Lousie Goldin shoes at Topshop: out February 5th!

Just a little bit of shoe love, to brighten our gloomy weekends. I love the snow, but only when i'm watching it fall from inside my nice cosy living room: walking out in it is a nightmare!

Louise Goldin launches her first footwear collection for topshop in February, and i'm already a little bit in lust. These beautifully sculptured shoes were first seen on the catwalk of Louise’s SS10 collection.

This capsule collection nods towards the revival of the 1990’s with Louise citing high-glamour as a point of reference. Inspiration was also taken from Baroque opulence. There are two designs; the first is studded on the toe with diamante around the heel which is available in black on black or cream and gold. The second design has the reverse; studded heel and diamante toe and is available in rose with crystal.

Obviously i'm after the tougher-looking black pair, but I wouldn't say no to the other pairs either! Sadly, with the £150 price tag and my shopping ban starting on the 31st January, no is a word I am going to have to get used to!

Love, Tor xx

Becky's Topshop Adventure - Part Deux

Hello blogosphere,

Here, with tiny fanfare, is part deux of my Topshop diffusion line experiment. You'll note the use of French 'deux' to amp up the classiness: we're going to need all the classiness we can lay our hand on, lemme tell ya. Lot of unslightly flesh is going to hit your screen on the scroll down. It's a shame really because there really were some amazing pieces in amongst the cellulite display items.First off, let us examine Marios Schwab. There's been a lot of buzz on the blogs about his A/W 2008 collection just shown at London Fashion week because as usual it was uncommonly ace. I have to admit I'm fairly unimpressed with the overall tone of the fashion weeks thus far (New York in particular was too beige to bother about) as the overall mood seems curiously muted and curiously joyless. Not so of Schwab who used Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic short story The Yellow Wallpaper as the chief inspiration for his collection.

First off, let us examine Marios Schwab. There's been a lot of buzz on the blogs about his A/W 2008 collection just shown at London Fashion week because as usual it was uncommonly ace. I have to admit I'm fairly unimpressed with the overall tone of the fashion weeks thus far (New York in particular was too beige to bother about) as the overall mood seems curiously muted and curiously joyless. Not so of Schwab who used Charlotte Perkins Gilman's classic short story The Yellow Wallpaper as the chief inspiration for his collection.

My three favourite looks from the collection. Background text from The Yellow Wallpaper.

If I were a proto-feminist, locked in her bedroom going loopy at the decor, I'd want to be wearing one of these outfits. The story's all about the imprisonment of Victorian patriarchy, repressed sexuality, decay and madness and these outfits really do communicate something of the story. I'm really interested in the idea of a woman in 2008 choosing to imprison herself in clothes that physically restrict her (apparently the draping was so tight that some models could only hobble up the catwalk). They're sexy dresses in modern cuts and though the lycra seems to be laying waste to the rotting brocade 'wallpaper' fabric, I'm not sure what Schwab's trying to say: can bondage ever be an empowering choice? Is the wallpaper rotting away because we're beyond the strict patriarchy it represents or hanging on each garment because we can never entirely escape it? I'm not sure and you should make up your own mind: click here to read The Yellow Wallpaper - you won't be sorry.

Marios Schwab - Topshop (£75)

Nothing like a strapless skater dress to bring out the preening gormless modelface in a girl. I adored this outfit and felt enormously sexy. It was barely even a concern that the stiffness and cut of the fabric meant that I couldn't raise my arms beyond what you see in the pictures. This is certainly not a garment to wear whilst shelf stacking but it does continue the pairing of Marios Schwab and self-imposed bondage. It wasn't an uncomfortable garment, just a deeply impractical one. I felt beautiful but like I was meant for A Doll's House. Lucky for me I'm too poor to even think of purchasing it so I can leave the post-feminist dilemma for women in higher pay brackets. Problem solved.

Wrap shirt (£65)

Love the colour and theory but hate the practice. Way too transparent to wear without a vest and not clinging enough to be flattering. I much prefer the way I styled it below.

Clasp Dress (£100)

Another gorgeous idea and an execution that just doesn't work for me. I found it impossible to get into this dress without a steady-handed other to do up the teeny little side buttons which is why it looks so ill-fitted. The awesome clasp idea sorta fails because the elastic causes all the plastic clasps to kind of twist and collapse into the small of the back.

Ladeez & Gents, let's have a warm welcome back to our old friend the panty-line!
Yeesh.

So: a lot of admiration for the ideas in the Topshop collection and big love for the mainline, but I just can't get behind paying upwards of £70 for a hint of bondage and a heap o' knickerlines.


