I'll tell you what I want...

Do you find that the items on your wishlist change frequently? Obviously, the things I want are dependent on season, so for example at the end of winter this year, I hadn't fulfilled my desire for a simple cashmere jumper and right now that's the last thing I want.

A few months I had a serious craving for a trench-coat. Then the heat turned up and that wish got sort of discarded. But now that it's raining the whole time, I am desperate for one. If you'd asked me two weeks ago what the one thing was that I really wanted, I could have answered you straight away; a sunhat. In fact, I am still on the hunt for a nice straw trilby but the urgency has definitely subsided.

There are, of course, those clothes which do not have any relevancy to the weather. Around a month ago, I was searching high and low for a red skirt. Right now, there is nothing further from my mind (although I would be a very happy bunny to receive one...) and my major lemming is for something leopard print. Now this wish has lasted for a very long time but it recently resurfaced when I spotted that leopard print trench. And today I watched a marvellous movie where one of the characters had the most wonderful faux fur leopard print coat. So in a couple of weekends, totally out of season I am going faux fur coat shopping. Unless, naturally, I decide I want something else.

Victime de la Mode

Most people agree that there is nothing less fashionable than a fashion victim. But what exactly is a fashion victim (or une victime de la mode, if you want to make the term sound more fashionable...)?

The archetypal fashion victim, in my head, is runway thin, wearing a big fur coat on a swelteringly hot summer day and stiletto heeled leather boots to catch the bus. Every aspect of her aesthetic is entirely based on fashion, with absolutely zero regard for practicality. In this way, she has become a victim of fashion; sacrificing good food, animals, her health, getting places on time and comfort all for the sake of fashion.

With such a definition in mind, I was a little bit of a fashion victim yesterday, when the only bottoms which looked right with the top I wanted to wear were a pair of tight black trousers. These trousers are so tight that my friend thought they were leggings, despite knowing that I categorically do not wear leggings. They are so tight that after several hours I have to unbutton them at the top, so that I can breath. These tight trousers noticeably reduce my flexibility so much that after a while walking, my calf muscles begin to hurt.

Yet I (nor anybody else I know) would never want to see myself as a fashion victim. Despite the fact that a fashion victim might have highly coveted figure which looks oh so cool on Sasha Pivovarova, those sky-high YSL Tributes which any sleb worth their salt has been snapped in and a trillion 'investment' Birkins, she is the epitome of uncool. She is a slave to the trends, zapped of any personality by the strict laws of Fashion Magazines. She has no awareness of which 'trends' suit her body shape, only a vague idea that a belt at the waist is totally flattering for absolutely everyone.


But isn't this idea a little bit old now, isn't it getting a little bit stale? Aren't we all fashion victims in one way or another; maybe because we wear too-tight-for-comfort trousers because they're the only ones that go, or maybe because we're secretly obsessed with Trinny and Susannah (sorry, I mean Gok). Maybe we have a slightly unhealthy addiction to buying Grazia, or perhaps we pop onto the TopShop website a little too much. So when I saw this absolutely fantastic poster for road safety in France, I loved it, because it completely renews the definition of fashion victim for me.


Are you willing to die for the sake of fashion? No? Then pop on your reflective safety jacket, and don't become another victime de la mode (come on, even Karl agrees).

The Birth of Octopuses

I had a couple of posts that I was planning to write up and publish today, but this fantastic tidbit had to take precedence.

You see, I have a couple of fabulous dresses. Serious, below the knee affairs. But they're so damn elegant that I really have no place to wear them. Except, one time, around November of 2007 I decided to go and watchh a film at the BFI Film Festival. And I was desperate to wear the beautiful gold silk dress I had recently acquired. So I pulled on a pair of purple tights, some battered brown boots and a great big duffle coat (there was some serious rain); I was still the most over-dressed person there.

