All I Want For Christmas is...

I love Christmas. It is without a doubt my favourite celebration of the whole entire year. I wait 365 days just for Boxing day, which is the best day simply because you get to eat cold cuts, jacket potatoes, green salad, then cheese and all whilst drinking lots of red wine. I love everything about Christmas, the singing, the food, the wine, the weather (as long as it is cold and crisp not rainy and mild), the films, the festive tv, the festive adverts, champagne for breakfast and port for supper. I love everything except the giving and receiving of gifts.


I appreciate that this is weird, that I am missing the point of a capitalist Christmas. I'm not saying I don't want anything, having nothing to unwrap on Christmas would make me kinda sad but it doesn't need to be big or fancy. This isn't me pledging my allegiance to the hemp-wearing-hippy society, believe me I still like stuff and I still love presents, particularly shiny things. I just can't cope with the Christmas pressure.


Any other time of the year, without fail, I can list about 10 things I want just off the top of my head - this ranges from the uber expensive (hello Celine bag) to the not so expensive (hi there hair brush). Yet come December, specifically Christmas and I get stuck. The expensive is too expensive to ask for on a whim (yes, you, Jonathan Saunders jumper) and the rest seems silly. It's like a Christmas related performance anxiety, the more that is asked of me the less I deliver.


Before you think me too shallow, there is nothing more I love than a good book or even better a voucher. So it is not about the "item" itself, more the pressure attached to it.


The only solutions I have come up with so fat are not give gifts at all on Christmas, which goes against all of my most materialistic beliefs, or to create a year long wish list and add to it every time I see something I want or like. Then come Christmas family, friends and secret admirers could just consult the list.


Ohh I like the second option... Givenchy, Celine, Chanel, Oh my!

Picture with thanks to google. Not mine.

Out Into The World

So I don't update very often, as anyone who ever swings by here will know. I have decided this needs to change and like most people I need an incentive, in this case... the world (or you know more than my boyfriend and friends who read this). So I have joined bloglovin' in the hopes that people might actually stumble across this blog might make me update with regularity!

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Also, since I am pimping myself out (so to speak) check out my tumblr, oh-darlingheart for all the prettyness that I don't want to put words with.

Heinz Variety

Isla Fisher in Confessions of a Shopaholic

After about 5 years of thinking about it and 18 months of talking about it, I finally did it. I dyed my hair red (well I paid someone to do it, I'm not a total fool). So now I am officially a red-head. The comments have been positive, ranging from "oh have you dyed your hair" to "It looks so pretty" - though of course no one is going to flat out tell me my hair looks crap. The colour itself is not a problem, I like it, it's what I wanted so all good. The problem is, I don't know how to dress as a red-head.

I've tried getting inspiration by looking to my fave red heads; Emma Stone, Isla Fisher, Bonnie Wright, Julianne Moore but it isn't much help. They all look great on the red carpet but their personal day-to-day style is not my thing. Although I wouldn't say no to Bonnie's jewellery and Emma's (alleged) boyfriend. Generally my style is a bit of a mix of things. The aim is to be french chic meets park avenue prep with a hint of Aussie laid back surf style on any and all beach holidays and long sunny days. The reality is casual separates (dictated by budget and what I can steal from the boyfriend) with occasional attempts at girly/pretty. None of this works with red hair.  

I am in a style crisis. I knew how to dress as a dirty blonde, hair colour people not character – get your minds out of the gutter. I even knew how to dress as a brunette but a casual red head, it is not going well. Suggestions would be very welcome. 

I want, doesn't get

Jonathan Saunders SS12 - I will have this in the peach or green colour-way in case you are interested.

One of the problems with working in fashion is that you become a bit complacent and can start to take things for granted. For example, the other day flowers were sent to the office as a congratulations for our birthday issue and someone on the team (oh fine, it was me) complained that flowers were lovely and all but you have to find a vase or get someone to take them home, so actually they're a hassle and cake would've been better. So far, so un-grateful.

Also we go to press days to look at all the new season items, all the while compiling a mental wishlist (mine currently reads: Jonathan Saunders jumper, Valentino bag, paint and snakeskin effect Louboutin's). 

Often at these press days you get gifts, a lot of these gift get re-gifted to family and friends. I personally give mine out as Christmas presents, but I'm honest about it and actually I think my mother appreciates them more because she knows they are free, rather than me spending my hard earned cash on gifts. Occasionally we get given vouchers for money off, this then turns into conversations like this:

"Everything on this site/shop is sooo expensive."

