MY SUGARLAND CAR BOOT SALE

This has been a bad week for blogging! My laptop has gone to the place computers go to die and this has coincided with the busiest week at work ever and my most social week this year. I'm off to Paris today so normal service will resume on Tuesday, but I couldn't leave without posting about this amazing event happening this weekend which I am genuinely quite gutted to be missing out on.

My Sugarland, another of the amazing fashion gems I am lucky enough to have on my doorstep, is holding a carboot sale this Sunday 30th January. If you've never been to the shop before it's a always a treasure trove of vintage and designer pieces but for this event Celebrity Stylist Zoe Lem has cleared out her styling pieces and props providing items which "range from the well known to the obscure, from the casual to the bizarre". Sounds intriguing, no? And prices start at a mere £5, surely an event not to be missed!

Thanks to My Sugarland for the images

PLEATS

If pleats are 'the thing' to wear this season, then I want to wear them like this. With a pop of colour...

Images from Wildfox and Vanessa Jackman

PRE - FALL FAVOURITES 3

Lanvin outdid themselves with the lookbook. That's all that needs to be said. Love it.



Images from style.com

PRINT

Following on from my post about Proenza Schouler, I've developed a 'thing' for printed shirts



Printed Shirts, Just Female
Images from ASOS.com

PRE - FALL FAVOURITES 2

I'm loving this longer than a midi, but not quite a maxi length, below at Preen and Proenza. Predicting more of this in the AW11 shows and my dress I bought in H&M before Christmas suddenly becoming 'on trend' as much as I hate that term. More on that dress later, it's my latest favourite.


Images 1 & 2 Preen
Images 3 & 4 Proenza Schouler

Images from style.com

ON THE SUBJECT OF VINTAGE

When I took these pictures I'd just got back from an amazing vintage shopping trip to Camden Passage. One of the better parts of my job is getting to shop for inspiration (yes shop and get paid for it!) and on this particular day everything fell into place. There are days when you have to look really hard and rummage to find something worth while, but on this day, luck or something was on our side. If you've never been to Camden Passage (nowhere near Camden, it's in Angel) you definitely should. It's a treasure trove especially on Wednesdays and Saturdays when the streets come alive with a vintage market. Two recent additions to the already long list of vintage clothing stores on the street are Too Faced Cat and personal favourite Decadent. There is nothing like an enthusiastic owner with genuine enthusiasm for clothes and their history, that makes me want to part with my cash more.


Hat, Shirt and Skirt - Vintage
Necklace - H&M
Boots - All Saints

PRE - FALL FAVOURITES

Celine has been the collection to talk about for the past few seasons and Pre-Fall is no exception. I love the way this lookbook has been styled, with a sixties flick of eyeliner and a slicked back ponytail. Most people who know me know I never wear trousers or jeans (especially jeans) probably because I've always struggled to find them long enough, but I'm feeling a resurgence towards trousers again, probably because it doesn't matter whether they're long enough right now. Super skinny with just the right amount of ankle showing is how I want to wear them.


Images from Style.com

COCO AVANT CHANEL

It's pretty outrageous that a Francophile such as myself let the film Coco Avant Chanel sit on my shelf for A WHOLE YEAR, still in its wrapper. I don't know why I never felt like watching it, but I'm glad over Christmas I found the time to. The whole thing had me captivated from beginning to end, the story, the dialogue and of course, the clothes. The film really brought home how revolutionary Coco Chanel was, introducing a more androgynous and needless to say more comfortable way of dressing for women.
I love love loved every outfit Audrey Tatou wore in the film. In an interview I read she sounded pretty nonchalant about the costumes and said she didn't keep a thing. I would have fought for the dress on the bottom left (unfortunately I couldn't find a better image, you'll have to watch the film) which was made from the dress on the bottom right and a mans shirt. Also loved the breton stripes, classic but they never get old.


On the subject of France, in little over a week I will be in Paris! I cannot believe it has been two years since my last trip. I am extremely excited to speak French, lunch in Le Loir Dans La Théière and drink lots of vin rouge. I used to know Paris so well, but I'm sure so much has changed and I can't wait to explore and find new haunts. The lovely Kristina has already provided me with an great list of recommendations which I'm working my way through with the help of Time Out Paris and google maps.

Please share your favourite Paris hang outs!

DRESS DOWN

Yesterday I had my own dress down day, I just felt like comfort needed to be a priority. I love this jumper. When I bought it I didn't want to wear it too much, it was a bit like the ubiquitous high street item of the moment, but now people ask me where I got it from and whether it's vintage. Will be one day perhaps. Weird thought.

Jumper - Topshop
Skirt - Vintage
Trainers - Converse

FILM LIST 2011

Somewhere
& Black Swan
& The Kings Speech
& now this...

PLAYLIST

On NYE morning, I made pancakes and played music to dance around my (tiny) kitchen to. Since my new year's resolution is to cook more, this playlist has become a bit of a soundtrack for January.



Music to make pancakes to.. (click the title to open in Spotify!)

Quelqu'un M'a Dit - Carla Bruni
Stand By Me - Ben E. King
Don't Get Me Wrong - The Pretenders
The Girl From Ipanema - Frank Sinatra
Limit To Your Love - James Blake
Boys Don't Cry - The Cure
Moon River - Henry Mancini
I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin
Close to Me - The Cure
Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien - Edith Piaf
The Lovecats - The Cure
Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar
Night Air - Jamie Woon
My Baby Just Cares For Me - Nina Simone
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Bennie and the Jets - Elton John

MARKETPLACE

Happy New Year!

Finally I have found some time to sit down and blog and what better to post about at the beginning of the year than getting rid of the old..
I joined ASOS Marketplace as soon as it launched and in less than two weeks I sold my first two items. Now it's the new year, I've vowed to clear out my wardrobe which is bulging full of once worn and never worn garments that could very much do with going to a better home. I will be steadily adding new things each week (weather permitting - taking pics street style as required has its downfalls in January), here's a taster..



Keep an eye on the collection here: https://marketplace.asos.com/seller/hardtochase/collection

I must admit, the thing I like best about Marketplace is your funds from sales go into Paypal and you can use Paypal to pay for purchases on both Marketplace and ASOS.com (yes I know buying more clothes defeats the object of trying to clear out my wardrobe, but the less said about that the better.

I leave you with what I wore on Christmas Day, before it gets too late to post about it. Remember when it snowed and England came to standstill? Wow.


Dress by Tba
Moccassins by Minnetonka