Scary GaGa meets the Queen

I'm sure the Queen was very amused by Gaga's outlandish costume.

This outfit she wore on X-Factor is enough to give anyone nightmares...
She really reminds me of Madonna when she was about 10 years younger, using shock tactics to get people talking about her...it certainly works though!

I didn't think she was ever going to get out of that bath - I also felt very sorry for the dancers who had to hold their awkward positions while the lovely Dermot interviewed the fashionista.

When You First Took My Hand On a Cold Christmas Eve, You Promised Me Broadway Was Waiting For Me...

This is my favourite christmas song of all time..



I LOVE CHRISTMAS!! I came over all festive today as I was wrapping presents and writing cards.  Although my bank account is feeling the strain and I'm getting overcome by the stress of what to wear to the christmas parties...if only I was tall enough and could actually afford this beautiful dress by Just Cavalli...

PS I will try and make sure this is the last time I change the name of my blog...

TEAM JACOB!

I officially got dragged into the Twilight mania this week when I saw New Moon.

Call me a what you wish, but I was amoungst the group of girls gasping as the muscular 17 year old removed his shirt......is there actaully any contest between him and pale Edward??

And you would think this chick would crack a smile considering she has two of the most wanted men in the country after her..

Its a Floral Frenzy..

Forget pretty floral dresses your mother would wear, this season floral goes masculine, in the form of jumpsuits, trousers and sharp fitted blazers. The print is so small it’s hard to tell if ifs even floral.

Fashionable since the 1920s and returning in the 1950s as Paris couturiers embrace florals on dresses with full skirts and cinched waists. Vogue announces: “News from Paris – the print restored to high favour – rosebud chiffon, poppy-peppered shantung . . .” Celia Birtwell’s dreamy, Cartoon-like flower prints gave a new lease of life to Ossie Clark’s dresses in the sixties, again giving a nod to the floral trend that’s never out of fashion.

Mostly seen in Spring/Summer shows as a tribute to the oncoming season, SS10 was no different, mainly seen during New York fashion week, this time we saw a new twist on it in the form of small and intensified printed floral on more masculine clothes like trouser suits and blazers.

Paul Smith’s SS10 collection included the print on men’s shirts. Anna Sui leads the way for womenswear, with dainty florals splashed all over her catwalk in the form of bright colours, embroidered appliqué and small dainty prints. Thakoon clashed his florals and contrasted the look by having the models wear black bondage heels. Barbara Tfank included pastel coloured floral dresses and Versace and Derek Lam went for sophisticated, lady-like floral garments. Betsy Johnson, Mulberry and Donna Karen were just a few of the other designers also incorporating it into their collection.

The iconic Liberty print has undoubtedly had a major influence on the designers print this season. The design studio create new and re-work classic prints every season, “inspired by nature, architecture, our heritage and the store itself”. It has also recently had high profile collaborations with Nike and Gap.

Celebrities are getting caught up in the floral frenzy; Helena Christensen looks sweet and relaxed in a pastel, belted tunic during the launch of the Matthew Williamson for H&M collection and Sienna Miller works the trend with a black jacket and ankle boots. The high street is also picking up on the trend. Wear these cute liberty print shorts from Topshop with a plain vest top and OTK boots for day and a fitted blazer and heels for night. Miss Selfridge also does a smart grey and black floral blazer and snap up one of the pretty floral scarves from ASOS. This bold dress from Marc by Marc Jacobs will make heads turn wherever you go, give it an edge with studded ankle boots.

And on that farm he had some...

Karl Lagerfeld has come a long way since his days on the growing up in country, he revealed after the Chanel show, “I spent part of my childhood on a farm.” Everyone was alert at the roosters call for a farmyard- frolic in the hay. Hay fever wafted through the air in the gigantic hay-barn inspired by Marie Antoinette’s farm in Versailles. In the centre of the Grand Palais, it certainly wasn’t something you expect to see every day and the show hadn’t even started yet.

