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Monday 29 October 2012

No White after Labour Day...

Now that summer is officially over and the gloves are back on...out come the white sandals.

Kurt Geiger have these magnificent sandals featured in October Vogue UK....Somehow the idea of wearing sandals let alone white ones in the depth of miserable weather is beyond me...as are a coat/sandal combo.
As gorgeous as they are and they are truly lovely..."I can't see the rhyme nor reason to buy these out of season"...
See what I did there?
Poetry in motion...that's what I shall dub these sandals and my thoughts on them.

What else it out there?
To be continued....

Saturday 27 October 2012

An Aromatic Upgrade...

We were checking in at our hotel in London and all was going swimmingly until the lady at reception looked up at us in dismay and said:
"I am terribly sorry ladies...but your room isn't ready...would you like a drink at the bar? It should take about 20mns.."
My sister and I looked at each other and declined the offer graciously wanting to quickly drop our luggage off in our room and go and have a late lunch.
"Not to worry...we will give you an upgrade!"she replied when she saw that we weren't in the mood to hang about.
And just like that...we were granted a "better" room (not that the usual was anything but perfect for us,so we were excited about this upgrade)....
...until we walked in to find ourselves in what seemed to be an identical room.There was no table on one side of the bed where the desk normally was ,there was no friendly fruit platter nor complimentary bottle of water. 
"What is that smell?" I asked my sister.

Later while sitting with friends we told them about our baffling upgrade:
"Sometimes it is not about the size of the room" said my friend's husband." They'll add a chair...."
"No...they only thing they added was a smell!" I replied bombastically.


Book Recommendation: Tigers in Red Weather by Liza Klaussmann

Don't let the title throw you...although I do admit to mulling it over and over in my head to make sense of it....the choice of title will become clear at the very end.
Until then...do NOT be in hurry to find out as this will make you rush through a bewitching novel,with palpable intrigue that has you rooted to your seat,bed, couch wherever you choose to be while reading this novel.

This is about a family in the aftermath of the 2nd World War:Nick and Helena...2 cousins who are so close that their love for each other sometimes becomes confused and in that confusion contempt has time to breed and proliferate into their lives. 
This is about childhood dreams and adult realities,about their husbands, off springs and their lovers.
A wonderful tale told from 5 perspectives and no,that doesn't effect the tale it actually enhances it.
Curious yet?

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Make Yourself Youthful Super Serum by Soap & Glory

I am in heaven! I have just brought this back from London and I LOVE IT!
This "super serum" is a joy to apply..it goes on rich but smooth and is quickly absorbed by the skin, light and soft.
Soap & Glory : Make Yourself Youthful...and useful...Go get it.
If you like minimum facial care.. ie: not spending hours applying creams and foundations and serums...or is it the other way round...
This product is for you and me....to be used daily as or under your moisturizer...and after brushing your teeth...
There!
That's it. 
Done.

Monday 22 October 2012

Uma's Baby

You must all be sitting on the edge of your seats,dying to know what Uma Thurman has called her daughter with baby daddy: Arpad Busson.

Remain seated ...this may take a while...Here goes:

Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence Thurman-Busson...

...But you can call her Rosie.... for her sake and ours.

Thursday 18 October 2012

AZATURE:£160,000 NAIL POLISH

Kelly Osborne was sporting a manicure at the Emmy's that would be considered "breaking the bank" by any normal and affordable standards. 
*Taken from Grazia magazine*
The dark sparkly manicure is by AZATURE and consists of 267 carats of crushed black diamonds and costs a mind blowing: £160,000 a bottle...of nail varnish....which has a platinum lid...in case you needed more justification to throw your money down the toilet...cos you will, you know...when that polish comes off!!!
*taken from Grazia*
The article in Grazia also mentions that Ms Osborne is the 2nd person to be seen out and about sporting this polish,who was the 1st? Why Jenny from The Block, of course...cos we shouldn't be "fooled by the rocks that (she) got...I'm still Jenny from the block..."

Selfridges in London are set to stock them soon...and if this whimsy hasn't affected you whatsoever...there will be a cheaper alternative coming out too: with just the 1 crushed diamond...for £18.
Well....nail polish for everyone!!!



I wouldn't buy this polish unless it had crushed Hermes leather in it and could sprout a Kelly bag from my finger tips!!!

Fashion foolishness.

Wednesday 17 October 2012

"It's not a journey" ...It's: CHANEL N°5 Part 1



A collective intake of breath could be heard when women across the globe became transfixed in front of their TV screens when Brad Pitt appeared  in sexy black and white, smokin'hot and spoke..:"It's not a journey..."
Intrigued, I watched in silence while hanging on his every word :..."wherever I go,there you are..." and then I felt a chill down my back....
Angelina put that bloody knife down...NOW!

Chanel No5.....
Grab a bottle but hands off Brad!!

Monday 15 October 2012

Chatting with Miss.Daisy...

I was a little early for my appointment and was ushered into the tiny waiting room to sit on a bench beside Miss Daisy...who could have been a day over 80,but who's counting. She was decked out in a coat and scarf that only the elderly can wear during a heatwave:

"OooH! The wind has picked up" she says turning to me.. And then her glance falters and remains on my bare arms with a look of horror as though I was sitting with my boobs hanging out.
"You should cover up! The weather is capricious you know!"
"Yes,Madame you are absolutely right,I have felt the chill in the air."

