SS13: MY LFW TUMBLE

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

As well as keeping up with what's going on in Milan and catching up on everything which piled up at the office while I was out at shows, one of the big things I have been doing is trying to plough through the hundreds (if not thousands) of pictures I took over the five days. Some you'll see in more substantial posts another time but others are just snippets, and so I thought I would share a tumble of pictures with you today to show u a few of the thingsI got up to during LFW....

FRIDAY

Backstage at Zoe Jordan, the looks and the models...

I have a soft spot for Emilia Wickstead who has a slightly unfair rep as a designer who just makes pretty dresses for society ladies. This was one of my favourite looks from her salon presentation, though  it is really only suitable for tall model types. I could totally get on board with an Emilia prom skirt though.

SATURDAY

Lara Mullen backstage after Daks

Ryan Lo's glitz spectacular to the tune of Azealia Banks at Fashion East

Latex dungaress by  Claire Barrow at Fashion East.

Gorgeous lilac tulle on denim at Marques' Almeida

 Jourdan Dunn outside Rag and Bone

Models in Barbie-esque boxes at Sophia Webster

SUNDAY

Finale at the lush Lucas Nascimento

Vivienne Westwood erects her climate protest flag, with a little help from Alice Dellal, in the middle of the Foreign and Commonwealth office. Love Viv.

The ACNE man plies us with drinks

Anna dello Russo arrives at the Phillip Treacy show

MONDAY

Really sweet make-up at Michael van der Ham

 Working the Alexander McQueen visor at Christopher Kane

 A sliver of Andy Murray's jumper and his girlfriend's side profile heading into Burberry to cosy up to Anna Wintour.

 Saskia de Brauw at Giles. Love her and want her hair.

Ballgown backview at Giles

 J.W Anderson talks to Tim Blanks after his show

TUESDAY

Poolside drinks at Tata Naka

 The set at Simone Rocha's super show

 And outside her show, there were perspex brogues galore on loyal fans- a definite signature

  Pretty, happy model backstage at Meadham Kirchhoff

 A box of Meadham Kirchhoff hats

 And part of the catwalk set-up at MK, think mussed up chateau with cake

STYLING IT UP: WHITE SHIRTS

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

Peter Lindberh's supermodels in white shirts (image from thefashionbloggers.blogspot.com)

Pretty much every "grown-up" lady I know has a perfect white shirt. It's a staple element of the wardrobe of most modern women. Until now, the white shirt has either been buttoned up with a suit for business meetings or worn loose and mannish as in Peter Lindbergh's supermodels portrait above. However of late, it's started to inch into actual fashion territory too.  By that I mean that it's been used as key styling tool on the catwalks and, most importantly, is Alexa Chung's new favourite thing to wear to big events.

Alexa in Christopher Kane at the Scottish Fashion Awards

In our day-to-day work, the FashEd and I are constantly hearing about how consumers are trying to save their pennies and are reluctant to invest in whole new looks. This makes the white shirt's new lease of life even more exciting for those of you out there who want to look of the moment with out breaking the bank. Step forward our new formula-

1. Take a blingy party dress from your wardrobe.
2. Wear with white shirt.

Ta da! Ok, so it's pretty simple but the basic principle is that you can revive old skirts and dresses just by wearing them a new and now way, namely by priming them up with a crisp shirt rather than baring flesh or using a cardigan  to cover up. Take it a step further by adding gems to the cuff or a ribbon round the collar. It is imperative that the shirt is taken far, far away from corporate connotations to achieve the right level of nowness- Kristen Stewart wore a Stella white shirt get-up recently which would have been rather fab had it not been for the overly staid jacket that got plonked on top.

Kristen Stewart in Stella (image from mydaily.co.uk)

Alexa in Marc Jacobs plus shirt at the Met Gala (image from mydaily.co.uk)

It wasn't actually Alexa who started this trend- though she's it earliest real life adopter. On the AW12 catwalks, there were white shirts sprinkled into many of the major shows. Giles' show notes even thanked Gap for the provision of white shirts throughout. Roksanda Ilincic kept the shirt within its menswear roots but added fur and sporty cuffs. Simone Rocha put huge knitted panels on hers while Stella's were embroidered in cobalt blue rococo patterns. 

Giles AW12 (image from catwalking.com)

Roksanda Ilincic AW12 (image from catwalking.com)

Here are our favourite white shirt picks, just keep it well away from a suit jacket, unless you work in a law firm...

ASOS £25

Reiss £79

Topshop £32

A DAY AT THE RACES

Posted by Bethan Holt, Fashion Junior at Large

The English summer is punctuated with social occasions ostensibly centered around sport- Wimbledon, Henley and, of course Royal Ascot to name but a few.  Today, I was very happy to be invited to join Harrods on the second day of this year's Ascot event. As an avid people watcher and fashion enthusiast (obviously) an event like Ascot is a treat to attend. If any of you have been watching and enjoying Grayson Perry's brilliant series 'In the Best Possible Taste' then you'd have loved the opportunity I had today to see how everyone from a Jordanian Princess to a Spearmint Rhino loving lad approaches a day at Royal Ascot. As one woman I overheard on my way home stated, "It's not really about the horses is it? I spent all day looking at the fashion".

Despite plenty of publicity surrounding Royal Ascot's new fashion police and strict dress code policy, it seems to me that there's still plenty of room for guests to express their version of occasion dressing. There were horsey upper class ladies in the paddock discussing the muscle tone in number 7's right leg who looked like they'd had their housekeeper run up their outfit from the old curtains. There were terribly chic older women in loose dress coats and just-dramatic-enough hats. There was also every kind of interpretation of 'fashion' from rebel girls in studded biker boots and vintage fedoras to TOWIE disciples in mega short body con and a layer or ten of fake tan. Interestingly, the further down the stand you went, the more 'trashion' it got. The Queen has been attending Royal Ascot her whole life and it's safe to say she has been witness to big changes in the attire of those who attend. If she's half the people watcher I am- she's probably not, as she's famously much more interested in animals than people- then the 2012 version is all the more interesting for the microcosm it shows of how we dress now.

So a huge thanks to Harrods for a delightful day out and for providing a conventional catwalk show of some great British designers to go alongside the all-day parade of what British women wear now.

What I wore today... Including a lovely hat from Mich Dulce- a Filipino milliner who makes hats with a bit of humour but not so much that you can't be taken seriously at an event like Royal Ascot, and in my opinion much chicer than a few feathers glued to a hairband.



A bit of a pap shot I'm afraid, but I think this must be Marie Mercie, who is well known for cat hats. This is the first time I've seen a summer style and I like very, very much.



Lace was definitely the biggest trend of the day. This navy lace was EVERYWHERE. It's from Next and is based on the Erdem style Duchess Kate wore in Canada last year.


From Prada guipure coats to this... That's the span of Royal Ascot fashion.



The horses were invariably handsome and groomed to perfection

The Fashion Show...

Vivienne Westwood

Giles

Ginormous Westwood shoes

Stephen Webster mini trilby

More Stephen Webster

Giles

Giles

Westwood

Giles

And something for the boys...

Todd Lynn