Sheer lace print top

Whilst its obviously fun to go shopping and pick out outfits for yourself, it can often be even more exciting to receive unexpected fashion gifts. not only are these items free (yipee!) but they may have been things that we did not notice in the shops ourselves, or something we would not have necessarily chosen / could afford / bothered to try on.

And so then, a big thank you to my beloved for the top which he gave me. I've been drawn to all the sheer items that are around at the moment (yes, even in this cold weather) and so was delighted to receive this sort of floral/lace print top from Urban Outfitters. Desperate to wear it today, I had to team it with some pretty heavy duty additions to keep out the cold. These consisted of a very thick and long (I had to roll it over 4 times) ribbed, knitted snood/scarf from Reiss that i received as a Christmas gift  two years ago, and a thick leather biker jacket, also coincidentally from Reiss fall '08 collection.

Much as I love the Winter, especially the Fall/Winter collections, footwear is a bit of an issue in the chilly weather. I was initially wearing these McQueen platform peep toes (bought in a sale last year at a ridiculously reduced price), until I ventured outside for about half a minute, ran back inside and had to put on some 'sensible' shoes.

P.S Being my first 'outfit' post, I never realized how difficult it is to actually capture pictures of oneself. After much propping up the camera on piles of magazines and shoe boxes, and then running back in place before the timer went off, these were the best I could do!

On My Feet Today #8

Well, actually worn out this evening, as I spent most of the day chilling at home. Zara shoe-booties purchased over the Summer. They are very comfortable despite the very high heel, but a bit chilly on the toes at this time of year.

Remnants of Christmas

I love Christmas (as if i haven't already said that before) and I always get a bit sulky post New-Year's when the tree has to come down and all the decorations get put away. All the stores lovely Christmas windows also seem to disappear straight after Christmas, and are replaced by ugly, boring red 'SALES- 50% OFF!!!!!' signs filling up the store fronts.

With this in mind, I was delighted when shopping in Denver on the first few days of January to see the beautiful Christmas windows of jeweler Tiffany & Co. still there, and still clinging on for dear life to the last few days of the festive season. The windows were a multi-layered paper-crafted delight, and you had to get up close to see all the detail. All the diamonds and other expensive finery were draped over the paper models and scenery, although a special mention has to go out to the sleigh-driving elf, who is really working the whole ring-as-a hat look.

There's a Big Blue Bear in Denver

As I'm still in the USA (and won't be returning to my beloved London until the Summer), I decided to spend New Year's eve in Denver. It was pretty low key on the night itself due to the dreaded post-Christmas cold I was suffering with, but I got to spend the first two days of the year having a good look around the city, and found several great places which I hope to go back and see.

My best find however, which, incidentally was totally by chance, was Lawrence Argent's "I See What You Mean" public art installation. As you can see by the photos, its a giant blue bear, peering into the glass front of the Colorado Convention Center. What the photos don't show (very well) however, is the fact that the bear is made up of hundreds, well probably more like thousands, of triangles. It looks even more beautiful and unexpected in person, and a must see if you are in the area, especially if you like giant blue things.

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 Mercedes Benz ad campaign

To celebrate the launch of their new sports car the SLS AMG, Mercedes Benz commissioned fashion Photographer Nick Knight and (my fashion obsession) Gareth Pugh to create an image for the ad campaign. I love the futuristic body armor styling of the outfit which is a trademark look of Mr Pugh, and think I'm way more excited about the clothing than the car (even if it does have really cool wing doors!).

A very delayed Happy New Year to you all

So. 2010. Here it is, another decade, another fresh start and most importantly lots of new looks to look forward to.

Apologies for the long break in my blog entries, but like a lot of people I was struck down by the post-Christmas colds that were going around, and was not organized enough to sort out any pre-planned scheduled posts. I'm feeling a bit better now, so will be back on regular blogging form (fingers crossed).

I hope that everyone out there had a good Christmas, and had a fun time ringing in the New Year. Let's hope that its a good one for all of us.

P.S Photo is a close up of a See by Chloe T Shirt I own from the early noughties, which is now officially a very long time ago. I was wearing it in a sort of celebrating-New-Year's-with-cocktails style whilst convalescing.