LFW A/W14: House of Holland and Paul Smith Dressing Women for Women

Some people say you should dress for yourself; others say you should dress for the job you want, or for a man. However, the option of dressing for other women is also a potent one, and it's been taken to heart by two polar opposite designers at London Fashion Week - Henry Holland, the man behind House of Holland, and Paul Smith. 

 [Images via Style.com]. HOH brings the iridescence to the yard.

Paul Smith's laid-back eveningwear as daywear: the student's dream. Note the damask trousers, too.

Whilst the collections are hardly identical, with HOH offering a heady mix of slogans, sequins and fur whilst Paul Smith showed off dark prints and upper-class pyjama party chic, I did find some similar takeaways from them. Both took advantage of damask prints to great effect and both used shiny finishes to give their catwalk looks that extra bit of polish, but ultimately it felt that both were dressing women without the need to gain a man's seal of approval. 

 Henry Holland can do cocktail hour, and even an LBD. 

You can never have too many prints, Mr. Smith.

These were not great looks for first dates with a man, meeting his parents or going to a job interview (even Smith's brilliantly louche suits wouldn't have gone down well with a male-led HR department) and they weren't aimed at catching a man's eye across the bar. These were pure fashion looks, aimed at the sisterhood and, in the case of Smith, borrowing from the boys in order to subvert masculinity. 

 Layer it up as you like over at HOH.

The boys would never look this good in masculine tailoring.

Meanwhile, HOH's lipstick and cocktail decor, set beside gauzy layers over ripped jeans, was certainly bold and brassy, but probably not likely to get many seals of approval were it donned by the ladies of Take Me Out. Instead, I felt it was about celebrating girliness and not giving a toss about what men want to see you in.

It's really liberating to see British designers bringing such a carefree attitude to dressing and not to prescribe women yet more body-con dresses or man-pleasing basics. We love clashing patterns, playing with textures and wearing something daring, so keep up the good work. Not all of us are dressing to please the men in our lives, and we don't intend to start any time soon.

Culture Cloud: 10 Great Books by Women

When a friend of mine recently admitted that he'd never read a book written by a woman, I thought he had a pretty terrible sense of humour; then I realised he wasn't joking. Aside from being prescribed dreary novels in secondary school that he never actually finished, he'd not been introduced to any women writers, which really got me thinking about which ones I'd recommend first. 

Admittedly when thinking about my very favourite books, they're all penned by blokes (not something I'm proud of as a feminist), and I was desperate to contradict this with some solid ideas on who to dig out of the library first. Here are my top suggestions for books written by women:

 [Book cover design by Levante Szabo for the Re-Covered Books challenge].

1. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë

Yep, let's start with the obvious ones. Jane Eyre is one of the best written female protagonists in literary history, who isn't afraid to fight back when her cousin bullies her in the novel's early stages and isn't about to bow down to the backwards-thinking control freak St. John in its later chapters. In between she sleeps in ditches, braves a fire and faces the most prominent instance of  'the madwoman in the attic' from Gothic literature that would soon become a stereotypical plot device for writers across the world. Oh, and she doesn't look like a Disney princess, which is always refreshing.

2. The Color Purple - Alice Walker

With a heartbreaking life story, Walker's narrator Celie has definitely been through the mill (we're talking a good few years' worth of soap opera plots thrown at one character). The book follows her in 1930s America as a downtrodden woman who's trying to emancipate herself and move on from everything she's been through. Male characters are typically violent, cruel or easily led, whereas the females are generally world-weary and streetwise, including the brilliantly named jazz singer Shug Avery.

3. A Spy in the House of Love - Anais Nin

There's nothing like a dysfunctional lead character to keep you on your toes. In the case of Nin's Sabina, we're following a 'fire-bird' who is unpredictable, needy and not afraid to get what she wants.  In modern day terms she'd be diagnosed as having sex addiction and sent to regular meetings, but instead we see her in bars and desperately dialing a mysterious figure known as the lie detector.