Tailoring - Richard Nicholls and Todd Lynn

I'm a little nervous about my Todd Lynn jacket pics, chiefly because Queen Michelle of Kingdom of Style has already modelled hers and frankly I'm not nearly as Irina Lazareau hot as she is. Still, if you'll ignore my bug-eyed office vibe:

Todd Lynn Tuxedo Jacket (£85)

My grandad liked this picture. That's all the validation I need.

Richard Nicholl ruffle dress

Not a lot to say, except maybe underwhelming, or dear god, can't Topshop see its way to providing a fucking slip with their hundred quid dresses? It's cute but it's £15 cute, not £85.

Horrifying Trousers o' doom (£65)

These buggers were size 14 (the largest available) and didn't have a hope in hell of fastening around me. I know I'm hardly a string bean but it's a little crushing to know that I'm too large for the largest size available in the diffusion line. Lucky for me they were the epitome of PVC lined hideousness so I didn't mind too much. I'm too busy enjoying my Petit Bateau bobble scarf.

Wigmore modelling Richard Nicholls, gut.

The horror. The horror.

You think that's the worst picture you're gonna see? Oh, sweet naive blogosphere, we haven't even got to the skintight knitwear yet.....

Louise Goldin
Let me just say in my defense that this dress was a Medium which I assume is an 8-10. I knew it would look awful but I loved it so in the magazine and wanted first-hand footage of the feel of the dress, so I bit my lip down to the viscera and tried it on.

Icicle Dress (£95)

I am well aware of my resemblence to a tubby extra in a Esther Williams movie. This caused my family much hilarity when I showed them. I am never visiting those people again. Let's hit it from the si-ide:

Ow! Turn it around, girl!

Yowzah!

I tried on this next dress almost solely because of its awesome name

Alien Prom Queen Dress (£95)

This dress is a Large, hence the better (but by no means ideal) fit. The reason I look so happy is that I'm about to lay my eggs in my date's chest cavity.

Equally unflattering on the sides and bum but at least I feel spiritually closer to Natasha Henstridge.

Ah, to French kiss a man and shatter the back of his skull. I do so love fashion.

Well, blogosphere, that’s it. This is by no means the entire range but I tried to give you an overview and at least three different facial expressions. I hope you enjoyed yourself. I’m going to sit and rock myself into a shame spiral until 8pm when me and Tor will conduct an intellectual discussion on this year's Oscar fashions. I will document said discussion on this very blog. *sigh* I miss Cher so much.

I’m off for a minty tea – see you in an hour.

Becky.

Holy Press Sample Calamity!

Hello blogosphere,

It's way exciting that we're on Stylebubble's link list now. We've had a bump in visitors from pilgrims from that site which must mean, therefore, surely-maybe-kinda that Grazia photospreads, glassy-eyed Nigella style cookery segments and pet dressing advice columns in Pop await us. I plan to show my nipples every chance I get - by summer they'll be more familiar to you than your mother's most tender smile.

Toothpaste for Dinner

I'll be honest, I'm besieged with things to write about and quip merrily over. But instead of delighting y'all with original content, I'm going to update the Topshop capsule range situation. My jokes cannot compete with designer endorsed high street lurex and I know that now.

Here, for your delectation is a more complete look at both the Louise Goldin and Jonathan Saunders ranges, hot off the press from Look magazine.

Uh, hmm. Does anyone notice a decided difference in quality from the Vogue shoot?
It just goes to show what a difference a model makes. Here, these dresses look flat and a little lumpen. In fact, they could be the crew's uniform on the brave space voyages of Starship 80s. (the hoodie is fo' off-duty look, yo). Hmm. I shall reserve ultimate judgement until I see them on bodies.

Jonathan Saunders's stuff looks in slightly better shape although we've still got that intergalactic 80s geometric vibe going on.

I enjoy the silver t-shirt dress, especially as it looks to feature an attractive glittering floorplan as its motif. Hey Saunders, where's the fire exit? is a fine name for a dress. However, though I feel I've seen the t-shirt before and in a million charity shops, I fairly enjoy the tired geometric Aztec face on the white dress. Additionally, I've spoken before of my love of the classic Saunders black-dress-with-waterfall-of-colour, although I prefer the sunset tones in the Observer preview.

Still Thandie loves Jonathan's bright designs!! Isn't that reassuring? Now that we're on first names terms and everything, I feel way confident in my sartorial choices. Thandie Newton wouldn't steer you wrong. She's very pretty and she taught us racism is bad. and panel dresses are good

NOTE TO LOOK MAGAZINE:
Hey Look, I'm a friend and long-term reader. You know that bit in Mean Girls where Regina explodes at Stacey: "Stacey, stop trying to make 'fetch' happen. It isn't going to happen." Well, Look, it's kind of the same deal with the whole calling Topshop/Toppers debacle. C'mon. It's not catching on. For the good of the young people, just stop and we'll act like it never happened.

