if you're going to san francisco... Tweet

...be sure to wear some flowers in your hair and stroll down Market Street. How different will it be when compared to this 1905 footage? The video is available through archive.org's Moving Images section (an amazing collection) and fittingly set on Air's Femme D'Argent by cleaverb. I've come about it due to catching up with one of my favourite urban gardening blogs, The High Line, and was mesmerized by how chilled everyone was: ladies and gents milling about, cars, children, horses, trams, newspaper boys, bikes, policemen. All seemingly set on a collision course and yet miraculously getting away with it. Alive. If looking for some food for thought this Sunday, I give you the very pleasant, if partly perplexing seven minutes of San Francisco over one century ago.

jasper garvida spring summer 2011 in 100 photos Tweet

Babydoll pink, huge flowers, salmon, thin belts, chocolate, platforms, lilac, sequins, cream, princess tiaras, purple, pleats, candy floss buns and shapely dresses. Jasper Garvida's ready-to-wear collection last night was one after my heart. And having managed to catch a front row seat, there are 100 photos to show for it, so don't be shy, go feast! Admittedly, some were taken backstage, but don't let that stop you. Subdued pink and thin belts may not be for my tan and figure, but I was sold at this piece—can sequins get any bigger, any better? If only I had the body and the budget to match the taste.



I'm glad I managed to attend, and even more that the sponsor, Miele, took us bloggers backstage, where the chaos was not what I recall from shows of the past. Tiaras and shoes did need a minimum of six hands each to be tamed, but models eat, wink, rest, rush to the loo, make jokes, and then Jasper himself was not out of breath at any point, but rather softly telling his crew the show was 15 minutes late, with a smile. There is a lot of waiting, of course, for something that lasts too little, and a lot of badly dressed people doing the waiting and shimmy shimmying on the benches to create an inch of space for the late comers. One thing was abundantly clear, once again: everyone can buy fashion, few can command style. And did I mention there are 100 photos?



Of the people I met, Shini of Park & Cube stood out, in style but also due to her brilliant camera, the first Praktica I see with my own eyes. The chats were a bit too girly for my taste, but that's always the case when lipstick shades are discussed—I stick with Lipstick Queen, no harm in that, and as of last week upgraded from sinner to medieval. I've yet to hear a comprehensive take on the collection, Belle, or even general trends for spring summer 2011. But then, I'm probably wrong to expect intelligent girliness, and I don't give people many chances to impress me, anyway. Sweet only gets them that far.



But back to pretty shiny things: what takes the biscuit is the giveaway bag, from which some items went to my sister, some went to Chris's sister, and a special one is coming soon. To you! I'm keeping nothing myself, so stay tuned for a very sexy gift voucher indeed, should you be on the market for a customized pair of shoes with, say, Swarovski crystals. Details, rules, and butterflies as soon as I resume blogging. Meanwhile, tell me what you like in the 100 photos. I get all tingly when a comment pops in my inbox, which has turned all serious and business these days.



Update, January 14th 2011: Here's a fast paced video version of the Flickr set, as an alternative to their homegrown slideshow.

Jasper Garvida Spring Summer 2011, London Fashion Week from gorgeoux on Vimeo.

autumn rustling away Tweet

On an impulse, I find myself in Ipswich again, in search of autumn and peace. I'd venture they're often synonyms, and after spending most of last Sunday cooking instead of lolling on the terrace, I've felt like tipping the balance back to dolce far niente before the sun leaves us for more or less half a year. Blissfully, the day was sunnier and warmer than most last week, and on my way to the Tube station I spotted many an extravagant, sparkly, edgy, flowy, confident and all-around over-the-top people rushing to the buyers and press entrance of some show. For a moment I thought, how silly to go away in the midst of London Fashion Week, when I could just sip an awesome coffee on a tiny terrace ten meters away from these gorgeous people! And take many glorious photos I'll never get to upload, much less blog! There's a myth that London folk are glitzier than in all other cosmopolite world capitals and while that may be true, especially at weddings and when clubbing, what la creme de la creme wears to work on a daily basis appears much less inspired and ballsy then, say, over the pond in Paris and New York, and certainly way toned down for my Bucharest-shaped taste. The apparitions today were, thus, a striking contrast to previous LFW crowds I've witnessed, and such a breath of fresh air for the eye candy hungry!

