tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24098769086225545042024-03-23T11:45:28.352+00:00EIGHTEIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.comBlogger413125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-48121722625251118132012-06-18T11:53:00.001+01:002012-06-18T11:55:39.474+01:00JITROIS CAMPAIGN AUTUMN/WINTER 2012<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=jitrois8-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/jitrois8-1.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Jitrois Autumn/Winter campaign that we shot at Aynhoe Park with Rankin has been released. My <i>unbiased</i> opinion is that it is stunning. I had a lot of fun along with Rankin's producers coming up with the story (see below), and to spend the day on set in such an incredible location was fascinating, if not a little distracting. I must have snapped hundreds of photos of taxidermy animals in hats & stuffed pythons. Nadine Ponce is the face that inspired my narrative - she has such a powerful, unique look and I know she will go far.</span><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=jitrois7-1.jpg" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/jitrois7-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>For
Autumn/Winter 2012-2013, long-time collaborator Rankin turns his lens upon four
mischievous heroes at sophisticated play... </i></span><span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This game of seduction, an idea at the heart of the D.N.A. of Jitrois, is played out by a selection of characters evoking a 1920s country house mystery tale of the like of Agatha Christie: Masha Voronina, a listless Socialite; Chris Doe, a manipulative Narcissus; Tuuli Shipster, a Charming Blonde feigning innocence but playing Judas. The enigmatic Artist, Nadine Ponce, cuts an insouciant and androgynous figure, bringing a wave of modernity and sparking a dark, romantic revolution. With the arrival of The Artist comes a new, enlightened mood, more Bloomsbury Group than 'Bright Young Things'. Standing against bourgeois rituals and for shared ideas and shared love, the revolution shakes up the house of carefully laid-out cards, and some are revealed to be as intrinsically still and cold as the statues around them.
</span><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=jitrois11.jpg" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/jitrois11.jpg" /></a><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our characters move through a labyrinthine mansion, a formidable character in itself played excellently by Aynhoe Park. Filled with objects and curios, this esoteric setting harks back to the age of 'Le Grand Tour' and represents the conservative moral and artistic codes of the last two millennia. In juxtaposition, dramatic tableaux of lovers are cast in the Orangerie.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=NADINEMASHALIBRARY.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/NADINEMASHALIBRARY.jpg" /></a></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rich tones of ruby noir and midnight purple create a sumptuous, jewel-like colour palette, while smocked leather, crochet detailing and golden embroideries evoke a textural tapestry. Both complement the eccentric and diverse fabric of this incredible environ. Around the piano, hyper-feminine stretch leather evening gowns are juxtaposed against the androgynous tailoring favoured by The Artist. The latter, imbibed with a devastating power of seduction, dominates any love triangle. In Jitrois, three is a beautiful crowd. In Jitrois, three is a beautiful crowd.
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</span><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=jitrois2.jpg" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/jitrois2.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com67tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-49226552151023092892012-06-05T18:03:00.005+01:002012-06-05T18:03:44.543+01:00SONAR<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=EtniaBarcelonaImogenRoybyMatthewThomas.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/EtniaBarcelonaImogenRoybyMatthewThomas.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here comes the sun, </span><i><span style="color: orange;">I think. </span></i></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Catching evening rays on my balcony in Paris 11ème, wearing<a href="http://www.etniabarcelona.com/"> Etnia Barcelona's</a> Sonar Limited Edition sunglasses and a €1 dress, and dreaming of my September trip to Morocco. <i>Photo by Matthew Thomas.</i></span></blockquote>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com55tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-9254387998143700232012-05-22T10:59:00.000+01:002012-05-22T17:09:35.267+01:00A MONTHLY COCKTAIL<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=londondiary2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/londondiary2.jpg" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: red;">A COCKTAIL OF THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN ON MY MIND THIS <strike>WEEK</strike> MONTH.</span></b><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Springtime postcards from Paris</b></span> <span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">(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.) </span><span style="color: red;"><b>'Maddalena' by Anouk Aimée in La Dolce Vita</b>.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"> 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 </span><strike style="color: #444444;">rest of my life</strike><span style="color: #444444;"> the next few weeks entirely in Fellini black and white, captured </span><b><span style="color: red;">on my Nikon FM2</span></b><span style="color: #444444;"> (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 </span><b><span style="color: red;">heading to the first Vogue Festival</span></b><span style="color: #444444;"> 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 </span><span style="color: red;"><b>Jeffrey Campbell 'Fiona' boots</b> </span><span style="color: #444444;">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 </span><span style="color: red;">- <b>the formidable <a href="http://www.aynhoepark.co.uk/">Aynhoe Park</a></b></span><span style="color: #444444;"> (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.</span></span><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=londondiary3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/londondiary3.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">(6.) Fabulous American service : On a recent work trip to New York I was honoured to stay in the </span><b><span style="color: red;">glorious Mercer hotel</span></b><span style="color: #444444;">. 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, </span><b><span style="color: red;">the summer of bindi love</span></b><span style="color: #444444;"> has been kicking off (7.) mainly on the dancefloor in Le Baron. I just stocked up at one of my favourite jazzy bindi sites </span><a href="http://www.asian-designs.com/" style="color: #444444;">here.</a><span style="color: #444444;"> Also at Le Baron, Yvan Rodic made me this </span><b><span style="color: red;">DIY tulip corsage for my Chanel bag</span></b><b style="color: #444444;"> </b><span style="color: #444444;">(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 </span><b><span style="color: red;">these Valentino shoes</span></b><b style="color: #444444;"> </b><span style="color: #444444;">(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 </span><b><span style="color: red;">his portrait of Karl Lagerfeld </span></b><b style="color: #444444;">(10.) </b><span style="color: #444444;">Another major exhibition of 2012 is of course </span><b><span style="color: red;">Yayoi Kusama's lifetime retrospective at the Tate Modern</span></b><b style="color: #444444;"> </b><span style="color: #444444;">(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?</span></span></blockquote>
</blockquote>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-65055408408457124642012-05-15T11:12:00.000+01:002012-05-15T11:15:04.081+01:00SEPTIME<div style="text-align: center;">
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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. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="text-align: left;"><i>Photo by Matthew Thomas. I wore Topshop kimono, vintage shirtdress, Jitrois leggings, Valentino shoes & Aspinall purse.</i></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-35012419321458057122012-04-19T09:43:00.001+01:002012-04-19T09:44:38.217+01:00SWATCH FROM THE STREETS - THE HEART OF SOHO<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="437" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/u921d9Wrpew?rel=0" width="800"></iframe><br />
