Thursday 28 July 2011

In My Bed

In tribute to one of my favourite Amy Winehouse tracks. I decided to compile a post of iconic photographs involving beds. This got me thinking about the varying connotations of beds in photography and the plethora of symbolism from what is a basic piece of furniture. You can have work of art beds - a la Tracey Emin, messy beds, bunk beds, hospital beds, sexy beds, death beds...
Tracey Emin's infamous bed
Kate Moss and Johnny Depp in bed - photo shoot
Yoko Ono and John Legend made a stand for peace and did everything from their bed
Kurt Cobain in bed
Paula Yates interviewed Michael Hutchence from the Big Breakfast bed and their chemistry was plain to see, they of course went on to marry
 
I never thought my memory
of what we had could be intruded
but I couldn't let it be
I needed it as much as you did

Now it's not hard to understand

why we just speak at night
The only time I hold your hand
is to get the angle right
Everything is slowing down
river of no return
you recognise my every sound
there's nothing new to learn

you'll never get my mind right

like 2 ships passing in the night
in the night in the night
want the same thing where we lay
otherwise mines a different way
a different way from where I'm going
oh, its you again listen this isn't a reunion
so sorry if I turn my head
yours is a familiar face
but that don't make your place safe
in my bed, my bed, my ba ba dee dee bed

back to black

how she will be best remembered; for her staggering live performances

A mourner carries her phothgraph at her funeral

I was deeply saddened on Saturday of the sudden death of Amy Winehouse on Saturday. While, given her history of drug and alcohol abuse her untimely passing could have been foreseen, it still came as a terrible shock. She was one of the modern legends of contemporary music and it is a sad story for the world of music that she only ever made 2 albums. Such a vulnerable character, Amy almost made her public persona a caricature with her ever growing signature beehive and her late night London jaunts, but after her disastrous gig in Serbia it seemed she was getting back on the straight and narrow. I had a real affinity with Amy after a whole host of strangers and acquaintances telling me they thought I looked similar to her. I discovered her first album Frank and became a fan, then when I heard a snippet of Rehab while at uni on daytime telly before it's release I could not get enough and in 2006 swiftly booked tickets with my flatmate to see her in 2006 at our student union just before the release of her seminal classic album Back to Back. I was hooked! Not only to her soulful voice but to her insightful, witty and wonderfully wise lyrics. As much as she is a great singer she is an incredibly talented song-writer, and her songs oozed a brutal honesty that hasn't been seen since the country or soul records of yesteryear.

Always such a troubled character and a lost-soul it seems fitting that Amy Winehouse lived fast and died young joining a whole host of musical greats in the Forever 27 Club. Up in rock'n'roll heaven with Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain I hope her soul finds peace.

an infamous resident of Camden Square NW1 - her street was awash with fans

fans left tributes to her hard partying ways and her favourite spirits and cigarettes

Friday 22 July 2011

from PERU with PEACE

Once upon a time, a young London born half Spanish woman, living in Miami set about to make her own socially conscious clothing line. With pieces made in Peru from the softest eco-friendly jersey and alpaca in mouth watering neon colours, the clothes provide a message of piece in the Middle East. The designer Clara Lago, grew up in London went to University in Miami and spent time in Peru and it is clear to see the influence of all these places in her clothing line; Pitusa, which prides itself on being colourful and comfortable. 

Clara, the designer of Pitusa, wearing one of her Inca Mini Skirts
The garments are so readily wearable but still feel special largely thanks to the colourful Peruvian brocade which adorns certain pieces. One of Pitusa's best selling items is the aptly named Inca Abaya, which as the name indicates fuses Peruvian and Middle Eastern style influences. The message of the clothing is peace and certain items are embroidered with the words Salaam Shalom, in Hebrew and Arabic - indicating peace. $1 of every purchase goes to a charity promoting peace in the Middle East. 
The Inca Abaya
I think the International conception of Pitusa is a recipe for worldwide success. Pitusa is only in its infancy but is already being stocked in boutiques in Miami, Ibiza and Mexico. Shop for Pitusa here http://store.pitusa.co.uk/


My beautiful sister and friend modeling Pitusa tanks and headbands
The beautiful array of colours in which the inca mini skirt is available
I stand for PEACE do you?

Thursday 21 July 2011

manicurist of the moment

Feeling a little bit under the weather no thanks to screaming my lungs out at LoveBox over the weekend and I'm sure being stuck in all that soggy wet Hackney mud didn't do me much good! This July has been typically British in terms of rain, rain and yet more rain. and quite frankly, I'm over it. We got off to such a promising start with our uncharacteristically glorious April and May but it has all gone downhill from there. I need some sort of pick-me-up and as a Sophy Robson virgin I think one of her manicures would be just the thing. I'm going to book myself in! 

Some of Sophy Robson's trademark nail art

Sophy Robson's eek nails for Giles Deacon

Amazing amazing logo nails

Mossy's Wedding Snaps

Daphne Guinness
Hince + Moss
Groom steals a kiss from his bride having cut the cake

Kelly O plants a smackeroo on Alison Mosshart
supermodel in post coital clinch with rocker husband

take me here

This is one of the most incredible settings for a hotel I have ever seen..The Hezen Cave Hotel looks absolutely magical in it's prehistoric landscape set in a cave in Cappadocia in Turkey. With interiors to die for, this would make for a very inspiring holiday! WHat's more on http://www.jetsetter.com/ you can stay here from $85 per night!
"Because this isn't Paris, And this isn't London, And it's not Berlin, And it's not Hong Kong, Not Tokyo, If you want to go, I'll take you back one day"
 The Bay, Metronomy




currently coveting...

a complete collection on Lanvin dollies

Giles Deacon's adorably tongue-in-cheek dinosaur shaped handbag - METALLIC AND JURASSIC

Pope Ring by Jade Jagger

Friday 15 July 2011

going grey...

So yesterday I found my first grey hair...I am 24 and this discovery did not excite me! My family go grey really early - it's a Mediterranean thing. My mother's response was "well you cannot have such a full head of thick beautiful hair and expect it to stay dark forever." erm what kind of a comment is that?? I reiterate I AM 24..
I have always resented that men can so easily be silver foxes whereas there has always been a negative granny stigma attached to being a silver haired lady. Not anymore! Last year there was a brief craze for grey hair amongst youngsters. I really want to grow old gracefully and be one of those glam old ladies with a Cruella Devil white skunk flash or a full on long straight white mane. But not until I am at least 60!!

Pixie Geldof had a brief flirtation with the silver hair dye

Kristen McMenamy's long locks are her trademark on the runway

Lady Gaga and a brief spell with a witchy lilac-grey wig last year

Thursday 14 July 2011

benvenuti a casa Missoni

Angela as a girl, with her mother Rosita in 1968

Rosita with her children in Dalmatia, 1966

SS11 Campaign
Tribal stripes in SS11 Campaign
Last year's Missoni campaign depicted several generations of the Missoni dynasty in a suitably stripey home. It was shot by Juergen Teller in his typical washed out style and struck a real chord with me! I suppose my extended family on my father's Italian side is not vastly disimilar... Mediterranean roots, long dark hair for the youngsters and sparse white hair for the elders and pretty good style. But these Missonis in their space dye and glorious knitwear, and homeware to die for, they are something elese. The whole family-ness behind the distinctive brand really sells it for me. I love how un model-esque they are, the chubby fingers and the wrinkles and the gangly boys. I am a sucker for nostalgia and anything that unites the generations. See here why:

SS10 campaign shot by Juergen Teller

SS10 campaign shot by Juergen Teller

SS10 campaign shot by Juergen Teller

Angela Missoni in the 80s

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