What I wore on Saturday night

It is a hard week ahead of last minute work before I finish on Thursday. My mind is filled with a very long to do list so I've gone for an obvious post on what I wore! Saturday was birthday party invite central and I took the petit garcon to his on Saturday afternoon and got back home in time to change for mine on Saturday night (not my party but the one I was going too).

Just as I was going out of the door I ran back upstairs to take a quick photo of my outfit. I really love this skirt which is an Antik Batik buy from eBay.

Antik Batik sequin skirt eBay, Velvet jacket given to me by a client, black long sleeve tee Isabella Oliver 365, black tights John Lewis & black Pierre Hardy for Gap shoes (2008)

High Street Pick of the Week - The 2011 Style File

No self respecting 30s or 70s girl would be without her palazzo pants. But what to wear with these super sassy trousers. Well, the sun has been shining so forward thinking is the order of the day. I'm still living my island of Mustique fantasy and am thinking day to night.

By day wear it poolside on its own and by night just add the palazzo pants.

Glitzy Embellished Swimsuit £30 Accessorize

Old red legs

Yesterday I was teaching and since I talk about colour and blather on about primary, secondary and complimentary colours as well as light reflection and refraction, I always make sure I wear a bit of colour. But, I'm having a complete graphic moment with my love of black and white and only want to wear a black or white palette. When I'm wearing neutrals I make sure I put colour elsewhere.

Earlier in the week I picked up a dress in Gap for £9.99 and decided to wear it yesterday with my red tights which I bought two years ago and wore a lot but then have left them alone. I've included a photo someone took of me in Feb 2010 at my MA showcase evening. I'm on the phone, it is tucked in between my right shoulder and ear and putting some things out, which explains my stance.

DVF dress, John Lewis red tights, Clarks purple suede shoes

Then here I am yesterday morning before going off to work. Please note the non Agent Provocateur mules in the background as pointed out to me by teawithonesugarplease on twitter!

Gap dress, John Lewis red tights & Zara shoes

Elizabeth Taylor, one dress, one hell of a woman

It is hard to imagine Elizabeth Taylor as anything other than glamorous and living life to the full.
Her outstanding beauty and her acting ability made her a true Hollywood star. Her contribution to fashion and celebrity were two fold. I'm sharing two extracts from my writing on Elizabeth Taylor.

The first is about Elizabeth's wearing of a garment designed by Edith Head:

'The new market of the teenager was deemed a 1950s revolution and Edith Head had her first success with the sweetheart dress designed for Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun (1951). The real significance in terms of the costuming for the film is the dress Taylor wore in the pool room scene - a strapless boned bodice top with an enormous white tulle skirt over pale green satin and white violets covering the bust. Edith Head won the Oscar for best costume in the black and white film category and the dress captured the public imagination so much so that every prom had many an Elizabeth Taylor. In fact one could argue that this dress and Elizabeth Taylor has defined the look for proms and brides ever since 1951.'


The second is about how Taylor and Burton defined modern day celebrity:

'Ellis Cashmore would argue that with regard to celebrity and modern culture the earthquake that propelled the cult of celebrity into a new phase was an Italian photographer, Marcello Geppetti and his experimentation with a ‘new piece of technology: the zoom lens...an image of Taylor and Burton...Not just any old image either. Taylor lay on the deck of the yacht...Burton was craned across her body in an embrace that was unmistakably that of lovers’. (Cashmore 2006:19)

In 1962, the scandal of two married person with children, elicited outrage across the world and in particular from the Vatican. It was not so much the detail of the Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton affair, rather the loss of control by the Hollywood publicity machine, suddenly the demarcations between public and private life were gone.'


All that ground breaking stuff and her breath taking beauty means the death of Elizabeth Taylor is a big event and a very sad one too.

The long & short of it

Skirts are having a moment. The cut and length of skirts are at a key point in fashion where all lengths and all shapes are an option (if anything the thigh high short skirt is looking a tad dated). Take the pleated skirts wars as personified by Whistles.

The short

Whistles Carrie Pleat Skirt £95

The long

Whistles Erica Pleated Midi Skirt £110

Which one would you choose and what length of skirt do you prefer?

The best dress

I love dresses. If funds permitted I would buy one for every day of the week. Indulgent, frivolous but true. Of course I would probably not be so extravagant if I bought this dress from Valentino as I might take on a Miss Havisham persona and wear it every day. At £2,500 it is in my dreams!

