My New Favourite Thing: October 2011

Saturday, 29 October 2011

Wish You Were Here

Sorry for the lack of posts, I'm currently eating my weight in pastrami in the big apple. Follow me on twitter at @FavouriteThing for live updates, showy tweets and/ or quite a lot of twitpics of French toast.

Below: the bar on the 18th floor of The Standard Hotel.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, 24 October 2011

Reinventing The Heel

That Marilyn Monroe spoke a lot of sense. She told us diamonds were a girl’s best friend, that Chanel No 5 was the only acceptable thing to wear in bed, and that the right pair of shoes could help us conquer the world. Of all these, however, it’s the latter that womenfolk have really run with. Well, hobbled and then jumped into the nearest cab with. We all know the intrinsic power those cantilevered inches hold, but just incase we’d forgotten, the humble heel is staging a serious comeback.

After having well and truly usurped the It-bag as the accessory of choice, the statement heel is currently enjoying being celebrated in multimedia form. Coffee table tome High Heels: Fashion, Femininity & Seduction is due for release in October, new documentary God Save My Shoes is to be screened imminently at Paris Fashion Week, even street style snappers have turned their lenses downward of late, perhaps realising that fabulous footwear gets our collective heart racing more than anything else. Just look to editrixes Carine Roitfeld and Emmanuelle Alt – each know it’s a killer shoe that maketh the outfit, often forgoing a bag entirely to create that achingly hip Parisian nonchalance that we all yearn for.

Shoes are pivotal to this Autumn’s trends, too. In fact, never have there been so many must-have heels shoehorned into one season before. Are you a lady? Try Celine’s pointy heeled loafer. A vamp? Choose YSL’s risqué lace-up boots. Individualist? Miu Miu’s glitter peep-toes. Carnaby Queen? Prada’s snakeskin knee-highs. They’re the fastest shortcut to new-season cool you can get. A one-step solution, if you like. And each with the sex appeal, the allure and the drama that a Mulberry Alexa could never have.

From top: Christina Aguilera, Kourtney Kardashian and Fergie's shoe closets.

Originally published for Lyst.com

Sunday, 23 October 2011

13 Halloween Style Icons

It's just a happy (or spooky, depending on your predilection) coincidence that there are thirteen iconic characters I look to for style inspiration come Halloween. From Lydia Deetz's Viktor & Rolf-esque blood-red wedding dress to Wednesday Addams' ironic Puritan collar and knit (seriously...how AW 11?), I always relish the chance to pour over their looks and plan my costume accordingly. It's basically also a great excuse to watch my favourite movies (buy them by clicking the links and enrich your life immediately). I think I'll start today with Hocus Pocus!

Scream Queen: Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice

Quote: "I plan to have a stroke from the amount of MSG that's in this food."

One of Tim Burton's best, hands down. Special mention to Michael Keaton's stripy suit and liberal use of Harry Belafonte songs.

Scream Queen: Nancy from The Craft

Quote: "We are the weirdos, mister."

I've lost count of the amount of sleepovers spent playing Light As A Feather, Stiff As A Board. Credit goes to The Craft entirely. A seminal tween movie for me.

Scream Queen: Madeline Ashton from Death Becomes Her

Quote: "Wrinkled, wrinkled little star, hope they never see the scars."

This is one of my all time favourite films. Sod Sophie's Choice, this was Meryl Streep's career-defining role.

Scream Queen: Elvira from Elvira Mistress Of The Dark

Quote: "Revenge is better than Christmas."

Confession: I've never actually seen this. But it has my name all over it. Feel free to buy it for me as a Halloween present.

Scream Queen: Star from The Lost Boys

Quote: She doesn't say much. But she does dress well.

The original (and best) teenage vampire movie. And it's packed full of 80s New Romantic ensembles and leather. Win.

Scream Queen: The Bride from The Bride of Frankenstein

I've always wanted to fashion my hair into this fabulous electric-shock confection that sits atop Frank's bride's head. Maybe this year is the year...

Scream Queen: Sarah from Hocus Pocus

Quote: "AMOK! Amok, amok, amok, amok..."

I have the distinct memory of, at age eight, trying to re-enact this as a play with a cast of three. It was tough.

Scream Queen: Wednesday Addams from Addams Family Values

Quote: "We're going to play a game. It's called 'Is there a God?'"

Morticia's vampish, femme fatale style was so obvious. I always felt that Wednesday rocked the look noir far better than her mother. Plus, any girl who can make-over her other half so successfully gets snaps from me.

Scream Queen: Casey from Scream

Quote: "Who's there?"

Drew had the low-fi 90s look down in the opening sequence to Scream. Too bad she got butchered - we could've been privy to more of her chic knitwear collection.

Scream Queen: Pam from True Blood

Quote: "I am over Sookie and her precious fairy vagina and her unbelievably stupid name!"

I am girl crushing so hard on Pam from True Blood right now...but not so much that I couldn't sneak in a cheeky pic of Eric too. Double swoon.

Scream Queen: Alexandra Medford from The Witches of Eastwick

Quote: "I think... no, I am positive... that you are the most unattractive man I have ever met in my entire life. You know, in the short time we've been together, you have demonstrated EVERY loathsome characteristic of the male personality and even discovered a few new ones. You are physically repulsive, intellectually retarded, you're morally reprehensible, vulgar, insensitive, selfish, stupid, you have no taste, a lousy sense of humor and you smell. You're not even interesting enough to make me sick."

