Picture Postcard: Aesthetic Pain Relief

I've been feeling extremely sorry for myself this weekend as I was struck down by some kind of death plague which forced me to do little aside from lying on the sofa and watching some truly awful TV shows. My 'man flu 2.0' meant that I have missed a great deal of the latter stages of Paris (although I did crawl out of bed to cover the amazing Dunhill show) but I will catch up and summarise everything missed. This morning, as my head continued to thump to its own beat, I reached out for some aesthetic paracetamol in the form of Jak&Jill and came across the above perfectly styled midriff. Tommy certainly has one of the best Street Style eyes snapping at the moment and this is one my favourites. The colour palette work perfectly and the more I gaze at it, the more I see; from the folded belt, the frayed jackets, the exposed accessories all on one side, while the other hand is pocketed. I would be hard pushed to find anything shown over the last week or so which comes close to this in the style stakes. Now, if I stare at this long enough maybe, just maybe my head will recover...

Dunhill SS10: Innovation with history

Three Dunhill SS10 looks with archive advertising images providing the backdrop.

The latest Dunhill collection by Kim Jones is everything I wanted and expected it to be. Jones' vision for SS10 is English to the core, classic whilst taking you back to the roots of it's founder, who was known for his love for exploration and travels, but at the same time it all feels very modern. On the surface it was a traditional collection which aimed to bring Dunhill home to a new market. However, as the looks moved from simple tailored day wear in to a more casual weekend and on to a capsule traveller collection through to evening wear, it was cleat that Jones had picked out key inspirations from the past and repackaged them for the new era of luxury.

Alfred Dunhill joined his father’s saddlery business in 1887, ambitious and inventive, he brought new ideas and following his father’s retirement in 1893 he planned to change the focus of the business to cater exclusively for the pioneering motorist. Kim Jones has certainly channeled the history of the brand and undoubtedly understands the heritage. I get the impression he has spent hours upon hours researching the back catalogues of Dunhill and books like Dunhill by Design, finding inspiration and updating these ideas for the 21st century The heritage of Dunhill is so broad and so darn British, from its beginnings with the birth of the car to creating luxury accessories for motorcycling, aviation and the oh-so-fashionable smokers in the Roaring Twenties.

Over the last week or so the team at Dunhill raised my excitement levels so that they broke the scale through the best use of twitter by a fashion house. Intermittently throughout the last few days dunhill_inParis have twitpic'd an array of sneak preview images which have left me breathless and sweaty palmed. Hand tie dyed pocket squares, carbon fibre printed leather bags, piles of luxurious Mongolian cashmere sweaters, shagreen leather first used by Dunhill in the 30s, sunglasses made of hand polished flint found in the South Downs, polished flint boxes with leather straps handmade at the Alfred Dunhill leather workshop in Walthamstow, bags inspired by early air travel in the 1920s. Other features include a silver tie pin in the shape of a golf club, luxury pens encased in the same veneers as Roll Royce interiors, archive print shirts and the AD embossed logo from 1923 added to bags and brogues. Below are a few of my favourite preview images...

AD Logo from 1923 adorns futuristic looking luggage inspired by air travel of the 1920s

Hand tie dyed pocket squares

My favourite accessory all season. Polished flint boxes which have a wonderful natural pattern. The flint comes from the South Downs and after being polished is dressed up in handmade leather straps which were made in Alfred Dunhill's workshop in Walthamstow, East London.

Silver AD logo buttons used on a mohair jacket.

This is the collection I hoped Jones would make after first reading his Wallpaper interview in December last year. The below question and answer left the greatest impression on me and having seen the latest offering, it is particularly pertinent.

How difficult is it to balance the rich heritage of the brand with bringing it into the 21st century?
If you really look at the Dunhill heritage you will see that there is nothing ‘old’ about it, in fact it is wonderfully modern. Alfred Dunhill himself was obsessed with innovation and new technology, which means that there are pieces in the archive that are just as relevant today as anything I design.

For a brand with such strong roots, any steering by Jones has been to emphasise them – those being the characteristics of classicism and understatement but his challenge was to present these with a wholly modern personality too which he has surely done with this collection.

John Smedley blows out 225 candles

John Smedley flying the flag for craftsmanship here in the UK. Who said the sun never shines up North? Oh I said that...