"I know."

"I almost wish they hadn't given us a voucher because it's making me want to buy things that I can't afford."

Once more, un-grateful. It's like the saddest little princess crying tears in her Chanel couture gown. 

I like to imagine all industries are the same. Michelin star chefs, craving beans on toast because the idea of eating yet another meal with a Velouté of something makes them fed up. Sound engineers who want to go home and listen to the today program instead of the latest offering from Coldplay. Or racing drivers who occasionally wish they could take the bus so they don't have to drive. Yeah, that last one isn't likely but you get the idea. 

We all get complacent, so I think we should organise an annual job-perk swap. Chefs could swap with bankers, sound engineers with fashion folk. I'm not proposing a job swap, the country is in enough of a mess as it is without me taking the helm at HSBC but maybe we could have a day where we all get each the perks of someone else's job.

If for no other reason than it might make us all appreciate ours a little more.

5 weeks 'til Christmas but thinking about Summer

It is November, which in the real world means jumpers, thoughts of Christmas and red wine by the fire. In the fashion world it means SS12 and Trends. Ask any fashion assistant and they will tell you the most dreaded part of show season is not the ticket requests (which is a pure form of hell) or the shows themselves, but weeks later when it comes to creating trend reports. They are exactly what they sound like, a report about the trends. You go on style.com look at ALL of the shows and put different looks from different designers into trends. I have just done this. In case you care next season you will be wearing, white, candy colours, sport luxe and fifties styles - though hopefully not all at once.

The good thing about the trend report is I get to look at my favourite shows, see my favourite designers and generally invest time in the pretty. My top 5 for SS12 are the usual suspects, but as the saying goes "if it ain't broke..."

Givenchy

I don't know what Mr Tisci has for breakfast, but I would certainly like some. His shows are always so well crafted and beautiful. I've always wanted to be a mermaid and I would gladly be an urban one based on his vision.

3.1 Phillip Lim

I have multiple versions of my grown up self and this is one of them. Crisp tailoring, soft colours - the perfect summer look.

Preen

Every season they get it right and every season I want it all. That dress is my perfect go to dress, or would be if I could be trusted to wear white.

Jonathan Saunders

LFW may be stuck in between two financial power players, but Jonny proves season after season why he deserves his fashion place. I am already dreaming about owning this jumper (and if the waiting list is anything to go by, so are the rest of the London fashion scene).

Stella McCartney

It is my life long ambition to go to work in my PJ's and if I was wearing Stella no one could say I wasn't work appropriate. Win Win. 

9 to 5 or AHHHHH!!

I am not someone who needs an outlet to rant, that is what friends and family are for and if they don't want to listen to me, that's fine, there will always be someone around. Recently however, I think I may be testing the patience of ALL of my nearest and dearest by droning on about the same subject, no not The Gosling, work. Or to be more specific the lack of it and lack of appreciation for my brilliance.

My job is a temporary contract, I knew this when I took it, so the fact it has to end is no surprise. However, the fact it is ending in approximately four days time, is somewhat surprising. I imagine this is what getting married is like, you wait and wait for the day and yet as it gets closer you are filled with something akin to fear. I would ask my married friends if this is true, but frankly listening to another sermon on weddings is liable to send me off the deep end right now.

Sorry, got lost in another ran there for a moment, back to the task at hand, the job. I have four days until I leave my job, I have had 11 months to prepare for this so it will all be okay, I'll just move onto the next thing… Except the next thing doesn't seem to exist. I hear the world out there is a pretty bleak place right now, I say hear because I live in West London and work in fashion which is essentially a bubble of complaints about not being able to get a table at the restaurant you want or being on the waiting list for the new Johnny Saunders jumpers. Not exactly signing on.

Yet being the news junkie (and generally not stupid) person I am, I know the situation in the wider world is dire right now. I know people are losing their jobs and can't pay their mortgages, I know things aren't good. I also know I have my health, my rented home (lets be realistic here, I live in London and am in my mid-twenties, of course I rent, I'm not Tamara-freaking-Ecclestone) and my family/friends and worse things happen at sea, but (cue the rant) - I work effing hard and have done since uni. Not only that, but I have worked effing hard at this job and all I am asking for is the opportunity to go somewhere else, earn a decent wage and do a job I enjoy and continue to work effing hard. I am apparently good at my job, I'm not work shy which is a constant surprise to my parents and those who grew up with me, so where is my bloody job. Why isn't it out there? And if it is out there why is no one phoning me to let me know! It isn't meant to be this hard. Or maybe it is meant to be this hard but I was hungover and skipped lectures the morning they explained that. I didn't screw up the economy, granted I didn't get the chance, but I shouldn't be penalised for not being old enough to mess up.

