Saturday 28 January 2012

Roll on Summer Styling..

Chanel RTW s/s '12
Images courtesy of Style.com


A teeny weeny crack in the clouds is all it takes to get me worked up about Summer wardrobe planning. I'm loving pastel shades, but in autumnal fabrics (think tweed/knits), paired with delicately placed metals and hopefully a golden tan. 

I couldn't help myself when I spotted these shorts in River Island yesterday. A snip at £30, I figure they'd be a great transitional piece as we wish the last of Winter away and head towards the Summer months. 




I purchased a bunch of spare Chanel buttons at a vintage flea market in New York a couple of years ago. Considering nestling one into the neck of a sleeveless shirt, and adding some leg lengthening fuschia wedges to complete the look... Thoughts?



....Actually.. I'm really tempted to add these ASOS booties into the mix whilst the weather's not so friendly on exposed toes, but I think I might be heading into Chanel inspired overkill with these ones, no?

Lucy xx


The old bird's still got it..



"I never really had too many mentors or icons or anything, I just kind of plodded along. I think when I was very young, maybe in my teens, I was experimenting until I found what I thought I liked. Didn’t take too long. I don’t like trends anyway—I like tradition. I’m doing the same thing and liking the same things. Of course, to say I don’t change—that makes me sound like I’m a dimwit. You change as you go along. I mean, you grow—but my basic sensibility is the same. I’m not doing anything in a violently different way now than I did fifty years ago. That’s pitiful. My husband and I laugh about it all the time because we think, ‘My God,’ these girls will say, I’m ‘cool’ or I’m ‘hot’ or whatever the expression is, and I’m not doing anything differently than what I did a long time ago. It’s funny. I can’t say I don’t like it, it’s very flattering. Matter-of-fact, I think one of the most flattering things I’ve ever heard—you know, I almost fell out of my chair when someone called to tell me about it—Alexis Bittar’s PR girl has a tattoo of me on her wrist. It’s a very good portrait! I haven’t seen it in person, but apparently it looks just like me.” - I.A






- As told to intothegloss.com

Tuesday 24 January 2012

Russian Standard

So I finally got to meet with Michelle Duguid, former Editor of Russian Vogue. She's now a freelance contributor, still working with the likes of Russian Vogue, Harpers Bazaar and France's Stiletto Magazine.

The whole point of the meeting was to discuss my Final Major Project that I'm currently working on... A fashion magazine targeting Fashion Students and recent graduates.

With fashion becoming... well... fashionable, the number of students is rising, and I for one know what a struggle it is to find answers to the many questions that we find ourselves asking. How to get an internship, how to behave in one, and how to make the best of it whilst you're there. Where are they advertised? And when our CV's are dripping with excellent references, packed with hands on experience and 'hire him/her at once' recommendations we will hopefully find ourselves in the position to apply for actual jobs... yes, ACTUAL payed jobs. So the next question is; Where they heck are they advertised?

..These are just the tip of the iceberg of questions I want to answer through the medium of this magazine. As well as an artistic expression of fashion, art, and the world in which we surround ourselves, I envision it to be the first port of call, a meeting of minds, and a way of making this path we have chosen a little smoother. Connecting the people who work successfully within the industry to those banging on the iron clad door. Within these pages.. we will hold the key.

Anyway, enough about that. There will be more of that to come.

The main reason for this post is just to share the little snippets of interesting information I managed to extract from Michelle in-between 'shoot brainstorming, editorial discussions and page layouts.
I could not find a recent picture of michelle for love nor money! ..But it's always nice to put a face to a name. (She is now minus a fringe, and sporting a cute mousey brown bob)

Fact No.1 - Despite being the former Editor of Russian Vogue Michelle does not speak Russian!!

Fact No.2 - Throughout her time as Editor of the magazine, Michelle lived and worked in London.

Fact No.3 - She is Welsh! (And in my completely biased opinion.. the best people always are. Two words: Grace Coddington. )

Fact No.4 - Turkish Vogue also has an office in London!

Fact No.5 - She had never heard of BOF (!!) (http://www.businessoffashion.com/), and was so grateful for me pointing her in the direction of Imran Amed.

Fact No.6 - PR's don't like to send clothing to Russia because of import/export difficulties, so it's easier for them to construct photo shoots in London, and then send them over email to Russia (hence why Michelle is able to reside in London).

Fact No.7 - Michelle is not a fashion graduate, but a former History of Art student. With a distinct lack of variety of fashion degrees when she was at Uni, Michelle had to learn her craft after graduating, where she landed a job at Bride & Groom magazine, a time at Jigsaw, working her way to Vogue UK, then eventually Editor of Russian Vogue.

There is so much more I would love to share with you, but as there will be a feature on her in the new magazine, I don't want to give too much away :-)

Such a lovely, influential woman. An expert in her craft, and generous with her time and well informed knowledge and opinion. An hour of my day well spent indeed..

Lucy xx


Monday 23 January 2012

New Face..

Keeping fashion in the family, my not so little, little brother Rory Smith has got himself signed by FM Agency in London. With MFW around the corner, and a lot of interest in the little punk, I've already planted the seed, and cemented my position when it comes to first refusal on +1 invitations.

You saw him here first...




So here we are..

My first ever blog post. Admittedly out of pure Uni work procrastination, this is what I will call a 'happy accident'. I somehow managed to find myself on Blogger whilst supposedly doing dissertation work... But with the intention of starting one up for over a year now, I'm pretty glad I turned to this, rather than my usual Asos/Ebay procrastination induced splurging.

A Fashion student physically in Cardiff, mentally in London, I'll use this platform to discuss the twists and turns of every day life. The highs and lows of working towards a job worth getting up for, that never dampens my unrivalled passion and fuels my thirst for more.

My life and where I hope to be pretty much fulfils me every day. And as they say, to love what you do, that is the ultimate goal. So here we are.