As I have one lazy eye on the runway action over, I thought it would be nice to change the pace somewhat and take a step away from the latest collections and focus on an award winning heritage brand, John Smedley. I think it is a crying shame that we don't celebrate, great craftsmanship based here in the UK in the same way that our cousins from across the pond do (ACL being the prime example but one of many.) Still family owned, John Smedley continues to innovate whilst retaining the hand crafted finishing techniques that has established its reputation for more than two centuries yet it is the type of brand which is often taken for granted and over looked. 2009 is a landmark year for the company because it sees the family run business celebrate 225 years of making fine knitwear in the heart of the Derbyshire Dales.

The luxury British knitwear brand was founded in 1784 by John Smedley and Peter Knightingale (great-uncle of Florence) and the pair decided to set up business at Lea Mills, in Matlock as a brook provided (and still provides) a source of running water and power. I was fortunate enough to explore this factory and see it in all of its working and operating glory as I was invited up to cover the anniversary for Fashion156. It was great to experience the close knit nature of the brand on the work floor and see firsthand, how the latest technology has been integrated with age old methods.

A knitting machine with 20,000 needle components.

Wandering through the various knitting and construction stages it was great to talk to the workers, most of which had been working there for generations themselves and to watch them expertly use the machines. As I walked through and looked on at each process of a garments construction the balance between old but proven techniques and machinery alongside the latest knitting machines from Japan (some with over twenty thousand needle components) and laser presses from Holland, really left a lasting impression. This is a company that continues to learn and strive for the highest quality in a family environment like nothing I've ever encountered before.

The beginnings of a jumper...

The modern press uses lasers. Each John Smedley garment goes through three stages of hand supervised pressing to ensure correct fit and shape

The fastest use of a pair of scissors I've ever seen...this lady took less than ten seconds to expertly cut out the neck.

Highly trained seamstresses hand finish the garments, applying neck trims, buttons and John Smedley labels. Long lasting style and quality are vital ingredients to Smedley, creating sweaters which are appropriate to wear with anything, at any time.

The finishing touches...

Provenance and traceability from raw material to end product are integral to the brand and are sort after credentials by today’s consumer and rightly so! I think it is about time that we celebrated the true craftsman of the UK...I see a Made in the UK series of posts coming up.

Gaspard Yurkievich's perfect Summer shoe

Firstly, apologies for the lack of posting at the moment, there is just so much to cover from Paris and I have little energy and little time to post so please forgive me and I promise to have a number of highlight posts up over the weekend and beyond. The goings on in Paris have provided a number of interesting points but for now I want to concentrate on Gasapard Yurkievich's vision for SS10 and in particular his choice of footwear. Aside from the cowboy buckle closures and the slightly floppy padded shoulders shoulders I loved the nod to a sporty fifties America and the overall sense of laid back summer elegance.

The highlight looks from this comprehensive collection were those which demonstrated a relaxed summer tailoring as Gaspard Yurkievich sent out sleeveless suit jackets and jumpsuit shorts in pastel colours complimented beautifully by brightly coloured patent brogues. Thankfully Dazed Digital's backstage coverage provides some great close up shots of my ideal Summer brogue which have caused some drooling from me this afternoon.

I always struggle with the perfect shoe choice when the weather gets that bit warmer and I want something a little smarter than a boat. The patent lace up have small cutaways which achieve the perfect balance for a relaxed tailored look which I strive for when the sun shines.

A moment before we say arrivederci Milano

Now, the goings on in Milan hardly set my loins ablaze but there were a few bit and bobs which should not be over looked or forgotten all too quickly. It will soon be time to say bonjour Paris (in pure Del Boy style) but before we say arrivederci Milano and dismiss it as a waste of our time, I will pick out a few of the good things that we were treated to these past few days...

Highlight provided by...McQueen, Burberry Prorsum and Les Homme

First up, Alexander McQueen's collection which features splatters and hand prints of paint and looks a whole lot of fun, a breath of fresh air in the face of the stiff collections previously shown in Milan over the weekend. Alongside the relaxed tailored pieces there are a number of potential DIY projects. I was particular taken with the paint splattered lace ups which appears a simpler project than attempting the knock off Prada studded brogues (as shown on Fashion156). Now I've given it some further thought I fancy taking a paint brush to a neutral tailored jacket add splashing on some colour.

Next up, the Burberry Prorsum bondage knit top (or so we all thought) in the softest of pastel shades. These much talked about pieces were not bondage knits at all but were in fact inspired by the straps working men (of a past time) used to sling their coats over their shoulders. Now, the inspiration might not be a dirty as we all initially though but the result is just as damn sexy.

