Outfit: Top – DIY FCUK, Skirt – Storets.com, Shoes – H&M, Furry pouch – ASOS, Long vest – Gmarket; Prints by La Boca as part of promotional graphics;

Don’t we often say ‘I know it’s really bad, but what do you think about…’ just to put a cushion down first before a potential bad review? Black Swan did exactly that in the first 10 minutes into the film. “Done to death” was one of Vincent Cassel’s lines describing Swan Lake in the movie, and there he beat me to the chase – the cushion was laid and I had to hold my tongue about the genericness of the subject. And from that point on I had to accept that the film was not going to be another box standard dance school flicks where the climax is when the protagonist is grounded by her mother. Gladly I’m tough trained in blood & gore after years of being steeped into war movies, but I really couldn’t stop the chills running up and down my body during the screening. Well I guess that can be called ‘refreshing’.  The Ballerina trend is indeed done to death but I think this time it’s going to be different because Black Swan was very little of the dainty feather muffs and white tutus, but more of the saturated evil of the dark swan twin that we always seem to neglect.

The pre-screening event was another one of Robinson Pfeffer‘s bountiful functions, including a Barre class held at Frame studio in Shoreditch. (If the screening came before the class we’d have expected our reflections to move on its accord) A generous dance kit was provided by Bloch, and a smoky-eye makeover by MAC Cosmetics, and off we went hobbling over the bars clutching our butts that were spilling out of the leotards… At least whatever I lost in that class got returned to the rightful owner while shoving down fistfuls of popcorn at the Aubin cinema during the screening.

Thank you Pascal for the outfit shots

Trench & Umbrella – Uniqlo, Dress -Mum’s old, Tights – Courtesy of Gal Stern, Shoes – H&M, Bodypiece – Surround by Brook & Lyn (courtesy of Mimi), Bag – JHYoo

Product photos from Surround by Brook & Lyn

Never in my life I’ve had to say ‘Hello? My eyes are up here‘ – maybe once in a while I’ll do some promotion and say ‘Hello, my boobs are down here’. I kid. Thanks to Mimi’s Surround body rope I’ve had curious stares at my chest the whole day, but more so because the trio of agate rocks also look like windows into my chest and everyone saw, that in the cave, there was no heart present. I am indeed a cold cold woman. There’s this beautiful ephemeral quality that I love in Agate where the crystals look like they are still stirring and reacting endlessly. I just can’t help but thank God for such delicious surprises in nature as these.
The stone is first enclosed in a hand-crocheted frame, and then the rope is sewn on – and most of this personally done by Mimi the designer herself. It’s rather amusing to know that not under a year ago Brook & Lyn was a blog not dissimilar to this one, and in a  few months she upended it into a whole brand. I should really stop moping about jobs and visas and look for rocks.

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Thank you Ellen for the outfit photos!

James Freeman Gallery in N1; What I’m wearing: Jacket – ASOS, Dress – c/o AA, Sweater – c/o Maska, Shoes – Cutesyshoes, Bag – c/o JHYoo

I know I’m probably shaking up the blog’s niche bottle blog by posting about random fine art – if I start writing about gas exhaust pipe models then you’ll know when to pull that Niche Alarm. No, not Nietzsche – Niche, ‘fish’ with an Italian accent, and swap the f with an n. Some bloggers can learn a thing or two googling that word, not that I’m being a good example right now.

Anyway, enough with the snark. To borrow the common-used phrase from the web: You’ll poop bricks when you see it. I had the opportunity to pop by HyeMin’s exhibition the other day and really did go in my pants when I understood the illustrations. She’d pen-drawn IKEA products straight out of the catalogue along with their prices, and was then selling the artworks for that retail price. So if the price of the kitchen-set was £820 after the January Sale, then the illustration cost £820. The idea was to explore the relationship between original work vs. mass production, both in price and concept. Throughout the hour circling the basement of the James Freeman gallery, guests were picking up affordable items, (i.e. Lampstand for £12.99) and purchasing them straight off the artist. The amazing thing about this, other than the fact that she was making a lot of easy dough, was that this was essentially performance art – with her acting both as creator and salesperson.

Fun! Me not smart enough to explain how that has any relevance to fashion but I’m sure those smarter than me figured that one out already.

My failed attempt at giving Jen a fishtail braid…

Lovely Charlie of A La Mode | Lucy’s DIY collar!

Carrie of Wishwishwish

Frances & Sandra style challenge looks

Video courtesy of Next; Outfit: Sweater – Maska, Dress – Storets.com, White shirt – AA

I love Next. I mean, aren’t they geniuses? One first class carriage full of fashion bloggers, one innocent explosion and poof goes a sizeable chunk of the UK fashion blogging community. GENIUS! Imagine the article on that. Fess up Next, how much did you get paid by the journalists & editors (those robbed of Danish pastries by bloggers at the last fashion week)? Conspiracy aside, I do think I’m starting to fall for Next, their nod towards the bloggers is proving to be very friendly, and they’ve really played up their game with the trend interpretation. (Although, call me tasteless, but the 70’s trend really doesn’t appeal to me at all. )

The trainride was to Next’s headquarters in Leicester where we were fed and watered, then set loose in the mock-shop in a competition to style an item assigned to each of us. It was like a 9 year old’s birthday party at McDonalds really, in the best sense possible, I love birthday parties. And 9 year olds. As you can see my item was a pair of flare jeans, and instead of trying to smuggle and trade between the contestants with better items I decided, heck, let’s just go with it. On hindsight, I should’ve wrestled Frances to the ground for the white blazer. You should watch the video – I say I wanted to style it ‘boho’ and the only thing boho about the outfit is the misfitting jeans and my speech on peace love and understanding. My, I had such a blast this day.

Thank you Next and Jenny from Spreading Jam for organizing an amazing day, and Kit & Jill for snaps!

Ania Kuczyńska Showroom on Mokotowska 61; SS11 Sacre du Printempts

I may be physically back in London but my backlog has been shooting stink-eyes and I have a feeling that the occasional spark I see in the corner of my eyes is from something very sharp. Again with the silence, I’m sorry about that. Then again, I remember reading somewhere that there’s nothing more boring than bloggers apologizing for their unintentinal hiatus, because, it’s really not like you typed in the url and visited every day to see if there’s a new post. Nowadays I’m just a click of ‘next’, and with another click it’s like I never posted.

I met up with Flora after she spotted me in a hotel in Warsaw. Yeah, of all places. What, I like going to hotels to play detective with my imaginary friend, are you judging me now? During our tea & coffee at Cafe Vincent I asked if she could list a few Polish designers and concept stores in Warsaw, and like I said in the last post – it was like a clean slate – where did all these cool places come from? Where did the fashion scene come from all of a sudden? Last time I heard something was in fashion it had three white stripes and garnished sportswear. Ania Kuczyńska‘s simple and understated pieces seemed to translate perfectly into the international trend of minimalism, yet I loved how it still retained that footnote of Polish sense of no-fuss dressing. It’s really in the accessories that you can see the Polish trace – the distinctive smell of leather from the North and the half-leather/half-silk scarf that curiously reminded me of the red-white flag…