Knitting on the tube

Image courtesy of www.staffsmoorlands.gov.uk

Three times this month (and we're only seven days into the month), I've seen very cool girls sitting on the tube, here in London, knitting.  I think creating something is a great way to pass a boring tube journey.  Certainly beats listening to inane drunken conversations.  


So if you see a wild eyed woman on the Northern Line with a tangled ball of wool and an odd shaped piece of knitting, do bear with me - it's been a very long time since I attempted any knitting.

Object of desire - Charlene Mullen embroidered cushion

Charlene Mullen's embroidered cushions caught my eye at London Design Week.  This wonderfully witty cushion, hand embroidered with a picture of birds sitting on electrical poles was my favourite.

Image courtesy of theoldsweetshop.org

A couple of these in my living room would look fabulous.  

You can buy them online at Charlene Mullen.

Why I love fashion

Ah, fashion week!  Scouring Style.com for updates on the latest shows, amazing looks on the streets, working out what I'm going to wear next season, (although with my budget, it's more like what I'd like to wear next season!)  I just love it.

I work in a very practical, male dominated environment and I'm often told, 'What's the point of fashion?  I mean, some of those dresses are really stupid.  You couldn't go to the supermarket in them.'  This is missing the point spectacularly.  Fashion, (and by this I mean couture) is not about covering your body in order to perform the practical mundanities of life.  It's about transcending the everyday banalities.  It's about using the human form as a template to create breathtaking works of art.  You need to look no further than the late, great Alexander McQueen for this.

Image courtesy of oodora.com

Fashion, (here I'm talking about all aspects of fashion - couture, high street, ready to wear) allows you to fleetingly experience states of existence that you wouldn't normally - one day you can be a Hollywood siren, the next a hard-nosed businesswoman.  It allows you to escape, to dream & to explore.

It's been suggested more than once to me that as an intelligent, educated woman, I should be above such superficial things such as appearance. I strongly disagree with this stance.  Let's face it - we all make snap judgements based on the way someone comes across visually.  Fashion allows you to control those judgements to your advantage.  According to mental health professionals, one of the signs of mental illness is not caring about the way you look.

Do we need fashion?  We need fashion in the same way that we need Beethoven, Shakespeare and Warhol.  It may not be necessary for our basic routine of eating and sleeping but it elevates us and makes us more than just field animals.

I leave you with this gorgeous creation by Chanel to feast your eyes on...

Image courtesy of mimifroufrou.com

Hero beauty product - Lacura Q10 night cream

Image courtesy of teamsugar.com

Broke is not a good place to be, so when my flat-mate gave me a tub of Lacura Q10 Night Cream, I was grateful to say the least.  When she told me that it cost £1.99 and that it was the best night cream she'd ever used, I was intrigued.

She's right - it's excellent.  

I have very dry, sensitive skin and I could feel this working immediately.  It really moisturized.  Often, I find that a moisturizer will nourish the top layer of the skin but you'll still feel dry and tight deeper down but this cream really did completely moisturize the entire epidermis.  I found that my skin tone was far more even and less... well... ruddy, (the rosacea, you see).  It also firmed my skin, which was an unexpected but very welcome bonus - I've reached a certain age and things are definitely starting to head southward, so anything that delays this always goes down well in my book.

A very, very good product all round and I can't recommend it highly enough.

You can buy it in the U.K. here and the U.S. here.  £1.99 in the U.K. and $3.99 in the U.S. - bargain!

Sophie Dahl's 'Playing with the Grown-ups' - book review

Image courtesy of Amazon.com

I'll admit, I was initially a little dubious about this book.  I mean how good an author could the super-model granddaughter of Roald Dahl be?


Well, I'll confess, I was wrong.  It's a intelligent, evocative, beautifully written, coming-of-age book about the difficult relationship between a young girl and her mother.


Kitty is the girl in question and Marina is her beautiful, beguiling, selfish mother. The narrative moves between England and the US, as well as past and present.


Dahl isn't afraid to cast an unflinching eye on contradictions in the mother/daughter relationship and show how it's possible to love and hate someone at the same time. Marina is an ex-model who now works as an artist. She's self absorbed, promiscuous... and mentally ill.  She uproots her children, moves to the States and puts Kitty into an unsuitable boarding school on the orders of a rather dubious Swami and well...  to say anymore would ruin the book for you.


Having had a very difficult relationship with my own mother, I found this book strangely cathartic.  Dahl writes with wit and sympathy.  Kitty is a strong character who comes to rely on her own intuition and intelligence to survive an awful situation and accept herself & her mother without reservation.


Highly recommended.  


You can buy in the UK here and the US here.

Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer...

I know - I said I'd be back and I wasn't.  I'm sorry, life just got in the way.  


It's been a wonderful summer.  Falling in love; lazy afternoons in the park; blue skies; flowers; long walks; being adopted by a local cat; gallery openings; Farnborough Air Show; discovering a crazy new band; the Grace Kelly exhibition at the V&A; rediscovering the joy of reading a book as opposed to surfing the internet.


Here is my summer...

This is one of the dresses Grace Kelly wore in 'Rear Window'.

Image courtesy of http://skirmishofwit.typepad.com

Young British Artists exhibition at the Saatchi Gallery

A Lancaster bomber accompanied by two Spitfires

I hope your summer's been as beautiful as mine.

I'm back!

Well, hello!  

I must apologize for the break in blogging.  

There have been a number of reasons, the main one being, the charger for my computer died so I was unable to get online until the new one was delivered.  I missed my computer but it was great to enjoy the freedom that not constantly checking Facebook/emails/news sites gives you.  Very retro, it was too.

I will be posting some lovely new posts soon.  In the meantime, wherever you are, I hope you're enjoying as wonderful weather as we are, here in London.