Colourful characters in fashion

Money can’t buy you style …

Style is about being just a little bit different - and it also has a lot to do with expressing your true personality. Don’t feel you have to conform to what anyone else is wearing (though it's probably best to follow your office dress code, especially in these market conditions).









Celebrities are often fashion victims because their clothes are invariably chosen for them by others – like personal assistants or well intentioned friends. Not everyone has Patricia Field as their stylist and hapless celebrity fashion victims are always turning up on the pages of trashy tabloid magazines with their clothes wearing them rather than the other way round.

Of course, there are also seasoned style queens, like legendary American fashion designer Mary McFadden, left, who I accidentally stumbled upon at private party in London recently. Illustrating the irrelevance of age vs. style, Ms McFadden still cuts the mustard in this floaty and folksy ethnic silk ensemble. In Mary’s case it appears perfectly effortless, but there’s much more to being a colourful character and showing true style than you might think: it helps if you have a natural flair for fashion and there's a real art to mixing colour.





The curiously colourful and very arty Yasmina (who you’ll be seeing more of later) definitely isn’t afraid to stand out from the crowd and express her preference for bold acid colours and accessories – all done in a highly creative way and resulting in a quirky, but seriously cool look.





Less colourful, but still characterful is one of the outfits I feel most comfortable in – it’s an amazing vintage Zandra Rhodes silk chiffon cactus print dress - though perhaps the vintage Dior sunglasses from ShopCurious make me look a tad Dame Edna-ish…The shoes are interesting: they’re actually Miu Miu from the mid 1990s, but d'you think their design might have been inspired by the work of a famous English cobbler?



I salute Beth Ditto, seen here at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition Preview in June, for her stylish, brightly coloured clothing, even though she doesn't conform to the media image of bodily perfection. This magical mauve number, accessorized with a simple statement necklace, a crisp bobbed haircut and 1970s glam-rock inspired makeup simply oozes authentic taste and style.











Being confident with your appearance and your individual sense of style is one of the keys to looking and feeling great, whatever your gender, age or size. And having the odd imperfection can be a great advantage – after all, you don’t want to look the same as everyone else.

Do you?

Real men wear pink

This isn't an official sample survey, but I’ve collected some evidence over the past few weeks and, apologies to anyone who’s into statistically correct analyses, but I’ve already drawn my own conclusions:

There’s no doubt that men can look attractive without even a hint of pink – take Richard, photographed right, with Jo at Henley Royal Regatta. He simply oozes casual modern style in his Ralph Lauren suit and colourful orange tie. And I reckon Max, pictured left, would look cool whatever he wore - but that stripey blue shirt works a real treat with his fab blond look (d'you think he could be related to Boris Johnson?)



Generally, even a soupcon of pink on a man is considered somewhat unusual – and the mere thought of wearing more than a smidgen of said colour could possibly be quite alarming to some red-blooded males. Most traditional men will stretch to a touch of pink, when appropriate for the occasion - about as much as appears on this chap’s Leander Club tie and umbrella (right) – though, unfortunately, I’m unable to confirm whether or not he's wearing Leander Club pink hippo boxers (left) underneath.




By the way, did you know that the Leander Club, home to real men like British Olympic medal winners Matthew Pinsent and James Cracknell (swoon), has a pink hippo as its mascot … you can even buy this rather cuddly version from the shop in their Henley-based Club House.







Other gentlemen's clubs have similarly curious colour combos, including the Garrick Club’s salmon pink and peppermint green, as modelled, left, by all round topping fellow, Tony.









It’s a rare man for whom pink is the colour of choice – men who wear pink are often highly individual characters who like to stand out from the crowd. Martin’s coral pink tie and Ascot button hole, shown right, look effortlessly stylish, as do Steve from the Army Medical Corp’s pink chinos (left) - in fact those trousers look so curiously cute that he’s probably got people queuing up to have CPR practised on them.





Finally, some men wear pink with purpose. Take Angus’s stunning Lacroix trousers, pink brocade tie and chunky cut glass cufflinks. Seems like he's a bit of a fashion hound, but it’s actually fairly easy to create an individual look of your own by simply picking out a few key pieces that are just a tad different from the mainstream.







