American Appalling....

More American Apparel news. The ladies bringing Dov to court have now issued another lawsuit accusing the company of launching fake blogs in their names.
The blog detailed how the girls had set up the fake claims and were after Charney in a shakedown of AA. Seriously! WTF! The blog also posted nude pictures of the girls which were taken for American Apparel ad campaigns.
If he is innocent, why the drama?

the designer opinion : so what did they think of the dress?

A whole host of designers have already given their thoughts about the wedding dress of the year...well, until Kate Moss gets married!!!

Christian Lacroix:
"I like the dress very much, simpler than expected: A combination just in between 1956 Grace Kelly and 1947 Queen Elizabeth dress. I love the modest veil with the Queen Mother’s Thirties scroll tiara and balanced volume of the whole gown. She’s radiant; She never was so beautiful. And Prince William’s red Irish uniform is gorgeous."

Hubert de Givenchy:
"The dress is very simple and very nice. The veil is a little flat, but because she has such a lovely face, she can afford to wear it this way. She is very pretty."

Donatella Versace:
"Kate's dress was beautiful. She looked very regal."

Mark Badgley of Badgley Mischka:
"James and I have goose bumps! The dress is perfection; and will stand the test of time. It is a classic Grace Kelly look. The skirt is divine. We love the hair down and the veil. The proportion is beautiful."

Tory Burch:
"Kate looked stunning. Choosing Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen reflects Kate’s modern aesthetic and style, but the handmade lace details and craftsmanship are a great nod to British tradition. The lace, the clean lines of the dress, Queen Elizabeth’s tiara—every detail was stunning."

Donna Karan:
"The dress was extremely elegant. For me, it wasn’t so much about the dress though, it was all about her. She was the most beautiful bride in the world."

Valentino:
"I loved the dress..it was very simple and young even if an hint of Grace Kelly's dress spoke of 1950s! I loved the flounce on the back of the skirt and the little decoration all around the short veil. I loved the choice of the tiara: simple,pretty, very right for the dress and for her attitude..it was used almost as an hairpiece to keep the hair and the veil, not as a heavy decoration. Compared to the famous Diana’s dress, Diana’s was a dress of a fairytale princess.. still a dress everybody remembers.. Kate’s one is a very pretty, modern dress that will be copied everywhere but lacks that fairytale element."

royally sick of it

Possibly the best wedding photo ever!!!!

Carrie skirt in blue in the flesh

I couldn't believe it. There I am having a cheeky mid day pint (ah the unemployed student lifestyle) and what comes walking past me? ONLY THE RUDDY SOLD OUT CARRIE SKIRT IN BLUE! I don't know how she got one, given that they are sold out everywhere and there is waiting list for the pink one in London. But she got it. Teaming it with a white pair of ray bans and a band T-shirt. I was shocked. Gorgeous beyond words. I was smitten.
Random nameless girl, I salute you. Should have gotten a pic damn it!

WHAT I WORE THEN : one for the road party

Dear lord, Don't you hate when you go through old photos on your camera and find unflattering shots from a night you thought you looked the shit?
I do, which is what ran through my mind when I saw this, my outfit from the last party at my place. Just before I moved out of my flat, I threw a 'one for the road' party. Which brought an end appropriately so to the house that partied.
The dress is from Awear, which is odd given that I hate the place. But the headpieces? Christmas decorations.....yeah, don't ask...

Shall I compare thee to a summer's market? I think I shall!