She starts to fiddled with her bag,her scarf and then picks a sweet out from a bowl and says:
"Have one...she has these little sweets ..."
I take one and am unlucky with the wrapper which is tenaciously hanging onto the boiled sweet with dear life. Miss Daisy is looking at my battle as though I was wrestling a Barracuda:
"Just pop it into your mouth,my dear!"
"Well,I would like to remove the wrapper first!..."
"Never mind that! A bit of plastic won't do you any harm...if you knew what I have had to ingest..."
Wrapper finally off and stuck to my fingers....As I look for a Kleenex in my bag,Miss Daisy's glance goes to my Louis Vuitton handbag:
"That's a lovely handbag..."(a beat)
"Is it real?".....
Only in Cannes...
"Yes Madame..it is!" I smile.
"The prices they charge these days! I know! ..I used to work in the trade...The things I have seen...."
And she was off to her appointment...the things I should have asked but didn't!

Friday 12 October 2012

Book Review: "Tiny Sunbirds Far Away" by Christie Watson


For starters let me say one word in a reverential whisper...Enchanting.

This delightful book is narrated by a 12 year old Nigerian girl called Blessing whose beloved and "loud" father is caught in bed with another woman by her mother. They have to leave the comforts of their "luxuries"in Lagos to go live in a dusty compound with her colourful grandparents and a cast of characters that will make you laugh and cry. 

Blessing thinks that she is leaving life as she knows it behind...little does she know that she will discover abundance where poverty prevails the likes of which will change her and her beloved brother Ezikiel's lives for ever.

So moving,so real...the language is easy and free flowing,the characters are lovable,the fears and dangers very real . But Oh...what a wonderful read...I simply could not put this book down...it would mean quietening Blessing's voice in my head and that simply wouldn't do.

The cast of characters still linger in my head...I want to share them with you.

Thursday 11 October 2012

Remembering “Voyage”: the Fashion Label with Major Attitude.



I was delving through some old copies of Vanity Fair...(  dating back to the late 90’s) when I came across publicity shots of the Mazzilli family self indulgently highlighting their quirky appearance as well as their overpriced fashion label: “VOYAGE”...remember it?


I  look back on them now and wonder what could possibly have become of this excessively self possessed and arrogant family that not only launched an exclusive line that everybody wanted but alienated the public and the privileged .
I remember the look clearly being a cross between shabby chic with a twist of whimsy,boho insouciance and a large dollop of insanely expensive...Obviously everybody wanted a piece of Voyage...as did I.
On a trip to New York, back in the late 90s, I was stepping off the escalator in Bergdorf’s and came face to face with a VOYAGE display...I rummaged, I sweated, I desired...I HAD TO HAVE A PIECE OF THE DREAM...and came away with a boiled wool sweater with velvet trim that was crazy expensive for what it was.But as all devout fashionistas, one has to pay through the nose to thumb up your nose! 

*ROCKY MAZZILLI:SON*

The look as well as the label went stratospheric: VOYAGE was suddenly on every bodies lips and backs and the boutique was opened to the public...until that is that “Joe Public” became persona non grata...you needed to become a member and make an appointment to enter. . 
Fame does funny things to people, as does a sudden surge in popularity  and fashion status,the Mazzilli’s simply got too big for their boots and started laying down the laws of who could enter their shop.When they turned away and subsequently banned Naomi Campbell.. A collective gasp could be heard resonating like supersonic airwaves across the globe...Wow!!Gobsmacked.

*LOUISE MAZZILLI:MOM*

But then potential money spenders were also turned away as well as BIG name celebrities such as Madonna and Julia Roberts.But the one that stuck in my craw was when they turned away the doyenne fashion journalist Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune (immediately recognisable by her coif)...She was dismissed and dissed and when a customer identified her to the proprietor, she was pursued apologetically..Not that it made a blind bit of difference to Ms Menkes at that point, who apparently replied:”I have changed my mind.Goodbye.”

 *TIZIANO MAZZILLI: POP*

I remember nervously walking up to the closed door, needing to ring a bell only to be told that I had to be a member to gain entrance  or some such nonsense and feeling so irate and humiliated. I also have a vague memory of actually  being in the boutique and feeling rather like the cat that got the cream...Now that I am “in”...I don’t want to buy anything and to be honest it had quickly passed its sell by date. 
Soon people simply stopped wanting to come in.Fashion’s arrogance can gain a public as well as well as lose one,this time it gave birth to a monster whose outright rudeness and arrogance spiralled out of control creating their demise....as well as going into liquidation after running up debts of about £3million.

*TATUM MAZZILLI:DAUGHTER*

 I read a brilliant article by Paul Daley written 2002 called: “London’s rude fashion voyagers hit the rocks” referring to Voyage as being...”possibly the world’s most pretentious boutique...”
In the article Paul Daley recounts his multiple attempts at entering the store and being rudely turned away:
“...I had been to restaurants where you pay the waiters to insult you.I’ve seen people pay to be humiliated by stand-up comics. But never had I heard of a clothes shop where you had to a) become a member and b) make an appointment to spend $2000 on a pair of crappy,threadbare tasselled jeans or a t-shirt bearing a monogram of a pink puppy...”

This is what happens when you bite the fashion hand that feeds you. As Heidi Klum repeats ad nauseum on Project Runway:
“One day you are i-nnn... and the other you are a-out”! 

Saturday 6 October 2012

Runway Mishaps & Models Falling



A dear friend sent this to me and I had to share this with you...
This brings back memories of fashion shows past when I witnessed a few trips,slips and falls on runways.
You try not to giggle...but sometimes...it is just too funny too hold back that even the unfortunate model has to laugh.
Watch and see for yourselves.