And now - perhaps because I bragged about being 'twitter free' - I can't even tweet if I want to! So if anyone wants to tweet these on my behalf, please feel free. It's all for a good cause.
I've seen Pixie & Peaches around town - I remember turning down a side street off the King's Road one Good Friday & there they were with their Dad, Bob, and a whole gaggle of girls: everyone just giggling away, really natural, really warm - but I always assumed, I dunno, that she was just famous cause of her dad. I'm sure that's what made her famous to start, but I didn't realise until watching her and Alice Dellal DJ @ the ckone party Thursday night: she's actually.. she's like an actress. She SHOULD be an actress: I wish more people could see how cool she is, just so warm and fun.
I was hanging out with Estelle at that point, and David and Jennifer (Style East) just by the side of the stage, and I went to the front to shoot (they were confiscating cameras: even if we were asked by MTV to shoot, we couldn't, but phones were allowed). Alice was totally serious: checking her notes, just head down, doing her DJ job: I'd be the same way. But PIXIE.. the guys were dancing around - I WISH I could link the music, it was brilliant - stripping down to their Calvins, and suddenly, it got really tribal: they started this kind of mating ritual with Pixie. I felt like I was watching a David Attenborough film.
Spent most of yesterday transferring dozens of photos to the laptop via bluetooth: one by one. I can't show them all here but it was fascinating to watch. Even if the shots are blurry. Apologies to that in advance but hey, it was either that or risk losing my camera!
Oh btw: ckone popup shop is up til just tonight, maybe tomorrow, so the Dot & I are heading there today. It's such a cool space, and I love that little lane, right off Brick Lane: best place for street shooting. It's like shooting fish.
If you can't get to the shop - if you're not in London - then definitely get into the ckone box.
The hardest part in doing this ckone/mtv giveaway was not being able to give away a ticket to everyone. I was especially gutted that I couldn't reach Kiran in time (read his karma elevator story in the comments - he's due for some extra good karma as he's volunteering in South Africa for a few months), or Laura's accounting of accidentally trashing a hotel room - for some reason the emails were bouncing back and I had to let them know and the person who was easiest to get hold of was Koy Anthony Spencer, who had been tweet DM'ing with me. So I felt the only fair thing was to let the other giveaway ticket be his friend Gary Fountain (I love that name), so he didn't need to be alone at such a huge crowded party.
Turns out he wasn't. Alone. He made a new BFF: Lara Stone.
Read Koy's winning good karma/bad karma story here. I read it in bed to Mr. Dot the night he sent it, and his answer was 'give him a ticket'.
what: LARA STONE's party (ck one/mtv)
when: 14 April, 2011 (Thursday) 8:00 - late
where: VILLAGE UNDERGROUND, Shoreditch, London, England, the World
why: launch of ck one's first ever lifestyle apparel line of jeans & undies
inspiration: ck one fragrance
hosts: MTV & ck one Push Party
performing live: ALEXIS JORDAN, PROFESSOR GREEN and KATY B.
dj support: ck models PIXIE GELDOF & ALICE DELLAL, PRINCESS JULIA & JERRY BOUTHIER
refreshments: open bar
WHAT'S THE CATCH?
You have to answer one of the following questions in the comments section. But hurry: this offer won't last. Your choices are:
a) Have you ever trashed a hotel room? (If so, where, when & why)
OR
b) Do you believe in Karma? (If so, can you give a recent example)
That's all there is to it. I'll be there, taking pictures. I've already been to the pop up shop - met the team setting it up, it's at the Truman Brewery - opened today and will be there til the date of the party, 14th April, so get your boney asses down there, boys & girls.
I'm a NY girl, so of course Calvin Klein and I go way back. And MTV has always had a place in my heart, because when I started out as a graphic designer, I worked one-on-one with a very cool (& cute) animator, doing the first animations for a start up company called MTV. Bob Pitman used to come to the loft in Soho, with the animator and his girlfriend's pet rabbit running around the place, chewing up the electric cords. So for this to come full circle.. how could I say no.