<div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;"><b style="color: magenta;">Swatch From The Streets</b> is a global 'city-off' between some of the world's coolest locations. Naturally, I was intrigued to find out which was chosen for London, in collaboration with<b> </b><a href="http://i-donline.com/2012/03/swatch-with-a-heart/" style="color: magenta;"><b>i</b><b>-D magazine</b></a>. <i>This is England</i> actress Vicky McClure is representing, and she chose Old Compton Street in SoHo. I wholeheartedly agree. </div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Like Vicky, I feel that this postage stamp piece of London has always had such vitality. Squashed in between the tourist-traps of Theatreland and Oxford Street, it's a rollicking, neon-strip lit, 24hour-license-corner-shop kind of a place by night. And by day, you can still catch the old guard (Brit Art, Brit Pop, Blackadder actors...) scurrying between Black's and The Groucho. It has become gentrified since the 70s, but's it's never become dull. When I was an intern at Esquire, and later at Vogue, SoHo was my after-work stomping ground. A friend of mine at the Groucho once took me on a 21-stop pub and club crawl on a Tuesday night starting at Paramount on top of the Centre Point building ( it has since opened it's doors to non-members) and ending in an Addison Lee car somewhere near Bow Church.</div><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">Vicky has cheated a little bit and she's also managed to wangle her hometown of Nottingham into the clip. I can't say I've been, but I'll take her word for it...</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=vickymclure.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/vickymclure.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=vickymclure2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/vickymclure2.jpg" width="800" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-7284446472735839452012-03-16T23:24:00.001+00:002012-03-16T23:26:02.631+00:00PHOTOGRAPHED BY MICHAEL STEPHENS<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=97990002BW.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/97990002BW.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I AM VERY FORTUNATE TO BE ABLE TO CALL MICHAEL A GREAT FRIEND OF MINE.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> NOT ONLY DOES HE HAVE THE MOST INCREDIBLE NATURAL EYE, BUT HE HAS THE UNCANNY ABILITY TO MAKE SOMETHING OUT OF NOTHING. WHEN I WAS FEELING ROTTEN IN FEBRUARY, HE WAS THE ONLY ONE I WOULD ALLOW TO TAKE PICTURES OF ME AT FASHION WEEK. IF HE HAD HAD HIS WAY, I MIGHT HAVE GONE OFF TO LE BARON IN JUST THE LEOTARD...BUT WE'LL SAVE THAT LOOK FOR ANOTHER DAY. WHEN MICHAEL ISN'T BEHIND HIS PENTAX ANALOGUE CAMERA, YOU'LL FIND HIME <a href="http://i-donline.com/authors/michael-stephens/">SCRIBBLING PIECES FOR i-D MAGAZINE</a>. </span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=97990018BW.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/97990018BW.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">EDIE SEDGWICK PRINT DRESS BY LISA PERRY. ROBE VINTAGE. FUR CUFFS FROM ASOS. BOOTS TOPSHOP.</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=97990003BW.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/97990003BW.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-51518050260621254512012-03-15T10:55:00.000+00:002012-03-15T10:55:55.753+00:00THE JITROIS 'ROY' DRESSES<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=March2012VOGUE-ALLEMAND-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/March2012VOGUE-ALLEMAND-2.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: justify;">It was, and is still, a huge honour that I had my name dedicated to not one but FIVE of the pieces from the <a href="http://www.jitrois.com/">Jitrois</a> Spring/Summer 2012 collection. The four ROY dresses and the IMOGEN green suede skirt have done pretty well in the press too, suggesting that a little of the attention-seeking nature of their namesake rubbed off on them. The 'Imogen' skirt was hastily conceived when I walked into the final fitting with Jean Claude Jitrois and the Creative Director the day before our presentation. I was wearing my €1 yellow pleated skirt from Freep'star and it was literally grabbed off me and taken to the atelier to be 'Jitrois'd' up. The green suede looks absolutely sensational. If I say how much it costs your eyes will pop out of your head and into your Earl Grey, so I'll keep mum. </div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Above: Jitrois ROY V dress in black in Vogue Germany's March issue; Below model Sarah Marshall wears the dress at the Prix Mont Blanc awards in Berlin, pictured with Teri Hatcher; The dress in the SS12 lookbook.</span></span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=Imogen4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/Imogen4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=march12LOVE.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/march12LOVE.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Above: ROY BRODERIE dress in LOVE magazine's March issue. Below: On Arizona Muse in January's Vogue Paris; and in the SS12 lookbook</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=Imogen2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/Imogen2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=march2012--LOFFICIEL.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/march2012--LOFFICIEL.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Above: Imogen suede skirt in L'Officiel March, below in the SS11 lookbook. Below right: The shortsleeved ROY crochet dress in the SS12 lookbook, also available in black.</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=Imogen3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/Imogen3.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Below: Jean Claude Jitrois poses with a model wearing the Imogen skirt for Jewel magazine.</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=1211---JEWEL2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/1211---JEWEL2.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-60331769923387081122012-03-12T10:55:00.003+00:002012-03-12T11:04:36.445+00:00A MAXIMALIST AT HOME<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9232.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9232.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">James Long womenswear 12-13 at the London Showrooms in Paris </div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Call it what you will : the Downton effect, Diamond Jubilee influences or simply a post-recession neo romance explosion, but the current fashion mood leaves no hiding place for minimalists.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> When I went to visit the London Showrooms in Paris last weekend to 'meet' the James Long and Mary Katrantzou A/W 12-13 collections, I went around blessing each handcrafted piece as if at an altar. 'My time has come' I almost whispered aloud, 'this is my time'. A self-diagnosed maximalist, the more extravagant the dress, the better. The opulence in the beadwork, embroideries and textures cast in these rich colours really hark back to a time when clothing was called 'costume', and for good reason.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm trying very hard to think of a season in my living fashion memory when things came close to being even nearly as opulent, and I'm failing. We're all familiar with the royal portraits of duchesses, French, English, Spanish... simply <i>dripping</i> in finery. If you were fortunate enough to be born the right side of the palace gates form the 15th-19th centuries, when you got dressed, you got <i>dressed. </i>You had to outshine your own furnishings for a start. Coasting through the Katrantzou, Long, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Miu Miu collections from this new season is almost like revisiting those royal portraits again,-complete with the velvets, brooches and gold buttons- just with shorter skirts and free of the persecuted corset.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=Collages22.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/Collages22.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Clockwise from left: Miu Miu, Prada and Louis Vuitton. Photos by Morgan O'Donovan for Dazed Digital.</span></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">When I visited the Chateau of Fontainbleau this weekend, I immediately caught snatches of A/W Prada in the furnishings. The Chateau is about 40 minutes Southwest from Paris, and was the inspiration for the Chateau of Versailles. I liked the mélange of architectural styles, which you don't see at Versailles because it was all built in one go. The Kings of Fontainebleau however, commissioned their own extensions in the style of the day from the middle ages to the 19th Century. Napoleon was the last resident here : his bed is the tiny green and gold one at the very bottom of this page.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mary Katrantzou drew her inspirations this season from gardens and stationary, but she is of course most famous for her inaugral trompe l'oeil 'inside-out-interiors' motifs, featuring sashed window and chandeliers. Even Louise Gray's silver studded breastplate wouldn't look out of place on a suit of armour. The point is, it's a great time to be dressing up like Marie Antoinette's furniture.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9289.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9289.