4. The Best of Everything - Rona Jaffe


A frank and amazingly poignant look at life at the bottom of the career ladder for four women in 1950s New York, without the buoyancy of Sex and the City's altercations with men (try something more along the implied lines of 'pervy boss, cheating bastard and lying idiot' rather than any of the hilarious monikers coined by Carrie et al). The main protagonist wants more than a life in the typing pool followed by marriage to a complete pillock, and she's going to fight for it.

5. The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - Anne Brontë

If you like your female role models with serious guts then this is the book for you. Married to a drunken and abusive husband, at a time when women had no rights, our heroine ups sticks with her young son and makes a new life for them under a different name. Using a plot device of a story within a story (much like her sister Emily's Wuthering Heights) there's a lot to be revealed once you get beneath the surface of this novel.

6. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold

Although the subsequent film adaptation by Peter Jackson didn't quite live up to the hype, The Lovely Bones is a cult story for good reason. With a unique viewpoint, we're invited into the world of Susie Salmon who has been murdered aged 13 and is watching over her community (including the killer) as the fallout of her death continues to affect everyone she left behind. You don't have to be a softie to cry at this. 

 [Book cover from the Virago Modern Classics series].

7. Wise Children - Angela Carter 

A family saga but with a huge dose of comedy and just about the strangest group of relatives you've ever met, this is one book to devour. Featuring an acting dynasty, bastardised kids and some hilarious anecdotes, it's hard to put down and also likely to make your grandparents look incredibly dull in comparison. You might also not be able to think of St. Paul's Cathedral in the same way again, thanks to Carter's sharp way with words.  

8. Regeneration - Pat Barker

The first book of the Regeneration trilogy but worth a read in its own right, Barker delves into the lives of World War One soldiers suffering from shell-shock and what is essentially Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Using a mixture of imagined and real occurrences at the Craiglockhart Hospital in Edinburgh, with a particular emphasis on nerves and neurological treatments, it's a fascinating look at a pivotal time in history, with the war poet Siegfried Sassoon being an important character and yet another blur in the lines of fact and fiction.

9. Prozac Nation - Elizabeth Wurtzel

I'm not usually one for autobiographical reading, but Wurtzel has a lot to say for herself and she's an important mouthpiece for discussing the much-stigmatised topic of mental illness. Suffering depression and trying to create some semblance of a normal life around it as she goes to university and tries to carry on, Wurtzel's memoir is a powerful commentary on a condition that is often brushed under the carpet. She's now a successful writer and occasionally pops up in my copies of Elle Magazine.

10. The Book of Human Skin - Michelle Lovric

I've written a lot about this book and keep trying to pass it onto other readers. It's a very unorthodox but compelling story featuring a psychopathic nun, a simple but loveable servant and one of the most evil characters you'll ever meet. If the title puts you off then you're missing out (and the actual storyline isn't too gruesome, so there's no need to panic).

Other contenders that didn't make my Top 10 but deserve a mention:

• Bonjour, Tristesse by Francois Sagan - written when the author was 18, this is a coming-of-age novel that looks at the difficult relationship between a young girl and one of her father's girlfriends, who poses a threat as she doesn't seem to have the transience of his other partners.
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - another twist on 'the madwoman in the attic', but this time with her husband's ex-wife always at the back of the mind of our narrator, who has some very big shoes to fill. Housekeeper Mrs. Danvers is a potential candidate for most loyal staff member of the century, with her devotion to the first Mrs. de Winter.
• Brick Lane by Monica Ali - now something of a modern classic, Ali's book caused controversy for its portrayal of Anglo-Bangladeshi life in Tower Hamlets. There's a lot to be taken from the story of Nazneen, who has an arranged marriage and moves to the Brick Lane area with her new husband, knowing scant English.
• Blonde Roots by Bernadine Evaristo - a bold re-imagining of slavery with white citizens as the mistreated, looking at role reversals. By turning things upside down she is able to make the perpetrating race experience being victims, whilst also making us aware that many of the events taking place are not necessarily about race but they are about the corruption of power and of people.