In the star studded audience, eagerly anticipating what Lagerfeld’s infamous wit would bring to the Chanel’s SS10 collection, were Prince, Rhianna and Claudia Schiffer. Karl was breaking all the rules of the brand of its usually lavish and elegant look, with the models flirting round the set in a mismatch of high-heeled clogs, trompe l’oeil tights and raffia chain bags. The models included Lara Stone, Abbey Lee and Baptiste Giabiconi. The models hair was swept up in messy pony tails with ribbons with hair falling around the models faces. Make-up was to a minimum so focus was entirely on the clothes.

Lily Allen, the face of Chanel, performed at the show, dripping in sequins and feathers. This was the perfect choice of singer as she added to the rustic feel of the show. And fitted in with the “I’m breaking all the rules, but I still look good” attitude of the collection immaculately.

There was undoubtedly a rock element to the clothes, velvet black blazers, big shoulders, high-waisted jeans, but then there was chic and classy, pretty floral dress. The best outfit in the collection being a beautiful chiffon one shouldered dress over a white body suit with monochrome heels, it was a breath-taking outfit.

There was one suit which didn’t seem to quite fit into the collection. A bright red blazer with leg of lamb sleeves and short skirt stood out as soon as the model came striding out. Teamed with matching red clogs and a fake rosary bead tattoo wrapped round both thighs, wasn’t so sure this look was trashy rather than sophisticated.

There were all the usual designs from Chanel, the classic quilted chain bags and tweed suits but they all had a new and interesting twist to them. The skirts had slits up the side and white silk ribbons woven into the jackets. The models march down at one point with Blackberries proving that the Lagerfeld had designed these clothes for the modern day and was breaking out of the Chanel norm. It is sure to say that Lagerfeld is true to his roots with this show, but I’m not sure how many models would actually frolic in the hay on a real farm in clothes as stunning as the ones he has designed this season.

"Dirty Old Hags Like Her Always Have Itchy Tummies"

Last night as poured out my bowl of Cheerio’s, I noticed The Twits book sitting inside the box.

Roald Dahl always has and always will be my favourite author. He is most probably responsible for my love of writing now. I grew up engrossed in The Witches, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Magic Finger, Esio Trot, Matilda and the BFG just to name a few. I made it my personal mission to make sure I read them all. With his witty way of writing and funny made up words he stood out from all other children’s authors.

I couldn’t help but sit and read The Twits all over again and it was just as good as when I read it as a child. It’s about a nutty old couple who hate children, animals and most of all each other. I thought I’d share my favourite bit of the book with you.

“Mrs Twit was no better than her husband. She did not, of course, have a hairy face. It was a pity she didn’t because that at any rate would have hidden some of her ugliness. Take a look at her.

Have you ever seen a woman with an uglier face than that? I doubt it. But the funny thing is that Mrs Twit wasn’t born ugly. She’d had quite a nice face when she was young. The ugliness had grown upon her year by year as she got older.

Why would that happen? I’ll tell you why. If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until it gets so ugly you can hardly bear to look at it.

A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts they will shine out like sunbeams and you will always look lovely”.

Even now you can learn so much from him. Roald Dahl’s kindness and love for children shone out in all of his books.

Inside All Of Us There's A Wild Thing

I am SO excited about the release of this film. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOkQ4dYVaM

I remember reading this book as a kid and feeling a real sense of adventure and imagination.

GQ recently did an indepth interview with director Spike Jonze covering his childhood, why he decided to make this film and why it is a film that is far too scary to be a childrens book.


“Warner Bros. was considering firing Jonze and reshooting the entire movie. Jonze talks about this period uneasily. “To me it’s a small part of the movie—five months in the course of five years,” he says. “And it was kind of irrelevant. It was just a bummer. It was not easy or fun.” “They wanted it to be a different movie. I think they really expected it to be more like a kind of pixie-dust movie. That was a word they used at one point: ‘Pixie dust.’ Magic. ‘Where’s the…?’ The specifics of the conversations are kind of pointless, because they’re behind us. The end result is I got to make the movie that I wanted to make.”

