Blogging awards

Ok, so now I feel REALLY bad for lagging behind in my blog posts.

I finally got around to checking in with my blog yesterday (whilst distracting myself from the stupidbowl, I mean Superbowl - sorry sports fans, but hey while I'm on the subject, way to go Saints!) and found that I was the lucky recipient of not one, but TWO blog awards.

Firstly a big thank you to Sonia at Dozen Dresses for the Beautiful Blogger Award;

and secondly an equally big thank you to Cindy Whitehead for the Best Blog Award;

Awwww..shucks guys, you shouldn't have! xoxo

P.S As I discovered from Sonia's blog, as a recipient of the beautiful blogger award, I'm required to list 7 things that I love, so here goes (in no order of preference, and also with not much thought!):

1. Fashion and shoes (sorry, I guess that is 2 things)

2. linen cocktail napkins

3. contemporary art

4. the restaurant Yauatcha in London especially their macaroons

5. Buttercream icing ( yes, me too Sonia!) especially chocolate

6. polaroid photos

7. Pretty plates

I'll be passing the blog awards on at a later date when my laptop is nicely plugged-in, and not running on reserve battery power. 

Trompe L'oeil

Having never previously been a fan of Reiss before, I was surprised when last Summer I was in their Islington store, killing time before a haircut, and found a bunch of stuff that I was drawn to. Half an hour later (was nearly late to the hair salon- oops!) and several trips in and out of the dressing room, I came away with quite a few items (and a much smaller bank balance), one of which was this top. It looks great with a pair of skinny jeans, and leather jacket, and I would post an outfit photo but I ate too much while I was feeling ill and sorry for myself, and the skinny jeans are just waaaaaaaaay too skinny.

Anyway, back on point.. This top, with its faux chain necklace (see detail above), got me into the whole trompe l'oeil thing, and I've since collected a couple of other tops with trompe l'oeil necklace decoration prints, and am always looking for more. Imagine my delight then, when Susie on Style Bubble posted about the (then) upcoming trompe l'oeil range for Oasis by designer Rosalind Keep. It has now been available online for several weeks, and my post-crimbo finances have just about recovered enough to allow me to splash out on the dress (in black) and trench coat T shirt below. Now all I have to do is contain my excitement until they arrive, and then wait for the weather to warm up so they can get an outing. Happy New Year to me!

Gareth Pugh SHOWstudio dress and feathered helmet

Looking through the SHOWstudio shop, to see the completed dress made by Gareth Pugh live at SHOWstudio (see earlier blog post), I was looking through other items in the shop, and saw this amazing feathered helmet, which he created for s/s 2010. Yours for the bargain price of 4,000 GBP.

Anyway, onto the dress itself........

Personally handcrafted by Pugh himself, you can see all the work that has gone into it. I'd love to have this piece and just display it in my home, although sadly i believe its already been snapped up by some lucky bidder. Oh well...

Also in SHOWstudio in the run up to Christmas has been Fred Butler, who has been decorating the studio's Christmas Tree. Butler has decorated/accesorised the tree using hand-made accessories, ranging from hair slides, brooches & bracelets, in varying textures and colours. I love the kind of cellophane-esque texture of them, they remind me of opening a tin of Quality Street.

 

(above images from SHOWstudio.com)

P.S Whilst blogging earlier this month about designer Christmas Trees, for some ridiculous reason, I neglected to include Gareth Pugh's 2008 tree for Topshop. So...here it is;

In true Gareth Pugh style the tree tree comprises simply of 60 neon tubes attached to a free standing metal frame. Definitely on my Christmas list.

Gareth Pugh

Much as I am enjoying being in the USA right now, I wish I was back in London in order to watch the masterful Gareth Pugh in action at SHOWstudio. Gareth will be in residence at SHOWstudio starting at 11am tomorrow (also on Monday and Tuesday) creating a one off piece which will then be sold in the SHOWstudio shop on Bruton Place. For the lucky people in town, you can go along and watch him at the store, but for those of us not lucky enough to be there, we can watch the live streaming each day from 11am until 6pm GMT.

Whilst we are on the subject of Mr Pugh, I though it would give me an opportunity to obsess over his S/S 2010 collection all over again. My Favourite look has to be the dress above, and in particular the way it is styled with the headpiece. (By the way - check out Illustrator /blogger extraordinaire Fifi Lapin's Halloween entry, for her her bunny illustration of this look. - Love it). The collection as a whole was a lot more wearable than previous seasons, yet managed to retain the sense of originality and uniqueness for which we love him. 


Just because I love looking at his designs so much, I've also included some of my other favourite looks from his S/S 2010 show below. -Enjoy!

Photos From Style.Com

P.S. More of My Gareth Pugh Obsessions

Firstly check out this video (I was trying to find it for ages) which was launced in collaboration with Gareth Pugh's Fall 2009 show during Fashion Week. The film was a collaboration with Ruth Hogben and showcases the designs from the Fall 2009 collection.

Secondly, See the tips from Blogger Annie Spandex 
on how to create a black and white Gareth Pugh 
inspired manicure.