Do you have any to add to the list? Let me know.

PFW A/W2012: Gareth Pugh in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

If you've read my blog before then you might well be aware of my Gareth Pugh fetish. I have been known to refer to him as 'God' and mean it. With no further introduction other than my space-age title, here's his latest offering from Paris Fashion Week.

 [Images from Style.com and collaged by me. Here's some of Pugh's trademark heavy black].

Volume is one of those things that we rave about in haircare and we long for with music. Pugh certainly turned things up a notch with this collection, which included stand-out pieces using multiple tassels, intense laser cutting and thigh-high boots worthy of the love child of Dick Turpin and a dominatrix. In a bad light, some of these pieces might look a bit like lampshades in their bell-like forms, but I really like how they stand out as labours of love in terms of craft. There were also a lot of fur-based pieces, but I preferred these more original and time-consuming outfits that felt more like works of art than fleeting fashion statements.

 Trapeze coats and handkerchief hems went to extreme lengths.

Looking at these examples of outerwear, my lowly grey New Look coat with its hanky hem felt a little outgunned. Still, when I wear it I do like the drama that comes with too many layers of fabric, and that's what Pugh has achieved, along with a sleek dose of space-age minimalism. I'm not sure the face guard/collar will catch on, but it would be bloody useful on a cold day (and probably highly hygienic in terms of keeping you away from the common cold - NHS, you might want to start a campaign with this one).

There's always an element of the unexpected in a Pugh collection. 

This season it was intergalactic quirks - Spock-style pointed collars, Dulux dog coats and Star Trek tops.

What Gareth Pugh does is to take an idea and run with it much further than others would. At the point where mainstream designers would panic about commercial appeal and wearability, he tells them to sod it. The models wore thin headbands in grey or black and their boots were tied up at various stages, rendering them like space goddesses (or maybe just neatly packaged parcels). Proportions were played with and the body became a blank canvas from which he created shapes and statements. 

All along the show also felt very feminist. Pugh does not design for a woman who panics about what a man thinks. He does not design for those who act as wallflowers or doormats. Even if you look like you've walked off the set of Star Trek, you are dressing for yourself, and that's what counts. 

Yet again, there are so many ideas to take away from a Gareth Pugh show. I can't wait to see where he takes us next.

The House of Eliott: 1920s fashion inspiration

[All images my own, taken as screen grabs from ITV3].
Recently on British television, we've been treated to a re-run of a cult period drama involving two sisters who establish their own fashion house during the 1920s. The House of Eliott involves quirky costumes and sharp dialogue as the duo navigate their way through the ups and downs of the industry. As the above image demonstrates, the long hemlines and ever-present hats are actually quite relevant to today's style - maxi skirts have become the staple choice for many women, whilst headgear is perfect for A/W11-12, whether it's a bowler, a trilby or a cloche hat.

Beatrice Eliott, the older of the sisters, is seen here rocking a pre-Gaga feathered headpiece and a sheer dress. Much of the fashion house's early success comes from wearing the clothing to society parties and getting it noticed by potential clients. It's basically the 1920s equivalent of subliminal advertising.

Younger sister Evangeline (known as Evie) opts for a velvet halterneck dress and a metallic floral headband. Because of the age gap between the pair, with Evie being 18 and Beatrice being 30, we get to see how fashion can transcend age boundaries and how flexible it can be.

Ignoring the not-very-1920s lipgloss, this image is a great example of period dressing. Evie's high neckline is typical of the time, as daywear still contained a lot of references to Edwardian trends and often involved covering up. Her floppy hat, with its striped band, gives a nod to the tricorn shape but has been updated in soft black fabric.

