Christmas season in London

You know what the problem is with having some of your best friends in Australia? Well... amongst other things, around November when it starts getting dark and cold in London, you start seeing an increased number of Facebook posts about how "amaaaaazing" Bondi beach is looking today and how  it's 'cold' today because it's only 23 degrees... and so on and on and on. Dont mind me sitting here trying to figure out how to add another layer but still be able to put my coat on... I bloody hate winter! I dont even like skiing because in my mind skiing means paying a lot of money to go from one cold place to an even colder place (albeit mulled wine is a bonus). So this year, I have decided to stop being miserable to jam pack my social calendar with fun things to do so that I dont have time to mull over "how crap winter is". So far this week my list of accomplishments consists of: BFAs, Tim Walker's exhibition and ice-skating at Somerset house.

But lets start from the beginning - British Fashion Awards on Tuesday night. This was not my first time at the BFAs but yet every year I am just as giddy with excitement as the first time. I'm not going to bore you with all the details as I'm sure you have had the opportunity to read all about it on Twitter but the highlights for me:

Model of the year - Cara Delevingne

Designer of the year - Stella McCartney

Rita Ora closing 

• realising of how horrible Gemma Arterton is at presenting! Geez I mean... she is a beautiful girl and everything but she was over-presenting like an overly excited 6 year old at a school Christmas concert.
• not being allowed to take photos during the ceremony - ahem... hello! whats the point of inviting bloggers?! (i still snuck a couple in though :)) 
• an enormous sense of pride for the number of truly talented UK designers. London Fashion is generally the 'poor cousin' of the fashion family but it is so good to see amazing talent like Roksanda Ilincic, Erdem and Jonathan Saunders to be recognised for their achievements.
• triple confirm my already strong belief that Cara Delevingne is such a champ and generally a cool person and we should totally be friends
• discovering that Rita Ora can actually sing... I am a tiny bit of a fan of hers and I was somewhat disappointed by her substandard vocals when she recently performed at the MTV Euro awards in  Frankfurt. Well fear not! The girl can sing...       

Thursday night: late night at Somerset house - Tim Walker "The Story Teller" exhibition and ice-skating.  

I will keep it short - bloody brilliant! Tim Walker is a visionary who lives in a world of his own where the line between fairy tales and fashion is so blurred, you dont know where one ends and the other one begins. Some of the oversized props so loved by Tim Walker and that he had used in his shoots also form part of the exhibition.. like the real size plane coming out of the fire place and giant skeleton hanging off the ceiling.

A visual indulgence both for fashionistas and aspiring photographers alike. Strongly strongly recommend! 

p.s. yet again - photos not allowed at the exhibition but me being the photo Ninja that I am... here are a couple of instagrams :)

Ice skating at Somerset House - well I have now been to three (!) ice skating rinks - London Eye, Canary Wharf and finally the Somerset House and I can definitely say that Somerset House is by far the biggest and the best. Great music, the smell of mulled wine and a giant Christmas tree all make you really feel like "Christmas is all around". If you are not yet feeling festive then definitely head to Somerset House for a little soiree on ice.

 xx

Chloe.. London

Chloe Sachdev - buyer for the new aussie online fashion boutique musstard.com  

xx

East Enders...

Following on from my post earlier this week on well-forgotten old... Here are some more photos that I really enjoyed rediscovering in my archive.. Also done for a photo assignment on East London lifestyle for a magazine in Russia. These were shot around Broadway markets and Shoreditch in February this year... seems so long ago! I love them because I think they represent so well the fun and the carefree lifestyle that is East London.

Everything new is just a well-forgotten old...

Hello! I am back from my travels and back to blogging. I am a strong believer that one should only blog when feels inspired to do so and the blogging should never be a chore. So for the last few weeks all I felt like doing was relaxing, enjoying my travel experiences and forgetting about everything else.

I am now back on it and would love to share some of my travels with you but until I get my act together, here are some oldies that I have totally forgotten about. 

A couple of months ago I was asked at very short notice to put together a piece on London street style which of course means that East London had to be involved. 

I had to pull the piece from my archive photos as there was literally no time to shoot new material. I found some really cool people in my archive which I now would like to share with you. In Russia there is a saying that "everything new is just a well-forgotten old". I think these styles are just as relevant and cool today as they were 6, 12, 18 months ago when I shot them. Hope you enjoy!

"Pret-a-Portea" Afternoon Tea at Berkley Hotel

So you are probably wondering what the hell it is that I am so busy with that I do not have time to blog.. Well I've been busy catching up with my friends who all decided to visit London one after the other in consecutive weekends!

