Flowers, frills, feathers and fans

 

The Queen was dressed simply, in powder blue, for the first day of Royal Ascot. My own curiously cobbled together outfit comprised of faded pastel shades – I customized an old pair of Top Shop shoes with ‘found’ floral embellishment, which I’d purloined from a vintage hat the night before. Thankfullly, I found a pair of 'nude' tights before I left too...

I wore one of the 'mad hatter' creations from my extensive millinery collection, along with a Missoni (thrift shop) dress, a vintage couture jacket and a 1950s beaded bag,which was borrowed from ShopCurious. Amazingly, I didn’t spot anyone wearing anything similar…

Along with the inevitable red, white and blue, hat and dress trends on Tuesday seemed to fall into several categories: Floral hats – ranging from modern, nature inspired to old fashioned bathing cap style.

Frills (and later in the day spills) were spotted on hats and dresses alike.

      
































Feathers were everywhere – occasionally getting in the way.

One lady couldn’t get enough of them and took a spare hat along, just in case her companion didn't turn up for afternoon tea.

Flying saucer hats were also in evidence, like the ones worn by retro girl-band, The Tootsie Rollers (below right). 

And there were Far Eastern style fan-pleated numbers too.












As well as fitted trouser suits. One woman sitting under an escalator reminded me of Diane Keaton. Whilst another seemed to be wearing her pyjamas.

Then there were the fashion mavericks – like Tracy Rose, who never conforms to any style but her own. 

I also noticed a couple of girls with crazy tattoos. And, from afar, saw a fabulous pair of striped-heeled sandals.

    

After a fun day of fashion spotting, I pirouetted back to the car park. Next time I might even watch the races..

Will you?

PS check out men’s racy Ascot fashions in today’s post at The Dabbler.

Tattoos - angelic, or hellish?

Just around the corner from a curiously old fashioned tailors’ shop in London’s Wandsworth, is a rather ominously named tattoo parlour – The Angelic Hell Tattoo World.

The permanent tattoo business is booming, with niche shops offering a whole tattoo lifestyle, including exhibitions, clothing and tattoo design products. Writing for the Evening Standard, Liz Hoggard recently reviewed a fascinating new book, Tattooed by The Family Business, about one such tattoo shop in Exmouth Market.




But, is it worth all the pain? Do tattoos really look angelic… even erotic, or are they just a big mistake? What will you think of your tattoos in years to come?

A while back, I suggested that it might be wise to ‘Tink before you tattoo’. Some of you may have thought this was a typo, but no, Tink-It is a new brand offering temporary art tattoos, available in the UK exclusively at ShopCurious. Are temporary tattoos not a more sensible option?

Anyway, I look forward to hearing your views.

Will you?

Tink before you tattoo

Did you read the article from Shine, The 6 biggest tattoo regrets, that was posted on a major search engine’s lifestyle site today? There were a huge number of comments, indicating that an awful lot of people want to talk about their tattoo troubles.

If you’re looking to avoid regrets altogether, temporary tattoos can be the answer. At ShopCurious, we’ve just become the exclusive UK stockist of a new range of limited edition temporary tattoos by a company called Tink-It (Temporary Ink It).





None of your kiddy style sticker stuff here, the first Tink-It collection has been designed by achingly cool French artists, plus there are five designs to choose from, and between two and eighteen separate tattoos in each box set. Tinks last for one to three days and can be easily wiped off using make-up remover, but whilst they’re on your body, you’ll become a living work of art.

Tattoos are arguably the Marmite of the skin world, either loved or loathed. If you’re a fan of tattoos, are thinking of getting one, or simply curious to see how some people choose to express their personalties through body decoration, you might like to pop along to the ‘Skin’ exhibition at the Wellcome Collection, which runs until 26th September.


Part of the exhibition explores the skin “as a place where natural, cultural, artificial or supernatural marks inscribe themselves on the body. Human skin provides a living document of transformation, deformity, ageing and illness. It also serves as a canvas where personal and cultural practices of decoration, construction of identity and self-expression are communicated to the world." Something worth bearing in mind…

Tink about it.

Will you?