It may be slightly worrying that I can remember an outfit which is over 6 months old in such minute detail, but to me it is completely understandable because I had such a fantastic night; it was a stunning movie. The film we watched is called Naissance des pieuvres (click on link for brilliant myspace page), literally 'The Birth of Octopuses' but the English title is Water Lilies. Both names are very apt for this breath-taking story of teenage love, with some of the most beautiful scenes centred around the beautiful Florianne, who is a synchronised swimmer.

The film came out in France in August, the UK premiere was in November and I read at the time that it was coming out in our cinemas around March, but I never saw any listings for it and so couldn't watch it a second time, which I love to do. So I was delighted to check onto 4oD (channel four's online tv service) and see that Water Lilies is available to rent. I urge any of you who can access 4oD (it's free in the UK) or even if you can't, to go and find it and watch. I think it was one of the first films I've seen which is truly unique (my film-watching has surged this past year) because of its wholly un-Hollywood approach. There are plenty of pauses, beautiful cinematography and of course, the obligatory vagueness ... you don't always know exactly what's going on.

For Posterity.

I have frequently documented my adoration of top to toe, One Colour Outfits. They need a name... they probably have one, but as you can likely tell, my impressive vocabulary is pretty much limited to words beginning with P. In fact, I was about to do a post about the fantastic word 'pulchritude' and its fascinating connotations but I realised that there is very nearly no-one (apart from me) who is interested in my ramblings about words. I should totally study etymology.

Anyway, as I said, I am obsessed with the idea of these wonderful outfits. Bonus points if they match the wallpaper. I've been harbouring the idea of a One Colour Only Wardrobe for a long time. In fact, there's always been a colourcentric element to my shopping.

This leads to this post. For Posterity. It combines two of my favourite thing, words beginning with P and One Colour Outfits. It should therefore be a top favourite post, however that would be cheating because I have effectively stolen the idea from the very talented Clothes Horse. I've already told her that if my cheekiness is, well, too cheeky then I am happy to take this post down. But for now, I shall post these delicious photos that she found on style.com from a couple of Haute Couture collections. That the One Colour Outfits (OCOs?) can be found in more than one collection is indeed wonderful news, because it means that me and the top designers are on the same wavelength. Great minds and all that.

Watercolours

As a child, I always had the essential set of watercolours but they were rarely used. I was far more likely to be found experimenting with charcoal, feathers or trying unsuccessfully to replicate the texture of acrylic with bog-standard paint and glue. I could never find anything remotely appealing in the life-like, but insipid watercolours (such as those painted by Hitler which I blogged about here).

A couple of years ago I received a watercolour set from a good friend, and I truly appreciated the fact that she didn't just go out and buy me some candles/socks/pencils/cheap jewelry as almost everyone else had. They came in a fantastic array of vivid colours and there was no way I was diluting the 'Viridian Hues', 'Burnt Umbers' and 'Aquamarines' with a splash of water.


Because the paint comes in these great little tubes, I have taken to using them as if they were acrylics. Squeeze a little onto the desired area and spread around with purposeful untidiness to create that wonderful textured look which I love so much. Obviously, my crafting becomes wholly amateur in comparison to Picasso's stunning art, but I've always enjoyed trying to emulate the expressive brushstrokes that are present in his work, as well as many other artists.

However, the truth that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder' is made extremely patent here, because there are many people out there who actually prefer gentler watercolours to the less perfect texturing I find so beautiful. And I can see their point, the picturesque landscapes for example can be very relaxing. But it is my opinion that total perfection, flawlessness if you will, is a flaw in itself.

Hello @ 22:31

Wow, I've had such a tiring week, and I think it's been reflected on here. The posts are a little hurried and random, but I have been so overwhelmed that there has been less chance to stop and reflect.

