happy halloween!

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I like being practical too

I like cold weather. It means warm jumpers and I'm most certainly a jumper person. I have mentioned here before my never ending quest of finding the perfect grey jumper - slouchy, slightly 80s, that sort of difficult to describe material, jersey - ish maybe? Suffice to say I haven't found it yet. Topshop have a really fantastic selection of jumpers this season. I love the one with the slightly garish diamond pattern especially and am seriously fawning over Alexa Chung's studded jumper. For me the perfect jumper is oversized, slouchy and thoroughly retro, in fact the kind that has certainly seen better days. It should be either grey and loose or with some sort of gaudy pattern or even in a mildly obnoxious shade. Or for a bit of luxury, mohair is the way to go. Indeed, a black mohair jumper is my fantasy item of the moment. As you can see from the below collage, oversized knitted cardigans are on my mind too. Same rules apply with added grungy - ness. Speaking of which, if you really want to look grungy, why not borrow one of your dad's old jumpers, the sort with zig - zags and diamond patterns and dull colours. Cool and retro on the cheap, I'd say, we are in a global recession, afterall!

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Oh you pretty things!

So there's all this talk about Victoria Beckham and her new 'do as though it was exactly that new. In all due fairness though, I think she should be applauded. Going short was always going to be a daring venture except that this time she's gone even shorter - respect! The 'Pob' garnered universal 'OMG - ing', publicity, copy - cat hair styles and all that, here's hoping her following (which I gather are quite the flock) will follow suit once more .

The pixie hairstyle is one of my all time favourites. It exposes one's features, lays them bare without any unnecessary hair curtains dangling all over the place. It's edgy without being too much but at the same time is mildly girlish and innocent. And let's face it's very sixties, of course I'm a fan.

Long hair is great, goddess waves, feminine curls, sophisticated straight tresses, all good yet sometimes I think too much of us are hiding behind our hair, relying on it for validation from the opposite sex, a symbol of our attractiveness and femininity as females. I guess there is plenty of time to 'go short' when we're a little more mature but surely short hair should not just be considered 'old' or masculine, when it is neither of these things but quite the opposite in fact, as my collage will show! I for one can't help but wonder how invigorating it must be just to let go and go for the 'chop'.

And just to say, I don't plan to make Victoria a regular feature on this blog, too 'Look' magazine for me..
I realise too that she actually got this hairstyle a while ago, I'm not that behind on celebrity culture!

(click to enlarge)Mia Farrow had the best hair cut ever, surely? Although Twiggy and Edie are not quite at the pixie length they still pretty much rock short hair. Yup, I can hear the shears as we speak...

Talking 'bout my generation

Recently the always inspiring Stevie at Discotheque Confusion posted about the 'Great Hipster Debate'. I had thought about posting on a similar note myself, primarily focusing on the increasingly uniformed brigade so - called 'hipsters' have become. Indeed, I remember a comment from another blogger under the Discotheque post noting the same thing. My thoughts on the subject have changed somewhat from my original cynicism (mingled with a reasonable amount of jealousy over the ridiculously cool wardrobes some hipsters possess) on the matter. Hipsters can certainly look very similar, despite the 'indie' culture they are supposed to represent, there's a look, isn't there? Grungy, sloppy, vintage/retro - isms, layers, a touch of kitschness, basically a mix - match and bit of this and a bit of that ethos, all in the name of cool. Just go on Facehunter or some scenster website and you'll get the idea. My thoughts have now turned to the idea of the Hipster Brigade as a youth culture and in turn an established fashion movement in its own right. Perhaps, this is merely pointing out the obvious and I'm just a bit slow at remarking on it but it's been playing on mind a lot at late. Is the hipster our generation's mod or new romantic; an era defining youth/fashion culture? As someone who has a reasonably ample interest in youth/sub - cultures, it's fascinating to take a step back from present day culture and observe. Will the noughties be remembered for emos and hipsters? With hipsters hand in hand with art, music and not least fashion movements, it's certainly looking that way.
Is the hipster movement the way you want fashion to be largely remembered in years to come?

Even Vogue UK is getting in on the young hipster act albeit the more wholesome ones. Juno Temple, Hannah Murray, Nicholas Hoult, Giorgia May Jagger are featured looking sufficiently cool among some other less well known, presumably rich 'hip' English kids.

How does the hipster movement compare with fashion/ youth movements of the past, including my beloved mods? (any excuse to make a pretty collage about them!)

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Apologies for the sporadic posting. Its hectic, hectic here. Will try and catch up on comments as soon as poss.

Notes on Paris

I was a bit rushed off my feet last week, which left me with no time to prepare a substantial post. I generally try to avoid Fashion Week posts as I think there is only so much one can say when we're months away from said season. Besides, you know me, I like the oldies better! Although no longer a hive of activity, I'm feeling rather lackadaisical right now on the whole so here's a few random musings from Paris Fashion Week, which is managing at least to keep me enthused.

Usually I'm not much of a Stella fan. I never dislike the shows, usually quite like a number of the pieces and enjoy the immense wearability of her collections. The problem is the overall feel that generally misses the mark with me. Too slick, too noughties, too minimal, too clean cut. I find her collections have that late 90's sensibility of luxury - brand - basic purism that is great if you're an affluent career woman but not so if you're just watching the slideshow on you're computer screen. The good news is I really enjoyed this one. Probably because of the dominance of oversized blazers and YSL style androgyny but also because of the obvious trendiness of cute dresses, high waisted trousers and loose playful garments.

I might be over - exaggerating but it appears to me that 50's style is always a firm favourite for the spring/summer season. Giambattista Valli has adopted the look for his latest collection and 50's Balenciaga was certainly a constant on the inspiration board. Indeed, its seriously 50s, no paint splashed 50's volume like Dolce and Gabbana last spring. Its lace, its cream, its prim and proper, Sunday services kind of stuff, stiff petticoated skirts and neat capes. Regardless, I like the pretty fusty - ness. I am dreamily in love with Nicolas Ghesquière's sping collection for Balenciaga, especially these otherworldy space age lovelies. Never thought it was possible to make such uber - modern - techno clothes look so romanic. Star - crossed lovers, indeed.
There is a lot of spangle going on in other areas of the collection. I love when you can look at a collection and already envision it being used to the greatest level in editorials and this is certainly the case with the latest Balenciaga. It's glittery, its sparkly and its incredibly feminine in parts, in that famously post - modern way, of course.