Dove

Don't like the products, but I admire the team behind this campaign. Isn't it great when commercials get all adbustery? Isn't it nice how they've been able to shuck their past (does anyone remember the old ads, pitting mothers against daughters for a man's approbation?), and reinvent themselves as a friend of feminism. Dove soap sucks. It may have one-quarter moisturizing cream, but it leaves a stubborn scum on the bathroom tiles, which makes the maid's job even harder. So I switched to another soap just for her. And do you know why? Because she is worth it.

Have a fabulous day, kids.

Rate My Bra

Storm in a Royal D-cup | Rebecca Newman
The Telegraph, 25 October
The Queen gets her custom-made undies from Rigby & Peller. Camilla favours Marks & Spencer. So which is more deserving of the royal seal-of-approval?
Full Article

Best Idea Ever!

Cashless cappuccino as coffee shop introduces the pre-pay caffeine fix | Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
The Independent, 19 October 2006

A café chain is launching a coffee card so customers can pay for their shot of caffeine without having to fumble for change at busy times.
Full Article

Mid-Season Sales Slump

Everywhere on the high street it's all about the mid season sale. I stopped in at my local Whistles (up to 50% off sale now on) but after making a desultory loop around the shop I walked out. The sun's shining and it's a beautiful day. I'd much rather spend my lunch hour sitting in the park.

Major agg this morning: the wrong paper was delivered. I was disgusted to find The Daily Express on the matt. Heather and Paul are still fighting apparently.

Aquascutum Spring 2007

Photo by Giovanni Giannoni, WWD

Aquascutum Spring 07

The reviews are mixed for Michael Herz and Graeme Fidler's spring collection. While previous collections had inspired countless high street knockoffs, this season's offering is said to lack coherence and focus. Comparisons with Britain's other purveryor of rainwear heritage brand Burberry continue. While the fashionistas may not be convinced, I think the collection translates the 80's influence for today, making it fresh and wearable.

SJP Gets No Love From Nirpal Dhaliwal

Ranking at number 29 in a recent celebrity poll, Times writer Nirpal Dhaliwal exposes the other ugly side of Sarah Jessica Parker. A brilliant piece. Straight men have always been impervious to Ms Parker's charms. I remember listening to my college friends debate the merits of SJP's character Carrie Bradshaw. My friend Wade sniped that she looked like a woman's idea of an attractive woman whereas one clever wag shot back that she was a gay man's idea of a hot chick. A silence fell over the group and the point was settled. Boys dig Charlotte but Carrie gets no love.

The Sunday Times | Celebrity: The Power 50 Part Two

She legitimised being a vapid, shoe-obsessed cretin, says Nirpal Dhaliwal

The only women who are uglier and more disgusting than models are those who aren’t but wish they were. Carrie Bradshaw — brought so vividly to life by SJP — epitomised these empty-headed klutzes and their desperation to conform to the junk middle-of-the-road lifestyle peddled in glossy magazines. Parading as hip metropolitan divas, they are, in fact, driven by the most mainstream and conservative preoccupations: fashion, diets and men.

Sex and the City began as a humdrum show about some whitebread squares trading stories about their boring yuppie lives. It soon evolved into what modern women want most: a reason to hate themselves. In the process, Parker played her part to the full. She got thinner, her outfits grew more expensive and glamorous and she became another strand in the web of self-loathing in which today’s women are entangled. She legitimised being a vapid, shoe-obsessed cretin for an entire generation. Posing as a kooky, self-deprecating slave to fashion, her character was, in fact, a narcissistic witch who flaunted her possessions with ruthless vigour.

Her bouncing self-confidence was flabbergasting. Her irrepressible zest and nitwit smile beamed out the message: “I’m thin and I’m blonde, and I’m all that!” But, apart from Matthew Broderick, guys aren’t hot for bony, big-nosed, big-chinned girls. And that mole! Couldn’t she have skipped on a few designer frocks and had it fixed? Carrie always questioned why her relationships never lasted, but the answer stared right back at her whenever she looked in the mirror.

Thanks to Parker/Bradshaw, I can’t go to any bar without hearing moronic, bellini-bingeing wannabes brag about blowing the peanuts they earn in PR/media/retail on the latest stupid accessory. Men have been robbed of sexy, interesting women. And SJP carries a big chunk of the blame.

A Grey Day for Fashion

The Times October 13, 2006
Women revolt over a grey fashion dilemma | By Nicola Woolcock


SHOPPERS have been turned off by a sea of grey clothing ranges and are shunning high street fashion chains, retail analysts said yesterday.
Full Article

Vogue touts grey as "the designers' shade of choice", describing it as: "restrained, chic, edgy - its subtleties allow for eclectic interpretation, whether sharp as steel in silk or soft in jersey knits".

And Would the Gentleman Like to See Something in a Glory Hour?

Last week while in bed with the bf, we did a little web surfing. Not porn, but shoes. I was feeling the agony of defeat after having spent the day, sans taxis, in high heels. We decided it was time I found something sensible so we looked on to that well-known purveyor of sensible shoes Clarks. I found a few lovely items in the lesbian bus driver range, but the men's section is where we struck gold.

The shoes are as nasty as your creepy uncle with wandering hands and have names like Hour, Month, Star, Year, Trip--all prefixed with the spangly sounding glory! Check out the Oliver Sweeney range if you dare. The man designs shoes like he wears a cup to breakfast. And by cup, I mean rugby box. Look at the lines of Trip or Sight and see if you don't get my meaning.

Stella McCartney New Show

I am loving the romper suit. Ms McCartney definitely has her mojo working this season. Look, love, want. The blue is great too. The shade feels very 80's to me but in the best possible way. What makes it fresh is its lightness. Matched with bare skin and minimal accessories the colour feels very now. Black or green would make it a costume.