I loved the flowing, luxurious silhouettes of Les Hommes. The drop-crotch pleated and cuffed trousers were of course the highlight. Channeling Lawrence of Arabia, designers Tom Notte and Bart Vandebosch delivered some of the best drop-crotch trousers I think I've ever seen.

Highlight provided by...Marni, Jil Sander and Prada

I loved the look book images from Marni. There was a subtle styling that quietly but consistently suggested an elegant wear ability which really appealed throughout. However, the inner magpie caught sight of the studded tote and wants to take it back to my nest.

Aside from the Dumb&Dumber style bowl cuts, there was a definite sense of romance throughout the Jil sander collection. Instead of tacky fluffy red hearts there was an overriding sense of light and weightlessness that affects us all when we are struck by cupids bow (yes, I am that corny). The most obvious demonstration of this were the sheer shirts which incorporated the eroticism of the early twentieth-century Franco-Japanese artist Tsugoharu Foujita.

Finally, Prada's vision of SS10 was a celebration of grey. There might be a lack of colour in this collection but the hues of grey are far from dull and it more than delivered on the range of fabrics and textures used. Miuccia played with one of the symbols of masculine business power, the grey suit and transforming it by introducing mesh and perforated fabrics from head to toe.

Despite a few grumbles, was Milan really that bad? Regardless of which side of the fence you fall on, here's to a mind blowingly good Paris...

Picture Postcard: The waiting game is almost over...

The wait for Mr. Orwell is almost over...

Mr. Hare is the ultimate shoeist and his passion for shoes, as documented on his blog, made him a firm favourite on our blogroll back when we were just starting out in this blogging game. We were both excited and intrigued when he announced he was taking his obsession one step further and rolling up his sleeves to create his own AW09. We were the first to interview him as part of our 'Style Salvage speaks to' series and we have been impatiently waiting for the news that his stock is now available to buy. Yesterday morning, my Tuesday got that bit better when I recevied a teasing email that said the wait would soon be over. I included the Stingray Orwell in my 'Items worth saving up for' post back in March and despite not being the best at saving those pennies, my desire to have these on my feet come August (I hope) has not relented so I will just have to turn to a life of crime or prostitution. Are there any items out there which are making you consider the dark life to ensure that they become yours?

Style Salvage Speaks to... Fine And Dandy

Both of us at Style Salvage are drawn to dandies and so it was inevitable that we would speak to the owner of Fine and dandy, Matt Fox. This online store caters to the guy who enjoys dressing up, who doesn’t believe in Casual Friday, nor thinks of getting dressed each day as a chore. Like us, he has an appreciation for the well dressed gentlemen of yesteryear and is inspired by their unabashed use of accessories so this is what he stocks in his store. Last Sunday saw the belated launch party and as we couldn't make the trip over to New York for the special occasion we caught up with the dandy himself for a miniview (mini interview... get it?) and to get his inside picks on the current stock.

A selection of dandies at the launch party.

Style Salvage:What first inspired you to embark on the life of a dandy, to blog about it and then to open a store oufitting them?
Matt Fox: I guess you could say I've always been somewhat of a dandy. For as long as I can remember I liked getting dressed up. I was the weird kid in high school who wore a tie every day. I've lived in NYC for 13 years and for almost as long as I've been here I've wanted to open a shop called Fine And Dandy with a similar concept. But NYC is an expensive city and opening up a store front shop just hasn't been a reality. Last April I had the idea to give it a try on line. The internet is amazing in that we're able to reach people all over the world with similar interests. The blog has given us an opportunity to communicate with those people.

SS: Who is the greatest dandy of all?
MF: The greatest dandy to me was my grandfather. He didn't even know he was a dandy! My grandfather was a farmer in the middle of no where but he loved dressing well and looking good. I think I got that trait from him.

SS: What was the most recent dandified thing you have bought?
MF: I love shopping at flea markets. I've found some really unique ties and bow ties there. But for my most dandified item, recently I was at a flea market and found a jewelry box full of vintage tie bars and cuff links. Amazing!

SS: What item of clothing do you wish that more men wore?
MF: Well, I'm a big advocate of the bow tie. Not just for formal events. And every gentleman must learn to tie a bow tie!

SS: If you could dress anyone, living or dead, who would it be and what would you put them in?
MF: Picasso is the first to come to mind. I would dress him in his work pants, naturally splattered in paint, a crisp white short-sleeve button-down-front shirt, cotton madras bow tie, desert boots with no socks, and pants rolled up.

Following our miniview, we asked Matt to pick out his five favourite pieces from the current stock and this is what he chose...