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9236.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9236.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9299.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9299.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9239.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9239.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9294.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9294.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9240.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9240.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9291.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9291.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9242.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9242.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9290.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9290.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9244.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9244.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=IMG_9286.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/IMG_9286.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=tumblr2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/tumblr2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Detail shots from James Long, Mary Katrantznou and Louise Gray's collections.</span></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-70439037750218994932012-03-05T17:14:00.004+00:002012-03-05T17:46:14.309+00:00WOMAN WORSHIP - AND WHY THE HELL NOT?<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=gio2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/gio2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I was aware of Giovanna as early as a few years ago. I recognised her distinctive bold sartorial style around shows in Paris and on the streetstyle blogs: strong colours, big shapes, lots of jewellry, and not dissimilar from my own. But it was only really in the last few months that I made the connection between the editorial pictures I had on my walls at university and the image-maker behind them. It seems Giovanna has been helping me make decisions about how I dress for a lot longer than I realise.</span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br />
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</div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Around the same time that I became hooked on her </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gio's Journal column in W magazine</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, for whom she is contributing fashion editor, that same magazine published an article on girl crushes. Commonly a romaticised phenomenon occurring in single-sex boarding schools, girl crushes are often first formed for glamorous older girls in house common rooms. Although I never had one myself, I read about them in the novels of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Enid Blyton and Karen Wallace</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. <a href="http://www.wmagazine.com/fashion/2012/01/girl-crush-perfect-relationship?currentPage=1">In the article</a>, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thessaly la Force</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (what a name...!) describes the nervous 'first date' shakes she experienced on having the opportunity to meet one of her female icons. And she was far from boarding school age: she had a rather glamourous job of her own at The New Yorker. The writer jokes about her silly attachment, but she makes a very valid point. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></blockquote><i> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">The “girl crush” may sound silly, but sometimes it takes something unserious to get us talking about a serious subject: the ambitions of young creative women and the need for worthy role models [...]</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"> Each of them has accomplished something the rest of us dream of doing. And because they’ve done it, we feel we</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><i>can too."</i></span></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">My 'girl crush' on Giovanna - now that I can call it that - goes far beyond her sense of style. It's a crush on her career, her aesthetic, her playful and self-deprecating attitude to herself, her professional outlook, her lifestyle, her wacky habits and her relationship with her colleagues. She has my dream job - fashion stylist at a number of top International Conde Nast publications, and additionally, Giovanna is ten years older than me, and therefore allows me to imagine what my life when I am her age now. </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">After catching up over dinner last night at Chez Jeanette, I brought the topic of Girl crushes up with <a href="http://www.parkandcube.com/">Shini</a>, <a href="http://www.thestylecrusader.org/">Jen</a> and <a href="http://www.fashionistable.blogspot.com/">Dvora</a> as we walked through the streets of Paris. Jen mentioned Carol Issa of Tank magazine, while we all swooned over Candice Lake, with wistful 'Oh-s!' and 'Oh-she's-so-amazing!'s' Both Candice and Carol are exteriorly and interiorly beautiful women. Humble, kind, ambitious, brilliant. Women I could add to this girl crush list off the top of my head : Diane Arbus, Olivia Wilde, Tavi Gevinson, Zadie Smith, Patti Smith, Christa d'Souza, Laurie Penny, Camilla Batmangheli...</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=gio1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/gio1.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">La Force also brings much needed attention to an ideology which takes a fair bit of bashing from time to time, as trends rise and fall, namely that of the cult of woman worship. What could be healthier than the admiration, respect and appreciation of an individual of our fellow womankind, who has earned attention for doing something outstanding? Sadly, the girl crush is not universal. You only have to leaf through the tabloids or any noxious gossip weekly to see that in some parts of society, woman-on-woman hating is positively encouraged. The endless sharp-tongued criticism of Victoria Beckham is the perfect example. On paper - as a woman who formed part of one of the biggest pop empires the world as ever seen, then went on to individually start a luxury business from the ground up, is the mother to three children and balances a steady marriage, constantly under public scrutiny and yet manages to remain scandal-free - she's a legend. Yet many female journalist prefer to focus attention on the fact that she wore high heels while pregnant, as if it were on the same scale as smoking 20 a day for the 9 months.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=gio4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/gio4.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">La Force observes that professional girl crushes are also a reassuring confirmation that the professional realm once dominated by men is evening out. True, my girl crush works in the female dominated world of fashion, but you only have to look at the video above or on <a href="http://fashiononfilm.wmagazine.com/inside-w-magazine">W's website</a> to see that Giovanna is a 24/7 powerhouse, loving her work, loving life, and running her own shop entirely. And cordially, too. I haven't met Giovanna yet, but I know that my 'first date shakes' will surely rival those of La Force's when it does happen.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">And of course, we can't ignore her style. I'd like to call it 'Me, but luxe'. Perhaps in ten years I might have as enviable a wardrobe. </span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=Pictures.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/Pictures.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=gio.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/gio.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Above: One of Giovanna's editorials for Vogue Japan. Below: Whilst picture researching for this post, I made two fascinating discoveries about Gio and I. First - Our shared taste in Bollywood style crop tops for parties. Second - we have the same party Game Face.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=gio3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/gio3.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-51359849349513231292012-02-27T22:43:00.000+00:002012-02-27T22:43:58.050+00:00COMING UP FOR AIR<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=MuseumCafe.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/MuseumCafe.