Rachel Weisz covers the new British Vogue
TFS

Vogue UK's covers have been incredibly hit and miss so far this year. I honestly don't understand how you can create beautiful and simple shots like these and terrible ones like Sienna Miller or the Adele one last year.
Thankfully, the July issue is back on track with a stunning Rachel Weisz shot by Alasdair McLellan. I love the contrast between the blue of the jumper and the bright red of the chair and hot the orange adds an extra pop of colour. It might not have the strongest Summer feel – it would have been a great October cover – but it is super chic and it feels British to me.
I am super curious to see what the inside story is like, especially in terms of styling. I am hoping for a simple and elegant shoot in the country side with cozy jumpers and maxi skirts sipping coffee on old wooden benches.

What do you think?

Shoe Porn Friday: Cesare Paciotti's pink-and-orange pumps
Getty

I didn't even mention the Kids' Choice Awards earlier this week because there weren't any looks that particularly caught my attention. I thought any of the Best Dressed of the Weekend ladies did a much better job. However, there was a particular pair of shoes that I absolutely loved.
Selena Gomez turned up to the awards wearing a sexy Dolce & Gabbana number, which she accessorised with the most amazing pair of Cesare Paciotti heels! They gave the look a perfect summer touch but I feel like they would have shone more if worn with a more neutral and chic ensemble.
The shoes belong to the designer's SS12 collection and mix together fuchsia and bright orange – a colours combination I've been crazy about for ages and one that John Galliano would usually resort to in his SS collections.
I haven't been able to find the shoes on sale online but they look like a perfect investment for the new season. What do you think?

A closer look at Giorgio & Emporio Armani FW12
Know Wear, Courtesy of Armani

This week I stopped by the Armani showroom in London to have a closer look at the Giorgio and Emporio Armani collections. It's brands like Armani whose focus is on subtle elegance that make press days worth it. Only up close you can see the incredible amount of details that all the clothes have.
I must admit that I was especially keen on all the orange pieces. Lately, Armani has a way of using very bold colours and making them so special. The knot dress to the right was a highlight as was the beaded jacket or the bag below. Speaking of which, GA's accessories were particularly strong this season with a lot of clean modern lines of architectural air.
I also loved the textures, which have always been an Armani signature. The velvet jackets and slippers (you know how much I love them at the moment) were some of my favourites. I also loved the colourful sequinned jacket, which would make an exquisite evening look even for the summer paired with simple black jeans and a t-shirt.

Style.com, Telegraph Fashion

It's funny how during London Fashion Week this season I kept running into Eliza Doolittle. I've obviously never met her but we kept being sat opposite each other and after 2 or 3 shows where this happened you could tell that she found it as amusing as I did. She's not only really beautiful in person but she's got this really cool vibe.
My favourite two looks of her were both Christopher Kane. It was kind of lucky that London gave us one or two sunny days because it left room for people to give Resort 2012 a shot. I love the whole Christopher Kane cruise collection, as you might remember me saying a few months ago.
I loved Eliza in the rainbow jumper (I sat opposite her at Christopher Kane when she was wearing this). She totally feeling the colour blocking that day and I love how she wore a very casual outfit with really high platform pumps. I don't think this would've worked on many people but on her looks ace! And I loved, of course, the asymmetric tangerine dress with the pleated skirt. This might sound silly but I love the contrast of the straight pleats with her long curly hair.

Baby, you can drive my car

Céline is one of my favourite brands of the last few seasons. Ever since Phoebe Philo stepped in as creative director I find it intensely alluring. For fw11 minimalism acquires a certain 70's air. Philo says she was inspired by cars interiors (I love the wood prints) and you can see it in the precise but dynamic straight lines that she has used in her tailoring. Two of the most stand-out pieces of the collection have got to be the bright orange coat, which had a certain rawness to it, and the tri-colour fur coat —one of the best fur proposals from the season. I liked the sort of sportswear air to the more rigid pieces like the tailored trousers or the shirts and I found the colour palette very interesting, as some of the colours didn't appear more than once or twice. Is this the birth of aerodynamic chic?

And Phoebe is just so... Céline. She's so chic and minimal and, well, British. What else can I say?

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

Burberry Prorsum fw11

It is probably fair to say that Burberry's show during each London Fashion Week is the highlight of the event. That's not to say everyone else isn't as good but no show is as big and covered as Burberry Prorsum. For fw11 Christopher Bailey chose a new venue in Kensington Gardens. If you attended or watched the show online you were probably as amazed as I was with how beautiful the park looked even on a grey rainy day. To compensate for this Burberry delivered a collection mostly based on coats. Bailey has clearly realised the power he acquired over outerwear when he became the king of shearling and he's not going to let go easily. This time he reinterpreted the trench in thick woollen fabrics and and bold shades of orange and cherry red as well as the brand's iconic checks. The collection was very much in line with the menswear shown in Milan a month ago . We also saw exquisite white jackets and coats covered in rabbit fur and tied to at the waist with leather bows. It was a softer more gentle collection than last winter's yet it retained that feeling of empowerment that wearing a Burberry coat gives.

