FEMME NOIR: modern noir + the femme vitale

"When I start out to make a fool of myself there's very little can stop me." 

                                                      -Michael O'Hara, Lady from Shanghai

Style Bomb: London Fashion Week

BOOM.

Fashion is on the runway, and there's no more novel spectacle of novelty in the biz than what parades on and around the catwalk for London Fashion Week. Here's a link to some of the shows, live streaming, including my must-see, Vivienne Westwood RED LABEL.

London Fashion Week street style. (Photo credit: Wayne Tippets)

In case you want a peek of the fashion-able milling about, do check out these street style photog's capture of the scene here:

Wayne Tippets- Street Style Aesthetic
My Daily- Street Style London Fashion Week
Phil Oh for Vogue

I love how distinct English fashion is- so around this time, I always check in with fashion blogger Pearl Westwood for what's going on. But ya know, I can't resist my all-time fave UK fashion/anti-fashion QUEEN, not for keeping me in the loop on what's IN, but on what's INSPIRING (and mostly SECONDHAND FIRST.) The queen for me of course is none other than the brilliant VINTAGE VIXEN. She'd be the last person in England to follow a trend, and she's a great reminder on how to use fashion to own your own, personal style.

 And, in case you need a young thing who looks like a model for some London style invigoration, there's always the lovely Roz Jana to help put it all in perspective. She wears many fashionable hats: daughter, model, writer, friend and student, and her wise perspective always keeps the rise and fall of hemlines in check.

Are any of you watching the runways at LFW? Who's inspiring your style this season?

#VINTAGE LOVE My Life as a Fashion Model: Confessions of a +40 Something Regarding Life in Front of the Camera

Not Famous. Just Floral. Plus 40 fashion model, Bella Q, poses in a signature vintage rose print.

No one recognizes me on the street, probably because I am in no way famous.

When I was younger, I remember a number of people coming up to tell me that I was beautiful, and why wasn't I a model? I realized that it was meant to be a compliment- that question, "are you a model?" I remember saying I'd rather look like the rich women who could afford to buy the outfits, than to look like a model. It was a profession that never was tempting to me, personally.

I'm not the typical fashion model material. I'm 5'6" and have crooked teeth, permanent dark circles under my eyes (there since childhood) and a few curves too many to make a perfect clothes horse.

Fashion, Armor

Surviving the Everyday. Feeling Fabulous

There's a dress shop in my neighborhood that puts a sandwich board on the sidewalk in front that quotes Bill Cunningham: "Fashion is the armor to survive everyday life."  Inside the shop, some pretty tasty "armor."

Inside me, full agreement.

More Than Magazines

Walk This Way: The Citizens of Rosebud Newest Curated Collection on the Catwalk

Witness my fantasy runway show, just in time for the tail end of New York Fashion Week. Consider yourself, dear reader, front row and center. Fashion is as much about fantasy as it is about apparel, and sometimes I wonder, as a fashion blogger,  just how much fantasy is part of what I do here. After all, those outfit posts are staged, and don't think for a moment, that I would post an unflattering pose! I unrepentantly re-touch + embellish: I'm over forty, so indulge me the occasional soft focus and air brush on those raccoon eyes, and a cropped edit so I can represent more hour glass than time's up.

I also wonder sometimes, about the reality of friendships; we blog, we comment on blogs, we say nice things. Well, at least I try to say nice things, and I've been lucky, very lucky, that mostly nice things are left in the comments here. Virtual friendships are forged; have you ever wondered how much reality these friendships possess? Is our community just as much a fantasy as the fashion images we ingest? 

Outfit Post: The "NEW" Black

What's Old is New Again. The New Black Outfit was 75% Thrifted.

According to the latest issue of Harper's Bazaar, we've got a "new black. "

Remember the movie Funny Face? Not only was it a fun fashion romp featuring the gamine charms of Audrey Hepburn, it was a movie with some great memorable lines. One of them being the petulant declaration of "the new black."

The new black has since been declared by many a fashion editor: navy, white, pink, camel, nude, you name it, it's been it.

And this season, according to the Harper's Bazaar article, the NEW black is...

REAL WOMEN: Wear Red Lipstick

According to the Nurture Replenish Skincare survey, red lipstick is disgraceful after the age of 59. Moreover, results showed that women over 45 years old consider 59 is the appropriate age to steer away not only from wearing red lipstick, but also from high heels and tight clothes. (source)

Did you read the poll survey results reported on Yahoo recently- the one where a survey of women over 45 years of age, said that wearing red lipstick over age 59 was disgraceful? You can read the report HERE, and while many people react angrily about the news, I suspect the main point is missed: 

Citizen BELLA

Meet Citizen Bella.

Her motto is “Bloom Madly,” and she is a riot for colorful, individual style. “I love eccentrics,” she declares while sipping tea with her toast. No stranger to eccentricities herself, she fills her life with colorful people. “All sorts are my favorites,” she says, and goes on to describe the dapper old man who walks his dog every Sunday. “I mean he wears a Porkpie to walk his dog, for chrisakes, a PORKPIE!” She tends to talk and laugh loudly.

One may suggest that she dresses loudly, but that’s not quite true. “I just like a good outfit,” she purrs, “something that is right for the occasion, something that expresses style, pizzazz.” She doesn’t like to ever look over-dressed, or seem out of place. “But I REFUSE to wear sweats in public, I must look presentable.” And what was presentable today? A black & white buffalo plaid dress, circa 1990’s, with a circle skirt, layered over a black lace slip. Belted with a polka-dot scarf. Simple black ballerina flats. With her super short boyish haircut, I suggest she looks like Judy Garland meets Grunge. She shrugs,” Maybe.” She says she’s on the hunt for a grown-up pair of ruby slippers. “That’d be the ticket, doncha think?”

One could easily imagine this gamine romping around in a pair of red sequined mary-janes. Oh yes, I nod back. Round trip. All the way.