style icon: sam cam, in my jacket

Ah, that Sam Cam: Britain's First Lady of Style. This photo ran in the Evening Standard their first day in Number Ten, and I realised: crikey, that's MY Topshop Sequin Motorcylce Jacket!

I first noticed That Jacket last spring, and posted about it in June. I know the first rule of being a Style Icon is 'Stick to your own style' and this was so not mine, but maybe that was the draw. Besides, I was new to the blogging world and getting sucked into the vortex of want. (That's when Mr. Dot first started telling me rule number one, which applies to drug dealers as well as bloggers: DON'T DO YOUR OWN DRUGS.)



Still... that want couldn't go away. The jacket was out of stock, it came back in, I became obsessed about it ('it's back!').. it culminated with a public scene in the High Street Kensington Topshop branch, tears and tantrums, something about mutton dressed as lamb, Mr. Dot storming out, someone's boyfriend, overhearing, kindly commenting that it was none of his business, but he thought it looked rather good on me.

(There's a story behind these tights, of course: it's all here: 'don't shoot me, I'm only the photographer.')



There was a happy ending: Mr. Dot & I made up, and The Jacket is mine. I still don't feel it's his favourite look for me, and to be honest, it's not really my style, but I love it all the same. Like a beloved child that is not one's own, but you've gone thru a great ordeal to adopt, it has become part of the family.

Now, seeing Dave & Sam Cam so smiley in this photo, I'm wondering.. was there ever a slight raised eyebrow? A sentence that began with 'you're not going out in..'? I wonder: do style icons ever get into argy bargies with their men over their attire?



With the current V&A show on Grace Kelly, and constant speculation on who is the new 'style icon', I'm curious:

What you feel constitutes a style icon? Is it a question of constant reinvention, like Madonna? Or staying true to one style? Is it about wearing only designer clothes? Or, like Michelle Obama, is it the courage to wear J. Crew catalogue with the same grace (and pride) as Jason Wu?

I feel another survey coming on (sidebar, top right); if you'd like to add a write-in, long as they're living and their husband is currently in office (or, better yet, they are), please add them to a comment. Does anyone know what high street brands Carla favours?

Just curious: are there any items of clothes that nearly cost you your relationship? Or am I the only one?

london fashion week: top shopping tips

These shots from Day One contain some of this year's biggest trends: leopard, hound's tooth (sorry, DOG's tooth in British) and everyone's wish list dress, top, the Christopher Kane crocodile print dress for 60 quid, with a black leather jacket. I don't know why I'm even posting this, apart from I love the dress, and love her look: by the time you wake up, smell the coffee, and see this, that dress will be long gone. Sold out. Still, you never know: it's worth a try. I'd so love to wear that dress with my Topshop Sequin Motorcycle Jacket, which I've seen on so many people @ Somerset House I thought I was in one of those circus mirror thingies.




The other big hits this week, hands down, are sequins, and lace. Oh, and patterned tights. Which in this case, are leopard pattern, so, along with the black booties, that pretty much covers all the trends in one go. And she looks absolutely smashing, don't you think?



Don't ask me why but I love that woman in the leopard coat. After seeing leopard prints on everything from top to toe, literally, it is such a relief to see it as a classic, hopefully fake, fur coat. Even tho it was like a zillion degrees. I also love how she's rocking the red lips, and classic black tights and pumps: no massive wedge height, no leggings or thigh high stockings, no STUDS... just classic, but with a twist.

Okay, apart from fabulous shoes, this pretty much covers the spectrum of what everyone will be wearing this A/W. There's also black black black, and gold studs, but I'll save that for another post.

not my puppy

We were walking with Angus in Chelsea, which was a plan, but what we didn't expect was we all brought dogs: the delightful Jackson, and he brought his girlfriend's. So it was the old 'I didn't know you had a dog' 'Well I don't actually'.. then we ran into Felicia, who of course fell in love with the adorable dog, and we ran thru the whole 'It's not my dog' thing again.. have you ever tried to focus manually on an out of control, excitable puppy?



Felicia, who's from Greece but has been here four years, studied fashion design & currently doing a postgraduate degree @ LCF, (and is doing a million interesting things, including assisting styling for photo shoots) is wearing the perfect city summer outfit, in London or anywhere, really: a soft black leather motorcycle jacket from Miss Selfridge, (in preparation for that sudden summer cold snap), a hot pink summer dress from H&M, bare legs, Kurt Geiger tan gladiator sandals, black leather Gucci bag, and red toenail varnish. Hard/soft, male/female, ying/yang in perfect balance. A bit of turquoise jewelry and a big watch.. she's not trying to be all matchy matchy, in fact, not trying at all, but it's all effortless chic, down to her aviator sunglasses. And of course everyone's must-have accessory: a cute little fluffy dog.



You might recall Pat, back in March, at the Saatchi Gallery, in a genuine Harley Davidson vintage motorcycle jacket her boyfriend found in San Francisco. Imagine it now, sans jumper, black tights & skirt, but with a flirty pale pink/nude summer dress, or slip.

Of course, the ideal jacket is this gorgeous Topshop sequin number in nude, but it's still sold out. It's so unfair, Karla's got one, I want one, too. Please bring it back, Topshop! Pretty please! Perhaps we should start a petition.