Globe Trotters

Sunday started off early (again? this is becoming a habit...) cue us arriving at the BFC Tent Press Area for 9am to set up our laptops to work away whilst taking advantage of the free latte's and croissants. Surprisingly we were met by a host of fellow writers who had good intentions too. Or maybe they were still there from the night before.

The first show was actually more of an instillation in the morning in one of the rooms within Somerset House. The Designers Remix, rather than put on a catwalk show, paraded their garments on models dotted around the room posing excessively in front of painted background pillars. And in fact it was a great opportunity to get close up photos of the garments with none of the front row blur. Think thick grey jumpers and butter soft leather draped jackets for the "curious woman with a lust for life" interspersed with nude shift dresses complete with padded shoulder detailing. Oh and the big hair, very Marge Simpson.

Whilst we were typing away (and following the action on twitter) it was time to make use of the hospitality of Toni & Guy within the Fashion Tent for a haircut at the purse friendly price of....well for free.

Since Friday afternoon the only ticket to be seen wafting around for the evening (apart from the fashion crowds invite to Downing Street with non other than Sam Cam of course) was Bora Aksu. That was one seriously packed show in the main catwalk space attended by the likes of Twiggy, Marina and the Diamonds and Nicola Roberts. Each designer is using a lot more colour this winter and Aksu showed some wonderful green silk shirts and lace dresses (think snooker table hue and you're about there) that really enhanced the tailored dresses in  sombre greys. The celebrity appearances did mean that getting out was impossible though; it was every man for themself and elbows at the ready.

Bora Aksu

Saturday morning was another 9am show requiring an early start but boy was it worth it. Daks (an English heritage brand over 100 years old) and Betty Jackson pulled it out of the bag with their collections. Whilst Daks made you dream of sitting round a log fire with a dog and a cup of cocoa, Jackson brought us fiery red jumpsuits and fleeces (I know that's a shock to hear from LFW right?!). But this is grown up fleecing (not just any old jumper you wear to walk in the park) in delicious red midi length coats teamed with snow white tights and platform heels. Daks on the other hand was a muted palette of greens (again), navys and browns with the key look being a ribbed jumper over a midi silk skirt cinched in with a leather waist belt. Delish.

Daks

Betty Jackson

Highlight of the day was Belle Sauvage for their self made 'fierce' shoes (We watched the show with a very nervous model booker who was praying the models didnt fall over in them) but the lowlight was missing the Jaeger show due to Bernard Chandran running 20 mins late! Now surely that's taking advantage of the phrase "fashionably late."

At least there was time to party at the Belle Sauvage after party in Sketch for one and all before the furious write ups begin again.

This week sees the launch of Flash Projects, a space in Central London that specialises in iconic vintage photographs and contemporary editions of popular culture from the 1950's, 1960's and 1970's, with a focus on the most celebrated cinema, music and fashion period. 

The first exhibition seen at the Flash Projects will be Canned Candies by photographer Jean Clemmer on 26 November - 18 December at the pop up gallery space in central London, 50 years after the original photographs were exhibited at the famous Crazy Horse Gallery in Paris.

Canned Candies was an exhibition first published in Paris in 1969, but this is the UK premier of the collaboration of Salvador Dali’'s personal photographer Jean Clemmer and enfant terrible of French fashion, Paco Rabanne. Coinciding with the London Fashion in Film festival, the exhibition captures beautifully the utopian dreams of an era, exploring the realms of science fiction and fantasy. Intrinsically involved with Salvdor Dali’s later flamboyant realisation of surrealism, Clemmer was the artist’s personal photographer for 20 years and was close friends with the French poet, artist and man-about-town Jean Cocteau. 

Capturing the essence of a lost era, these rare original vintage and limited edition contemporary prints offer a unique opportunity to acquire some of the most innovative images of the 1960s. The photographs will be available to buy exclusively at Flash Projects, we defy you to not to fall in love and purchase the whole collection!

Below – just some of the images available to purchase at Flash

Flash Projects 

8 Kingly Street

Soho 

London W1B 5PG

www.flash-projects.co.uk

Hello lovely blog readers, sorry we have been a bit quiet this week but we were lucky enough to spend some time in Madrid lapping up the sights and sounds and attending the fabulous Mario Testino exhibition. For a very reasonable €5 we were able to browse up to 50 of his fabulous portraits taken over the years including some stunning shots of Kate Moss and Natalia Vodianova.

After musing on the many pictures we decided our favourite was the infamous Sienna Miller portrait that featured in the September Issue film back in 2007 .We didn’t like the photos of iconic 90s ‘supers’ reshot today including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Christy Turlington – sure they had all aged gracefully but it just didn’t float our boat. We popped to the museum shop après the exhibition and found a gorgeous coffee table book, available with the loveliest hard back cover in a choice of lemon, pistachio or soft peach which led to the girls arguing over who got which colour.

