English rose

Just as spring whispers a renaissance into the bleak àpres-winter grey,  Stella McCartney has once again breathed new life into her limited edition namesake perfume, Sheer Stella. This year’s iconic scent has been enriched with natural organic rose, grown by an Ecocert-awarded cooperative deep in the Persian mountains.

I’m not a big fan of perfumes with rose top notes, but I’m totally in love with the bottle, which was designed by London artist Philip Jones. Maybe not enough of a reason to buy a perfume, but I can’t help but think how pretty this will look on my shelf.

Plus, having grown up overseas, I’m still enamoured with British charm as much as the day I saw my first Hugh Grant flick. And a rose-scented perfume by one of Britain’s top designers, daughter of one of Britain’s most legendary rockers? Well, you can’t get much more quintessentially British than that. I didn’t stand a chance.

Sheer Stella by Stella McCartney, £36.50, available nationwide from May 2010.

Sweat cheeks

I ran a 10k race on Sunday on a whim, without any training. Don’t get me wrong, I had every intention of getting up before work for the month before the race and running my butt off, but somehow there was always an excuse to stay in bed. Thankfully I’ve always been relatively athletic so I managed to pull off a time of 1h01. Not breaking any records, but at least I saved face.

Now as much as I love fashion, I’ve never been one to care about how I look when I’m getting sweaty. Let’s face it, if I did, there’s almost no way I’d show my dripping tomato face in public. Trendy activewear is spot-on this spring though, with jersey harem trousers and 80s style crop sweat tops popping up everywhere. Not to forget the many designer activewear collaborations we’ve seen recently from Stella McCartney for Adidas and Alexander McQueen and Hussein Chalayan for Puma.

I’ve been having a little shop on Net-a-Porter and ASOS and these are a few of my sporty wishlist pieces, which would definitely have me jumping out of bed in the morning.

Jersey Colour Block Balloon Jumpsuit, Alexander McQueen for Puma, £120

Fringe Detail Top by London College Of Fashion For Puma, £35

Patterned slouch-fit cardigan from Adidas Celebrates Stripes, £90

Scout Neck Jersey Dress from Urban Mobility by Hussein Chalayan for Puma, £75

Sequin Jersey Sweat Pants by Haute Hippie, £260

Cutout cotton-jersey tank by Y-3, £148.16

Technical taffeta parka from Burberry, £395

'Corrigia' ballerina-inspired trainers from adidas by Stella McCartney, £65

Graffiti, non?

Although I’ve never woken up next to a mysterious pineapple, I’ve certainly had my fair share of random objects turn up the morning after a night out that have left me scratching my head. This morning I was intrigued to open my bag to discover this piece of paper, which turned out to be a gift from a creatively-inclined (yet apparently sleep-deprived) friend who had drawn my name in graffiti while I was conked out for the night.

'Rach' graffiti

All this talk of graffiti reminded me of a menswear label that I came across recently called Hixsept.

Started in 1999 by two French graffiti artists with a common vision to fuse their graphic art with clothing, Hixsept presents a unique range that draws clear inspiration from the urban environment. The company say their logo, “l’oiseau gris” – the pigeon, represents how society views graffiti artists: “forgotten and hated, he dirties and disturbs. As part of everyday life, no one pays attention to him. Just like graffiti that doesn’t shock people anymore. He’s a rude witness of the greyness and daily rhythm of our cities.”

Each Hixsept design is a limited edition with about 150 pieces available for sale. Although the label does make trousers, jackets and scarves, their speciality clearly lies in their uniquely original, yet affordable, T-shirts.

Here are some of my favourite pieces from their current collection.

'Achab' brogue detail T-shirt, €52

'Chaleco' jersey and satin T-shirt, €39

'Illusion' flanel and denim shirt, €89

'Napoli' green and red check flanel scarf, €49

'Whisper' patchwork cotton T-shirt, €49

All dolled up

Now don’t get me wrong, I love Christoper Kane as much as the next fash-obsessed gal. His Ready-to-Wear collection for SS10 is divine – beautifully crafted tablecloth check dresses, some perfectly complemented by this season’s ‘underwear as outerwear’ trend with chiffon-panelled bra cups. Love love love.

