Ay, Caramba!

I have been a fan of Jeremy Scott for many years. To me, he represents the epitome of young exciting designers that have burst onto the scene in recent years and his collaborations with Adidas have been hugely successful. The thing I love most about his work are the eccentric prints. The rose and plane print from Spring 2009 was an obsession for ages and I get really envious every time I see someone with a bag from the Longchamp collection.

Jeremy Scott x Longchamp (image credit)

As usual, Jeremy Scott’s fall 2012 collection was an explosion of colour, sequins and cartoons. Bart Simpson’s face adorned many looks in the collection. As someone who has been a life long Simpsons fan, I absolutely love that it has worked its way onto the catwalk.

Jeremy Scott Fall 2012 - images from style.com

Model Cara Delevingne has really set this trend off after she was sighted in the sweater and skirt backstage at various fashion shows. She is so effortlessly cool and I think this is the spirit of Jeremy Scott’s clothing so it is a perfect pairing. I think the best way to work this trend would be to keep the rest simple so I’d probably pair the jumper with black leggings and doc martens or (if I was lucky enough to own some) UNIF Hellbounds. Cara Delevingne paired hers with a backpack and trainers which channels the fun childhood element of cartoons.

Cara Delevingne in Jeremy Scott (image credit)

Blogger favourite Romwe has got some impressive Jeremy Scott inspired pieces for a fraction of the price. However, the increasing popularity of this trend means they keep selling out. I've got my eye on this shirt like a hawk and should it restock (fingers crossed) I will more than likely snap it up. To me, this faded denim shirt with cartoon references feels really nineties – maybe it is the connection with my childhood?

'Cartoon Portrait Head' Shirt - Romwe

However, I think there are cheaper and more creative ways to channel this trend on a student budget. Many high street stores like Primark have children's sections full of cartoon prints (usually Simpsons merchandise!) and a boy's t-shirt, in a large size, would look great with the sleeves rolled up, high waisted jeans tough silver accessories and docs. You could even chop it up and make it into a crop but you’d have to be really brave to do that in this British chill!

Anna Wintour as US Ambassador to the UK?

I know this is a somewhat rather late weigh-in on the argument as it seems to have died down on the internet but I thought I'd give my ten pence anyway.

Rumours have been snaking around the internet that Anna Wintour is to be approached by Barack Obama for the position of US ambassador to the UK. Wintour’s publicist has outright denied that she would take up such an offer in the unlikely event she was offered it. However, regardless of this many have been speculating about whether or not Wintour is a suitable candidate for the position.

Anna Wintour is arguably the most powerful person in the global $200 billion fashion industry today. In her 24-year career as editor-in-chief of US Vogue, she has engineered some very successful business and fashion partnerships. The documentary ‘The September Issue’ showed the blossoming Thakoon and Gap relationship, put together by Wintour who singled out the young designer for the position. She has also raised substantial amounts of money for charity and over $500,000 for Obama’s re-election fund. Furthermore, in an age where many are mourning the death of the printed word and many newspapers and magazines are struggling to gain a decent readership, Wintour has pushed Vogue to the very forefront of fashion publishing.

Nile Gardiner, of The Telegraph, was quite spiteful in the way in which he talked about fashion and dismissed Anna Wintour as merely part of Obama’s ‘obsession with celebrities’. Wintour is not the celebrity face on the front of the magazine as Gardiner woefully dismisses. Instead, she is the woman behind it. The driving force that keeps Vogue as one of the world’s most successful fashion magazines and has a considerable influence in the careers of both established and up-and-coming fashion designers. It seems Gardiner expects Wintour to take on the persona of her supposed Devil Wears Prada alter ego Miranda Priestly with the headline ‘the Special Relationship is not a fashion statement’. I imagine the only reaction Miranda Priestly-esque reaction Wintour would have to that wholly patronising headline is a dismissing roll of the eyes.

However, dealing with business issues does not necessarily translate well into dealing with important diplomatic issues, which is the central role of a US ambassador. ‘A Rose in the Desert’ was the headline of a 3,000 word glowing report of the Asma al-Assad, first lady of Assad’s murderous Syrian regime, printed by Vogue in march 2011. Many consider this mistake to have blighted Wintour’s chances at the post and would be a shady point in the unlikely event she were offered it. Fortunately, Vogue later distanced itself from the deplorable Assad regime and the article was pulled from their website. However, somebody in such an instrumental diplomatic position, as the US ambassador to the UK would be, cannot afford to make a mistake like this.