It was Friday at rush hour, and Camden High Street was transforming in the twilight: couples heading out for the night, or, in the case of these two, just meandering thru shops together. I had had a long and very lucrative day street shooting, and, realising I didn't have time to stop home & change before we went out, and not wanting to wear my naturally distressed jeans, I popped into an American Apparel & bought my best investment this fall: black thermal leggings: my current uniform (see motel rocks, I'm wearing them there).
On the way out, I saw this lovely woman, on her way home from work at MTV. (In my NYC days, I worked with a wonderfully creative & charismatic - & sytlish! - animator, Eli Noyes, Jr, doing MTV animation & music videos). As exhausted as we both were, she still patiently posed for shot after shot, holding still as she could. In the darkening twilight, I just couldn't get a shot that wasn't blurry. In fact, knowing how it drives Mr. Dot mental.. well, I"m posting the blurriest of the bunch & calling it art!
Then I dragged her into the shop for one last attempt at a sharp shot. Posting these shots together to show two variations on the black jacket, which is so hot this season, it's cool. (In fact, black leather motorcycle jackets, especially with studs are pretty much in the classic category by now, and a definite wardrobe staple).
Thank you for your comments on the fur real debate. And I hope it's sharp enough for you to see what I love about this look, the studs on her belt, jacket, grey suede cuban heel booties, and the print on her dress & fabulous texture to that great big gorgeous hand bag. All from 'nowhere special' which, to her, means shops like River Island and Russell & Bromley. Not too shabby, as my friend Daniel would say.
Then less than 5 minutes later, inside the tube, I met this girl with her brother. Another great look with a black leather jacket, making it three in under an hourl
Leaving you with one little treat, from me to you. Worth hitting play, even if only for the first chord, which has become an iconic and nearly impossible to recreate element of rock and roll. The Beatles, by the way, before Brian Epstein got them into matching suits & their iconic Fab Four, were totally black leather motorcycle jackets, pompadours and winkle pickers, in their early Berlin days. And with that, I'm signing off.
Thank you on Ash's behalf for your comments yesterday (I know 13 might not seem like a lot of comments to some of you - it's hardly 200 - but STILL, I'm chuffed to bits when anyone out there takes the time to write!). There were quite a few remarks about his footwear - the pros but mostly cons of flip flops (but then they excused him since he had only popped out of bed for a cigarette). No one minded that he smokes, but the deal breaker for a few of you was the flip flops.
Which got me thinking: is it true, does a guy's choice in shoes really make or break it for you? I remember, back in my NYC days, my friend Charles (her real name was Cynthia) started working with our mutual work friend, Rob. Rob was soooo cute, looked like a young Mick Jagger, had a great apartment which he OWNED (rare, in our 20s, when most of us rented), & had left the company to be a young exec for MTV, with his own office. So what was the problem? Each of them separately went to dinner and told their side. It seems they'd been shopping, he needed jeans, tried on the boot leg cut.. the way he put it, he didn't get what the problem was, and he didn't CARE. He was happy to buy the skinny cut, if it meant that much to her.
As Charles put it: that wasn't the point. She simply couldn't see a future with a guy who didn't get WHY boot legs are so horrendous. I could see both their points, and tried to tell her he'd learned his lesson, and had no intention of making that mistake ever again. But she moved out anyway.
Last I knew, Charles had moved to Seattle and was living with a fisherman.
So girls (or boys, as the case might be): what is YOUR deal breaker? Would YOU sleep with a man who wore flip flops?
RoadTrip23 is the natural evolution from StreetStyle London, which is still here, and has been since 2009. Because there's more to the world than fashion, and there's more to the world than London. Lovely as London is.
I'll still be posting street style, if something really grabs me, but have expanded into other areas of interest, primarily travel, the arts, culture. Whatever I feel is beautiful or interesting: either man made, or a natural wonder.
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