A playsuit, a dress and a gust of wind

Decided I needed to brighten up my wardrobe for summer, introduce a few patterns and florals, find a dress that was nice and short. And find my first-ever playsuit. OK, my second, if you include that strapless hot pink Juicy Couture towelling one I bought in Harvey Nichols last year in a moment of WAGness and wore that same night at a spontaneous party thrown by a multi-millionaire playboy in a secret London club (I drank too much champagne and decided to change into the inappropriate playsuit in the toilet, then the next day hungoverly wondered how I could have lost my bra). 

Anyway, so I decided that THIS playsuit should be sophisticated, stylish and understated. Everything the last one wasn’t basically.

So I went to TopShop.

And within minutes I found what I was looking for – this natty little number with a draped front and back and just-the-right-length-to-show-a-bit-of-thigh-without-trying-to-pretend-I’m-18 shorts. And wonder of wonders, it looks good with The Boots. Not that that was the number one criteria or anything…

Playsuit sorted, on to the dress. I had vaguely clocked that Barbara Hulanicki of Biba fame had designed a range for TopShop, but it wasn’t until I saw the clothes with my very own eyes that I realised how beeyootiful they were. I made a beeline for this uber-short reddy-orange skater dress with spots on it (although since my Dorothy Perkins tunic debacle I was unsure about giving it the ‘dress’ moniker straight away). Amazingly they had a size 10, and amazingly the slightly comical shoulder pads didn’t look too comical when on and miraculously served to whittle me a waist. 

The Barbara dress got its first outing that very night (TopShop let me change in its changing rooms – very kind – as I’d just bought a pair of fab black studded gladiator Office sandals too, and thought the combo would be perfect with bare legs and the leather jacket I was wearing).

And it did look lovely in the changing room. And it still looked lovely going up the escalator. And as I crossed the shop floor. However, when I stepped outside I realised the error of my ways. Because although it wasn’t massively windy outside, the smallest gust threatened to whip the short, light skirt above knicker level. I have never had such a terrifying or uncomfortable 10 minute walk – picture me with folds of fabric in one hand, and my new Miu Miu purple handbag pinning it down on the other side. I was nearly at the restaurant where I was meeting the husband when a girl came up to me.

Girl: ‘Er, I don’t mean to startle you – your bag…

Me: *what?! What about my bag?! Has someone attacked it? Stolen it? Thrown paint all over it? OH GOD!*

Girl: ‘…is mostly covering it, so don’t worry, but your dress is, er, well, I can see your knickers.’

Me: *sensing unbelievable relief, give girl a big smile which clearly makes her think that this is the best news I’ve heard all day* ‘Oh! Thanks so much! That’s great! Well, not great, but…’

Girl: *looking proper scared and suddenly starting to pick up the pace* ‘No problem, just thought you might like to know…’

So now on I will only be wearing the dress with thick leggings. Or with hotpants. Or when I’m drunk and don’t care and have my best pants on.

Week in Chic

Welcome once again to the world of fashion, Stateside. Here’s what my blogging friends from Obamaland have been up to over the last week…

RedPoppyFashion travels to the city of Bath, England to see the gorgeous countryside, cobblestone streets, and Jane Austen.

The Fashionable Housewife has all the Tips On How To Get The Perfect Shave And Bikini Trim For Summer

Fashion Fille got a really pretty ring with a really cool message. See it and read about it at her blog.

Really cool brands, like Madewell and Charlotte Ronson, are available at NYC’s Port Authority. says Fashion Pulse.

Quinta Trends introduces CandyStore Collective: Sweet e-shopping.

Runway To Retail checks out some of the coolest art+fashion events coming up during Art Chicago, May 1-4, 2009

The Fashionable Gal dishes on real NYC stories from Gossip Girl

Posh Dress in the Post

Well, my Meghan Fabulous sale dress arrived from ASOS.com today. I was a bit apprehensive because I’d never spent so much money on an online clothing item before. I ripped open the outer packaging…and then the inner packaging…

…and…

Yum! The silk was deliciously creamy, the shape looked beautiful, and the colours vibrant and gorgeous, especially the delicate pink lining, which reminded me of the inside of a conch shell, and which can be seen on the inside of the draping sleeves. But I still hadn’t tried it on. And considering it was sized US 4/UK 10, and UK 10 should really be a US 6, I was worried it was going to be too small. Especially when it arrived and the only sizing on it was the US 4 label. Isn’t it funny how when you try on a dress and it doesn’t fit, even though you KNOW it’s the wrong size, it still makes you feel fat?