Ultimately, I think Anna Wintour is unsuitable for the position of US ambassador to the UK because of her lack of political experience, and on this basis only. Her position as a powerful business woman simply cannot be disputed and I want to tear my hair out when I read online articles in relation to this issue that belittle her for the position purely on the basis of her role in the ‘seemingly pointless’ fashion business.

1205 / Paula Gerbase

(image credit)

Paula Gerbase is one of my latest discoveries and fits perfectly into the kind of style I’ve been feeling lately, which are really tailored and masculine cuts that still manage to retain femininity. (Think Cos)

Gerbase studied womenswear at Central St Martins and later took up a Savile Row apprenticeship at Hardy Amies where she learnt the art of fine British tailoring. After this, Gerbase spent five years as head designer at Savile Row giant Kilgour before launching her own brand, 1205 in 2010. 1205 is named after her date of birth. On her website, Gerbase herself picks up on the fine blurred lines of femininity and masculinity in her work. The quality of fabrics used is central to the vision of 1205 as a brand. 1205 seems to have gathered quite the following in Japan but, much to my amazement, seems to be quite a secret elsewhere in the world.

I’ve selected some of my favourite pieces from her AW12 collection below, all images from the 1205 website:

Festive dressing

Motel - £58

I've had a H&M long sleeved chiffon dress as my trust LBD for nearly two years. It has been reliable and I've worn it over and over again. However, it started to look really tired and tatty so I started to search for a new 'going out' dress. Anyway, over the past few weeks I'd spotted this 'Gabby' dress from Motel on a few bloggers and decided to go for it (20% student discount, score) and it is utterly amazing. It is definitely a statement dress and I'm looking forwards to wearing it out over the holiday period. Was a bit gutted when I discovered they did the 'Gabby' dress in an iridescent blue/purple colour after I'd bought the green one but this is really lovely and rather festive. I'm a bit blah about the top of my arms (and cold weather) so I prefer long sleeved dresses but it is cut quite low at the back which is a really nice subtle way of showing some skin. I think nail varnish and lipstick would have improved this look a bit but I'll definitely be doing that when I actually wear it out.

At Christmas, the more sequins the better. The festive period is definitely a reasonable excuse to bring out the beautifully eccentric. I've selected a few of my favourite dresses in price ranges to suit all pockets.

£100 +

Topshop / Topshop

For those with a slightly more generous budget this christmas, the Topshop Limited Edition range has some really lovely festive dresses. Like the black one on the left, most are really elegant 20s/30s inspired pieces. However, the one on the right is just amazing. The repeat pattern print reminds me of gold baubles and the structure of the dress with the front/back cut outs is really striking.

£50 - £100

ASOS / Motel

This ASOS dress is really festive, it reminds me of multi-coloured christmas lights and baubles. The main reason I went for the long sleeved version of the Motel 'Gabby' dress was chilly Sheffield weather. If it wasn't for that, I would have seriously considered the off-the-shoulder version as it still covers the arm issue and is really striking.

£0-£50

Missguided / Missguided

This plunge maxi dress isn't exactly for the faint hearted and I probably wouldn't wear it out to go clubbing but the festive period usually means cocktail evenings, balls, and dressy parties. For those kind of occasions, this would be amazing. Crimson velvet has always seemed really festive to me. The misguided skater dress is a steal at £19 and would look great with some black sparkly stilettos and and discrete gold jewellery.

Zara

While not a going out dress, I stumbled across this christmas jumper dress while searching for dresses to include in this post and was immediately taken with it. This would be great to wear with sparkly black tights on christmas day.

Alexander Wang at Balenciaga

Again, sorry to be massively late on posting about such big news but uni work blah blah blah. Perhaps I haven't been paying attention to fashion news very well lately but I definitely did not see this one coming. However, now it has happened, it totally makes sense. Wang's style is very much in keeping with Balenciaga's clean cut image. Wang is still maintaining his own label which enforces the idea that he will try something a bit new at the helm of Balenciaga. This is an opportunity to maximise on the opportunities that an established fashion house can provide for someone who is still a relatively new designer.

Its interesting that many believed Christopher Kane to be the next at the helm. Perhaps he is headed for a role at a major fashion house in the next few years. I can image Christopher Kane at Burberry for some reason (not that I want Christopher Bailey to leave!).

Now my university deadlines are over and the holidays approach, hoping to make more frequent posts. Ordered the Motel Gabby dress in Iridescent green the other day so I'll post about that when it arrives and some christmas wishlists etc.