GLITTER SHOES: OUTDAZZLE THE NUDE

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Miu Miu FW11. Note the glitter shoes sparkling as they walk away on the left (Image from catwalking.com)

On the shoe front, Summer 2011 has been rather dull. Duchess Kate brought nude heel 'fever' upon the nation, egged on by early enthusiastic ramblings about the leg-lengthening magic such a shoe might offer. Nobody ever thought that though one's leg might look longer, the effect of no feet or shoes might be so disturbing as to detract from any initial benefit. ANYWAY, September is here and the fashion press are keen to move on from Summer's yawn-inducing blip. Lisa Armstrong at The Telegraph and Karen Dacre at the Evening Standard have both plumped for the red shoe as the New Nude. I would like to introduce you to the real fashion choice: the glitter shoe.

I understand that the red shoe is probably a more likely contender for what Kate wears next but the for the rest - break free! Abandon the nude boredom (by the time of Zara Philips wedding, the entire Royal clan had nude feet) and have a glitter party a la Miu Miu and Dolce Gabbana. The great news is that although these styles are particularly fabulous in heel form, the brogue and trainer versions will also bring glitterball brightness to an autumnal morning. The ultimate members of the glitter heel club are the Miu Miu varieties, some of which have already sold-out. Thankfully, there are still plenty to chose from but here are our favourites.

Miu Miu at My-Theresa £555

 Marc Jacobs at My-Theresa £525

Love the glitter/calf texture clash on these Miu Miu at Net-a-Porter £400

Glitter slippers- Pedro Garcia at Net-a-Porter £225

ASOS £40





Sparkly brogues at Dolce and Gabbana FW11 (Image from catwalking.com)

 These are boys shoes but they would be rather wonderful for emulating a Dolce and Gabbana catwalk look if your feet are anything over a size 6. I would love to spot a boy with beglittered feet, do you know any who might dare?


Glitter for Boys: Ask the Missus at Office £71.99

 If your glitter fixation knows no bounds then you could spend the whole of the next few months swinging between a Miu Miu heel and a Miu Miu trainer. We are very seriously considering that option.

Available at Miu Miu stores and concessions

THE WEEK IN FASHION: AUGUST 29th-SEPTEMBER 2nd

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Hello there, fashion lovers and welcome once again to our weekly round-up of all the goings-on this week.

First up, this is practically ancient news now but Beyoncé is pregnant! She chose the VMA awards and a Dolce and Gabbana tuxedo to reveal the news. As her performance ended and she undid her jacket to show off her bump (encased in stretchy waistbanded trousers!), twitter records were broken with 8,900 tweets being posted per second.

Sequins and stretchy waitstband, oh the glamour (image from nymag.com)

While we're in congratulatory mood, we must mention the Venetian wedding of Sofia Coppola and Thomas Mars. The acclaimed director looked a vision of lilac loveliness in her Alaia dress- a lesson in offbeat bridal if ever there were one. 

Sofia Coppola with new husband Thomas Mars (Images from stylefrizz.com)

The cover of Dasha Zhukova's debut issue of Garage magazine (via The Guardian)

When launching a new magazine, one needs to get it talked about. Everyone knows that. However, in my memory no-one has done it quite like this before. The cover is a naked girl with a Damien Hirst butterfly sticker covering her parts.  "Peel slowly and see," reads the cover line. And when you do, there is her labia tattooed with a butterfly, its abdomen formed by her pudendal cleft," reported the Guardian today.

The Guardian continues: "Titled Butterfly Divided, it is one of a series of tattoos by famous artists (all men, sigh), including the Chapman Brothers and Jeff Koons, inked onto volunteers (Hirst's "canvas" is 23-year-old Londoner, Shauna Taylor). The works play on notions of who owns the art and what it's worth, while referencing tattooing's popularity reaching saturation point. Asked why she agreed to the tattoo, Taylor answered: "Not one single person can ever say they gave birth through a Damien Hirst piece of art. I can [if I ever give birth]." !!!!  Its not everyday you read a quote like that.

The real Wallis Simpson in the late 1930s

We tipped you off a little while ago about Wallis Simpson as a key style reference for FW11.Yesterday, Madonna's highly anticipated film exploring the life of the American socialite (played by Andrea Riseborough) had its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. While the film itself has received mixed reviews, the costumes, by Arianne Phillips, have been declared an indubitable success. Another very valid reason for a cinema trip is the appearence of James D'Arcy who cuts quite a dash as Edward. Madonna looked rather fab in her custom Vionnet gown, while Andrea was clearly so fed up of her Wallis look (close to the body, tailored, streamlined) that she decided to go for Princess-y froth in Dior couture. 

