Retrospective: Star Signs

British Vogue: December 2010

Retrospectives are back! This time with Vogue favourite Tim Gutt's ‘Star Sign’ shoot.

This incredibly clean shoot showcases breathtaking set designs by Shona Heath that revolve fully around the astrological theme, but the elegance of the pieces keeps the focus entirely on the clothes. I love Gemini’s Stella McCartney dress and think that Virgo’s galaxy print halter neck dress that made a name for Christopher Kane fits the theme far too perfectly.

Do you think Tim Gutt’s interpretation represents you and your star sign well?

F x

The May Issue

This month, for the first time ever, Vogue has been published with three different covers, which means three 

different cover girls. Chance dictated that Freja Beha Erichsen was on the cover that landed on my doorstep, but I could easily have had Lara Stone or Natalia Vodianova. Each cover girl was dressed as a radiant bride, an indisputable nod to that little event happening at the end of the month, a Royal Wedding?

The entire issue is not only a celebration of William and Kate's wedding, but all things matrimonial. A portfolio on the princess-to-be, Mario Testino's ‘Wedding Belles’ shoot and a feature on designers that will dress you down the aisle, not just the runway, all ensure that the issue is blushing from cover to cover. 

In fitting with Vogue's wedding-centric issue I will do this month's issue post slightly differently, by finding something old, something blue, something borrowed and something blue in this month's edition. 

Something Old: A look back at Royal Weddings in Vogue
This month the magazine complied a look back at every royal wedding they have covered in the past, from Princess Mary and Viscount Lascelles to Diana and Charles. The feature celebrates the fairytale aspects of each wedding and charts the evolving public interest from wedding to wedding. Being Vogue the main interest in each of the weddings is in the dresses, with original sketches and alternative options given for many of the brides. My favourite is the Queen Mother's, a slightly medieval Italian style dress, yet very sleek and romantic style; it marks a move to a more modern style wedding dress. The feature also acts as a reminder that William and Kate’s wedding is not the first to capture the imagination of the world.
The current issue is not the first to be dedicated to a royal wedding. Photos of the crowds outside Buckingham Palace on the day of the Queen's wedding and the reminder that 750 million people tuned into Diana and Charles' wedding in 1981 all remind us that this wedding-mania cannot simply be attributed to paparazzi society we live in today, but an interest in the romances of the royal family that can be dated way back. 

Something New: New adventures
This was a tough category to decide on! I was going to do the ‘new’ Princess but I’ll speak about her later, you’ll see! Then I thought I should write about Vogue’s suggested wedding gifts and outfits, as they would be new, but it didn’t feel right to do the blog without talking about one of the shoots. With this in mind I chose to write about Agyness Deyn’s new adventure (tenuous link, sorry!) to the Namib Desert.
The model has been photographed in theme appropriate white dresses in a forgotten town in the middle of the desert. Sand-filled rooms and cheetahs give the shoot a haunted and dangerous feel while the use of light and the gowns make it feel incredibly romantic. In a way the shoot charts the entire marriage process, as the shoot features the model suit case in hand and in a deserted pool- honeymoon perhaps?
Bizarrely the most wedding-like photo features the model in a John Rocha leather shirt with a tulle skirt added, proving that a Vera Wang is not essential for a white wedding.

Something Borrowed: A bit of advice

You can lend an ear, so for the purposes of this blog post I am going to say that you can borrow one, in the case we’ll be borrowing advice from Mrs V, mother of Vogue’s party insider Miss V.
Mrs V’s advice is directed at Kate Middleton, or Catherine as she now likes to be known. From dealing with the mother of the bride to choosing the dress to employing cut throat guest list tactics Mrs V has a tip for every part of a wedding.

Something Blue: That Ring!
For the royal wedding there is one piece of ‘blue’ that has been splashed across every front page: that ring!
On that basis that Kate is the lucky wearer of the iconic ring Vogue have charted her climb up in the style stakes, starting with their informal engagement photo, where the ring took centre stage. They have named her “a princess for our time,” claiming that to be a modern princess she will need “glamour, resilience and a marriage bases on mutual love,” check, check, check. 

The magazine has complied photographs of each of her ‘looks,’ be it on or off royal duty, leaving Boujis at 3am or attending a wedding. The look back at her style proves she is a very glamorous and polished woman, more than fit to be a princess. 

 

With Mario Testino singing her praises and designers queuing up to design her dress, surely the future queen has it sorted.

F x

Happy Mother's Day

In celebration of all things 'mum' and because I can’t be with my Mummy on Mother’s Day I am dedicating a post to the most important women in the world, our Mums but more specifically, my Mum!

Vogue has kindly compiled the 50 most glamorous covers that have been graced by mothers. I have whittled 50 down to my favourite five and here they are:

A new mum to be, Natalie Portman on the October 2005 cover

A very topical, but sadly absent mum, Princess Diana on the July 1994 cover  

A mother of two and, to many, the mother of all supermodels, Twiggy on the October 1967 cover

Ballerina and mother of three Anya Linden was the April 1964 cover girl. The bold print photographed by David Bailey was a favourite of my friend Millie, and I am inclined to agree

And finally, the mother of all Vogue cover girls, Kate Moss, has graced the cover of Vogue no less than 30 times and will be celebrating Mother’s Day today her daughter Lila. With so many covers to choose from it was a bit of a struggle but I settled on a regal themed cover from December 2001

Last, but not least, a little fromage to end a rather camembert post!

Happy Mother’s Day Mum!

F x

Retrospective: Angela Lindvall

Viva Cuba: June 2010

"Sultry Havana is the ideal backdrop for a season of impassioned style."

