A day in the life of a designer..
The Magnificence of the Czars and the constellation of Aquarius.
Twenty years ago, I met my friend Michelle on a bus in Russia. Twenty years is a long time, so we thought we should really celebrate with a suitably Russian event. First of all, we thought we would go to a Russian restaurant but even in London this wasn’t easy to organise! So, we decided to go and see “The magnificence of the Czars” at the Victoria and Albert museum and then pop along to South Kensington for a Polish meal and some good old vodka.
The exhibition was fab, such incredible opulence and wonderful workmanship. My favourite things included a pair of knitted stockings with a thistle pointelle detail, from the British Isles and a short woollen jacket, which was supposedly wet, weather gear and belonged to a gentlemen called Mr Smith.
I was intrigued, who was this Mr Smith, who was working as a coachman at the Russian Court? I hope to God, that he was never caught out in the rain in this completely unsuitable jacket!
The exhibition had attracted an impressive line up of visitors, including designers and artists: Jasper Conran, Laurence Llewelyn – Bowen, Nicky Haslem and Grayson Perry. So it will be interesting to see how the exhibition influences their work.
There were some beautiful copies of pieces from the Muslim art exhibition in the museum shop and some wonderful hats, that Michelle and I wanted to buy. But after looking at the price tags, all we came away with was a pair of turquoise diamante star earrings for Michelle, as she was going to a fancy dress as the constellation of Aquarius (Random, but apparently it was a success!)
After all that culture, of course we needed nourishment so it was off to the polish restaurant for huge plates of herrings, goulash and potato pancakes.
Posted at 11:02AM Jun 11, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (0)
A day in the life of a designer..
Let them eat cake
I am not a great lover of abstinence of any kind but I had been finding that my sweet tooth had got the better of me. So, when it came round to pancake night I thought right, I’m going to have a complete blow out and give up cakes, biscuits and chocolates for lent. So, I tucked heartily into a large stack of pancakes and then for forty days abstained from those much loved treats.
I did actually allow myself puddings which did not fall into the cakey/ biscuity variety plus one square of dark chocolate per day (For medicinal purposes, obviously!) "Ah!" I hear you say, that doesn’t sound so hard. However, put yourself in my shoes, I usually eat at least one cake a day often two and at least half a packet of biscuits… plus the rest! But I plugged on through lent thinking that it will do me good, maybe I will loose that half a stone I need to get rid of. It was hell, but I convinced myself that it was worth it for a looser waistband.
Come Good Friday I was desperate for my hot cross bun, I just had one and then waited patiently until Easter Sunday before I ate some chocolate and biscuits. Then with great anticipation and a bag of mini eggs in hand, I jumped onto the scales…Guess how much weight I had lost- not one single solitary pound!
In fact I had put on half a stone!
I could not believe it, so in disgust I launched myself into the classic Marie Antoinette diet; cake, cake and more cake. I worked my way through every cake on the shelf in the two cake shops nearest to work. In fact, I completely gorged myself.
I mean look at Marie Antoinette, she didn’t have an ounce of fat on her and you can’t tell me that, that was all corset! After two solid weeks of eating, I hadn’t lost any weight but I certainly hadn’t put any on.
So now I am working on the grapefruit diet, as I still have to get rid of that annoying half stone and the half stone that I originally needed to get rid of . After 4 days, I have lost 2llb so there is still a way to go, wish me luck!
Posted at 03:50PM May 20, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (0)
A day in the life of a designer..
I’m no wardrobe consultant
For Easter my friend Andy booked the wing of a castle in Scotland and ten of us trooped off in convoy to take our rightful places in the lap of luxury (With fish, chips and deep fried burgers on the way of course!)
I was torn, should I take long velvet dresses for swanning around in or walking boots and wet weather gear? For what, was undoubtedly going to be a week of hideous weather.
Well don’t let me ever be anyone’s wardrobe consultant! How wrong could I be? The castle was absolutely stunning, our bedroom was bigger than the whole ground floor of our house and the dining table was the size of a tennis court (Although, I think it is a while since I have played tennis!) The bath was huge, so enormous, that even my boyfriend who is 6ft 2in could lie completely flat in it. This was an absolute luxury for a tall girl like me. Although a little dangerous, as I usually rely on my height to keep me above water when I fall asleep.
The gardens were equally gorgeous and not the slightest sign of rain all week. However, with a lack of t-shirts and no sun tan lotion, I was left with a large red nose! Why, oh, why does that always happen?
Despite the glorious weather the castle was still a bit chilly, so we spent a lot of the evenings in front of a log fire, wrapped up in cashmere sweaters and drinking whisky. I couldn’t help feeling a tad jealous of all the other girls in their cosy, Ugg boots.
It was a fabulous week and Scotland was certainly at its best. The only bad thing that happened was that my friend Liz, who’s preferred walking shoe is a sling back sandal finally bought some walking boots, after years of me bullying her and on the first day walking she twists her ankle in her nice, sensible boots and was laid up for the rest of the trip. She has been walking in sling backs for 30 years and never once twisted her ankle!
The moral of the story is never take advice from me!
Posted at 03:32PM May 05, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (0)
A day in the life of a designer..
New York Catwalks
In case you hadn’t noticed it’s been Catwalk shows galore the last few weeks and the newspapers have been stuffed with so many weird and wonderful shots. It’s strange looking at the Winter collections when most of us have barely got our Spring look together. Maybe it’s a timely warning to rush out and buy our Summer wardrobes before its too late.
