fluoro filofan

I remember getting my first Filofax: I was visiting London from NY with my English boyfriend, it was the 80s, and I got mine in basic black, of course. I felt very grown up.
I still have the Filofax, and Reader, I married the boyfriend.
And now, decades later, living in London, I am the proud owner of a FLUORO PINK, genuine leather, Filofax. The original. New and Improved. The 21st Century version.
I can't tell you how much it cheers me up: this weather is the pits. It's not just London - I'm hearing it's the same in NY, across America.. not to mention the Twisters, the Hurricanes.. I don't have to tell you. Today's outlook is 'Outbreaks of rain affecting most. Misty in the east.'





Even in the warm places.. I'm seeing 18 degrees for Rome, 20 for Barcelona.. which means nothing to me if it's not in Fahrenheit, and I can't find the conversion, but I know it's not great. Not for a day or two before JUNE.
So there's one of two ways we can go about this, I feel. Besides booking a short holiday to an Italian island - which I've done - I can sulk, or I can wear fluoro. I choose the latter.
I equate it to sacrificing lambs, or first born daughters, at a temple on top of the tallest mountain. Every day, rain or shine, I wear something bright. It might be a jumper, it might just be nail varnish (shown here, by Model's Own- I like pairing pink and orange. And I love pink with green, esp. lime, like my lovely lime Tina clutch, by #IJ). It's too cold for my hot pink plastic sandals, of course. At the very least, I can wear my hot pink watch, or carry my hot pink Filofax.




Shortly after we moved to London, I met Elle Macpherson socially. She took down my number. I'm not  telling this story to name drop about Elle, but rather the thing that impressed me most: she reached into this gigundous bag, and pulled out a hot pink Smythson book, and wrote down my number. Wasted half a page on me (and no, Reader, she never did call). But the luxury of that big pink book stayed with me to this day. Pink leather feels like the height of luxury, but a Filofax is more than a book, because of the nooks and crannies. 
It's a clutch, with pages.

Speaking of watches, my husband's been saying he's noticed that 'kids' (i.e. anyone under 25) have stopped wearing watches. He's noticed that when people want to know what time it is, they look at their phone. I think that's so sad. I love the quaint, 20th century items, like watches, like proper diaries. Yes, I have a digital one on my laptop, but it's not the same.
The thing about my Fluoro Filofax is, it's leather. It HOLDS things. I can use it like a clutch, put my passport in it, money, credit cards.. it's got a RULER, for goodness sake. It's a thing of beauty, a joy forever, and while I don't love my basic black one any less - it's older than most bloggers - I love this one.. okay, I admit it. I'm a Fluoro FiloFan.
So if it's raining where you are, and it's not a pool day, let a smile be your umbrella. If we all wear something Fluoro, who knows, maybe collectively we'll WILL the sun to come out.

back to black: tulip

Inspired by a tulip I shot today at Holland Park, I remembered a shoot I did years ago - 2009 I think - with Estelle and Georgie. And took a gown that was blue grey, and brought it back to purplish black.






Speaking of, wasn't that a gorgeous version of Back to Black in Gatsby? I recognised Florence and the Machine - her voice is so iconic - but didn't realise it was Beyonce doing Back to Black. Or was it?

So much I want to say about this film. Another time. Have you seen it? What's your verdict? I love what Baz Luhrmann said about the critics, that the book didn't get good reviews, either. People, huh.

streetstyle: palate cleansing in black& white

Figured, right? Just when I changed my masthead and said that's it, no more street style for me - just travel, food, arts, architecture, film, blah blah blah, I was at the V&a with my husband on Sunday and saw Alice, above left, and Emma, right. It was sunny but cold and those two just had such great looks - not any one particular item, like 'oh wow I love your boots' - but just that beaming charisma that to me defines style. And even tho I didn't have my camera, I couldn't resist a shot with my phone.

Black and white is feeling SO crisp this spring, and into summer. It reminded me of what Paula Reed (formerly Grazia style director, now at Harvey Nicks, shot by me, below, when I met her at the Hatwalk event last spring) - I'm paraphrasing, but maybe not. Maybe it was verbatim. Something about how black and white is so clean, it 'cleanses the style palatte.'

