Anna reworks Charlie Le Mindu with a Hoxton twist

Our favourite stylist hit the streets of Hoxton this Haloween donning Charlie Le Mindu's S/S '11 collection killer heels. Accessorizing with the Shoreditch staples of studded hair band and leather harness, this girl never ceases to induce style envy x

The Red Dress Couture Ball...

Back in January when Rose asked me if I'd be interested in "y'know, helping with this show I'm putting on", I had no idea of the epic proportions that it would be destined to reach.

Proportions being: Chanel, Galliano, Valentino, Herve Leger, Max Azria, Temperley, Bill Blass, Vera Wang, Paul Smith, Nicole Farhi......all of which will be contributing red gowns to be showcased on June 18th at Oxford's town hall. The event is receiving a huge amount of industry from the likes of Vogue, Pete Townshend and Roger Moore.

What's more every penny raised by the event will be helping to support H.E.L.P and Teach A Man To Fish, NGOs providing care, protection and education for children affected by HIV/AIDS in developing countries. Oh, and after the show we will be handing over to HedKandi who will be taking over the after party....all in all it's set to be an incredible night.

Still not convinced? Check out these quotes:

"As a fan (and when I was 10 years old, a resident) of Oxford - and a witness to its impressive intellectual culture - I love the idea of bringing fashion and great scholarship together. And with such good causes being served, the Oxford Red Dress Couture Ball is shaping up to be a truly powerful night for fashion, for academia and for charity."

(Cindi Leive, Glamour US)

"We are so excited to be part of this special event and honoured to help such a worthy cause." (Lubov Azria, BCBGMAXAZRIA)

Tickets are available at oxfordredball.com for £40 or £140 (includes a 3 course gourmet meal pre-show) get yours now and we'll see you at the show!

Marchesa dress to feature

xx J & R

a studdin'

too much time too many studs

J

The first step is admitting...

I have a problem. A problem with virtual thrifting that positively borders on the psychotic. I need your help and my logic is this: the more you buy, the less I will buy/cry over/spend my student loan on. And as such this is an act of pity not indulgence.

Below are my top 5 sources of sin (give or take a few). These eBay vintage stores are updated weekly (usually on a Sunday…no I don’t refresh the page obsessively waiting to ‘watch this item’) and brilliantly styled (Noirohio in particular) – daily sources of inspiration if you will.

1) Noirohio
The model’s ridiculously hot and I want her tattoos/fringe/mismatched hair and eyebrow combo.
…Oh yeah and the clothes are nice too (acid wash, body con and rompers in particular).



2) Funkin Junkie Vintage
A hella lot of nudes, pastels and floaty materials…perhaps too much…but this is totally compensated for by the model’s awesome Terradactyl tattoo.



3) Indie Cult Vintage
A cult I’d definitely join – very pricey (emphasis on the very) but there’s method behind the madness: this is grade-A vintage. From quality fabrics (silk, mink, snakeskin) to respected designers (Valentino, DVF, Dior) its laden with iconic investment pieces. Granted you wouldn’t shop here everyday, but it’s perfect for those one-off treats (the M&S of thrift).



4) American Archive
Pricey and riddled with ‘buy it nows’ but definitely worth it, particularly for its avant garde evening wear and chunky ethnic knits. I find the girl a tad smug, but who wouldn’t be with unlimited access to vintage and legs up to their armpits.
Ps: check out the hagrid-esque male model – a hunk of a man if I ever did see one.



5) Bustown Modern
American Archive’s ghetto younger sister – braver, bolder, bootyer (trust, there’s an emphasis on the hiney) and generally more bling. Sequins, neons, beading and lots of gold embellishment, as well as a few designers thrown in (NB: a Paco Rabanne maxi I would maim a child for).



Two others are worthy of a brief mention at the very least:
- Bobbinel – Classic, 1950/60s vintage dresses. L-A based, cheap as chips and gorgeous wrapping – what’s not to love? The second, Thriftwares, is coats coats coats.
- Nimble Dress Betrayals – Very classy indeed and ridiculously reasonably priced (NB: model had no head)
- http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/thriftwares__W0QQ_armrsZ1 - COATS COATS COATS. That is all.

