A/W 2012 Review | The Tartan Queen Goes Tribal

I have a bit of obsession for British heritage fabrics such as tartan, tweed and plaid. So it was an obvious choice to choose to cover Vivienne Westwood's A/W  2012 Red Label runway collection here on My Passport To Style today. Take a look at my favourite pieces from her runway collection. Westwood combined her impeccable pinstripe tailoring with tribal prints in very wearable shades, such as toffee, burnt red, denim and violet.

 Signature Style

 Her usual signature design elements were evident such as big bows on shirts, the floppy cowl neck ( used in dresses for both evening and daywear)  that she loves to use and the side fastenings on dresses and jackets. She is the mistress of layering pattern and texture and making it look exciting but at the same time elegant. 

Even The Great Get It Wrong

I liked her reworked version of Victorian spats, but felt her honey monster stripe rugby shirt was just not hitting her usual high notes, I am biased as I have never really liked rugby shirts on women, they are so boxy, I think it was a odd choice for her given how she loves to accentuate the curves of a woman. The tribal markings that were etched onto models legs were a bit clichéd and looked slightly tacky in my opinion.

Accessorize Watch Out!

 Accessories were strong, rakish hats wound with broad contrasting ribbon, pretty Aztec print broad scarves, large black fuzzy bags, pretty tartan totes and squat ladies handbags in blueberry tartan fizzed and popped on their journey across the runway. Verdict?  A very wearable collection, with a stunning  colour palette. What do you think of Westwoods A/W 2012 collection? Do you have a favourite piece?

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Stella McCartney S/S 2012 | More Than PJS And Paisley

When I think of Stella McCartney I think of pyjamas and paisley, two interconnected S/S 2012 trends that the Brit designer has been quick to translate with her usual elegant ease. The paisley trend has also been picked up by my hero of quirk Marc Jacobs for winter 2012, more on his A/W 2012 debut soon.  Stellas new S/S season is made of so much more these two heavy weight trends though. She's a designer who knows how to take one simple detail and work it to the max, I think it comes from her time working in tailoring and a real respect for showcasing the materials she uses in her designs. Here's an example that I was excited about sharing with you from her new handbag collection, she's taken zipper teeth chain and used it to create so many different moods/styles of handbag, these are my favourites from her Falabella collection . 

  credits paisley image - Nancy Davies

    

The Floral Factor

I'm taking a little breather from A/W 2012 fashion week posts and bringing things back to this spring 2012 and the coming season.  I long for spring after a pasty winter spent locked away with only my cat, a mug of cocoa and my pc for company, it always feels so alive with new possibilities. Right now it seems like  flowers of all kinds  are peeping out from every carry bag being toted down the high street, I've glimpsed hot peonies, cheery sunflowers and charming blue forget-me-nots,  ok I admit I am extremely nosey when it comes to other peoples clothes and clothing purchases but I bet I'm not alone!

Anyway here's my top money saving style tip, if you have a spring/summer wedding on the way buy into floral trends now whether you're a guest or the bride to be. Opt for sporty or casual floral pieces that you can dress down now and then primp to within an inch of their life and that will easily slip under the wedding  dress code radar. I like the idea of going slightly alternative for a spring wedding and wearing these cottage garden esque, high heel lace up pumps from New Look worn with a smattering of neon and a floaty dress.

Wedding dresses are often the focal point for designing the cake and choosing invitations so if you're on the lookout for wedding invitations to feature alongside your blossoming wardrobe for the special day, then look to vintage designs such as Vintage Wedding Invitations from www.brideandgroomdirect.co.uk , my favourite floral prints are the 'Bella Day' invites that remind me of charming blue French toile fabric , the very pink 'Rose Day' invites and the 'Jasper' invites in a delicate wash of sage green not dissimilar to this Warehouse 70's inspired dress, but you can choose your colour to fit with your own personal style. Thanks to my lovely sponsors at Vintage Wedding Invitations for sponsoring this fashion post.   





