Another pair of scrumptious shoes I can’t wear…..
Posted: November 28, 2008 Filed under: 1970s, platforms, Things I wish I owned 4 Comments »
Actually I’m not even sure I could wear them if they were my size. I’ve tottered around in some mighty platforms in my time, but none so mighty as these. They’re completely adorable though, in a messed up goth-y glam rock Minnie Mouse kind of way, and I love the little feature at the front where the platform sole is rounded so you can rock forward a little. A cute detail which makes it marginally easier to walk in them, but I would still need a taxi driver and sedan chair on tap if I had any hope of not falling over.
Size 3 is just obscenely enviably tiny. Buy them. Teeter around your house in them and just enjoy having tiny feet and gorgeous shoes!
Yasmin le Très Bon
Posted: November 27, 2008 Filed under: Duran Duran, yasmin le bon 8 Comments »I have decided that Yasmin Le Bon is Beatle-wife-gold-standard. Of course it helps that she’s impossibly beautiful and wealthy, but she seems really sweet in the interviews I’ve seen. Strong but feminine, and goofy enough that you don’t hate her for being impossibly beautiful and the wife of a Duran. She still looks incredible, and I love the colour of her dress here at the British Fashion Awards.
(She’s also wearing FAUX fur, FAUX fur – yes I’m glaring at a photo of Mrs John Taylor, Gela Nash, in a huge REAL fur jacket at the launch of the latest Juicy Tat Couture launch. Naughty Duran wife, naughty!!)
I’m sure it’s a modern take on a Thirties-style evening gown, but this is proper glamour. Some of the other people on the red carpet that night would do well to take heed. Black tights and smock mini dresses are adorable, but they’re not red carpet. They’ll also be dated within a year. In fact, I thought they already were? Anyway, this is how you work it…..
Funny Googles: Duran Duran
Posted: November 25, 2008 Filed under: Duran Duran, funny googles 4 Comments »Found just now on my stats:
duran duran video where they have all the make up on
Errrr……this IS Duran Duran we’re talking about!
I think that covers any video Nick Rhodes might be in and pretty much any video of all of them from the first album.
The most make-up-tastic ones for all the boys are probably Careless Memories and Planet Earth though, in case you’re still looking.
Made me smile anyways…
Fashion Icon: Charlotte Rampling
Posted: November 24, 2008 Filed under: charlotte rampling, fashion icon of the moment 5 Comments »
Charlotte Rampling is one of those people whose elegance, stylishness and general coolness is so great that you can spend your whole life trying to achieve something vaguely approaching the same. You will, of course, never succeed. It’s either there, or it’s not. But you can have a lot of fun trying!
Even in her most Swinging Sixties moments, she looked timeless, classic and romantic. Which is more inspirational to me, actually, because I am not at all fond of the harsh ‘mod’ look. So I look to ladies like Charlotte Rampling to inspire me. She had longer, less heavily styled hair and wore prettier, softer clothes. In the Seventies, she moved into her prime in floaty Ossie chiffons and Thirties inspired tailoring. A look which appears to have been very natural to her, she looks far more elegant and sophisticated than most people attempting that look.
She also remains one of the most beautiful ladies around today, seemingly without the aid of surgery. Fond of nudity, even still, it was actually surprisingly hard to find photos of her with her clothes on! She takes on interesting roles, has had a varied and generally very well-played career and continues to make bold choices. Then, and now, Charlotte Rampling we salute you!
Top Five Tasty Vintage Blokes
Posted: November 23, 2008 Filed under: crushes, diana rigg, marc bolan, oliver reed, Pattie Boyd, The Beatles 4 Comments »….In the “those sadly no longer with us category”.
Clark Gable. Not so much for Gone With the Wind services, but for It Happened One Night which is one of my favourite films of all time. The sexual chemistry between Gable and Claudette Colbert is crackling, and it renders him totally irresistable. I was umming and aahhing between Gable and Gregory Peck for the ‘old school’ filmstar Vintage Bloke, but decided Peck (though gorgeous and wonderful in Roman Holiday particularly) was far too clean and smooth looking for my tastes.
Gareth Hunt in The New Avengers. I’ve had a soft spot for poor Gareth Hunt (poor because the man became rhyming slang for something unrepeatable) for years. But seeing him in his youth more recently in The New Avengers. Rowrrrrrrrrr!! He’s a proper blokey bloke, but very sweet with Purdey (the luminous Jo-Lum) and well, it’s inevitable I’d like him isn’t it? He’s so Seventies it hurts!
Marc Bolan. Le sigh. Pretty pretty pretty!! He wore ladies clothes with great aplomb and had the most phenomenal hair. He’s just indescribable, so I’m not going to try…
George Harrison. Seems I chose the right Beatle for my favourite (John Lennon is the only one who has never been my favourite, I think he’s a bit too prickly for me to love him unconditionally). And now he’s sadly left this world, he can’t ruin it all and taint our view of him like Paul and Ringo regularly do. His songs are also my favourite of all Beatles songs, and I think his solo career has been my favourite too. Soulful eyes, beautiful hair and that mystical, serious, quiet persona. If I can still love him after reading Pattie’s autobiography, which is incredible but so sad it can be very hard to read at times, then it must be true love.