I love a good food market, reminds me of summers spent in Spain buying good food and bringing it home to eat on those long nights by the pool....sigh, I miss Spain! But, one must solider on and I have a pact to spend my summer doing things. I had such a good time last year. I decided early on that if I had a day off, I would go and get on a bus and go visit someone. Which meant I had some crazy experiences. So this summer, who knows!
Anyway, it's River Fest weekend in Limerick this weekend, which kicks off nicely with a European food market. So I popped down to have a look and found myself thinking of fashion. Which is nothing new, but there you go. I took a few pics, nothing amazing but should give you some idea of the fun and sunshine....
This doesn't really remind me of a collection, more makes me hungry. God damn it, should have gotten some to go while I was there! Hot damn! It's important to support things like this in your neighbourhood, because the more people stay in and ignore it, the less there will be in the future. It's nice to see a market that hasn't been polluted by people selling cheap batteries and fake perfumes as well. I could have spent a while buying fancy food but an over whelming urge to go see a Mulberry handbag overcame me and I was off to Brown Thomas!
BRIGHT REDS : Valentino. Who else? The design house is known for it's brilliant vibrant reds which are dotted throughout each collection. I suppose I could have chosen Louboutin shoes, but having slagged off his new collection earlier today, I felt it a bit in appropriate really!
BRIGHT YELLOW FLOWERS : How could you not think of Christopher Kane's nana on acid suits? Splendid lace given a modern twist with fluoros. Kane is known for neons so its not a big surprise that this collection is the queen mother on pills.....
LAVENDER FLOWERS : The dotted lavender color reminded me of this jacket by Johnathon Saunders. Lovely and girly toughened by the black belt....
GUMMY STRIPS : The bright and colorful sweeties can only remind you of one collection, Prada SS11. The photograph is awful, but then so is all my ''photography''.

Kate Middleton weds in McQueen - and it's gorgeous

The dress.
There you go. Such a stunning dress. I wasn't really that interested, then I heard it was McQueen and I had to have a look. It's so gorgeous.

QUOTAGE!

"It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with Catherine Middleton to create her wedding dress, and I have enjoyed every moment of it. It was such an incredible honour to be asked, and I am so proud of what we and the Alexander McQueen team have created."

- Sarah Burton speaks after months of silence and speculation about the designing of the royal gown.

Made you think!

Given that today we are celebrating the most important bit of jewelry in a girls life - the wedding ring. In particular the wedding ring of Kate and William, who are currently knot tying as we speak.....I thought we could celebrate jewelry in all it's glory!
Enter Made her think. I hadn't come across this label before but someone who knows me very well and knows my love of quirky jewels suggested I have a gander at their new collection. So I did....Impressed.com!
It's a little bit dark and arty, but that's how I like it. These images are from various collections on the website and are rocking my world right now.


The images are gorgeous. More photography then catalogue, but really showcase the pieces well.
MHT has had some serious press attention, with Marie Claire, Instyle, Nylon and, gasp, the mothership - Vogue! While most of their stockists are in America, they do stock in Browns in the UK. Nothing in Ireland as of yet, but you can have a look at their lookbooks online at : www.madeherthink.com

Fantastic pieces, beautifully shot, whats not to love?

FASHION EVENT : Dublin

Here are the deets on the next Fashion event to hit Dublin.

The Great Rail Sale
May 7th 2011
Molesworth hall, Dawson street
50 rails of pre loved clothing, cupcakes, tunes and whatnot!
Admission is free.

Happy hunting!

Clutch bag hag

mmm....Lust.....Dinner clutch paper bag handbag yoke from Marie Turnor at http://mohawkgeneralstore.net . Hurrah. It comes in black as well.

WHAT I WORE TODAY......Who cares?

I'm not feeling too bright and chirpy today! Although I found my strapless maxi dress lurking i a bag in my house, so in the spirit of all things Jil Sander, I fished it out and threw it on.
I don't have a full length shot because that would involve getting up and my head isn't ready for that just yet.
dress - Topshop
bag - Mulberry
Urgh!

Louboutins.....ugly shoes.....

Perez Hilton commented on the new line of Louboutins in the A/W collection, calling them ugly. I have to admit, he's got a point....
I know some people really go in for fur and stuff but making your foot look like a paw is a step too far I think...
These are seriously awful. Why!?!?!

QUOTAGE!

