TIGHTS

I really really want a nice pair of black patterned tights for the winter, and some inexpensive options are shown below (you have to click on the picture to make it big enough for proper viewing, I haven't worked out how to make my pictures big yet). I get so bored of wearing plain jeans and leggings all the time in the winter, as most of the time my top half is covered by my lovely but equally plain-coloured coat. Tights are a great way to add a bit of interest to what could otherwise be a totally dull outfit (and they require minimum effort :) ).


Here are some of the many who regularly get papped in their own versions of the tights-fad:

(I know I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but Alexa-I love you)

(google.com)

Bianca, je t'aime

Some women are not pretty, or beautiful, they just are ___. That something. In the second picture especially I am reminded of the couture models from the 1950s-they weren't very young, nor did they measure up to any of our current ideas of beauty, yet in all their photographs they have such a strong sense of character, such a noticeable sense of womanhood, rather than mere girlhood. This is also how I think of Bianca.

Winter

This morning, walking to school in the freezing cold, my legs protected from the chill of the air by a mere pair of low-quality tights, I wished with all my heart it was still summer.

Then I remembered some of the reasons I love winter. Put simply:

1. Winter layering

2. Hot drinks on a cold evening in front of a Christmas film

3. The beauty of the English countryside if and when it snows

(google.com; style.com)

Cool Blue

This is actually my dad's shirt I picked up while it was drying in the bathroom the other day. Looks pretty cool, no? Would have been absolutely perfect for the summer, and 100-1 by the time next summer swings round denim will once again be at the bottom of the fashion pile, denim by Boden especially. Ah well-still nice to have squirrelled out: you never know when an oversize denim shirt might come in handy.

La Lohan

There was an interview with Lindsay Lohan in the Sunday Times Style supplement magazine (which is the best of all the Sunday fashion supplements, hands down). It was all a bit blah really-going on about her failed fashion debut with Ungaro (which, although it was all totally random and a bit of a damp squib, did have a few pretty sequined jackets and minidresses)-but the photos accompanying it were really quite buff. There was a 3rd one but I wanted to cut out something from the other side-and it was a double page spread. Find it on google if you're desperate. They're by Ellen von Unwerth.

I mean, Lohan might not be able to design high fashion, but she sure can pout for the camera.

Mirror, Mirror

When I saw the Annie Leibovitz photos for this season's Dior adverts they reminded me instantly of Richard Avedon's haunting photo of Mia Farrow (a rather bad copy of which can be seen below). It's the beautiful person's favourite choice of photo-'if my face looks this gorgeous reflected in a mirror, just imagine what it looks like in real life', it seems to say.

I'm just jealous.

(www.talkingmakeup.com; www.modejournalistin.files.wordpress.com)

Desperate Romantic

Sometimes all it takes is an overdose of pretty to make me feel happy.

I Got It From My Mama

When it comes to unfashionable parents, I'll be the first to complain about mine. My mum spends her entire life in unflattering straight leg jeans and long-sleeved v-neck knits; my dad only owns one pair of jeans (bought for him by his despairing children last Christmas) which he never wears, preferring instead to walk around with his buttoned shirts tucked into his belted trousers. Niice. NOT. However, inspired by Vogue's More Dash Than Cash issue this month (I urge you to check it out-if not only to see how the genius Tim Walker manages to make clingfilm and paper bags look not only presentable, but down right beautiful) I went a-rummaging through my mum's wardrobe to look for any original 80s power-shoulder jackets I could convert for my own use.

Well, not only did I find 3 great jackets but I also came across a cute brown suede waistcoat which I shall attempt to use for layering purposes some time over the half term break (probably not the first week, as we're headed to the country for a family holiday and I'll therefore be firmly ensconced in hoodies and jeans). My personal favourite though is the cropped dogtooth number-unfortunately it ends up looking really smart whenever I put it on so I'm waiting for a slightly more formal occasion to wear it to.

Personally I've never managed to get myself firmly onto the charity shop (or 'thrift' shop if we're being pretentious) bandwagon-maybe it says something about where I live that all I ever find in the local BHF shop is cashmere, jeans and more cashmere. But I can totally understand why some people completely eschew high street shopping altogether in favour of digging around in charity and costume shops-because the thrill when you find something great in an unexpected place is pretty sweet.

Diediedie

Dear Street Style Blogs-
You know I love you. You show the real side of fashion week to those commoners whose only contact with it is via a computer screen. You illustrate how even the craziest and most unwearable fashion can in fact be made completely wearable and even normal. You give me an easy option when I know I should be keeping up, but am simply too tired to read a Sarah Mower runway report/Susie Bubble essay about the Next Big Thing. In short, I would be stuck without you.
However-is it really fair to post not one, not two, but THREE pictures of my all-time favourite dream ideal amazing fantastic Alexander McQueen skull clutch? No, no it is not. So please, next time, stick to the lovely but not dying-inside-making shoes instead. Thank you. xoxo

(garancedore.fr; jakandjil.com)

Alberta Ferretti vs. Project Runway

I really liked Alberta Ferretti's S/S '10 collection, even if many of the long, floaty dresses weren't really applicable to everyday 21st-century life, but looking at it immediately after watching Project Runway I immediately noticed the parallels between one of the dresses from her collection and a dress which the judges on PR were unanimous in declaring unflattering and unwearable. Hmm...

(mylifetime.com; style.com)