Lily bares all.

Is it just me or does Lily Allen look increasingly amazing? Perhaps this is what happens when you become best chums with Mr Lagerfeld. (Be my friend Karl!)

This time she has gone topless for Harper's Bazaar Russia in vintage lace underwear and charcoaled eyes.

St. Vincent

Talented, beautiful and quirky; my latest inspiration is Annie Clark (a.k.a. St. Vincent).

A Galliano Christmas

John Galliano was requested to turn his design talents to creating a 20ft high Christmas tree to feature in the lobby of London's exclusive hotel, Claridge's. 

'The Dior Tree', takes its inspiration from icy snow scenes, mixed with a tropical twist. It features sparkling leaves and orchids in silver, white and blue, as well as crystal , giving the impression of the tree being frozen. Perched among the branches are a handmade leopard, several parrots and a dragonfly.

“I am thrilled that Dior is collaborating with Claridge’s this Christmas,“ said John Galliano. “I hope to bring a twist to the traditional tree.”

The Dior tree was launched on Tuesday night (December 1st) at a cocktail reception, which featured a display of 20 vintage gowns from the Christian Dior archive, hand-picked by Galliano.

Some More Pictures...

More Pictures...

Pictures...

...I like that over time I have saved on my computer. Might as well share them:

Oxfam DIY

Oxfam and Mrs Jones (designer and stylists to pop acts) have been busy reinventing Camden's Oxfam store as the ultimate fashion resource destination for independent style seekers. The store opened it's doors in June.

Proving just what you can do with second-hand clothing, Mrs Jones recently styled a photo shoot featuring people modelling unique looks created entirely using garments from Oxfam’s recycling facility. 

Marilyn's wardrobe.

An auction selling some of Marilyn Monroe's famous wardrobe choices is to be held at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas at the end of this month. Some lucky and wealthy fanatics will be able to treasure glamouress garments which adorned the Hollywood icon. 

Among the items on sale is this white fox fur stole (in the days where ignorance was bliss) with a triple-pleated ivory silk lining often worn by Marilyn (valued at $12,000 - $15,000). And this Evans Sweson frame white umbrella used in a 1949 shoot of Marilyn on her first ever visit to New York. 

This blue and dusty rose coloured chiffon with silk embroidered flower details was adorned by Marilyn in 'The prince and the Show girl' and has an estimated selling price of over $20,000.

Ms. Muse

My friend sent me a link to this gorgeous blog 'Ms. Muse' which has beautiful imagery to inspire you in every day life. I've picked just 2 of my favourite pictures from recent posts. I love this one of vintage underwear by flickr user Hello Bum. 

I am going to mess about with my camera tomorrow and quite like the idea of trying to capture my own lingerie and clothes in this delicate lighting. 

This photo by flickr user Plume Rousse is equally stunning. 

A glorious day.

On Monday Kirsty and I wandered the city streets in the sunshine the next day popping into vintage shops and charity shops en route from the West end to the centre. 

What interests me is that charity shops these days have picked up on the idea of selling "vintage clothing" and often create a small boutique like area within their shop floor to display vintage product at its best. The thing is I always wondered why more charity shops don't do this to make them more "sexy" and appealing to a younger audience.

In Oxfam on Byres Road, antique furniture and floral patterned wallpaper (of course, no vintage look is complete without it) is utilised along with an old lampshade which acts as an earring stand. I particularly liked this 70s style top on the high-level bust. 

Around the corner, down Dowanside Lane, is an old Glasweigen vintage haunt 'Starry, Starry Nights' which in the wake of vintage fashion over the last 5 years or so, still hasn't lost its 'gypsy caravan' charm.

On Great Western Road, we popped into 'Watermelon'. I saw a saffron cardigan I was tempted to buy but decided it wasn't worth it. 

My only purchases of the day were this scarf from the Salvation Army at 99p and this matching necklace and earrings for just £3.95. Amazing bargains.

Some very cool use of tiling and an old sink in Urban Outfitters Glasgow recently. Just in a small section which was enough. It creates a point of interest for the clothing to displayed alongside. Pretty cool I thought.

Saw these vintage Justin worker boots. Perfect fit, pretty comfortable too. I love how clumpy , masculine and battered they look and they looked perfect with a new pretty feminine dress I was wearing and tights. 

£75, eek I'm a bit tight on money and I bought a little blue dress from Urban Outfitters last week so I didn't want to push the bank too far. (Went into American Apparel next door though and they had the same worker boots in white in their vintage section for £35!)

NastyGal.com

There's a website/online vintage store I subscribed to a while back and haven't visited in a while but today I had a look again to be re-inspired and subscribed to their blog. Based in San Francisco, the company offers a wide range of vintage clothing as well as unique, new designer pieces.

"Each item is unique, and comes with an individual history... giving it personality beyond what modern clothing could dream of recreating." 

This idea is really interesting to me and I spent an entire year of university investigating the relationship people have to their belongings and in particular, their clothes.

Although having never purchased anything, Nasty Gal is a great source for inspiration, something I would attend regularly for inspiration if I was a designer. The vintage pieces are always uniquely styled to look contemporary.

This video documents their latest fashion shoot for their upcoming Look Book - I really love what the stylists did with these looks.

I also just discovered that they held a Facebook competition for a uniquely stylized vintage outfit and will be holding another one this Spring. So get on it ladies.  

Ferragamo shoes

Here's a couple of pictures of some shoes I got in Topshop Oxford Street a couple of months back. I was going into the Arcadia group (Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Wallis, Topman, Dorothy Perkins, Burtons, Evans & Outfit) offices for an interview but couldn't resist the flagship store round the corner.


I was looking at vintage shoes and couldn't believe it when I came across... white sling back genuine Salvatore Ferragamo shoes in good condition, a perfect fit and at a bargain price. If you look cloesely at the photo below it says on the inner sole 'Saks Fifth Avenue. Salvatore Ferragamo Florence. Made in Italy.'

Here is what the Ferragamo website says about some of his vintage pieces:

"Precious. No, extremely precious.They're not just shoes and bags.They are symbols of style and creativity, icons of the Ferragamo brand, and shoe models created over the Twenties to the Fifties for famously seductive women such as Joan Crawford, Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, Ava Gardner and Marilyn Monroe.
Entirely hand-made and using original constructions, lasts and hides, they are collectors' pieces, the beginning of a limited and truly exclusive series."

I only managed to get a couple of wears out of them as it got a bit too cold. But rest assured I shall get them back out in the Spring time.

Vintage Gina shoes

I found these stunning vintage Gina London shoes in a charity shop recently for just £4! They are a size 4 and I am a 5 but I couldn't miss the opportunity of buying them as the are in mint condition. I figured I could try to exchange them in a vintage store for something else as they are definitely worth more than £4. I really wish I could squeeze my feet into them. 

This is my second bargain pair of Gina shoes. My first are a black suede 'Gina Paris' pair and are also in fab condition. I got them for 50p at a one-off 2nd hand clothes sale for charity where everything was 50p. Everything else was junk but I couldn't believe my luck. I wear them out when I want to feel particularly dressed up.