A little more time...

Jak and Jil...now I know

I hope everyone is well....things are a bit chaotic at the moment, meaning that blogging time is very limited.  I've moved to Brooklyn whilst also working a crazy amount of hours, so please bear with me while I sort myself out and get used to my new surroundings.  The past week gave me a lot to consider and I really want to write about the Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference plus some of the numerous debates that have been going on, but I want to do it properly, so there may be even more of a delay. 

Thanks for all your comments/visits and I hope to see you again soon!

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Yohji Squared

Valentine's Day presented me with a different kind of date this year, namely the Y-3 Fall show at the intriguing Park Avenue Armory location.  Since Yohji Yamamoto's mainline label filed for bankruptcy not so long ago, I was expecting this division to show a collection to truly represent the brand.  The invite arriving a few days before and cryptic tweets about lasers were already fuelling my excitement,  so I made sure to arrive there in good time. 

 The Armory; grand from the outside, edgy and mysterious on the inside

There was a long wait in the standing area and I was worried that I wouldn't be let in even with a ticket (it has been known to happen) but luckily my doubts were unfounded.  We were let in moments before the show and I secured a decent spot close to the end of the runway.

Much of the clothing featured outfits I want to wear right now during this everlasting Winter, including intense layers and draped volume, all with a sporty yet chic edge.  I honed in on the more muted tones and tailored shapes but also enjoyed seeing the futuristic yet functional styles.  The women's collection still managed to remain feminine, yet never veer towards the body-concious styles favoured by other designers, instead sticking to perhaps more practical maxi-lengths and ample shapes. I've chosen a few of my favourite looks...

 

All the very professional looking images taken from Getty Images for IMG.  See more wonders here

I couldn't help but make a video featuring all the random things you don't usually see during a fashion show; each time I thought that everything had come to an end, something new and unexpected would  catch my attention.  Instead of the typical moment when the designer bows, Yohji had a bit of a (staged yet entertaining) punch-up with a model, before being floored himself by another, perhaps representing his company's struggle during the recession.  Despite the troubles faced, the show managed to remain fun and exciting, with the random antics making the audience laugh on more than one occasion, during a usually sober affair. A quick visit to his website tells me that the company has a new backer so hopefully a new mainline collection is on the cards.  Until then, I'm extremely happy (and perhaps a little bit in love) with Y-3.

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Bloggers and Blagging at Bryant Park

You might have guessed from my tweets and various other blogs that New York Fashion Week is back with a vengeance, hosting it's last season at the Bryant Park venue.  Due to work commitments (and perhaps a touch self-doubt), I perhaps didn't put as much effort as I could have into securing invites but I was excited to be a part of the general atmosphere and to meet some bloggers at a nearby cafe.  I arrived at Les Pain Quotidien promptly at 1.30 and instantly recognised the lovely Deanne from Dream Sequins.

 

I didn't even realise this was being taken...lovely side view chatting with Princess Poochie

 

  

Could this grin get any cheesier?  Deanne and I have a photo op.

 

 

Check out Rachel's blog for some great photography...I was so envious of her media pass

I also met Rachel, a photography-enthusiast and had a mini-interview with Aneta about the whole bloggers vs editors debate.  I hope she can somehow edit out my bemused expressions and rapid eyebrow movements; I'll let you know when the films up.

 

 

Afterwards, I somehow made my way into the tents with Rachel and soaked up the general atmosphere inside.  New York differs to London Fashion Week in the way that much of the people-watching is done on the inside, with multiple corporate booths and bars to entertain the fashionistas.  I recognised a few bloggers and magazine people and even saw Rachel Zoe! 

 

I wasn't sure if I could make it into a show, but I was pleasantly surprised to get a fourth row seat at Twinkle by Wenlan.   I didn't know much about the brand before I went in, but was pleasantly surprised to see a focus on chunky knits layered over slim silhouettes and quirky prints.  Everything shown was 'pretty' in a not so typical way,  referencing the 'dark fairy tale' theme and I could definitely see myself in some of the cocktail dresses.

All images from WWD, as mine just weren't good enough...

Stay tuned for more of my random NYFW posts, including the amazingly random Y-3 show...

