back to black

I know I've been banging on about black & white lately, but it's just been everywhere in London so far. I'm sure it will stop soon as it gets warmer and people get tanner, and they embrace bright colours and pastels, and (I predict) lots o' white, but it's a shame. When I got back from sunny Florida all tan (still am), I found that wearing mostly black with a tiny bit of white as an accent is stunning. Case in point, Mystery Woman (sorry - we had a fun shoot outside Harvey Nichols - her white sandals caught my eye - but I forgot to ask her name!) If you see this, Mystery Girl, please get in touch & tell me where you got those fabulous shoes!



A nice alternative bag to wear with her ensemble: Dokkim, of Palm Beach and Nantucket. The most gorgeous bags I've ever seen. Made by the most incredible Korean man, named Dok Kim. More on him later - gotta run, got a meeting @ Carluccios.

hat trick

Line and Anya, lovely girls from Norway, at Spitalfields market. Line's the first person I've met who knew my blog! We're doing something style related when she moves here shortly.
I've got a photo shoot today with a young actress at the V&A, where the theme will be hats (she loves them, too) and which is currently showing Hats: an Anthology by Stephen Jones. Yesterday was all pants; today, it's hats off to hats!

why are these women so angry?!?

Why, indeed, you may ask?

Could it have anything to do with the fact they're forced to wear HAREM PANTS?

As promised, from time to time I'm taking a break from reporting street style fashion, so I may let loose on a fashion rant. Every season the Industry is all psyched to ram a fashion trend down our throats, and every season we vote with our feet by refusing to wear it. I remember a few summers ago, the shops were full with what looked like pregnancy dresses. And the shop stayed full of them, because we weren't buying.
But no trend has been so relentlessly ignored (in my humble opinion) than 'harem pants', or 'peg leg trousers' as they call them in the UK because pants means underwear. Which is kind of what they look like: giant diapers. I needn't go on & on because I already have. And as before, my offer still stands: submit a photo of just one girl who looks halfway decent in them, and I'll post it on this blog. 

I haven't seen anyone wearing them, apart from one woman who just looked like she was trying (unsuccessfully) to hide her worst asset, UNTIL this woman wafted down the street like an gypsy moth one recent rainy Thursday. I couldn't get my camera out in time, and was lucky to get this one shot. I wish you had seen her from the front: she was beautiful, and thin as a waif, but in a good way. She was one of those creatures that would look good in anything, which begs the question: why not wear something else?
I'm truly curious how other women feel about this. Is it just me? Do they think we're total idiots? Okay, I've calmed down now and think I'm done with this rant. For now. The offer still stands tho: send me a photo of someone who looks good in their harem pants, and I promise to put it up. I have a feeling the angriest women are those who shelled out big bucks only to have the damn things hanging in their closets with the labels still on. 

Update: Stephanie Clayton of Style Odyssey just rose to the challenge: check out her comment below, and then this.