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">What do you mean by that?' said the Caterpillar sternly. `Explain yourself!' `I can't explain MYSELF, I'm afraid, sir' said Alice, `because <em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">I'm not myself</em>, <em style="font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;">you see</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">.' </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">You may have noticed, I have been away. Although I hated to let it go for so long, this blog was not a priority. A wise man said recently that the words "I don't have time," have dangerously infiltrated our daily lives, used to buffer off ideas up to twenty times a day. He suggested replacing "because I don't have time" in your head with "because it's not a priority" to help re-evaluate your decisions. Suddenly, "I'm not going to the doctor because I don't have time" sounds stupid. Of course health is a priority. Perhaps even the greatest one of all. So is getting enough sleep, getting out from under the prison trap of a computer screen, and going out and seeing your friends. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">A friendship you really can't risk losing, is that which you have with your body. When your body suddenly lets you down, you know you're in the doghouse. I have a lot of reconciling to do, but I'm getting there.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 16px;">To prove that I haven't been horizontal for the last 6 weeks, here's evidence of what I <i>have</i> been doing.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=londondiary1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/londondiary1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.. I shot a lookbook for<a href="http://www.jitrois.com/"> Jitrois</a>. Ok, so it was more of a line-sheet, but it was my first shoot directing models. Lordy do those things go on. I was hunched over my camera for 10 hours straight, shooting 90 looks.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=londondiary.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/londondiary.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... I took the time to look up. And I liked what I saw. Clockwise from left : Musée d'Orsay, La grande salle, Paris; Comptoir Général, Paris 10th; The Westin Grand hotel, Paris; The Fig & Olive, Islington.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7535.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7535.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... Taught those models a few of my own tricks backstage at men's fashion week in Paris.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_5518.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_5518.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... 'Strange people sitting opposite me at shows' was Jeremy Langmead's (he of Mr. Porter) visual diary on his twitter account during men's fashion week in Paris. There were some far <i>stranger</i> people sitting behind me at the Issey Miyake show, but I didn't feel audacious enough to turn and snap them, so I had to be content with this amiable bunch.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7674.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7674.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... Took friends to galleries. Truly one of the best things to do, ever. And I did it a lot. I saw the post-modern collections at the Centre Pompidou, Jean Paul Goude at Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Diane Arbus at Jeu de Paume and Yayoi Kusama at the Tate Modern to name a few. Friends who know me well, know I tend to have great epiphanies in art galleries. I had lots of those. Then I conclude the manic episode by going stir crazy in the gift shop. I ADORE art museum gift shops. It's a terrible but delicious habit I've inherited from my father. The Musée des Arts Decoratifs shop is one of the best in the world, there's literally nothing in there you wouldn't want. And there's absolutely nothing in there that you need.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7394.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7394.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... I saw some fashion shows. Men's week seems so long ago now but I've only just had the chance to really <i>think</i> about it. Qasimi (above) was briliant. They put men in skirts, FULL long skirts, and even hobble skirts. Now that's exciting. The Rynshu collection (below) seemed merely a sideline to the enormous 350-page graphic novel the designer had created, which we found in our goodie bags. Now that certainly beats a press release!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7365.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7365.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7504.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7504.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;">.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.. Tweaked a nipple backstage. Jacques, our make-up-artist, got a lot of attention. Well, darling, if you will insist on wearing tank tops to work..!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7988.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7988.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... I indulged. And then some. I don't think I have eaten out so variously, and so regularly, as I have in the last 6 weeks. Restaurants and cafés were just a foreign entity to me before. I had completely forgotten how utterly delicious, and <i>endlessly fascinating</i> food was. Now I have tasted the honey. However - it is a slippery slope to fall down. I think I am eaten my fill now for 2012.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7825.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7825.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_8082.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_8082.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">... I read books. That isn't quite correct, I <i>inhaled</i> books. When I got sick, I reached for my bibles. Literature is the best medicine, or is it laughter? No matter...I consumed words with a ferocious energy, reading 1000s of pages. It was good to get away. But now I am back.</span></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-16393570970271257282012-01-18T20:30:00.001+00:002012-01-18T20:32:37.916+00:00HERE COME THE BOYS<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=myprojectandhouse3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/myprojectandhouse3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=streetfsnpittiuomo.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/streetfsnpittiuomo.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=myprojectandhouse4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/myprojectandhouse4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=streetfsn12.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/streetfsn12.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>FRESH FROM SETTING MILAN ALIGHT, WITH <a href="http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/F2012MEN-PRADA?page=2"><i>THAT </i>PRADA STUNT </a>HIGHLIGHTING AN ALL-ROUND STUNNING PERFORMANCE FROM MILANESE MENSWEAR , THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN. IN DE VILLE. SO I'M SIGNING OFF FOR A BIT TO RESUME MY POST AS PARIS REPORTER-AT-LARGE-OF-SORTS, COMME D'HAB, FOR NOTION MAGAZINE. IN MY ABSENCE, DO CHECK OUT <a href="http://flingly-magazine.flingly.com/article/eight-london">THE INTERVIEW I DID</a> RECENTLY FOR FINNISH MAGAZINE <a href="http://WWW.flingly.com/">FLINGLY</a>, IN WHICH I WAX LYRICAL ABOUT DIANA VREELAND AND MOHAIR.</b></span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>PHOTOS BY TOMMY TON AND STREETFSN. I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CORRECTLY-KNOTTED SCARF WHEN IT COMES TO MALE DRESSING. CASE IN POINT BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED IN THE SHOTS ABOVE.</b></span> </blockquote></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-50254869813672686842012-01-14T18:41:00.000+00:002012-01-14T18:41:11.134+00:00CHURCH'S ENGLISH SHOES<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4783.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4783.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Next time the rain comes pouring down and you're caught in town without an umbrella, take an opportunity to seek shelter in a luxury store you've never been into and admire the beautiful things inside. That's what my siblings and I did one dark sodden morning in Edinburgh, when we paid a visit to Church's. We may have not looked like the most promising customers, dripping rainwater all over the carpet and trying not to steam up the polished mirrors, but we had the run of the boutique to ourselves - not to mention the impeccable service. Church's ENGLISH shoes are now joint-owned by Prada, and interestingly, investment firm Equinox, and while the firm is based in Milan, the Northampton factory still manufactures an estimated 5000 pairs of these incredible shoes a week, 140 years after Thomas Church and his son's started their family business. At £300-£650 a pair, these are the kind of shoes you hold in your hand and they enable you to see into your future. We left with a pair of socks between the three of us, but I recommend you go, just to slip your foot into one of those impressive leather shoes and feel what luxury feels like. </span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=tumblr1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/tumblr1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4774.