Clever Clogs?

So, how are we all feeling about clogs? In my past, clogs have been things that were always one size too small (my Mum's) or about ten sizes too large (my Dad's) that sat in the utility room. Worn only to travel to the garage and collect stuff from the freezer reluctantly.

I don’t think Karl Lagerfeld invented his versions with such escapades in mind; he doesn’t appear to eat, let alone know what a Cornetto is so one may suspect not. Gorgeous they are, though, I think possibly as gorgeous as a clog can get. You’ll pay the price for beauty though and these bad boys are hard to get hold of (and eye-wateringly expensive if you manage to).

Asos.com is featuring some nice clog and clog-like options at the moment; much more affordable and with the trend filtered-down just enough to make them wearable for you and me. They feature shoes by Swedish Hasbeens, one pair I like:

And Asos.com’s own version of the clog is really rather appealing too:

So, what are we afraid of? Now all we need to do is perfect the art of walking quietly in them…clip clog, clip clog, clip clog.

10 Words of Desire

1. These
2. Mini
3. Market
4. Boots
5. Cost
6. £230
7. Get
8. Them
9. Now
10. http://www.my-wardrobe.com/mini-market/patent-lace-wedge-boot-4612977

My Sugarland

Last night I went along to a personal styling event at brilliant shop My Sugarland. Based in St Johns Street, My Sugarland is a much-publicised, award-winning boutique that has been featured in Vogue and, as I discovered, it is popular for extremely good reason. Stunning vintage beaded dresses hang alongside pieces by contemporary designers such as Belle Sauvage, Laura Lees and Olivia Rubin in a setting that truly transports you to a feminine fairyland. Be warned: if you are at all like me then you will ‘need’ everything immediately upon entering.

This was a special event and skin experts Dermalogica (www.dermalogica.com) were on hand to offer face mapping advice in one wonderfully decorated corner as make-up consultancy Blush (www.blush.uk.com), wielded their brushes and beauty-inducing products at the other.

My Sugarland is run by top stylist Zoe Lem and we were fortunate enough to benefit from her wisdom and refreshingly straightforward fashion advice. In a styling workshop, we were taught the finer points of dressing for your body shape and, unlike many, Zoe believes in only three: hourglass, pear and straight up-and-down. In addition to helping us learn about creating a flattering silhouette, Zoe also guided us to find colours that would really suit. Luckily, we were given a cohesive ‘Personal Styling Handbook’ to take away with us at the end of the session so we could remember all the useful tips.

If you would like Zoe’s advice on a pressing fashion matter then her website (www.mysugarland.co.uk) features a ‘Style Advice’ section. Information about upcoming events can also be found here.

Now that my body suspicions have been confirmed by an expert (I am definitely an hourglass!), I am off to buy some high-waisted pencil skirts, wide-legged trousers and plenty of gorgeous belts!

One of my favourites: a digitally printed dress by Belle Sauvage

Detail

A fab display

Yummy cakes and even yummier porcelain jewellery

Loved this Jasper Garvida dress-can't decide which colour suits you? Simple, wear them all!

Lovely antique lace dresses

Who wouldn't want to wear this ruffled headpiece? The style equivalent to the icing on the cake.

Ignore me lurking in the background, instead please focus on the beauty of this dress; a size 8 though, damnit

What a cool styling idea - lots of brooches in place of a belt

Lovely old photographs for inspiration

I wouldn't wear it but isn't it pretty?

Fab illustration on the wall

Embroidered leather skulls (I think by Laura Lee?)

Hehe feathered pants

Pretty greeting cards - if you're poor like me then you can still take a little piece of Sugarland home

Playing cards - the obsession continues...

This cushion was a delight

Zoe offers inspirational style advice

Hackney Farm

Sometimes, albeit very rarely, even a hardened fashionista like myself requires a break from the fast-paced, clothes-laden life. What could be better, then, than a trip to Hackney Farm? I looked at animals large (cows) and small (chickens), got some relatively fresh air and ate delicious organic treats in the cafe afterwards. Don your Hunter wellies, ladies, and leave the loftier-than-thou attitude at home - this is anti-fashion fun for all the family.

After enjoying breakfast at Shoreditch House (some habits will never change!) walk around the corner onto Bethnal Green Road and explore the great outdoors!

Professional and Polished

Make early mornings a tiny bit more fun by working on perfecting your beautifully professional office look.

After creating a dewy base by priming (with Boot's Protect and Perfect Intense), moisturising (with Origins' Balenced Diet) and using Mac's Select Foundation, I then defined my eyes with Laura Mercier's Metallic Creme Eye Colour in Gold, lined them with Mac's Liquidlast in Point Black, added a light touch of golden sparkle (I used one from a favourite Dior palette) and then used plenty of Diorshow black mascara. A light slick of Dior's Lip Maximizer provides a brighter, more confident smile.

From bus to boardroom, this is my ultimate 'hardly any make-up, honest' face.

Speed Dating with Lolita

I decided to make my first foray into the land of speed dating an arty one. Last week the Barbican held a night entitled ‘Speed Dating with Lolita’ not only did I get to see the wonderful Ron Arad exhibition (rolling bookcase anyone?!), I also got to meet some like-minded arty folk in the process.

We could flash messages to our new friends on Arad’s fabulous Lolita chandelier (pictured below) and were able to choose between three sittings of short chats: one for gay and straight people (called the ‘potluck’ round!), one exclusively for straight people and one for gay. My friend and I opted for the mixed extravaganza at the beginning!

So did I unearth the future Mr Slant? No, but the Barbican’s events are well worth checking out – ideal for a fun and alternative evening out with others who are becoming tired of the traditional pub and pint combination.