In fact, at ShopCurious we’ve got some rather unique Murano glass cufflinks that are both arty and sophisticated – though these are orange, so you’ll have to let us know if you want some pink ones to be ordered specially for you.

Do you?

Hot colour hits Henley

Finally got around to sorting out all the photos from the many events I’ve been to in the past couple of weeks. One of the most colourful has to be Henley Royal Regatta. Last year I photographed lots of brightly coloured men’s blazers, so I thought that this time I’d give the girls a look in. Curiously, they didn’t seem to be nearly as colourful as the men (pics to follow later), though I did see a few arty outfits:

I loved Sue’s green and pink ensemble (left), which she said was purchased at a small boutique in central France. She’s obviously creative, since she decorated the hat to match, using a scarf that came with the outfit. Looks really quirky and unique, but rather stylish too, don’t you think? Elsewhere, eco-friendly green was also in evidence, as in this simple, but casually elegant outfit worn by Kirsty (right).










Chain store chic was also present in the form of a Karen Millen dress (and shoes) worn by Emma, right. Vivid colours can work well on a hot summer’s day - and when the sun did eventually come out, it was absolutely sweltering. Another girl I snapped (left) must have been anticipating the good weather – in fact she looked like she’d have been more at home at a Hawaiian beach party than a right royal rowing event on the river.














This year I also spotted quite a few art inspired multi-coloured numbers amongst the dresses – like Ann’s colourful Pleats Please creation by Issey Miyake, right. Katherine (left), whose father rowed for Great Britain, was wearing a geometric print maxi-dress.














Bright colours were certainly in abundance with plenty of reds, mauves, greens and blues. Julie and her mother, Audrey (right), definitely added a vibrant splash of colour to my day and I admired this polka dot red retro dress worn by Joan, who’d travelled all the way from New York to attend the regatta.













Although some dresses were duplicated, there were plenty of unique accessories - along with some very curious colour combos.











Jill’s dress and bag matched her green Henley badge (left) – as, inadvertently, did my grey-green floaty floral silk number, which I teamed up with Prada shoes, designer vintage YSL sunglasses from ShopCurious and some curiously clashing nail varnish to complete the look (see below).











Margot cleverly colour co-ordinated her art nouveau abstract patterned dress with matching accessories (above right).









This year I actually managed to see some of the races too - and that’s when a young lady’s foot caught my attention ... perhaps she was inspired by the ancient Greeks, or maybe she’s planning to row in the 2012 Olympics? I’m not really a big fan of tattoos, but this one seems appropriately cool for the occasion.

Are you?

Curiously colourful opera fashions

Our theme for July is ‘multi-colour madness’, so it was a really pleasant surprise to find that the opera I was very kindly invited to at Garsington last Thursday was as curiously colourful as they come. The amazing variety of English summer flowers in the stunning grounds paled into insignificance beside the strikingly vivid colours on the stage. The set was in itself a work of art - rather reminiscent of a cubist painting – and the costumes, designed by Francis O’Connor, were a comically creative masterpiece.




As for the opera, it was simply adorable: witty, funny, thought-provoking, charming and one of the most thoroughly enjoyable I have seen. This was the UK premiere of Mirandolina by Martinu, written in the 1950s and first performed in 1959 in Switzerland. According to Safranek, Martinu described his opera as “a light, uncomplicated thing … gay from start to finish.”






The story is based on a work called La locandiera (the mistress of the inn) by 18th century Italian playwright, Goldoni, who has the somewhat unfavourable reputation of being ‘author of between two and five hundred comedies, all with happy endings and all exactly the same’. It’s a wonderfully compelling tale of the beautiful lady proprietor of an inn, the feisty Mirandolina, who has an unfailing ability to charm and win over men. Using her feminine wiles, she even works her magic on the ultimate misogynist, the Cavaliere of Ripafratta (brilliantly performed by Geoffrey Dolton, whose facial expressions alone are worth a trip to this production to see).


The opera notes read ‘The craft of the playwright depends on fashion as much as that of the couturier: in each case some follow and some lead, but both depend on immediate public approval.” Well, this performance certainly got my vote. As did some of the fabulous dresses in the audience, like the colourful one-shouldered creation worn by Minnie, above left (presumably spelt as in Minnie Mouse? Though she doesn’t look in the least bit mouse-like to me).


