Spring 2007: Brought to You by the Colour Green

What is it with the colour green this season? Every mass-market shop I've been in seems to be flogging stuff in the exact same shade. I noticed it again today while in the M&S food hall. They're selling a nasty pair of leather heels in corrugated green leather. Too much! Now these shoes, I love!

300

Saw the trailer for 300 today. It looks lush. If I had it to do all over again, I think I'd want to be an art director. What better way to spend a life than making things look incredible?

Britney

It's very sad to witness, even at a remove, the pain and suffering Britney seems to be going through. I hope the girl finds her way to better soon. And I also hope that the public can show her some much needed kindness. Clearly, things haven't been good for a long time, and it's not fair for the media or her fans to lay any kind of expectations on her. I miss the healthy, happy Britney, but as far as I'm concerned, I'd rather see her retire than try to fake her way back to how she used to be.

Desire v Reality

WaNt: The deliciously ruched chocolate brown leather shoulder bag from Prada.
ReaLity: As determined by my current fiscal situation: a nasty knock-off from Mum's and Spencer.

Dirty Snow Day

I am still deep in the January blahs. The bf has found himself a whole new wardrobe in the seasonal sales, but I have refused to enter the breach. I've restocked my lingerie drawer at full price. It was the principle of the matter. Who wants to grub around in a bargain bin for pants? Actually . . . I can think of a few people who would pay money to participate in that particular scenario.

Am eagerly anticipating the spring especially in the biting cold of January. Spring with its warm breezes, sweet scents and stirring promise of sex, sex, sex.

SATC

Somehow, through no fault of my own, I missed season six of SATC. Since the nights are still drawing in, I thought I would remedy this oversight. Tonight I wept a little, okay a lot, when Harry proposed to Charlotte. I'm a sucker for a happy ending! Now watching my new fave show 'Ugly Betty'. I love that plucky, yet resolutely unplucked, Latina!

Sony Bravia Rocks

It pains me to admit it, but the bf was wise to buy a new Sony Previa. Although I would have preferred to see the money go towards jewelry, I am enjoying the sharp picture and brilliant colour.

xmas madness

It's been ages since I've blogged. Only one excuse for that. I've been working too damn hard. Lots of shopping this weekend and this week if I'm honest. Women spend over 200 hours of their life Christmas shopping, but I'm sure I've done more then that already.

Love the new Nicole Richie mugshot. If that's what vicodin looks like, I want some.

Casino Royale

Went to see Casino Royale last night with the bf. What can I say? Daniel Craig does not disappoint. He is one yummy yummy screw. Kudos to the design team and Lindy Hemming in particular. The costumes were fabulous. I guess it can't hurt that every status/prestige product is clamouring for placement in a Bond flick. They were certainly spoiled for choice. What I admired most, however, is the restraint shown in putting everything together. Every costume, every moment, looked fabulous. It might have been OTT but it worked, suiting the actor, the situation and the screen. Judi Dench might be a woman of a certain age, but I found myself coveting the quirky but beautiful diamond earrings she wore in her first scene with Bond. That said, it was the dress worn by Caterina Murino that really stole the show. Forget fuck-me shoes. This is the do-me dress. Muy caliente! Or, seeing as Murino is Italian, Ciao Bella!

Big Bags

Bags of Freedom or a Heavy Burden?| Tamara Kaminsky
Times Online, 15 November 2006

On the train this morning, I turned eagerly to the feature story in today's T2 but was soon disappointed. Looking at all the sad and tragic little stargirls carrying purses that could double as body bags for their mini frames, I realized that the vast-bag has had its moment. I don't care anymore. I want something small, stylish and light as air. No room for my shopping, my dog or my vitamins. Just keys, mobile and lipstick. Miuccia, please grant my wish.

Shuts Down Intermittently

I very nearly had a Denise Richards moment the other day. When I first start up my MacBook, it switches off. Usually, I can cope with this but today I was doing some field research and needed to make an urgent entry. No dice: switch on, switch off. Switch on, switch off. I very nearly hurled it over the paraphet until I realized that's what washed up Baywatch actresses do, not princesses. Finally, Apple has come up with a fix.

Perfection

Update: And now on her way to reading social and political history at King's this fall. Kudos.

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.