I carried on, however, as soon as I considered taking the camera out of my bag and decided against it the next second, remembering my advanced state of tiredness. It's brilliant to shoot with Chris's Nikon, but quite a bit of weight on my neck or shoulder. I was also lugging a small case, and rushing, so opening my bag's zip, picking up the camera, removing the lens cap, changing the settings and shooting was going to be a bit much for just one hand, while walking. Also, turns out I've been invited to my own small bit of LFW goodness on Monday evening, backstage and camera included, so focusing on that inital plan of autumnal relaxation outside of London was more appealing in the end. What with my heart and mind already racing in the space of merely thirty seconds of reverie!

So here I am, tucked away in a bed in a house in a garden in Ipswich, thanking the universe for my treats today. Precise, yet puffy clouds gathered in the North-Western skies like sheep rounded together by overzealous dogs. Bright yellow and orange gazanias gifted and partially planted three months ago, their colors and the surrounding light spilling into each other lazily, incessantly. Red maple tree leaves rolling down an empty street under long shadows, in the goodbye calls of infinitesimally small, or otherwise invisible birds. A mushroom silently growing in the lawn. White grapes in the twilight, ripening on a vine well trained alongside the quietest wall at the back of a countryside pub. A brief lonely wander, and a smoke in the fragrant smoke of somebody's wood fire, ahead of its time.

Tomorrow the weather announces itself capricious. Nevertheless, we will explore some unseen bits of Suffolk, and I shall do my best to breathe in and breath out without uttering as many sounds in between as I have done today. Carving my peace, now that autumn was found.

a rainy day in london town Tweet

Today I headed to Pimlico Farmers' Market via two buses. I love buses (a lot more than the tube), but waiting for them on a Sunday makes no sense when you have a deadline. Once on board, I kept myself entertained by taking photos of grey London. I think oftentimes people avoid this, and I can't quite blame them. Then again, I many times end up on top a double decker with no reasonable camera on hand, so this angle must be put to work at some point, and this ride was perfect, touching on so many landmarks. So. Looking towards The Mall, from Trafalgar Square.



Here I spotted a pub next to a modern building on Victoria Street. Stunning in its oddity, and yet so much Central London. I bet that crane is not bringing up another pub.



I liked how these people were having a chat around the street sign, and using it to support their bodies. For whomever designed and installed this, I'm certain its street furniture qualities were fully unaddressed. Will they be considered in the future?



A more familiar view, the last image today is of the golden ballerina on top of the Victoria Palace Theatre near the mess that is Victoria Square (solely due to the mess that is Victoria Station). I loved how from this angle it seems ready to take off into the sky, swirling gently. And how I'd never spotted the closed balconies in the nearby building. Certainly a modern fixture that would make the architects of old times cringe. But someone gets a to see the amazing sunsets of London from the comfort of their floor to ceiling windows (top floors).

alors Tweet

Paris. Second time lucky? I've opted for it myself, right after I had ruled it out. And then spent half a day digging up cool shit about it. And went through with it. I'm writing this from a comfortable mattress in the 2eme. We're staying with a member of the Louvre staff known the world over. Though not for renting rooms. It's more or less the cost of a hotel, in much more real and Parisian conditions and atmosphere. So far loving it, and pondering whether I should say YES to the free museum pass offered for Monday morning. Being within walking distance to it made Chris note it's rather funny how we traveled from heart of London, near the British Museum to heart of Paris, near Louvre, while neither institution attracts us much. We're hardcore urbanites. It simply makes no sense to be anywhere else in the donut but in the sweet central jelly. Take dinner at recommended Les Fines Gueules. Five minutes away, and a pleasant walk about Palais Royal that was. The food? Good. Photos and notes to follow. Not your usual French place, though not too experimental either. If it were our neighborhood restaurant in London, I'd be pleased. But sleep first, then flea market. Someone is playing with an alarm clock iPad app next to me, as a reminder, and the whole flat resonates with loud CUCKOO sounds. Fitting the building very well, historically, but maybe a tad too early. CUCKOO!

thy neighbor's grapes Tweet

I don't normally bother to keep in touch, or even up to date with neighbors, but this is something else: first, they have a grapevine that actually produces grapes. In awe! Second, I took photos of it in the first place due to Alex Mitchell getting in touch a while back to see whether our garden was a match for her new book. Though we actually played around with more veggies this year, it turned out that moving to a larger terrace and not having a fruit-bearing grapevine killed the interest. Meanwhile, our neighbor's grapes did little to entice Alex to come by, possibly because I wasn't ready to reach out and meet said neighbor. So all is left now from a beautiful story arc are, well, my neighbors grapes, ripening in the late evening sun.



What have your neighbors got that makes you stare and even take the camera out?