ASOS

asos

I remember ASOS. I remember it in the days of internets past, when it was called As Seen On Screen and only stocked clothes seen on the celebs du jour. Embarrassingly, I also recall buying something “as seen on Kylie,” that was white and lycra*; that memory is still waiting to be erased! The quality wasn’t great, the packaging very “catalogue.” They’ve come A LONG way since then. Now a huge enterprise, ASOS rules the internet shopping market, offering unique brands, high street and designer all in one place. What I love about the expansion of ASOS is how it has allowed them to champion new up-and-coming design talent. My favourite recent collaboration was the Ltd 100 project. ASOS sold 100 unique, one-off London College of Fashion graduate pieces….genius! This Friday (probably today by the time you read this!) they launch their assault on the festive market with Black Christmas – a selection of truly individual looks to set off the party season. I adore the mini-dress with caged skirt and shall be scrambling to get it tomorrow!! So, ASOS seem to have it all sewn up. I hope they keep championing the new and offering an ever widening eclectic mix of apparel. I wonder if we’ll ever see them on the High Street one day….**

*not the infamous “Can’t-get-you-out-of-my-head” bodysuit!
**illustrates my wondering mind ;]

Nibbles + Giles Deacon

 

Soooo, the moment is nearly nigh! Watch this space, literally…the space above these words! Today the Cadbury Nibbles shop goes live and I will have free scarves by Giles Deacon to give away (U.K. visitors only sorry.) For all the details see my previous post. Once the shop opens, just click the image above, reveal the form and join the queue…let’s hope this works ;]

Nibbles + Giles Deacon Update! For up-to-date information, follow me on Twitter — @FashionCoolness

Sketchbook Magazine

sketchbook

New magazines come, new magazines go but some just have that certain “je ne sais quoi” that makes me think they’ll achieve longevity in such a fickle industry. Sketchbook magazine has launched its Fashion Blogger Issue that fully embraces the new direction of the industry. An homage to the current blogger du jour, Susie Bubble, the magazine showcases emerging talent in the form of illustrators, stylists, photographers…the list goes on and on. What I like about it is the non-conformist, eclectic nature of its layout. There is no standardised form or preconceived uniformity that must be adhered to – each page is unique and a true reflection of its content. So, gushing over! Take a look at Sketchbook’s blog and website and purchase online here for the full sensory treat.

Sketchbook Update! Read my interview with the Editor-in-chief!

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Giles + Cadbury = Nibbles

giles

So, from an ethical rant yesterday, to freebies and chocolate today! That’s what I love about blogging – I can be as eclectic and random as the mood takes me! So, this Friday my blog kind of gets taken over, all in the name of Cadbury Nibbles, Giles Deacon and a scarf. I will have free scarves to give away (YES free!) at a certain point on Friday (still unbeknownst to me, as they’ve probably realised what an awful secret keeper I am!) You must in some way befriend the Caramel Bunny on Facebook, or at least look at her page, get the exact time and voilà, a Giles Deacon scarf can be yours for free. Several other bloggers are in on the action and the Pop-up shops will rotate around us. I’m not sure what it will do to my site, or how it will work, so it’s like a mini chocolate adventure for me too, all just in time for Halloween; tenuous link to explain pumpkins in picture! (Merci to at The Decorated House for the gorge Bunny images – you can buy them on Etsy)

The New Fur

fur

Today was a day of randomness and weirdness. It began quietly and ended in a Twitter frenzy and some business about Right Said Fred and Mel B (don’t ask!!) I have been on a mission to find a stylish, quirky and unique (a tall order) winter coat for some time now. It seems everyone I know did the sensible thing and purchased their coat in June, while the UK was in the midst of “Summer.” They then had the opportunity to wear it all the way through July and August and now are smug as I struggle to find “mine.” I didn’t know moths in the noughties still did this, but they chose to eat my winter coats this summer. When I went into the attic, there were cool little holes running all the way down the sleeves (they seemed cool in August….way less cool as we head for November!) Anywhhoooo, back to matter in hand.  This article in The Guardian today mentioned someone with an astrakhan collared vintage coat. I’m a wordy person and had never heard of “astrakhan” (also known as karakul) before, so looked it up. Firstly I discovered a Belle Jardinière vintage poster, in which all the men wore astrakhan collared coats. On flicking through more recent articles, horror ensued. A 2005 Times’ article reads;

The wool of the karakul lamb — most are black — is so soft and curly that it resembles crushed velvet.
Animal rights groups claim some furriers are not even willing to wait for the ewes to give birth. They have collected evidence that sheep have their throats cut so the unborn foetuses can be cut from their wombs. These have the softest, most valuable fleeces.