-I do adore being busy. The wonderful rush of things to do, not having to stop and experience boredom (truly the WORST emotion, no?). Sometimes business is just a way of distracting oneself from the blues, but you're always going to need to stop and in my experience, then you feel lower than ever. Right now though, it's just a fascinating sort of busy and on Friday I almost felt like time stood still for a moment and I wanted to freeze it, freeze that moment in the wonderful sunshine, but of course I couldn't. And now it's two days later. I am constantly startled by how quickly time flashes by. I sometimes wish I regularly wrote a diary, which would somehow capture time better but there simply are not enough minutes in the day. Or that I wrote letters. I am STILL reading the Mitford letters and recently there was a quote which fascinated me. One of the sisters, I can't remember which, said she wanted to start a diary, but she didn't need to because of how many letters she wrote. I don't think this blog would be a broad enough record of my life; I wouldn't want one detailed enough to satisfy my future curiosity online anyway. Maybe these Sunday posts could function as a record instead?

(I do know that I missed last week's post, I don't know how that happened!)

-And in a blur of frantic eventfulness, today has been a lazy break. I have stayed in my pyjamas all day, much to my embarassment. I have prepared a post for tomorrow but other than that I have done very little work at all. Does a little bit of laundry count? I watched the wonderful movie Secrets & Lies and munched on popcorn. I found it in the video library (am I the only person who uses them? It's always empty) to rent but they couldn't find the disc. Soon they realised it was because it was filed in the second hand section, so I bought it instead. To rent it for a week would have been £3; I bought it for £2. Bizarre. It was such a touching film, I absolutely adored Timothy Spall and in my mind, his and Phyllis Logan's storyline far overshadowed the main storyline of Cynthia and Hortense. On a side note, what an amazing name is Hortense Cumberbatch? I audibly gasped when she mentioned her surname; I have been in love with the actor Benedict Cumberbatch solely for his name ever since watching Atonement. Oh, is anyone else as obsessed with IMDB as I am?

-I have got a handful of spots these past couple of days. This always happens when I don't get enough sleep, or laze around a lot which is hugely annoying. But I can never tell if this is a coincidence and it is just a happens-once-a-month kind of thing. Well, in that case, I'd better be off to bed.

What a Feeling!

For me, one of the best feelings is giving someone a present, which they love. There is an old-fashioned belief that giving gifts is accompanied by more happiness than receiving them (I had to word that sentence soooo carefully, or it sounds soooooo wrong) but most of the people I know disagree.

I, however, stand firmly by that idea, because it is so beautiful to see a gift being well-appreciated and it adds more cred to my self-given title of 'Chief Present Buyer'. Plus, as someone who is hugely fussy, I tend to be disappointed by most surprises. Then there's all the present wrapping, all recycled naturally, card making and general excitement of giving the present. Buying a gift for someone comes with all the thrill of making a purchase for yourself but none of the guilt!
Still, I am willing to concede that there is little worse than struggling with finding someone a suitable present. You fight with the uncertainty of whether they will like it. Normally, your first instincts are right and if something jumps out at me as 'so xxxx' I buy it for them even if it's the wrong side of their birthday. Better in the long run, but annoying right now with a couple of presents still overdue after a day of shopping (somehow I managed to find a dress for somebody whose birthday is in over a month).

Then there's the fact that I can't wait for my impending birthday, because I saw the dress my friend has got for me but she won't hand it over...

Sneak Preview

Well, I'm back and feeling a lot better, thanks to you guys who wished me better. I think it was only one of those nasty 12 hour bugs because I was fine the following day, merely super-busy. And at the end of the day, super-tired.

I have been missing reading and commenting all your fantastic blogs and my mind has been buzzing with a trillion different ideas. I was going to start again tonight but it appears I am too tired to be able to knock up a decent post, with pictures. Instead, here are some of the ideas I've had going around in my head which should soon arrive as fully-formed posts.

-The little details. When we see an outfit, we notice the main features; the beautiful dress, bold hair colour, statement necklace. But I read somewhere that it's the little details which separate you. Healthy hair, neat and polished nails, clear skin, well-ironed shirts, the tiny buttons and pleats. I'd like to investigate this idea further, and see how it has been presented succesfully in different ways.

-Costume design and The Importance Of Sewing. I'd love to do another post about costume design and the absolute art that it is. I have definitely realised how much effort goes into elaborate custome design and am also realising more and more how when a great deal of effort is put into costumes, it adds so much to a performance. But can costumes be simply an excuse/diversion for worse elements elsewhere?