But not this dress. This dress fits as though it was tailored just for me. So I’m trying to use the reverse psychology of the previous too small = fat observation, to tell myself that because the dress says it’s a US 4, which should equate to a UK 10, and because it fits me, it means I’ve basically dropped a dress size overnight, despite eating half a packet of chocolate raisins and a large portion of sausage and mash last night. But not in that order.

Conclusion? The dress is a resounding success so far. Now I need to sort out shoes/jewellery in time for the wedding, and wait to see whether I’ve escaped the dreaded Wedding Twin Syndrome altogether (feeling pretty confident).

Catch you later.

p.s. the purple Miu Miu bag is settling in nicely, and is particularly partial to my navy Urban Outfitters blazer. Thanks for asking.

The Boots: An Anecdote

 

This morning I was approached in the actual street near Archway tube by some random look-at-me-I’m-so-urban-innit bloke, who informed me that my boots were amazing, man (‘thanks’ nice of him to notice). He then asked me where they were from (‘Chloe’ check me out) said he worked in fashion or something (really? Not loving those tracky bees, dude), and asked me what my name was (‘Kate’ this is a bit weird), what I did for a living (‘writer’ where are we going with this?), who for (‘XXX magazine’ shit is he going to start stalking me, shouldn’t have said that) and whether I lived nearby (‘er, sort of’ see how I learned from my previous answer, but there’s still a chance he’s going to track me down and rape me in my sleep).

Unfortunately, he was walking in the same direction as me so I couldn’t get rid of him, so the conversation continued.

He asked me what I was listening to on my iPod (‘*pause* Jamiroquai’ why am I still talking to this man and more to the point why am I suddenly worried that he might not think Jamiroquai is cool?) and then, finally, asked me for my phone number (‘I’m not giving you my number, sorry’ go AWAY, freakoid). He then asked how, if I didn’t give him my number, he was going to contact me? (‘Sorry, I don’t give out my number to random men on the street’ err, that’s the whole point, rapeboy).  Finally, I implied that my gangster husband might kill him on sight if he ever laid eyes on him (‘um, I don’t think the husband would be best pleased, um’), and he left me to enter the tube station alone.

Conclusion: The Boots are little hussies and must be kept in check.

Wedding Twin Syndrome

I’ve got a posh wedding next month and have been in a quandary over what to wear. At no fewer than two weddings a couple of years ago I found myself staring at what I thought was a mirror, before realising it was just another wedding guest with the same fresh-from-the-high-street dress as mine. Not cool.

So the year after that, eager to avoid Wedding Twin Syndrome (WETS), I bought a very yellow, very short, very sticky-outy silk and chiffon Zara dress, thinking, ‘there’s no way anyone’s going to be brave enough to wear this to a wedding.’ I was right. However, when everyone started calling me Big Bird and a very pregnant Jordan was snapped wearing it the following week, I found myself wishing I’d just bought something boring, and so what if I had a dress twin.

So after careful consideration, and with unerring logic, I have deduced that the answer to WETS and high street duplication is simple: buy a designer dress. In fact, the higher the price of the designer dress, the less likely someone else will be wearing it (although this is a VERY posh wedding I’m going to, so that may not be strictly true in this case but don’t tell the husband.)

Now, as we all know, designer dresses can be pricey, but luckily ASOS is having a sale. So I found the Meghan Fabulous silk tunic dress above, reduced by nearly £100. Not your conventional wedding guest dress, I’m sure you’ll agree, but with some gold sandals and a gold pendant, I could be on to a winner. SURELY no-one will be wearing this little number. And it’s far too stylish for Jordan…

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Week in Chic 3

Wow, is that another week gone by again? Must be time for another Week in Chic, then. Ooh, and FYI, my lovely work colleagues gave me my pink TopShop brogues yesterday. Imagine something that’s pink, then times it by 10, and you have the approximate pinkness of these shoes. I’m thinking they’ll look perfect with some very dark blue navy skinny jeans. Need to make time try on everything in my wardrobe with them, as is my habit when a new acquisition arrives in my life; it’s only polite to introduce them to their new clothes friends.

Anyway, here’s what’s hip n happenin Stateside and beyond…

The Fashionable Housewife gives a quick lesson about sulfates in your shampoo and body wash.

Isaac’s Liz: Factio Magazine talks to Isaac Mizrahi about the new look of Liz, how he’s really a slob and so over India (to his boyfriend’s dismay!).

During her spring break, Fashion Fille caught up on her life. Hear about some of what she did at her blog.

Fashion Pulse Daily is smitten with the fabulous organic haircare products of famed girlie pink & sophisticated florals, says Fashiontribes.

Quinta Trends loves Carolina Parragué fashion photos

Diane Kruger for Vogue Italia: Kruger has landed herself a 20 page spread in Italian Vogue shot by photographer Mark Seliger. Check at out at Runway to Retail.

