Ms. Woolf told me i could have A Room Of My Very Own.

"Across the street from a yard
there is a house
beyond this room
where the walls, blotted out in red, are plotting a rebirth" fashionandfables







Mais Qui. I have a pulse. I am still here. I checked. Apologies.
I could bombard you with a ton of excuses, but i don't really like excuses. The truth is i have not made this blog a priority because i haven't. Shame. shame. Funny random tangent about the "shame" thing. When i was a kid in primary school in Nigeria. Ilorin, to be exact. Whenever you did anything wrong your classmates formed a circle around you and would then proceed to raise their hands at you and say shame. HELLO. Such horrible technique. Some teachers need psycho analysis. Luckily, i had SUPERTED cartons at home :)



But i digress.
I know, i have left you, my audience, feeling a tad neglected. Heartfelt Apologies. with CAPITALS! If that doesn't signify regret, remorse and what's the other R i am looking for?

Well, i was a little preoccupied with other stuff: work, making jewellery, yoga class, making excuses as to why i am not blogging :)
Also, i have been settling in. Being uber homebod girl. Well, not entirely but more than i normally am.
So pictures of my home. Above and below
Oh oh, Ms. Woolf. is Virginia Woolf. That is Virginia of the Bloomsbury set? Ringing bells? She wrote a number of things when she wasn't lying depressed in her room wailing or something. Oh , must not speak ill of the dead. oeps. Anyways, she also wrote " A Room of One's Own" an essay. Only got half way. oeps.
Watch "The Hours" interesting take on her life if you can't be bothered to read a novel.
But yes, excuse the messy desk.

I Want Lanvin not Flowers!

SEE THE LATEST VIDEO ABOUT THE H&M DESIGNER COLLABORATION.

excitement! can't wait.
Also, in my opinion, out of all of designer collaborations H&M has had, Lanvin has been the only one to truly make the most out of traditional and new media. Yep. hail Alber. He is clever. There are ads, posters, films, twits, more twits.... It keeps the people wanting more, or maybe just me!

Lori "MB's Fashion Hero" Goldstein

Lori Goldstein from StyleLikeU.com from Stylelikeu on Vimeo.

"What ever you are be true to that"

Right on Lori. Right on, right on!

Isn't she the swellest? Like really the swellest? She is an uber amazing stylist, and i just like the fact that she looks like she is always having fun. I think that like so important. Sometimes, it is so easy to get caught up in like wearing what is hip and happening that you forget about fun.
Mais not Lori.
I am all about "slumpy chic" though i am more body con chic nowadays.... i am still a punky little boy really at heart. Comme des garcons! but with a chest :)
Low crouch pants don't look good on me. I really wish they did.
Love ya Lori. Can i be your assistant? Not sure i am really much of a stylist but yah?

Anna Dello Awesomenes.

Yeap, this is why Vogue Nippon kicks ass. The lovely Anna Dello Russo is the editor at large and creative consultant for Vogue Japan. 48 years old. Just like to throw that in there. Hot legs. Hot legs!

image courtesy of http://www.annadellorusso.com/

A Man's Guide to Love

The Man's Guide To Love #62 from themansguidetolove on Vimeo.

"Past loves
Like old friends sometimes sneak up on me
down aisles as i pack foods into a squeaking trolley
they can catch me in lies i folded into a truth
fooling even myself
and lead me down the path where love, as it should be, waits behind a till to be checked out "© fashionandfables



Love. Love Love. We all have our definitions on what is should feel like. We think we can recognise it when cross paths with it. And maybe we can. But just incase we can't, we have got A Man's Guide to Love. It's cute and at times very funny "make sure you are the father of the child before the shotgun wedding" lol. Love it.

Every day, one man steps up to the microphone to share with his audience what he has learned about love. Yeah, drumroll please. In total, there are over 500 videos of men. The website is cool, crowded but in a nice way, i find. It reminds me of walking down a busy street with your headphones on and how it feels to disappear into the mass,
Sometimes it's good to have these of course it's better to feel it yourself. But it's still cute. j'taime

Acid Rush

From Balmain runway!


I have a problem. A big one. I am on acid. Not literally obviously. My "busy" schedule doesn't really afford me with the means to nurse a full-blown addiction. I mean come on now, having a dealer seems like a serious commitment there no? :)
Also, might i add, I listened carefully to the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" track: acid can mess you up for good! I really didn't want to be "a girl with Kaleidoscope eyes"
Thanks Paul, Thanks Ringo. Thanks George. Thanks John. Love ya guys. Love ya. kiss kiss.
Anyhoooes
No, really. i seem to have caught the acid wash disease. I keep lusting after items that look like i stepped into an 80's chick flick complete with a bad perm and all. I am worried. very perturbed. I might even change my name to Molly and dye my hair red to complete the look.