The problem with this rant and the reason I have had to resort to blogging to get it off my chest is that there is no solution and the people in my life, although they are too kind to say so, are getting sick of me talking at them and going round in circles.

There isn't a quick solution that I can see, it is just a case of sending out applications, waiting for the phone to ring and contemplating working in Waitrose over Christmas. I went for Waitrose based on the standard of food that would end up in the reduced section. 

So, for now, rant over. Thank you for listening nameless, faceless blogosphere. You've been a wonderful audience. 

I want... Friday fancies.

Some Friday pretty.

All things I have been thinking about this week:

Santorini, pretty bags and holiday tans, stacks of jewellery, An Education and Carey Mulligan, and the pics of Mossy's wedding in US Vogue.

Pics thanks to: The Cool Hunter, style.com, Russh

I want... to be thinner, don't I?

There are some things in life that annoy me; ignorance, people playing their music loudly on their headphones, mushrooms, but the one thing that annoys me more than any of that is diets and dieting, or rather people's obsession with all things weight. Don't get me wrong I would love to be a few pounds lighter (and a few inches taller if we're wishing for things) but talking about it won't make it happen. There is nothing more boring in this world than listening to someone talking about diet plans. I would honestly rather watch paint dry, at least you could get high from the fumes and have some peace and quiet.

I know this is a sensitive subject and this is obviously only my view on it, but recently this has been on my mind a lot. Part of the reason for that is because of someone I work with who is thin, unhealthily so. She is great, so helpful and good at her job but it makes me so sad just looking at her because she is so unwell and that is all I can see. As confident and charming (read: bitchy and outspoken) as I am, I'm not immune from insecurities, especially during "bikini season". Plus I work in fashion where your perspective can become skewed. So I do understand the theory of wanting to be slim but the reality is something I will never get. To me the most sensible thing to do if you want to slim down is to eat less and exercise more. Drinking diet drinks, depriving your body of things you want won't work in the long run because the more you forbid something the more you crave it.

I am not saying this from a preachy point of view, trust me I am not a size zero or too far the other way in case you are thinking I'm typing this from the comfort of my lazy boy whilst sitting on my 24 stone arse. I drink more red wine than is healthy considering one bottle of wine is over my recommended calorie allowance for one day, but I would rather do that than not. If my option was one glass of wine or two glasses of gin and slimline tonic, I'll go for the wine every time (and I love me a G&T). Nothing is likely to piss me off faster than going for dinner and knowing that the people I am with are not reading the menu to see what they'd like for supper but reading it to see which option has the least fat/calories. If you are worried, bring your own food from home like some knobby celebrity or just don't go out for dinner.

I suppose the reason this bothers me so much, is thin isn't always beautiful. There is a difference between thin and slim. Thin is when you are almost unhealthy, when you look like a good meal would make a difference to you. There are slim girls who are gorgeous, Keira Knightly, Alexa Chung, Kate Bosworth, to name a few, but there are also normal size girls with boobs and hips who are equally as stunning. When Beyonce played Glastonbury I went from kind of liking her (and trying to do her booty shake when drunk) to being in proper awe of her. To be able to dance and sing live for 90mins, with only a 5 minute break is amazing. Your body has to be a machine, a healthy machine. So it is possible to be "curvy" (I hate that word) and still look awesome. (I am not stupid I know Beyonce and these other women are curvy in celeb world but slim in the real world.)

Three women, Beyonce, Samara Weaving and Sophia Bush, all gorgeous, all have awesome figures that are slim without being thin or unhealthy. Goes to show it is possible.

Also all of this can apply to men too but if I start on about that I'll be here all day.

Disclaimer: all images are not mine

I Want... To Be On Holiday

Today I am here...



The temperature outside is about 28 degrees. In my air-conditioned office I am wearing a jacket because I am cold. So all things considered, I would rather be here...

Images with thanks to google.com

Ch-ch-ch-changes

I haven’t posted in a while, this isn’t because I’m lazy – well isn't entirely down to my laziness – but because I’m stuck. When I started this blog I was freelancing (that’s what I called it, certain people in my life - Father, the boyfriend - liked to call it being unemployed). Regardless of the label I was spending the majority of my time thinking about fashion rather than actually surrounding myself with it. So the blog was a way to keep my hand in. However recently I have found fashion inspiration somewhat lacking, my job (actual job – all members of the family circle agree on this) is thinking, talking and writing about fashion. And as all social smokers eventually find out, too much of a good thing is bad for the lungs.