"I respond, “They can go to hell.” I say that I’m sick and tired and I won’t write my blog anymore, then they say, “Oh, continue.” I write what I think and we can’t all agree; if we all did, where would controversy be? If there is no controversy, there is no opinion. If there were controversy, we wouldn’t have [Prime Minister Silvio] Berlusconi, right? We would maybe have someone else. So the beauty is to have controversy. Unfortunately, we don’t have it in Italy, and for this reason our political situation remains what it is. I don’t need to prove anything to anyone, because I’ve been head of a magazine for 22 years, and I find that I can express my ideas the way I want to. Then if you don’t agree, we can discuss it. I didn’t say I’m right, I say what I think. This is why it’s fundamental to talk to our readers. They are so diverse, and it’s important to understand what they think."

- JAYsus, Franca Sozzani is on a role today with the quotes! This is her on her blog and what she thinks of people who don't like it.

the plain black T-shirt

I am aware this is a plain black T-shirt thats a little on the long side. But I'm kinda loving it. I'm all about the loose black Tee and this just seems perfect to me!
Topshop

QUOTAGE!

"They say models are thin, but I can’t change all the shows, the world, walk the streets saying you have to do this or that. I’m not the Eternal Judge. I do what I can do; others then do what they have to do. We have this damn Photoshop, where 14-year-old girls are polished, they take away the stomach, the sides and they all seem thinner."

" We use it less and less, increasingly so — actually recently I am very much against it. But now it’s part of daily use and you can’t blame it. There are few photographers who don’t use Photoshop, very few"

- Franca Sozzani comments on the use of photoshop at Italian Vogue

"Oh, very much so, because some said it was becoming the ghetto of plus-sized, the ghetto of black, but it’s not true. These are very happy readers, happy that we are looking at them in different ways. In “Curvy,” they are superhappy with their sizes. We help them dress fashionably. We say: It’s pointless for you to buy leggings, take this because this will look good on you. We help them choose. We don’t talk about diets because they don’t want to be on a diet, but it’s not a ghetto. Why should these women slim down? Many of the women who have a few extra kilos are especially beautiful and also more feminine."

- on the the controversial 'black' and 'curvy' pages in Italian Vogue

"But you can’t say fashion is the cause of anorexia — what about Twiggy in the Sixties? There were anorexics already, were they so because of Twiggy? Or Jean Shrimpton? There are psychological problems… So 90 percent of people agree with me, then there is the 10 percent that say it’s absurd because they see Vogue as a fashion magazine and it shows thin models. But they forget the supermodel era — Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, they were not thin. When Kate Moss arrived, they all said, “Here is the anorexic model,” but she was 15. Now they are all against her because she has cellulite. But who cares? We would all like to have cellulite like she does. The problem is that many of these models are too young. This is the real problem; they are immature."

- On anorexia in fashion

QUOTAGE!

“The big reason for our investment was Dov. He really embodies the soul of American Apparel."

“I think a lot of what he is going through is a shakedown. We’ve done due diligence. Obviously it’s in front of the courts but I think time will tell.”

- New investors on how they feel about Dov Charney. Also the fact that they believe he is innocent......

Dream dress

Screw the royal wedding dress. If I was getting married, this is exactly what I would wear. Not sure my parents are quite ready to see me get married, let alone in this dress.....Feck it!
-Alexander McQueen. SS11

AB FAB IS BACK! YES!

I love Ab Fab. No other show has shown me my future (Patsy) quite like it. So I was delighted to read that Ab Fab is coming back!
And not the shitty American version either!

'In late August I start filming on three episodes of Absolutely Fabulous, which we are all ecstatic about, Jen wrote to me and said, "Let's talk through it. What do you think?". And I said, "Bring it on"'. Because we're all still here. Mother's still alive, the wonderful June Whitfield. Julia Sawalha [and] Jane Horrocks [are] all still alive and available ... and I think we just have to do it.'

So everyone is on board and the episodes are being made! HURRAH! I think I'm going to throw a Patsy party - all beehives, champagne and cigarettes in celebration!

New director of Balmain....and he's hot!