If you can't wait for the film, why not buy one of Topshop's Wild Things T-Shirts?

http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=true&catalogId=19551&storeId=12556&categoryId=174508&parent_category_rn=42325&productId=1239355&langId=-1

"Inside all of us is fear. Inside all of us is adventure and inside all of us there’s a wild thing".

"Its like he's got his nuts in a vice"

I do love being nosey and here are some of the things I overherd on my travels this week...

"I text him three times last night and he didn't reply...maybe his phone is broken?"

"Has there been a powercut? My walkmans stopped playing".

"Its like he's got his nuts in a vice"

"Why do nearly all old people have curly hair?"

Also I stumbled across a little stall just off of Old Street in London. It sells all of the most fashionable magazines, Vogue, Dazed, Another, V, 10, Very, Pop most of these sell in the shops for about £5 and on this stall they are all £1 each! I struggled home with a laptop, massive bag and 2 carrier bags full of magazines. Underground in the rush hour as the bag lady was not a fun experience, but so worth it!

Definatly worth checking out. The home of Dazed and Confused, Another and Another Man, Old Street just oozes cool. An army of fashion forward thinkers and dressers left right and centre. Situated next to Brick Lane and Shoredich high street, its one of the most fashionable place in London to find yourself getting lost in.

£5 for a croissant?!

Why do I feel so uncomfortable being treated so well?

A well dressed polite lady shows me to my seat in Harrods restaurant. I’ve taken a look at the menu and panic rushes through me as I realise I can afford NOTHING in front of me. Looking at the “special offer” advertised in front of me, £14.50 for chicken and mushroom soup. Its daylight robbery! Oh the life of a student. I break out in a sweat feeling eyes on me from all angles. Think Hannah think. Aha! I spot the croissant for a fiver- it had better be the most amazing croissant I have ever tasted.



Crunch. Disappointing. Dry, and rather small if you ask me. I slipped the tiny jar of jam I got given with it into my bag – I was going to get my money’s worth.

Even now I’m panicking. How long is it acceptable to sit in Harrods restaurant after you have paid the bill (no tip might I add). “Is there anything else you want” translates as “You have only brought a croissant, you slipped the jam in your bag and you’re drinking your own water- get the hell out you cheapskate”. I make my way out and stop into Asda on my way home.

The Best of the Bunch

True party girl sarah harding has always stood out for all the right reasons in the Girls Aloud crew. Sexy, cool stylish and has an “i don’t care what you think about me attitude”. Forget Cheryl, Sarah's naughty girl image and quirky style is much more endearing. She was recently spotted at Vivienne Westwood’s show during London Fashion week looking fabulous.











No matter how many different hair dressers cut my hair I cannot get my hair to look like hers! grrr

A Trip To The Theatre Anyone?

I love a trip to the theatre, and this time was no different. War Horse. It was the sweetest play I have ever seen, about a young boy and his horse during the war who strike up a horsey-man friendship, a bond that can never be broken. Tragically his mean old dad sells his horse to the army. Naturally the weedy 16 year old runs away to the army to try and find his horsey friend.

I don’t want to give away the end, but it really brought a tear to my eye.
The Actors, work with astonishing life-sized puppets by the worldwide renowned Handspring Puppet Company, and you really do believe those puppets are horses. They are more like works of art than puppets as they a strong enough to have people inside and carry people on top of them.

I found out for myself why its London’s number one play to see at the moment.

