Love at First Sight: Bebaroque...

RoxyHeart £59.95 / Dorothy £29.95 / Geisha £29.95

Mmm...literally as soon as I heard about this little Scottish Company - I. Fell. In. Love. with so many of their gorgeous designs.

Bebaroque was started in July 2007 by Scottish Graduates Mhairi McNicol and Chloe Patience and specialise in hand-embroidered, embellished and screen-printed tights that have already gained recognition by the Scottish Fashion Awards in 2008 as well as being mentioned in Vogue and numerous newspaper publications including The Sunday Times and The Herald - no mean feat for such a young company!

I've already bought a pair and neeeeeeed more!

Kisses, ZZ xx

Check them out at: http://www.bebaroque.co.uk/

London Fashion Week: Louise Goldin

With London Fashion Week in full swing, I was keeping an eye, as usual, on new designers, those whose creativity isn't stumped by the big financiers supporting them.

Someone I have particularly been watching as a former knitter is Louise Goldin, knitwear innovator who came to the world's attention as part of Central St. Martin's Graduate Show in 2005. For A/W '09 she opted for a mix of futuristic ideals with luxurious, innovative fabrics (a combination of innovative knits and leather) - which she herself worked on and knitted through as she describes, 'a long experimentation process...where I never knew whether it was going to work or not'.

The result, although all in black, was a success and has critics, buyers and editors more convinced of the designer's credentials as a designer with commercial capabilities as well as a fashion visionary. I like it!

Kisses, ZZ xx

Keep Spending @ American Apparel!

Well, well, well - good news! Despite the economic doom and gloom, it turns out American Apparel is THE highest ranking in the US for shops that consumers just can't give up!

I'm with them on that! Long Live AA.

Kisses ZZ xx

LOVE Magazine

Thursday 19th Feb saw the launch of Love magazine - the new bi-annual fashion glossy from Conde Nast, publishers of Vogue, Tatler and GQ amongst other titles, with Beth Ditto (previously mentioned as the confusing choice to design a capsule collection for Evans) proud of place on the front cover, looking, I have to say, pretty good.

The editor is Katie Grand, best known for her most recent stint as editor of POP and before that working her magic at The Face and Dazed and Confused, LOVE promises to 'keep it real' with Grand promising an end to size zero models and far less emphasis on air-brushing and more on style, fashion and creativity. (At last?)

Kisses, ZZ xx

Who Killed eBay?

After another unsuccessful couple of hours trawling eBay and even more unsuccessful bids, it dawned on me eBay was no longer the place to be for: a) a bargain b) something original or
c) anything of good quality.

For reasons summed up nicely by a mention in Sunday Times Style this week: sellers too professional; prices too high and shoppers too savvy.

From now on I will stick to hunting down my vintage bargains from flea markets, markets and charity shops - just the place for a bargain and WAY more fun!

Let me know what you think.

Kisses, ZZ xx

A/W '09's First Big Trend: Cutouts

Having spotted a gorgeous versatile little number in Topshop today on my adventures, it reminded me instantly of Preen's Autumn/Winter '09 body-con cutout dress with mesh panelling - apparently a sign of the season's first big trend - cutouts. I shall be having one of those (Topshop not Preen unfortunately!)

Kisses, ZZ xx

Re: Scratch and Sniff Cinema

During intermission - bubbly, gold coated hot dogs and various aphrodisiac snacks

Moi, sipping on some prosecco and nibbling popcorn and below the gold coated hot dog...

And our friend in the popcorn...

An update on the Bompas and Parr Scratch and Sniff Cinema experience...

Not knowing what to expect, me and my companion made our way through the side streets of Soho and Carnaby Street when we arrived at our venue - The Jotta Craft Fair pop-up gallery/shop where we were greeted with an aphrodisiac cocktail. Before we sat down ready for the film we were each given a card with a set of circled numbers on ready to scratch and reveal their scent at appropriate times throughout the film - I have to say rotting flesh was not a highlight.

During the intermission we were offered a glass of bubbly, gold foil hotdogs (see above), Flavour 'Trips', Coconut Tobacco, free popcorn and Aphrodisiac Marshmallows - perfect for Valentine's day...

Altogether the film was interesting (if macabre) and the Scratch and Sniff 'experience' was so original - I don't think I've had so much fun in a long while!

Let me know what you think or if you went, let me know what you thought!

Kisses, ZZ xx

Oh, Lanvin...

Voluptuous luxurious fabrics, one shouldered, drape and oh, so Spring block colours? Oh, Lanvin...

Kisses, ZZ xx

Valentine's Day - Scratch 'n' Sniff Cinema

Forget red roses, a romantic restaurant or perfume - how about doing some different this Valentine's Day? As soon as I saw this, I knew I had to check it out!

It's the UK's first Scratch 'n' Sniff Cinema experience, showing Peter Greenaway's fable classic 'The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' (1989) that allows the audience to experience the smells of key moments throughout the film, including rotting meat and old books which are micro-encapsulated onto a set of special scratch 'n' sniff cards. The idea was concocted and designed by culinary pioneers Sam Bompas and Harry Parr, better known for their gourmet jelly range. See http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/

Between scratches, the audience are offered aphrodisiac cocktails, roll candy cigarettes as well as a surprise Valentine's menu.

For more info visit: http://www.jellymongers.co.uk/scratchnsniff.html

Kisses, ZZ xx

The Roaring 20's!

Vintage Wrap Around Tassel Chain Necklace
£14.99

With all this doom and gloom with the economy and now the FREEEEEEZING weather, our favourite trendsetter, Aggy Deyn has decided to bring back the fun of the roaring 20's and lift our spirits!

Get on it with our vintage 20's style wrap around necklace, a fur stole and a flapper dress. Perfect!

Kisses, ZZ xx