The trapeze dress

This photo from the Sartorialist really stood out for me this week. I don't like the outfit but there's something particularly lovely about the image that I can't quite put my finger on... The hair is great - I love the the gamine cut offsetting the girliness of the pink dress, the cardigan is lovely - the vintagy grey wool works nicely against the sheer fabric of the dress, the pose is perfect, and the shoes are cool, but the dress, or what I can see of it, does absolutely nothing for me. I'm not a huge fan of trapeze dresses as they do nothing for a woman's body, but often they can look stylish and modern. Perhaps here it doesn't quite work though because the cardi is a little too long. The thing is, even though the outfit doesn't quite work for me, there is something special about this picture!

La Redoillon

I was at my mate's house waiting for a friend of hers to come and sort out my hair after a rubbish haircut from my usual man and I saw she had the new La Redoute catologue. I have been burnt many a time by La Redoute (the clothes never look as good in real life as they do in the photos) but as I lazily flicked through the pages, I came across this gorgeous photo shoot featuring Lou Doillon and her Mum, Jane Birkin.
Other than the fact that the two of them are just too gorgeous for their own good, I want everything in the pictures! The clothes are just lovely, slightly quirky yet wearable and so, so cool and the pictures are beautifully set up. I had never seen the attraction in Lou Doillon before, but in these photos she looks stunning.The image that really made me take a good look was this one on the right. I think this is the perfect winter coat, it has a slight vintagy feel to it with the bracelet sleeves, but the proportions also make it feel really modern. Maybe it's the double breasted cut and the mannish cut. I think this would be such a versatile coat. Here in the image it's worn over a floaty dress but I can imagine it working beautifully over skinny jeans. The coat is by Isabel Marant, whose clothes I've never really noticed before but who now I will be watching like a hawk! The jeans in the photo to the left are fab too. they are by a company called Used who I don't know, the cut is super skinny and rock chickish. I think Lou looks gorgeous in this photo too, very much the hipster that she is, she looks very natural, and shit, I'd kill for her legs! The last photo I've picked are these lovely tan sandals. I am constantly on the look out for the perfect tan sandal and I think these might be them. They have an almost bondage feel to them but paired with the thick grey speckled socks in this pic, they look almost schoolgirlish. I've always thought tan looked great with grey ribbed socks but this takes it to another level. Check out the rest of the shoot in the catalogue!

Vintage in Valencia

Valencia is a pretty conservative city stylewise. Every so often you catch someone wearing something a little different, a little out of the ordinary, but the sightings are rare and far between. I find myself checking out the Satorialist (although he is quite conservative in his tastes too, but the clothes are so gorgeous), Facehunter and Stylescout as they're so inspiring and I just don't get inspired by the clothes I see on the street.
Shopping in Valencia is also quite conservative. There are the usual high street shops such as Zara, Massimo Dutti and Mango but there is no H&M and no Topshop which are favourites of mine. If I'm being honest, I alo love a bit of the old Pradamark! So anyway, i've been searching for some good secondhand shops for a while now, and although I've found a couple on the web, when I actually look for them physically I have no luck. Which is why I am so excited about my finds this morning. Every Thursday, near where I live, there is a huge street market. It sells all your average street market stuff, kind of like chapel market in Angel or Ridley Road in Dalston, but this morning my sister and I ventured down a particular street that we hadn't been down before and came across a veritable treasure trove of a market stall selling the most wonderful clothes from the sixties, seventies and eighties. I swear my hands were shaking from the excitement. Between the two of us we found 9 dresses, 2 shirts and a skirt and the stall holder let us have it all for 50 euros. Incredible! Bring on next Thursday, I say...
The photos here (sorry for the bad pictures) are three of the dresses. A few things need taking up and hemming but the clothes are as beautifully made as you expect from the decades. I'm actually kicking myself for not buying a denim high-waisted jumpsuit which my sis talked me out of. I can't wait to wear this stuff out on the street, the Valencianos won't know what's hit them! This weekend I'm going to FIB (a music festival in Benicassim) with my boy to see Peter, Bjorn and John and The Arctic Monkeys and I'm sure something will get an airing, and now I think of it the yellow dress is perfect for a Christening I've been invited to - blimey, the possibilities are endless, now I just need new shoes...!
P.S. Comments on the bright red lipstick would be appreciated - can't decide whether I love it or hate it. The boy finds it scary!

Inspiration from Mejico!

Having lived with an architect for a good nine years now, I am quite aware that architects are very good at building their client's houses but never their own. An architect can live in an unfinished house for years and years. I seem to be at our flat almost everyday letting in builders, calling electricians, getting quotes etc and I find it so demoralising seeing this empty shell of a flat. I'm sure it will look great eventually but I'm terrible at imagining the end picture. To help me visualise, or maybe just so I feel like I'm doing something, I've been buying lots of decorating magazines and cutting out images which I like the look of. It's been really interesting as it's made me take a good look at all the things that attract me, and has helped me find a way of putting everything together in a way that might work! It also reminded me of how inspired I was by a recent visit to Mexico, as you can see that the rooms I picked out all a painted with fresh colours. I loved the way the Mexican people used colour for everything, from the brightly coloured pinatas, to the bright green beetle taxis in Mexico City. Mexico's most famous architect is Luis Barrigan and we were lucky enough to visit a couple of his houses. Two of his favourite colours were fuschia and gold and after seeing his use of the colours I am determined to have a fuschia bathroom! To the left is the outside wall of his house, as you can see the colour is just gorgeous and looks wonderful with the green. We also visited Frida Kahlo's house, it was so beautiful and vibrant and she used colour in such a wonderful way too.
The thing that I took away from visiting her house was the kitchen. The floor was painted in a sunshine yellow and all the wooden furniture was painted the same colour which looked stunning. Unfortunately I don't have a picture as we weren't allowed to take any photos inside. Other inspirations were the places we stayed; to the right are photos of the small B&B in Merida. It was an old colonial house with two interior patios, one with a pool and one filled with verdant plants. Each of the rooms were decorated in a Mexican style and we were lucky enough to have a suite. Our bedroom had no windows out to the exterior but the skylights did wonderful things to the colours in the rooms, and kept them nice and cool. I love the orange in both these pics but for some reason I don't dare use it in the flat, it's one of those colours I just don't trust - does that sound strange? Maybe I should try wearing it first... Anyway, so this isn't a post just about my flat, to the left is a picture of what I wore today. I was actually inspired by a post from the Vintage Society where she was talking about "what a difference an outfit makes" and she had on a cute waistcoat. It made me pull my old one out from the cupboard. The boy wasn't too sure about it though!