London Fashion Rocks

It’s not fair! I am soo jealous of how cool these toddlers and babies look.   olwyn

[images: gap.com]

OK back to the matter at hand: fashion. Oftentimes we don’t need the clothes we buy, but sometimes fashion is a neccesity, like buying shoes. Everyone needs ‘em, especially in London in the dead of winter. The shoe industry however, relies heavily on unethical manufacturing processes so, if you’re going to splash out, you might as well know your money is going to a good cause.

Blackspot shoes are made of vegan leather, hemp and tread on the bottom with recycled tires. They are made in factories with unions and paid for with fair trade in mind. Also, they are only sold in independent retailers so the money made by the shoes can go back into local communities. And they are fierce and snatched — sounds good to me.

olwyn

[images: adbusters.org/campaigns/blackspot]

Rick Owens, a design God, comes from LA and lives in Paris making leather jackets, worked black garments and just general dark and progressive fashion. He’s his own poster child, really:

[image: photobucket.com/image/rick owens/Rizvana]

The good thing is he has teamed up with Eastpak knapsacks to make some incredible collaborative pieces. Thank heaven for the recession and designers working with large retailers en masse. Here are some of the bags, from the line whose whole title is Rick Owens DRKSHDW Eastpak. What a mouthful for a bagful. Here’s the padded bag, the steamer bag, the bucket bag and the wristband.

[images: oki-ni.com]

I love the way the colors blend into one another, it’s really like a shadow or some kind of alien lifeforms’ bagform. really nice.

olwyn

I think it’s quite cool that people are styling and shooting their own fashion editorials and putting looks together on their own. I have noticed this happening on lots of online clothing sites like Net-A-Porter.com and LaGarconne.com, but it always happens on fashion blogs as well. I think it’s good to put fashion back into the hands of real people, and not just leave it up to a few editors who have all the power. I mean, Anna Wintour is incredible, and you can’t deny that she’s got good taste, BUT there are so many other perspectives I want to see! Here are some examples of what I mean. olwyn.

[atlantishome.typepad.com]

[taghrid.cc]

[karlascloset.blogspot.com]

[net-a-porter.com]

The second most stylish country in the world (after the UK) isn’t Japan. It isn’t France. It isn’t even Italy. It’s Sweden. So, in honor of that fabulous country who gave us Ikea, H&M, and meatballs, I’ve made a Swedish-inspired outfit that centers around their indigenous fashion brand Hope. I must admit, I used only Polyvore and my London sensibilities. olwyn.

cropped black tee: hope
chi round trouser: hope
jacket: erin wasson x rvca
perforated oxfords: f troupe
backpack: hwang kum

I found a cool website called shopstyle.com. Using it you can make your own outfits using any pictures you find on the internet. You can make a wishlist, or you can put outfits together and go to the websites and buy the products. I dunno if I’m gonna buy anything just yet, but it’s good for making looks and seeing how everything goes together.

So, I am having a dream day today. What’s a dream day? Well, it’s a day where I post my dream outfits on my blog. Dream on.  Olwyn

BAD DREAMS

SWEET DREAMS

[all images via shopstyle.com]

This post isnt about clothes or london, but it’s definitely to my taste. I was visiting a friend who works in oxford last weekend, and she took me to an stunning hotel. It was amazing, it’s a converted prison and every room is a converted cell.  how cool is that idea?! dont have pics of the room, but the whole experience was so original and luxurious… there was velvet and gold and black and purple everywhere, really a luxurious change from camden.  i actually love it.

olwyn

[images: malmaison.com]

Tim Hamilton’s a cool American who has just begun breaking into the successful fashion world. I like how he has a good idea of shapes and he uses mostly primary colors. He seems like one to watch, even though I’d like to see him take his ideas further so he really really stands out from the pack and has a strong style. We like! olwyn

You know I like me some extreme fashion. Gareth Pugh really delivered in Paris this week. He did something different to what he ususally does, which is very structured beastly clothes. This season, he delivered more floaty and romantic pieces. Well, romantic as an ashy bomb of smoke can be. I died for the headpieces that were batty and romanesque.  I say he comes to London Town and rocks this out, the Frenchies can’t handle the truth.  olwyn

Richard Nicoll is pretty cool, before, he did this collection which mixed tahiti and grand spanish influences. he basically did the same thing here, with floppy silks. its still beautiful, though. have a look for yourself. olwyn