So this post heralds a blog change. I’ll still post about fashion because to be honest most things I want, like and think about are fashion based, but I will also post about other things. If you readers out there (all 3 of you who I probably saw at the pub on Saturday) are upset by this I’m sorry, but not that sorry because frankly there are a billion other, much better and more regularly updated fashion blogs out there so go read them. But do come back here to read my thoughts on all manner of things, from wine to politics, to holidays and Beyonce.

But as I am not one to leave the masses wanting, here are my current favourite fashion blogs –

Richgirlsss – An Aussie based, bit of everything fashion blog. This is a new find for me but I'm already a big fan of her style and inspiration.

Garance Dore – This is a bit of a blog classic, on every best blog list there is. She appeals to my desire to be French and fabulous.

Tuula Vintage – Another Aussie blog. This one is more of a personal style blog, her style is slightly edgier than my dream style but she has great hair and cool photos.

Fashion Me Now – This is a London based fashion girl, with a great eye and very cool personal style (though she doesn’t post that many pictures of herself).

Notting Hill Girl – An Aussie living in West London, not exactly a rare phenomenon but one of the best blog about it I know. This is part personal style blog, part general inspiration.

The Sartorialist – If you haven’t heard of this blog then shame on you and your blogging knowledge, it’s like proper famous. So famous people are kinda over it but I still think it’s pretty.

Vanessa Jackman – Great blog for “fashion snaps” but with words. Plenty of pretty to be found.

We the People – Street style fashion blog based in Sydney. Love seeing the fashion on the other side of the world but also because I would quite like to live out there as I have mentioned before.

Il etait une fois – Another Aussie blog, I know this is becoming a bit of a trend but what can I say, I like their style.

And finally, it’s not fashion but I am obsessed by this blog…

The Beauty Department – A beauty blog, from Lauren Conrad (yep her of MTV reality show fame) and her hair and make up team. It has great hints and tips and makes it look easy.

Illustration by Garance Dore

Hair Hair

Sometimes I want things I can't have. This happens quite often when I see a celebrity or model with a new haircut. I start to convince myself I want that too. I almost get as far as booking an appointment before I remember that I look about 18 and my face is the same shape as the moon so a pixie crop on me will make me look like a 12 year old choir boy. Or that part of my charm is my inherent laziness so anything that requires effort (like a choppy bob) is a waste of time because effort is something I refuse to put in.

Doesn't mean I can't look at the pretty though and think, I want her hair.

Images thanks to Instyle.co.uk and Dianna Agron tumblr

Happy Birthday to me...

It is very nearly my birthday.

I am not a birthday person, I enjoy the presents (as any shallow, object obsessed person does) but I hate the focus. I hate it being all about me; my birthday, my day, my decisions. The irony is on any other day I adore it being about me and am prone to throw a strop if it isn't.

This birthday I am particularly dreading. It has been brought to my attention that I am in fact not getting any younger and this birthday will not only add a year to my life but will push me into the next box on official forms. My last birthday whilst not as "nothing" as I thought it would be, was not as bad for me as it was for some of my friends. I dealt with last year in quite a grown up fashion, however on this birthday, despite it being a school night I fully intend to get drunk and possible cry about my wasted youth.

There are a few things that might make my birthday more bearable....

A Daisy Knights chakra bracelet (available at my wardrobe).

Laduree macaroons.

Vintage cocktail glasses, a cocktail shaker and a bottle of Noilly Pratt (all part of my quest for the perfect Martini).

Angus & Julia Stone to serenade me, specifically with And The Boys (but I'm not fussy), if they aren't available then it'd be great if Adele could pop round with tickets for her London dates.

Images thanks to Laduree, Daisy Knights, Google. Videos thanks to youtube.com

Festival fever

Glastonbury 2010

I am not really into festivals, as I recently told a friend I am more a box of wine/picnic blanket type concert goer than the camping in the rain/getting sweaty in the mosh pit festival goer. This might be because although in the UK we have arguably the most famous festival, Glastonbury. We also have famously temperamental (read: crap) weather and as the idea of being rained on for 4 days appeals to me as much a root canal without anaesthetic, I've never been that into the idea of festivals.

