// Fade to #C5C5C5

Nice Meeting You Kori

To be honest, though Alexander Wang is my favourite designer that I’m crazy about, I hadn’t had much luck on his shoe creations. The first pair I wanted to purchase was the Freja Boots.

As Wang doesn’t do half size and my feet happen to be UK4.5, I found EU38 of Freja Boots are too big for me and EU37 was simply too tight. Being not too good with those ridiculous height of heels, I chose to buy the flat version of Freja — Mirte flat lace-up boots.

The result was still disappointing. I bought EU38 and absolutely loved the look of them. However, I soon realized it will take me hell of long time to break them as they are in such a good quality of leather and they’re also in a high-top design detail. Therefore, when you walk in them, they don’t bend properly. Your walking position is in a funny stomping way. One summer morning I decided to stomp in them to work. Confident was how I felt at the time with every single eyes fixed on my feet, pain has quickly arrived after 10 minutes. With its open front design rubbing my toes crazily I arrived in the office covered in blisters and ripped raw skins. The adorable Mirte graced the Mother Earth for 20 mins and returned to the box. Painful was to describe my emotion and my feet, I had to put them on auction on eBay later on.

Then I hugely fancied Wang’s AW10 Wall Street collection with all those chunky clunky heel boots. I decided to go to Liberty to try them on first. Amber Boots were the first pair I tried on. They were indeed beautiful, but around ankle was just too narrow. Though designed with hidden elasticated section around ankle, I still found myself comedically stucked in one these bad boys. I had to call 2 Liberty assistants to pull me out.

3 seasons passed and I still can’t find myself a perfect pair of Alexander Wang footwear. It may sound ridiculous, but I found myself disappointing on all those gorgeous but non-practical Wang booties. Until…I met Kori.

Kori is part of AW10 collection. First glance at it, I thought it was too manly…and it wasn’t really in my favour. But soon after, I found myself drawn into it more and more. It’s designed slim and long, pointy but not too pointy. Perfect to wear them with skinny jeans or even denim shorts, it simply toughens up a pretty dress to add on that bit of Roch n Roll feeling. So nice meeting you…Kori.

Tags: Alexander Wang

Merry Christmas and Bon Voyage

Christmas is finally here and it brings a step closer to my little travel plan to Thailand. It’s always tricky to pack for traveling and one thing in your bag you definitely need is a good bottle of perfume, which gives you fresh energy. I’ve been looking for a while, and this one is just perfect from the bottle design to its scent and even its name. I introduce you Voyage D’Hermes.

Unlike any other perfume it has nearly no colour and some critics say it’s like water—barely there. But it smells really fresh with a hint of citrus. As we all know perfume always depends on each person’s body temperature to bring out the second note. Based on my previous sample test, I believe that I have the right body temperature. You could sense the cumin is there, and up against the cardamom and ginger, it is kept in check and makes for a light middle aspect that has unexpected complexity. Then the base returns to the mineral woody path which leads your mind traveling through a sun-baked earth.

What I love most is the bottle design. It’s absolutely ideal for traveling. Though a little 35ml bottle costs you £53 from Selfridges, the bottle is covered with a hard metal holder. And when you twist the glass bottle linked inside, it swirls out the head of bottle ready to spray. And did I say the best part of it? The perfume bottle is designed to be refillable which is very environmental friendly. The refillable bottle is 120ml and will cost you a very reasonable £65 from Selfridges.

Wrapped in Hermes trade mark orange bag, I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and ready to step into a brand new decade!

Tags: Hermès, Selfridges

What’s In Your Bag? – vol.2

It took me a while to find the next person to interview since the last ‘what’s in your bag’ post in April. Though it’s only the second, I am very intrigued to see what people have inside their bags. It tells so much about their personality. This time, I’ve interviewed another colleague of mine, Amelia.

‘so where is your bag from?’

- ‘Topshop. My favourite ‘wang-esque’ bag broke which was also from Topshop. So went to replace it but found Topshop stopped stocking it. Bought this one which has now taken over as my favourite! I’m loving it!’

very casually mixed and matched with bleach denim, worn-looking vintage tan belt and the vibrant rubber band by Marc Jacobs.

In Amelia’s bag she’s carrying at the moment – new Vogue Paris (special guest edited by Tom Ford), her YSL ring, Evian water, perfume by Paco Rabanne 020, iPhone 4, Sunglasses by Marc Jacobs, car key for MINI, little pony, rubber wristband by Marc Jacobs, cigarettes.

