I was only taking one shot, two tops - to save film - but when I look at these shots of her, they're all absolutely identical. I've never seen someone so composed. So still.

Like she has absolutely no noise in her head.

So I'm reading The Life of Pi now. My husband read it years ago and said it was the best book he'd ever read. And the film's coming out, and I can't see it til I've read the book. It took me ages to get started, but now that I have, I'm savouring it slowly. Reading little bits, then putting it down, but it stays with me. I can't, for example, see leopard print, or leather, without imagining the animals in the Pondicherry zoo.

a thousand words for snow

Shini should be back in London (shot at Topshop's press day in November) and I can't wait to see her: I've missed that girl. She's wearing: Jacket - Uniqlo, Shoes - Clarks, Sweater - Gmarket, Skirt - Storets.com, white shirt - AA, bag - Lithuania!


My husband, Mr. Dot, walked in the door tonight shortly after I did. (I had the most perfect of days with Jenny Jen, starting with scrambled eggs @ Pain Quotadien and culminating with trying on the most GORGEOUS suede stacked heeled shoes at Acne (my first time in the shop: she's been in Sweden several times) and ogling everything at Dover STreet Market). I was wearing a large sheer creamy white blouse under an old grey cardigan (I actually found it on the street on my first London Fashion Week, right outside Somerset House: I like to think a supermodel discarded it while stepping into a limousine, like Cinderella, and was whisked away. It feels like good luck). I was also wearing nude coloured riding pants style leggings from H&M. He looked me up and down and said 'Good look'.

Lately I do like what I'm wearing, after about three months of always feeling I was getting it wrong. I go through stages. Mainly, these days, I'm just wrapping myself in the softest most comfortable knits: big white jumpers, creamy warm cable tights by Tabio, leggings, white thermal underwear.. it's like wearing warm snow.








I recently read somewhere - The Telegraph? - typical January article predicting what we'll all be wearing this spring. No offence to whoever I wrote it, but really: Stop it. Stop telling us that we have to throw away everything nude, or camel. I didn't rush out and buy everything in nude or camel (or TAN: the colour is tan - or if it's lighter, it's called BEIGE). I bought some new things but mostly, I just opened my close because I've always been wearing: white. Beige. Some grey. Pale pale pinks. Navy. Black. And dammit I'm not going to give my wardrobe to charity and wear only bold patterns - altho I do love the pattern on pattern thing.

These days, and all through December and especially, the snowy time in Herefordshire for Christmas, all I've wanted to wear is a million shades of white, ranging from pinky whites to grey to warm toasty tans. Don't they say the Eskimos have like a thousand words for snow? Well there must be a million words for white.










All photos here shot by me, apart from the trio from Topshop's SS 2011 collection, and it's either from Topshop's press day, or our car in Herefordshire during Christmas. And I haven't put my watermark on all the shots, because by now, anyone who's crazy enough to use my photos without my knowledge or permission: good luck to you!

Thank you to Liz for the Topshop Press Day invite, for the link to the look book, and for just being so nice. Anyone can see it, you don't need a written invitation: simply click here.

Have a lovely weekend everyone: hope you're all where you want to be.

top to toe tommy, more or less

The day before we got the news about Alexander McQueen, I was right by his shop (& home) on a dark cold day. I'd gone to Dover Street Market but felt like I was coming down with something.



So when I wandered to their sweet top floor cafe, & ordered a lovely pot of fresh ginger root tea with lemon and honey (my favourite home remedy). I was surrounded by jaded fashionistas who lunch, absorbed in an Elle magazine, when Fiona & her friend bounded in & sat across from me (it's a small place & was pretty full), then they put all these big bags under the table & she cheerfully said 'Oh just kick them away.' Just very warm, yet English polite: I love that combination. When a table opened up they moved, & I returned to my own little world.



Fast forward a half an hour or so, I'd met & photographed Hitomi, and was just shooting these red chairs, when who should dash past me but Fiona & her friend.



I'm running after them & when I finally catch up & ask to shoot them, Fiona says 'You look really familiar'. 'I know, I was just at Dover Street Market.' 'No, you look REALLY familiar.' We did that a few times until everyone was finally on the same page.



Fiona couldn't believe I'd want to shoot her. It's not like it's not high concept fashion, it's a very simple, classic casual look, but I like her style. Or more to the point: I like her spirit. She works @ Tommy Hilfiger, lucky girl (I love his stuff), and most of what she's wearing is Tommy: coat, bag, jeans.. everything but the soft kitten-grey cashmere-looking cap & scarf, I believe. And I love the little details, like her gorgeous gold necklace.



Also love this bag. And the gorgeous beige suede boots are Pierre Hardy, last season. We haven't been seeing much of blue jeans in London this winter (not since the short shorts of last summer: mostly over black tights, as it was a bit of a washout, weather wise). But, last week, after seeing Fiona, I actually started wearing blue jeans again. She influenced my style this week.

Now I can't wait for spring: I want to wear white tees, faded jeans, go barefoot in grass.. I just love the combination of pale pink/nude/white/grey, with blue jeans the colour of sky. Oh! How funny. I just went to look online to see what he's up to, jeans wise, and for the UK, sure 'nuff, it's all the palette I so crave: beige, & a bit of faded blue & lots o' white. Cute little video. Chinos in beige, or, this season's magic word: Nudes, nudes, nudes.