Now I know that 'palate' is the spelling for taste, and 'palette' for colour, but in this context, what the hell, it's a bit of both.

pinning it forward: pinterest uk

I love Pinterest.

Of all the social networks available, I love Pinterest the most, I guess, because it's all about image, and, unlike Twitter, I don't have to worry about keeping my words within 140 characters, because it's not about words, it's about images. (And, brevity was never my strong point).

But also what I love about Pinterest is, it's impossible to do the Humblebrag with Pinterest. You know what I mean - the whole self promotional thing. You can't be mean on Pinterest, because it's only about pinning and sharing what you love. Pinterest feels like it's created by nice people. And now, with their UK launch, meeting some of the team, I can see why it feels that way. Because they truly are.

So it stands to reason they'd tie the UK launch in with such a sweet idea: the Pin it Forward UK campaign. I'm chuffed to bits to be part of it. I love the idea of being tagged, it means I've gotten to know two lovely blogs now, Sailor Jennie's who pinned me forward, and now Ellie of Ellie's Favourite Things, who I'm passing the Pin it Forward baton to.



They asked me to chose my favourite board for this campaign. So I chose my RoadTrip23 board, to tie their launch in with mine. I've been moving my blog towards 'lifestyle' - and travel - for a while, and now, really, it's all I can think about. Hitting the road. Seeing the world. And when I'm not travelling, the next best thing is virtually exploring the things I love- architecture, modern homes, and especially, beautiful images of nature.. on Pinterest.

If you're already on Pinterest, feel free to leave your link in the comments so I can follow you, and if you're not yet, you can always sign up and follow me here. And then go check out Ellie of Ellie's Favourite Things, it's the sweetest blog, and a worthy choice by the Pinterest Team.

easy street

I found East Street by mistake. The plan was to meet my friend Andrea Mann for lunch on Charlotte Street. It was a simple plan, which got more complicated that morning, because she had a meeting (Andrea is the comedy editor for the HuffPost, and she's very funny. I don't know which came first, it's a chicken/egg thing). Actually, I made it complicated, by giving her the 'I don't use this email on my phone, once I leave this is my email so it's better to text' and we were also talking thru facebook, which I also don't use on my phone.. and since I was coming to her office part of town, Tottenham Court Rd area, I also offered that if it wasn't a great day for her, because of the meeting, we could make it another day, so of course, I didn't get the email reply that yes, please, she'd like to make it another day. This is what's wrong with the world, I feel: too many modes of communication. Too much can slip thru the cracks.

So I emerged from the Tube station into the blinding sunlight, and she felt really bad, because I'd travelled all that way. Which I didn't mind at all, because it was an excuse to explore. And besides, I was feeling a bit peckish. And that's where I stumbled on Easy Street. East Street isn't even ON East Street: it's on Rathbone, which, ironically, coincidentally, serendipitiously, just happens to be the extension of Charlotte Street, where I was meant to meet Andrea. 

East Street is the first London outpost of a brilliant restaurant concept, fresh, well made, totally yummy 'street' food from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan and Korea, in a very cool setting. It was post lunch crowd when I was there, so the staff were relaxing before the post work drinks/dinner crowd, but the few people that were scattered about were cool and stylish, which in itself is bizarre, as we're talking Oxford Street/Tottanham Court Rd area, not Shoreditch. But that's what's so magic about it: once you're inside, you're in this whole other world.









I ordered the Malaysian noodles with chicken and greens. While there's a great basket on each table of all my favourite sauces, which I fully expected to use, I didn't touch them. This was just the right balance of heat and sweet. I ate til I was full, and asked to take the rest home, and this is where they won my heart. I wasn't handed a plastic dish. Oh, no. Milly, my waitress, took my plate away with a smile, and emerged with the cutest aqua paper shopper (I'd love to keep it as a handbag), with my food tucked into a proper, old fashioned, white Chinese food carton. Which then became, with the addition of more bok choy, my dinner for the next two nights.

Everything about this place strikes just the right notes. They'd be crazy not to open more branches, and I'm sure that's the plan. But it felt special, that beautiful day last week, the first sunny summery day of the season, to be here.

This is global food at its best. It's the kind of place you want to come with a crowd, order everything on the menu, and share. It's got a magic about it, and that's down to the staff. Everyone, from the guys cooking behind the counter to the wait staff to Dale, the manager, have that.. joy.

