In the Nude

Get the right shade of nude and pale can look interesting on brunettes and blondes alike. You can see how the features of Christina Ricci (above) and Drew Barrymore (below), both striking in their own right, really stand out when the tone of their outfits mimic their skin tone. Important here to stress that bold lipstick will stop you from looking too ghostly and that metallic detailing or jewellery will add texture to a nude outfit and prevent it from looking like you forgot to get dressed at all.

But whilst cheap looking nude-coloured clothes are ten-a-penny on the high street it is hard to find pieces that have the same class as the Marc Jacobs and Alberta Ferretti pieces that Christina and Drew wear above. Browsing online I found a Roksanda Ilincic for Whistles dress that ticks all the boxes. This silk blend dress is £295 and is perfect for a formal occasion.

Shop online at Whistles

...something old, something new...

Shopping for an outfit for a wedding can be really tricky. Here are a few of my hot tips for getting it right.

New: just discovered a beautiful boutique called May in Notting Hill. Unique, classic pieces ideal for girl who wants to flatter her curves at a formal, city wedding. These are sharp, tailored pieces that are bold and stylish.www.mayshop.co.uk (see below). They even do shoes and bags so you could get the whole outfit here.

Vintage: Avoid the humiliation of turning up in the same thing as someone else by going vintage. Step away from busy Portobello Road into Still, a quiet oasis of clean, lovingly presented and reasonably priced vintage fashion. Owner Sophie is very knowledgeable about her stock and the history of each piece and is a joy to talk to. She has also developed her own line that combines the best of vintage shapes with really individual stitching and dying. Either line is great for a wedding in the country or where you want to impress the women folk by wearing something enviably unique. Lancaster Road, Notting Hill.

Borrow: If you find yourself in the situation where you have multiple weddings why not borrow something. Clothes swaps are an option but you might also consider hiring something from www.girlmeetsdress.com. Browse by size, by label and even pick up hats and bags. It's really easy. You order, try, return within a day and then, once you are happy, order it for the big occasion. GMD will even let you borrow from 2-7 nights. This is a great way to wear a Lanvin, Chloe or Alexander McQueen but paying a fraction of the price. I love this jade Stella McCartney dress (below) for hire at £299 but there are more pocket friendly pieces like this purple, belted Proenza Schouler dress for £69.

Re-wear: If you buy wisely, you can easily wear an outfit more than once if you style it cleverly. Why not go to Mor Jewelry (12 Ganton Street, London, W1F 7QS) to buy a one off statement piece of jeweler at a reasonable price. Semi-precious stone earrings will cost between £40-£60, gorgeous necklaces reminiscent of Connie Nielsen's jewellry in Gladiator for £80-£140. You'll need to save up for this treat but I speak from experience when I say that I am asked where my jeweler is from every time. 12 Ganton Street,W1F 7QS. Very dramatic pieces.

Inspiration: Man Ray

Occasionally a mood lingers, a high fashion style traverses the seasons. A/W09 made heavy styling and fashion references to Modernism. Jil Sanders exaggerated forms and everyone copied Balmain shoulders. YSL ads featuring Christy Turlington (as shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin) were austere monochrome and angular.

Again, this season, Acne’s Float dress revisits the techniques that Man Ray employed to manipulate the light falling onto the body to bend and morph the body’s otherwise familiar forms. What more seductive way to dress than to exaggerate the finest features of a woman’s figure?

www.acnestudios.com

Could you be, the most beautiful girl in the world...

If I was a fashion designer, and not just a fashion commentator, Charlotte Gainsbourg would be my muse. There is something of the Elmira Gulch about her and never-the-less, this woman is beautiful. She is a conundrum. Breathy Anglo-French accent, long limbs and sulky looks make a seductive picture that has beguiled the likes of Balenciaga. Though I cannot now shift the harrowing character she plays in Lars von Trier's film Antichrist there is something of the unearthly about her that I will always see as highly romantic whether she is singing, acting or modelling.

Girl crush.

Tabio

A year or so ago black leggings came to save every girl's wardrobe allowing us all to shorten hemlines without the pay-per-view effect. Leggings gave us leave to take out summer wardrobes into the colder months and fed into layering trends.

