Met Gala 2013

The Met Gala turned out to be the event of the year, and we are in May, how about that! I still can´t believe the amount of stars that went to the Gala. Who would thought that there would be an event were super famous stars like Kylie Minogue and Renee Zellweger would hardly been noticed (I didn´t knew they attended the Gala until today). Actually, the correct question was: Who was not there? According to my whatsapp conversation with my friend, we agree that aside from Gaga, Bieber and Rihanna, everyone else was there. 

Now, the dresses. The Met is THE red carpet of red carpets, simply because it moves around fashion, different from big red carpets like the Oscars. And for years, we have seen big movie or music stars walking next to the designer of the dress they are wearing. But what was new in this last gala? 

The answer is MODA OPERANDI. Haven´t you heard something like: You see her dress? How much could that cost? I would die to wear something like that!  Sounds familiar, doesn´t it? Well, if you happen to have a huge amount of savings, Moda Operandi can now help you with all those dramas you once experienced and are now part of the past.

They put the way to buy high fashion to the next level. You are now able to pre-order the exactly same look that, let´s say, Emma Watson wore. You love Gisele? You can now order her Anthony Vaccarello dress. Now there´s no reason to make those inspiration "Get the look" to seem you are on trend, no no, now you can "literally" GET the look.

And no wonder, these MO girls were my favorite. LSD in Dolce and Gabbana, TTH in Thom Browne, Indre Rockefeller looking amazing in that Delpozo gown, who also did the Kate Mara strapless dress. Of course, the classics made their appearance: SJP, Beyoncé, Madonna. Oh and I have no words to describe Rooney Mara. She looks stunning.

So, the Met Gala gave us a lot of material to talk about for at least a month, doesn´t it?

Illustrations by me.

Friendship

Ahhhh Friendship! The other day I was reading Gwyneth´s post about friendship (Yes, I read GOOP) and how can we act and learn about friends who were part of our lives and now it seems they are no longer committed to the relationship. And I start thinking about some people who for an amount of time, were part of my life and suddenly I stop having them with me. It´s sad for all of us, yes, but sooner or later, you´ll realize that they are maybe not with you for a reason, sometimes for good, others for bad. But what about those who, no matter the distance, you are always with them, and thanks to technology, which I am starting to hate for other reasons, we can always be a call from distance, ok, maybe just a text from distance.

I love my friends, but sometimes I´m not a good friend as I am supposed to be for them. Is there a type of BFF? If so, I´ll put myself in the "Far Away BFF" because some of my closests don´t live near with me, but for others, i´ll be the "Crazy BFF", the one who nobody knows what I´m talking about. You know? Like in Friends, I´m not as boring as Ross, but sometimes I feel like I am talking about dinosaurs or something. 

I was watching a Girls episode the other day, the one when Hannah receive a call from Marnie, and she pretends to be fine, but she was not. And that´s the thing I like about friendship. Because your really good friends don´t judge you, and are always aware if you are being honest with them. Unless they are "frenemys". 

That´s another story that has been in my head for days, cause I didn´t realize I have a frenemy, until recently. But that´s for another post. So, just in case some of my friends read this, want to let you know that yes, I will always be there for you, even though I don´t text you often.

Fashion Marmite

Last night i watched this video about 40 plus style - now i have to add at this juncture that most of my friends are younger than me and the last thing we discuss is 40 plus style - as they wouldnt have a clue as to what i was going on about and i quite like to delude myself that i am all down with the kids ???  inwardly cringing ....   Having said that, just recently i am feeling the passing of time in oh so many ways.  Now i truly do  think there are things to celebrate when you get older, the ability to revel in ladylike tailoring - which i so love -  and it really isn't a young woman's game particularly - having said that - my god what a dirth there is - soooo boringly cut - hence the soon to be launched Sadie Harris.

Watching the video - and like most things i wasnt there with all of it - at present my figure hasnt changed much - it only ever changes according to what i eat or hormonal bloating and that hasnt changed for the last 30 years!  Hence if i want to feel good and for me that equates slim - i pretty much remain hungry with indulgent weekend breaks.  My choice and actually not one i strongly recommend.  I dont necessarily want to emulate a celebrity, i am not all about a heel, but i really do relate to the questioning that comes with age - should i wear it - am i too old - and the age old am i that mad old woman in the hat???