I've been wanting to try Afternoon Tea at The Caramel Room at Berkley Hotel for a while. I heard about it from a fashionista friend but it seems to always be booked out weeks in advance. So when my lovely friend M mentioned that she would love to do an afternoon tea whilst in London, I started doing the rounds at the usual suspects - Claridges, Dorchester, Orangery at Kensington Palace.. and low and behold Berkley had an opening at such short notice.

I mean... someone had to come up with this! Such a brilliant idea had to see the light of day... A fashionista's afternoon tea where all the pastries are inspired by the current season's collection by the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Mulberry, Michael Kors (see menu above!).

When the tray came out we did wonder if it would be enough for both of us but apparently tiny shoes and bags fill you up more than you think! By the end of it we were so full that when we got to the top tier of the tray .. namely the Jason Wu coconut mousse with a biscuit leg... we had to eat it only out of our respect for Jason Wu.. it would be rude not to!

The room was full of ladies of various ages all equally in awe and overcome with excitement of the event. I meant being able to to EAT a Mulberry bag is just a different type of satisfaction :)

Unfortunately, the service was not as outstanding as you would expect at hotel of such calibre. The waiters were slow and uninterested. We had to wait at least 10 minutes before anyone came to take our order and take us through the menu. At the end of our 2 hour tea drinking ritual we had to literally wave our hands in the air in order to ask for the bill. It was rather strange and disappointing but I guess "you can't have your cake and eat it too".... or caaan you?! :P

Overall, a cosy and pleasant way to spend a Sunday afternoon and have a good long gossip session with your girlfriends whilst feeling very much en vogue.

I should mention that the menu does change every 6 months so make sure you get in fast before A/W2012 is here.

How much: from £39 for a basic tea and extra for champagne (depending on the type of champagne)
Where: Berkley Hotel - Wilton Place, Knightsbridge (London)

http://www.the-berkeley.co.uk/fashion-afternoon-tea.aspx

xx 

  

A complex outfit, London

When I saw her, I immediately knew I wanted to shoot her although she is not necessarily the type I would normally go for. I just thought her outfit was so complex with the colour and the jacket and the hat but the best part was the ease with which she wore it. At fashion week you get A LOT of people who dress up because it's fashion week or to attract attention or to get a bit of PR but in most cases those people stand out as being uncomfortable in what they are wearing. In this case, my subject was so confident and comfortable in her own skin, you would think she rolls out of bed looking like this. That's why I wanted to shoot her.

Layered colour - Somerset House, London

Pretty in Pink - London Fashion Week

The lovely Jennifer Inglis from The Style Crusader. I absolutely loved her outfit with the colourful shirt complemented by chunky jewellery and of course the 70's inspired trousers! I think this outfit is so well put together. Take the time to check out Jennifer's blog - you will enjoy it! It has plenty of original content, with great outfit posts and glimpses of Jen's everyday life which gives the blog a personal touch and makes it what blogs were intended to be - a personal story as opposed to an online fashion magazine (which, admit it, a lot of fashion bloggers are guilty off.. including myself).

p.s. what do we think of the bigger photo size? - just you know, trying out something different.. love it? hate it? leave a comment and let me know! x

British Fashion Awards 2010

*Sorry about the poor quality of these photos - took them with my little point-and-shoot which I took with me to the awards ceremony and it was struggling the poor old thing! *

British Fashion Awards is probably one of, if not the, biggest event on the fashion calendar. Of course when it comes to me, something is bound to go wrong!  The problem is that 'passion for fashion' is impossible to align with a corporate job and of course the BFA ceremony had to start nice and early! Needless to say sneaking out of work on a Tuesday is difficult (if not impossible) and of course I couldn't sneak out on time. This basically meant that I had exactly 20 minutes to get ready for the whole thing and my long evening dress (I decided to go all out!) was crinkled from spending the previous 8 hours in a garment bag, my hair was not ready and my make-up was still to be done (what a disaster)!! Anyway, huffing and puffing I managed to get to the ceremony about 5 minutes before it commenced, downed a glass of champagne on arrival to drown the sorrows of missing 'the big celebrity arrivals' and proceeded to ramage through the goody bag.