Your pal,
Becky.

Liberal Media Conspiracy (plus ruffles)

Hello blogosphere,

Bloody The Guardian, bloody The Observer. I tell you there's nothing more pathetic than a grown woman with flu speedwalking the streets at 6.30 on a Sunday eve, glistening with snot and desperate to find one newsagent open that still has an Observer on sale. Usually, I wouldn't touch it or even think of putting myself in such a situation - the only good bits of The Guardian are Charlie Brooker and the Book section and I can read them online - but I was on a mission for fashion.

Now, as I've said before, The Guardian/Observer is also almost comically shit for fashion but, on my daily click to Style Bubble, I was greeted with news of February's fabled Topshop Diffusion range with Christopher Kane, Marios Schwab, Jonathan Saunders et al. More than news, friends - scans from the Observer Woman supplement. Much undignified soiling occurred.

However, I grew anxious - what if Susie Bubbl;e had only shown us an edited look at the page? I must! I must! see the whole thing, I cried! I rang round my hippie liberal friends to see if any of them had bought The Observer and disgustingly, none of them had. This includes Tor, by the way, who lists her political leanings on Facebook as "Very Liberal". No Observer on Sunday, Tor? Very Liberal? Hah! You are "Very LIES" and now everybody knows.

After a cold spasm-y run, I retrieved my prize from my favourite newsagent that never closes - Sunday trading laws can go to hell! Victory and glory await! I thought as I slumped on the sofa. But no. The shitty magazine and its shitty cheap paper gave us only 5 exclusive items and I had seen them all online. Susie Bubble has already scanned them but I'm doing it here on principle, because I bought the bloody bastard arse-face thing:

Top row,
Ugly ass glitter blazer with pockets that makes a mockery of all that is good and pure (£65)
Leather hooded jacket by Christopher Kane for Topshop (£250)
Grey Bodice front dress by Christopher Kane for Topshop (£85)
Bottom Row
Ruffle Dress by Richard Nicholl for Topshop (£75)
Black skirt with leather bodice belt by Christopher Kane for Topshop (£95)
Black Dress with Awesome Coloured Panel by Jonathan Saunders for Topshop (£75)

As always, click the pic to make it big. You'll enjoy better detail and the chance to see just how see-through the paper Observer Woman prints on happens to be. Scandal.

A publication with thicker shinier paper is in order, I think. February's British Vogue had the thoughtfulness to give us a catwalk supplement which held photographs of each of the Topshop Diffusion designers with their chosen model wearing one of their Topshop outfits. It's not much but it's at least a glimpse of the fabric texture:

Marios Schwab w/Clemence Posey
Hey, Schwab. Nobody spoons with Fleur Delacour except Bill Weasley (That was a courtesy to you, Harry Potter geeks - I had to look that shit up). It's a big shame we can't see more of the denim coat dress she's wearing. This is the only Marios Schwab for TS image I can find and I'm a bit disappointed with this, especially considering his dazzling insect-y S/S 08 collection .


Todd Lynn
Hmm. Shiny high street tuxedo jackets. It'll all depend on the quality of the material....Shirt's cute, however. Love me a pleat.


Louise Goldin
OB-sessed. I want this dress with my whole heart. Look at those dainty straps! Look!
It says here that this dress is supposed to be instore already....hm. No-show at topshop.com. Worrisome.



Christopher Kane
His little face. It's a nice close-up look at the jacket featured in the Observer spread - it looks a lot classier when you see it up close. I'm also delighted Sir Kane chose a girl who isn't a very slender nymphy model type. It's just like when he dressed Beth Ditto for Fashion Rocks. He's ace that way - now if only Browns.com stocked his main line in a size above 10...


Richard Nicoll
Very cute little dress in the pinstripe and although the ruffle design is somewhat similar to a Viktor & Rolf for H&M dress, the chiffon lifts it into a slightly more elegant, less whimsical place. Looks so much better than in the Observer picture, right? Right.

So there you have it. I am spent, visually at least.

Becky's picks:
The Christopher Kane bodice dress (no duh) - CK cuts for my body and I am well up for a little kinky medieval action.
Jonathan Saunders dress - Just because I think I deserve to wear the colours you see when you look at the sun too long.
Louise Goldin dress - Did you not see it? It's so rare the high street customer gets access to that kind of flair with colour. Gotta jump.

Okay, so let the donations and charity car-washing begin!

Your pal,
B.