7.31.2010

SATURDAY SHOPPING ♥ SO TATTY DEVINE

Yes...it's been a very UK week. I couldn't help it. I've loved Tatty Devine for about maybe 10 years. That they've kept it real for so long is commendable. That they've managed to stay fun and silly and still high end and chic. They always have something new and dandy. So you'll see them on here a lot...sometimes. :) These are good gifts for the person who has it all...or is reallly finicky and hard to impress. ;) And they aren't just for casual Friday, either. All of these would look right with your fancy day dress, too. That, dears, is how you add a little personality to your style. Have a look at these pieces...so "devine". ♡

freaky eye necklace with teardrops...amazing piece!

Gin cufflinks...the best graduate (or best man) gift 
red bow glitter ring!
gold glitter bow ring!

moustache necklace!

charlie le mindu hair pick...looks like Marilyn from the 80s, right?
2 cartoon eye rings...you have to have both! (i want these!)

wear your eyeglass necklace with your cartoon eye rings! 

have to show something for the lovebirds broche

tatty devine heart ring. sigh. 



all images courtesy of Tatty Devine

7.30.2010

FRIDAY FANCY ♥ LINGERIE X LINGERIE

A few years ago, I was doing a big lingerie story which I loved, and I interviewed a lot of people for it. From all over the world. One of the lines that my friend Emma E. Forrest (and I) loved was Fifi Chachnil from France. Emma is a lingerie aficionado. And she has impeccable taste (we know each other from years at Dazed and she was also the editor of Intersection magazine for a very long time). She is great fun to gush over "lady pants" with. That's her word for knickers. Fifi Chachnil is decadent sexy full-tush romp around bon-bon lingerie....and lady pants. It's like getting the grande dame of panties. Well, one of them at least. I had intended on posting a panty review...but it's morphed into a tag-team lingerie fête with fellow fashion blogger Alexander Suhner Isenberg of Searching for Style. First, let's see why Fifi Chachnil's pieces are amazing. Then further along, Alex will pop in with another treat.

Tell your babe to get the wallet out.

yep.
a little ric-rac set
fifi chachnil boutique
very Dita Von Teese
a little romper to vacuum in? add red stilettos and a sailor hat.
the right panties for the perfect spanking :)
little bo peep has lost her sheep...and her top?





Sunday morning reading Nancy Girl while your company sleeps in



Fifi Chachnil is a tangible fantasy...if you can afford it. But every girl should be able to afford at least one piece of luscious lingerie once in her life. You don't know what it's like to wear a good piece of Frenchie lingerie until you've tried it. IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT!  It's not just how it feels on you...it's how it makes YOU feel. So obviously I'd be fascinated with someone who went to a high end design school (one of the best...Central Saint Martins) to eventually become a lingerie designer, start her own line, and then give it up. That's why I asked Alexandra (who agrees with me wholeheartedly about the importance of good lovely lingerie) to give me the run down on her experience and lingerie of choice. Have a look:

illustration and text below by Alexandra Suhner Isenberg
Chantal Thomass is one of those French brands that the french like to keep secret. When I first walked into her store on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris, I was in awe. Imagine the best pieces from Agent Provocateur and La Perla, combined with a bit of humour, intricate design, and true luxury. There's not a single piece in her collection that does not fulfill a lingerie fantasy.

I could talk for hours about the fabulousness of Chantal Thomass and her knickers, so if you want to read more, read this ode on my blog. Above is a beautiful illustrated set from her Spring Summer 2010 collection. My favourite part about this set isn't the delicate gathers decorating the bra and panty or the fact that they look simple until you get up close. The best part is that Chantal Thomass loves to mix up bra and panty colours so they don't match. Isn't that cool?
[This is Mandana...I asked Alexandra some questions and below are her answers...
Getting into lingerie was my partner's idea. I had done outerwear for my graduate collection at St Martins, and my friend Emma (different Emma than Mandana's friend Emma) had studied journalism. She had this idea to copy Agent Provocateur and sell it in Canada (Canada is not very lingerie-oriented, surprising since we have a French part). Emma wanted to hire ex-prostitutes to sew the lingerie, to make it a community initiative by giving something back to the community, and  in the meantime, give Canadians great lingerie. But the brand turned into a whole other monster--our line looked nothing like Agent Provocateur, and it was manufactured in France making it way too expensive for the Canadians. 

The brand did really well for five years, but then things happened. Firstly, we got sick of running a business. Anyone who thinks having your own lingerie company is about designing panties is wrong--it's 95% emailing and cold calling people. Also, Elle MacPherson's line had arrived in the UK, and so "fast fashion" stores realized that they didn't only have to sell 3-for-£7 cotton panties...they, too, could make nice underwear. The market got saturated with great, affordale panties, and niche luxury brands fell out of favour. So Emma and I went our own ways.