Andrea Riseborough in Dior (telegraph.co.uk)

Madonna in custom Vionnet with matchy sunnies. I love these colours (telegraph.co.uk)

As we gear up for the beginning of the Fashion Week season, we are happy to learn that Helmut Lang, purveyors of minimal luxe-grunge, are to show for the first time since 2007. Though we have to say, that just for minute there, we thought that the man himself Mr Helmut Lang, still one of the most influential designers that ever breathed despite the fact he retired to the Hamptons in 2005, was coming back to New York fashion week. That really would be something.

Anyway, the show will take place in New York on 10th September and will also be shown live on HelmutLang.com. In other New York Fashion Week related news, due to Hurricane Irene, Marc Jacobs has pushed back his show to 8.30pm on 15th September which is just hours before London kicks off. Not good for London Fashion Week at all. There are going to be some very jet-lagged fashion people zombie-ing about the first few days of London.

Helmut Lang Resort 2012 (Style.com)

Do you love Valentino? Do you love musicals? If the answer was yes to either of those then you will be happy to hear that there are plans for 'Valentino- The Musical', we kid you not! We thoroughly enjoyed the documentary, 'The Last Emperor' which followed the Italian design veteran in the lead-up to his retirement, but a musical? We are reserving judgement.

Valentino in publicity shots for The Last Emperor (Image from www.cbc.ca)

It's Friday and not so long since pay day, therefore there is no excuse not to pop into Topshop Oxford Circus to peruse Susie Lau's Edited selection which launches today. Her choices represent her personal highlights of Topshop's current offering and will be available for two weeks in the special Edited area of the store; a bit of a haven from the mad rush of frenzied shoppers. Topshop's Manchester store also has an Edited space so you can see Susie's picks if you're near there too. For an insight into her favourite books, music and some of the looks she has put together, take a look at Topshop's very own blog.

Susie Style Bubble modelling her Topshop Edited choices. Gorgeous! (Image courtesy of Topshop)

I'm currently on a bit of a roll with coffee table book buying, even though I don't have a coffee table.Anyway, Carine Roifeld's Irreverant is sure to  be an addition to the pile when it's released on October 18th. In the meantime, some teaser images have been released. It looks to us like this is an amalgamation of all Ms. Roitfeld's souvenirs and highlights from her time as Editor-in-Chief of French Vogue, an absolute treat for the those hungry for insider snippets from the closeted world of high fashion.

Dear Carine (Image from telegraph.co.uk)

Young Carine (Image from telegraph.co.uk)

 'The Great Gatsby' which is described by The Times on the back cover of my copy as 'a timeless evocation of the allure, corruption and carelessness of wealth', is having a bit of a moment. Kate Moss is known to be a great fan; her recent wedding took inspiration from the world depicted by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Next week, Baz Luhrmann will begin filming his version with a stellar cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and, reportedly, Gemma Ward. No doubt it will be a beauty with Kate Moss first in line to watch.

Robert Redford and Mia Farrow in The Great Gatsby film in 1974

And finally, we are still loving the Lanvin film we shared with you earlier in the week. By the looks of Twitter, many of you are a bit addicted too. Well, this film, The Wanderer, shot for Dior Homme by Willy Vandeperre is the antithesis, but just as worthy of a look. It's a bit dark, very atmospheric and very cool.

CURATORS, THE NEW COLLABORATORS?

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

Towards the end of the Kate Moss for TopShop collaboration, you could almost feel the braincells at the Arcadia Group (which owns TopShop) head office exercising over what to do next.

Designer collaborations are one thing.  A collaboration with a "stylish person" quite another. A "stylish person" is not and will never be a designer (except for Kanye West, showing at Paris Fashion Week in September so I hear), and there is only so much steam to generate before it all peters out.

So, what next?  Curators, of course! Every major fashion boutique has a curator, a custodian who manages and oversees their institution, your Mrs B (Browns), or Carla Sozzani (Corso Como, 10) figure. Strictly speaking the term should apply to someone who manages a library or museum, as has been pointed out to me on Twitter, but fashion has nicked the term for its own ends.

