Private Detective

When I found this little trench dress in London and I immediately fell in love with it!

I love the feminine reinterpretation of the famous coat, I love the cape shoulder, I love the high neck buttons etc etc.... I could go on and on soooooooooo I'm in love with this dress... voila just wanted to show you one out of my (millions) great londonian found!!

ciao bisous

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dress Hurwundeki / Shoes Alberta Ferretti / Bag Vintage / Hat Les Canotiers du Marais

Matthew Williamsonizer

Parisian store before the official opening last Thursday

I have to share this with you; this is one of those days when Lily is feeling completely fashionalistically sad!!!
My disappointment is huge when I say huge I mean gigantesque!!!! Life is unfair….

Time has come once again, and all fashionistas around the world were in the starting blocks, waiting for the new Matthew Williamson collection for H&M to come!! The H&M collaborations with designers have become an institution, some pieces are even collectors (remember the tuxedo vest by Lagerfeld).

Well here we go!! The 1st Part of the collection was officially launched last Thursday in selected stores (200 worldwide) and more democratically mi-May a second collection in all stores. As I could manage to catch a little glimpse of the collection before, which was very promising, I got all excited and impatient to touch the pieces in real (and avoid the Comme des Garcons disappointment…). I want it all, I want the perfecto leather jacket (still i'm wondering if i can put dhs 959 in an H&M jacket even signed by mr. W himself), I want the electric blue suit, I want the sequins dress, I want the SJP belt!!!

Ok the big question now is: what about Dubai??

As I was getting very curious to know the release date in Dubai… and decided to give a quick phone call to MOE boutique. What????? May 14th??????? But Whyyyyyyy????????
Hang up, start sweating and calling all the shops…. ‘Matthew who?? Euh noooo sorry I don’t know m’aam…’ grrrrr

6 phone calls, 6 hang ups later and 6 arguments later... i was trying to understand:

Are we not fashionista enough to have the 1st part in exclusivity,at least in one of the UAE’s shop? Not enough Williamsonizer material?!?! Is it a test to see if we can book a ticket to Paris just for that?? Okay 1 week difference is acceptable but 21 days to wait non non et non!!!!!!!

I got even more nervous when my girl friends in Paris started sending me emails like “I got the blue electric vest and peacock dress, and you??” grrrrrrrrrrrrr told you life is unfair!

So H&M decision maker if you can hear me I hate you!!!!!!

Photos www.lexpress.fr/styles and H&M website.

ChEap And ChiC

Because fashion doesn’t necessarily mean expensive (yeah right!) eh I’m serious here especially nowadays when we gonna have to start being budget conscious. Perhaps the credit crunch psychodrama is starting to hit me and my conscious!!! Hit my legendary optimism and taste for nice (expensive) things!!! Poor little careless addict girl… :-) To illustrate my new fresh resolution I decided today to put together a complete trendy outfit for the less dirham possible.

Since the world entered into recession, we have witnessed a whole new attitude, example:

Old Fashionistas: ‘thanks darling, yes I know my new Choo’s are fabulous and you know what they also cost the price of a new car and I’m going to wear them only once ahahaha (posh laugh)!!’

New Recessionistas: ‘thanks darling, you won’t believe it but Top Shop!!! My shoes? Yes this season-IT YSL caged heels, so comfy; I think I’m gonna wear them all spring!! This necklace? Vintage flea-market…

This season more than ever will be cheap & chic, mix & match, designer & street wear! Tips: Concentrate on key season buys, mix a lot, be creative and have fresh attitude.

High-end designers’ brands are launching affordable fashion lines meant to be worn by everybody. Comme des Garcons, Lagerfeld, soon Matthew Williamson in H&M, Alber Elbaz jeans line with Acne etc etc… even It-girls like Chloe Sevigny are showing the right example on the red carpet. Bye bye total designer look!

I have to admit H&M, TopShop, Zara or American Apparel have always worked well for me I even a few times found very good stuff over there and I’ve always loved spend time truying to find the good vintage piece in flea-market.

So far the only protected area was the shoes; I could compromise on many things except the shoes. I’m designer shoe conservative. Because for me cheap shoes can ruin a whole outfit. Until that day (in London) when I entered New look (skipped very fast the clothes and went directly to their shoes section) and found those gorgeous everyday brown leather sandals. Doesn’t mean that I’m going to forget all about killer statement pricey heels but time to time it feels good to be reasonable, at least for this month! :-)

Time to be creative, wise and save! Or put on a jeans-white tee…. Bisous

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liberty print combi-short H&M (dhs 159) / Belt Vintage (5euros dhs 22) / Shoes New Look (dhs 189) / Hat Canotiers du Marais (10euros dhs 50) / Watch Vintage Casio from Urban Outfitter (dhs 75)

Liberty Cheri

Well it was about time for me to write a little something about the liberty. I realize that for couple of weeks now I have been attract in shops only by liberty print, one T-Shirt from here, one little dress from there etc… this is usually how I suspect something happening…

Fashion magazines and other trends setters have already announce actively the come back for spring/summer and I can’t be happier!
I kind of love the liberty fabric coz it reminds me my old little girl flowal dress that my mum used to made me wear matching a very girly little hair band. Yeees I was girly!!

We are going to be surrounded by this famous pattern next couple of months. The dresses, accessories and even shoes are going to be all Liberty! Okay calm down ladies, we are not going to dress head to toe like cherry blossom trees and play virgin suicides remake. Non non but little touch here and there hmm definitively! Like for instance a nice liberty dress with a vintage brown leather belt and gladiators sandals. Or to avoid the ‘too girly effect’ you can go for a liberty jumpsuit, skirt, short or even liberty harem pants… don’t laugh I swear I saw it and it’s gorgeous!