 Bag - Topshop, shirt, dress, - Warehouse, shoes- New Look, vintage wedding invitations - Bride & Groom Direct

Revisiting London

I wanted to share a few photographs I took durring a sneaky break revisting London and its sites in the week leading up to Valentines day.I stayed in this lovely georgian manor house on the outskirts set in 6o acres of parkland, I arrived to a Narnian wonderland it was magical! If you want the secret location email me! 

photographs of London by fashion blogger Sharon Sahara of My Passport To Style were taken from the London eye and various vantage points around the capital including good cake shops!  

Close And Personable Hollands A/W 2012 Collection

Something I read recently whilst doing my weekly round of fashion blogs has really stayed with me. A fashion blogger I visited who is pretty well known in fashion circles said she was staying away from the circus of London Fashion Week this time because she wanted to enjoy it at face value and not be sucked into bitching of who sits where etc, I admire a gal who knows her mind and can still enjoy and share the music that is fashion.

Seeing as I'm not there (London Fashion Week) either, for different reasons which I won't bore you with, the lovely words of the fashion blogger I just mentioned made me feel better about the whole thing. Just for the record I respect London Fashion Week and the designers that show there.

 I'm just happy for now to share my views at a distance and from the comfort of my armchair. So coming up are my favourite picks of the A/W 2012 Henry Holland runway show 'Ride'. With a little virtual catwalk commentary thrown in, i.e things I imagine I might have said had I been ringside that would have had no real bearing on my fashion blog or the proceedings!

Me - Hollands crayola zipzags, ouch! It's ok you just jabbed your elbow into me and my pencil for sketching has disappeared under that chair, its ok, I think I can manage without it, although it would have been nice to have.... you could reach under with your umbrella, really?! Whisper, thanks! Dull thunking sound as her umbrella zips forward like a snake about to launch it's venom beneath the sleek lines of the chair front left, flailing from side to side like a redundant windscreen wiper, shuddering as it hits the steely chair repeatedly.

I giggle nervously as the woman sitting on said chair swivels her head a whole 90 degrees in my direction and uses her x-ray fashion savvy vision to see right through my most stylish shirt, piercing my thermal vest that I bitterly regret wearing now given how warm the room suddenly feels.
 "Pencil gone", lip syncs my neighbour and kindly offers me a shocking pink plastic fan with black ostrich feathers that looks like what I imagine to be a freebie from baroque barbies wardrobe were she human size. Right where was I, ah yes, this is Holland at his best, simple clean flattering lines, supersized bright knit patterns create a print that is flamboyant yet still sophisicated, the riding hat punctuates the look with a regal grown up feel that elevates the look beyond playful. It's the signal, a deep sigh and the row including myself uncross and recross our legs again, pencils at the ready, as the next stream of Henry Hollands knitted dollies are launched from the wings of LFW's runway.   

I breathe in as the next model shimmies past in black sleek shiny skinny leather boot cuts, topped off, I scribble, with lemon hunks of giant dogtooth printed onto a chunky scarf and easy sweatshirt, clashing blue, perforated by a strip of hot pink.

 Still with me? Great! thanks for joining me.

I wriggle, I need a pee, I look round to see if sucking sweets is permissable and spot several suspicously bulging rose powdered cheeks. A quick rummage in my bag, trying to locate a mint, a strong waft of Coco Mademoiselle reveals my worse fears, my mints are now doused in it's heady scent, I wipe my mint on my shirt, feeling a little smug that I cunningly re-scented my blouse as well as helping control my bladder a little longer all in one swift move. A few raised eyebrows later and I'm back in my stride, in the zone, breathy with the excitement of Hollands next look. This dress has optical illusion written all over it, I scribble madly like a crazed professor, Holland has made 3d acid red, pink and purple with the use of pinstripes and shapes combined masterfully, bold simplicity of shapes and variations in the fabrics depth of colour as light hits each new pinstripe ripple in the skirt fabric are mesmerising. 