Last September we were showing at 100% design in Earls Court and i needed to pick up some shoes from Chloe - having bought a very yummy new blouse from them a week before i decided to honour my visit with wearing said yummy green blouse, camel trousers, a fab nude hat with rather dayglo orange and green band - knee high boots and chanel dark bag - well it felt good, somewhat elegant and off i trotted.  Chloe loved it, I was asked for a pic by a trendy young blogger, approached by older, extremely well preserved Chelsea gent and declared "stunning, such colour".  Well my sartorial head had swelled, not to mention my literal one and it was off to earls court to more compliments from a Made in Chelsea Jamie lookylikey, and a pretty young Swede, i mean this outfit was rocking - out i trot to wait for mr and waft off home on a sartorially successful cloud when i turn around and see 2, 30-something ladies from the cake and bake show, pulling the most disgusted amused faces in my direction - well at that moment i realised - i truly was fashion marmite and they were not liking it!!

So what do you do - become invisible, follow your own style, mix the two or just dress how you feel on the day?  How hard is it getting older as a woman - and is it all about just still feeling attractive and is that all about the other sex or not?  i dont have the answers but i know i ask the questions xx

And with a hat........

Detail shot - i dont think there is anything more " i am so pleased i am 40 plus plus than an hermes shawl" - how gorgeous - my new fave thing 

Sleeveless coat and trousers - a cornerstone in my spring/autumn Sadie Harris designs,

Chloe Blouse, Chanel Bag, Hermes Shawl and bangle, Hat Stetston, Shoes Miu Miu, New Ring - McQueen - thanks Mr xx

Sadie Harris

Sadie Harris is such a beautiful british name and it was the name of my maternal Grandmother.  The brand i am launching is one of tradition and heritage,  all British, made in England.  It speaks of stealth style with an edge.  My grandmother sums up these things for me - she was beautiful, strong, elegant and so very british from a bygone era - an era where womens lives where hard, especially in the North of England, but she lead hers with elegance and above all she loved life, playing the ukelele and starring in local productions.  She married in her early 40's and i think my mother was somewhat of a surprise, sadly she lost her husband when my mother was just 7.  She spent the last twenty years of her life in a mental home the only place for her with early onset alzheimers - i did not know her - i want to dedicate something to her so in some small way her life will live on.

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The first collection i am working on is entitled "A very British Summer".  I will be using traditional saville row fabrics,  they will meet feminine form, with 70's referencing.  They will be wearable, easy pieces that cater for our very own brand of weather - light weight tailoring, beautiful lace dresses with lightweight menswear inspired 3/4 coats,  pieces that interchange in soft muted colours with flashes of brights.  It is a collection that will be wearable across age groups with old fashioned couture detailing, and stealth sex appeal.  There will be an element of that old fashioned British 'boys love the girls, girls love the boys' ethos we do so very well.   For this first collection i am very much my own muse.

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In the meantime Frank and I are showcasing a design i worked on this winter.  I was definitely having an elegant turn and although i always love texture in my fabrics the colours were more muted and i used a lot of rich deep colours.   In this instance a teal blue alpaca wool for the jacket with a navy lace layered over teal cashmere for the skirt.  Playing with proportion the sleeves were shortened and a dramatic back cut was added to the jacket.  I am pleased with it - it was easy to wear and dress up or down.

Although the sun was shining, the colours were distorting as well as the texture so we moved to the shade

The back is really lovely and although the fabric is soft it is holding the shape well,  i always add a handy pocket!

The collar can be worn turned down but i like the shaping on the neck when up 

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And finally for all you Franky fans - he wasnt having much of it - but his bum was ..