1) Blue Club Tie, 2) Red Plaid Bow Tie, 3) Tomato Argyle Marcoliani Socks 4) Christie's London Hounstooth Ivy Cap and 5) Orange Multi-Coloured Edge Pocket Square.

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As you should all know, over the last few months we've been collecting together the recommendations of our interviewees of places to go to shop, eat, drink and generally enjoy yourself. We couldn't let Matt go without acquiring his favourite New York haunts which have now been added to the map...

Matt's recommendations:

Lunch at Freeman's Sporting Club

Late night snack at Kashkaval

Drinks at Campbell Apartment

Hair cut from Valentino at Astor Place Barber Shop

Vintage shopping at the Hell's Kitchen Flea Market.

McQueen plays with paint

A gaping hole was undoubtedly left by Alexander McQueen's decision to shun the traditional runway show opting to release a collaborative film along with photographer David Sims in support of the collection. McQueen rarely fails to deliver some theatre and the shows thus far have been safe, solid Spring/Summer offerings but little have provoked a stir of interest or a flurry of excitement. The short film is available to watch on his website but I am interested more in the accompanying look book and the blog images posted on Dazed Digital. This is a collection which features splatters and hand prints of paint and looks a whole lot of fun, a breath of fresh air in the face of the stiff collections previously shown in Milan over the weekend.

After discovering Edward Lorenz's graduate collection I was tempted to dip my fingers in to paint to attempt something similar and now McQueen has reignited the desire to get hands on with paint. Whereas the graduate's collection was all about using paint to document sartorial craftsmanship, McQueen's vision for SS10 is a celebration of the craft of the painter. A surge of twitter activity followed the release of collection images where a number of us talked up the DIY opportunities. The most intriguing for me are the paint splattered shoes. This DIY project is simpler than attempting the knock off Prada studded brogues as shown on Fashion156's Daily Blog.

Image sourced fron Dazed Digital.

This coming weekend I will hit the High Street and pop in to the odd vintage store on the hunt for a pair of suitable blank canvases, I mean brogues to attempt my own paint splattered homage. No doubt quite a few of us will be getting out hands dirty having seen this collection which is why this offering stands out from the Milan crowd. Hopefully next season McQueen will return to the runway because his presence on the catwalk has been sorely missed this season.

The happy dreamer is far from Milan

The happy dreamer is confused between dream and reality

The build up of excitement and expectation for the opening weekend of Milan has been pretty darn intense for me and the shows themselves thus far have only delivered a whimper. Of course not being in Milan itself is one of the reasons for my current state of indifference but even people experiencing the shows first hand are a little underwhelmed. Charlie Porter has decided to focus his Milan twitter coverage on things more exciting that the shows themselves...so far he has featured a blue van and a display of air conditioning pipes. There is however, something closer to home which is much more interesting than the goings on in Milan and that is LCF Graduate and ASOS LTD100 award winner, Kyung Hwa-Kim.

I only got to see three garments on show at the ASOS awards last week but was impressed and intrigued by the rounded shouldered tailoring. I emailed Hwa to congratulate her on winning the award because she was more than a little shocked and embarrassed by winning and asked to see her look book images and thankfully she agreed and here they are...

Kyung Hwa-Kim's graduate collection is inspired by the happy dreamer. Purity, innocence and masculinity overlap to create some confusion between reality and dream. Hwa was influenced by the Style Salvage film favourite, 'The Science of Sleep'. It is easy to see elements of Gondry's imagination throughout this collection. Unfortunately there are no giant hands on offer here but there is an exaggeration of silhouette achieved by curved shoulders which creates a wonderfully unusual effect just like those gigantic hands.

I love the dreamlike appearance and feel of the collection and the look book images themselves with accompanying illustrations which combine to create that sense of rubbing the sleep from your eyes in a state of confused consciousness questioning if what you just saw was real or dreamed.

I took a great deal of time examining the pieces on show last week as there was real beauty in the details and thankfully the below images demonstrate the celebration of intriguing detail and cut.

Each piece fits together and is interchangeable with the rest of the collection. There is a real sense of Hwa's continuity of theme which is most uncommon in graduate collections.

For a person who rarely remembers his dreams, I long to live or dream in a vision such as this. Mornings would be so much more fun if I could recall tales of sartorial characters with oversized tailored hunchbacks, 3D tops and pleated short trousers over a cup of tea, secretly longing to drift back in to my dream world.

