lime green

Also after Kane.



When it rains on Kane, there really are two ways to go: dress for the weather (black, muted tones & shades of grey) or be bold, and bright.



Sometimes the brightness is all in your head. There was a lot of red (for hair) - a whole range, from flaming orange to magenta - last season, and not only hasn't that trend cooled off, it's now widened its range to shades of pink & even peach.

Speaking of Peaches, lots o' girls are following her lead, and going grey (or white, as they call it). Actually, I guess it's really Kate Lamphor who started that one. Anabelle, shown here, accents her white with lavender highlights, which sparkle in the right light.

As for me, I try to let a smile be my umbrella.

indigo

I ran into Indigo Clarke, who I met with Garance after Kane, the next day in the Press Lounge (a day at fashion week is like a year in dog years), and we then sat and had the most incredible talk about.. everything. Mostly about generous spirited, unenvious, noncompetitive women, and how much we like them.

There is so much I didn't expect about what the fashion world is about - it is so beyond different from my expectations. I have never seen, as a group, more warm, generous, creative, fun, happy people in one space. Today I also met a lot of great guys: it's not all about girls. But the majority of time I've been hanging around with old souls of all ages - some as young as 13 - wonderful women I now consider friends.



While we were talking, I kept shooting because she has the most amazing eyes, and altho she kept looking down, self conscious, I got my shots in the end. And made a new friend in the process.

after kane: smoking in the rain

After the Christopher Kane show, all the cool kids were hanging out on the street corner in the rain, smoking.

I remember reading or hearing when I was a girl, that only Parisian women had style. I remember two things specifically: they knew how to tie a scarf round their neck, and they knew how to smoke.



So when I ran into my Garance Dore outside the Topshop flowers venue after the show* I didn't know if she wanted me photographing her smoking. She laughed at the very idea of it being an issue. How.. American of me. (We had already had a lovely chat the day before, when I met her at Somerset House with Scott. She is as warm and friendly as everyone says, and no, I'm not going to tell you what we talked about, it's private).




She was with the brilliant and delightful fashion journalist and girl about town Indigo Clarke, who among other things blogs for Harpers Bazaar Australian, altho she's currently based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. And I'll save my portrait of her for later cause my husband, Mr. Dot, feels this is too long a post, and he's the boss.




*(BTW I didn't see the show: if you didn't either, here are some photos & the live streaming is here. Lots o' black leather & lace, all prettified with flowers: slightly peasant, slightly girly, but with an edgy twist. Cool.)

buttons to you: @ ashish

You know how sometimes you're just so tired, so delirious (in a good way) you just can't shut your laptop off? I'm just going ramdomly thru some of my photos, and I'm getting drawn into each one.

For example: some random selections from the Ashish show. I can't believe it was only this morning (9:00. A.M.!): it seems like a lifetime time ago. I wasn't even planning on going and the next thing I knew, I was sitting front row center.



People who had seen his shows before knew what to expect (lots o'sequins in amazing patterns), but for me - who really just knew him by his fabulous leopard booties in that silhouette everyone wore last fall - this was just like following the rabbit thru the keyhole. I was just absolutely giddy with delight.

I think he's just such a genius that everyone expects so much from him. And he surprised them this time: while everyone else was doing crazy heights with heels, he kind of freaks them out with brogues. That's good: that's what the catwalk is all about. Shake it up, baby.



Going thru the shots now is like savouring the candy after trick o' treating, or presents at Christmas.. I think this might be my favourite show. Ever. I so get it about how this man thinks. And the styling... it's just how I've always dressed, when my mother, and now my husband, would look @ me and ask 'Are you really going out in that?'



Buttons. Brogues with baggy socks. Knitted caps & old men's bathrobes. Classic peasant costumes, with an acid twist. Patterns remniscent of Turkish kilim rugs. All in my favourite colours: turquoise of tropical waters, orange + pink. Graphic black + white, or muted tweeds in grey.



And the minute it was over, I overheard someone say: 'That was very wearable.' I guess it depends where one wears it. I wonder, for example, how that would go down in Spokane, Illinois. I, for one, would wear every item in this collection. In a heartbeat. I can't wait to show you more!!

That's it for the women, London A/W 2010. Tomorrow it's the boys, and then most people are on to Milan, then Paris. But for this London Correspondent, well I'm still buzzed from these intense, exhausting, exhilarating few days.

What a long, strange trip it's been.

style crusaders & their grannies

Just uploaded over 2000 shots. And I'm just posting one: Emerald, in her grandmother's vintage REAL leopard coat from the 1950s, and JENNIFER, the true Style Crusader, who is, as we speak, no longer a catwalk virgin: yes, cupcakes, she's been to her first catwalk show tonight @ 7:30. We had a long day, got stranded in Somerset House square outside in the freezing rain under a giant umbrella with a wonderful gaggle of blog girls and new BFFs, and I wanted to put this up to surprise her when she gets home to Oxford.

