Never Judge A Book By Its Cover

I am not going to bother writing more than 100 words on Gossip Girl as it simply does not deserve it. For all its gloss and preppy style it didn’t shape up to my expectations what so ever.

Think of every televsion cliché you have ever seen in any Americana soap/teen movie, add some seriously one dimensional characters and you have the over rated new drama GG. Uber rich families with deep, dark skeletons in their closets, self obsessed teens with dirty martini drinking problems, posh boys with posh fathers who want them to go to Dartmoth and would you believe the boys want to go to Brown!!!! blar blar blar yawn yawn yawn– seen it all before.

I am so terribly embarrassed that I carried on about it so much and even stooped so low that I bagged Carrie and her infamous corsage. After watching episode one of this truly pathetic attempt at television I began to recall the excitement, the tears, the laughs and the inspiration we all received from the SATC ladies and realised just how much I miss them and their crazy shoe buying ways. Bring back the corsages, bring back the stolen silver Manolos, bring back the sordid love affairs with/in NYC bring on May 30th, I’m going out to reserve my movie ticket now and cant apologise enough x

Gossip Girl

How did I miss this? How did I not know of these books? When did this ridiculously gorgeous program launch on our airways? Is it even on in London yet?

Maybe all of you "come to my flat we have Sky" people are already 'so' ahead of me or maybe the fact that I don’t even have a television, yes , its official I don’t own a television and yes there have been cases where major international issues have come to the fore front, are dealt with appropriately or inappropriately and then they go away again and I completely miss the whole thing; makes for a very bad dinner guest and awkward questions such as "the war on who?" * God forbid I would miss such a major turning point in fashionable television though. At long last we can all stop lording the oversized corsage of Carrie 'who should have stayed with Aiden' Bradshaw. It’s been 5 years ladies move the hell on and keep up.

All hail the preppy New York private school fashion of Leighton Meesters alter ego Blair, she is by far the biggest fashion crush I have had for quite some time. Bring on navy blazers, red, white and blue stripes, ruffles, head bands and over the knee socks, I’m in private school fashion heaven. I want to squeal I’m so excited at my find… all I have to do now is get one of those TV License thingys???

* disclaimer: my ignorance towards current affairs has been exaggerated for reader effect. Honest.

Brussels Brugge and Berets

I found the most fabulous quote today and felt the need to share it with you. “Sometimes I wake up and I think I should start wearing a beret, but I don't do it. One day I'm gonna, though. You bet your ass, I will have a beret on. That's ridiculous, but it's true. I always fight with wearing a beret.” Mitch Hedberg I have always been a big fan of the Beret, however, am yet to don one while in Paris in fear of being too cliché, personally I don’t mind the cliché I have been known to wear sailor inspired stripes to boat related events and believe strongly in always wearing headwear and gloves to a race day. The Beret in France though may cause too much of a fuss with my travel mates so I left it behind on my recent French adventures. I did however don numerous berets on my trip to Belgium last week (French/Flemish it all has a French theme doesn’t it?) My mother was visiting Belgium with some friends and I decided to hang around for a few days and to my surprise I found it a wonderful wonderland of fashion with my most exciting discovering being the magic of the Antwerp 6, a group of influential avantgarde fashion designers graduating from Antwep's Royal Academy of Fine Arts. A phenomenon that apparently established Antwerp as a "notable location for fashion and design" – who would have thought? Sadly my budget didn’t allow me to purchase any of these delightful treats and the stupid sales assistants didn't allow me to bring you back any real life snaps but hey with the Euro Star dropping you off in Brussels in fewer than 2 hours why not drop in over the weekend?

Australians And Their Endless Summer....

I figured it was fitting to honour an antipodean designer in my first post as I’ve really been missing the Australian fashion world and its accessibility of late. Considering I hail from the lucky country I wanted to draw attention to the creative genius that is Alannah Hill. Too often more humble Australian designers are over shadowed by the mega success of our big guns – the ever lovely Collette Dinnigan and the sharp work of Akira, not too mention every bodies favourite denim duo Sass and Bide (huge favourites of mine during my university days). For some odd reason the Aussies have an extensive array of work that doesn’t seem to have cracked into the EU market, maybe they don’t want to, maybe it’s a choice, maybe they are all happy down there with their endless summer and long beaches. Personally I think it a shame Londoners and Europeans alike are missing out on our talent and if I’m to be honest I’m simply showing off a little. If you’re a fan of ‘everything old is new again’ Miss Hills wardrobe is for you. Collection after collection she brings Australian women delicate lace and satin camisoles, antique floral tiered skirts and bejewelled cardigans with bow and button details. Rich jewel coloured fabrics in deep mahoganies and purples give her flagship store on Sydney’s Oxford St and the Melbourne and Brisbane stores a 1940’s theatrical boudoir ambiance. I also heard on the fashion retail street that all staff must at all times wear a full red lip, head piece and heels – that’s my kind of uniform.
p.s I stumbled across a fantastic website that brings some of my favorite ‘Thunder From Down Under’ together in one site, enjoy a peek into what we can offer at The Fashion Review.

Me And My Tea Dress

How does one open her very special, brand new blog?
Something witty? Thought provoking? Inspirational even?
I figured I'd go for vital stats and a simple introduction.

On these pages I plan to comment, collect, photoshop and generally chit chat about all things that I find aesthetically pleasing and stylish from my current high end fashion crushes (that I fear I will never be able to afford) to the excitement I get from finding unique one off second hand pieces in and about London town. I love collecting magazines and the smell of opening a new edition along with milling around old dusty book fairs (however I can't purchase any at the moment as I'm living abroad, books + travel = logistical nightmare and sore arms). I also currently walk aimlessly around European antique furniture markets wishing I had a home all of my own to put it all in alas I simply take pictures that sit alone and sad on a memory card and hopefully one day will be used as part of a mood board as inspiration when decorating my very own flat.

In my questionable 20's I believe that over the years I have managed to create an individual sense of style with a dash of quirkiness "slightly Parisian with an artistic flair" a very kind friend once said, however, an old colleague was once over heard saying "kind of English rose with a little too much around the middle" note: Im neither English nor (at that point) carried too much around my middle, not so complementary but as the great novelist once said "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about" oh to have been a friend of Mr Wildes.

I am a beginner in the world of blogging and due to this ask for your patience, I am by no means a professional or an expert on what's hot and what's not, I'm just a girly girl who likes pretty things I do however hope you enjoy the words that will unfold here and admire the pretty pictures I post.