Oliver Reed. If I had known Olly in his youth, or at any point quite frankly, I know I couldn’t have put up with him. I’d have probably thumped him one on a regular basis, if he didn’t thump me first, and knowing that he liked his women to have ‘traditional’ values he probably couldn’t have put up with me either. But the man was a walking chunk of sex. If you’ve never quite ‘got’ the Oliver Reed thing, just watch The Assassination Bureau with Diana Rigg. Trust me. I know I still haven’t ever recovered.
Knickerbocker Glory
Posted: November 21, 2008 Filed under: 1970s, doctor who companion fashion, mr freedom, website listings 3 Comments »
Oh I’ve been DYING to use that subject title ever since I photographed these babies!
This Mr Freedom design has become iconic over the years. It seems to have been one of their most popular and cherished designs, more usually seen with matching jacket (as seen below on Katy Manning of Dr Who fame and Olivia Newton-John).
Bookworm? Well it depends on the book….
Posted: November 20, 2008 Filed under: granny takes a trip, Pattie Boyd 3 Comments »
I know I always read in stockings and suspenders….
I used to be a voracious reader when I was younger. Now I barely seem to have the time, or inclination to get involved in much fiction. But I do have a passion for historical books, biographies, auto-biographies and fashion books (quelle surprise!).
So when Sharon Rose tagged me for a bookworm award, I scanned my room for any books out of my bookcase and found a book which has a bit of each. Pattie Boyd’s autobiography, Wonderful Today. Page 46, sentence 5 and a bit beyond…
Then there was Mr Chow’s restaurant in Knightsbridge; he was going out with Grace Coddington and later married Tina Chow, whom everyone fell in love with. We went to quirky little boutiques, like Granny Takes a Trip, owned by Nigel Waymouth, who was a painter, and John Pearce. They sold paintings, posters and clothes – crushed velvet trousers and fitted jackets with thin arms in wonderful greens and burgundies. Everything was very tight and men wore boots, jackets and shirts with big collars – Regency, almost. There was an amazing number of new shops for men, who were refusing to be like their fathers.
Unusual that it should be a small section without mention of George Harrison, but I figured you’d all appreciate a rare bit of menswear chat on here 
I shan’t tag anyone else because there’ll probably be lots of repeats. But if you’re a reader who’d like to do the ‘bookworm’ blog then please do, and link me up if you’re not already on my links.
No more. NO. MORE!!!
Posted: November 18, 2008 Filed under: exceedingly dodgy fashion statements, Ms Peelpants' rants, topshop 13 Comments »I could just about cope with leggings making a comeback. There’s a kind of logic when hems rise, and tights aren’t quite thick enough to cope.
But cycling shorts?
No. Cycling shorts were resigned to the tragically large heap of fashion no-nos a long time ago. I’m a girl who likes a bit of retro, even some things which might be considered naff (hello jumpsuits and batwing jumpers). But only GOOD things. Things which are stylish if worn properly and appropriately for an individual. Cycling shorts suit no one. No ONE. Not even Kate Moss. No. No. No. Can I say it any more vehemently? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Cycling shorts make the skinniest of legs look chunky. They cut off at the wrong point. Knees are not the most attractive part of a woman’s body. In fact, they’re right up there with feet for me in the ‘ewww’ stakes. Why would you want everyone staring at your knees?? Bad, bad, bad.
Making them in gold doesn’t make it any better, Topshop. I don’t know of anyone who would watch an MC Hammer video and think to themselves, ‘hmmm, sod the baggy Hammer-pants, I want some cycling shorts and a crop top’. This isn’t irony, it’s torture. I wore them when I was 10, my age being my only excuse. They were ugly then and they’re ugly now.
And I’m saying this because I like you, and I want you to be happy.
Last chance on the eBay: Art Deco Jacket
Posted: November 15, 2008 Filed under: ebay listings 4 Comments »
Sorry, very bad Duran reference there. Just thought I’d direct anyone who hasn’t seen it, but who might be interested, to this stunning Art Deco jacket which is listed on eBay and finishes tomorrow night. It was on my website for a wee while, but wasn’t really getting the exposure it deserved so it’s priced to go on the ‘Bay. It’s had a bid, so it will be selling. So, last chance!!
It’s quite possibly unique, almost certainly one of the most beautiful pieces of fabric I’ve ever come across and definitely an immensely collectable (whilst still being wearable) piece of….well, art I suppose.
Some eBay Picks
Posted: November 15, 2008 Filed under: 1970s, emma peel, eye candy, platforms, Things I wish I owned 2 Comments »Damn my big feet and head…..here are a couple of fabulous pieces which will never fit me but I would kill to own. Please buy and enjoy them!
I always become obsessed with hats in the winter. Sadly I only have a handful (and only two vintage) because I have quite a large head. Graduation day was entertaining I can tell you. I will post my two beloved hats at some point, a floppy felt number in aubergine with teardrop cut outs (very Biba) and a green suede Emma Peel hat by Edward Mann (who actually made the Emma Peel hats, so it’s a proper one too!!). If you ever see a great vintage hat with an inner measurement of about 23-24″, then give me a shout! I’ll probably want it! This one, the seller tells me, is a slightly stretchy 20″. But I’m not sure it could be 3-4″ stretchy!!