On further investigation, spurred on by equally shocked Twitterer @JamieLawRoberts, I discovered that whether or not the foetal removal process is true, the lambs are usually slaughtered aged just 3 days, in order to “harvest” the softest pelts. This Humane Society article sheds more light on the horrendous process. The most worrying discovery today was the sheer amount of astrakhan used in the fall/winter ’09 collections. Many fashion houses chose to reuse this unusal fur that last courted fashion controversy in 2005….but this year, for some reason, its use hasn’t been so widely reported. I am not a huge animal rights activist, I don’t usually scorn designers for their use of materials but I do draw the line at this. We implore people to be more conscious of their clothing’s origin; programmes are dedicated to exposing sweat-shops and illegal working practices, so how is this not more widely reported? The only one explanation I can consider for its popularity is the misconception that it is simply wool, something it most definitely is not. Prior to today, I could claim ignorance of this issue, laughing at the silly Russian hats; hopefully today you will feel informed of an inhumane practice, that we can hopefully one day prevent.

Style Like U

Style Like U

Today has been a strange one…I’m still in my PJs at 4.30, I’ve been “sorting” all day but haven’t really got anything sorted out! I decided to go through my gmail mountain this morning – turns out I have been somewhat of a FOOL. I obviously have the attention span of a gnat and have opened emails, read them, decided in my head, “I must do something about that,” only to instantly forget it! I had about 200 stars next to priority emails, that I simply chose to ignore completely. One of which was from Elisa about the brilliant Style Like U. It takes wardrobe snooping to the next level, with embedded video and chats with the wardrobe’s proprietor. I LOVE it! My blogger-matey Disney Roller Girl tweeted about the site a few weeks back and I’ve subscribed ever since; to find today, I had the site recommended to me by its maker in June!! So, I send out a sincere apology to Elisa (more to come on her other enterprises) and IMPLORE you ALL to visit Style Like U – warning, it’s very addictive and could take over your day!

Talula

Talula

So this is an odd post…it’s more of a plea for information! A fellow blogger, Milly, mentioned Talula last week. The photography instantly caught my eye. Their Autumn/Winter campaign is shot beautifully but I have no other information other than this visual delight. I have managed to glean that Talula is stocked by Aritzia but is it a separate brand, what are the clothes actually like, how’s the quality? Questions abound! So if you are familiar with Talula, work for them, know a contact email, please let me know. I feel hooked like after watching an obscure internet viral and oddly enthralled by the stuffed pheasants!

The Caramel Bunny

giles

There is no doubt that the Cadbury Caramel Bunny has evolved over the years. She has always been demure, alluring and attractive; especially for a cartoon rabbit, but now her image has been overhauled completely! The fact that animated characters wield such attraction has always worried me slightly! I’ve been trying to think of a male cartoon creation that displays such overt sexuality but I’ve drawn a complete blank (let alone a male animation of the animal variety.) This strange allure of the Caramel Bunny has always intrigued me, along with our unquestioning acceptance of her attractiveness! So when I was recently contacted about a designer collaboration between the aforementioned bunny and Giles Deacon, I was slightly bemused! Even more so when I discovered that Mr. Deacon had designed a new dress for this wondrous creation to wear! We’ve seen designers create looks for the famous, the High Street and now we move into the realms of confectionery. I am interested to see what fruit this collaboration will bear and excited to tell you it may provide something of interest to you, although my lips are sealed for the moment! I shall keep you posted and hope it might result in a few Cadbury Caramel Nibbles for me!

The Cobra Snake

cobrasnake2

Fashion Month is over. From New York to Paris the shows have dazzled. I’ve gained the most inspiration and true insight into the true revelry and chaos of the fashion week circuits from my fellow bloggers’ photographs. A personal favourite, that beautifully documents the whole party scene is The Cobra Snake. The intimacy of each event is portrayed in such a fun, voyeuristic manner that I can’t help but check back a little too often. I’d love to say I feel as if I’m there but instead it mostly highlights that I’m not cool enough to be there (although I can keep trying ;) Please take some time to peruse the site, be warned it is HIGHLY addictive and the perusal could take several hours!

Links à la Mode

links

Merci to all the gang at Independent Fashion Bloggers, specifically Jennine, for including me in their Links à la Mode section this week. Read on to see who else they deemed read-worthy…

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