But, I’m afraid ‘love’ is just about the opposite of how I feel about this new-in doll print T-shirt from Mr Kane. If the doll wasn’t creepy enough on its own, the negative effect of the print makes her look possessed. Village of the Damned anyone???

Doll print T-shirt by Christopher Kane, £190; Screenshot from 'Village of the Damned'.

Though similarly sinister, I am absolutely loving these graphic T-shirts designed by London College of Fashion graduate Beatrice Boyle in a capsule collection for Browns Focus. Spotted on Cheryl Cole’s album cover last October, these tops have since received the sartorial thumbs-up from the industry, everyone from Vogue to Dazed & Confused. There’s something a bit haunting about these post-partied girls with their gnarly strewn make-up, but unlike CK’s doll shirts, these tops are more rock ‘n’ roll and less run-for-your-life.

Howling girl T-shirt from Beatrice Boyle, £79

W.W.G.D.? (What Would Gaga Do?)

As my friends can attest, I’ve got a bit of a girl crush on Lady Gaga. I mean, I don’t fancy her or anything, but I do totally love her and her “This is me. And what?!” attitude. How can you not love someone who writes lyrics like “I’m bluffin’ with my muffin“???

With that in mind, I’ve decided that my new ethos for life – inspired by a recent tweet from Henry Holland – is W.W.G.D.: What Would Gaga Do? Let’s face it, it makes life’s tough decisions easy. Stuck for what to wear? Grab the nearest inanimate object (ie a telephone) and rock it. Boyfriend treating you like crap? Make him a (poison) sandwich. Sorted.

Laughed in my office chair for a good 5 minutes today when Perez Hilton brought Doggie Gaga to my attention. Check out these fab photos from photographer (and self-professed dog-lover) Jesse Freidin. I’ve popped them along side the original Lady Gaga so you can appreciate their greatness! Check out the rest of Jesse’s pictures here.

Doggie Gaga Montage!

What a load of…

Sometimes it feels like the only thing that could make your day worse would be stepping in a giant pile of crap. But how about stepping in two giant piles of elephant crap?

These 10″ dung stilettos were created by London-based experimental designer INSA, who was inspired by artist Chris Ofili’s controversial 1996 painting The Holy Virgin Mary, which returned to London’s Tate Britain in January. The collage, which depicted a black African Mary surrounded by elephant dung, famously caused chaos in NYC when Mayor Giuliani tried to ban it from the Brooklyn Museum.

The shoes have a giant dung platform, which INSA even sourced from the same elephant family that Ofili had used in his artwork 15 years ago. Dedicated or what!

INSA 10" elephant dung shoes

Now I know arty-farty types are all about suffering for their art, but moulding giant piles of crap into a shoe? That’s one step too far for me. But I do love INSA’s attitude about how the art world can sometimes take itself too seriously.

“It’s just like, ‘What? Fine art? Here’s some shit! And what?!’” (INSA, in an interview with Dazed & Confused)

On that note, let me leave you with a joke told to me recently by my friend Alex:

“Why did the baker have brown hands?”

“He needed a poo.”

Slip into something more comfortable.

Once the choice footwear of only gardeners and hippies, clogs and mules have now re-entered the fashion world as the must-have accessory for spring. This was undoubtedly helped by style icon Alexa Chung, who championed the now infamous Chanel clogs on the cover of the March issue of UK Vogue. If Chanel’s clunkers are a bit out of your price range at over £700, try these from ASOS  – a comparative bargain at only £85.

Piggybacking the trend, I fell a little bit in love with these black suede mules from Camilla Skovgaard. At a hefty £280, I had to work to find a cheap and cheerful alternative – but by golly, did I find it. Check out this pair from Topshop, picked up on E-bay in a lot of two pairs of never-worn shoes for only £1.70. I know, I can’t believe it either! The other pair were dreadful but I’m hardly complaining at that price!!  I gave them their maiden voyage on Friday night when I went to see The Grammatics at the Lexington in Angel. Great band by the way – they supported Bloc Party in October, check them out! I teamed these puppies with shiny black leggings, an oversized graphic white T and a black tailcoat. And of course some glam rings (including the wolf ring from Hoxton Boutique). Rock n roll.

Suede mules by Camilla Skovgaard, £280

Topshop 4" suede mules, £1.70

But I am le tired..