It's okay, i say. it will go away. soon. I will just like to say that i only like this on grey ish and dark blue demin. This, i feel, makes it all better! Don't you think?
Well, while i am still smitten, i thought it was only right that i try to understand my addiction a little better. So, i have been researching the origins of this acid wash phenomenon. And boy did i came up with some goodies.
First off apparently, an Italian company, Rifle gave birth to acid washed denim business. Although, it wasn't know as such back then until Levi Strauss, yes the same Levi who gave us LEVI'S, coined the term.

Did you know the actually acid wash process involves soaking pumice in pure chlorine, vacuuming out the excess and washing or soaking the denim and stones together. I did not know this? Did you? Just say No, it will make me feel better.
i have given into my addiction and purchased an acid wash t-shirt. v-necked. sleeves mid-length. sigh. it's from the guys department. I prefer to buy t-shirts geared towards men, better cuts in my humble opinion! i shall take a picture of it soonish. scouts honour.

Geeky Chic

"i tore a page out of your fantasies
read between the lines,
and trimmed the edges
before polishing it off with splash of red" © fashionandfables

HOT! By the way folks, I want you all to know that i dress like this every day, i swear i do! Every single day!There just isn't anyone to see me as i am hidden away at home behind my mac talking to myself as i work.
okay, okay, i don't. But i will from now on. mark my words! I love this, i love everything about it: the layering, the proportions of the jacket and pants, the snazzy glasses and of course the LIPSTICK!. I was considering a pair of specs like those. But yah, my brother has one, it looks great on him.. on me... i am not so sure. might stick to my old ones... but never say never.
oh oh, and FYI the picture is from Mango's new look book i go while i was in Lisbon. Oh, yes, i was in Portugal. Seems like ages ago now... but that's another story.

Chanel Iman for Italian Vanity Fair

"I enlisted for a battle
expecting light artillery at best
but became entrenched in a warfare i didn't know existed
after months of attrition
i came out camouflaged and slayed the dragons
to surrender to who i always knew i could be" ©fashionandfables

Miss Iman's shoot in this month's Italian Vanity Fair. She is quite the looker.

V Magazine's trip Uptown

"I do not mourn us
i follow the solemn procession uptown
mindfully in black
but appearances do not conceal
the tangled forks of rage nesting on my head" fashionandfables

Mario Testino for V-magazine. Hot shoot.
very.

Hervé Léger

"I wasted my week on billowing dreams
hiding under seams and inside sleeves
being swept away by cascading illusions
until i fell
into a right fit
with a pair of slippers to match"© fashion and fables



Once upon a preconceived idea, i thought it was best not to wear too fitting clothes. I am too small; I will resemble a little skeleton. une petite skeleton, mais no?mais qui? actually i think someone planted that into my mind when i wasn't looking.
But since i am nearing an mid-20s life crisis. I hear i should be anyways. doesn't everyone have one? Give it up for 28. yahhhh
So i was thinking of changing my wardrobe into a more Herve-leger body-con one to suit this transition.
Anyone looking to buy me a Ferrari or find me a 22-yr old boy toy by the name of Robert Patterson is so more than welcome.
I like the colour red, and prefer my boys french or latin, cheers!


Herve, Leger. I just like to say his name. don't you! herrrrrrrrrrrve. oh the french. Actually, you all do know his real name was Hervé L. Leroux. Well herveeeeeeeeeeeeeeee brought in the bondage dress look which can work. You might need some resuscitation after awhile, but it works.
i picked up a pick one in topshop-on sale. of course. For like 15 quid. I know. High five me!
And pink makes it less, well, one has to ease into a mid-20s midlife crisis.

if i could afford the above nrs.
dreams.

Costello Tagliapietra heralds a return

"i pried open the back door
and sunk into your arm chair
fiddled with your papers
bit into your pens
and waited

you walked in
handed me chrysanthemums
and put on a kettle for two"© fashionandfables

I am back.
I know, i know, i didn't really say goodbye properly. But i never really spend much time on such. I am much better at hellos.
so. hello again..
New York sends her love, Japan bows respectfully of course.
And i say " enough with the civilities... i am ready to get this party started already"

Tried as i did to resist, i bought some fashionable goodies.
Notable about 5 pieces from Costello Tagliapietra's line for Uniqlo.
i know bad bad girl. oeps. But they were on sale. Like ON FREAKING GREAT SALE in their flagship store in Ginza. i couldn't resist. I tried but i just couldn't.

And as you all know C&T are one of my all time favourite designers. Mainly because they understand drapery and colours like no other.

Above are a few numbers from their collection. I wish i could have gotten my hands on the yellow nr, but alas, the fashion gods willed it otherwise.

