three camels and a bit of tomato

The only time I like red is when it's tomato red, used ideally with some hot pink, and camel.

These are three of my favourite camel looks, all shot within minutes, after the Burberrys show this season. Which (if any) is your favourite?

juxtaposition: black + white + red all over

Just because I don't personally embrace the colour red (I get my warmth from hot pink, sometimes pairing with orange, or even purple, juxtaposed against neutrals or pale, pale green), doesn't mean I don't respect the colour. Or, for that matter, other peoples' right to see Red.

Funny how the same shows that I saw last February, when it was cold and dark and damp and all I wanted was spring and summer and pale frocks and white.. it's hard to let go of summer, still. My family are all together at the beach now in NY, going to the Hampton Classic and soaking up the sunshine. But yesterday we had one last sunshiney swim in Surrey, saw our publisher friends & wives for a magic, spontaneous gathering at a gorgeous country pub, and.. yeah, I'll admit it: I'm getting that back to school thinking about fall clothes buzz.

Top left, after the Todd Lynn show, top right, during, and, above, Holly Fulton. All photos by me, shot on D4 LFW 21.02.11.

fashion can be fun

Katie and her wacky friends at Somerset House in September. Her jacket and skirt are from 'somewhere in Canada'. It's such a myth that the fashion world takes themselves so seriously. In my observation, people worked really hard but can keep it in proportion, and have a laugh.



Part of an on-going series on the colour red, which, while not my thing personally, is a colour that's cropping up everywhere this fall, and paired with the most unlikely combinations, not just crisp black and white, like I noticed last winter. To me this American style Varsity Cheerleader jacket works with the ripped hem because the skirt is cream, not white.



Not that I would necessarily (as you might have noticed, I'm not really a red girl), but there's an infinite number of ways to wear red now, from plum to russet, cool blue reds & warm tomato reds.. tiny amounts of accent colour, like just lips or nails (but, heaven forbid, not both! or at least, not matching!) or even, several shades at once. And, breaking the old rule, red & purple are looking so gorgeous to me right now.

In fact I'd go so far as declare that red might possibly be the new grey.

John and his purple trainers, sketching

Inspired by a recent post from the gorgeous Erica, of Fashion Chalet, I'm going for a purple and red theme with these three shots taken within minutes of each other on Friday at the V&A. I love that combination even tho I recently said I don't like a) red, or b), purple with grey.

As I was posting this, our reincarnated cat decided that we didn't give him enough attention (we've just come back from the weekend in the Herefordshire countryside) so he knocked my entire full mug of PG Tips tea off my night stand, all over my favourite White Company pj's, the carpet, the laptop case, and several innocent books in the area. AND the last episode of Emma has already started & I'm missing it. I'm hardly jumping for joy about the situation.

So, lucky you, you get the shots without much explanation apart from the top shot is a sweet student from Germany (more about her & her friends soon), middle is a purple hair/coat combo I saw on the front steps and bottom, John, sketching a statue in purple trainers from China.

reds

Okay, first of all: I shoot in film, and my local supplier - a large supermarket chain - has run out of print film, and doesn't know when it will be back in. The photo department's shelves are as bare as a Moscow supermarket before Peristroika. (I've been begging management for more supplies, but it might be a cold summer, indeed). So I shot all this with my little digital Pentax that has a mind of its own, focusing on anything that catches its eye, like an unruly puppy.



That said: meet Stephanie, who, lucky girl, works at the Brompton Cross Chanel shop in Knightsbridge. Stephanie was on her lunch break when I spotted her. I love her Dolce Vita hair and make-up, paired with the professional clean lines of her skirt, top and shoes (all, I'm sure, Chanel). She was not, I repeat not, smoking a cigarette, and I defy anyone to find evidence of it in these shots!



It always makes me sad when they start showing winter clothes in June. I can understand it, but still. And I'm not a red girl, not at all, never never never, but I do appreciate it on others, and have seen some great looks (like Rania's friend, the other day). Talk about 'classic with a twist', that red suit is stunning. Less so, in my humble opinion, the all red cape like ensemble with the classic white quilt bag. Just doesn't do it for me.



But I do love this Russian Constructivist window display! (And speaking of Reds, has anyone seen the Warren Beatty/Diane Keaton film of the same name, from when their relationship was ending? Saw it again recently, man is it a fabulous film).



I also love how style filters up from the street. Here's a stall I spotted in Spitalfield market, back in March.