Tuesday, 21st September

I don't know why Fashion people can't seem to get along - is it all that hard? They seem to prefer to act like a pack of wild dogs but instead of turning on the weakest member of the pack - they turn on each other indiscriminately. From where I sit - I question frequently why we submit ourselves to this masochistic torture. It is almost as if the fashion shows seem to take second place to the political maneuvering found during fashion week. Of the shows today - Eley Kish had a few lovely moments, Betty Jackson - the grand maven of English fashion put a secure collection together - and I was sitting directly opposite Jennifer Saunders and her daughter - they seemed to enjoy it!

Julien MacDonald seems to have lost his way. I will always like what he does - but this season - it was a little bit too Miss Valentino, with a bit of Pucci and a 80's US prom on Acid. It was also muted on his celeb front - Rachel Stevens, Padma Rushdie and a few others but it seems (at least for this season) the crown of the King of London has passed to Giles.

Rafael Lopez wasn't as good as I had hoped - it was shown in Peter Jones in the atrium where the fabrics usually are. I would have preferred had they spent less on speakers and more on better lighting as then we might have had a chance to see it better - even from the position in the 3rd row where I was I was straining my eyes in bad light. It didn't help matters when it started so late because they were waiting for everyone - when it was clear that no on else was going to show. I rapped up the evening at the Donna Karen party, which actually wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

Today I would also like to address DM - part of the reason I don't want to add comments (except for private ones) is it is almost sacrilegious for me to even be writing this uncensored view of the fashion pack - should they ever find out - I am sure I will be excommunicated. Any one of them - if they put their mind to it, could find out my identity (as we are a small bunch) but I prefer it if they didn't. I am hoping they can't be bothered to read the likes of a blog. The beauty of a blog such as this as I can be honest in my interpretation of events. However, I still love to hear your comments and if you care to pass my blog on to your friends - I am honored but I have no intention of putting it out there anymore than I have.

Finally - I would like to send my regards to fellow bloggers,
Belle de Jour and Pete's Posts who both after very successful runs have hung up their blogger badges for the time being - each for there own reasons. They will be sorely missed and it was because of them - I chose to take up sharing my thoughts with you.

" I only go to work to wear my outfits "

Monday, 20th September

Well an odd day on the fashion front. Jonathan Saunders was rather good - softer, more accessible. Paul Smith - well it was lovely but there were no new ideas - just Paul Smith tried and tested - stripes, floral prints and union jack emblems. It was a good collection - it will sell well but exciting it wasn't. Bora Aksu - stuck in a 70's folk chic loop and not my scene. Clements I loved - it got a bit dull in the middle but the end was very strong.

Now on to The ES Mag effort - I can't explain how much better it ended up over Style, I know I am harping on about it but I just can't believe that Style has been usurped. It is glossy, professional, interesting, engaging and the contributors each bring something to the table. Congratulations to Gianluca as his shoots are lovely. However with a magazine that has contributions by Sarah Mower, Lee Jenkins, Bay, Plum and Natalie - what do you expect. They obviously threw money at it and it shows in spade and in very good way.

Anyway - I am knackered and I am off to grab some winks.

" I only go to work to wear my outfits "

Sunday, 19th September

Well on us again - London Fashion Week. The highlight / lowlight of the day seemed to be Frost French. Now I don't care what the reports say tomorrow and I know the papers will have the requisite shots of the show and its high celeb factor, but for me - if this label didn't have that celeb quotient - it would be universally panned. It was a badly cut collection, with 50's lingerie references, stepford wives and a time warp of the worst of Laura Ashley. When thrown together it makes for nothing more than what you can buy down at Top Shop at at 5 times the price. As you can gather it didn't do much for me.

I quickly popped into the tents - mainly to get a hold of this seasons Omega Time Line number - this is what caused me to miss Elspeth Gibson. I did however manage to get a sneak preview of the ES Fashion edition which is out tomorrow. Congratulations all round - it looks good - forward thinking, a bit safe but for a first issue - not a bad effort. When you compare it to the Sunday Times - Style Fashion Special out today - Style has clearly been out classed.

The printing on the Style edition I have - makes Linda look like she has been mugged by a bottle of fake tan! Also really Linda and her comeback is old news - her comeback was 2 years ago now. This is where ES did the business and has Lily Cole as the covergirl. The front row censorship is a page devoted to Colin's winging - yes designers do but shhhurrly it is just to quote Colin - his own "Babyish Tantrums" by devoting a page to it (especially as we know that he was banned from Chanel for the longest time). Also an article about Stylists - come on ... Stylists are not celebrities - there work should be seen and they should not be heard! First and foremost - do we really care? Second is the celebrity stylist any more worthy of an article than say the celebrity makeup artist, hairdresser or pet psychologist? There is already a celebrity backlash but then glorifying there entourage as well - Please save us!