Ron Arad
Lolita
2004
Edition by Swarovski, Austria
Photo: Spencer Tsai, courtesy Ron Arad Associates

N.E.R.D for Levi's

N.E.R.D played at Heaven in Charing Cross to celebrate all things Levi's. Pharrell (who appeared to be wearing a Santa hat?!) and his talented team performed as wonderfully as ever; some lucky girls from the crowd were even allowed on stage with them.

Celebrity fans included Henry Holland and Alisha Dixon and drinks were supplied by Sailor Jerry's (my favourite) and Becks.

Levi's latest ad campaign features a model with blue Cookie Monster hair which shouldn't work but it does. Everyone knows that double denim should be a naughty mistake but it continues to rule for spring/summer '10. Levi's makes the seperates to ensure every denim look works both stylishly and effortlessly for you.

Dating Drama with Rivington Rouge

She’s young (26), she’s attractive (very) and she’s intelligent (scarily). So why is it that my new contributor Rivington Rouge (obviously not her real name) hasn’t been asked out for over a year? Here, she delves into all issues male and introduces her social experiment which will investigate just what it takes to bag one of the ‘plenty’ of fish near the Thames.

I’m a cynic. What most people don’t know about me (and it’s something that I’ve only recently come to terms with) is; I’m also a hopeless romantic.

Bear with me though because I know what you’re thinking. I’m not one of those deluded girls that think Prince Charming is going to come and sweep me off my feet or that I like to be serenaded. What I would like though, and what would be nice is for my meetings, dates, relationships or even one night stands (If I feel like it), to happen organically. Not forced, not contrived and most certainly not on a dating website, which quite frankly is my personal Kryptonite.

Which brings me to my point (of sorts) although I hate the idea of dates, I don’t ever get asked out on them. The last date I went on was exactly 378 days ago.

Now I know what you’re thinking and no, I’m not ugly, fat or stupid (at least I hope). But you see, not to sound conceited, but I have almost three degrees, I speak three languages, I’m a size ten and I’d like to think attractive (which is hard to admit) yet somehow men in London couldn’t seem to notice or give a toss, not a single one. They’d rather have a whiney, idiot draped all over them than a (somewhat) intelligent, attractive, slim and humorous 26 year old.

Here is where it gets interesting; I’ve decided to investigate how long exactly it will take a male in London to ask me out on a date. I’m not going to join any of those dreadful dating websites (no offence to any of you that do), I’m not going to go out of my way to find a date, in fact I’m going to do continue doing exactly what I’ve been doing for the past year and see if anything changes. I’m going to carry out various social experiments to make this a bit more interesting. I’ve coerced the lovely Bianca into joining me on these various missions to be guinea pigs for your reading pleasure. We want to see if environment makes a difference, if wearing makeup makes a difference and if acting like a coy idiot helps at all (since it does for half of the girlfriends of friends I’m forced to make conversation with). We are delving into this experiment head first and want you to come along for the ride. We are going to infiltrate the clubs and bars of London with such ferocity that all men residing in our capital should be afraid, very afraid. Although, with my track record, perhaps I’m the one that should be afraid-afraid of what complete pussies English men have become.

So here’s to this new experiment that I’m grabbing by the colloquial balls- since apparently there are so many of them up for grabs in London. _Rivington Rouge

My List

I might not have the means to laminate this list but you try and stop me from circulating it through cyberspace. Future boyfriends take careful note: if any of these men propostion me then I will be powerless to resist. Powerless.

1. Bradley Cooper of 'The Hangover'
2. Jon Hamm of 'Mad Men'

3. Gerard Butler of 'The Bounty Hunter'

4. Robert Pattinson of 'Twilight'

5. George Clooney of 'Oceans 11'

Anita's Eyes

I created an alternative smoky eye for my friend Anita when she came to stay. Mixing bronzes, blues and slates worked well with her hazel eyes. I tidied her eyebrows with Benefit's BrowZing (in Medium), lined her eyes with Mac Liquidlast in Point Black and added lashings of Dior's Blackout Mascara.

Top tip? This look is all about blending so use anything you can to avoid harsh lines. I used a combination of my finger, a cotton bud and a Laura Mercier brush to blur and keep the look soft-focus and romantic.

Sharing is Caring

What to do if you get bored of your clothes and can't be bothered to put them on Ebay? Why, host a clothes swap of course! Set a time, put it on Facebook, invite your most stylish friends and prepare to swap away.

I charged each of these lovely ladies for a charitable donation as well. Making something 'for charity' somehow makes one feel worthier through all of the materialism... that aside, we made some marvellous swaps and everyone went away with something new they loved and without the things they didn't anymore. My list for a top swap?

-Wine, lots of wine
-Cakes, lots of cakes
-A rail that can hold a lot of clothing (preferably not one from Argos)
-Lots of clothes hangers
-A large open space to plonk all of your glorious clobber. We mainly used my bed as the point of focus
-Nice underwear. Christina did well with her nude American Apparel leotard
-Music. We listened to Marina and the Diamonds
-A gorgeous little doggy like Elly's Betty to play with
-Bin bags to take all the remaining clothes to the charity shop

Jen surveys the goods
Betty and Elly have a chat

Ooh Christina has found something good

Beautiful!

Jen tells Betty to find her something to match the new blouse

Looking good

A new dress for Christina - a bugle-beaded beauty!

I wear Elly's gorge linen dress perfect for summer with its Burberry-esque belt

Christina likes my Oasis lace number, worn over her American Apparel bodysuit

Betty, concentrate!

All of the (bad) food groups were represented and consumed!

Betty and Hand 2 are introduced. They take an instant dislike to each other

A hand obsession gets scary