Colour Chameleon

I may be admitting to the biggest blogger crime of them all, but it's very rare that I write about something so soon after experiencing it.  Sometimes life gets in the way, my words don't cooperate and the wheel of death appears whenever I frantically try to edit my photos.  Since the Cosmetics à La Carte exhibition ends this Sunday, I thought it would be nice to give a little flavour of it just in case you want to pop in over the weekend.  As I'm starting to become a bit more beauty obsessed (I'm not quite Emily Weiss yet, but I did recently invest in some MAC brush cleaner), I'm now very interested in the transformative powers of make-up and finding the best colours to do so.  I thought I was pretty whizzy on my long running beauty brands, so I'm shocked to find out that Cosmetics à La Carte has been going strong for 40 years out of a Battersea laboratory and Knightsbridge boutique, without my knowledge. 

The brand was founded in 1973 by Lynne Sanders (who'd previous developed the Mary Quant range) and Christina Stewart out of a frustration by the range of colours available at the time, limiting creativity during a period of such change.  Now we take having a choice of 10, 20 or even 50 shades for granted and being able to find something that suits but what I like about my new discovery is that you can even create something bespoke and bring a discontinued shade back to life.  The exhibition is a mix of memorabilia, illustration and products you can try out and try and match to your skin tone.  Curated by Ryan Lanji to bring a sense of East London to the well-heeled brand, it was refreshing to see the old press cuttings and scrapbook like walls reminiscent of a teenage bedroom to display some of the milestones. I'm still in the early stages if make-up exploration so it's great to know there are brands out there that can create any colour and satisfy every whim. It makes sense to be able to tailor your cosmetics when you can get customised accessories, jewellery and even shoes. There's also definite bonus points for being a British company with great ethical policies and inclusivity.



Cosmetics à La Carte Colour and Culture is at The Gallery at 50 Redchurch Street, Shoreditch until Sunday, so run along quickly!
 

A 'Summer' Wishlist

Can you believe that over three months have gone by without a wishlist?  Even though I never end up buying everything (fortunately I only bought one jumper from this post), it's nice to have a visual representation of the things you'd like for a particular season.  You don't always get the aftermath stories on here, the ones where I try the dress on and get stuck or look ridiculous in the chambray suit.  At this point everything is based on pure speculation and is subject to change if I see something better.  The bits I've chosen this time around can be adapted for the challenging weather, worn later in the year and hopefully until they fall apart.

1. American Apparel Sunflower Shorts
I'd like these purely for the fun factor.  The navy pair is a practical alternative for when I want to be a little more inconspicuous.

2 & 3. COS Chambray Jacket and Shorts
This is the perfect option for my matching set fantasy. 

4. Free People Georgia Dress
You can never have too many pretty dresses to throw on.

5. & Other Stories Conical Ring
Ideal for self defence.

6. Office Picnic Hamper Flats
Got to keep my nostalgic shoe quota up.

7. & Other Stories Toothed Ring
Can you tell I'm obsessed with the jewellery from this store?

8. T-Rex Pendant
I've got a balloon dog and a seahorse, now all I need is something prehistoric.

9. Minkpink Maya Dress
I've finally decided to indulge my bohemian side this year!

10. Cheap Monday Peplum Tee
I've ordered this already and it's the perfect jeans solution.

11. Motel Penny Denim Dress
I probably don't need another denim dress, but this one is in my favourite shape.

12. Swear Heeled Gladiator Sandals
Part geeky, part gladiator, this could be the perfect addition to my comfy chunky heel collection.

13. Fjallraven Kanken Backpack
I may be jumping on the backpack bandwagon here, but who can't resist a flash of yellow?

Other things I'd quite like to investigate and try on:

Mom Jeans
The name doesn't bode well but I'm curious to see whether the Topshop style will work for me.  Every since I wrote this post, I've settled on a low-rise, straight leg style I bought in the Acne outlet.

Crop Tops
See if you can spot a post where I'm wearing one here, now all I need is to find one for my 2013 midriff.  I still like the way they look with a full skirt and bonus points if it's part of a matching set.
Dungarees
Surely I can find a longer style that doesn't make me look like I should be on a building site?  Hopefully it's not me that's the problem, but just the styles that are available.
A Coat
I know it seems crazy to be wanting a coat at this time of year but I set eyes on this Monki number at the Carnaby Street store and slowly came around to the idea of something more transitional.  It's somewhat soul-destroying to keep wearing your Winter coat in the depths of May, with this denim-y number hopefully I can kid myself that it's a 'Summer Coat' and really only needed for chilly evenings.

Remember to enter my giveaway here!

Returning Visits

So the outfits may be few and far between this month, but what I have been up to is plenty of milling about in random areas of London.  Not in a creepy way mind, I've been taking the advice of Paul Smith and have slowly made an effort to see more and stop moping around.  After looking through my archives, I realised that my 'mixed bag' type posts have become few and far between.  They might be confusing to follow, but somehow get across the random cluster of events that was going on at the time and are interesting for me to look back on.  Somehow I've linked everything by the fact that I've made a few returning visits to places I've not seen in a while and the below mixture contains swimming pools (11 years), old relics (8 years) and a random dress purchase from a sample sale (1 year).