Claudia Croft puts in a good article on good classics - all of which I would agree with - and it reiterates the 50's mantra of buying something that will last and always look chic! But then we have Mels piece on "who is the High Street woman". Again - an article that would have been better in a marketing meeting. The companies know who there core customer is. A woman knows what suits her so why are we forced to read about it?

The best image of the whole book goes to Helen Kenny with her green accessories page - an image better suited to the glossy pages of Vogue (they should take note)! The Paulo Sutch trends piece is not his finest hour but lets face it - this is where they saved money. I am sure the Linda piece cost a bomb to produce (pity it didn't turn out better). The best main fashion goes to Sophia and Satoshi's story, and Jane Cattani's story is also strong. I await the Men's special which is a good twist due out during Paris on 3rd October.

Tomorrow is LFW full throttle so I will keep you posted and also I will give the lowdown on the full ES Fashion critique.

- "I only go to work to wear my outfits"

Tuesday, September 7th

Well I had to go and enjoy the sunshine this weekend while it lasted. After one day lounging by the pool with a few friends down in the country, I am now sporting the lobster glow I seem to acquire with no discernible effort. It was a last minute escape - I never usually decamp out of town on the eve of a big job but the sun was to much to refuse (and a convenient excuse as the house started to flood and I just didn't have the patience to deal with it). In hindsight, it was a good thing I did grab the R & R - as the job yesterday was far from easy.

As often with celebrities - they are usually delightful, and yet at the same time, bloody difficult! In the sliderule of this sort of thing however, this was mild. I emerged unscathed and no egos were destroyed in the process. All faux pas were averted and everyone is generally pleased.

I was brought back down to earth today from my fashion cloud - having to endure dealing with the insurance system. I could bury my head in the sand no longer - and had to deal with the flood. Now it is plumbers and claim adjusters for the next day or two!

Finally, I am at a loss on a great sign off for the end of my posts - email me if you have any good fashion related pithy sign off suggestions as I seem to have hit a brick wall.

Thursday, September 2nd

Ok I have had a bit more time than usual today as I am in the calm before the storm. This has lead me to check out other fashion bloggers. The winner by far for my "fab o meter" was this site Liisa's" Paperdolls - Celebrity Dress Up Games it is just a scream! Go - enjoy I dare you.

I also was interested in My Fashion Life which is a good general fashion site with very good links if you are into that sort of thing. I have to admit I haven't really looked at other fashion blogs and figure if I just do my own thing (which I have usually done in most aspects of my life) then I am happy. Generally, I find other peoples blogs far outside my own realm of experience are the most interesting. A blog is the one place where you can externalise your inner monologue and that also satisfies one's own voyeuristic tendencies in the way that a regular diary can not.

As for my inner monologue I had a "quiet day" - I spent most of it on the phone. I had a bit of Sample Sale therapy first thing. Then I interviewed a work experience girl as my assistant is away on holiday and had lunch with a PR agency owner for a catch up - which was lovely. I finally had a gander at the new Vuitton campaign and it is really a corker and going to be hard to top that ... I don't usually advocate the use of celebrities but in this case it actually worked. Now what about Kiddman and Chanel.......

Wednesday, September 1st

Well, another job falls through the fingers. I was up for presenting a television programme. Now I was excited about this potential project as it required a good deal of travel (something which I adore - especially on someone else's expense account) - however the Network decided they needed a name. Admittedly I am not a "name" nor do I ever have any intention of being one - so the job has gone to Jodie Kidd. Furthermore, I was then asked to co-present one of the shows but alas they are shooting next week - the same day I have a the Harpers Bazaar job - so I had to turn it down as I had a prior commitment.... I never like having to turn a job down and it would have been a great opportunity.

Apparently the Fashion gossip on the street is that Anne Marie Curtis (former Fashion Director of Wallpaper*) has landed the job as the Fashion director of ELLE. This - if you listen to gossip, is because they couldn't afford Kate Phelan of British Vogue. On the same front Ian R. Webb ( former Fashion director of ELLE ) is apparently working on his book... and I good one I suspect it will be too. I will let you know more when I do. It will be interesting to see what ELLE does as a new team with Anne Marie will be a leopard with a different set of spots than had Kate been at the Fashion helm. Perhaps she is holding out that there will be a coup at Vogue - lets face it Vogue has sorely gone down hill and I hear the ABC's are also slowly beginning to erode. Lets face it - have you seen Vogue's September issue? You have a picture of Kate Moss on the front - who is no where to be seen inside the magazine. And the post production job they have done on her is scandalous. I could go on but it speaks for itself.