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Leggings, Lace and a bit of Comme (OOTW)

After living here for six weeks, I've become quite accustomed to the New York climate, which includes sunny days, infrequent bouts of rain and freezing temperatures.  Basically what I thought was cold back in England seems insignificant and it's hard to imagine that this city could ever be warmer (though I'm sure I'll think the opposite when July comes).  Despite the consistently cold weather, I've still managed to get dressed in the morning, layering up with thermals and multiple pairs of tights, yet I'm longing for brighter outfits unmasked by outerwear.  I want to wear layers by choice, not out of necessity and I want to feel a happy medium between hot and cold when walking around the city.  Has the novelty of Winter dressing worn off for you?

Monday

Two-tone jumper - Comme des Garcons for H&M

Grey thermal top (worn underneath) - Heattech by Uniqlo

Dotty shorts - Topshop

Sheer spot tights layered over plain grey - Ebay and Calzedonia

Brogues - Office

Necklace - This Charming Girl

Bracelet - Freedom

Tuesday

(Wish I had a McQueen scarf to add to this, RIP)

Cardigan - H&M

Blue tank - Emma and Sam via LF Stores

Another grey thermal top (worn underneath) - Heattech by Uniqlo

Leggings - Forever 21

Boots - Doc Martens

Necklaces - Freedom & Marc Jacobs

Bracelet - Freedom

Wednesday

Twas a snow day so got to leave work early!  However, it may be time to buy some wellies (aka rainboots) to give my Docs a break...

Velvet Leotard - Forever 21

(Can you tell I've had a bit of a spree?)

Skirt & belt- Vintage via Angels Sale

Necklace - This Charming Girl

Leggings - Conway

Boots - Doc Martens

Bracelet - Freedom

Thursday

Wore this to the Native Son presentation at Chelsea Piers...somehow navigated snow in my new boots

Cardigan - All Saints

Dress - Forever 21

Belt - Vintage via Angels Sale

Tights - Henry Holland layered over Topshop

Shoes - Jeffrey Campbell

(say hello)

Bag - Luella

Saturday

Wore this to the Dream Sequins organised meet-up in Bryant Park, some kind of post to follow shortly

Cardigan - All Saints

Dress (and vest worn underneath) - Topshop

Tights - New Look

Belt - Vintage via Angels Sale

Shoes - Jeffrey Campbell

Necklaces - Forever 21

Saw these shoes at Native Son, I want them as my own.  See more pics on Facebook.

Happy Valentines Day to you all! Also Happy Birthday to my little sister who is now 9!  Time goes way too quickly and my siblings will soon catch me up...I miss them lots.

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Soho shoe dilemmas

Last weekend I tried to tell myself, that the shopping would be curbed and I would finally buy myself a tripod (all of those OOTW shots are currently taken by balancing a shoebox on a chair) to enhance my photo-taking.  No such luck; I'd arranged to meet fellow blogger Ro in Soho to show her the sights as she's thinking of moving here in the not too distant future.  It was nice to show off the city knowledge  I've acumulated over the past few weeks, such as tipping random amounts and catching subways in the vague direction you want to go.  Of course it is impossible to be in this district for long without spending money and after a nice brunch, we thought we'd pop into the crazy sale at LF stores (which I found out about on Where Did You Get That, a blog that is incidentally making me spend a lot of money due to some of her more easily found purchases).  Who knew that two hours later, I would be exasperated over some indecisive shopping moments and many dollars the poorer. 

That's right, it was 60% off the entire store!

My dream shoe would have been about 30 quid!

I didn't really have any purchases in mind when I went in, as I was in a relaxed, non-shopaholic kind of state but then I cast my mind back a few weeks to my first visit.  I had been admiring the  Jeffrey Campbell shoes pictured above and trying to track them down online to idolise but thought nothing more of them, until I saw one of the pair buried in a pile of random shoes.  The size said 8, but this unfortunately isn't the UK, so my excitement was temporary and so I set myself the task to find a bigger size.

The lovely Ro quickly found some shoes, and tried to help me find my perfect pair in the chaos

This was also on the same day as the Angels Sale in London, does anyone know how it went?

Eventually, after sifting through the rubble, I had to give up.  Size 10s were just not materialising and the smaller size left my feet with little breathing space.  I tried to find another pair that I liked, but also had no luck sizewise, until I saw these beauties....

 

The Alexa wedge by Jeffrey Campbell has been on my wishlist ever since the original and far more expensive Acne version left it.  Of course I already have the 99 zip wedge which is a similar shape, but they are not leather and are starting to get a bit scuffed.  I was worried about them being ruined totally so this new pair is a great back-up that makes more of a statement and only cost $79! Basically this kind of wedge heel is perfect for me, as my feet never hurt and I can walk around in them night or day, so in my mind they are an investment piece and will hopefully last a long time.  I seem to be a Jeffrey Campbell cheerleader at the moment, especially the lace-up/boot variety and could have easily bought the three pairs were they all in my size (though I may have been somewhat homeless).  Although Spring seems a long way off, I can't help thinking that my next pair of shoes should be somewhat, prettier?  I love to grunge up clothing with a heavy black boot, but I think I need to search for a softer kind of shoe, suitable for the pretty floral dresses I have yet to buy.  What's your shoe dilemma?

