A (slightly tenuous) Passage through India....

I'm currently writing an essay on Kipling's India fiction and the national boundaries within Empire (fascinating stuff ... no really it actually is, Kipling is a literary genius), but I was reminded of the amazing pictures of India taken by Norman Parkinson in 1956 for Vogue. I adore his work - its infused with such pre-war vision and an old school glamour that those who came after the war never quite managed to capture. If you want to see more of his work, there is currently an exhibition of his work at Bristol's M Shed, running until the 15th April. 

For those wanting to read about 'old school' India and the good old days of the British Raj, I would recommend Forster's A Passage to India or, for something perhaps a little lighter, Kipling's Plain Tales from the Hills.

Also in my brief moments of procrastination (ahem...) I came across Thakoon's new nail polish range for NARS, inspired by his Indian colours from his S/S 12 NYFW collection). Slightly tenuous link but they're too cute to ignore!! (Available from 1st May)

(Apologies for the rambling post, I probably need to get out of the library more...) 

L x

National Poetry Day...

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams. 

~W.B. Yeats~ 



One of my favourite poems. Again, one that my father used to read me. 
Lx

Caviar Manicures: the next big thing?

Nails seem to be the ultimate accessory this season, (I'm currently coveting Lana Del Rey's manicured talons at the moment) but what do you think of the new 3D look by Ciaté? Soon to be released in Sephora stores and Sephora.com, the Caviar manicure is described by Ciaté’s creative director Charlotte Knight as 

"feminine, indulgent yet delicately extravagant".

I personally think they are pretty darn cool, though as someone who can barely sit still to let a standard layer of nail polish dry, the 15-20 minute drying time could prove tricky.  Released in April we shall soon find out whether these new nails are super glam or a bit of a fishy disaster (sorry couldn't help it...).

They will be available in three colours.

L x

Spring Wish List

Its officially spring, my dissertation is pretty much DONE, and the shops are full of clothes that none of us will feel warm in until at least June. I always hesitate to buy stuff for summer this early on (especially bikinis....), but as I regularly find, by the time its gets hot enough to think about it all the best stuff has gone and the new A/W collections are in. I have therefore resolved to shop early this year (not exactly a challenging task... but hey..).

Lx

Dress ~ Dorothy Perkins (image via MarieClaire)

Nail Varnish, Jeans and Chiffon Top ~ Topshop

Cucumber Candle ~ True Grace

Bag ~ Aldo

Shoes ~ Pretty Ballerina (available at Kurt Geiger)

Some beautiful things....

Just over a week till the old dissertation is due so this is short and sweet. Just some lovely things that I've come across really! The illustration is one I did a while ago and the bag is the new Mulberry inspired by Lana Del Rey who is my current style obsession - see her shoot in the March Vogue for further confirmation of this! Other images are from the wonderful {this is glamorous}. 

L x

Talk PR Open Day....

Last week I attended one of the quarterly open days hosted by the lovely Talk PR. The open day consisted of a series of informal sessions with the different Talk PR teams, with the addition of two fantastic guest speakers, Madeline Crisp (beauty editor of New! Magazine and columnist for the Daily Mirror) and Jess Markwood (Editorial director of Aigua Media). The day was a fantastic opportunity to get an insight into the PR industry and have a good chat with people who clearly knew what they were talking about. Just in case I forget, or if anyone else is interested in reading it, I  thought I would note down some of the things that I picked up from the day (tips/advice, great bits of coverage, and some amazing products and designers).

Having just finished LFW there were some fantastic examples of how, when it comes to PR, (especially with beauty products), its not just about selling the individual items but offering the whole package. This means brands such as Wella styling and sponsoring the shows, as well as producing media supplements such as backstage edits (see the Backstage video from the Felder Felder show below). 

One of my favourites from S/S '12 : a 1950s Miami Beach Glamour
styled by Panos Papadrianos & the Wella Professionals Creative Team
for Charlotte Olympia. 


Backstage: LFW AW12 Felder Felder - Adam Reed, Hair How To from Talk PR on Vimeo.

One of the two NEWGEN designers that Talk look after is the AMAZING Holly Fulton. I got to see her SS12 collection, which I have to say, is even better in the flesh. 

Holly Fulton AW 2012 (style.com)

Jess is the Editorial Director of Aigua Media, an online publishing network which manages 13 fashion, beauty and lifestyle MEGAzines (including the blogs 'Catwalk Queen', 'The BagLady', 'Kiss & Make-up' and the retail platforms 'OSOYOU' and 'OSOGLAM'). Incredibly driven, Jess' career is a fantastic example of why the simplest route is not always the one in which you learn the most.  Having pulled OSOYOU out the other side of administration and learnt incredible amounts along the way, the success of Aigua media is a credit to her talent and determination. Below are her DOs and DONTs for those wishing to go into PR:

 




Before attending the open day, technology PR wasn't something that I had ever really considered (and yes, I admit that I had been put off by the 'geek stereotype'), but the girls (yes girls) were anything but geeky, and what they had to say about the changing face of consumer technology was really interesting. One of their recent products was the Fujifilm X100, a camera that aimed to place fujifilm in the league of the big professional brands such as Nikon and Canon. To raise awareness, they had teamed up with professional photographers, such as Grazia's 'Style Hunter' Phil Taylor, to showcase not just the product but the quality of the photos. They also gave one to David Beckham to take document Victoria's NYFW show!

{Image from Grazia}

Madeline is the Beauty Editor of New! magazine, a columnist for the Daily Mirror, a freelance journalist, and clearly one of the top in her field when it comes to beauty. Her favourite new product at the moment are the multi-purpose BB creams (what's not to love about them!) Here are some of her top tips from a journalists perspective: 

An interactive brainstorming session rounded off the day meaning that we could all try our hand at some of the things that we had learnt before sharing a glass of wine with everyone at the end. Essentially the day confirmed the fact that PR is the field of work that I want to go into and I would love to end up working for a company as exciting as Talk. Everyone there, the other girls included, was unbelievably friendly and would advise anyone wishing to go into Beauty/Fashion/Technology PR to go along and see what Talk is about. 

L x