Euurrrghhh.. The morning after the night before. Bloodshot eyes. Puffy bags. Mysterious bruises. All the tell-tale signs that you had a little bit too much fun last night.

Although we’d much rather stay in bed all day nursing our wretched hangovers, sometimes it’s necessary to put on a brave face and venture further than the inevitable emergency run to McDonalds. And lucky for you, here are my top products to help make sure no one else knows what a good time you had last night.

De-puffication

Benefit’s reputation for doing what it says on the tin holds true with this under-eye de-puffing cream. Simply dab three dots below the eye and gently massage for an instant firming effect that will leave you bright eyed (but maybe not bushy-tailed). It also contains light-reflecting pigments to help keep your dark circles at bay. They say you can put it on before or after make-up, but I would definitely recommend before. Top tip: keep it in the fridge for extra zing to wake-up your peepers!

Ooh La Lift from Benefit, £15.50

Bloodshot eyes

Even when I’m well-rested, my eyes are a bit bloodshot – so you can only imagine what I’m like after a night out. Especially if I’ve forgotten to take my contact lenses out. Yikes. Luckily I’ve figured out a few tricks along the way that help to minimize the screams of terror when I trudge out of my room with monster eyes.

My number one tip is to smudge a little iridescent white shadow in the inner corner of your eye. This one from Bourjois is brilliant and won’t break the bank. No joke – your eyes will instantly look brighter and more sparkly. No need to limit this to just bloodshot eyes either – finish off a smoky eye with this tip and your eyes will pop even more. Meow.

Suivez Mon Regard in Illuminateur de Rega, Bourjois, £6.49

Mysterious bruises..?

For some reason, your one night stand has mistaken your neck for a chew-toy. Or maybe your jealous boyfriend is just trying to mark his territory. Either way, let’s face it girls – we’ve all been there. A night of heavy necking (with our inner teenager to blame) can sometimes result in some unfortunately placed bruises. There’s absolutely no excuse in the world that you can come up with to justify the obvious blemishes on your neck to inquisitive colleagues – so you’d better try your best to cover it up.

I recommend a green-tinted concealer, which will work to balance out the purple tones of the bruise. I have this one from Clinique, which is actually an anti-blemish product that helps to get rid of spots, but it works brilliantly. You’ll end up looking a bit ill if you sport this on its own, so you’ll want to wear some foundation, or at least some finishing powder, over the top.

Clearing Concealer in Shade 04 by Clinique, £11.50

Cherry chops

Finding the perfect shade of red lipstick is like finding a needle in a haystack. In fact, I thought for years that I couldn’t don the cherry chops because nothing I tried seemed to make me look like anything other than a clown.

Until Dior.

Dior’s Sérum de Rouge in Crimson 084 is the ultimate shade of red lippy. Not only does it give the most fabulous London bus colour, it’s also super moisturizing to leave your lips delectably kissable. And believe me, boys are going to want your kiss.

Dior Sérum de Rouge in Crimson 084, £24.50

Now rather than just expect you to take my word that this looks great, here’s a picture of me sporting it. Mind the flapper outfit…it was a fancy dress night.

Moi, sporting les cherry chops

When choosing a red lipstick, it’s all about the undertones. If you’ve got a pale, pinkish complexion then you’re best off going for one with pink undertones – think berry colours. If you’ve got olive or darker skin, you’re best off with yellow-y or orange-y undertones.

This shade from Dior has actually got a slightly blueish undertone – which has the most wonderful effect of making your teeth look whiter – don’t my gnashers look particularly dazzling?

Give them the boot?

I was tweeting today about these studded leather peep-toe wedge boots that I love from Opening Ceremony. One of my colleagues has them and I drool over them every time she wears them. She clearly earns a lot more than I do as I can only dream about spending £265 on a pair of shoes. So, instead, I’m trying to figure out how I can justify spending £80 on this vaguely similar pair in suede from Topshop.

Studded concealed wedge leather peep-toe ankle boots from Opening Ceremony, £265

'Addison' suede peep-toe platform wedge ankle boots from Topshop, £80

Now I’m completely smitten with both of these pairs of shoes, but I had tons of replies today saying that they’re “minging”.

Am I going crazy?? Are these shoes not beautiful??

Get in touch and let me know what you think before I panic that my taste has abandoned me.