drop the mask

You might have noticed that sometimes when you shoot someone, they're wearing a mask. For most people it used to be a tight smile (sometimes accompanied by narrowed eyes: you can tell if they're not smiling with their eyes if you cover their mouths and they look angry). Lately, in keeping with the rise in street style blogs, people immediately strike a pose and deliberately DON't smile and hope they look like a model.

The Sartorialist has developed his own mask - head turned 3/4 in the same direction, face pleasant but not smiling - and I got him to drop his mask in September ('I shot the Sartorialist') by saying something amusing. That's a tip that works with children but sometimes grown-ups, too: make them laugh. Charm your subjects.

However, with these two, it didn't work. I ran up to them, gave my card & asked if I could shoot them (note card in hand) & they let me, but at the moment I pressed the shutter, I asked in a friendly tone what it was for.

'We can't tell you that,' they said, and ran off. Uh, okay, never mind then. Have a nice day.

i am a kinder girl

As per yesterday ('red head'), more from Kinder Aggugini's show. You know how with a film, you never know it will really stay with you until after some time goes by? Well that's what's happened for me with Kinder. He is growing on me more and more. I mean, I LOVED his show at the time, but now, looking thru my photos.. so many powerful, diverse looks, but all the same voice.



These are so seemingly simple: black, or white. He's making such luxury out of what seems to be mohair, but it gives a texture like fur.. over pleats, but they're soft. And I love how he's paired them with bare legs and these lovely beige suede boots. And the HAIR.. this blonde model has a great kind of sixties bed head, but some of the dark haired models have these really severe geometric pointy buns, that look painted on. It's a stunning effect.



Everything he does has a perfect balance between masculine and feminine, hard and soft, luxurious and casual. (Actually Shini of Park & Cube put it best: 'powerful yet lyrical, borderline androgynous yet...acutely underlined femininity.'

And the details (like this little dotted ribbon trim, INSIDe, that's just revealed when it falls open).

Having had the privilege of seeing his show, I'm definitely a Kinder kind of girl.

got your back

And it's the only shot I did get. Before the Topshop Unique show, London Fashion Week.

kind of like the easter parade, only different

Good morning, kittens! (& the odd puppy reading this: I know you're out there, guys ; )

This girl was the star of London Fashion Week. EVERYONE was shooting her. For anyone who stayed home because they thought they weren't thin enough, tall enough, stylish enough, or their clothes expensive enough, the Girl in the Dungerees (or 'Overalls', as we called them as kids on Long Island - dungerees were the term my mom used for all denim jeans) was the star in the show. And an adorable girl, too: long eyelashes, and a modest, lovely smile.



The weird thing about LFW is that there are people who just go there to be photographed. It's like, when I was a kid, my mom (who grew up in NYC) said everyone went to the Easter Parade to be photographed for the newspapers in their new hat. Or perhaps I'm thinking of the film. In my memory, real life & films get all scrambled up.

I remember especially the line 'a photographer will snap you, and you'll find that you're in the rotogravure' and always wondered what that word meant (it's a printing process the newspapers used).





I've got her name jotted down somewhere... I'm sure you've seen her on someone's blog already. You can get a similar hat @ Pachacuti, they're the most gorgeous hats in all styles & colours, all ethically sourced in Panama.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend. The sun is out in South Kensington, and shortly, so am I!

silent muses

You know, it's just occurred to me: by not posting my fashion week shots right away - by just getting caught up in the moment and leaving the bulk til I recovered - this must seem so old hat & ho hum to you, the reader. It's like holiday snaps: you go to Paris and shoot the Eiffel Tower & it's such an amazing experience - and you try to get the best shot you can of it - and then when you return home & put it up on facebook (or, in the previous century, a photo album) and.. well, you get my drift.

I've got wonderful shots of people that you have seen already a zillion times on other blogs, and perhaps in a few months, I'll show you them. But I leave the really weird ones: the people who dress for fashion week to make it onto the blogs: for someone else. Altho... there are a few I can't resist... ; )

Besides as you might know by now, I'm kind of boring in my taste. I'm not, by nature, drawn to weird. I like classic with a twist, I like subtlety & clever touches. Quirky yet worky. Like this girl - whose name I never know, we never got chatty, but still dutifully poses for me anyway. A silent muse.

Can you see the nice touch of her metallic top & necklace under that jacket? That's how I like to use grey right now: cool metal, warmed by the sunshine of tan. Or maybe I'm simply longing for sunshine, in any form.



Another silent muse: I never introduced myself, but I saw this guy around, being all warm & sunny. I am so loving camel's hair right now, and the unfussy, unself conscious way he's dressed. I've never seen a man wear a paisley shirt so unaffectedly.

self portrait: gulf stream

This year, one of the delightful surprises of LFW was that my favourite Lavazza truck had upgraded to vintage silver Gulf Stream! Same excellent coffee & friendly crew, but also amazing crepes. My favourite was thinly sliced chorizo, cheddar, onion jam, cherry tomatoes, and rocket. Heaven.

I'm wearing: old kitten heel pale pink & turquoise suede pumps from Blue Velvet, 'vintage' (i.e., ancient) DKNY pale pink tights from my NY days, and a very old, totally ripped cream cotton Adrienne Vittandini jumper that must have been an ex boyfriend's, but I haven't a clue which one. All we know is, it's not Mr. Dot's. He couldn't believe I wore it to fashion week. It's so Rodarte.

Some people even wanted to shoot me in it. One guy said I looked 'glamourous, but unravelling at the edges'. I laughed & said that pretty much sums me up.

caution: sheer drop

You know what it's like: even with everyone having mobile phones, sometimes you can be in the same place and just can't get it together. Other times, you just keep bumping into the same person.

I love the randomness of fashion week: so many people, and, it's chance (or, serendipity) who will become your muses. The people you start to do a series on. My first time, one of them was Rhiannon. This year, we kept missing each other: missed messages, etc. But my friend Jen the Style Crusader did.



Well this year, Sam became a recurring theme for me. This is her Day Two look (I've yet to show you Day One, but I will). Her boots are from Zara, and I asked her to sit on the railing (or, balistrade, as the sign says), but then I didn't like the sign in the shot. But considering she really was risking her life for the photo, it seemed kind of cruel to make her move. Besides, she seemed so comfortable, balancing precariously like that. (I should explain: right behind her - behind the balistrade - are the steep stairs. It's about a two story fall backwards onto sharp stone stairs, hence the sign).

I like her combination of black and cool taupey tan (griege: the same warm stone tan as the architecture of Somerset House itself) and the textures: suede boots, either leather or latex black leggings, the great bag, simple elegant tailored black blazer.. the elements are clean and relatively simple, it's not boring, but it all adds up to something that's somehow classic with a twist, and ladylike. And I love the touch of the one black leather glove: homage to Michael Jackson.

we are all unique

It's just that some of us had to wait at the lovely Topshop venue to get into the show: others were fast tracked in.

Still, waiting was a great opportunity to catch up with friends, old & new, and snap a few pics. And it was soooo worth the wait.