I just met her friend Emerald a few days ago, and we went to her first show together. Delightful girls. I've got a whole series of these shots and it was impossible to choose, so I just closed my eyes and picked one.

Oh! And here's a weird coincidence: Jen's boots are a gift - Christmas present I think? - from HER grandmother. So this is kind of a grandmother post, unintentionally

running in heels: a girl's guide to london fashion week

Apologies: I'm still posting Day One! I am so far behind. Just got in: cold, wet, starving, desperately in need of bubble bath.. (my beautiful, natural blond sister Amy, in Massachusetts, just emailed that I'd mentioned I was at fashion week, and said 'Are you in NY?' Read my blog, Amy, you'll figure out which city I'm in.)




Tonight I'm just posting random shots, this theme is kinda bold, kinda black, bits o' prints... I must admit I haven't shot any of the tons of leopard prints I've been seeing, as I'm saturated from shooting that all fall & winter, but trust me: I'm seeing some amazing leopard looks. I didn't even think of wearing my Motel Rocks leopard coat - which is my warmest - as I thought it was so last season but if it stays this cold, I'm definitely wearing it tomorrow.




Seeing lots of black leather (as I did in September) but the best looks are when it's balanced with something floaty, sheer, neutral, or nude.. like this vanilla top. Sorry, blouse. (I was just reading in the LFW daily paper: blouses are out, shirts are in.. can someone explain the difference please? Is it a Brit/Yank thing, like we call trousers pants and you think we're talking about our underwear?)



(Oh, I'm starting to soften my stance on harem pants). This is Rena, wearing Anna Angseryd of Made by Scandinavian. Which reminds me.. there was a clever piece in a London paper - Guardian perhaps? - that was a guide to how to dress for fashion week. I read it and I so disagree (sorry, but I do). She was saying things like 'you must wear killer heels..'



EVERYONE is wearing killer heels. You want to stand out? Wear normal, comfortable shoes. With attitude.



(Oh, that's another thing: they also said don't wear tights with dots, it's so last season. Oh, please).

Let me explain something: the entire Somerset House square is lined in cobblestones. As is the roads you need to run on to get to the various shows spread around Covent Garden. Running in heels isn't just tricky: it's potentially fatal. If you want to go for statement, height, platform is far more practical. As if practicality ever entered into fashion.



(btw: please - if you see yourself here - do let me know!)


Listen, I'm not kidding, ANYONE can come to London Fashion Week. So what if you don't have a ticket to a show: the best part, the people watching part, is FREE. The square at Somerset House is open to the public, you can even use the rest rooms.



You can see famous people going in & out of shows, and eat yummy crepes @ the silver Lavazza truck, or get a hot chocolate @ the Topshop truck..







And don't listen to those articles: truly, don't worry what you're wearing. This is the one place - unlike Tesco - where you can wear your flannel PJs and get away with it: someone will want to shoot you for their blog, and then everyone will start wearing flannel PJs. There's no wrong answer: to thine own self be true.

Just dress warm, put on your biggest smile, and be the star you know, deep down inside, you truly are.

bora bora bora

Can't believe this still from the Bora show! I've been to... I have no idea, how many great shows now. I can't get over how this look is so influenced by what I've been seeing on the street. More later, off to a post-show dinner.

bora bora blue

Okay this is a little confusing: it's Day Two here in London for A/W 2010 (that alone is weird: it's not even spring yet - God only knows what it's like for people living in places like Australia), but I'm still posting Day One. I think I dreamt about the light blue dress in yesterday's post: all know is after three more catwalk shows today, ANd an awards ceremony, and running all over town and meeting more people than I can remember, all I can think about is light blue and fuzzy knit. That's the predominant image in my head, that's the look I want to wear. Soft knits, unravelling, in shades of nude, beige, pink, turquoise, and baby blue.

And I think these girls are just gorgeous. Not a model in the bunch, just civilians.



These were all shot after the Bora show yesterday. I ended up in a general flow that brought me to a kind of outdoor backstage vibe: everyone was just so up after that show, and models & people were coming out of backstage, and we were all kind of hanging around, feeling buoyant.



I suddenly realised that the kind of wall next to me was actually the rack of the clothes in the show. For some reason that blew me away, and I started shooting it. There were some crew guys that I realised were guarding the rack. 'Sorry: am I allowed to shoot this?' I asked. Which sounded funny to me because if it was no secret to see the actual clothes, what harm would it do to photograph them off the girls?

'Would you like me to model them?' asked the guy guarding the clothes. 'Yes, please', said I, but he chickened out (that's a quaint expression!)



Okay, enough chit chat from me. You deserve more shots, and I've already chosen a bunch for you to see next. But it's late, and I need to chill out with a rom com. Something with Jennifer Aniston, I don't even care what. (I shot a bunch of celebrities today: not intentionally, they were just there).

If anyone's in London, btw, don't be shy: come on down! Anyone can get into the Somerset House open area, and they're making the best crepes (savoury & sweet) @ the Lavazza truck, which this year has been traded in for a shiny silver spiffy model. What are you waiting for, a written invitation?