I still love lingerie, and I'd love to design it again, but I don't want to deal with production and sales. Also, luxury lingerie is a scary market to enter, because there are so many brands that do it very, very well. My favourite brands are French ones like Chantal Thomass and Fifi Chachnil, they do fantastic fantasy lingerie. I also love Wondervoll from Germany, who do lovely retro shapes, and Dutch brand Marlies Dekkers, who does cool sexy stuff. And Bordelle, from England is gorgeous, I am going to watch how that brand progresses. My friend, Guia La Bruna, from Italy also does beautiful stuff. Once she has bras made of silk satin lined in pashmina. Heaven.

My tip for expensive lingerie is if you buy it, wear it. I have so much I've collected and it is sitting beautifully in a drawer. It needs to come out more. ♡

images from:
http://www.fifichachnil.com/
linternaute.com
apparelnews.net
theenglishmuse.blogspot.com

7.29.2010

SHOE ME THURSDAY ♥ MINNA PARIKKA

Glorious shoes and too much fun. Sexy and sinful...have a look for yourself...Minna Parikka shoes aren't for the shy...or the boring. Nope... ♡

Siouxie 290€
powder rose Corset Boot 390€ (I would LOVE to own these!)
Stocking Heels 310€
Ginger Lace-Up  265€

Custard Pump 265€
matching Drip Gloves 150€
how cute is this boot? Brigitte 350€ 


LOVE these. Court Boot 335€
Love Heel 275€


Heart driving gloves! 120€

Lipstick Pump 260€

more shoe me thursday ♥ terry de havilland

images courtesy of Minna Parikka

7.28.2010

WEDNESDAY BAG ♥ ANTONI & ALISON

 
Dearest Lovely Santa Claus, 
 
I know it's the end of July, and Christmas is kind of far away, sort of. And that there might be a hundred other things I will want between now and then. Soooo....maybe you could possibly send this to me as a pre-Xmas gift? It's a purse by Antoni and Alison from the UK. And the matching change purse. I prefer the cherry color change purse, but I'd settle for the black if that is all you can manage. This bag is so adorable. It's so old school in a very Kelly way, but new and fun in a very Minnie Mouse way. Especially with that subtle bow. It will work whether I'm wearing a shift or some flared jeans and a striped tee, whether I'm going to the cold store or the cocktail bar. It looks like the perfect size, too. And the cherry red change purse...I'd really love that, too. I've been especially good, dear Santa, working very hard, being nice to family even though they drive me mad, not spending too much on things I don't need because I have so much. I know tradition is nice, just like the design aspect of this bag, but a little change can be nice, too, right? (Like the little cheeky bows and printed label on the back...and maybe sending it to me as a pre-holiday treat?) xx mt  ♡


The Antoni & Alison Bow Bag 140£

change purses 25£



images from Antoni & Alison

7.27.2010

TUESDAY TAILOR ♥ ROCHAS

How many times can I write I LOVE IT? ILOVEITILOVEITILOVEIT. I love it when a creator takes the time to do it right, when the details matter more than enough, when they are a part of the package and when things look a little different than the rest of the crowd...because all of that adds up to something new to our eyes and maybe our feet. Rochas designer du jour Marco Zanini has created one of the most gorgeous little collections I've seen recently. (I love and adore Olivier Theyskens, but I can't say I remember anything about the line when he had it.) What I love is how gorgeously on point the collection is, how the color combos go a little out there, how the girls are styled(especially the hair...that hair that looks like a little girl who played all day). And how the shoes are REALLY  odd looking compared to what's out there, but still fully wearable, which makes them even more right. They look a lot like my mother's heels from the 60s (which I'll post one day when she gets them out), with square toes and odd heels. Really MOD. I love the gilded heel on the shoes. This is a house that has a long history and I'm glad to see it so taken care of. Marcel Rochas designed glamorous gowns and created iconic fragrances that, even to this day, are sought after. The perfume aficionados out there prefer the old formula of fragrances like Femme found in old bottles to the new formula in the new bottles. The current collection reminds me a little of Benjamin's mother in The Graduate...and a little Jackie O. ♡

Yes, please...
Totally The Graduate
Yes Yes Please!
I love these flares with the shoe combo...which you will see below.

And look at the shoes!
I love the gilded heel and color combination.
I do love everything strange looking about these shoes.
Here's the metallic denim with the perfect heels.



These could be so vintage. A pair like this could make any bleh outfit stylee.
The adorable and stylish Marco Zanini
Fashion show at the House of Marcel Rochas
vintage design illustration by Rene Gruau for Marcel Rochas
Monsieur Rochas in his salon.
Hollywood starlette Ann Sheridan in 1944 wearing Marcel Rochas
a vintage bottle of the coveted Rochas Femme eau de parfum



images from