As it could be expected, plenty of celebrities turned up to watch the show from the incredibly long front row. I was, of course, thrilled to see Rachel Bilson and Kate Bosworth arrive. I wasn't too keen on Bilson's long Burberry anorak for the event but she'll have to be excused, for she lives in ever-sunny LA. Bosworth, on the other hand, casually strolled in and posed for pictures in an unbelievable gold studded pencil skirt accompanied by that biker jacket we all want watching the colour of the skirt. She was, as I see it, the best dressed of the event. Even outdoing Lily Donaldson and Alexa Chung. The last attendee to report was, of course, Anna Wintour. Being a Brit at heart, she could hardly miss this!

I'm off.

[Pictures: Courtesy of Buberry]

Drew & Jil

I love Jil Sander's SS11 collection of bold-coloured semi-Couture since before I even saw it. I guessed a genius season when I first saw the men's show at Pitti last year. I think Drew looks really alive in this dress. I know it seems like an obvious and almost stupid thing to say but that's the best way to describe her. Just like it happened to Victoria Beckham in the orange Versace dress from seasons ago. There is something about orange dresses that makes me excited. Maybe because they're slowly becoming a classic. In any case, Drew looks incredible and she gives Jil Sander a whole different vibe than Kate Bosworth did (she looked beyond, though) a few weeks ago.

What do you think of the collection?
PS. I changed the picture because I believe the right shot will convince the unbelievers of how good this choice was.
I'm off.

[Picture: Zimbio.com]

Look ahead and be bold

You know how much I love when people wear clothes way ahead of season. I have tried to refrain from bombarding you with posts of celebrities wearing SS11 looks that haven't even finished being produced to hit the stores in the spring but this was too good to resist. On Monday night, Diane Kruger and Gwyneth Paltrow attended an ELLE event in Beverly Hills and, as Francisco Costa's muses, they both donned Calvin Klein Collection. And not only both their dresses are from the SS11 line but the two looks weren't even in the catwalk show. If you remember the CK show you'll know that apart from a lot of white, some black and the odd blue there was only one bright-coloured dress that kind of resembles Kruger's. I'm a big fan of the looks that designers create outside the runway as more "commercial" pieces, which real people will be more likely to wear. And I particularly like the two cocktail dresses below because there is nothing better than a strong shape (that suits your body and personality) and a good colour (that compliments your hair and skin tone). Not to mention how bang-on future trend they are.

I'm off.

[Pictures: JustJared.buzznet.com]

Forza Italia

Even though Jil Sander and Haider Ackermann had been the first catwalk shows to open the SS11 season at the Pitti trade fair Men's fashion week officially kicked off in Milan yesterday with big names the likes of Burberry Prorsum and Dolce & Gabbana opening. I am trying hard to catch up as I was flying home yesterday so I decided to sum up the first of the first day in one post. I will, from now on, try to make individual posts of my favourite shows and review them.

Jil Sander was the first show to be streamed live and both the collection and the location of the show lived up to the excitement that first shows entail. Talk about colour blocking. Raf Simons epitomised the famous trend with taste and skill. The bold colours appeared to have been carefully hand-picked to only use the best shades, including the über-famous Klein blue. Tailoring was the protagonist of the collection, with slight variations like crotch-scrathing shorts and belted blazers. And the colourful soles of the shoes were to die for.

Christopher Bailey made me smile. Despite how much I loved the shearling jackets from Burberry Prorsum's FW10 collection I was overall a little disappointed in Bailey's restraint. That's why I loved SS11 so much. The Burberry essence is ever present in the shape of the staple suits and trench coats and the brand's iconic colours. But SS11 introduced a hardness factor by means of leather and spikes that seems almost medieval which creates the most interesting combinations of texture in contrast with the remains of Burberry's traditional romantic softness. A collection absolutely packed with future best-selling items.

Domenico and Stefano already redirected their men's line for FW10 taking inspiration from the Sicily of the 1920's. They opted for the kind of all-star Italian clothing that had put Italy in the fashion map in the past. Fortunately, they continued to follow that line for SS11. They celebrated their 20 anniversary with the most delightful colour palette of whites and faded greys and blues. The kind of clothes a Mediterranean man was expected to wear for Sunday mass when the sun was shine bright and hot. I absolutely melt at the light creme and white combos for suits and the utterly retro underwear.

To me, Corneliani was all about the trousers. They took the baggy linen suit trouser Armani has been doing for years and reformatted it for the younger, cooler man. They wrinkle just the right amount at the bottom to add a touch of casualness without the risk of looking sloppy.

Season after season I always love Trussardi. There is something so Italian and so cool about it that simply drives me crazy. For SS11 they picked up on leopard just as so many women's Cruise'11 lines did. And they did so in just the right amount so as to not look tacky. It is true YSL had done the same belt before and Acne the same desert boots but Trussardi takes it to a new level by creating jackets in blue and khaki leopard prints that hadn't been done before in menswear. I simply can't wait to get a hold of most of the pieces from this collection.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com, GQ.com, DianePernet.typepad.com]

good locks

I recently came across Ana Locking. In her SS10 collection showcased at Madrid Fashion Week, the Spanish designer created a cocktail of old school glamour and current coolness. All of the pieces bubble over with sophistication but the type that only Leighton Meester, Diane Kruger or Leigh Lezark are capable of.