Did I mention they like hats? Beatrice's statement piece is this matte black choice, which she's paired with a blazer and a pinstripe satin shirt. Her use of tailoring shows that she means business and it emphasises her determination to survive in a masculine world.

Long live the strong fashionable female!

To get the look on the high street, try these:

• Topshop is great for hats and hairpieces. Last year it had a popular range of woolen turbans that were worn by Kylie Minogue. This year there's plenty of floppy 70s styles (think burgundy and tan) and some knitted headbands.
• Galibardy has plenty of intense jewellery that will make a statement, whether it's a cocktail ring or a vintage-looking necklace. Wear with satin and loose hair.
• Marks and Spencer currently has a brilliant black pleated maxi-skirt in its Limited Collection that would work well with a tailored white shirt and hobnail boots, if you want to give a nod to early 2oth century dressing.
  

Rookie Magazine: style imp Tavi launches an online publication

[Images taken as screenshots from Rookie Mag].
If you're fairly into blogs, you may have chanced upon the brilliant Style Rookie website from Tavi Gevinson, a young suburban American girl with strong views on fashion, feminism and popular culture. Building on her worldwide success, Gevinson has launched Rookie Magazine online to fill the gap of modern, self-aware teen publications that target the outsider instead of the popular girl. This is what the website looked like on its launch day today.

A shot that precedes the editor's letter shows just a glimpse of Gevinson's room (if you read Style Rookie then you'll be aware that she's recently posted about its decor on several occasions - it features a lot of trinkets, a whole section of Lula magazines, and plenty of references to The Virgin Suicides).

So, what can Rookie do that other teen publications can't? Judging by the site, it's going to be a lot more confrontational about the issues that today's young women face - the section with the most content so far is 'Live Through This', which deals with experiential pieces. Most of the other categories, such as Music, DIY, Sex + Love and Fiction have not yet been filled, but it's safe to assume that we will see leftfield or alternative slants on life. You're probably not going to see chart musicians who like to be airbrushed in photographs, or fiction that deals with recurring Robert Pattinson fantasies. I also really like the fact that the Sex + Love category puts sex before love (there are no delusions here that all teenagers want to fall head-over-heels and will be faithful to you for 20 years).

In her Editor's Letter, Gevinson states that: 'Rookie is a place to make the best of the beautiful pain and cringe-worthy awkwardness of being an adolescent girl'. There's going to be plenty of participation from readers, but the team at Rookie are conscious of the 2011-style risks of teens being in the public domain - a note on one page asking for visual submissions reminds us that 'We don’t want your faces in these pictures, though we have no doubt they’re lovely, for safety reasons'. It's clear that growing up in the 21st century is a radically different thing, but it's not necessarily removed from any other period of adolescence, because there are certain rites of passage that we've all gone through and that teenagers will continue to go through ad infinitum; you will always have a first kiss, a first period, a bevy of angry spots on your chin (unless you're incredibly lucky), a period of 'finding yourself', a daunting time of losing and gaining friends, and a few thousand arguments with your parents. The first posts have dealt with 'Great Expectations' - a brilliant article by Sady on being a disappointingly regular teen - and on how to get a quirky and slightly badass new look which is inspired by old films such as Rebel Without A Cause.

It will be incredibly interesting to see how Rookie Magazine develops and how it helps adolescents who would normally feel alienated from 'the norm'. Although Tavi is now the darling of the fashion world, she seems like a good spokesperson and editor for misfits everywhere. I only wish this had been around when I was young.

Visual Merchandising at Zara

[Images my own].

I would love to say that I understand the jazzy lampshade-on-head look that Zara is going for in menswear this season, but I don't. Their window dressers are, however, always pushing the envelope with a playful sense of vitality, and this display is no exception to the rule of thumb. It also features an unusually feminist angle, with the men semi-naked and resembling automatons, whilst the women take centre stage with clothes and accessories. Again, not all of it is wearable, but it grabs your attention on a dull day at the shops and it also gets people talking. Top marks for effort.