Running In Heels

This summer I returned to do work experience at Vogue House, and this year I felt much more prepared for what was going to be thrown at me. At the tender age of 16 I almost had a mental breakdown in the middle of Bond Street in the snow, trying to balance myself, 3 bags and 6 shoe boxes trying to find yet another hat shop in a pair of heels that were making my feet bleed. Yes it really was that bad. But by the end of it, I felt proud that I hadn’t ran crying all the way home, and strangely, I wanted to it all over again.

To me, Vogue House is a magical place made up of exciting people and rails and rails of all the clothes by all only best designers, old and new. My heart races each time I walk through those doors. An exceptionally large Vogue and Tatler front cover will be the first things you look at ither side of the receptions gold desk and a greeting of, “Good morning sweetie, make sure you have yourself a nice day” will probably be the first thing you hear from the happy chaps on the desk.

The building is made up of all different advertising departments and editorals for a variety of Conde Nasts publications such as World of interiors, House and Garden, Tatler, Vogue, Vainity Fair. Level 2 is in my opinion the most exciting floor, GQ and GQ style buzzing with a vartiety of people and music – wall sized GQ magazines plastered down the corridors.

Walking through the corridors of Vogue there is a much more intense atmosphere, the carpet is thick under my feet and 6ft beautiful, immaculately dressed women fly past me. Everywhere has that rich smell, a mixture of expensive perfumes.



I’ll never forget standing very awkwardly once in the lift with 2 of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. They had cheek bones that would make their face stay young forever and a mysterious Russian look about them. I was munching on my crisps, in almost slow motion in the silent lift, “anyone want a crisp?” the long silence made me hot and uncomfortable, “no thanks I’ve just had a salad, I don’t want to spoil it”. I quietly carried on crunching in slow motion.

This time I made my way up to Brides Editorial to work for the shopping editor, and boy did I work, but it was worth it to see the stunning, spectacular wedding dresses that sometimes took two people to lift. I loved listening about all the exciting locations they got to go to and the people they get to work with, Gok Wan being the most talked about during the week. A flurry of models and photographers coming and going, I couldn’t help but dream of the day I am no longer sitting on the work experience desk.

Players, bad boys, whatever you like to call them, us girls always fall for them. We know it’s going to end in heart ache and upset eventually so why do we set it up for ourselves?

"I can change him and his bad boy ways." This kind of thinking will just end in a “told you so” off your Mum, getting through a lot of tissues and the Notebook being played on repeat for about a week...you know this, and I know this...but ofcorse we will still probably fall at their feet in lust.

We are not the only ones to fall for the charm of a bad boy, look at what Kevin Federline did to poor Britney Spears, Kate Moss and Pete Dougherty, and most famously Amy Winehouse and her “Blakey”. It’s the risk you take for the chemistry. The thrill of dating a bad boy almost outweighs the tears and broken heart that is almost inevitable after. It starts so well, with them treating you like a princess and you resist because you know they are no good but eventually you fall for them. Then once they know they’ve got you, sorry girls, it’s the beginning of the end.



So why do we do it? Hands up who’s drooled over captain jack sparrow in pirates of the carrabiean? He doesn’t exactly treat women with respect, in one scene he gets a good slapping from a line of girls. However, he oozes carizma and charm, you could be a very ugly man but if you have a healthy dose of charm, well, the world is your oyster!

With blogs such as, Confessions of a bad boy, dedicated to the wonders of bad boys and internet fan groups where people post their stories about their bad boy experiences it doesn’t look like us girls are ever going to learn. Don’t get me wrong im not sexist, im sure there are plenty of “bad girls” out there. Maybe some of them grow out of it, maybe some just never get tired playing the game, but what I do know is, at the age of 19, even I’m growing tired of it, but hey, don’t hate the player hate the game!

In the words of the most famous British womanizer, Alfie, “What have I got? Really? I don't depend on nobody and nobody depends on me... My life's my own. But I don't have peace of mind. And if you don't have that, you've got nothing. ” In my opinion they will never truly be happy and content living their life like this so remember, they may have broken your heart but you will probably meet someone who can mend your heart. What do they have except notches on their bedpost?