In the beginning 

In the end

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Skirt and Jacket my own design, shoes YSL, bag Bottega Venneta, jumper Eric bompard, Bracelet Hermes (thanks again to Mr), Sunglasses Gucci - navy leather - loving the texture again xxx

Vogue.co.uk, street chic

Hello all from a freezing cold Sussex, snow falling, April!  Seriously - i would add to the snow falling, my nose dripping! Tooo much .......

I have a whole post prepared about my new brand which i will post next week when the man, frank and I have had time for some piccies.

In the meantime, on Tuesday on my way to Saville Row to see the most amazing fabrics, Holland and Sherry (but that is another whole new post), i bumped into the wonderful Dvora at Fashionistable who shoots for vogue, street chic amongst others and always gets my heart beating faster come fashion weeks, not to mention her blog posts.

Dvora has taken my pic before for vogue, during my blogging hiatus so i thought i would share both pics with you, wish you a very good weekend, its nearly here, and some warmer weather to those of us suffering freezing temps in the northern hemisphere xxx

I have to say i love this shot - thank you Dvora - for a better looky - you can see all the details really clearly - here's the link vogue.co.uk

and again, for the above shot the link is, vogue.co.uk, october 12

The outfits are both designed by me, and the first is very typical of what i am working at the moment - a lot of checks, british heritage fabrics, feminine with strong traditional tailoring influences.  

In both shots the shoes are Miu Miu, and the bags are respectively Miu Miu and Chanel, the hat is Borsolino and the shawl is MaxMara xx

Sun

I´m a sun hater! And I recently realized that. No seriously, like 3 months ago, I realized how much I hate to get myself burn under the killer sun. Sadly for me, I live in a place where there is huuuge sun all day long. And I´m talking extreme sun, very very hot. And I found that there´s anything I can do but avoid light from 1 to 4 pm and buy some serious SPF (+80). But there´s that thing, apply SPF every 2 hours? I don´t want to smell like I´m coming out of the pool. And there´s also the subject of matter that you have to look oily because of it. HELL! 

And I can´t feel but worried when there are all these people, sun lovers, who like to lay down under the sun and get their skins burned. Really? And on top of that, there are the beauty products, the self tanning ones, the ones that make you have to look like a carrot or an oompa loompa (Yes! Look like an orange). What is wrong with the world. There´s no such thing, at least for me, than a perfect natural look on your skin. 

But OK, I have to zen myself and come through the idea that I have to just avoid the sun and apply SPF 10 times per day.  

Don't Be A Sucker All Your Life!

Ok, I will keep this brief.  When it comes to makeup, I am COMPLETELY smitten, so lets not mistake this as an opportunity to hate on the masses that worship it.  This is simply an educated approach to analyzing an obsession.  If you know me, then you know that anything I do, I expect to be good at, if there is any doubt I will be, I'm just not interested. 

 This is where I step away and leave that  obstacle to a professional; case in point, I pay to have my nails done: point blank period. 

 So when it came to Makeup, this was a task that was no different.  In order to properly adorn this canvas, I was going to need it all. So, I began my research. I came up with a framework, the things I would need to get me through my life.  I found that the Flawless Face is built on pretty much the same platform as the Perfect Fit. Below is a list of Kit Essentials:

   -Moisturizer
   -Primer
   -Concealer
   -Foundation
   -Eyelid Primer
   -Powder
   -Eyeshadow
   -BRUSHES
   -Lip Gloss
   -Lipstick
   -Highlighter
   -Bronzer
   -Blush
   -Eyeliner
   -Eyebrow Pencil

Alright, time to get down to the point of it all...!

I will agree with the experts, all elements need to be possible in order to create an event of epic proportions with each look.  I also agree with the "concept" that you get what you pay for.  However, I have this annoying habit of not spending more than $10 on a disposable item. My gripe is as such, if the world is moving toward an era where high quality can come at any price, why is it that I am seeing a single shade of eyeshadow by a brand that shall remain nameless costing upwards of $60! 

WTF?!

No Ma'am! From this point forward, I promise to provide you with Fabulous Dupes of all things makeup and K.I.S.S(keep it sexy and simple) by not providing look here that costs more than $20. If they make it, so does somebody else and for less! Any requests are welcome.  CHALLENGE me;-)