orange you glad

Hope you all had a lovely Easter - and Passover - and Bank Holiday Weekend (I love that phrase!). I can barely see as I type this - the blinding rays of SUNLIGHT are such a shock to the system. Just wanted to post some more shots before I went out - the sunshine is making me want to wear hot colours now, orange and pink and cobalt blue, bit of turquoise (that's Charlotte, btw, laughing: she's with the V&a press department, and is an absolute delight).

Also wanted to share with you something that I found, a virtual tour by someone who goes by the name ArtList1, while trying to choose a Bowie song to go with more of my shots from the David Bowie Is show at the V&a. I wish he (or she) had chosen music perhaps less.. ambient, but still, it's a wonderful visual tribute to what I still feel is the best exhibition I've seen. This is a museum - and a team of curators and designers - exploring the audio visual and technical possibilities, pushing the envelope. Which of course is the best tribute to a creative spirit like David Bowie that one could do.

They chose orange for some reason as a theme for the show, so that's what today's post's theme is, too.

And for anyone who hasn't yet seen the show, I love what Selfridges is doing, starting this Thursday, 4th April: a whole bunch of surprises tied in with the exhibition. Including makeovers with Bowie looks. Which reminds me of a story. I'll save that for another post.

which wellies

And I am absolutely paralysed with indecision.

While friends in NY are reporting that it is a heatwave (98 and sunny) the skies have opened here in London: pitch black, the mews quaking with thunder and lightening and pouring rain. I was just about to go out, and I have the right rain gear for my head and torso (beige all weather hooded jacket) but no wellies (that's Wellington boots, rubber rain boots, to those who reside outside the UK, or who have recently arrived from another planet).

Here's my dilemma:

A while back, you might recall, I was invited to a party at Selfridges, to launch the new Havaianas Wellies line. As a thank you, I was to be gifted a pair, and these really nice girls took my shoe size and my order. I chose a nice fun brown paisley, but then, in the cold light of day I realised, I really can't do patterns. Not on Wellies.

That was even before I read that Daisy Lowe, when asked for festival style essentials, said wellies but only black or green, NO PATTERNS. I got in touch with Russell, who invited me, and asked to be switched to black. There's a lot more to the story which I won't bore you with the details - poor sweet Roxanne, at Yellow Door, has been up to her eyeballs with complaints with delayed deliveries, running out of colours (talk about beggars being choosers) and I was delivered the pair in the middle, which, while fine for some people, will simply not do for a woman of my age:



Now, what I'd really like are the shiny black pair, but that's not part of the new line (don't they look great, worn in, on the girl at Hay in the red jacket?)



These are my choices:



Interesting about the word, dilemma, by the way. (Well, interesting to me, as I sit it out with the cat inside while waiting for this torrential rain storm to stop). According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilemma, A dilemma (Greek: δί-λημμα "double proposition") is a problem offering at least two possibilities, neither of which is practically acceptable. One in this position has been traditionally described as "being on the horns of a dilemma", neither horn being comfortable, "between Scylla and Charybdis"; or "being between a rock and a hard place", since both objects or metaphorical choices are rough.

Now, while I like the brown paisley, I can't get Daisy's words out of my head. And I don't know if hot pink or bright blue are too.. bright. So I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The black isn't really black - Roxanne said it's a dark grey. And while I love shiny black with hot pink, I'm not sure about grey. I am spending WAAAAAY too much time on this decision - and I really need to be writing - so I am posing it to you, Reader. Please. Help. Sway. My. Vote.

who's this girl? this is rox

I couldn't tell if she was famous, or just has great attitude.

Husband is calling.. must obey.. shot @ the Havaiana launch @Selfridges, as before. Sweet weekend all! xox

p.s. Thank you Anonymous: my God (or Goddess) of Information. This is Rox - I knew she looked familiar - actually her website, and twitter name, really is @thisisrox.

will the real gemma arterton please stand up

The music was so great - and so loud - it was really such a fun party, so when Naomi, who is soft spoken to begin with, said 'Oh look, there's Gemma Arterton' I kept saying 'Who?' and then 'Oh look, Kate's friends with Gemma Arterton'. Then Kate introduced me to her, except she isn't Gemma Arterton, she's a chef, named Izzy. A television chef. And Kate's friend.



Later that same night, I saw Izzy with that same fabulous beehive do - not a hair out of place - at the ckone party. I was with Nao. The music was really loud there, totally different to the Havaianas wellies launch at Selfridges (this guy was playing live at the party: he was soooo good). And Nao's pretty soft spoken, too, but when I tried to tell her I had thought that was Gemma Arterton she said 'no, she's a chef.'