So Decarnin is out, and some smoking hot guy is in!
According to styleite.com - this, is the new creative director of Balmain. He's worked with the company as a designer for a few years and also worked for Cavalli for five. So he has the goods to back it up.
Oh and his name is Oliver Rousteing......hubba hubba!

Kate Moss and Johnny Depp were in actual fact, an item - proof

- Someone just emailed me to ask if Johnny Depp and Kate Moss ever went out, after I posted a video of the two on the big breakfast back in the early 90's. So here is the proof readers! They really were an item....god, could imagine!

The boy speaks....bite sized wisdom from a straight man...

So I asked the boy what straight men thought of the cat hat craze. In particular, my cat hat from River Island. Splendid in it's fluffy, leopard print, earred wonderment....
I like the hat. It's both a conversation starter and comfortable. But I needed a second opinion...

Penny : 'Do you like my hat?'
The boy : 'No.'
Penny : 'Why?'
The boy : 'Because it looks like you killed a bear.'

so there you go. Cat hats : delighting women the world over, confusing the men that have to be seen with them....

River Island trawl....

A quick trawl around River Island revealed just how random my tastes are. I'm not sure about the above dress. But it has a whiff of Carrie Bradshaw about it....I think the temptation of teaming it with Doc Martins and a bowler would be too much for me though.
I love these skinnies. Teaming with high ankle boots and plain black T-shirts. A bit emo in the wrong hands but a bit interesting in the right ones....

And the cat hat, one of my personal style must haves. For those hangover days where not much else happens....

WATCH THIS : Kate Moss auditioning aged 14/15

- Check out this video of a young Kate Moss auditioning for L'Oreal back in the day! How gorgeous was she? (Is she....she still is!) how cute though?

American Apparel nail varnish

It's not often I post anything nice about American Apparel, but I sort of kind of like their neon nail varnishes. Due to hit stores in the next few weeks. While I will shy away from the yellow (little bit too close to wee or nicotine stains for my liking) I do like the coral pink and the purple. You'll recall that American Apparel had to recall their nail varnishes before after a series of bottles exploded and shattered in people's hands. We hope that these are a little bit more hard wearing!

QUOTAGE!

1. “I’m always busy. You know, the more I do, the more ideas I have—that’s the funny thing. The brain is a muscle, and I’m a kind of body-builder.”

2. “I’m not an employee who goes to the office every morning at the same time. Then, vacations are needed. I’m like a rock singer with one-night stands on the road.

3. “No, I have someone who comes to the house and washes it, puts in the dry shampoo, and takes care if it because I have no time. I don’t even have time to go to the dentist. I’m busy but in a pleasant way. I’m the one who wanted to do all of it, so I can’t complain.”

4. “I’m not mad for thongs.”

5. “Forget about it! This was a job done by a fashion editor. I don’t even know the name of the man who did it, so don’t ask me about that.”

6. “I’m trying to think of the last time I had onions.”

7. “Well, I don’t want to be in-fashion.”

- Quotes from a 30 minute interview from W with Karl Lagerfeld. Comment 5 is about Balmain by the way. Not sure what he means, but quotes 2, 6 and 7 are just gold....

MAC's two new collections

MAC have been busy! In addition to their 'Surf girl' collection - which is frankly, quite dull. They have released two more Spring Summer collections.
The first is Flighty. Extremely bright colors with the brilliant selection of color mascara! I've always liked blue mascara! I used to wear it in school if I felt like breaking the rules a little bit, but not enough that I got in trouble. It's a return to form for MAC and great to see after so many years of boring collections.

The second collection is Fashion Flower. A lighter and more subtle selection of color. Involving some eyeshadows, lipsticks, glosses and blushers. Note those brows in the below image!

So there you go!

Burberry coat lust

This €2,000 Burberry coat has sold out on netaporter.com! Nice to know there is still money around! How stunning though, I am disgusted with myself for not getting my hands on the Topshop version while I could. Sickened!