As I just come back from London I need to share that with you, I just discovered that liberty fabric took its name from the beautiful department store on Regent Street.

Particularity of the Liberty: beside the original design (small and tights flowers or geometric art flowers) different colors palettes, it’s usually an expensive fabric mainly due to the high end quality of cotton/silk crepe or satin etc used.

http://www.liberty.co.uk/

For the adventurous ones, you can get your own liberty fabric and easily tailor made your own creation.

So Liberty Go Baby!

Cacharel special Liberty 'Ephemere' collection S/S 09

Limited Edition Nike Air Force 1 Liberty print

That's Vogue

There are little things in life that can make you feel simply happy, like sunlight in winter warming up your cheeks, hot and fresh pastries for breakfast, remove the alarm timer before falling asleep, 60% off at YSL, receive beautiful roses any day beside 14th of February, enjoy company of good friends, reading the last chapter of an intriguing book, have your favorite dish for diner, find the perfect pairs of jeans the kind you know that is going to live with you for couple of years, have the last piece of lemon tart, Parisian coffee terrace with your girlfriends on a beautiful spring day, wearing for the first time a new pair of stunning shoes, wish happy birthday to someone close to you etc etc….

Thursday, something happened that made me feel happy all week end long… I received by post my first Vogue issue (French version), YES I finally subscribed last month for a whole year of Vogue attitude, coz (for whom it may concern), they deliver to UAE!!! And now no need to beg anyone I know going on a trip to Paris to bring me the magazine copy anymore… I am going to receive it every month!

That’s the Vogue effect…

To subscribe check www.vogue.fr

My LoNdOn Shopping Guide

Vintage shops

Rokit: Brick Lane Street. Aldgate East or Liverpool Street Station

Beyond Retro : 110-112 Cheshire Street. Aldgate East or Whitechapel Station

Absolute Vintage : 15 Hanbury St. Aldgate East or Liverpool Street Station

Blondie : Unit 2, 114-118 Commercial St. Liverpool street Station

Music and vinyls

Music of the universe: Soho. Covent Garden Station

Clothes, accessories and decoration

Topshop: 36-38 great castle street, west end. Oxford Circus Station

Hurwundeki. Liverpool Street station

Urban Outfitters: 200 Oxford Street. Oxford Circus Station

Miss Selfridges: Oxford Street. Oxford Circus Station

Primark: Oxford Street. Oxford Circus Station

COS: Oxford Street. Oxford Circus Station

New Look: Oxford Street. Oxford Circus Station

Designer Guild: 276 King’s road. Oxford Circus Station

Liberty: 214 regent Street. Oxford Circus Station

The Office (Shoes): Carnaby Street. Oxford Circus Station

Cath Kidston: 28-32 Shelton street. Covent garden Station

Flea Market

Portobello ( Portobello Road). Notting Hill Gate Station

Camden market. Camden Town Station

Spitalfield market. Liverpool Street Station

Brick lane. liverpool street Station

Bakeries and tea place

The hummingbird bakery: 133 Portobello road, Notting hill or 47 old brompton road, south kensigton

Tea Palace: 175 west Bourne grove, Notting hill (currently relocating)

Restaurants

Beach Blanket Babylon: Carnaby Street. Notting Hill Gate Station

Sausage & mash: brushfield street, liverpool street station

Museums

Tate modern: Bankside

British Museum: Great Russell Street

Saatchi Gallery.

London Calling

After couple of races on Oxford Street, 3 Darjeeling tea, 4 English tea, 56 cupcakes, 8 buses trips in 3 days and way too much taxi drives (gggrrrr); 7 hours flight, 6 kilos exceed weight luggage fees (ggrrrrrr) yes way too much shopping… I’m finally back from my trip to London and as predicted I found some pretty good stuff over there.
I still can’t believe how inspiring londonians are. Everywhere you go I bumped into some crazy look, crazy style... but what amazed me most was the fact that they are all natural in their unnatural way to dress. They all look like they have been born like that! Perhaps they are all coming from post punk parent’s generation ‘punky-baby boom’ generation. Kids of Sid Vicious and Debbie Harry.

I have to admit when I see a stylish Parisian girl on the street you have the feeling that she knows it as well, or that she spent the whole morning studying her look before leaving home (I’m exaggerating a little and don’t get me wrong I’m the worst...) but in London they simply don’t care (yes daaarling). Books and discs stores are great, vintage shops just heaven, tea time a whole experience and pubs just decadent.
I really felt like jumped back to the 80’s. Nothing snob, nothing boring, nothing common.

And the girls ah the londonians girls, well we all know they are stylish, not chic, elegant or anything like that but blood hell they are stylish! And among all completely free, free to wear the shortest skirt possible in winter, free to wear the reddish lipstick ever, free to put on the craziest hair do ever, free to wear used tights with holes, free to wear dots, stripes, colors colors and colors…wow





My best hangs out was in Portobello for the flea market, Brick Lane for the vintage, Notting Hill for the tea time and cupcakes indulge, Camden Town for the true punk London spirit of it and Soho/Covent Garden for the boys fashionable looks… Just in case you decided to pass by London soon here some of my fav’ places on my address book

I thing I will have very soon another London calling!

Bye daaaarling, bye looove

Thanks to my friend D. for being such a great host.