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4774.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hand dyed and woven wool felt 'shoe bag'.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4767.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4767.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4779.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4779.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Not</i> Church's English shoes, rather Topshop's Brazilian shoes - a Christmas sales present to myself.</span></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-9738333777402583882012-01-10T17:26:00.001+00:002012-01-10T17:27:51.087+00:00WISHFUL FASHION WEEK THINKING<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=imacamera1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/imacamera1.jpg" /></a></div><span style="color: red; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A VOGUE UK EDITORIAL INSPIRED BY BLOGGERS. I DON'T KNOW </span><strike style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">MANY</strike><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> ANY BLOGGERS PERSONALLY WHO GET TO CAMP OUT IN LUXURY HOTELS, EAT BREAKFAST IN BED AND SELECT FROM 'HOT-FROM-THE-CATWALK PIECES' EVERY MORNING DURING THE INTERNATIONAL FASHION WEEKS, BUT ONC CAN DARE TO DREAM. FASHION IS AT ITS BEST IN FANTASY, AFTER ALL. I'VE BEEN DOING FASHION WEEK FOR THREE YEARS NOW AND IT'S STILL VERY MUCH A COMMUNAL EXPERIENCE. FOUR TO A ROOM, 2 ON THE COUCH AND ONE ON THE FLOOR, SLEEPING WRAPPED IN A FUR WEARING ODD SHOES AND HALF-INSIDE YOUR FRIEND'S SUITCASE, WAKING UP SPOONING A PIZZA BOX. THEN THERE HAVE BEEN THE NIGHTS I'VE ESCHEWED THE GROUP CAMP FOR A NEW ADVENTURE ; NOTABLY THE TIME ONE YEAR AT LFW WHEN I WOKE UP IN CAMBERWELL ART SCHOOL STUDENT HALLS. OR ANOTHER TIME, IN A 25 ROOMED ARTISTS' WAREHOUSE IN NORTH HACKNEY. OR IN A PARKED CAR IN DEVON. NEEDLESS TO SAY, DESPITE SUFFERING A 100 POUND TRAIN TICKET, I WAS BACK AT SOMERSET HOUSE FOR 2PM.</span></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=Imogen.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/Imogen.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=imacamera9.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/imacamera9.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=Imogen1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/Imogen1.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=imacamera6.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/imacamera6.jpg" width="800" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-32808333683508592142012-01-08T20:29:00.000+00:002012-01-08T20:29:39.834+00:00A SUNDAY COCKTAIL 08.01.12<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/cOCHINEcHINE.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A COCKTAIL OF THINGS WHICH HAVE BEEN ON MY MIND THIS WEEK.</b></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">Crystal Renn for Muse magazine </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(1). So plus-sized model Crystal Renn is certainly not plus-sized anymore, but so what? She looks fabulous. Her shoot with Matt Irwin for Muse mag has me reaching for lashings of black liquid eyeliner - more than ever. // </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><b>Bollywood jewellry, in particular<i> tikas</i>,</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> the headpiece worn on the forehead (2) as seen at Chanel's Arts et Metiers pre-fall show, and fêted for some time by yours truly. I'm hoping to find some Indian stores in Paris so I can add to my collection. // These incredible </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">opal and crystal earrings </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(3) by Kimberly MacDonald. // This week I was confirmed to cover the menswear shows in Paris 18th-22nd January, which I'm thrilled about. However, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><b>menswear is not something I have thought much about in recent times</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, so I am looking forward into getting into some heavy research on the subject before the shows. I am always drawn back to the Hardy Amies quote : </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">“A man should look as if he had bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care, and then forgotten all about them.”</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;">The A/W 2010 campaign (4) was on my wall at university. My first exciting discovery was that of </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta; line-height: 18px;"><b>British label Casely-Hayford</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; line-height: 18px;"> (4a.), whose lookbook featuring country house libraries and polka-dot pyjama suits has me looking forward to catching their new season when they show in Paris this month.</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE12.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/cOCHINEcHINE12.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">Renée Perle</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> (5) , muse and lover of Romanian heritage to photographer </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">Jacques Henri Lartigue in the 1930s. I always think that the 21st century is such a non-event for hair. The 'hair-do' simply doesn't exist. And yet, from the waved silhouettes of the jazz age to the beehives, set-and-perms of the 50s and 60s, and the power-perms of the 80s, not to mention the dedicated hairstyles of centuries before, hair has always been such a BIG (literally) deal. What happened? If I can't take inspiration from her hair, then I will from her immaculate oval manicure, and shaped fur stole. // More potential hair-related tales here, with </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">Julie Christie in the 1975 film Shampoo</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, but let's stick with the dress (6.) for now. THE DRESS. I first came across this clip as a 15 year old insomniac, channel-flicking in the middle of the night and it has stuck with me. The sight of Julie Christie's navy sequin, floor length, but </span><i style="color: #444444;">backless down to here </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">dress gave me a style epiphany, and I have preaching the word of the high-necked, backless dress ever since. // The next best things after backless, has to be the floor-length slashed-to-the-thigh dress. Ultraglam gamma rays beaming down from </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">Louis Heal SS12</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> (7.) // If Julie Christie in Shampoo was my style epiphany, then that is the concept behind the book </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">Nostalgia in Vogue </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">(8), released last year on Rizzoli following the popular column in U.S. Vogue, featuring storytellers as varied as Patti Smith, Karl Lagerfeld and Edmund White, for whom a particular Vogue image stayed with them for life, and why. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">The latest novel by Jeffrey Eugenides (9.) , The Marriage Plot</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, brought a great deal of reassurance into my life. I drew multiple parallels with the main character Madeleine, with her disenchantment with her English literature course, and her struggles bearing witness to a manic depressive. As with all of Eugenides' novels, the narrative is written with ringing clarity,sensitivity and hauntingly beautiful simplicity. A must-read for 2012, or any year.</span></span></span></blockquote>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-4997402808902419102012-01-06T20:55:00.003+00:002012-01-09T11:28:40.599+00:00EGOÏSTE ADVERTORIALS<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=IMG_5105.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/IMG_5105.jpg" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ee0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px; text-transform: uppercase;"><b><br />
</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;"></span><br />