After the exhibition we managed to fit in lots of sight seeing and lots more eating – the tapas is amazing with brilliant chain restaurant Lateral being the absolute go-to place for great tasting food and atmosphere but on a more budget-friendly level. We also stopped by at one too many of Madrid’s traditional coffee shops to fill up on a local speciality – hot chocolate and churros. It consists of a cup of thick hot chocolate (think a melted bar of dairy milk in texture but tasting a million times better) with crispy savoury snacks that look like they are made from doughnut minus the jam to dip in the drink. Healthy – we doubt it. Tasty – oh yes!

From tomorrow until Sunday 21st November, Leeds will play host to the Leeds International Film Festival. The event, which takes place throughout various locations in the town, is a classy and quite costly affair at £95 for a full pass (entitling you entry to everything throughout the event); however you can rest assured that the cream of the crop in new film talent awaits. The King’s Speech, starring Colin Firth, and Never Let Me Go, a compelling adaptation of Kazuro Ishiguro’s novel, are just two of the films to watch out for. Go to www.leedsfilm.com to find out more!

We have long been a fan of exquisite designer Maison Martin Margeila so have planned a day visiting the ’20 Exhibition’ this Saturday before the exhibition closes on Sunday! Hosted at the fabulous Somerset House (which will be playing host to LFW in just a few weeks!), the exhibition celebrates 20 years of one of fashion’s most influential and enigmatic designers! 

First started in 1990, the fashion house has had an enormous impact on our understanding of fashion and twenty years on this exhibition really makes us think about fashion, how we clothe our bodies and the ideals of human beauty – don’t miss this one!

We have just arrived back from Amsterdam after a mini break over the weekend and were very impressed by the city! On disembarking at the Central Station, we headed straight up to the Noordemarket where we found some rather pleasing to the eyes food stalls (and even more pleasing to the palette!) plus loads of bric-a-brac stores selling wares from the 70s and 80s.

This area is totally surrounding by the canals and boats were passing up and down with people enjoying al fresco picnics on the roof. The streets were filled with bikes buzzing by every minute and of the hundreds of cafes and restaurants with tables out on the street, there wasn’t a single spare table for us to grab some lunch! We instead ended up wandering through to the famous 9 Streets, where we stopped for a cup of tea and some Dutch pancakes then dropped into some of the little boutiques. Vintage store Episode had the most impressive selection of 80s knitted jumpers and sold retro silk scarves for just three euros – bargain! We also managed to find our fave Swedish store Acne wedged in amongst cafes on one of the side streets!

By the end of the day we had walked the whole city and managed to get a good look at most of the shops! If you are planning to go to Amsterdam we recommend you spend a good few days there! Our visit was so fleeting we didn’t have time for any museums, canal or bike rides but we are definitely going back!

A member of the Oasis team was homeward-bound this weekend, leaving London for the quieter climes of the Peak District. On her car journey back to London she told us how she stopped off in Nottingham at the Contemporary Gallery, a newly built gallery space in the heart of the oh - so - trendy Lace Market area. 

The exhibition showcases around 50 works of Diane Arbus throughout her years as a photographer, also documenting many interesting points of her career where she was a photojournalist for Harpers and Vogue to name but a few, before her death in the 70s.

The exhibition evokes the emotions through the intimate and personal portraits taken by Diane. The way she sets up and frames her subjects gives way to something more insightful than first apparent and the people in which she chooses to photograph, plus the way she executes her shots make for a spine tingling exhibition. There is a compelling story behind each and every subject, from eccentric pub landladies to old Jewish couples to performers in drag clubs, Arbus manages to capture a real snapshot of their lives in just the one frame. Don’t miss this one!

Above : Some of our favourite pieces from the exhibition

Unless you've been living on Mars for the past few months then you will know that this weekend played host to the much awaited Vintage at Goodwood. A celebration of Brit cool exploring music, fashion, film art and design from the 40's - 80's. Pipped as the new 'Annual Festival of Britain' we knew those cultural types wouldn't let us down in the styles stakes. So we donned our hat and gloves and set of for a day of style spotting.
Dressing up was definately the order of the day, here's the hot trends we identified direct to your desk top.

FLORABUNDA 

Daisy Daisy give me your answer do, we're half crazy to look as good as you ...

RED ALERT 

A colour to be noticed in 

GET AHEAD GET A HAT 

Fancy head gear was in abundance.....

GET SHORTY 

Wear them high waisted for that classic retro look 

BACK TO BLACK 

Eternally chic 

ANIMAL MAGIC 

Grrrrrrr..........

.....AND THEN THERE'S JUST PLAIN BANANAS 

It seems that someone from Oasis is always off jet-setting around the globe. One of the girls from design just got back from Paris today after visiting the YSL retrospective. The exhibition opened earlier this year in March and runs until August 29th, so you’ve if you haven’t been you’ve still got time and according to our insider info Paris is empty of Parisians in August so you won’t have to worry about the queues!

Housed in the beautiful Petit Palais there are over 15 rooms of clothing and displays which showcase a selection of YSL’s work from across the era’s including 50 plus pieces dedicated to his signature 'Le Smoking' collection. YSL is considered a national icon by the French hence the size of this retrospective, making it even more worth the trip to Paris, not that we’ve ever needed an excuse to jet off to one of our favourite fashion capitals.