I've always been a South London cheerleader of sorts but now everyone else is starting to cotton on (I'm not bitter), there's even more interesting things to do without crossing the river.  Brockwell Lido is a ten minute train ride away and although slightly dishevelled, its 1930s attributes make me feel as if I'm somewhere else entirely and it was the perfect setting for a vintage design fair.  As per usual I didn't buy anything (if only I had a house of my own), but duly kept snapping away at all of the treats from past decades and feeling a bit of secondary nostalgia.  Although this fair is only on once a year, it's worth coming back and having a dip within the Grade II listed lido, if the scorching weather ever presents itself.  There's also a few nice pubs and a Lowie shop nearby, a brand I remember from their Covent Garden pop-up a few years ago, which now has a permanent home and some rather tempting dresses in the window.

My first trip to the British Museum was a confusing one.  It was the first day of my Art foundation course and we were asked to draw movement in an abstract way and I was immediately at a loss trying to create something I wasn't used to.  I'm not sure if the eight year hiatus had something to do with this event but thanks to some friendly encouragement, I decided to brave the crowds and return on a busy Saturday.  It's quite easy to completely forget that places like this exist in London, with immense sculptures from Greek temples and more delicate artefacts like watches and ornate porcelain tiles.  This visit was more of a flying one, mainly to make a mental note of what was inside for any future, more focused trips.  It would be great to get to know a few more places as well as I know the V&A (which incidentally, I can still get lost in).

Another place on the list to re-visit, was Portobello Market; I've never been on a Friday before and decided to pop by to see what all the fuss was about.  Two o'clock in the afternoon probably wasn't the best time, but luckily there were still a fair few sellers about and lots of interesting pieces to peruse (I'm still dreaming about a Louis Vuitton-esque crop top and high-waisted skirt combo).  I finally had a look in Merchant Archive, somewhere I was very intrigued by after reading this post and wasn't disappointed by the perfectly curated store. 

Bring out the champagne, I finally have made my first Orla Kiely purchase!  Every so often I stalk the sample sales they have but have never managed to find anything that I felt the need to buy and wished that the current collection was (miraculously) there instead.  This time their sale at The Music Rooms had a decent amount of their SS12 collection and although I didn't find some of the pieces I'd initially set eyes on a year ago, I did manage to find the silk dress above.  My decision to try it on is probably down to the influence of Carrie and Olivia, with the best elements of the 60s and 70s combined with one of the brand's trademark prints.  Although it was an unexpected purchase, I managed to get an extra £20 off thanks to a slight fault in the stitching (nothing my needle can't handle) and an easy, chuck-on dress to wear all year around.

What have you been up to recently?  This week I intend to continue the productive streak and visit the J Crew pop-up, Hermes and Cosmetics à La Carte exhibitions (blink and you'll miss them all).  If you're looking for another productive thing to do, then enter my giveaway here for the chance to win a Frankie magazine amongst some other lovely bits!

Win A Few Of My Favourite Things!

I think it's about time there was another competition!  This time it's to mark the redesign of IWYTK, hopefully you should be used to the new layout by now and everything should be going relatively swimmingly.  I explained before that I wanted to streamline my blog and make everything easier to find, especially some of my older posts.  Remember that time I met Dita Von Teese?  You'll find it here.  In the four and a half years I've been blogging, I've lived in New York, produced a graduate knitwear collection and discovered the delights of playsuits, but  you wouldn't know that unless you went on a lengthy trawl.  I've created so five categories in the navigation bar, Outfits, Events, Exhibitions, Exploring and Etc, where all of the relevant posts have been organised with handy thumbnail images.  If you want to search by category or month, then try the archive page or search bar on the right for something a little more specific.  In the sidebar, I've also created The London List, a page which I will update with any cool capital happenings (the main use is so I don't completely forget exhibitions) plus a handy wishlist page with whatever I'm coveting at the moment.  All of the fashion shows I've attended are also on a handy page too, it's slightly surreal to look back on!

Enough about the housekeeping and onto the prizes!  To thank you all for reading and continued support, I've decided to give away some pieces I love at the moment.  You'll maybe recognise the spike bracelet I always wear, the Rimmel Scandaleyes I mentioned here and some lovely lilac Essie polish. Everything is of course brand spanking new and all but the Rimmel/Fashion week items was purchased with my own dosh whenever I saw something that might be suitable.

The goodies:

The March/April issue (52) of Frankie Magazine (if you have it already, perhaps introduce it to a friend)?

AW13 Mulberry London Fashion Week Tote

Orla Kiely face cloth

Rimmel Fix & Perfect Primer

Essie 'Love and Acceptance' nail polish

Rimmel Glam Eyes Quad in Smokey Brun

Rimmel Scandalyes Mascara in Black

Asos Diamond Pattern socks

Asos stud earrings

J.W Anderson badge

Asos spike bracelet

H&M ponytail ring

To enter:

Use the Rafflecopter widget below and follow the intructions.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The deets:

This giveaway is open worldwide and will end on 31st May, best of luck!