On the world stage of high street retailing TopShop were first past the post with the idea. Earlier this year they set up their "Edited by" space at their flagship Oxford Circus store, a normal room-sized area for the design team to put their selection of what they consider to be the key fashion pieces. That idea was OK, (though I would always just head to the Boutique section of the store for my Top-shopping) but they really hit pay dirt a few weeks ago when "Edited by" got its first curator in the shape of the visionary young stylist Katie Shillingford from Dazed & Confused. (I still sigh with happiness everytime I so much as think about the divine wedding pictures from her August 1st nuptials.)

Katie Shillingford (via Hanneli.com)

Katie Shillingford's Edited By..(from insideout.TopShop.com)

Instead of creating a collaborative collection, just get someone with an amazing, unexpected fashion insider's eye to edit what's already out there, across basics and higher end product, down into an easy to digest package. Eureka! Not only do you get the vision of one unique person wrapped up, it also means you don't have to trawl the entire shop to find something that will jolt you out of your own fashion and style zone into a fresh new area. Katie's edit re-framed micro-mini dresses styled with Quentin Crisp jaunty coloured hats and animal prints, as more high fashion than high tart.

It makes so much sense, you wonder why the high street haven't done it before. “We needed to update the collaborations idea – mostly because everyone from Debenhams to Asda are doing it,” says Andrew Leahy, head of press at TopShop told me. “People are getting bored of collaborations. We even found with our designer collections that people – especially through our .com - are buying into key pieces, the add-on elements that are not signature pieces from the designer don’t sell because they don’t resonate with the customer.” 

The next "Edited by..." curator is Susie Lau who will bring her magpie eye to TopShop from Sept 1. For London Fashion Week, from 16th September, the curator will be my friend and Fashion East impresario Lulu Kennedy. I can't wait for either Lulu or Susie's edits to hit TopShop in both London and Manchester flagship stores and online, definitely a reason to shop.

TopShop are not alone in this though. Second past the post with a curator concept is H&M who have hired MisShapes DJ and all round fashion muse Leigh Lezark to help launch their shop-in-shop at Selfridges next Thursday. The Selfridges store is also an "Edited" concept, and they too have taken on a curator and it's the first time H&M have gone into a store without their name above the door.

Leigh and the Misshapes

Coat: Curated by Leigh

Dress: curated by Leigh

Striped top: curated by Leigh

Jacket: curated by Leigh

If you want, you can even meet Leigh next Thursday, August 25th at Selfridges Oxford Street from 9.30am. Personally I look forward to seeing H&;M's rolling list of curators for this project. Let's hope that between them TopShop and H&M keep this new curatorial chapter interesting.

HELLO TO FASHION AW11! Trend 1: # BURGUNDY

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large

The London riots are terrible. I've done my bit today by spreading the word about @riotcleanup and am keeping a level head, not getting carried away in the hysteria like many people around on Twitter today. If my local area is affected I will be there with my rubber gloves and broom.  In the meantime, life goes on. Life should go on. So if you are joining the blog for a bit of light relief, you will find it!

Thanks Susie Bubble for this!

As I mentioned before going on holiday, the blog is getting a revamp. We're migrating to our very own URL Fashioneditoratlarge.com soon, and breaking away from the blogger format.

One of the aspects I'm introducing is posts pinpointing the absolute fashion essentials on any given day, week, month or season. I'm talking about the item or items so on it that when you buy and wear them, they make you feel instantly up to date and amazing. If you're anything like me, this week you'll be looking at online boutiques "What's New" sections at the new Autumn/Winter 2011 pieces arriving, and feeling your pulse quicken.

As we run up to September I'll be revealing the overarching trends for the season in twice weekly blasts. (I was going to do it earlier in the summer, but decided it would be more useful now.) Today I'm making a soft start and writing about burgundy, the colour.

Shades of claret and burgundy are set to become THE colours of the new season; at least through September into October. The popularity of the colour began with Phoebe Philo at Celine a year ago, and it has taken this long to pollenate and touch down at fashion retail level. Buying something in this colour will make you feel fashionable. Its as simple as that. Here are the pieces that are guaranteed to make you feel new season, all brand new and available now, and you can link straight through to the stores too.