I love my boys. And how cute are they in their suspenders and their matching plaid shirts!. love it.

The Waiting

"You missed me by a day
but i did wait
poised in the corner
caught all manner of shadows
and blisters
i waited and waited
but there were no footsteps and my feet itched for the sun" ©fashionandfables

Moods of a Man

"My 4 o'clock shadow heralds my ever-changing temperaments
that i myself have yet to name
my sigh i assign my distress
or was it my contentment, sometimes i am a stranger to these tides
shall we say my joy is a chuckle?
before my desire suckles hungrily
savouring delight before it ebbs
my moods, i believe are enigmas © Fashionandfables


Moods are not always communicated effectively through words, sometimes they get lost in translation, in attenuations, in expectations . So it is only fitting that the "Moods of a Man" blog be a collection of images symbolic of various notions and associations we as a society have of masculinity. So that means of course plenty of images of sturdy walking boots, pictures of sexy women in various stages of undressing, cigarettes make a number of cameos. as do gelled-back James dean-esque hairstyles, there is lots of denim, heards of beautiful men; the rugged archetype is not forgotten, and we have the close-ups of amazing furniture, snapshots of books, nature, cars, designer jackets, and the list goes on. i like. at least in my current mood, come morning light i might not :)

R'el Dade- Model Crush

Kept seeing her everywhere, so i decided it was time for some investigative work! And i can proudly report that i have got skills as i have a name and a lot of details to go with that. But let's start with her name: R'el Dade! The Texan is 20 years old and signed Marilyn Agency. And just yesterday, she graced Mark Fast's runway in a hot number and has also been featured in Numéro and Interview! Amazing face!

Charles Anastase- Winter garden

"you might not understand
think me a crazy fool playing dress up
but i am still on your mind
and on your tongues" © fashionandfables


Charles Anastase's Fall 2010 collection conjures up images of the gloom that will be when Captain Planet eventually fails to save the day- cue the theme song " We're the planeteers, You can be one too!'Cause saving our planet is the thing to do,
Looting and polluting is not the way,Hear what Captain Planet has to say"

Yes, fashion can tackle serious issues folks. And, Charles does so while being ever so colourful and quirky- one must still muster up a smile in the face of pending doom, even the planeters did remember!

The collection tells a strong and coherent story with a crazy gardener as our protagonist. With no plants to tend to in the post-apocalyptic world, our beautiful gardener has found some use for her tools and green thumb. So she fashions highwaisted pants, sleek silhouettes and somber palletes, at least at first, before unleashing some reds, yellows, loose silhouettes, cascading volumes-think petals and layers. An impeccable styling helps narrate his story.
love Charles. Love him even more because he has a background in illustration!

liliquoi moon

"Love grows cold,
lonely and tired
on the wings of angels
...
in my heart of hearts
i yearn to fly" Me'shell Ndegeocello Liliquoi Moon

Lavin in Red

"I can't remember
who it is i am today
whose face i took off last night infront of a two-way mirror
and the lines i will recite tomorrow remain a mystery
the only thing that fits
is this dress
and my state of mind" ©fashionandfables

Lanvin.
Lanvin.
Nothing but love. need to catch my breathe! If only i had the money I would wear your dresses at least once a day? I will find an occasion not to worry.
hail Alber Elbaz!

Ladene Clark

"Even if I
shoved open my jammed window
and with hands moist from morning dew
take back my hair
and call out to you with a brash familiarity,
welcome you with a smile when you look back befuddled
you would still think it was a dream
and keep to the sidewalks" ©fashionandfables


Yes, let's all take a moment or three to stare at Ms Clark.
Okay, i am done staring now.
The beautiful designer/model is stunning. It's like she stepped out of another world, one where everyone walks around barefeet and like go skinny dipping even in the winter, okay, maybe not in the winter, cuz in that world it's probably always balmy and nice.
Ladene is not only gorgeous but very talented, specialising in knitwear the designer often models her own designs as seen in most of the pictures above.

Images courtesy of http://www.ladeneclark.com/

Kwesi Abbensetts

"Lover
barefeet
on balmy nights
i sit out on steps
and look up for you in the faces of passers-byers
hiding underneath dim lamp posts
tallying up
glances i have seen.

Lover of mine
my secret is that
i see you everywhere
even in these freshly painted toenails
©fashionandfables

Photography is the one of the few medium wherein i can tolerate portraits. There is something about it that makes the emotions more tangible. Which is why i love Photographer Kwesi Abbensetts images. Portraits aren't his only forte, there are some pretty awesome documentary shots on homelessness in New York.
Wonder if i can meet him some how when in the Big Apple?
All images courtesy of Kwesi Abbensetts.