Chanel wallet was an 18th birthday wallet from her generous mum. Amelia is definitely keeping it for a few more years as it’s such a classic piece… She also refers her beloved MINI car as a female ‘She’ as ‘She’ has a personality in her eyes.

I think this corner tells quite a lot about Amelia. She’s fun, bubbling like freshest champaign. When asked about the little pony, she replied that was only 1 of 3 ponies from her. Colourful rubber band with tiny bells were cleverly sourced by herself from Shopbop.com (£10 for a set of 4), a terrific present for any friends.

Special edition of Vogue Paris is a hot topic on every fashion person’s lips as they are guest edited by Tom Ford. Very artistic and controversial which I’m going to blog about in a separate entry. YSL ring was a gorgeous amethyst, a well deserved real treat for herself.

I am sure you could guess by now that she is young, fun, full of energy and bubbly which was all her contents showing about. Oh and her plan for next handbag? It will be a Balenciaga CITY.

Tags: Alexander Wang, Chanel, Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford, Topshop, Vogue Paris

Fashionology: Gruau – Dior Illustrated Exhibition

In the first page of the booklet it says a quote by John Galliano – ‘To be inspired by Dior is to be inspired by Rene Gruau. His sketches capture the silhouette and spirit of Dior and a new era of fashion and femininity. His illustrations are timeless, ever youthful, ever faithful to the moment he saw; they capture the energy, the sophistication and daring of Dior, and equally are a token of an enduring friendship.’

It really is like…Gruau’s illustration could speak to you…

Flower Woman – below

Christian Dior’s love of flowers inspired him to create the New Look in 1947. Drawn to their architectural symmetry, their colours and scent, he aimed to transpose these qualities on to the clothes he designed: ‘I was drawing flower women, soft, sloping shoulders, generous busts, a slim waist and wide skirts like flower petals.’ Rene Gruau understood and shared Dior’s passion for flowers, and when Dior asked him to create drawings for his perfume Diorissimo in 1956, Gruau initially presented the young woman in the nude. Although Dior was impressed by the boldness of the illustrator’s vision, he eventually asked Gruau to dress her in an elegant black sheath dress.

Diorissimo, 1956, below

was designed around the notes of Dior’s favourite flower, lily of the valley. As lily of the valley’s essence cannot be extracted, the perfume uses a blend of other flowers to recreate its scent. To reflect this, Gruau illustrated a mixed bouquet to evoke the spirit of the fragrance.

Miss Dior was originally a line of bath products. And to assemble that theme, Gruau has created some illustration with girl whistling in the bath.

There’re real photographs being cut and collaged onto the illustration. Those days without computer…

Dioressence (below) was created in 1979. The illustration for the original advertising campaign for Dioressence was inspired by the Belle Epoque society paintings of Georges Clairin. The image of an elegant woman reclining in a hammock conveys perfectly the exotic Haute Couture spirit of the scent.

Below illustration was called Miss Dior created in 1961, inspired by Venetian dominoes, recalls the great society balls of the post-war years, which were often hosted by mutual friends of Rene Gruau and Christian Dior.

For Dior’s second perfume, Diorama, Gruau chose to depict a neo Louis XVI chair onto which a woman has tossed her elegant gloves and scarf. Gruau understood better than anyone the power of the symbolic gesture, and in his drawings for Dior he often referred to the 18th century, a period of great influence for Christian Dior.

This illustration Dior-Dior 1976 is inspired by the techniques of Japanese calligraphy. The model is positioned in a large character reminiscent of Gruau’s own signature. The play on space gives a strong sense of the immaterial quality of the fragrance.

With swirly pattern carved on the body of the perfume bottle j’dor limited edition 2003, it truly represents the concept of the perfume as ‘a drop of gold’.

…below 2 illustrations are for stockings campaign…very cleverly portraited and drawing people attention to its promotional point.

…I wonder whether Lady Diana took her hair-cut inspiration from this illustration which was created during mid 60s…

…they are just so divine, magical and… Christmasy…

The exhibition overall has a genuine feeling of Christmas which is also helped by setting at Somerset House. With the ice-stating ring and Tiffany temporary shop set outside, this exhibition would be an ideal Christmas visit set into your diary.