It was so good to see Phoebe Philo win the Designer of the Year award -well deserved!! Naomi Campbell's speech was long and emotional  (I guess understandably so.. given her 'years in service') and Daphne Guiness' shoes looked extremely uncomfortable (or may be it was caused by the length of her dress - either way she looked like she was about to trip any minute). The ceremony didnt last very long and afterwards the procession moved to the Savoy Hotel for drinks but sadly as I am a mere mortal I didnt get to mingle with the celebrities and instead we opted for a glass of champagne at the Savoy bar which was quite glamorous considering the place was filled with other 'mere mortals' who attended the ceremony and a few up-and-coming models (read: havent quite made it there yet models). The official after party was at Movida and it was surprisingly packed for a Tuesday night but again my efforts to spot a celebrity (or at least a fashionista) did not result in anything and I decided that there must have been a Special Official party for the Daisy Lowes and the Alexa Chungs of this world. Nevertheless, I had a wonderful evening and it is always so nice to have an excuse to dress up (albeit on a Tuesday evening!)

Hope you all have a great weekend! xx

Rant: great (hair) expectations...

I have expectations. My expectations are even higher when it comes to hairdressers. For one, they are responsible for what is possibly the first thing that people notice/see when they meet me - my hair. Great haircuts should not be underestimated. When it comes to hair - I pretty much have done it all (apart from shaving it off or making shaved ornaments on one side of my head).. When I was in 6th grade I used to colour my hair with blue L'Oreal 'hair mascara'.. I forget what the official name of that product was but to absolute dismay of my teachers I had it in three colours and used to wear it to school (matching nail polish included). That was when I had long hair. Then my lovely cousin decided to stick a chewing gum in my hair which resulted in quite an edgy (as far as teenage fashion goes) crop which later grew into a bob which later grew into a pob, then into longer hair with foils, then into a perm then into a boy cut again, then into hair extensions (for exactly 2 weeks) then into its next reincarnation. So the point is.. when I say "I know a little bit about hairdressers", I actually mean it.

For me a hairdresser is somewhat akin to a boyfriend. It's a relationship. No small amount of trust is involved as you get in that chair and hope that the man in front of you actually means what he says when he says he knows what he is doing. You take their suggestions and if he comes through with the goods, you repay with loyalty and occasional friend referrals. And if you ever decide to cheat, as you wonder what it might be like with other hairdressers.. it's similar to a break-up - one day you just stop calling them and hope you never run into them on the street or worse at a party (unless of course one day you turn up at your 'new' hairdresser only to find out that your 'old' one is now a manager at this new salon - awkward). And as with any relationship - they take the break-up personally...

In the last 2 years in Sydney I managed to find an excellent hairdresser at a small but mighty salon called Suki in Paddington. I felt that I finally found a man that I could spend the rest of my hairstyling life with. So needless to say when moving to London I was very sad to leave Suki and very apprehensive about finding my new 'hair love'.

After much deliberation I took a chance and went to Atherton Cox in Marylebone to get my hair cut. I was utterly disappointed. Not with the result so much but with the experience as a whole. They made me wait for about 20 minutes before seeing me - which is not a deal breaker.. I am perpetually 10 minutes late..no biggie. As I was waiting, a lady sat next to me with a towel on her head as she was told she had to wait for a spare 'station' so they can actually start drying her hair. As I was ushered downstairs I saw a room full of empty 'stations' that could have been used (but I'm sure there is a perfectly normal explanation for that too). The hairdresser who cut my hair was some big shot who has won a few awards in the past so he somehow felt that he could get away with the 'prima donna' attitude (that or he had a severe case of ADD). He took a phone call whilst cutting my hair, kept talking about unrelated stuff to other staff .. constantly..

He was a nice enough guy but when you are charging 100 quid for a haircut, I would expect a little more than 'nice'. The haircut itself was fine except for the fact that he wasnt going to cut my fringe until I asked him (I know I said I wanted to grow it out but if he honestly was willing to let me walk out his salon looking the way I looked, he must not care too much about the 'message' he is sending to world about his skills). Overall, a somewhat disappointing experience which was only made better by a huge discount I got under a promotional voucher (something he didnt even know when cutting my hair - so he wasnt just being slack because I was a 'cheap job'). I would think twice about going back there albeit the promotional rate is still valid till February (and that means a lot as I love a bargain!)

NB: this is not a photo of me, its just one of the portraits I took during fashion week. I don't know who the girl is but her hair very much resembles mine (on a good day :)

Soho, London

I really cant take the credit for these as all I had to contribute was the camera :) ... The lovely David from the Nyanzi Report spotted this young man walking down the street in Soho... love the detail!

Random, sneaky little shots

hello! So I am still MIA due to lack of internet at my new shoebox.. uhm i mean home..

London has been absolutely amazing and there so many random little things that no one who lives here would of as special but I have been taken by some random things and images that i will be randomly sharing with you... it might be complete rubbish and i am just to over-excited about being in a new city but regardless.. Here are some random shots from a random party I went where I didnt know anyone and which was so different to any other party I have ever been to. I found this one particular person completely fascinating...