Fashion Editor at Large Recommends

Midi-length strapless dress, £37, Miss Selfridge

Acne knit, £230, from Browns

 

J Brand cords, £200, from Net a Porter

Oliver Peoples "Wacks" £200 from Net-a-Porter

DVF "Violet" cloche hat, £125 from Matches

Woven sweatshirt, £28, TopShop

 Klara loafers £52, TopShop

Burgundy pencil skirt, £25.99, Zara

TOPSHOP GOES PSYCHOBILLY FOR AW11

Posted by Fashion Junior at Large

Psychobilly, rockabilly, punk, goth and all things retro generally fall under my department at Fash Ed towers. So you can imagine how my ears pricked up at the first mention of Topshop's AW11 'Psychobilly' collection - I had serious urges for some of the leather trimmed, skinny trousered, fluffy mohaired outfits at the Arcadia press day, but to see them styled up in the newly released lookbook was just too much excitement to bear. Both the Fash Ed and myself drooled over the be-quiffed models with black pouts and serious attitude; this is not a look for the fainthearted.

I very much enjoy a magenta/mustard combo. A houndstooth skinny trouser is a tricky style to pull off, but worth the effort, right?

There is just something about the tomboy punkiness mixed with full on sex appeal that makes Psychobilly so perfect.

A buttoned up shirt, a leather lapel, a basketball jacket, and the creeper shoe - all essential elements.

Perhaps it's a reaction to the softly softly, floaty floaty Seventies styles that have been everywhere for the past year, but fashion is definitely starting to toughen up. Topshop, style setters for the nation, are simply leading the way where others will follow, by taking inspiration from subcultures and rock n'roll attitude.

The psychobilly lifestyle has been around long before many Topshopettes were even born, rising from the ashes of the late Seventies as a mixture of punk and rockabilly, with an appreciation of all things horror, sci-fi and sex. New York band The Cramps are generally considered to be the people who kicked off all things psychobilly, after their posters covered with voodoo references for gig nights at CBGBs went up around the city in the 1970s.

The Cramps circa 1979 - Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, Bryan Gregory and Pam Ballam.

One of the band's founding members, Poison Ivy, describes the music as "crazed, sped-up hillbilly boogie version of country, played super loud." The fashion is equally extreme, with skewed versions of Teddy Boy styling, neon colours, leopard print and chunky, clunky brothel creepers all playing an integral role. Tattoos - serious tattoos - are also pretty much a prerequisite for entry into the scene. Someone who knows a lot about that is my friend Lady Frankenstein, psychobilly pin up for the masses.

Jasmine Danks a.k.a. Lady Frankenstein, pin up girl, tattoo model, and psychobilly roller derby demon, shot by Stuart Mitchell. Note the t-shirt...

So watch out London - the days of 'nice' fashion are over and the punks are coming back to claim this town...

All lookbook images: Topshop AW11
,Lady Frankenstein shot: Stuart Mitchell (Walnut Wax)

THIS WEEK IN FASHION- 6TH-10TH JUNE

Posted by Fashion Editor at Large.
Additional Assistance from Bethan Holt

1. Gareth Pugh is to create a range of make-up with MAC. Gareth has been extremely canny and global about his trajectory from gothic costume designer at London Fashion Week to a junior global player with mens and womens shows in Paris and events in Florence as well as his brilliant fashion film presentations with ShowStudio. Though he now sells his collection globally, Gareth admits he still grapples with the commerciality of creativity in fashion.

Gareth and his artist boyfriend Carson, by Nick Knight (via ShowStudio.com)

'If you, as a fashion designer, you do shows but you don’t sell, it kind of becomes a bit of a vanity project,’ he admitted recently. ‘You know, that’s kind of how I started and that’s how I got going but... the two need each other, business and creativity. I’ve made my peace with that.' (Elle.uk.com)

So who is Gareth Pugh for Mac Make-Up for? And what will it do for the person wearing it?  "You put on make-up and your transform yourself, " Gareth told Alex Fury in a ShowStudio.com film last year  "from something that you are, to something that you want to be. The crux of what we do, I think, is selling people a dream to be something they haven't been before. As a designer I don't sell things that complement a lifestyle [laughs a bit to self] I create things that make your lifestyle a little bit more interesting." Hear hear to that! I'm very much looking forward to seeing what is revealed next month in New York when Mac and Gareth Pugh unveil their collaboration in make-up.