HELLOOOOO

I have been soooo naughty and completly and utterly neglected my poor lonely blog.
This year I have a new found confidence in myself and have thrown myself into the world of fashion, and at the moment, I am loving it!

I started uni as a second year student (dan dan daaaa) and must say I am really looking forward to the course this year- although I have a feeling I won't be watching as much Jeremy Kyle and Loose Women- boooo.

My second year started off at where other than London Fashion Week. I have been a London Fashion Weekender for quite a few years but never floated around Fashion Week. The first day I went was a wonderfully exciting day and made me remember why I'm doing what I'm doing. It was a beautiful sunny day, Sarah and I arrived at the grand and spectacular Somerset House. The surroundings were perfect. We felt like celebritites walking in, as two different photographers started taking our photo, I couldn't help but imagine I was Kate Moss and I'm pretty sure Sarah was pretending she was Britney Spears.

I could have sat on that wall all day watching passers by. The place just oozed cool. I saw a lot of big shoulders, leather jackets, thigh high boots and studs. It wasn't just about what people were wearing it was the attitude they wore it with. I saw one very skinny man wearing a swimsuit- and im not talking trunks, I'm talking full on Mr Motivator swim suit, but ya know what? He pulled it off. I spotted another girl wearing a leotard over her ripped tights and someone else wearing plaitted hair as her neclace. You've gotta give it to em, can you imagine the looks they got on the underground? Good for them for having the confidence to be different, it makes the world a much more interesting place and it's the reason London is the Worlds capital for fashion.

Here are a few of the straight-ups we took at Somerset House and around London that week.

PIERRE GAROUDDI and Chole the cat

“You can find a lot about a person by the clothes they are wearing. Some people use labels as a shield. Shy person may not always dress-up as they do not want to shock. Extroverted people are willing to take a risk”. Pierre Garroudi, started out as a 24 hour tailor in his boutique in Soho, New York after getting Fs in drawing and sewing he never graduated. He comes from a very varied background, born in Tehran, studying in Paris, plus a year in the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. Currently Pierre is working at his studio at London Bridge, he tells me “I am trying to find where I am in the fashion industry, I make everything myself, naturally if I had more tools, I can do something even more amazing”.

It’s a tough life for a designer and it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Pierre as he has faced many hurdles in his career but his positive out look on life seems to have got him to where he is today, “99.9% of designers never design again. Fashion is constantly advancing; your job is not to moan if something happens to you, your job is to learn so you can use it for your next step in life. Hurdles are good for you so you can learn”.

Pierre is a man of many skills also trying his hand at photography and painting but his heart lies with fashion, “you choose your tools, I chose clothes”. On the occasions I have met Pierre he always has a smile on his face and I am always made to feel welcome and comfortable in his company. He tells me, “life is short, enjoy every single day, if you’re in a positive mood naturally I see things in life you wouldn’t see if you were not. I get inspired by everything. Your job is to get inspired”.

In New York Pierre has worked with many big names including the Sex in the City girls and Naomi Campbell. He is currently working on his next collection following a very successful show during London Fashion Week. “I am not trying to shock people, I am no longer a young designer, there is fine line between show and fashion”.

Living the life of a successful designer I would expect him to be inundated with invites to parties and social events. His idea of a good night out is that, “first of all you have to be yourself in order to enjoy yourself you will be presenting someone you are not and that will backfire. Go with the flow, enjoy yourself”.

Lastly Pierre tells me his heartening philosophy for life, “Nobody is useless, everybody has something to offer, your job is to find that beauty and use it in your life”. I close my notebook and put down my pen and all of a sudden he starts to tell me about the cat that has been sitting next to me throughout our chat curiously staring at me. “Her name is Chloe, she lived all her life in fashion houses. If you could talk to her she would have an American accent”.

(Photograph by Ani Lam)