It's funny: it seems in the USA, blue denim jeans are still hot, but I wonder if that changes from region to region. What's the deal, denim-wise, in your part of the world?

arts & science

Hitomi works at Dover Street Market, lucky girl. Actually, lucky me: she's on the ground floor, so I didn't have far to drag her outside for a little photo shoot. I am so drawn to white now: all shades, from peachy nudes and ballerina pinks, to the white of fresh Devon cream, silvery greys, 'griege', through to the pale turquoise of oxodized copper.. just loving the whole range.



Her dress is from a japanese design company called 'arts & science', but I can't find them anywhere (Dover Street Market carried them last year, but not now). Her cardigan is vintage. It looks like she's wearing striped leggings, and black trainers, and I can't figure out what her necklace is, but one thing's for sure: her style is all her own.

Just as I started to shoot, a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere, and lifted her skirt to form an A shape. A lucky coincidence.



A moment later, I saw this through the entrance of John Rocha, next door. Cool, huh?

mystery fashionista: hoofing it

Somehow, @ London's fashion week last September, I forgot to post this shot. With all my attention on the new silhouette from the platform booties, her shoes - and thus her look - looked a bit quaint. Now, with spring just around the corner, I'm realising that she was just rather fashion forward.




Saw this Mystery Fashionista outside Dover Street Market, smoking a quick fag & then dashing back inside (in winter, if it wasn't for the smoking ban, I wonder if I'd get ANY style shots). I didn't even get to see his or her face. I'm assuming it's a her: I've yet to see guys wearing these bad boys.

It's all about the shoes right now, isn't it? I feel like, if I were in a total shopping shutdown, I could survive on what's in my closet. But what makes this season unlike any before is the silhouette created by these wacky bovine-inspired cloven hoofs. Which leads me to...



More on the Fairy Godmother Shoe Game. Someone calling herself Ms. Scotch is in love with the Decoltissimo 85 by Louboutin, which - I swear! - was in the next batch I wanted to talk about (top left & middle, £340). Jimmy Choo is doing a similar one, the Izzy, for a mere £315 (funny how after a while with this game, that starts to seem cheap). Is it just me, or do you find it weird that Jimmy Choo isn't even designing the shoes any more? It seems a bit.. unfair.

I'm so glad that girly heels are coming back (not that they ever really left) cause I can shop my closet!



I was almost feeling that Christian Louboutin was losing his way.. I mean, some of these, it's just all a bit too much (can you imagine shelling out £1095 - about $1700 USD - for a pair of shoes & realising they don't go with ANYTHING?), but if you look through his collection, there really is something for everyone. I'm still feeling that he's one of the most prolific, creative shoe designer around.



Altho, Proenza Schouler are certainly giving him a run for his money (shown above).



Probably my biggest problem with Loubs - apart from the price, obviously - is that the brilliant, iconic thing that he's done (and patented) - making the soles red so we can tell at a distance who's got the real deal (you can actually get sued if you make shoes with red soles! How cool is that) is that now, he's kinda stuck with a colour that's not that easy to match. I'm not a big fan of red to start, and some, like the pink and purple baby on the left, look great with red. But then you get these beautiful green suede shoes, and have to ruin them because all I can think is: Christmas. And yellow & red... no thanks.

Coming up, I'm going to post some of the shoes you've suggested (esp, smitten with the Bess Rollover surplus army boots) but Mr. Dot is back - with three new custom white area rugs (designed by yours truly) & I'm going go to my lovely friend's baby shower @ Guy Richie's pub, then hoofing it to Dover Street Market. So if you see me there, give a shout out. I'll shoot you. ; )

margo

Margo, outside Dover Street Market.



I love everything about this look: this particular shade of red with her colouring and her intense, pure blue grey eyes, the skirt that's peeping out that seems to be asymmetric (or maybe it's just the way she's wearing it), the little metallic pyramids on her scarf, the cut of her coat, those fabulous black suede platform heel booties.. and of course that white fur hat. I'm noticing that everyone this week is wearing white in some way, mostly as a hat or scarf. But Margo seemed at the start of the week's mini trend, as I shot this the Saturday before last. I just hope I read her email address right so I can source these items for you. But I bet someone reading this will know EXACTLY who made her boots. Are they Acne do you think?

update: just heard from Margo, she is, as I'd thought, from Poland but lives & works & studies in London. The hat & coat are vintage, the dress is John Rocha, the shoes, as Chilli Bee correctly guessed, are indeed from Office! They're just the look I wanted this A/W ; )

charlie's an angel

Sometimes I wonder where I've been all my life. I mean: last Saturday we went to the Dover Street Market for the first time. I've seen that name everywhere and assumed it was another street market, like Camden or Spitalfields or Portobello Road. So often, someone would wear something great in a magazine or something, and it was from Dover Street Market. More recently, through bloggers I've realised it's actually a shop.

Only it's not just shop, as I discovered. It's a whole building, a world, a unique experience. There's a little tin hut on one level, another is like a potting shed. Feeling and holding real Christopher Kane velvet ribbon dresses in my hands... and Azzedine Alaia.. Comme des Garcons.. it's a movable feast of fashion as art. And the customers are the most style savvy folk I've seen in one place, outside of London Fashion Week.



The staff are so stylish, as in, not slaves to fashion, but with their own, unique style, their inner niceness just glowing forth. You know what I mean. Take Charlie, for example. He was such a star about helping me, that just had to take him outside and shoot him. I didn't ask where he got anything because I didn't want to keep him out too long, didn't want him to get in trouble. Hopefully I'll get permission to shoot inside, but for now, you'll just have to take my word for it.