<h2 style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #ee0000; font-size: 0.92em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 2em; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 2em; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">NICOLE WISNIAK: «“EGOÏSTE” N'EST PAS</span></span><span style="border-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 50px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">BRANCHÉ. JE NE SAIS PAS CE QUE C'EST»</span></span><span style="border-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 50px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="border-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 50px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: inherit;">After a FIVE YEAR ABSENCE, FLAMBOYANT, PRESTIGIOUS, </span><i>DIFFERENT </i>MAGAZINE EGOISTE LAUNCHED IT'S 16TH ISSUE, IN TWO PARTS, EARLIER THIS YEAR. I NAIVELY CAME ACROSS IT IN THE FASHION CUPBOARD AT WORK AND WAS IMMEDIATELY SPELLBOUND BY IT'S SHEER SIZE AND THEN MORESO BY ITS AESTHETIC. THE BRAINCHILD OF NICOLE WISNIAK, EGOISTE IS SWIRLING IN A TIDE WHICH WASHES ASHORE EACH MONTH YET ANOTHER 'AVANTGARDE' TITLE , ANOTHER 1KG TOME OF GLOSSY FASHION PICTURES, TRYING TO BE STILL SOMETHING 'DIFFERENT'. YET EGOISTE <i>IS </i>VERY DIFFERENT, MOST OBVIOUSLY IN THE DISTINCT LACK OF COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING. INSTEAD, TOP BRANDS ARE STYLED WITH THE WAND OF WISNIAK HERSELF, TO GREAT SUCCESS. tHE MOST RECENT PUBLICATION TO DO THE SAME OF COURSE IS RANKIN'S <i>HUNGER </i>MAGAZINE, but there is something about wisniak's black and white pictures - simply executed, and shot around the paris landscape we know so well -that have a charm eluded by rankin's superglossy studio shots. ellen von unwerth is the sole <i>responsable</i> for photography, and she and wisniak make quite the team.</span></span><span style="border-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 50px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span><span style="border-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 50px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">at a1 size and costing €35, it is less of a magazine and more of a piece of beautiful furnitUre. but its exciting that there are still people, or namely, a person, who is coming up with things you have never seen before.</span></span><span style="border-width: 0px; display: block; font-size: 12px; font-weight: inherit; margin: 0px; outline-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: 50px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></h2><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE6.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/cOCHINEcHINE6.jpg" /></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ee0000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; text-transform: uppercase;"><br />
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ee0000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px; text-transform: uppercase;">louis vuitton - this story ties in all those traditional heartpullers -the plight of the polar bears, the story of paddington bear and how he was lost and found, even those ellis island immigrant stories and the boats to new york - and somehow it sells you a suitcase more than if some skinny beautiful girl was holding it. frankly speaking, it will take a long long time for luxury goods companies to actually start benefiting the plight of the polar bears, unless they stop all that ritual burning of stock and show accessories nonsense, but it's a romantic idea.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=IMG_5117.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/IMG_5117.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>RUINART CHAMPAGNE - THIS SMALL FOUNTAIN POND, THE FOUNTAIN NOW EXTINCT, IS IN THE TUILERIES GARDENS JUST BEYOND THE ENTRANCE AT JUST WHERE RUE SAINT ROCH MEETS RUE DE RIVOLI. I OFTEN WALK BY IT ON MY WAY TO WORK, AND COME RAIN OR SHINE THE OLD MAN WITH HIS CART OF WOODEN SAILING BOATS WILL BE THERE, WAITING FOR AN EAGER YOUNG BOY TO RATTLE HIS MUM'S WRIST FOR A TEN MINUTE STOP.</b></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=Collages22.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/Collages22.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>LACOSTE - IT'S THE TENNIS-NET VEIL THAT DOES IT FOR ME. IF THERE IS ANYTHING I'VE EVER FELT BITTER ABOUT, IT'S TENNIS. I'VE TRIED MY HAND AT MANY AND VARIED SPORTS IN MY TIME - ICE DANCING, GYMNASTICS ON HORSEBACK, SKI RACING, LACROSSE - BUT THE ONE THING I COULD NEVER MASTER, NOT EVEN GRASP, WAS TENNIS, THE MOST SOCIALLY IMPORTANT AND WIDELY PLAYED OF THEM ALL. YEARS AND YEARS OF LESSONS HAD MY COACHES STUMPED AS I FAILED TO EVEN HIT THE BALL. TENNIS IS TRULY MY ACHILLES HEEL. SO THAT'S ME THERE IN THE NET-VEIL, JUST THERE FOR THE FASHION, AND FOR THE SAKE OF CAUSING TROUBLE...</b></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=IMG_5107.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/IMG_5107.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE8.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/cOCHINEcHINE8.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE9.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/cOCHINEcHINE9.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE10.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/cOCHINEcHINE10.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue',Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>CARTIER - MY FAVOURITE OF THEM ALL. ISN'T IT JUST GENIUS? NOW, A DIAMOND ALLIGATOR - SURELY THERE IS NOTHING MORE FLAMBOYANT? AS A CHILD WHO GREW UP IN A BED CUSHIONED WITH SOFT TOY SNAKES, LOBSTERS, WHALES AND PLATYPUSES IN LIEU OF THE USUAL TEDDIES, I THINK I WOULD RATHER HAVE A JEWEL-ENCRUSTED ALLIGATOR THAN A BAGUETTE-CUT ENGAGEMENT RING ANYDAY. </b></span></blockquote>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-85559079866708843432012-01-04T13:40:00.000+00:002012-01-04T13:40:13.034+00:00THE REMAINS OF THE DAY<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_5007-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_5007-1.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">What is a Winter's Day? Never lasting more than a couple of hours, it is but the decaying remains of a day. The light never lifting more than a dull haze over a corpse-like landscape, laden with the sodden scar tissue of forgotten summer. At least, such is a winter's day in Edinburgh, Scotland. A Scottish winter is no friend of mine. A Scottish winter is the friend of dead black trees, and rain and wind and ghosts. A Scottish winter demands a wool coat with runs from neck to foot, like this one, by Paul Costelloe. A Scottish winter demands a pair of boots to last out a gale, like </span><a href="http://www.danielfootwear.com/women-c2/boots-c57/daniel-emarpi-black-leather-womens-calf-boot-p35337" style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">these ones by Daniel Footwear</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="color: magenta;">.</span> A Scottish winter does not demand last night's vintage cocktail dress and a pair of twisted rabbit ears, but inside by the wood fire, you see, we Scots like to dream...</span></div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4998.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4998.jpg" width="700" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_5011.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_5011.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4998-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4998-1.jpg" width="700" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_5059.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_5059.jpg" width="700" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_5072-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_5072-1.jpg" width="700" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_5062.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_5062.jpg" width="700" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-69843030890208094052011-12-31T12:35:00.000+00:002011-12-31T12:35:52.136+00:002011 - THE YEAR IN CLOTHES<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=anothergarcon1-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/anothergarcon1-1.jpg" width="800" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=20111-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/20111-1.jpg" width="800" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">2011 - the year of parties, photography, Paris and a press office job.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> The year of my 21st birthday. The year of some amazing creative friendships, including </span><a href="http://katewoodsphotography.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Kate Woods</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;">, </span><a href="http://anothergarcon.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: purple;">Jonathan Pryce</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><a href="http://www.befrassy.com/">Audrey Rogers</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">who took many of these photos. Here's to 2012. All the faces we'll meet, the books we'll read, the songs we'll grow to love, the heartstrings we'll have pulled, the things we'll buy, the things we'll lose, the new foods we'll taste, the endless coffee cups, and measuring spoons...</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">But let's not be Alfred J. Prufrocks. Bear witness to those moments and record them - in a notebook, on film, in your memory <i>if you happen to be in possession of a good one</i>. </span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">To all my readers, I thank you heartily. For your comments and emails and kind words, and for devoting time to this vanity project which is my blog.</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">May 2012 be your best yet.