-Pick 'n' mix or integrity to period? I know I keep coming back to this idea but it entirely fascinates me. In modern times, the most fashionable ensembles seem to be ones which mix different styles and eras, but looking back to earlier decades/centuries and even current couture collections or costumes for film and theatre, a great deal of importance has been placed in maintaining a consistent style and period in an outfit. (accompanying photo is a screenshot of the first page that comes up on a google search for 'de-prettify' - when you take a girly look and add a hard edge i.e. you pick 'n' mick. Interestingly, several of the images coming up are of Queen Michelle at Kingdom of Style)


-The purpose of entertainment. An unusually interesting essay title got me thinking about this one and it sort of links on from the second idea. There are so many different reasons why someone may reach for the 'unessential' entertainment of books, films, TV, music or art. This is such a vast area, ranging from politics to evoking emotion. To me, good entertainment is something which induces an emotion (other than boredom). This is why a film which makes me cry is more beautiful to me than an elaborate production with stars, couture and multimillion pound sets.

As you probably picked up on, a lot of my ideas are centred around performing. This is probably influenced by my current mood and as a result the ideas are all linked so that I couldn't possibly make a full post on all of them. So I thought I'd cheat and give you a sneak preview, and ask, esteemed reader (if there are any of you left), which ideas would you most like to see explored?

And how are you?

Silver Lining?

Just when things started getting interesting at work, I acquired the mother of all stomach-aches.

6 hours later, I've thrown up 4 times. It appears my feet have decided to switch with my stomach.

I also noticed that I forgot to do Sunday's off-to-bed post... hang in there, normal service shall resume shortly (I hope).

And the silver lining? At this rate, I'll be looking like Kate Moss.

Puns, my foot!

I was trying to think of a suitably witty foot-related pun for this post title, but I soon realised that the issue of foot is, well, not very funny at all.

You see, I currently have very sore feet. Coming back from a 24kish hike was nothing in comparison with the soreness induced by a day of sales shopping on a Saturday in a pair of red ballet shoes.

It was upon arriving home with some very unhappy feet that I slipped on these:

Ugly, hideous, unsightly to the extreme, FitFlops are truly the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn. Seriously, when your feet are lacking a little bit of love, these babies are more comfortable than bare feet. Despite this, I haven't been able to venture past the corner of my street in these FitFlops and have therefore been desperately trying to come up with vaguely nice outfits incorporating comfortable shoes.

On Sunday it was a super soft pair of leather pumps which are so soft that they feel like cushions. Until you start walking around central London in them for a day. Then your soles start to suffer.

Yesterday it was a brand-new pair of comfy, supportive white mocassins which required plenty of plasters for new shoe adjustments. At the end of my (first full) working day I slipped on a pair of the famously comfortable Havaianas. Bad mistake... a year of non-use led to ever sorer soles.

So today, I knew what it had to be. No, not the FitFlops, not quite. Trainers. But it had to be hot, and therefore I had to come up with an alternative to my normal comfy fall-back combination of a pair of Nikes and some skinny jeans. I decided on a dress and Converse, although not high-tops, which make me feel like a try-hard hippy. No offense hippies. My low-tops are either too small or too big but my mother convinced me that the too-big pair would be fine with some ankle socks, and they did match my outfit beautifully. I soon realised they were still too big. Out came the storage socks that are guaranteed to lurk in the bottom of my bag, stuffed down the back of the shoe. All was well. Until a sock fell out.

Tonight, the only shoe I could face, bar the FitFlop was the Birkenstock (isn't this post just reading like a list of commercial comfy shoes companies?) - I even painted my toenails a pleasant shade of pink in preparation. So when the weather forecast predicted 'heavy rain' for tomorrow, I metaphorically screamed with exasperation. And began to see the FitFlops in a whole new light.

And it is upon finishing this post that I have decided that am never to try on a pair of crocs.