Curious celebrity Christmas

2011 was a year when absolutely anyone could be a celebrity. It was also the year in which ShopCurious featured Nathalie Queyraud’s curiously irreverent fashion icon jewellery, and Liz London’s curiously kitsch celebrity inspired artworks.

I decided to mark the occasion by inviting some very special guests to share Christmas with me. I had Boris and Mr Bean, Kate and Camilla, Simon Cowell, Posh Victoria Spice-Beckham - and I wasn’t quite sure which half of Jedward… oh, and there was a special guest appearance by none other than Lady Gaga. Not forgetting super-celebrity personage, Her Madge.





















































Celeb of honour was none other than our esteemed Prime Minister, along with world-renowned blogger, Thoroughly Modern Milly.










































Santa came along too – with a soon to be famous Samurai.

Are you?


PS See more celebrity images of the year at The Dabbler...

Which muse to choose?

Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, fashion designers’ muses are often celebrity icons – actresses, singers, models, or well connected celebtocracy types. As Liz London’s pop-art style fashion muse inspired artworks are currently available at ShopCurious, I decided to take a closer look at the role of the celebrity muse.

Free clothing and accessories, plus masses of attention grabbing publicity are some of the perks of the muse’s job, but what must she (or, increasingly ‘he’) offer in return? Here’s my list of the top 10 requirements of a job spec. for musedom:






1) Beauty or aesthetic appeal
2) A ‘coat-hanger’ body to show off the latest designs
3) A large following, to get designs noticed
4) Wealthy friends, who might buy designer creations
5) Relationship issues – always good for extra publicity
6) A willingness to be re-styled every season
7) Some semblance of individuality for inspiration
8) An ability to walk in high heeled shoes
9) A good PR firm
10) A love of fashion, or a talented stylist.





We may well think it’s all air-heads and freebies, but celebrity fashion is hugely commercial, and even muses have to pull their weight (oops, did I mention weight?)

And, of course, there are some muses who fall outside this categorization - who have their own arty, eccentric, and curiously inspirational style, like the late Isabella Blow, Daphne Guinness and Lady Gaga.










Anyway, if you’ve got any additional points to add to the list, do let me know.

Will you?

The fashion for pop art

The term ‘pop art’ was first coined in 1950s Britain, but has become synonymous with American art that draws upon the popular consumerist culture of advertising and comic books. Pop art often portrays mass market iconic images of the 1950s and ‘60s and offers a bold, bright and outspoken alternative to traditional and abstract art.








Pop art also draws heavily upon fashion and style, from household branded goods to celebrity icons. We’ve turned this on its head by creating colourful fashion accessories with a pop art theme. Designed by the Maggio sisters and based on retro comic strip art, each of the handmade pieces available at ShopCurious offers a snapshot of its own unique cartoon style plot.





Wear one of these hand painted belts or necklaces and you’ll find that people are suddenly very curious to read the captions – so you’d better have a good storyline ready to tell them...

Do you?

From greed to green

1) Greed - for those who like to feast with no shame ...

Nowhere is this more in evidence than at fashion shows. I was trying to avoid the media feeding frenzy that is London Fashion Week, but curiosity got the better of me: I was truly shocked by the astonishing greed for those front row seats (mostly nabbed by fashion students) and for luxury goody bags and freebies. Scary!






2) Gluttony - for those who want to scoff every last drop ...

Shrove Tuesday is also known as Mardi Gras, which means ‘fat Tuesday’ – hence the PR push today on anti-obesity/diabetics clogging up GPs’ surgeries? My TV has just painfully reminded me that some are as unnaturally superskinny as are supersize. Which do you err on the side of? Best eat up now, as we’re all going to have to tighten our belts soon anyway.





3) Envy - exclusively for everyone, but especially for the eternally miserable ...

Some are jealous of Kate Winslet, who received a rather valuable looking award the other day – great if she ever needs to melt it down, which might be likely sooner than any of us imagined possible.





Fashion, food, fame …

Who is paying for all of this overindulgence and are they likely to stop any time soon? And what happens when we can no longer afford to support the media? Perhaps it’s time for a re-think?


Why be green with envy for the celebrity-led, appearance-obsessed, designer-driven lifestyle. Why not simply be green? Live off your recycled belongings, wear vintage clothing, pawn your jewellery, buy handmade accessories, invest in timeless, collectable and iconic things for your wardrobe and home, learn to knit, use natural cosmetics, grow your own veg ... all very eco-friendly and what we at ShopCurious call 'style with brains'.

Once the dust of our depression has settled – probably quite a while after this Lent has come and gone, there will be a time for denial, recovery and, hopefully, change for the better. I understand that we aren’t allowed to pray any more, so I’ll make a wish instead.

Will you?

Hot dish

I'm not at all interested in the antics of so called celebrities (nor their media-clogging diet regimes), so not sure if I dare admit that I just happened to be watching Celebrity Come Dine with Me earlier this evening ... But it was funny to see Jimmy Osmond looking like one of his much older brothers - was it Wayne? Yes, I know it was way back when having 'celebrity' status still required a modicum of talent, charm and professionalism.



How wonderful to see that Jimmy is still as charming as ever and still demonstrating a healthily human approach to eating - as well as paying ongoing attention to his spiritual well-being: he certainly appeared to be emotionally better adjusted than some other of the eclectic mix of guests.



I noticed that fellow diner, Nicky Clarke, was wearing one of those ultra-stylish scarves, though his penchant for colourful trousers was rather curious. Perhaps he chose them to match his face after a liberal application of chilli pepper? Judging by his gravity-defying hair, he must rub chilli into that too... look out for a new secret recipe spicy formula shampoo on the shelves of your local supermarket soon.





Talking of the fashion for red ingredients, I read something in a newspaper today about lypocene – the substance that makes tomatoes red and gives some other vegetables their rich colour. Did you know that storing red-coloured fruit like tomatoes at room temperature rather than in the fridge doubles the level of beta-carotene and boosts the food’s content of cancer-fighting lypocene by 20%? Apparently, at Ohio State University in Columbus, they even created a unique orange coloured ‘tangerine tomato’ that allows one to absorb more than twice the level of lypocene than from standard plum tomatoes. Oh, and it's said that cooked tomatoes provide for a better absorption rate of lypocene than when eaten raw...



Which brings me on to the subject of the rather original hot tomato dish available from ShopCurious… a quirky, ripe-red retro piece, (probably around the same vintage as Jimmy O), that would certainly make for an unusual gift. You could always use it to serve up crudités and seasonal nibbles at your pre-Christmas drinks party – just fill with saucy lypocene-packed salsa and so long as the guests don’t eat too much, their faces shouldn’t turn orange.

Will you?