NUDITY AT LFW: Charlie le Mindu (this post contains images which may require reader discretion)

FYI, this post may contain nudity. (And by may, I mean yes). So read at your discretion.

If I had a superwickedawesome bod, I'd totally walk around Hackney with a jumpsuit made out of leopard-print hair.

Or maybe, I should channel my inner superhero and up the anti in a leopard body.

Or, as everyone knows, it is that hat that makes the outfit. So omit clothes. (PLEASE NOTE THIS PICTURE CONTAINS NUDITY)

Charlie le Mindu, you are my dream. It is people like you that make fashion week worth it. Cheers for being controversial. A dress made to look like a bird hasn't looked this good since Bjork.

All pictures from Blow online blog right here. Lots more there too.
Peace, Fi x

LFW: Jasper Garvida

I won't tell a lie. I have a soft spot for Jasper Garvida, ever since interviewing him. (Read it here). He is sweet, charming and hard working. I also think he is very talented, so his show in the Vauxhall Fashion Scout venue did not disappoint.
I'm sensing some old-school Luella inspiration (someone SaveOurShoes loves here and here). The collection was fantastically girly; lots of frills and sequins and candy floss top-knots.

Pictures taken from the amazing Push Pr blog here

Sequin trousers? Yes please. Frou-frou pouffy lilac skirt? Heck yes. Perfect for next summer's parties.

Peace, fi x

LFW: Fashion Fringe

For the past seven years, Fashion Fringe has been a platform for up and coming designers. Previous winners include Basso & Brooke, a show I swooned over this season.
This year uber-legend John Galliano was making the big decision between in Covent Garden. The three designers in this years final were Alice Palmer, Corrie Nielson and Jade King.
Absolute favourite for me was Alice Palmer. Maybe it's cause I like dinosaurs and her collection was inspired by fossils, but the dresses looked awesome.

Betty Flintstone eat your heart out.
Pictures from London Fashion Week gallery here.

Peace, fi

LFW: Spijkers en Spijkers

Floral print can do no wrong for me. So, it is safe to say that "Where the wild roses grow" collection by Dutch designers Spijkers en Spijkers can do no wrong for me.

Reasons why I loved this collection... Cut out panels... Orange floral print, which reminds me of a dress I had as a tot... Pattern/texture clashes... Playsuits (for the ease of playing)... Black sparkling buttons and black collars... The fact the collection is based around a murder song...

All images taken from BLOW Online from their blog. There are plenty more. Watch a video of the show here from On|Off , a nice way to pass fifteen minutes.

Peace, Fi x
PS Did you know you can get some Spijkers en Spijkers on sale from Supersweet at the moment?

LFW: Bryce Aime

Bryce Aime's next season collection left me craving Neopolitian ice-cream with crunchy sprinkles with a side of cold noodles. I liked Bryce Aime last season and I still like him. It was a change from the dark collection last time round
Pastel two tone tights.. Shift dresses with contrasting panels... Chinese snack box-style head pieces... Red chiffon next to gold tweed...

Pictures taken from Blow Online blog. If you know what's good for you, you might even look at more of them. You can check out the On|Off video highlights of the show here.

Peace, fi x

LFW: Fashion week fatigue

Are you suffering from any of the following symptoms?

• Shoulder pain as a result of lugging cloth bags full of press releases, hair product and oodles of Vitamin water
  

• Waving your shopping list in the queue of Sainsburys, in the manner of waving a ticket at a PR to try speed up the process

• Over analysing your outfit 24/7. Even at home. Asleep. On a Monday night.

• Cupcake-shakes

• Slight tremor in your eye as a result of dull champagne-induced hangover combined with lack of sleep and poor diet. See above re: cupcakes

• Constant burning of soles due to extremely impractical shoes

• The sniffles (mostly because your jacket doesn't match your sheer dress and you don't care about the rain)

• Twitpic-ing from the catwalk, which is the area where your cat walks towards her bowl of food and bed

• Your life feels empty with poundingpoundingtechnomusic

If you answer "Yes" to more than one of these, you may be suffering from "Fashion week fatigue". Commonly suffered by journalists, PRs and buyers, this syndrome is catching eager bloggers too.

Please do not fret. This is a treatable condition. Rest. Step away from Somerset House. Eat some fruit. I'm in recovery too.
In the meantime, I've got a few shows to ramble about over the next week or so. Nothing serious, just some light hearted chitchat about some great designers.

I hope everyone had a great (womens) London Fashion Week for S/S 2011. See y'all in February?
Fi x

Fashion Night Out NYC 2010

My Fashion Night Out virginity has been broken.

I remember September 10th last year sitting on my desk in Cork, Ireland, thinking to myself 'FML. WHY DO I LIVE HERE?'. I was green with envy reading and looking at tweetpics, wishing I was meeting and greeting designers like everyone else.