And she's not Izzy, she's GIZZY ERSKINE: and Anonymous, yes I did do my homework before I put up this post. What can I say: I can't watching everything on TV. But I certainly will try.






Then I ran into Georgina again: she was telling a friend and I about someone with this handlebar moustache (that's a word you don't see in print: I had to spell check it). I thought she was talking about a girl. We started talking about adding handlebar moustaches in photoshop to beautiful girls' photos, telling people it was a new trend, like dark eyebrows. See how far it spreads.

Well, it was funny at the time.

Oh what can I say: guess you had to be there. Is it me or am I just not telling good stories these days? I'm writing well (I've started a novel) but it just feels like on my blog.. just can't seem to properly say the thoughts in my head. It's possibly hay fever. Or maybe I'm just losing the power of speech.

wellie bred

Last Thursday was the oddest problem to have: I was invited to everything at the same time! In all different parts of town!

One was the Selfridges' launch of Havaianas' Wellies collection, just in time for the festival season. And it was ABSOLUTELY the. best. party. ever. I know I say that a lot, but these parties just keep getting better. The music, the crowd (brought Kate & Naomi, then ran into a lot of other friends).. the food.. not to mention the setting, with real bales o' hay.. I really didn't want to leave, but I had to be across town for ckone.

That couple on the top: I didn't know who they were when I asked to shoot them, and I was afraid if I asked who they were, they'd laugh at me. But when they asked who I was shooting for, and I told them 'my blog, Polkadot... or StreestyleLondon...' they clearly didn't know who I was, either.

The first in a series. More coming up. Making the dinner. Well done everyone who ran (or walked) the London Marathon today. We didn't go watch it: One can't be everywhere. Well, One can try..

wasabi

The other night, I was on my way to the Texas Embassy to celebrate with ex-pat friends, and was feeling in the mood for Wasabi, a great little joint on Picadilly that serves yummy, fresh, cheap sushi & hot food. As I approached, people rushing home from work in the dark, I saw Yuriko, sitting alone in the window. A great, iconic surreally modern spin on an Edward Hopper image. Which I didn't shoot, but instead, came inside.



Meanwhile, her friend arrived, in floods of tears. They were talking in Japanese and I knew it wasn't right to take up her time to shoot her, but still, she was absolutely sweet about letting me take a few quick shots, while we both kept an eye on her friend, smiling bravely thru her tears. They got something to go, and quickly left.



As I sat there alone, stirring the packaged wasabi into the soy sauce in my plastic cup, I was musing about my many female friends, here, and scattered round the world. Some, friends since childhood, or gathered, like jewels, at various points and places in my life. Some who I haven't even met (yet), but just feel I know, thru blogging. We all have friends who are just fun to go out with, or who we get along with at work, or even the odd non-friend, who compete with us and stab us in the back, and who, hopefully, we eventually find the courage to let them drop us. But the real 'girls' girls' - the ones who will tell their boyfriend or husband, sorry, but she NEEDS me right now.. those are the most sacred beings in our lives.

So I didn't ask her where she got that fabulous leopard print cardigan. She was doing something more important.

Update: great big thank you hug to Yoshi, aka the girl in the leopard loubs, for sourcing the cardigan: 'The cardigan is chloe sevigny x opening ceremony! The sell the line online, colette.fr has it too, and selfridges in London (the cardigan sold out there though!' This is her blog: bones & bat girls.

Opening Ceremony is one of my favourite new brands: more about them later.

Another update: If you read the comments, and then to go this post.. pretty weird coincidence. Or at least, in my delirious state, it is.

LATEST UPDATE: Just heard from the girl in the shot. I got her name wrong, it is NORIKA. And she's not Japanese, she's Chinese. I simply assumed she was Japanese because of where we are, and her look seemed so.. Tokyo. The colour sense, the patterns.. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

lucy's mysterious liberty soles

Okay, first, I don't know what's going on with this Eastern Style invasion thing. But the plot thickens: Dotted Lucy & Wallace, visiting from Japan, outside Black & Blue, our great local steak & burgers joint on Gloucester Road. Asked Lucy where she got her pretty pink pumps and she said (or so I thought), Liberty, and showed me the logo inside. I saw it with my own eyes! Then I looked up the brand on Liberty's website.. but they don't even have any shoes! I thought, could she have perhaps said Selfridges? Can't find it there. It's not the fabulous French Sole brand - the logo was different.

Looks like I'm going to have to get off my lazy ass and hoof it over to Liberty & see for myself.