Next time I meet Andrea for lunch, that's where we're going. For sure.

my beautiful Tina, in lime: #IJ

"You know sometimes when you buy something different and just the right colour and if it costs just a little bit more than you would normally spend, it makes you feel on top of the world - beautiful, unique, happy. I hope that my bags will evoke that kind of feeling."    - Indre Jakumaite, designer/creator of #IJ

It is so rare that I get this excited about an object, but I've ordered the most valuable bag I've ever owned, the Tina, in lime green, from Indre Jakumaite, of #IJ (I love her url: hashtagIJ.co.uk: everything about the brand is so cool. Simple web design that WORKS. The same logo I'd have created myself. And the bags. THE BAGS!!)

Hand dyed Italian leather and wool felt, bespoke, British Made in her South London studio. I was thinking of combining the lime leather with the navy wool, which isn't on her site, and she would have done it for me - I mean, she is that flexible - but first I wanted to try one of her designs, as she designed it. So I chose the TINA CLUTCH, in lime. That is the perfect colour for me - not just spring and summer, but year round. It will go with everything: brights, white, black, neutrals, grey.. lime is the new black, when it comes to bags, I feel. And I love when someone does what they say they will. Last weekend, while we were in the English countryside, my beautiful Tina, in lime green, was born.

When it arrived in the post yesterday, a brown paper package tied up with string, and my kitten with whiskers started getting into the act (and no, that little bastard isn't getting his claws anywhere near Tina's pretty wool felt) I just felt like, man oh man, this is so definitely one of my favourite things.

This is a brand new, baby brand. She sounds so wonderful that we've already friended each other on facebook, and are planning to meet next week.

If anyone out there is reading this, please let me know if you have any suggestions for Indre, or if you'd like to help spread the word. As all you Creative Beings know, it's really hard to sell ourselves, but we can support each other. And I really want her to succeed.

So far, #IJ is only available online, at www.hashtagij.co.uk. But I have a hunch that's going to change, very soon. And who knows, maybe she'll even create a bag named Jill, in lime and navy, someday!

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.

ritzy

At the Ritz Carlton, Key Biscayne, Florida. February 2013.

cat's eyes

Still life with cat. Except the cat wouldn't stay still.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to do a photo shoot with a cat? He was trying to co-operate, he really was, but he didn't get the concept that he was meant to WEAR the sunglasses, not eat them.

Cat's eye sunglasses by GANT. They've launched a fabulous collection of sunglasses, for men and women. Really well made, good quality, something for everyone. Even cats.

the boyfriend's back (redux)

I'm getting a weird kind of deja vu: I could swear I've done a post already titled 'the boyfriend's back' but that's probably only because, like any other good on/off love affair, the boyfriend has never really left us, has he?

I mean.. I think just about every year, they tell us 'the boyfriend jean is back' and we are all like, good. Because I'm just in the mood to wear my oldest, crappiest jeans, so thank you very much for giving me permission. This year, we're being told we can pair them with court shoes, bling up the top with blouses (I wish I remembered this lovely Italian photographer's name: she shoots for Grazia, among other publications, and was just so nice).

And that doesn't even count the 'Mom jeans.' Not mUM, but mOm - which, in the UK, it's been explained to us in magazines, is being ironic. They're like the boyfriend jean, but higher waisted - like the 80s. Like someone who was cool in the 80s, but is now, you know.. someone's mother.

It's almost nearly too late to post fur coat shots, but just before we enter spring good and proper here in London, I wanted to show you a juxtaposition: I shot these consecutively, minutes apart (possibly less than a minute), from the same spot. Both women facing the street, in front of the Albert Memorial, after the Burberry show. Having grown up with Pantone colours - in the pre-digital, print design world - I didn't even realise til after, and I looked closely at the shot, what these leggings were all about.

And here, for your listening pleasure, something to sing along to. Has anyone seen Baroness Thatcher's funeral? It was absolutely beautiful. Regardless of one's politics, I felt it was the most civilised, spiritual tribute to a human being, who paved the way for women. Whatever you're doing today, girls, whatever rights, career wise, you are entitled to, whatever opportunities are coming your way, chances are Margaret Thatcher busting through the glass ceiling back then.. it didn't hurt, let's put it that way.