Tags: Christian Dior, John Galliano, Rene Gruau

if you can’t afford a Chanel…then…

then share a laugh with us here…..

image sourced from Jakandjil.com/blog     re-edited by QueenYoung

Tags: Chanel

Alexander Wang Sample Sales

Should I jump on a plane to NYC for this??

Tags: Alexander Wang

Liu Wen 刘雯 – Estee Lauder New 2011 Ad

My favourite Chinese model Liu Wen has got many honor under her belt, first Asian model to walk Victoria’s Secret, first Chinese model within top 10 world model chart, and of course the very first Asian model for Estee Lauder. She explained a while ago about her relationship with Estee Lauder is like a lovers’ dating relationship, both got passion for each other and both getting to learn each other. This is quite a sweet way to describe. So all of us have been waiting for the ‘gossip’ of their first date and here, finally, comes the details out…first imageries of Liu Wen for Estee Lauder.

Tags: Estee Lauder, Liu Wen

Hunger Pains

I recently stumbled upon these incredible pictures by NYC-based photographer Ted Sabarese. In this series, each model’s clothing is made entirely of real food and depicts a meal that the person was craving. Sabarese shot this series in January 2009, so in other words a long time before Lady Gaga wore her meat dress.

More pictures after the jump

» Read the full post

Tags: Ted Sabarese

A Story Behind Lanvin X H&M

It has been over a week over the buzz of Lanvin for H&M event and I’ve only just got time to tell what has happened during the event. As I walked into the H&M on Oxford Street in the morning, I collected my time-queue wrist band which allows me to enter the security guarded area at 11:25am. I had another hour and half to kill and plus by realizing the mens Lanvin X H&M collection was actually downstairs in a separate section, I walked down escalator in a search of the mens tuxedo jacket in cream white.

Shop assistant told me they have only ordered the Navy version of the tux. After trying on both 36 and 38, I decided to choose the bigger version to achieve the boxy look which was demonstrated by Anna Dello Russo during previous Fashion Week time.

After the easy success of grab of the navy tux I realized that I still had another 1 hour to kill. So I turned to my Twitter account to get some news on the updates by other fellow fanshionistas. Suddenly one of my favourite bloggers 00o00 tweeted his frustration of getting onto mens site of H&M website. 00o00 has always got this magic ability by explaining some financial complex side of fashion in a super easy way. By readying his blog in the past time has lend me a natural trust on this person who I’ve never met. He had an operation on knee/leg recently and had to stay at home under doctor’s advice. I totally could understand the situation. So I  thought it would be easy for me to grab something for him since I’ve been admiring his blog for this long.

A few tweets and communication with radio waves (I mean mobile phone) later…I’ve got everything off his shopping list. I am quite proud of myself for helping out on this case. As I said before, shopping is like a fate, when it means to be yours, it will become yours. The end of this story was I met 00o00 later and handed over the goods. It’s really great to see how much joy you could bring to people. It turns out that 00o00 also speaks Chinese and we chatted away about our fashion views and even some iconic Chinese singers. To my surprise, he brought a little gift to say thank you. It is an expensive fragrant candle by Cire Trvdon which is now happily burning and that festivale scent is now floating around my house. Happy Christmas everyone!

…and PS, 1 hour later that day, I got what I wanted off my shopping list without any hassle

Tags: Cire Trvdon, lanvin

World AIDS Day: A good start

For the past 16 years, charity t-shirts benefiting World AIDS Day have been part of every collection from Maison Martin Margiela. The t-shirts are produced in different colours with contrasted text every season, and bear the following quote in English:

“There is more action to be done to fight AIDS than to wear this t-shirt, but it’s a good start”

In addition to the seasonal English version of the t-shirt, this year the cult label has decided to issue the t-shirt in another language than English for the first time ever – and the language they have chosen is Japanese. The limited edition t-shirts featuring the above quote in kanji-characters, will be available exclusively at Maison Martin Margiela stores around the globe today December 1st, on World AIDS Day.

Each year, the maison donates a percentage from the sales to a French charity called AIDES – an organisation dedicated to the fight against HIV/AIDS. Over the years 170 000 t-shirts have been sold and the sales have brought a contribution of more than 700 000 Euro to the charity. There is perhaps more actions to be done to fight HIV and AIDS than wearing a t-shirt, but hey, as the maison say themselves – it’s a good start.

Photo source: Julien Oppenheim/Selectism

Tags: Maison Martin Margiela, World AIDS Day