And now for the dreaded word – postage. Not to worry though, all of these American stores charge between £8-12 for international shipping, and usually combine costs on multiple orders. Surely a good reason to indulge*?

*pity

x J

well hi there!

Thought it was time to introduce myself – Julia here, coming to you from the depths of a cluttered East London reception desk (a girl’s got to fund her eBay habit somehow). Being the other half of the Appraising Eye duo, i will be showering you with all that is weird, wonderful, fashionable and truly awful (in the good sense of course) gracing the streets of Oxford and London. Expect street style, club night snaps, DIY customization, vintage finds, EBAY (love of my life) and general day-to-day obsessions and goings on.

For now however I leave you with a series of pictures from a recent shoot I styled for ISIS magazine (http://isismag.wordpress.com/). Bondage-inspired and shot in an abandoned grain silo (courtesy of Rose’s love affair with Urban Explorer), it involved the majority of my favourite things: leather, studs, straps, gimp masks and naked male torsos (in that order)…enjoy!










Contributors: Fettered Pleasures (fetteredpleasures.com), Up From the Ashes (www.upfromtheashespa.com) and Anthony War (LCF graduate designer). Photography: Cayal Unger

J

Nicole Farhi

This is so late it’s almost pointless but nevertheless might as well do something with the pics so-
The next morning was the Nicole Farhi show, which was pretty much the most amazing point of my life. Just seeing the clothes that people were wearing, from the jewel coloured dyed furs to the black leather biker gloves of the lady sitting next to me. I rushed there after waking at six thirty, and it started to rain as I left Covent Garden station, so I was getting more and more flustered and bedraggled. Entering the Royal Opera House and hearing the PR girls whispering “Alexandra Shulman has just entered” made it all better. A lovely man directed me to my seat, and I ignored him and sat second row right next to the catwalk entrance. I recognised Hadley Freeman and Jess Cartner-Morley from the Guardian team, and the head buyer from Harrods, as well as the great Shulman herself. In general the audience was older, reflecting both the designers prestige and target client. The collection itself was predictably conservative. The pieces were all wearable and for the most part desirable, but uninspiring. There was the ubiquitous shiny black and black mesh seen just about everywhere for the past few seasons, with gold sparkles on black chiffon providing a flash of evening glamour. My favourite pieces were a black dress with a funnel neck in thick tweed-like material,
a black dress with something subtly weird going on in the arms, and a red dress with draping over one shoulder. My pet hates were the prints and the squares of gold beading. So the show ended and I rushed out too terrified to ask anyone to take a snap of their outfit, and I legged it onto the tube where everyone from the show glanced at one another.

LFW- Sunday

So, I invited my friend Rachel as Julia had to return to Oxford. Lacking an SLR I asked her to bring hers, but the battery ran out about 5 mins after we turned it on, and she had no memory card so the day was captured in shit videos on my phone.

I wore the Galliano playsuit the next day, with a shredded velvet jacket, dark purple lipstick, giant earrings and big clumpy brown heels. Sounds disgusting when I describe it but I got snapped by a couple of bloggers so it obv its my descriptive rather than styling skills that fail me. Which is fantastic for an English student at Oxford.

First off was Betty Jackson, which I liked, but not loved. Some of the clothes were fairly forgettable, but the proportions were great, and there were a lot of leather pieces which, along with flashes of muted gold silk, kept her collection in line with this seasons trends.
However it all felt a bit Whistles or Jigsaw, the accessories were cool and I liked the big chunky sleeveless tops and jackets, and the leather bras, but it wasn't exciting.












ly

I'm exhausted and I'm going to bed, need to stop blogging at one in the morning. Ridiculous times.

One last thing- its been sunny sunny sunny which has defeated my bad mood, how gorgeous is Port Meadows in the sun?




Lots more tomoza I promise
xxx