So when my friend Rosie asked me on a FNO date, I was ecstatic. It turned into a threesome when her mom came all the way from Florida just in time for the busiest night in Manhattan.

FNO bus!

Even busier than Times Square on a normal day!

The FNO website was overwhelming. Even though this was my first FNO, I could tell that people were making bigger efforts this year. Events were not only alphabetical, but also divided by neighborhoods. The list was too exhaustive, and we decided to just stick around Soho and see what's happening there. In the end we ended up in one my favorite boutiques now Kirna Zabete, Miu Miu, Topshop, Bloomingdales, Mango, and few other shops!

In Kirna Zabete I was swooning over Charlotte Olympia heels, Nicholas Kirkwood golden brogues and Balenciaga coats

The crowd at Topshop. You can guess the free drinks bar just opened at that corner!

In Topshop, trying on a fluffy skull cap.

Rosie trying on a 50 dollar headpiece at Topshop. Hmmm....DIY project?

Street style: Japanese inspired outfits. These are the best outfits I saw all night.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Ice cream/accessories truck, so adorable!

Walking around in heels all night sure made us tired, so we had spare pairs of flats in our purses. However, we did make a stop at payless shoes, and saw lots of dressed up ladies desperate for cheap pairs of flats!

Despite the fact that FNO's purpose is to promote shopping, I did not see anyone with shopping bags! People were lining and shoving for free drinks and food, celebrity watching and djs. And hey, who are they to blame. I didn't buy anything either! It was too busy for me to properly shop!

It was a super fun night, and I'm looking forward to next year!

The subway is the best place to take outfit shots. I'm wearing a top with leather flowers by la Vie en Rose at the Sunday Upmarket in London, a pleated skirt by H&M, Sonia Rykiel for H&M wedges, New Look hairband, and a denim Miu Miu bag.

How was your fashion night out? What did you get up to? Which city do you hope to see FNO expand to next year?

'Til next year FNO!

xx-LJ

LFW: Craig Lawrence Love

Craig Lawrence is a some sort of gold-thread knitting machine. His presentation today, as part of London Fashion Week in Somerset House Portico rooms brought out the magpie in me.
Four etheral models milled around the room, with a centre piece of white stools and a canopy made from a Craig-knit. Fashion types drank bloody marys. I mostly was in awe of the pieces on show.

His technique amazes me. It is literally a sexy chainmail dress.

Lord of the rings lady elves en route to a pre-battle party perhaps.

It's not like I could ever wear anything like this. Aside from not having ridiculously hot bod, I'd probably end up catching a thread in a door and unraveling, being left in nothing but some polka dot knickers.
I did wear a gold sparkley number though, cause I respect Craig's work that much.

All vintage except for the clogs, which are swedish and the black scarf which I borrowed from K'Bell and Nicholas King bracelets

Peace, fi x

reiss's pieces

Excuse my candy reference, but the Reiss pre-LFW party was pretty sweet. Hung out with Editor Emily from My Fashion Life and Daniella from the FBlog. Surrounded by lots of hip gunslingers in the Reiss store around Bond street. There was a lot of black leather aviators with shearling and camel trousers amongst the group, fashion forward ya. We ate popcorn and drank slightly suspect tasting ale (an acquired taste). I spent most of the evening drooling over heavy knits, leather trousers and a gold lace dress.

My trip to Reiss resulted in some Internet window shopping.

This skirt and cape will change my life. (Not an exaggeration)

What I like about their clothing is how (although it is pricier than high street) by throwing a few of their bits into your wardrobe, it will look like a million euros. Case in point, the Katrin leather skirt.

Also on-site at the bash, there was a photo booth. Cue silly faces and moustaches with Emily.

one editor and one goon in a photobooth

Peace, fi x

Sportswear chic (Berlin Style)

Is Sportswear Luxe going to a be trend stemming from the upcoming S/S 2011 shows in New York/London/Milan/Paris?

If so, I'm totes set for this. Last weekend, while on an adventure to Berlin festival in Berlin Tempelhof airport with best friend Leonora (QUICK THANKS AGAIN LEO FOR SUCH AN AMAZING WEEKEND), I found a wardrobe must-have. Well maybe. Not really.
Who needs a shell suit pants and jacket combo, when you can make a dress from them...

This is two euro I won't get back. Maybe I will never wear this. But if a sudden MC Hammer uprising occurs I'm ready. I bought this BEAUTY from the Boxhagener Platz flea market on a sunny Sunday morning.

More from the market (pics from Leonora)

The flea market was pretty brilliant, everything was dirt cheap and I loved the chilled atmosphere. Everyone seemed to be cradling a beer and random antiques. Berlin, on a whole, is an amazing city. Pity I don't speak German at all 'cause I would be all over that place like a rash, if I could communicate more than "Danke".

I'm gona bring back the shell suit. One dress-transformed-from-shellsuit-trousers at a time.

Peace, Fi
xx