since November 2003

there are some days where a hermit lifestyle is entirely pleasurable, and i spent part of it today revisiting old Vogues + favourite editorials. i was always fairly confident i'd kept every issue of British Vogue since the first one i bought aged 14 and after tracking them all down, i ended up missing only one issue since Nov 2003. having never been very good at collecting anything, i take pride in this little feat.

Lily Cole and Gemma Ward by Nick Knight, April 2004

two of my favourite models for the best cover and my favourite Nick Knight editorial.

nobody can do English countryside + Balenciaga quite like Tim Walker, August 2006

Natalia Vodianova by Mario Testino, May 2008

it wouldn't be Vogue without some Kate Moss + Mario Testino, October 2008

let them eat cake, and ice-cream in winter

there was in fact two upsides to be found in the disastrous flight-delay situations of recent days. Well, a) being the comedy value of having been to Helsinki and b) that Jamie and I managed to find a day's overlap in London where there should have been none. I left my house to find snow on the ground, but I traipsed gaily off to Picadilly and the Fortnum's ice-cream parlour anyway because their ice-cream (strawberry and 12 year old balsimic vinegar / Amedei chocolate) is that good. We went halves on a banana boat and an Esterhazy cake, whilst Jamie regaled me with her typically comic tales - this time involving sleeping on the ticketing counter at Heathrow whilst living off mince pies.

can the best gift come before christmas?

i couldn't resist showing off the 'little thank-you' which A.W. sent to me after her Beijing-Shanghai trip. Proenza Schouler PS1 bag in beautiful suede for a lovely slice of New York to brighten up the miserable winter days.

H is for Helsinki

Despite my flights being cancelled, a switch to Finnair, and an added five-hour stopover at a bland airport, I just couldn't stop myself from laughing at the hilarity of having been to Helsinki.

snap-shot

i wanted a simple photograph with Lesley as testament to our insane work-bonding week that we pulled each other through, but then the photog But-Sou who snapped it behind the scenes at the dinner in Shanghai obliged by adding a personal flourish. love it. check out www.butsou.com.

shanghai coma

26/11 and I did survive. finally walked in the door from shanghai after having slept through both the plane flight and taxi-ride back home. the sight of my apartment greeted me with despair but i decided to leave it to be, because cleaning on my birthday seemed incongruous. shanghai had not been visited in four years but my three-day dash was rather limited to mostly the two blocks around the Peninsula hotel (which was spectacular). still ridiculously busy but i managed to rack up an insanely over-priced manicure (counter-balanced by discovering the amazing Chanel Blue Satin colour in the process), an amazing late supper which starts with delirious hunger and ends with being kicked out after closing, as well as having a chance to discover old treasures in my new-found friend Luoluo's vintage store (which I have plans to share at some point). i contemplated justifying buying one of the beautiful dresses she had on sale because it was my birthday imminently, but logic outweighed (i.e. what I would survive on for the next month). still i'm getting buyer's remorse and may have to work out a solution to that. sushi with some friends tonight at the old favourite and so excited for long-awaited catching up and lots of sake.

for November 26

A long, long sleep awaits me, which is probably going to be the best birthday present ever. i haven't even had time to compile birthday wish-lists, not even the mental, unattainable ones. it's all been one long blur of running for Starbucks melting into racing around and (attempted) organisational goddess-ness... before Shanghai and more of the same, only in unchartered lands. Current threatening diseases include sleep deprivation, caffeine overdose and potential heart failure from panic midnight distress calls. Then again, I am so close to making it through another year...

some things old, some things new. four.

Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi in Luca Guadagnino's, Io sono l'amore, (2009)

Kylie Bax by Helmut Newton, date unknown

Haider Ackermann, Spring/Summer 2011

Peter Lindbergh, 'Wild at Heart', Vogue, September 1991; all in Chanel

an oldie but absolute goodie

"i don't skate, but i am a white rapper"

i admit to having never owned a pair of Converse but their party seemed like the perfect opportunity to fulfil any need to immerse oneself in a sea of plaid, skinny jeans and beanie hats. the rapper Juiceboxx who - as he kept telling us - had flown all the way from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to perform definitely produced my favourite line of the night: 'well, i don't skate, but I am a white rapper'. What? skateboarders and rappers aside though, other party notables included the print-your-own-bags section (where i stocked up on cloth totes), the live tattoo parlour for general viewing entertainment and the blissful lack of any drama-inducing celebrity invitees.

exhibit a

another Lanvin to want...

Lanvin x H&M hasn't even hit, but just about everybody at the still-life shoot immediately added these to their growing wish-list of all things Lanvin

we spun around in happiness; and other Beijing stories

Natalie's jetset weekend Singapore-Beijing visit let me do the things I love best - being a tourist in my own city. I finally revealed to her the mysteries of hotpot which I had been baiting her with for a long time, before we hopped from bar to bar and she duly documented the great toilets at Lan. Cheap noodles were eaten sitting on little children stools and then I actually climbed the drum tower for the first time to be rewarded with an impromptu drum performance enhanced by pollution-induced hazy sunshine. Unfortunate toe injuries later we swapped Peking duck for cleansing vegetarian feasting, and then introduced her to a little bit of Chinese dancing which involved the obligatory whisky and the novelty of revolving tables. next day bloody mary/art-deco brunches came before a lazy wander around town as she ticked off her list of snacks-to-try. we had almost given up on the last, when on the taxi ride home we spotted the chou doufu stand, and made a mad dash out of the car in triumph. missing the good times already.

sitting low for noodles // drum tower // smog // broken // Lost + Found // autumn // very good pannacotta + glass teapot with roses // qianmen // Capital M // bloody mary // pastel cups + glass teapot with mint // faux-old Chinese building + Zara // gateway // chou doufu (a.k.a smelly tofu) + blackberry + taxi = the perfect end

KIKI

am loving the new stuff that KIKI has been turning out lately; the boy really does fidget if he's not photographing all the time. Having zero budget turns getting clothes, models, locations, lights (etc) into an often disheartening battle so I'm continuously impressed by how he manages to make it all work. Such is dedication to getting your own vision across.

to catch a thief

so excited to finally behold and hold some non-fall/winter items. Whereas our love for shearling and camel runs unabated into the rapidly descending winter, on one level, there is only so many times the same sheepskin coat can go back-and-forth from PR to magazine before the craving for something new begins. at first, resort confused, but now I realise they invented it to bestow upon us ivory Celine shifts and cream Chanel jumpsuits to brighten up the dull winter days. Add one retro Chinese pastiche of a 'French brasserie' + coiffed hair + pearls + lashings of red lipstick for a femme fatale-cum-jewelry thief, Beijing, circa 1925.

a little Rochas // towering Gucci's // pastiche Art Deco with 70's carpeting // acrobatic photog // taking a break with Chanel + cigarette