Wednesday, June 30th

Well thank goodness some things are reliable in this life. Henman lost the game the moment he was no longer cast in the roll of underdog! The country needs another sports loser... the English summer wouldn't be the same without it.

The changing of the guard has started over at Elle. Ian handed his notice on Monday. I had the ragging whispers phonecall yesterday by early afternoon and it has hit WGSN today. It looks like Lorraine is making her first new appointments... time will tell how the crumbs will fall....

Tuesday, June 29th

I am just back from Wimbledon. I haven't had a chance to go in several years so it was nice to be offered a Players Companion ticket. I have to admit I spent most of my time wondering around the crowds - as the players area was full of Tennis wives and their offspring. I didn't pull up until around 3:30 so I managed to miss the best matches of the day however it was nice to go and sit on Henman Hill. It was a good deal smaller than on telly.

I also came across a bit of American Satire (an oxymoron if there ever was one). I leave you with it today:

"We, the relatively unbothered and well off, hold these truths to be self-evident: That big government, Big Deficits and Big Tobacco are bad, but that big bathrooms and SUV's are not; that American overseas involvement should be restricted to trade agreements, mutual funds and the visiting of certain beachfront resorts; that markets can take care of themselves as long as they take care of us; that an individual's sex life is nobody's business, although highly entertaining; and that the only rights that really matter are those which indulge the Self". (Nicholas Lemann)

Monday, June 28th

A big thank you first of all to worldwide for being my GMail Fairy. I am just testing the account now before I give up my hated Hotmail account forever. Please visit and find out all sorts of goodies that he/she has compiled. It has been a crazy day today... I should have known it was going to go down hill when I find the old porn shop near my University in London is now a Starbucks! The shoot I was organizing last week now seems to have imploded - not by anything I or the photographer have done but it looks like the Magazine might close. Everything as been put on hold. Murphy's law

So what to do? Shop! Oh and torture myself in watching the Henman match. So far it isn't as much of a cliffhanger as it usually is. However I might have spoken too soon. Finally, please send good wishes to Gavin B at Storm Models, who is recuperating having been hit by a car last week. Thank goodness it wasn't worse!

Thursday, June 24th

Organizing anything in Fashion seems to be a nightmare. I have spent the last two weeks negotiating a shoot with a hot photographer. The photographer who has been in the industry ages, travels with their family between New York and Europe. Just trying to tie them down to a phone call is hard enough. However, once I did - they were sweetness and light. I have to say I am looking forward to getting it finished but I know it is going to be an organizational nightmare. To add more tension my editor is now being elusive.

I am sorry to hear that England lost the football but it was a good game. I have to admit however I was more interested in the Tennis. I spent my evening on the phone with an fashion editor of a large newspaper. She is having a rough time of it - when the pack turns on you it is like hyeanas on a carcass. I am sure she will make it through as she is a survivor as well as a decent character (a rare thing in fashion).

It looks like an Editor in Chief also seems to be buttering up a new Sugardaddy as they were spotted in dining in Chelsea last night.

Wednesday, June 23rd

I have just returned from seeing Mean Girls, Tina Fey's adaptation of Queen Bees and Wannabes. Its seems that my life in the Fashion world is a Post Doctorate course in catty A type female behavior.

In Runway world Anna Wintour is referred to at the top of the tree with Franca Sozzani (editor of Italian Vogue) being a close second. The interesting point comes at the shows - where magazines fashion department get pitted head to head (against each other and against other magazines)....

Now the movie was just the ticket. I took a friend S, who is also just split up with her b/f. That is two in one week. I have been known from time to time to lament my single status however the two couples I always held up for scrutiny as living the "Happy Ever After" both now have imploded. I would love to blame Hollywood ... however I am the tragic lemming that buys into the Prince Charming myth.

Tuesday, June 22nd

Why do most blogs I have come across seem to be about sex? Is this a headache left over from Carrie Bradshaw et al?

I have spent the last couple of days with my limited knowledge of computers - tweaking the template of my blog so that its sight didn't offend me. Furthermore, I also researched into other blogs I visit. I was trying to see stylistically what I wanted to see from a blog.

Now I have a healthy appreciation for sex but why does it seem that at least 60% of blogs are sex based? Is that all anyone else wants to read? Now it seems there is a trend that sex blogs writers only link to other sex blog writers. I have included a few of them in my links. I must say some are wonderful - as the feted Belle de Jour or Diablo Cody but most seem to be a case of show and tell, tell and tell.

Back to the fashion fluff - my reading for the plane was Bergdorf Blonds by Plum Sykes
Now several people in the industry have trashed this book however, I loved it for what it was. No, it is never going to be a heavy weight contender but it is the perfect fodder for planes, beach loungers and while sitting under the dryer while having your roots done (heck it beats a tatty copy of US or Hello). People write about what they know and it is evident here in spades. These characters do exist and she knows them very well indeed. Plum, being as the English call it an "it" girl herself along with her sister Lucy; she has lots of material to draw on. Ok, we knew who the heroine was going to end up during in the first 10 pages and it lacked a plot, but everything else was delightful.

Now my weekend - while suffering through my jet lag consisted of escorting a friend to a ball at Blenheim Place. R has recently split up with her boyfriend of several years due to a large drug habit. She suffered through lots of rehab counseling with him but it was one relapse to many, as they say. Being the supportive friend that I am, went along to keep her company (I was glad to share some quality time with her myself!). It was an interesting night to say the least. We had a line up of Madness, Sheryl Crow, Blue and Sir Elton John. A fairly impressive lineup. It was good to see the musicians up close and personal. However, who the hell are Blue? I am sure they are lovely boys but really they are a product of a good choreographer, a good stylist (with a large budget to spend at Dolce) and some bought in songs. I have never been one for boy bands, but to put them up against three other acts that are actually musicians it was tragic. Finally, what compels sane intelligent women to scream out band members names and cry hysterically ....

I am suffering from Jet Lag so bare with me on this one - I am also stretching my blogging fingers. All I can promise is a neurotic account of the fashion life that I see around me. It ranges from the deathly dull to catty runway moments from around the world. It is a small sorority, so as I am sure will forgive me, I will tend to leave a few of the more traceable details out. Suffice to say - I travel in the rarefied world of Supermodels, Designers, Stylists, Model bookers, agents and the like.

Is it what I thought when I started it was cracked up to be? Certainly not - however like crack - it is potently addictive and has kept me hooked for almost 10 years. You meet amazing people – some that you read about on a daily basis and some that you think have jumped out of a turn of the century novel. You validate their neurosis and they yours. It is a world that likes to think it is grounded in reality – but is so far removed from it, I wonder why it pretends. There was a time that I was just a simple sunshine girl …… more of that later.