Snow SS11 Press Day: Violet Darkling

I was really quite excited to see Violet Darkling's jewellery at the Snow press office because I had come across them the evening before in Wolf & Badger and had completely forgotten the name, even though I had attempted to take some blurry (aka tipsy) photos on my phone.  For some, the rose gold tinge of these pieces might be a little bit tacky in its shininess, but for me (after maybe a month or two of hard wear to soften the sheen), these animalistic trinkets are gothic gems.  The skulls are a little reminiscent of McQueen jewellery, but the bears, tigers and organic additions help to carve out an individual look for the brand.  I shall certainly be heading back to Westbourne Grove sometime soon to give the necklaces and rings a test-drive...

Also stocked in Harvey Nichols.

Grrrrr
Duck
xx

Wolf & Badger

On Wednesday night Anna and I headed over to a fancy dress party at a relatively new store just off Westbourne Grove, Wolf & Badger.  The theme was obviously Halloween-related, but the party really served to launch their next season of up-and-coming designers, who can change up to every three months in the store.  Some of the costumes were quite incredible, especially milliner Louis Mariette's entourage, whose extravagant headpieces were matched with expert make-up and even a full-on wedding dress.  There was also a female Uncle Karl and a piece of walking, talking roadkill.  Naturally, the store owners themselves came dressed as a wolf and a badger (who was particularly cute).  Both Anna and I wore Castelbajac; me, a duck (well, of course!) and she, a kooky clown.  We also bumped into a tipsy Amy Jackson (of Big Brother fame), an artist we studied with at Oxford and who has modelled for Anna's jewellery company.  I had never been over to the store before, which opened in February this year, but I will certainly be going back considering the wonderful mish-mash of designers, and some truly fabulous accessories including those solid metal skulls...

Many thanks for inviting us to the party!
xx
Duck

The day of a thousand press...errr...days

 
OK so I didn't really go to a thousand press days, but I did arrange to take yesterday off work to go to four press events I really wanted to check out - BLOW, Snow, Exposure and ASOS. Even though I only did four press days, this was still pretty exhausting (also fitting in an early Christmas shopping trip and seeing an art film by one of Meera's tutors at Goldsmiths) and I have a massive memory card stuffed with photos of SS11 pieces to show you! Here is a just a taster of what's to come - I'm going to try and have one blog post per designer/brand since there are so many things I'm excited about. Also, I'll need to wait a little while before showing what ASOS has in store for you because they want to keep the press under wraps until after their American preview day.  How many of the brands do you recognise...?

I just had time to finish off the day with dinner at Yauatcha with Anna, Meera and Chris.  Chris and Meera had the special meal for two, I had a few vegetarian pieces and Anna had...a lychee martini.  Gotta love the bright green mushroom dumplings!

xx
Duck

Cassette Players

So yesterday was a very exciting/tiring day of PR press days, designer launches, art-house film discussions et cetera, and do not worry - those photos will be forthcoming!  But one of the highlights was chatting to the gayest man on Twitter (it's official), Hugh Wright, who informed me Cassette Playa's Carri Munden starred in this week's The Apprentice show.  Naturally I will be watching that this evening (I can't wait to see what the 'business people' in their oh-so-stylish Reiss suits will have thought of her), but I also just remembered that I bumped into her during LFW at Somerset House and have some fluoro photos lurking on my iPhone... et voilà!  Carri had a crazy digital booth where you could make gifs of yourself playing around with her kooky neon designs and cartoon characters.  Mother and I enjoyed it very much.  If only the photo had been a little bit more flattering...

And just a little snap of Mr Wright, who also writes the hugely successful food blog, TwelvePointFivePercent:

Until ce soir,

Duck
xx

Sunny Scotland

Mama Duck just emailed me these photos from the weekend, when we were posing outside Pollok House in a large country estate right next to where I live.  Welcome to my gracious abode...  The park is actually pretty amazing, I would recommend visiting it if you ever go to Glasgow.  Not only is it massive, but it also contains a very famous art museum (The Burrell Collection) and has fields full of Highland cattle!

I am wearing, from toe to tip, Kurt Geiger boots, Cheap Monday black jeans and green shredded sweater, Chronicles of Never black top, Brora cashmere fingerless gloves, Firetrap black leather jacket and my Tina Lilienthal gold bunny necklace.  Apparently after showing this photo to her colleagues at work (yes, she still does that!), my mother's colleague said I look "very cool".  Unfortunately, he wears Hawaiian shirts...

There will probably be no post tomorrow as I am going to be at some press days in London (and the very exciting Wolf & Badger fancy dress party tonight), but I should have lots of goodies to share with you from Friday :-)

xx
Duck

Oh My God

The event we have all been waiting for is here - H&M and Lanvin have released the video for their upcoming collaboration!  The kooky film, with a cameo by creative director Alber Elbaz, shows off what looks like a seriously large collection made up of coats, shoes, separates, dresses and jewellery (oh, and a fur jacket at the beginning that my mother seriously needs).  Just try to spot the top models they have used - there are too many to count...

Waiting until November 4 when the full collection launches on the website...

xx
Duck

Hallowe'en

While you guys are all enjoying a fabulous Fashion Night In, I thought I'd upload some of my photos from the spooky weekend, just in case you get a little bit tired of flashing the cash.  I went back to Glasgow on Friday evening to stay with my family and catch up with friends, including a Hallowe'en dress-up night with Nisha and David.  I took this as a good opportunity to get my authentic Bavarian embroidered lederhosen out, which I wore with a Comme des Garcons tee, an Ann Demeulemeester shirt and an Austrian felt cap.  Nisha went as a vampish Cleopatra, decked out in African goodies she picked up on holiday and Elizabeth Taylor-style make-up.  Her new dog, Kulfi, was the perfect accessory...  David, as always, came unprepared and uninspired, so after a quick Googling session on Nisha's new iPad (I so want one for Christmas now!) we decided he should be a transsexual Geisha/kabuki character hybrid with make-up inspiration coming from Madonna's Nothing Really Matters video.  We partied both inside (with bright green creme de menthe concoctions) and at a club in town, and finished the night off with the best greasy chips I have missed so much...

I also got to spend some time with my parents, who had brought me back presents from France!  An amazing Anastasia-imprinted lavender bag for my sock drawer, and a bottle of Beaumes-de-Venise...  I also nicked a copy of my old graduation photo from the house to put up in my recently-tidied study, so I thought you might like to take a look :-) 

Happy shopping!

Duck
xxx