Click here to see Ana Locking's whole collection and line of accessories.
Which piece would you wear?

I'm off.

ORANGE is the new pink

It takes time and good effort to kick a king colour out but, above all, it takes a bored audience in need of a fresher proposition. And this is the case of good ol’ pink. It has been one of the key hues for decades, predominating in fashionistas’ and self-proclaimed girly girls’ wardrobes. But the time always comes when change calls for itself and we can’t but applaud. Orange is quickly catching up taking advantage of pink’s decadence. The occurrence of such a change could not go unnoticed on the red carpet. Have a look at the innovative celebrities who took a risk when the process was only starting out.

Sophia Bush and Victoria Beckham were two of the first ones who dared to cover their skin with the bold colour. They both went for simple cuts and subtle draping and accessories that didn’t get much attention away.

American indie princess Kristen Dunst also chose a very simplistic silhouette in a darker shade and accompanied it with white retro accessories. Cameron Diaz found a very sexy short dress in a dark orange as well. In her case cuteness in brought into the picture by a decreasing line of ruffles.

Gucci’s resort 2009 collection introduced orange in responsible doses to a major part of the collection. It was this maxi dress, however, that is almost an homage to the new king colour. Natasha Poly wore it to Gucci’s 70th Anniversary with her hair down, as did Blake Lively also showcasing her golden threads.

The last famous portrayer of the latest popular colour has been Maggie Gyllenhaal, who wore a beautifully laced and semi-see-through dress that definitely matched her adorable green eyes. Are we looking at the next style transformation à la Gwyneth?

[Picture credits: JustJared and Style.com]

It’s great to be back!
I’m off.

PS. Comments will be answered during the next few days. Thanks again for keeping on coming back.

HIDEOUS gossip

This is the show we long to watch, the one that makes Mondays (or beginnings of the week for us, Europeans) worth living. And to all fashion lovers and freaks, it is also a 45-minute display of endless wardrobe changes and, therefore, surprises and disappointments. It's one of the latter that inspired this post. Gossip Girl has kept us amazed for a few months now with, if you agree, quite a flawless costume design for every single character. However, such accomplishments shall not endure much longer. As I am sure most of you have already seen on your much-needed, daily-updated gossip blogs, there is a wedding coming up in the show. I personally consider weddings the top 1 occasion in which people manage to screw up big time in the clothing department. Tacky, trashy and overdone would probably be the three most used words when I attend one of these ceremonies. Considering the fashion magnitude of the series all this ought not to be a problem at all, nonetheless, it seems even the most skillful stylist can't always get it right. Eric Daman —an old Patricia Field apprentice in the SATC times— couldn't most definitely be on his senses when he picked up Blair's, Vanessa's and Nate's ensembles for the union of the houses of van der Woodsen and Bass. Queen B's pink madness is unflattering both in colour and fitting terms, she looks paler and far from the teen-on-a-power-trip look they often go for with her. Vanessa's expression speaks for itself, although this time the dress does not fit her badly, it's the details and that awful blurred print that make it an absolute fashion faux-pas —non-plus, I'll add. On the male side of things, Mr. Archibald junior goes back to the gangster Chicago of the fifties, in a striped, three-button suit and equally striped shirt. As if the mismatch was not enough, it was decided he should wear brown suede shoes (already seen several times on the show) instead of some good old classic black ones. This will teach Mr. Daman how aiming at a too distant target simply ends up in failure.

On the bright side of things —stylistically speaking, of course— I'd like to make a little flashback to 2006, when The O.C. said goodbye to Marissa Cooper in her dream Chanel from that year's S/S collection. She pulled it off beautifully for graduation paired up with a rope version of gladiators. Back to 2008 we may rest assure not many more unfortunate choices will come our fave show's way. "Living" proof of it is Serena's gown for her mother's wedding —an outstanding sheer Ralph Lauren mixing yellow and florals beautifully together with it's greatly layered skirt and the discrete yet sophisticated details and accessories.

[Pictures credit: JustJared and BlakeLively.net]

I'm off.

project ORANGE

First of, I want to apologize to those who will have Project Runway's finale spoiled for reading this. I myself encountered a dilemma, should I or should I not sneak a peek at the celebrity guest judge? Well, the web is wide (hence www) and I did not really have a choice. I've been missing Project Runway season 4 since the very beginning, I'm sad because that show really kept me well entertained. The only thing I will now spoil, since that's too the only treat I've given myself before I actually whatch the show, is the guest judge part. Formidable stiff icon Victoria Beckham pulled off a beautiful tangerine gown by Versace with the appropiate matching shoes, clearly one of her fashion signatures.

Whose fruit do you like better, VB's or Giselle's high neck?

[Credit photos: JustJared]

I'm off.