 

The face you pull after spending much of your deposit money on shoes!  If all goes well, I'm moving to Brooklyn in a few weeks!  Also note the Spiderman style tights combo...

Speaking of shopping, does anyone want to buy this jumper?  Not all of my vintage purchases go to plan...

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Flowers, tartan and tags galore (OOTW)

It's hard to know what to wear to work sometimes, especially in a slightly corporate fashion environment, but luckily the dress code isn't too strict and I haven't had to really adjust my style. Even though I'm a lowly intern, I try to express my personality and creativity through what I wear so that hopefully, people can see more of what I'm made of.  What do you wear to work?

 
 

Monday

(The F21 dress bought here in action)

Dress - Forever 21

Cardigan - H&M

Thermal top (worn underneath) - Heattech by Uniqlo

Belt - Vintage

Necklace - This Charming Girl

Chunky Bracelet - Freedom 

(Mostly impractical when working but a lethal weapon if needs be)

Tights - Asos and Topshop

Tuesday

Cardigan, knitted tank and skirt - Topshop

Tartan long sleeve - Beacons closet (seen here)

Leggings - Conway 

(A somewhat tacky shop with surprisingly decent basic leggings.  It's like Primark's less organised distant cousin)

Boots - Steve Madden

 

Thursday

Cardigan - H&M

Dress - Forever 21

Tights - Calzedonia 

Shoes - Office 

Belt - Vintage

Necklace - This Charming Girl

Bracelet - Freedom

Friday

Cardigan - All Saints 

(My sale bargain bought in the Bloomingdales concession, somehow the pricing can work out cheaper over here)

Asymmetric Top - Splendid

Panelled Leggings - Topshop

Boots - Steve Madden

Necklaces - Freedom and Marc Jacobs

Bracelet - Freedom

 

Some bonus photos for all you tights fanatics

I was very happy to recieve a tag and award this week.  Firstly, the award comes from The Right Hypoteneuse:

So I tag some bloggers who fill me with sunshine:
Diamond Canopy
Flying Saucer
Fashion Daydreams
Save Our Shoes
We Scream Style
London Rose
Tan Shoes Pink Shoelaces
Fabfrocks
A Daisy Chain Dream

I also got tagged at Madness of Mundanity to reveal seven weird and wonderful facts about myself, so here we go...

1.   I eat with my cutlery in the wrong hands, so the fork is in the right and the knife is on the left.  Despite being told by my parents to change to the usual way, it just won't happen and never will.

2.  I physically can't watch Deal or No Deal as I hate to see people lose after making the wrong decisions.

3.  I can eat foods in certain forms, but not others. Take tomatoes, I will eat them sundried, in ketchup or in sauces but will pick them out of salads and sandwiches as I don't really like the texture of the fresh variety.  I can eat tuna raw in sushi but never in tinned form.

4.  I'm a fast walker and busy places like Oxford Street (or most parts of Manhattan) really annoy me.  I think there needs to be a fast and slow lane.

5.  When I was younger, before the fashion aspirations, I wanted to be a chef.  Can you tell I'm obsessed with food?

6.  I also used to love writing stories but never got round to finishing them, despite planning them thoroughly from beginning to end. There was a vampire based tale about a loner named Pandora who went to boarding school, which could have netted me Twilight-style millions if finished (I jest).

7.  It's rather fitting, but I think of any number including a 7 as being lucky, purely because I was born on the 17th.  There is no logic to this thinking, but I guess I just like the number 7!

Hopefully you're not too freaked out by me that you won't read this blog again; I tag you all!

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Treasured Weekends

Working all week makes me look forward to my weekends so much more; they go quickly but seem to come around soon enough (in fact each day of the week marks a milestone, especially Wednesday).  I'm still trying to wander around the various areas of New York; I guess you could say I'm slightly anxious to see everything as soon as possible but my much calmer friends are helping me to take my time.  I haven't quite explained to them why I take so many pictures all the time, but I guess I do it partly for the blog and also whenever I see an interesting assortment of items, that just have to be documented.  Here is how I spent last weekend, in photographic form.