  

Cameras are clicking, popping and clucking like a clutch of broody robotic hen sounds in my ear, slightly unsettling, I try another mint, but truthfully I could eat a whole plate of something much more stodgy and northern right now if I'm honest. I'm thankful the next poor girl lovingly swathed in this blinding blue and brash clash of black leather and dog tooth, striding willfully down the runway has thoughtfully been shielded by Holland with her riding hat brim protecting her eyes from the glare of the constant popping of flash bulbs.Liquorish pipes spring to mind when I start to think of the next few metaphors to describe the contrasting leather sleeves and patterned bodice of another of my favourite Henry Holland sporty dresses from his 'Ride' collection.

 It's official I'm hungry! A quick glance left and right confirms that I'm not alone glassy eyed fashion editors have grown teeth of beaver like proportion and are gnawing helplessly on their black velvet pencils, perhaps dreaming of tucking into a truffle or two at their favourite restaurant? Finale word? I have really enjoyed Hollands use of leather in his A/W 2012 'Ride collection, particularly the red skirt top of this page and his fearless approach to hot colour's he has taught me yet again, when it comes to pattern more is more if it is transposed onto pared back shapes and I thank him for that and his gran!  

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Is Great Style In The Details?

A recent trip to London got me thinking about how important or not, the details in our outfit choice for the day actually might be to us as a nation?  Why did I start pondering on this topic, well at the risk of sounding slightly bonkers, what struck me when I was in London was that with everybody walking so briskly and rarely making eye contact on the tubes the main thing that everyone seemed to focus on was well, your shoes. Perhaps this explained our obsession with shoes, but not necessaily whether or not that the details that make up a whole look are still as important to our sense of style. Spotting a mens tie embroided with the sweetest bowler hat and brollies (and this piano satchel worn by a man about to cross the road) my closest encounter with snapping street style to date and if I'm honest very feeble as I did not even engage with the man in question as the great Satorialist would have done even for a back shot, no doubt, I began to get the distinct impression that we still love our detailing.

What are your thought are you big on detailing or are you a black dress and a great pair of shoes type of gal? Do tell!

My Passport To Style Image

Clarks shoe shop window display -My Passport To Style image

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Lomography | La Sardina Western Edition Launch Preview

Ok so what the hell do you post about on the eve of London fashion week?! Well it has be something pretty attention grabbing when many bloggers heads are currently buried in creating a fashion week schedule that works! I'm thinking that aside from what outfits fashion bloggers might be planning for London Fashion week and the impossible schedule they are frantically tweeking for any catwalk shows they are attending the next big thing on their list might just be a stylish camera fix. Lomography cameras uses wait for it, film! Producing fun but effective shots for those of you not yet familiar. Spookily the Lomography society has tapped into a key fashion trend for this spring/summer 2012 the wild west with their newly launched La Sardina duo, hey if Marcs Jacobs is showcasing futuristic cowboy boots then the wild west is a key trend as far as I'm concerned!

Marc Jacobs futuristic plastic metalic cowboy boot S/S 2012

Prepare to blown away by the two bravest additions to the Lomography family, made from oxidised metal that I just love, my bath taps in my authentic Victorian tub at home are made of the same stuff and still thrill me. The Belle Starr Lomography camera named after the most dangerous female outlaw of the time, decorated with a filigree pattern is my personal favourite with the Clever Coyote etched design coming a close second.

But how about I let you explore these beauties for yourself and check out their vital statistics for yourself. I'm thinking that adding a camera like the Belle Starr to your personal fashion armoury might not only provide additional street fashion cred but also make for a great tool to generate inspiration for offline fashion mood board enthusiasts and for those all important fashion presentations 
what do you think?

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Film Type: Standard 135 roll film


Exposure area: 36 x 24mm


Lens focal length: 22 mm


Aperture: 1:8


Angle of view: 88 degrees


Focusing range: 0.6m - infinity


Shutter speed: N (1/100), B (bulb)


Multiple exposure: independent MX switch


Flash contact: Unique Sardina flash contact


Flash Sync: first curtain X-type synchronization


Tripod socket thread: Standard ¼” tripod socket


Cable release: Universal cable release socket


Price: 179 EUR