Having seen her look book I was of course interested to find out what the future held in store for the young designer. Hwa would like to extend her study onto an MA but would like to explore real fashion world first. She is very interested in being a designer of course but also wants to explore pattern cutting, illustration anything related to Menswear and fashion along the way. For me, the runways of Milan might be struggling to create much excitement but there is so much more out there to discover and I can't wait to see more from designers like Kyung Hwa-Kim.

Picture Postcards: Seeing the print of it

Dearest EJ

You might have noticed that I rarely talk excitedly of prints. In fact, I would go as far to say that I am a little scared of them. Recently though I have been eager to experiment with print in my everyday style and I must confess that I was more than a little tempted by those deer shorts from The Good Shop which you brought to my attention. When I first saw the above show images of Tim Soar's S/S '09 collection I was still a little standoffish when it came to somewhat outlandish prints. "And The Sun Shone Straight In All Directions" saw him tinker with the classic palm-tree motif that's usually associated with Hawaiian shirts covering slightly over weight and sun burnt bellies. Initially, I was more than a little unsure of it all because it is not a print that naturally lends itself to (good) menswear in the way a Laura Ashley pattern could. However, a few months down the line I was fortunate enough to make it down to the ASOS LTD100 Awards last night (more on this later) and caught sight of the designer wearing one of his Hawaiian suit creations and could not resist taking a snap of him (well...asking Susie to).

Soar wore his creation so well, in amongst the slightly sweaty masses he looked the personification of summer. The designer has inspired me to take my appreciation of prints one step further and actually go out and try designs on..who knows, I might even buy something this weekend!

Lots of love

Steve

Happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat

Six Lee's collection titled Happiness isn't happiness without a violin-playing goat. Image from the Antwerp Fashion Observer.

I've had one of those days today. You know the ones where everything goes wrong from the moment you squint through opening eyes before stumbling out of bed and stubbing your toe on edge, to searching in vain for a matching pair of socks and a clean shirt, to missing your train, spilling coffee on yourself all before ten in the morning. So, to cheer myself up I looked to the talent flowing from the Antwerp Royal Academy. It is the directional student show that everyone looks to for new talent and it took place last weekend whilst I was playing around on a Margate beach. The Hoogeschool Antwerp’s Fashion Department is famed for its creativity and innovation, and has paved the way for some of the most exciting names of today, including Bernhard Willhelm, Haider Ackermann, Stephan Schneider, Bruno Pieters and Kris Van Assche to name but a few, oh, and of course, the Antwerp six! Actual show shots are still a little thin on the ground aside from a few on the Antwerp Fashion Observer but then Susie reminded me about the preview shots over on Dazed Digital and the work of Six Lee in particular.

My grey mood was lifted by Six Lee's percussion infused tailoring and memories of my feeble attempts at bashing the xylophone returned. Lee is a fourth year graduate who wants to make menswear a little more fun and his graduate collection certainly made me smile despite this being a 'head in hands' kind of day. When I heard the title of the collection a few memory bells rang off in the distant corners of my brain but I could not place where or how I knew it....

Of course, my chin scratching only lasted a few seconds as I reached out for my thought crutch (otherwise known as google) which never lets me down. It was of course a memorable quotes from Notting Hill (which I only watched all the way through this year) by Julia Roberts' character in response to Hugh Grant's rambled mutterings and a Chagall painting. Now where is my violin playing goat...maybe I'll find it tomorrow.

CFDA Menswear Award goes to...

Calvin Klein A/W 2009 collection as styled by John Tan for Bell Soto via The Fashionisto

This piece of news has been slow to make it in to the blogosphere but I stumbled across it over on 10 and thought it best to spread it. Italo Zucchelli, who took over men’s wear design for the Calvin Klein Collection almost seven years ago, is the first designer to win the CFDA menswear category for an inherited label and deservedly so. Zucchelli shared the plaudits with Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiders and both deserve the applause for creating designs which have made us all salivate over our keyboards. It is Zucchelli's trademark experimentation with textiles and modern take on classic sportswear which are entirely his own and what makes him special in my eyes. The last twelve months have seen the Italian born designer make huge strides forward with the American brand. For Spring/Summer he shocked with eye hurting fluorescent and for Autumn/Winter he bonded foam to fabric, whilst reinventing the puffer with flat surfaces (as captured in the marvellous Bell Soto editorial above).