Then a horrible thing happened. People started wearing leggings as trousers. Even if you have good legs, if you are wearing year and a half old leggings they are see-through - this includes cellulite. Like having bad breath, no-one would mention it to these girls but people will walk behind them pointing and saying 'tough night' if not out loud, then privately. If this wasn't enough I was in The Diner (Islington) and was sitting opposite a table of 4 girls, three of whom were in Shoreditch uniform - no word of a lie, all three of them in leggings, flowery skirts and denim jackets.

Leggings and flowery skirts; to the charity shop.

Solution: Tabio stirrup leggings. Expensive for tights at £18 but a brilliant investment and leg-longthening. At 80 denier they are not as warm as leggings but are damn sexy with heels. A wise investment trust me!

www.tabio.com

Miss Pris

These ones are going to be short coz I am not sure anyone likes the costumes Blade Runner as much as I do and I don't want to bore you this early on :)

Pris is really uncomfortable watching. You are never sure she is going to flip. For her, Christopher Kane I think.

Blade Runner Part Three: Rachel

Rachel is feminine in the extreme. Her costumes exaggerate her forms. As waisted as a burlesque performer, with shoulder-pads even in excess of eighties norms and wrapped up warm, she is like a fetish doll. As the story evolves, this doll-like, cosseted character shows another side to her character, a more casual look of domestic life. The costume designers never leave her dowdy whilst in this mode though, she is always the kind of glamorous that I would always aspire to.

(Top Right: Rachel, Top left: Kenzo A/W09, Far Right: A/W09 Alexander McQueen houndstooth dress, Right: Goddess Turn Up Blouse by Future Classics, Below right: Sean Young plays Rachel relaxing at home).

Blade Runner Part Two: Attempting the Profane

Some things should be left alone. The re-telling of Alice and Wonderland, Mr Burton, for one. But I cannot help dabbling in the profane. When I began writing this blog in Autumn of 2009, I had recently re-watched Blade Runner. I watched it for the sheer enjoyment of it but in researching it I found the lengths that the stylists had gone to, the details that they had considered. Thinking a great deal about how the character Rachel had been made to look so stylish, so feminine made me think how I would take on the challenge of dressing someone for a party as one of the iconic characters of Blade Runner.

The following blogs are a scrap book of my ideas, my own re-telling:

Blade Runner Part One: Devil is in The Detail:

Inspiration: Blade Runner, 1983

Street-level is hemmed in, dark and greasy with rain. The underworld of LA, populated by the criminals and illicit activity, contrasts with the luxury and spaciousness of the skyline living of the Tyrell Corporation. Ridley Scott sets the scene.

The film’s costume designers, Michael Kaplan* and Charles Knode, are slavish in their attention to detail. The costumes are character driven rather than being film-driven. Gaff’s costumes are meticulous and calculated; Deckard’s are a disheveled, nonchalant uniforms. Pris wears the provocative, coquettish outfits of a futuristic gymnast. Rachel is a doll either cinched in or wrapped in cotton wool, ever refined, ever measured. Roy seemingly relaxed in an overcoat, poised to attack at any given moment in sleek body-con; a killing machine.

I love it. That is styling at it’s best.

*Kaplan has also worked on a couple of my favourite (all David Fincher) movies including S7ven, The Game and Panic Room.

Inspiration: Kenzo and Missoni A/W09

In a parallel universe I would be living in Portugal on a remote cliff-top shack that would bake in the summer and shiver in the salty winds of winter. I would have left London for the Opt-out packing my cumbersome leather suitcase only with essentials.

This opt-out is different, this is My Opt-out and I am going to be considering my wardrobe carefully because in this caveatted ‘escape from the trappings of the material,’ the materials matter!

Inspired by the beautiful knitted layers of Kenzo and Missoni's Autumn/Winter 2009 collections, this is my Desert Island Wardrobe:

Summer: flimsy, see-through dress. No sunglasses – wrinkles are OK on this trip, positively encouraged. I will just have one and I will handwash it every evening and let it dry on the line overnight.

Winter: this is key (I am a cold person). For the feet think Peruvian leather-soled socks for round the house and tough workboots for outside - something sturdy, lace-up; leather that will weather (I’ll be here for years writing my novel and making improvised furniture). On the body, leggings – ruched and camel-coloured like the pictured Missoni ones, ‘Boyfriend’ workshirts and woolen cardigan layers drawn in with a leather belt. Tight, long-sleeved t-shirts to wear underneath. I'll leave clashing patterns to the knits.

Not sure how laptops and blogging fit in to the Opt-Out so enjoy it up while you can.