I must admit I do find it strange that the press are more obsessed with which celebrities are in the audience than the collections. It seems that they take this as an endorsement for the range before they have even seen what’s on the catwalk.
The first major catwalks shows were in New York and despite the worldwide economic downturn there was still some opulence there. Donna Karan showed simple tailored shapes but with a nod to the eighties, in the form of enhanced shoulders and fur trims (Plus just a slight hint of “Cant Stop The Music” - One of my favourite 80’s films) Proenza Shouler also showed a streamlined silhouette with lavish fabrics and velvets. While Calvin Klein concentrated on lustrous fabrics and asymmetric cuts.
Ralph Lauren worked in velvet and antique inspired lace and embroideries, even the more masculine pieces had feminine touches; tailoring with silk blouses and billowing sleeves. I liked the Marc range by Marc Jacobs which is slightly Annie Hallish or is it just the pull on hats that bring her to mind? I also like the edgy look from Alexander Wang’s runway; leggings, boots, plunging necklines and skin jackets.
At LTS, we have just put Autumn and Winter to bed and are busy working on our Christmas range. There will of course be elements taken from the catwalks in the range including; plenty of velvet and uncut cord, new leggings and new leather jackets.
We are also just starting to work on the Spring range and could really do with the sun to come out and give us a bit of inspiration…
Posted at 11:14AM Mar 26, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (0)
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Posted at 02:09PM Mar 11, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (0)
A day in the life of a designer..
It’s March Already
Well what have I been up to, it’s hard to tell….
I can't believe we are well into March, the year is whizzing passed and it's definitely Spring. Well, according to the daffodils in my front garden!
Last week, I did a snowdrop walk and had my first picnic of the year. I can’t say it was a glorious day, but it was great to venture outside and not be freezing, plus the flowers were gorgeous.
Valentines weekend was a bit of a wash out this year as my boyfriend had one of those nasty bugs that's going around. So I spent the weekend making nighties for my friend’s four-year-old daughter who wants to look like “Little House on the Fairy”. They turned out really cute, but I got the sizing a bit wrong! She’s not a tall girl, in fact she is particularly elfin and I think she was being extremely polite when she said the sleeves were a bit big…
I also decided to take a trip to Camden, I haven’t been out there for years and then suddenly I got the chance to go twice in a week. Once for a friend's leaving party who has got a great design job in New York and then to see the ukulele orchestra of Great Britain (If you haven’t checked them out already look them up on Youtube)
It was a great night and I bumped into old friends and made new friends, one of those nights when you really enjoy being in London…
Posted at 09:31AM Mar 09, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (0)
Oscar Fashion
What a week, Oscar frenzy swept the country, all that gloss and glamour, really gets me excited! Kate Winslet certainly made Hollywood’s biggest affair a night to remember, and got us Brits swelling with pride once again after bagging the coveted "Best Actress" award for her role in “The Reader”. While Danny Boyle’s small budget “Slum Dog Millionaire” certainly didn’t disappoint either, winning a total of eight Oscars!
I was a tad bleary eyed on Monday after my own Oscar party the night before. I’d arranged for a few friends to come over and watch the ceremony, well the frocks (That’s the best bit!) as the celebrities shimmied up the red carpet.
This year it seemed pale and interesting was the trend to be seen in. Stars sparkled in the colour of the moment; icy shades of cream and white. Best supporting actress Penelope Cruz wore vintage, embroidered Balmain, while best actress nominee Anne Hathaway complemented her complexion in a silvery Armani Prive number. Even Sarah Jessica Parker did Carrie Bradshaw proud in an ice white fairy tale Dior gown. Fellow tall girl, Heidi Klum provided a splash of colour and lots of leg at the red diamond event in a red, slashed to the thigh, Roland Mouret dress.
Taking inspiration from the red carpet, I decide to invest in my very own Oscar worthy gown. I fell in love with our very on trend, cream and gold Venezia dress, I mean who said Hollywood glamour couldn’t come to me!
Now, if only I had the Chopard jewels….
Posted at 04:55PM Feb 24, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (1)
A day in the life of a designer..
Spring Day's
Well after “The Wrestler” last week I checked out “Frost/Nixon” this week, it wasn’t quite as exciting as “The Wrestler” (No green lycra tights) and ultimately not as sad , but still a really good film. Frank Langella’s performance as Nixon is superb and Michael Sheen portrays Frost’s discomfort in Nixon’s company perfectly – even I felt uncomfortable under my collar.
After wandering around the Barbican trying to find the cinema, we felt a weekend in the country was in order and sped off to the South down’s to spend the weekend with my friend Karen and her husband. She works for a flower company and we spent a lot of time comparing notes on writing a blog and looking at her new photos for her website and catalogue.
It was beautiful and sunny on the Saturday so we went for a walk on the Black down – with stupendous views right out to sea.
On the Sunday it poured with rain but we still went for a walk in the woods behind her house. It was really beautiful, the moss being resplendent green and the yellow gorse and new buds peeking through the rotting undergrowth.
May spring be in the air? Should I buy a new wardrobe or should I wait until I have lost that bit of extra weight I have just put on from that extra piece of treacle tart??
Posted at 10:04AM Feb 16, 2009 by Long Tall Sally Admin in "Carol" Comments (0)