Delving deeper with Style Like U

I've only recently discovered Stylelikeu and love how this blog showcases a slew of innovative young men and women in fashion and art with an increased level of insight than I'm used to seeing elewhere online. Mother and daughter duo Elisa & Lily have created this site from a pure fascination of people with great style and this is of course is a fascination we share here at Style Salvage. The site takes an in-depth look into the thoughts and insights of people with interesting personal style. We are so used to reacting to the odd snapshot of people with style across our favourite street style blogs but it is great that this site digs a little deeper. Since being introduced to the site I've spent a good hour or two immersing myself in the style videos when I really should have been working. My early favourite is Thomas Khadafy who loves that his style makes old ladies smile on the subway...

Thomas From Stylelikeu.com from Stylelikeu on Vimeo.

The persistant giver...

We escaped a hot, busy and polluted London and retreated from whence I came...the quiet life on the Kent coast. In between enjoying the sea breeze rolling across a warm sandy beach and stuffing my face with food we took my Nan on various shopping excursions where she could satisfy her consumer lust (which I of course, inherited). After stripping the aisles of Marks & Spencer like some kind of mini, grey haired tsunami for her own needs she turns her attention to the people around her...and she won't take no for an answer. She is a Mrs. Doyle character but where the parish housekeeper was obsessed with ensuring that her guests were full of refreshments, my Nan prefers to say 'go on, go on, go on...' to anything that she believes a persons wants. I've often left M&S clutching a bag of cashmere sweaters and the odd polo shirt but this weekend we strolled past the window of River Island and her eyes lit up when she saw a pair of grey canvas boat shoes...

When I told her that boat shoes were everywhere at the moment she mentioned that I didn't own a pair and therefore would not take my somewhat feeble 'no' for an answer. Of course I happily walked away with them and I have to concede that they were the perfect footwear choice for the rest of the weekend, as we certainly made the most of the sunshine and coastal delights...

Birthday Wong

Many happy returns of the day to Mr Thomas B. Wong of The Sunday Best, one of the slickest men we know. If you don't read his site... well, remedy that immediately! Photo stolen from his flickr as we don't have any of him of our own... yet!

Having fun with the RCA's class of 2009

As we all know by now the RCA's MA graduate show is one of the best (and most exciting) places to discover the fashion stars of the future so I was disappointed to miss out on seeing the show firsthand yesterday. To make up for it I've been catching up on the catwalking images and the coverage over on Fashion156 and Dazed Digital. The latter of which has recently uploaded some awesome backstage shots by Patrick Lindblom and I just had to share a few of my favourites before escaping for the weekend to the Kentish seaside...

It was great to see the young designers have fun with their collections whilst providing some of the most exciting menswear we've seen for some time. I missed out on Jae Wan Park when I compiled my preview favourites but these shots combined with the show images have catapulted this designer in to contention for my favourite graduate finds.

As I hinted at in my preview post, I was most excited by Mathew Miller's collection which explored masculinity with a somewhat jovial approach to the macabre. Miller balanced sharp tailoring with humour as he experimented with laser cut polka dot bombs, dancing skeleton pique bibs, cute cable knitted skulls, to name but a few interesting details.

It was great to see a number of the menswear designers experimenting with eye and head wear throughout their collections. Both Jae Wan park and Mathew Miller demonstrated that there is nothing dull about glasses!

Alex Mattson was in a even more playful mood, producing brightly coloured jumpsuits with rainbow-hued neckpieces and space ship-esque headpieces...

This is just a selection of the talent displayed in the show and I expect great things from this emerging talent. For more backstage images check out the Dazed Digital article in full and for more coverage of the show itself take a look at the daily blog over on Fashion156.

Picture Postcard: Sunshine Style

EJ and I were left applauding this masterclass in warm weather dressing as captured by The Sartorialist... In fact EJ suggested that I should just start dressing like him and that she was "trying to work out if i can persuade everyone I know to dress like him."

EJ has a point, everything works here. The outfit, the sunglasses, the haircut, even the dog all come together so well. I love the flash of colour from the mustard cardigan which provides a nice contrast from all of the navy and blue and co-ordinates perfectly with his leashed furry friend. It is rare that we see a street style moment which ticks so many boxes but this really does offer a great deal of inspiration for the warmer months. I have just noticed that the pose of the shot appears to show the dog waiting for his stylish owner to do his business on the pavement.

I think what I love most is the stripes. I am horrendously obsessed by stripes at the moment, still regretting the loss of a stripey top 3 years ago. The yellow is especially nice, and I'm always envious of people who can pull this shade off. Absolutely perfect hair. Not sure about the dog though. Can't stand the yappy buggers.