Tom Craig has shot the perfect Havana story, featuring Angela Lindvall as the American girl falling head-over-heels with Cuba. Bright coloured clothes set against muted backdrops tell the story of one girl's trip of a life time and leave the rest of us lusting after the Chloe silk cape and an island get away.
The only fault I can pick is that I as left waning more than the five looks pictured, luckily the whole trip was caught on film and can be found on vogue.com Watching the video I almost felt like I was in Havana too, with the colours, prefect beaches and infectious music, pity I'm not eh!

Caution: This will leave you with a Vitamin D deficiency!

F x

The April Issue

They say don’t judge a book by its cover, no one has ever advised me to not judge a magazine by its cover and thanks to a stunning Kate Winslet as the April Issue’s cover girl, judge I will.

In her first interview since the end of her relationship with Sam Mendes, Kate Winslet seems very focused on fresh starts: a new body, a new hair cut and a wonderful new style, all displayed beautifully through Mario Testino's ever perfect photos.

The theme of “all things new” was extended to the portfolios of 25 members of “Fashion’s new generation”. This editorial features 25 models, designers and photographers that Vogue has identified as the faces to watch over the next few years.

Here are the three that caught my eye:
Thomas Tait: As one of the youngest designers to complete the notoriously tough Fashion MA at St Martin’s at 22 and then scooping the Dorchester Prize there is no doubt we will see brilliant things from this highly tailored designer.
Rhea Thierstein: The set designer is fast becoming known for creating the most magic of worlds and her hard work has paid off with a Selfridges window display and a feature in the April issue of Vogue.
Alex Turvey: A Jack of every trade has settled on directing and has managed to build up an impressively high profile portfolio that has landed him a spot at the prestigious Parisian film agency Les Télécréateurs.

  

The fact that the magazine was published in the wake of the fashion week season adds to the very fresh feel of the spread. With a very summery feel the colours and shapes stood out beautifully in the pool party shoot. The patent yellows and clashing pink bikinis with red sunglasses can only be successfully carried off beside a swimming pool. Like many readers I was left lusting after some Miami sunshine when looking out the window to grey, dreary London. My favourite photo was in keeping with the clashing theme. The model – Lindsey Wixson – is lying on a bright yellow lilo, with a metallic leather Miu Miu dress that almost looks pleather and bouganvilla flowers in her hair. Now, aside from the fact that bouganvilla are some of my favourite flowers, thank you happy childhood times, I love this photo because on paper it sounds horrific but the simple make up, sunshine and flowers complete the photo and left me lusting for summer.

Fashion’s new favourite double act has also been given a spot in this month’s issue. Laura and Kate Mulleavy, better known as the creative powers behind Rodarte, have come up with some of the most beautiful yet intense designs to have been shown in recent seasons. The editorial enters their LA world and charts the progress of their ever evolving designs. One of my favourite things about the sisters’ designs is the fact that a story can always be told though their runway shows, their Wizard of Oz Autumn/Winter 2011 extravaganza is a case in point. For this very reason I was almost jumping for joy when I read that Laura would cite James Joyce as her favourite author. True this is treading the line of the extremely pretentious but for me the reason perfectly sums up the label, a label that is quickly becoming one of my favourites, “I’m not going to make a simple dress. Our clothes are not straightforward, I don’t think things need to be straight forward.” Well, with Natalie Portman as a diehard devotee after their success designing for Black Swan, I don’t see their complex success storm slowing down any time soon. 

  

I want to leave you with some words of wisdom that frame the current Kurt Geiger ad campaign: "Women turn into birds of paradise at night..." Thank you Kurt! 

F x

Vogue on Vogue

I was having a little hunt for an online archive of Vogue covers (does anyone know if and where that exists by the way, still haven't been able to find one!) when I stumbled up on this:

This quite ghostly image is every British Vogue cover from 2010 layered on itself to create one cover. 

Although every issue has been used and layered there seems to be a pretty clear outline of the models, one face does show though prominently and you can just about make out Kate Moss in the middle of it all. This pretty spooky picture does show that the magazine isn't particularly experimental with its covers but if the formula works, why change it! 

F x 

Retrospective: Lara Stone

British Vogue: June 2009

"I lie in bed at night and worry about what comes next. I’m not sure I have any other talents!”

I have been very undecided about whether I like Lara Stone (it might have something to do with her being married to David Walliams – I must put my bias aside!) BUT something I am very sure about is how much I like this shoot she did for British Vogue in June 2009 – and the December 2009 shoot which I’ll probably post very soon! The model is getting more popular by the day and is utterly striking in this, vastly bikini, shoot.

The German model is utterly smouldering and is managing to tread the line between incredibly sexy but remain (at least a little bit) clothed in most of the images. 

Hats off to you Mrs. Walliams, I don’t think you’ll need to worry about what comes next for a little while at least!

F x 

Retrospective: Drew Barrymore

The Beauty and the Beast: April 2005

"Only after she kissed him did he turn back into the handsome prince he was... released at last from the spell of the wicked fairy"

This is my first post that takes images from American Vogue, however when I came across this portfolio of pictures by Annie Leibovitz I could not resist posting them, they are simply stunning! 

Annie Leibovitz has managed to create photos that have turned, the already stunning, Drew Barrymore into a portrait painting! I think it is the deep reds, the renaissance dresses and the fairy tale story that runs though each picture that makes them such beautiful images. 

I am not sure if you will be able to see the photos in a large enough format to see that on each page Vogue have narrated the fairy tale that Drew Barrymore is posing for in each picture, a fabulous touch that really ties the entire feature together! 

These pictures are just striking and the Beauty and the Beast storyline sets the entire feature off, creating not just another fashion shoot, but a beautiful story.

Enjoy! I really think this might be one of my favourite Vogue shoots of all time, and the roses in most of the photos make this the perfect Valentines post and message!

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

F x