Chateau De Gateau & My new found love of cake decorating

Quick non fashion related post. I have recently started a Cake Decorating course and am now absolutely obsessed. I’ve always loved baking but wanted to learn how to make my cakes look and taste more professional and also get to grips with intricate decoration.

Chateau De Gateau – http://chateaudegateau.wordpress.com/ shows some of my creations so far.  Just the beginnings at the moment but hopefully I’ll be a piping wizard in no time.

Thanks for looking

There is absolutely nothing to eat in this house…….

A non fashion related post. If you like family cooking then take a look at my other blog http://thereisabsolutelynothingtoeat.wordpress.com where I have challenged myself to cook 30 different family dinners over the next 30 days. Day 1 today was Spanish Chicken….

Misty Mayhem

There is one week each year that all my fashion sense goes out of the window. When embarking on a family holiday in this country heels are replaced with plimsoles and my normally obediant hair overtaken by something not disimilar to an 80’s Diana Ross do. Humidity is not my friend.

Yet I something inside me yerns to not care about whether I should be this season’s pastels or that I need that Mulberry bag. A week in Cornwall is my outlet. A combination of a particularly badly packed suitcase and some dull drizzly weather for the first few days leaves me wondering what the hell I was doing. Yet as the sun emerged by Monday afternoon I slipped with ease into dressing like I didn’t give a damn.  Mismatching shorts and vests, sundresses I wouldn’t normally even admit I own and my battered old gladiators…well, got a lot more battered. I’m not sure I could give up fashion for good, but how refreshing to realise how happy you can be in clothes you worn for 3 days running.

We all got caught short though when on Wednesday morning as St Ives’ mediterranean looking sky and burning sun went out like a light along the coastline as an eery thick  sea mist enveloped us all like a blanket.  Goosebumps all round.

Hollywood Royalty: Grace Kelly

Hollywood actress and Princess of Monaco. To celebrate her life in style, some of her most iconic couture gowns and accessories will be on display at the V&A’s from Mid April until September this year in a glorious exhibition – Fashion for a Hollywood Princess. Included are the infamous Hermes ‘Kelly’ bag, named after the actress and her wedding gown worn for the ceremony when she wed Prince Rainier.

Just aswell known for her ‘ice queen’ persona as hercool blonde waves, this picture I think shows a softer side to Kelly rarely caught on camera.

 

My Mother – The Style Icon

It’s 1978 and the all American Beauty is at large. Nut brown tans, perfect white smiles and big blonde blowdrys. In the same year, my mother is photographed at a party.  It’s my absolute favourite picture of her.  Petite, she stands elfin-like amongst the suited men and over done women.  Her hair in a short expresso coloured crop, understated yet pristine make up and a simple black off the shoulder dress. She looks beautiful and it perfectly embodies her desire to be stylish yet to always look like herself. The ultimate advocate for classics, my Mom doesn’t follow big trends. Instead she know exactly what suits her and chooses to add small updates each season to bring her look up to date.

Her timeless staples always include, a good pair of dark jeans, a trench, a white shirt, Breton stripe or ten and a simple shift.  Yet she looks ever fresh by introducing the subtlest of changes each season; a new cut ,small detail in a fabric or a quirky piece of jewellery.   

I’ve always been a big fan of customizing and altering pieces to fit properly or add an unusual touch.  This is definitely a trait I have inherited from Mom. She would tell me stories of how she and her best friend went every Saturday afternoon of their teens to buy a few yards of material from the local haberdashery market and knock up a dress to go dancing in that night. She remained handy with a needle after she was married and lead to me being introduced to fashion and sewing at a young age.  We would spend hours stitching scraps of material together to make oufits for my Barbies.

Naturally, I became interested in my own clothes (and that of my mothers that I used to try on and eventually borrow as I got older). My first shopping memory is being taken to House of Fraser to buy a winter dress coat.   I always loved Department stores as a child.  After we’d rifled through the haberdashery section for, what seemed like hours, we headed to the children’s clothing department.  The purchase was a navy blue wool A line coat, satin lined with a velour collar and a silver chain inside to hang it up.  Even then I was aware that this was probably the most expensive item my mother had ever bought for me.  I loved it so much I was distraught when I grew out of it and have spent much of my adult life trying to find a similar one.

Instantly hooked, style has remained a big part of my life ever since. And although I may look to magazines and celebrities for some inspiration, Mom will always be my number one icon.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom.

Everyone’s Wearing: Tribal Pants

Don’t Laugh because you’ll all be wearing them soon. Well, some of you. Maybe just the ones that always though Timmy Mallet was an unsung style hero.  Anyway, they’re everywhere.  Bright harems in deluxe fabrics in daring geometric, tribal or animal prints. Don’t even think about wearing them with any kind of sports shoe though, these are not casual trousers.  These area sexy, grown up alternative to a print skirt.  Wear with your most fierce of heels, a leather jacket and a lot of attitude.

A Single Man

After watching Tom Ford’s A Single Man this Saturday I am feeling a fresh surge to revisit all things 60’s Sex Kitten like. Hair subtly back combed and monochrome eye make-up like that of the drunkenly fabulous Charley (played by Julianne Moore). Enough flicks of eyeliner to rival Twiggy.

Yet Moore is not the only eye candy in this Film. It is visually perfect in every aspect. George (Firth) and his impeccable collection of formal wear of course, go without saying. But also, the innocence of Nicolas Holt’s character (Kenny)and his mohair sweater. The precision in which George’s belongings are arranged in his exquisite condo. And the subtle, yet intensely powerful way Ford uses colour to portray George’s emotions during this picture. You feel every inch of his grief as the colour drains away to muted greys and browns. Yet, in essentially what is a film about mourning and suicide, there is a massive warmth as Firth brilliantly portrays a character who cannot help but find joy in the small things he sees in the world around him. And the colour quite literally, comes back to his face.

Visually Stunning.

Bonjour Bien-mis

Looks to be inspired by.

I hope to share with you via this blog some of the people, images and trends that make my relationship with fashion a solid  life long partnership.

It’s not just new collections from the high-end fashion houses that are a source of inspiration for me, but also real style.  The kind you see when a trends filter down to us mere mortals and my joy at seeing someone who successfully choreographs a look that embodies an appreciation of fashion with a portrail of utter confidence, giving you a visual invite into their personality. All while looking like it’s been acheived in about 5 minutes with a ‘couldn’t give a damn’ attitude, of course.

It goes without saying though that I am, naturally, influenced by commercial fashion as much as I am street style. So you will also find on this blog my favourite trends and looks of the season along with lust-worthy apparel or beauty products I stumble across.

I hope you enjoy.