Inspiration and Influence

Inspiration starts, for me, almost always with a picture of something that just speaks to me. It could be a postcard, or a shot in a magazine, sometimes its a person I see crossing the road. I have a wall in my house where I put these pictures so that I can see them everyday and let them permeate and influence me subtly. Initially I have no idea how I'm going to use it, I don't know how it will influence me, but eventually in some small way, it usually does.

Every day style influences come from a small group of women who's look and style speaks to me. Whether it be in a physical way or a cerebral way, somehow it gets under my skin and is reflected in my personal style.

Charlotte Gainsbourg has a natural elegance, I just find her gaelic beauty and long, fine hair so appealing. I guess it's because I have the same long, fine hair and have always wished for thicker, curlier hair. To see Charlotte looking gorgeous, with my type of hair, gives me hope.

I can't get enough of Drew Barrymore's gorgeous doe eyes, she has such a natural appeal, and a quirky, hippy edge. And I'm just so loving her hair colour! That reddish-brown is just so warm and perfect for her complexion.

Dido, Dido, Dido!

Her voice and her songs are so moving, listening to her makes me fall in love with my husband all over again. She's petite, but full-voiced and I love her look because it's simple, laid-back and classic.

Carrie Bradshaw, (and I mean Carrie here, not Sarah Jessica). I love Carrie for her daring wardrobe achievements. I love her frivolity and the way she wears clothes in new and untried ways. I love how her wardrobe reflects her mood because for me, my mood is definitely something that affects how I dress.

My mood defines (or even dictates) my sense of style for the day.

And should the weather not be cooperating with my mood, I can't tell you how terribly irritating that is!

I think that most of us are drawn to certain looks that either reflect our own style, or offer us direction toward the look we want to achieve. It should not overtake our own personal sense of style, but help us to convey it by simply being an influence, or a nudge in the right direction.

To be confident and comfortable in our own skin, isn't that really what we want to achieve?

The Rachel Zoe Project

I wasn't going to watch this show because when watching the ads for it, I found that her voice made me cringe! Her affected accent just sounds soo put on!  

However I decided that in the name of research I had to watch it and after getting past her annoying accent, I found Zoe to be a very interesting person.  

What would have been even more interesting is if they spent some time on her background and history, how she got started and how she has built up relationships with designers and clients.  

Aside from that, I became fascinated with her staff.  Her right-hand woman, Taylor proved herself to be a totally take-no-prisoners kind of woman.  Over the top and difficult, especially when she had to manage new employee Brad.  Obviously micro-management was out of the question; not such difficult task, but obviously something Taylor was unfamiliar with.  

Which brings me to Brad.  

Brad, Brad, Brad...what a pain in the arse!  I would choose to let him sink too had I taken on such a useless article!  For someone who came from Vogue and claims to have worked atgetting the job with Zoe for a year, boy has he got a lot to learn!  No initiative, no motivation, no clue!  

Too much whining, too much blaming everybody else and not enough action.  Why couldn't he just take the bull by the horns and get on with the job?  He is a lacky, a shit-kicker, somebody to take care of the jobs that Taylor hasn't time for.  Something an ex-Vogue staffer would and should have had plenty of experience doing.  Accept it and get on with it.

I spent 2 days at a magazine as a fashion assistant and no one told me what to do.  I just got stuck in and did it.  I mean it's not hard!

Take episode 2 for example which features the flood in the studio.  

I was so angry with Brad's uselessness I was shouting at the TV screen in frustration!   He's faffing about complaining that he didn't know what to do, that he couldn't control the weather, that it wasn't his fault that Zoe had a faulty studio.  Boo-bloody-hoo!  All that was required of him was to remove the wet clothing from the studio.  Could he do it?  Not a chance.  Loser!

If it was me, I would have first removed the clothing from the studio, then seen to getting the clothes cleaned, cleaned up the flood while arranging for a builder come over to fix the problem.  Not difficult.  

But instead loser Brad flounders and fails.  Sack him Zoe, SACK HIM!!!!  Taylor is the keeper, not the inept and incompetent Brad!

Till next time...

Faux Pas Part 1

For years now I've been keeping a mental list of fashion faux pas that irritate me no end.

And so the other day I decided that when I become Fashion Editor of the World, I should be able to advise my people correctly.  It was time to write the list down.  Not only for my own posterity, but for the good of the fashion world, and also in the hope that maybe someday, someone reading the list will discover that they have committed a fashion faux pas and will immediately rectify said pas and the world will be a better place!  

Now it's true that at this time, I may not be able to recall all that is on my mental list, so over time I shall simply add it to the original list here.  Let's begin.

1. Velcro wallets.  The sound is enough to make you grind your teeth.  And the look?  How can nylon be more appealing than leather, or even vinyl for that matter? Need I say more?

2. Tracky-daks outside of the house.  Please don't do it to us.   I don't care if they're designer either, it's just not acceptable.

3. Faux Louis Vuitton (or any easily recognizable faux designer handbag) accessorizing your tracky-daks, Reeboks and diet coke in hand.  If you must buy faux, don't point it our by dressing it down.  

4. Terrorist scarves.  Whomever it was that decided that a scarf made fashionable by the PLO was acceptable to wear, well they were WRONG!

I feel cleansed and purged of my irritation now.  

Please check in over the coming days and weeks for my continuing list!

Kid's Birthday Parties: Why do we do it to ourselves?

Why do we put ourselves through it?

We are going to attempt to put on a 5th birthday party for our eldest this weekend.

I say attempt because it is a Teddy Bears Picnic party.

Will it rain?  Will it be windy?  Will I be able to get my party face on in time?

The cake, the party games, the food, the weather, the stress!! 

Why am I stressed though?  All I really have to do is put on a picnic for 10 (yes count them) children between the ages of 5 and 3.  

I can't even decide on what type of food a to prepare, or which games to play and when in the hell am I going to get time to make the cake?

Frankly I'm getting a little freaked-out.  

I love my cargo's

I love my cargo pants.  Really love them.

Aside from a couple of pairs of jeans that I cannot live without, I live in my cargos during the summer.  

In preparation for summer, I got a new pair last week, and instead of replacing my well-worn go-anywhere khaki cargo's I decided to get white.  

A risky decision I know, as I have two small children, who seem to have been born with sticky dirty hands.  I have a black dog that sheds hair incessantly and well, I can be pretty clumsy myself.

But they just looked sooo good on the rack and when I tried them on there was no denying their value to my wardrobe.  I just had to have them.  I did try on khaki and even black.  But I have black jeans, and I have khaki cargo's.  Look let's be honest, if I'd had the money to buy all three colours, I would have.  But time's are tough and the tough wear white! 

  

Shopped Out

Tanya is tired of shopping.

She is officially "shopped-out!"

Should a a moment's silence be recognized?

Best Friends

Best Friends.  What can I say about them that can possibly illustrate how wonderful they are!

How wonderful it is when we get time to spend together these days.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we ever all lived in the same city together.  

Popping over at a moment's notice would be usual.

Shopping expeditions and movies every week too.

Happy Birthday to me today!

Another year older, more wiser than the last...I hope.