Meanwhile, here is a Pugh/Box look

2. Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress by Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen is to go on show this Summer at Buckingham Palace. I wonder if it is the actual gown, or a back-up? From 23rd July buy tickets from http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/

3. Frida Giannini 4 Florence Welch. Frida, (she who created the most copied AW11 collection), has long been talking about how much she adores Florence. She cited her as inspiration for her Autumn/winter 2011 show and as a muse for her Spring 2011 show too and now lo! she is to "design" Florence Welch's tour outfits! Though looking at the sketches, these are exits lifted directly from her AW11 show. They are perfect for the very leggy Florence, and will look brilliant on stage where Fl ouses her legs to maximum effect. Don't think those fabulous T-Bar shoes will stay on for long. Flo likes to go barefoot..


Some of Frida's designs (from People.com)

 4. The unstoppable Mary Katrantzou has designed two costumes for a dance for ICA's retrospective exhibition exhibition of Pablo Bronstein's work: Sketches of Regency Living. "It was a great challenge to design the costumes for the performances that Pablo Bronstein has choreographed for ICA," Katrantzou told Vogue. I've never heard of Pablo Bronstein myself, but if Mary K is involved it must be worthwhile. Mary is also doing a talk about her career tonight at the ICA with  head of St Martins Fashion MA, Louise Wilson.

Mary's designs for her Pablo Bronstein collaboration (From Vogue.co.uk)



5. Hussein Chalayan changes name of his company to CHALAYAN and launches diffusion line

A Chalayan design collaboration with Swarovski (from Independent.co.uk)

6. Update on Prada's market plans


The Power of Prada- Anna Wintour in the now iconic skirt from the SS11 collection

 7. One of my favourite designers of the last two decades, Hedi Slimane WILL make a design comeback. Though he is still musing on when and how.

8. I know its week old news, but the new Fashion East line-up is looking good, and I wanted to share

Laura Bailey wearing James Long SS11

See more of denim design duo Marques'Almeida at their site



I love Maarten Van Der Horst's fun Hawaiian frou-frou collections. See more here



9. Helena Bonham-Carter is the new face of Marc by Marc Jacobs. I KNEW her fashion moment was coming when her madcap outfits started to look cool to me about five months ago. 

Helena Bonham Carter has her best fashion moment yet, shot by Juergen Teller for Marc Jacobs (Image from CatwalkQueen.tv)

10. The World's Oldest Supermodel to be honoured by London College of Fashion 

Carmen shot by Ruven for Vanity Fair Italy in March (from Models.com)

11.New Duran Duran super video...Everyone remembers George Michael's Freedom video which starred all the supermodels of the 1990s. Now, Duran Duran are releasing a new single and have gathered together Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford for a video and cover shoot for Harper's Bazaar. The cherry on the cake is that Dolce Gabbana are doing the clothes... WE CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THE RESULTS!

Dolce and Gabbana with Naomi, Helena, Eva, Yasmin and Cindy. For more pics see Stefano Gabbana's Tumblr

12. After being honoured at the CFDAs on Monday, the BFC threw a farewell party for Hilary Alexander on Thursday night at the Renaissance Hotel in St Pancras. It was a very moving and fun evening. Suzy Menkes gave one of her heartwarming speeches, and The Daily Telegraph team created an animated precis of Hils career, complete with a cartoon Hilary smoking and drinking wine. Having worked with her all their observations were hilarious, especially when cartoon Hilary was smoking and drinking with one hand, while one-finger typing with the other as the room filled with smoke....

Hils has a chat with an even more diminutive version of herself, a puppet created by Matches and gifted by Tom and Ruth Chapman  (from 10magazine.com)

Fashion Editor at Large with Hilary Alexander

13. It's all change at Vogue as Kate Phelan leaves to become Creative Director at Topshop and Robin Derrick leaves to pursue new projects. At Hilary's party last night TopShop  MD Mary Homer told me "It was time we had a creative on board to oversee all elements of TopShop. The whole team is delighted that she is joining us, as am I." Kate Phelan herself is equally upbeat. "I am thrilled to be joining the Topshop team as Creative Director. Topshop is the most influential, dynamic fashion brand on the high street, a pioneer in both store experience and designer collaborations. I look forward to contributing to Topshop's next chapter" (via Telegraph.co.uk)

Kate Phelan at the shows (from showstudio.com)

Kate Phelan's previous styling for Topshop campaigns (from CLMUS.COM)