We decided to head to the area Park Slope in Brooklyn, mainly to see some new boutiques but also to visit Target (need to know where it is before the Zac Posen collection comes)!  I guess Uni living has made me abnormally excited about supermarket visits and they don't come across too often in Manhattan.  Aunt Jemima pancake mix is the main thing I ask any American/Jamaican bound visitors to bring back from their travels, so it was very surreal to see shelves full of the stuff!

Enough about food!  This second Beacon's Closet branch was too hard to resist and this trip was mildly more successful than the last.  After my first visit, I'm now slightly better at going through  the circular rails systematically and halting anyone who comes within my path, so I found the yellow jacket/cardigan/blouse hybrid worn here and another tartan top (I'm getting strangely drawn to this pattern all of a sudden) pretty easily.  Everything came to just over $20 (so £12 if we use my dodgy conversion skills), though I'm kicking myself for not fitting into the bargainous $8 American Apparel dress.

 

 

More vintage loveliness. This shop was hilariously crowded, but then again I love a bit of chaos and couldn't stop snapping away.  There was a lot of interesting stuff here,  including some lovely boots, but nothing caught my eye at the time.  It's moving to bigger premises soon so will have to come back.

This shop also intrigued me, though I didn't go inside. Till next time.

A lazy Sunday saw me heading to Forever 21 with a very specific dress in mind, seen on this blog.  In fact as soon as I saw it, I became obsessed with finding it and charged around the shop like a crazy person before I saw it on this mannequin and was filled with hope.  Enthused, I asked an assistant where it was and went on a bit of a wild goose chase trying to find it, before being told that it 'belonged to corporate and wasn't available for sale.'  I wasn't particularly amused but was soon persuaded by some other options.

I'm 99% sure you'll probably be seeing these on a future 'Outfits of the Week' post

These leggings literally screamed Christopher Kane for Topshop (I may have let out some kind of noise when I saw them) and the dress is a cute floral addition to my NYC wardrobe.  I only brought two dresses with me and one playsuit so am feeling the need to stock up in this area, as they're just so easy to wear.  Despite getting sidetracked, I haven't given up on locating the yellow dress so watch this space.

Update: Found the dress online last night and promptly placed it in cart, among many other items, though I'm not sure if my order went through, confused much?  I can tell I will develop a love/hate relationship with this store.

Not long till the weekend now, who's excited?

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Outfits of The Week?

In order to make this blog a bit more 'regular' with some kind of weekly planned feature, I have decided to create 'Outfits of the week' or OOTW for short.  Basically I will try and take an outfit photo every day, regardless of what state of tiredness I'm currently in and narrow it down to showcase my favourite looks of the week.  Narcissistic much? Hopefully this will help to understand a bit more about my style and how I wear all the clothes I'm constantly buying (especially during these freezing temperatures).  It'll also help me see how my style is evolving; isn't it weird when you look at older pictures of yourself and wonder 'What was I thinking?'  Now I have this blog to understand why.

 

Tuesday

Cardigan, leggings, skirt - Topshop

Mesh tee - American Apparel 

(with a really old vest worn underneath to prevent flashing)

Belt - Vintage via the Angels Sale 

(Londoners please visit this for me)

Boots - Steve Madden

Jewellery - Mainly Freedom and Marc Jacobs

Thursday 

Cardigan - Mbym via Joy

Lace top - New Look

Vest, Jeans - Topshop

Boots - Steve Madden

Jewellery - as before

 

Saturday (day)
My Mum finally sent my new glasses, my attempt at geek chic.  I'm very short-sighted.

Denim shirt, knitted tank top - Topshop

Thermal long sleeve - Uniqlo

Striped Top - Zara

Necklace - Pema boutique in Brooklyn

Leggings - Charity shop

Socks - New Look

Boots - Steve Madden

Saturday (night)
Worn to the Coyote Ugly bar, haven't actually seen the film; better add it to the list.
Yellow Jacket - Beacons Closet
(yes I went back, will explain all in the next post)

Leotard - Asos

Belt - Vintage

Skirt - H&M

Tights - House of Holland

Boots - Jeffrey Campbell
Jewellery - That much loved Freedom and Marc Jacobs combo

Conclusion: I wear the same boots and jewellery all the time.  Funny that, though it makes the cost per wear almost non-existent.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

P.S Finally finished tweaking the blog layout; I suggest this one as a good place to start if you're thinking of a change.  It's all just trial and error basically. 

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