This was one of the movies I used to steal from my Dad's VHS collection and watch in secret when I was ill off school. It was rated 15, had a few naughty words in it and one extremely graphic cherry-pip vomiting scene which came completely out of left field and scarred me for life.

Totally worth it, though.

Scream Queen: Dr Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Quote: "Don't dream it, be it."

Obsessed is not the word. This is one of Richard O'Brien's biggest gifts to the world. That's right. More than The Crystal Maze.

Scream Queen: Ann Darrow from King Kong

Quote: *SCREAM*

Fay Wray should be every girl's style icon, really. Ripped négligée, artfully dishevelled hair, inexplicably non-smeared red lipstick... She's got a touch of Courtney Love/ Meadham Kirchoff SS12 about her, no?

What movies do you watch to get you in the Halloween spirit?

Sunday, 16 October 2011

Lap(top) Of Luxury

My-wardrobe.com get fashionistas. Dell, evidently, do as well. Hence why I was so over the moon to be given one of their brand spanking new 15R Inspiron laptops with switchable lids at My-wardrobe's recent AW11 preview. It means I can match my laptop to my bag/ nail varnish/ bedroom/ delete-as-appropriate should the mood strike. And being a complete diva, the mood does strike. A lot.

Pink lid: OPI for Dell, Snakeskin lips clutch: Lulu Guinness, Dior lipgloss: Selfridges, Essie nailvarnish: Beauty Bay, Gel pen: Muji, Smythson notebook: My-wardrobe

Skull lid: Dell, Sunglasses: Stella McCartney, Gloves: Zara (sold out - similar here), Smythson notebook: My-wardrobe, Pen: Mont Blanc

Thankyou My-wardrobe.com and Dell!

Saturday, 15 October 2011

Vintage Pleasures Weekend at Bedruthan Steps, Cornwall

A vintage weekend by the Great British seaside? I was always going to be all over that. Last Friday, with a too-large suitcase and Lucy Luxe Life in tow, I jumped aboard a First Great Western (first class, darling - is there any other way to travel?), and zoomed down to the Cornish coast to partake in the retro stylings of The Bedruthan Steps Hotel. A weekend of hoola hooping, jive moves and fish 'n' chips awaited...

The vibe was wholesome but luxurious - the kind of place you'd take your kids to learn about the simple joys of sandcastle building, but still be able to indulge in a champagne bellini and a seaweed wrap if the mood took you.

Our room looked over the breathtaking scene of Mawgan Porth Beach; a quaint, golden cove peppered with whitewashed cottages. It served as a stunning reminder of how beautiful pockets of England can be - always worth remembering when I'm yearning for somewhere more exotic than Platform 13 at Clapham Junction!

The Vintage Pleasures weekend, an initiative set up by the sisters who own the hotel, tied in beautifully with the retro feel of the property itself. The family wanted to create an event which would involve the whole community - an ethos which really came across as we were strolling along the beach. Packed with locals and holidaymakers alike, everyone was getting stuck in - from the old ladies who put the young 'uns to shame on their wooden belly boards, to the whole families who turned up to play volleyball and skittles. You couldn't escape the strong sense of community spirit - add that to the impossibly glorious weather and I could've sat on the rocks soaking up the atmosphere for hours! However, a slap-up fish 'n' chip lunch and cupcake decorating called, so we tore ourselves away from the fantastic cookery demo on the beach and walked back up to the main hotel.

I was really impressed that my lunch consisted of 3 different types of fish, as well as proper hand-cut chips and the requisite mushy peas/ tartare sauce. The serving staff couldn't have been sweeter and didn't even judge us when we mentioned that after our strawberry and meringue dessert that we'd be moving straight on to cupcake decorating.

An adorable vintage pop-up shop selling homeware as well as clothing was overflowing with retro goodies, while The Vintage Cream, a Cornish company that organises vintage styling among other things, had set up a dream-like tea party at the next stall.

Make do and mend was a prominent theme with the philosophy of the hotel being sustainable and ethical, as well as a workshop teaching you how to sew accessories from scraps of pretty vintage fabric. Who needs to buy a new iPhone case when you can make one instead?

Retro hair and make-up makeovers finished the activities in the hotel so Lucy and I decided to chill out with a cup of tea in one of the cocoon beds on the terrace that overlooked the beach. Before we knew it, it was dinner time and we had the pleasure of another 3 course meal before the live band and jiving lessons in the ballroom. The hotel focuses on organic, locally sourced produce that's in season and - aside from a mean fish 'n' chips - serves dishes like smoked mackerel paté with tarragon, horseradish and wholemeal toast, and pan-fried duck breast with braised cabbage, pancetta, baked apples and cranberry jus. In a word; yum.

Being the princesses we are, Lucy and I decided hot chocolate in bed would be the perfect nightcap. Even though it wasn't on the room service menu, the lovely girl who took my order said she "was sure they could track some down somewhere". Lo and behold, they did - complete with mini marshmallows sprinkled on the top. We sipped them in bed wrapped in fluffy Cadbury-purple robes (how apt). The perfect end to a perfect weekend!

Book here for future themed weekends including Cath Kidston (29th-31st Jan & 9th-11th Mar), Alice In Wonderland (25th-27th May & 12th-14th Oct) and Yoga & Pilates (16th-18th Mar, 6th-8th July & 9th-11th Nov). Full list here.

With thanks to the lovely folk at Bedruthan Steps.