Even though I have no money I always go in to all the designer shops in Sloane Street, Bond Street, Mount St, the concessions in Harrods and Selfridges everywhere. I love to see how the garments are in reality. In truth I'm am often disappointed by the reality but Prada and Valentino never disappoint. However this year Valentino steals the show. The Valentino shop in Sloane Street is beautiful in respect of interior, layout but mainly the clothes. And the staff are always very nice and well mannered in there, something I suspect Valentino has insisted on.

Happenings, mentions & counting down...

Busy week and a bit a head for Mrs MDS as it is count down to the 31st of March when I'm officially not a stylist and become purely a writer. Having said that a few people are still twisting my arm for some projects! I worked on Saturday for the last time. My client laughed as I did a quick jump for joy, she is quite sad as I am her own personal creative director. I was relaxed and wore the eBay See By Chloe top - although in Prada it looked really tame next to the glory of the Muiccia stripe. And in Valentino I basically looked like a dress down tramp!



Tonight I will be donning my beauty and skincare hat after teaching styling all day as I hot foot it to The Greyhound for 7:30pm at Kew Green for an Arbonne meeting. A lovely lady called Aldis is coming over from America to talk about the new Essentials products and the business in general. Of course I'm excited because I need all the help I can get to motivate me and help me with my new venture, which is supporting my writing.

Also my stylist friend Isobel will be running a NHJ Taste of Style evening on Monday 11 April, which I've promised to mention for her as she will be joined by the lovely Katie Allum, a great makeup artist who is now blogging and you can see her tutorials on her blog What Katie Loves.

And finally I've got all my clothes to sort out. I need to re-order my wardrobe, put some things on ebay and the rest to charity. Once I've completed this task I will feel ready for finishing my current script by July.

Come to Kew if you want to join me in my clean and green products crusade, treat yourself to an style evening out in April and mainly enjoy every minute this week as not long now until the clocks spring forward.

PS I'm dreadfully aware of Libya at the moment and what with Japan, all I can say is I'm blogging as normal as to some extent life does go on, but I do so mindful of the world events. I don't think just because this is a fashion/style blog it negates me from being able to acknowledge or be anxious of others suffering.

High Street Pick of the Week - The 2011 Style File

No self respecting Island of Mustique 1970s chick can be without her kaftan, think Princess Margaret, the groovy royal. I know, I should be all about the Jagger... Bianca but well lets say we give the royals a go after all it is their year.

Too often high street kaftans draw upon the boho chick look (think Kate & Sienna) but luckily East have captured the essence of the late 60s early 70s with a retro print kaftan retailing handily at near 1970s prices (well in comparison to the designer alternatives) for £29. It is a gorgeous print and will be in store soon. This is the stockist number to find out when 0208 877 6543

Beach boutique retro print kaftan £29

Film, Fashion & Consumption

Normally Friday is all about the fun factor, the weekend is upon us and our hair is being let down. However this Friday is about Film & Fashion and how they affect patterns of consumer culture.

Look at any fashion blog and read any interview with a designer and there will be a cinematic reference. Belle De jour, Breakfast at Tiffany's are the obvious ones, my personal favourite is L'eclisse. You will have your own!

Now I don't expect you all to be rushing out to dive headlong in to academic discourse on this subject matter but if you are a film or fashion student or you are looking for something more meaty and less about dictators or bankers wives than Vogue then Film, Fashion & Consumption (Intellect Press) is for you. Less pretty pictures more words, it will challenge your grey cells and absorb you in the trappings of cultural capital.

The journal is edited by Pamela Church Gibson from the London College of Fashion and the associate editors are Hollywood Catwalk author Tamar Jeffers McDonald and Central College St Martin's Alastair O'Neill.

Belle de jour (1967)

Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961)

L'eclisse (1962)

Style inspiration for summer

The graphic boldness of black and white had been languishing in the style stakes of late but this summer expect to see more looks and outfits which pair black with white and vice versa!

One of the best examples of how to combine black on white was the costume Audrey Hepburn wore to Ascot in the film My Fair Lady (1964). Cecil Beaton designed the costumes and the Ascot outfit is stunning.

I've noticed a few designers being inspired by this creation with garments they've designed for the high street.

Principles by Ben De Lisi dress £35 (not in store yet)

I'm going to be mixing up the black and white when summer arrives - how about you?