Have you purchased shoes from Wal-Mart lately? If so, please take note! The Budget Fashionista has info on whether your shoes were part of the Wal-Mart Shoe Recall, and whether you qualify for a full refund.

The Curated Life: Spring Handbags from Handbag Heaven

DIY Ripped Jeans

I’m not what you would call a domestic goddess. I overcook Pot Noodles, kill houseplants by looking at them and once nearly bled to death after attempting to sew on a button.

So imagine my delight when I discovered yesterday that I do have an aptitude for handicrafts. In the form of seizing a pair of scissors and hacking up my TopShop white skinnies in credit crunch homage to Balmain’s ripped jeans. I did my research before cutting – namely Googling ‘ripped denim’ in the Images section – so I could position my rips in a designery way. I was somewhat shocked to discover that the first image on Google’s list was the Balmain catwalk shot as featured in this very blog! As some wise person once said, ‘the answer to your denim question lies closer to home than you think, young padouin’. Or something.

But you know what the really clever thing about ripping up your own jeans is? The fact that you can position the tears over the stains, thus removing them forever. So not only am I a maker of clothes, I am also pioneering new techniques in fabric cleaning. My mum will be ever so proud.

Anyway, below is a picture of me wearing my newly ripped white jeans (and The Boots). Domestic goddess? Nigella had better watch her back.

Birthday Miu Miu: the Moment Of Truth

Happy Birthday to me!

OK, the moment of birthday bag-truth, as a follow-on from my previous post Miu Miu Madness. I’m sorry to say I DIDN’T receive the bag featured in the post Home and a Handbag as a present from the husband for my birthday.

No.

Instead, I got…AN EVEN NICER MIU MIU BAG! Which is proudly pictured below and is currently making me hyperventilate due to its sheer…bagness! Ooh the amazing violetty colour. Ooh the tiny gold key encased in a tiny leather pouch. Ooh the gorgeous dark purply-navy silk lining. Ooh the gold Miu Miu logo front AND back. Ooh the amount of pleading and Big Eyes I had to go through to get to this moment. And the suspense in the shop when the husband went into Quality Control Mode (which I recognised from the purchase of the last handbag) and insisted on taking the tiny gold key out of its tiny leather pouch and checking that it not only fitted in the tiny gold lock, but that it turned and actually secured the bag. While I held my tongue to prevent myself from saying who CARES if it works, the important thing is that it looks both cute and expensive. Props to me for keeping my mouth shut or you could be reading a very different story.

The things we girls have to go through. It’s no wonder we have to take ourselves off to spas all the time, just to deal with the stress. Hello, is that Babington House…?

Stop the (pink) press!

Remember those pink brogues I mentioned a few posts back? Here’s a reminder:

 

 

 

 

 

Well guess what?

No, really – you’ll never guess…

…my lovely, LOVELY work colleagues have only gone and bought me a pair of them for my birthday!

I know – I could hardly believe it either. Just goes to show – you should always want what you can’t have, because then you might be able to have it, and it’s no longer a can’t-have thing, in fact it’s a very much have-got thing, but then does that mean I won’t want it any more now I’ve got it?

Fashion is very complicated.

Week in Chic 2

It’s Thursday again, which means my Week in Chic fashion pals from across the pond update y’all on the sartorial shiz. Oh, is that not how they speak in the US of A? Sorry. Been watching too much TV.

The Budget Fashionista explains the downside of closing-down sales and updates us on the latest US stores to cash out and offer amazing deals.

Factio Magazine attends Redmoon’s (cool-as Chicago theatre’s) gala Spectacle Lunatique, and does a behind-the-scenes video.

Fashion Fille has a fantastic giveaway for a gorgeous bright blue zigzag Tolani scarf from chickdowntown.com…enter today!

Fashion Pulse Daily becomes slightly obsessed by the world of makeup primers after trying Givenchy’s new Mister Mat Matifying Foundation Primer: read on to find out why…

Runway To Retail finds out how to nab eight free beauty products from Sephora. Nice work.

The Fashionable Housewife is giving away a gorgeous CURRENT/ELLIOTT Circle Vest worth $172.00 (about £172 with the current rubbish exchange rate). Enter for your chance to win!

Quinta Trends talks with Elvira López del Prado about her contemporary jewellery.

The Curated Life said “oui!” to the Catherine Malandrino cafe in Los Angeles.

The Fashionable Gal is addicted to Glitter Eyeliner and she’s getting her fix with Urban Decay this week.

The Fashionable Bambino has discovered Lil Rinser, with Rinse and Run Technology, which keeps nasty things found in children’s shampoos away from your baby’s face. Assuming you have a baby.