Kittens, Borat and Oyster Cards: Why I Love Alice Dellal

Carroll’s Alice Through the Looking Glass begins: ‘One thing was for certain, that the white kitten had nothing to do with it- it was the black kitten’s fault entirely’.

There is more than a touch of the black kitten about a certain miss Alice Dellal. Yes, her mother is a model, her sister an up and coming designer, her grandfather Jack Dellal of property fame, and her godfather Mario Testino. Yes, she is the face of Mango Jeans and Agent Provocateur. But despite being seen on the catwalk for Vivienne Westwood and the books of select models, Alice is only a 5’5 21 year old girl perhaps most widely known for a recent incident involving an oyster card, a DVD and a substance looking remarkably like cocaine. Alice then, like Kate, is fallible, which is perhaps why I like her. There is something- for want of a better word- ‘cool’ about someone with such a strikingly beautiful face deciding to shave half her hair into a leopard pattern with a complete disregard for the theory that models are to be blank canvases.

There’s this photo of Alice on the select website. She is practically naked, wearing only a Borat style body suit, ‘screw me’ heels and an expression which challenges the viewer, says ‘so what?’. It is this brazen attitude which to my mind raises her above the ranks of the ‘it’ girls which have become so inextricably linked with the fashion scene.

It's all over now, baby blue

On Sunday, summer time officially ends, and in London, the chill has set in with a vengeance. No more can I prance around moins coat, jacket, scarf, hat, gloves or even substantial jumper.

Being a bit too much of a sunshine lover, I heavily lament this seasonal change, however, I can’t stay there isn’t just a little bit of me that is slightly thrilled at the prospect of winter wear, particularly when I logged on to stylebubble to be confronted with a veritable array of knitted beauties from Etsy’s Yokoo.

Hats! Snoods! Even knitted chains! It is heavily unfortunate that with all my spending for next years travels, I don't have enough money to buy a decent pair of winter boots for this season, let alone a $135 piece of knitwear.
I think it's time I gave my Granny a call for help.

That Charming Man

Hedi Slimane once declared 'I have no nostalgia'. Yet nostalgia, or at least a feeling of longing for something intangible, is an emotion inextricably linked with Slimane’s photos.

Slimane is renowned for possessing the ability to raise skinny androgynous looking boys from obscurity in the same way that Jean-Jacques Picart and Pierre Bergé had noticed him. The Paddingtons. The Libertines. The Rakes.
Indeed, at times it seems that the entire look that Hedi Slimane seeks to encapsulate in his collections is that of Byron-esque romanticism, in whatever form it appears.

Today I've been looking at some of the latest shots from Hedi Slimane's 'diary'. It is an interesting juxtaposition of the inevitable fashion shots- think a skantily clad Kate draped over a bed- whilst others range from light fixtures to boys skateboarding. Eclectic, certainly, but wildly compelling, and achingly beautiful.

http://www.hedislimane.com/diary/

Why you all in my grill?

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=D_LOr6E_uRI&feature=related

Anti-folk? Anti-soul? Who cares- Missy's got nothing on these girls.

I don't like Mondays

Um so it's only Monday, but I'm feeling pretty tired. I was ill all of yesterday, which wasn't so nice especially because I had lots planned to do yesterday, and it was so sunny!
Anyway, as I said, it's now Monday. Back at work and the weather is frankly dismal.

Dirt Off. Dirtster.

I NEED MY DIRTY 30S!
One Day Only? One hour only more like...
I have been hitting the website hard, first i couldnt even get the webpage, now it will get me put them in my basket but NOT BUY THEM.
I want to cry. Daisy Lowe's got them why can I?

What I Wore Today

Sleek Geek 'Chic'

Vintage dress worn as skirt
Topshop Racer Back Vest

Vintage gold chain

Faith Shoes

Urban Outfitters Glasses

American Apparel Bandeau

I'm so ugly, but that's okay 'cause so are you/We broke our mirrors

I have for some time lamented that I narrowly missed out on being born in the 80s, debating at length whether Calvin Harris would, in fact, do ‘things’ for me given that technically speaking I was conceived in late 1989.
But now, it seems, there is no avoiding the 90s, with a trend I like to refer to as ‘new grunge’ permeating both the catwalk and the streets, from NYC to LDN.
I first noticed an allusion to my birth decade in Mary Kate Olsen’s oversized plaid shirts last year, but more recently there’s been no escaping all aspects of the 1990s, with whowearwhat running a 'Wayne’s World' feature, and a plethora of fashion’s ‘it’ girls adopting the look.

And those who did it the first time round...

Heroin chic is back with vengeance. Party on, Wayne…

Put on your Red Shoes and dance the Blues

Out of boredom, I just checked out Topshop's online shop. Mistake! I found love.
So many beautiful shoes! Gold, bold, chunky and platforms in abundance, I'm in shoe heaven.. sheaven! I think I'm getting delirious.
I am seriously going to put a whole lot of old clothes on ebay to raise funds. So much for trying to live on a budget...

Revisiting Brideshead

‘Manners are especially the need of the plain. The pretty can get away with anything.’ Evelyn Waugh

Homoeroticism, 1920s glamour and religion, not to mention beautiful aesthetic detailing through architecture, landscapes and more to the point the tireless work of costume designer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh: it can only be a very fitting cinematic version of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited.

Looking through footage and photos of the 2008 remake which is to be launched nationwide today, I find myself drawn to the ever so slightly debaucherous wistfully aristocratic Sebastian, whose look gives an appreciative nod to the likes of Ede & Ravenscroft, Gieve & Hawkes, Thomas Pink and classic Burberry.

I absolutely adore the hedonistically British sense of style conveyed through waxed hair, quirky detailing and Oscar Wilde inspired dramatically flung scarves.

Take me back to the 1920s...

Givenchy at Paris Fashion Week

Let's get Frisky, Ricardo Tisci...

There has for some years now been a special place in my heart for the very irresistible Givenchy, with Ricardo Tisci's 2005 appointment as creative director merely exacerbating a borderline obsession. Thus it was with much excitement, a certain trepidation that I awaited photos and news of Givenchy's s/s 2009 Paris debut.

Despite a few questionable pieces and the fact that at some points Tisci seemed to have sought inspiration from Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, the collection's highlight pieces were absolutely spot on. Continuing the gothic theme of the a/w 2008 collection, models donned de rigueur skinny leather trousers, a little light demin, a lot of black chiffon as well as a judicious use of crystals not dissimiliar to another of my favourite collections this week from Balmain.
There was even a bondage style black dress not disimiliar to my own All Saints Mabelle...

Keep it coming R.T.