</span></blockquote>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-80777339473698533482011-12-30T22:26:00.002+00:002011-12-31T09:59:47.350+00:00THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7834.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7834.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A mélange of Christmas activities in Paris and in Scotland, where I have been for the last few days with my family. I bought my first ever tree for my own flat in Paris this year, and that sensational smell really kickstarted the Christmas spirit, along with the permanent lingering scent of mulled wine from the litres and litres that were consumed at my Christmas party in mid-December. Back in Scotland at last on Christmas Eve, having navigated the <i>grèves</i> at Charles de Gaulle and witnessed a punch-up at the check-in, I drove into the city and experienced that familiar thrill of the gothic city of Edinburgh in the thralls of the Christmas spirit. My Christmas present this year? My nearest and dearest are doubtless bored stiff with my devoted praise for - yes, a new camera. I am now the proud owner of a Canon 5D Mark II, and the most beautiful part, a 85mm f/1.2 portrait lens. Here are some of my first snaps.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/cOCHINEcHINE5.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4938.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4938.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE3.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/cOCHINEcHINE3.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4835.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4835.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4970.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4970.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE4.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/cOCHINEcHINE4.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4910.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4910.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7754.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7754.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=cOCHINEcHINE2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/cOCHINEcHINE2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4667.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4667.jpg" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4736.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4736.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_4849.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_4849.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-87766104942192984042011-12-21T08:40:00.001+00:002011-12-21T10:50:50.802+00:00AT HOME WITH DESIGNER JEAN CLAUDE JITROIS<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=P1070021.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/P1070021.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">Fashion designer Jean Claude Jitrois and myself playing the role of <i>égerie</i> (having been squeezed into a sample from the <a href="http://www.jitrois.com/">Jitrois</a> SS 2012 collection), in his apartment overlooking the Tuileries gardens for Italian fashion magazine Collezione . If the last four months in my job as PA /PR for Jitrois have taught me anything, it has been to look model-ready at all times! </span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Funnily enough, 26 years ago, another 21 year old brunette was helping Jean Claude go through his sketches at home, none other than Princess Stephanie of Monaco. Below, her shoot with Jean Claude for l'Officiel magazine in 1985. I think I have some pretty big </span><strike style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">shoes </strike><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">glass slippers to fill.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=Capturepleincran15122011171055.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/Capturepleincran15122011171055.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=800px101-LIVRE-YVES-BADY.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/800px101-LIVRE-YVES-BADY.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">Portrait of Jean Claude by Yves Bady for his latest book, <i>101</i>, a compilation of the leading figures in French culture in their environments. Jean Claude Jitrois' apartment, where his incredible collection of contemporary art meets antique furnishings, medieval tapestries and the occasional Modigliani, has been heavily documented in the French interiors and fashion worlds.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=P1070012.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/P1070012.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">I wore look 1 from the SS 2012, the DS dress in emerald.</span></blockquote></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=800px-JEWEL2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/800px-JEWEL2.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,'Times New Roman',serif;">Photo for JEWEL magazine. Models wearing the SS 2012 collection with Jean Claude in his apartment during Paris Fashion Week in October. The green full suede skirt is the <i>Imogen</i> skirt.</span></blockquote>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-56865211648838035412011-12-19T07:37:00.001+00:002011-12-19T07:42:30.282+00:00SUSIE BUBBLE & SAGA SIG ON FUELLING CREATIVITY IN THE 'NEW WORLD'<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="437" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8FuTj7xKXdw?rel=0" width="800"></iframe><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I absolutely adore this short video of two of my favourite London fashion figures talking about their place in this enormous industry. Saga Sig is an Icelandic photographer who brings mystical folklore inspirations to her shoots with the most avantgarde London collections. Susie, of course is the fashion blogger who's voice has become one of the most influential. Her infallible professionalism and independent thinking have allowed her to become one of the most respected young style commentators in the world. </span></span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">I would describe the direction of this film as tentative - and I think it says a lot about how young people are feeling right now about entering the fashion world. There is a whole lot of nostalgia going on, especially amongst romantics like </span><a href="http://www.susiebubble.co.uk/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><b>Susie Lau</b></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;"> and </span><a href="http://saganendalausa.blogspot.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: magenta;"><b>Saga Sig</b></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">, or myself - for whom the increasingly commercial-driven aspect of fashion is seeking to eclipse the fun, frivolity and even the cultural place fashion has in our world. Yet photographers like Saga seek to fight back. Her work is entirely unique, and from the heart. She proves that a commercial-creative balance can be achieved, by pursuing your own aesthetic rather than following a selling trend that someone else came up with. Carine Roitfeld spoke some very wise words in her book </span><i style="color: #444444;">Irreverent, </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444;">about the importance of pure naievty in maintaining the artistic spirit of fashion.</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=Picture5.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/Picture5.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-40390227663065377922011-12-14T17:57:00.001+00:002011-12-15T08:57:53.625+00:00EIGHT PICKS : THE BEST OF COCHINECHINE FOR CHRISTMAS<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cochinechine.com/"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/CATSUITKILL2.jpg" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><a href="http://www.cochinechine.com/" style="color: magenta; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">CoChineChine</a><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: magenta;"> </span>is an independent fashion boutique based in Hampstead, London on Heath Street- a stone's throw away from where I was born. Christmas is as an excellent time as any to support independent stores and businesses, whose exceptional tastes can alert you to exclusive gems you might not find in enormous multi-chain stores. I also suffer from OBC (overwhelmed by choice) syndrome, so a carefully edited selection of beautiful, well-made products is right up my street for choosing presents, and CoChi</span>ne<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Chine does just that. Here are my 8 best festive picks from the online boutique - Christmas presents at a variety of budgets for friends and family, and probably yourself!</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cochinechine.com/"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/CATSUITKILL1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cochinechine.com/"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/CATSUITKILL.