A MONTHLY COCKTAIL

A COCKTAIL OF THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN ON MY MIND THIS WEEK MONTH.

Springtime postcards from Paris (1.) My friend Adam climbed to the top of the Pompidou centre one evening to take this snap. I said it looked like the Eiffel Tower was laying a golden egg. (2.) 'Maddalena' by Anouk Aimée in La Dolce Vita. Those eyes! Those dresses! Fellini films are sending my monthly bills for eyeliner (L'Oreal's precision pen, to be precise) spiralling. I have now also resolved to live out the rest of my life the next few weeks entirely in Fellini black and white, captured on my Nikon FM2 (3.) , my 22nd birthday present from my boyfriend. So I made the most of exhibiting myself in my natural state, a.k.a. colour shock, when heading to the first Vogue Festival last month in London. (4.) Russ McClintock snapped me rushing into the venue (fashioniably late, of course) but doing pretty well to trot in my comfy new Jeffrey Campbell 'Fiona' boots courtesy of Vice magazine. In case you were wondering, yes I have invested in fake tan since this picture was taken. The maximalist I am, I felt so at home in the realm of James Perkins - the formidable Aynhoe Park (5.) in Northamptonshire, where I was on location shooting the Jitrois Autumn/Winter campaign with Rankin. Amongst statues, model aeroplanes, modern art and antiques, all the taxidermy animals wore jovial hats.(6.) Fabulous American service : On a recent work trip to New York I was honoured to stay in the glorious Mercer hotel. And yes, the rumours are true - they really do do the best cheeseburgers on the whole of the city. Meanwhile on the other side of the pond, the summer of bindi love has been kicking off (7.) mainly on the dancefloor in Le Baron. I just stocked up at one of my favourite jazzy bindi sites here. Also at Le Baron, Yvan Rodic made me this DIY tulip corsage for my Chanel bag (8.) last time I bumped into him. I'm sad it couldn't have been a permanent addition. Being the bad person I am, I bought myself these Valentino shoes (9.) as a early-birthday-pay-rise-celebration present to myself. They are the most expensive things I have ever bought, but I am proud to support the luxury European fashion industry, which is now not just my passion but my livelihood. I also think my favourite photographer Helmut Newton would approve of their studded stiletto qualities. Naturally I was thrilled that his first major retrospective since his death was to be hosted at the Grand Palais in Paris. One of my favourite of his photographs is his portrait of Karl Lagerfeld (10.) Another major exhibition of 2012 is of course Yayoi Kusama's lifetime retrospective at the Tate Modern (11.). Much as I enjoyed the exhibition, if there is one thing I was a little disappointed in it was the curation. For an artist whose whole creative aesthetic is based on mania, I felt that this could have been better expressed through the layout of the rooms of her work - it was rather clinical. I did enjoy the gift shop however, spending £28 on postcards - possibly a new record. Who's the manic one now?

SEPTIME

"
I don't like white paper backgrounds. A woman does not live in front of white paper. She lives on the street, in a motor car, in a hotel room." So said Helmut Newton. The same man also declared that he perferred always to photograph what he knew best, rarely straying more than 2km from his home, or if on location, his hotel, for a photoshoot. I have admired this restaurant (above), Septime, for nine months. I  see it from my balcony, I walk past it every day - have admired its teal shuttered facade, the handprinted daily menus on the window. It's expensive, hence why I have only seen the outside. But then one day last weekend, I saw it differently. It must have been the 'graffiti' - only in Paris. 

Photo by Matthew Thomas. I wore Topshop kimono, vintage shirtdress, Jitrois leggings, Valentino shoes & Aspinall purse.