There are two exceptions to this though, every year I think how much I would love to go to SXSW in Austin, Texas and Coachella in California. SXSW is mostly to do with my desire to go to Austin, Texas. Plus it is a total multi-media festival with music and film projects and lots of up-coming artists.

Coachella is on at the moment and this year the line up sounds particularly awesome, Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire, Kanye West, Mumford & Sons, Nas and Ellie Goulding to name a (random) few. Also from a superficial perspective (surprisng I know!) the fashion at Coachella is always worth a look. I don't know if it's because it's the artist that play or because of the location being so close to L.A but the A-list always turn out in their well dressed masses.

The MVP's so far on my list are the usual suspects - Kate Bosworth and Diane Kruger. I have made no secret of my love for Kate, I think she always looks great. I love her short shorts with high tops. Very California cool.

Diane (accessorising with the lovely Josh Jackson - and gentlemen take note this is how to do summer dressing; no skinny jeans, no cut off shorts, just a classic white shirt and straight leg slightly washed out jeans) manages to look great working the perfect summer combo of a nude maxi skirt and plain vest.

So maybe I am re-thinking my anti festival stance or maybe I just want to be somewhere sunny listening to cool music and looking fabulous.

Pictures with thanks to Just Jared

Advance Australia Fair...

Palm beach, Sydney, NSW

Sometimes I think I would quite like to live in Australia. This can be because the weather is that certain shade of London grey or because I've seen a particularly good episode of Home and Away (judge me all you want but you know you can still sing the entire theme tune, or the Neighbours one if that was more your bag). Other times it can be for a reason as simple as wanting cool clothes by Aussie brands that aren't stocked in the UK.

SS11 - look 39 (aka, my dream bikini)

My latest Aussie love is a brand called LOVER. I first noticed this brand in NYLON when they had a really cool bikini. My relationship with bikini's is much like my relationship with running - in my head I picture one thing, in reality it is quite another, so finding a bikini I like is quite a complicated thing. This also explains why I have about ten different styles of bikini, but only wear the same black H&M one from a billion years ago. Anyway, the bikini's by Lover are the reason I found the collection - the SS11 ones are so cute with Ikat prints and loads of different styles.

SS11 - look 19

But luckily for me, it's not just the bikini's that are great, the entire collection is gorgeous. It's called a Dance for One and is off duty dancer style, albeit more dancer cool than Black Swan crazy. I can't decide on my favourite piece, I love the shorts from look 33, the slouchy silk shirt from look 19, the nude jacket/blazer from look 27 (I have already mentioned my love of blazers here), I am also lusting after the palazzo pants look 22 - sadly I'm too short to wear them, but I think my absolute favourite most wanted piece is the shirt dress (in the pic above). And that's not even mentioning the silk shorts with lace hem or the peg trousers, or the lace dresses or the playsuits!

Whilst the lovely people at net-a-porter do stock some pieces they don't stock the whole collection. So obviously the only sensible thing is to move to Australia, where I can buy what I want when I want.

Oh and just because....

AW11 - the wish list begins

Chanel AW11 - Abbey Lee wearing a gorgeous jacket (that I want, obviously)

I haven’t blogged in a while, I could pretend that this is because I am no longer shallow and ruled by what I want (not true) or I could pretend that it is because I am very busy and important now (equally not true). There is no real reason, I just haven’t. However I am back now and in the spirit of IWWYH – there are lots of things I want.

I'd like these...

Right now I want the Chanel biker boots from the AW11 collection. I am not really a Chanel girl (other than bikes, bags and boots) but if I was I would be the type that wears impeccable coats and suits, not frayed jeans, which is why I was not so keen on SS11. However with AW11 Uncle Karl has made me want to wear Chanel again, yes it is a bit grungy but it is grungy with a French twist meaning everything is actually worth a fortune and paired with the right thing would look elegant and timeless.

or these.

Although I loved the quilted jumpsuit, I could and would never wear it. I also loved the coats and jackets but the boots are what have stuck in my mind. The reason I want the boots is due to my love affair with biker boots, I have a pair (Pierre Hardy for Gap from 3 years ago) that I adore. I adore them so much that I wear them all the time, with anything and now they are in dire need of some TLC from the cobbler. But I can’t stand to take them to be repaired because then I would not be able to wear them, so I need a replacement. Enter Chanel. Yes, they aren’t on sale yet, and no, I couldn’t afford them when they do become available. But a girl can dream, and dream of Chanel, I shall.