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-7399858484050991992011-12-12T13:25:00.001+00:002011-12-12T13:31:43.629+00:00STYLE NOTES : JANE BIRKIN<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/myprojectandhouse1.jpg" /></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span class="body"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>"I'd rather live on my own than live with a face that looks at me with the wrong eyes."</i> - Jane Birkin</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"> <a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=tumblr_lbfgynljb41qagoxlo1_1280.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/tumblr_lbfgynljb41qagoxlo1_1280.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/?action=view&current=myprojectandhouse2.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/bloggy/myprojectandhouse2.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">All photos from the </span><a href="http://www.fuckyeahjanebirkin.tumblr.com/" style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Jane Birkin tumblr</a></span></div></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-28540774760855194702011-12-11T16:12:00.003+00:002011-12-11T19:37:27.245+00:00MIDNIGHT IN PARIS<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7505-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7505-1.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">With this Helmut Newton polaroid (below) in mind, I took <a href="http://indierocknrollmusic.blogspot.com/">Zora</a> along for a night-time walk between the city's shadow-ridden structures. Paris really is the city of light - everything is illuminated. Walking from la Place de la Concorde, up the lower Champs-Elysées past the Grand and Petit Palais to the Pont Alexandre forces you to confront, with multiple stomach-flips, the gargantuan and almost frightening beauty of French Victorian (rather <i>Belle Epoque) </i>power. The last giants. They loom over us, eternal in their solidness. From the golden gate, rising like heaven's own door from the steps of the Petit Palais, to the winged beasts standing sentry over passing cars on the <i>Pont</i>, we scurry like tiny ants beneath their vast shadows. We are like the inheritants of Egypt - surrounded by relics of a vanished empire.</span></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Helmut's girl climbed up onto the bridge in high heels. An uncharacteristic meekness suddenly came over me, so I perched instead.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7203.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7203.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7291.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7291.jpg" width="800" /></a><br />
<a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7443-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7443-1.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7415-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7415-1.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7696.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7696.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7320.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7320.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7226.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7226.jpg" width="800" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/?action=view&current=IMG_7479-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/0100/my%20photos/IMG_7479-1.jpg" width="800" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-23614722464754131932011-12-09T22:20:00.002+00:002011-12-11T13:34:03.088+00:00LES SAPINS DE NOEL DES CREATEURS<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=JITROIS15.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/JITROIS15.jpg" /></a></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For the past 16 years, the brightest names in the worlds of Parisian fashion, art and architecture have come together in December to each create a Christmas tree in their own aesthetic for </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><em>Les Sapins Noël des Createurs</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. The brainchild of Marie-Christiane Marek, esteemed journalist and producer of fashion and design programs for television networks France2 and TV5 Monde, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Les</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><em>Sapins de Noël</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> are exhibited to the public for the first week in December, with the exhibition closing with a private charity benefit dinner at which the one-of-a-kind trees are auctioned.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=JITROIS14-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/JITROIS14-1.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=JITROIS20.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/JITROIS20.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Dries van Noten (left) and Jean Paul Gaultier's Christmas trees.</span></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Every year a different charity is chosen to benefit from the sale of the unique trees. For 2011, children's cancer charity A.V.E.C - Association pour la vie, espoir contre le cancer (Association for Life and Hope against Cancer) will receive the proceeds from the auction. In the grand surroundings of the Hotel Salomon de Rothschild, 37 designers offered an immense variety of interpretations and materials in creating their Christmas trees. Men's fashion house Smalto chose a minimalist brushed-steel effect design formed of three two-dimensional shapes bolted together, while Sonia Rykiel's tree more resembled an apple tree than a pine.</span></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7688.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7688.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=JITROIS19.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/JITROIS19.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Predictably, famed patisserie house Pierre Hermé's vision (right) was a tower of macarons, while Jean Claude Jitrois cast his <i>sapin</i> in leather, in an artistic collaboration with painter JonOne. </span></div><div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=JITROIS17.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/JITROIS17.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Parisian lingerie designer Chantal Thomass applies her signature cheekiness to her design, while Stella McCartney's knitted tree is reassuringly traditional.</span></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=JITROIS18.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/JITROIS18.jpg" /></a></div></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;"> Antlers by Les Garcons, and Sonia Rykiel's lighted tree (right)</span></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The prospect of owning a one-of-a-kind designer artwork by Jean-Paul Gaultier, Chanel, Jean Claude Jitrois or Dior has enormous appeal, and several 'trees' sold for as much as €5000. The Pierre Hermé macarons may not be a long-lasting choice, but Stella McCartney's knitted tree or Louis Vuitton's 'jack-in-the-box' style are sure to be future classics for their proud owners. Furthermore, in an ever-increasingly environmentally conscious climate, the idea behind the investment in a designer <em>sapin</em>, to be celebrated year after year in lieu of a real cut tree, is a welcomed one. </span></blockquote><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq"><i>A version of this article appeared <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/imogen-roy/designer-christmas-tree_b_1135137.html">in the Huffington Post</a> on 10th December 2011 </i></blockquote></div></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2409876908622554504.post-16205448858018283602011-12-05T19:01:00.001+00:002011-12-05T19:01:00.673+00:00SHOPPING FOR BLOOD<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=IMG_7562-1.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/IMG_7562-1.jpg" width="700" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Shopping for blood oranges, and documenting it as part of the <a href="http://eco-age.com/blog-323-Imogen_Roy_">Fru-Gal challenge for Eco-Age.</a> Today is the last day in my week-long style diary of second-hand stories. The clothes are second-hand, not the stories. That would be cheating. My Dad took both these photographs last weekend when he visited me in Paris, but the one below was taken on his enormous 80s Fujifilm <i>second-hand</i> medium format camera, and then developed himself at home. He's getting pretty good at it. It makes digital photography look so <i>second-rate.</i></span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://s196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/?action=view&current=Superette.jpg" target="_blank"><img alt="Photobucket" border="0" src="http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa115/ImogenRoy/Superette.jpg" /></a></div>EIGHT LONDONhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03333294938495064562noreply@blogger.com5