It's almost as bright as the hot pink and coral outfit I wore to the opera at Grange Park a couple of weeks back (see right). By the way, if you’re looking for something stylish to make you stand out from the opera crowd, might I suggest this vintage Clements Ribeiro hot pink torn silk apron dress from ShopCurious.




I’m so pleased to hear that the talented design-duo are returning to London Fashion Week this year.

Are you?

Bags (and pots) of gold

Not quite done with gold yet – one more post left (did I detect a snore?) Apologies if you're totally fed up after all the gold you’ve seen on the catwalks this season, but I'm going to be so bold as to suggest that you seriously consider gold’s long term investment potential and point you in the direction of this very comprehensive article from the Telegraph website, listing 10 ways to invest in gold…





By the way, I’ve come up with a curiously clever 11th way of investing in gold – how about these vintage gold handbags from ShopCurious? They’re unique, timeless pieces that may turn out to be collectors’ items and could actually appreciate in value too - plus they look great and are accessories that will work with a multitude of other colours.




The bags are also very reasonably priced, though if you want to invest a little more we’ve also got a luxury gold satin evening bag with diamante trim and exquisite kid lining (left), handmade by top designer Anya Hindmarch in her pre-'it bag' days – and it’s on sale!

There’s no doubt in my mind that the fashion for all things gold is only just beginning to gain momentum. I was even tempted to go searching for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow the other day, when I saw this magnificent arc of colour (see below) on the South London horizon – probably somewhere in Wimbledon. The rather ugly tower blocks either side add to the dramatic effect, don’t you think?








Anyway, at least this colourful addition to the skyline leads us nicely into our theme for July. If you’re curious to know more, join me in my next blog, where I’ll reveal all.

Will you?

Fool's gold?

Just thought I’d better point out that, in addition to bona fide pure and unadulterated gold, there also exists what is commonly known as ‘fool’s gold’. Take what seems to be a curiously generous proposition - add some disclaimers, plus a wadge of small print - and it's probably not nearly as genuine an offer as you originally anticipated ...





It’s worth taking a look at the gold rush phenomenon, which happened in various parts of the world in the mid-late 19th century. For instance, gold was first discovered in California on 24th January 1848 at Sutter’s Mill on American Fork River, when James W Marshall had the curiosity to examine some quartz rock lying in his mill stream. Shortly thereafter, immigrants were travelling from all over the world to San Francisco to dig for gold – however, as soon as winter 1850, the time for making fortunes was already almost over.




The events of the Californian gold rush prompted San Franciso born David Belasco to write a play, which in turn inspired Puccini to write one of his most dramatic operas, La Fanciulla del West – an abject lesson in the perils of speculation and a tragic tale of innocent lives lost in the pursuit of fool’s gold.







It used to be the streets of London that were considered to be paved with gold, but perhaps now it’s a city somewhere in the Middle East. I recently visited Dubai and, outside the entrance to my hotel (the highly recommended Royal Mirage), were these incredible hand painted gold camels (above) – curiously cool, if a tad over the top. Gold seekers who are into such conspicuous consumption might like to consider this rather unique gold plated baby pram, left.



I also heard that it’s possible to eat gold. I found this fascinating blog about edible gold and ten different ways to eat it – if you’re so inclined you can even feed 24 carat gold caviar to your dog! By the way, I also noticed that Waitrose’s brand spanking new branch in the Dubai Mall has what looks like gold leaf lettering instead of their usual green corporate logo …I suppose it blends in with the surroundings, but personally, I prefer the more authentic approach of the Organic Foods and Cafe, which seems to stand out as being altogether more original – and it’s much more eco-friendly and natural too.




Which leads us on to fool’s gold: it’s probably not a great idea to be taken in by the dazzling glitz of gold - and it’s definitely best to know about the provenance of any piece of jewellery you are buying. All of the stylish gold accessories in Sarah Bond’s Saretta collections, currently available at ShopCurious, are not only ethically sound, but have been hallmarked at the London Assay office.






Of course, these days, even with a relatively small amount of money, you can also invest quite sensibly in gold ETFs or buy gold coins with a value that is recognized the world over. I know what sort of gold I’d prefer to invest in though – I simply love this exquisite gold arm cuff...

Do you?