Buckets and Spades: The 577 Seaside Pack

The British coastline might not have the sparkling white sand of Hawaii, or Okinawa's crystal blue water, but there is something rather charming about its faded glamour. The Solway Firth in Cumbria, in particular, has bucket loads of melancholic romance; the waters are rough and grey, the heavens more often than not are clouded over, so it's impossible to determine where the sea ends and the sky begins. It is is bleak and beautiful, a bit like how one imagines that Heathcliff might look on the inside.

Little Sis' snap of The Solway Firth - as it was a clear day, you can see Scotland in the distance

The Kimono Monogatari

All textures, patterns and shapes of kimono-inspired clothing have been hitting the high street, but when first faced with the flowy garment we scratched our heads in wonder about what to pair it with. After some experimentation and field research on the fashionable streets of London, we have prepared three different kimono pairings to take you from day to night this Spring! 

  Relaxed Morning

Knit Kimono Top - Monki | Green Silky Cami - Topshop | Hawaiian Print Sneakers - Nike | Tote Bag - BAGGU | Royal Navy Nail Polish - Butter London | Boyfriend Jeans - GAP

Bruised Bananas

Last week we ambled off, porcelain doll friend in tow, to the HIGH launch party. Recently introduced to the brand, we have developed all consuming obsessions with their perfect rucksacks and bewitching boho dresses. 

Smooth Criminal

 

There are times when one finds oneself in a bit of a bind and screams “I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR” -- this is the well documented (maybe) phenomena known as sartorial sink or swim time. If you’re like our porcelain doll of a friend, Steph, then when life gives you lemons you make lemony lemony lemon drink (patent pending) and raid the wardrobe of a your very stylish and conveniently absent friend. 

Who said that crime doesn't pay? 

The Craft

Like a pair of incredibly creepy twins, we have recently taken to haunting the streets of North London in our matching dresses. When we saw these dresses, we knew that there was one thing for it, we had to amp up the 90s! As fans of every type of TV witchcraftery - Sabrina, The Teenage Witch (Siobhan), Charmed (Miriam) - we wanted to pay homage to what is perhaps the greatest teen witch film ever made The Craft. Light as a feather, stiff as a board, we attempted to cast spells to stop traffic in order to get some of these creepy shots. 

Recently introduced to the brand HIGH, last night we found ourselves at the launch of their very pretty flagship store -- floraltastic post to follow -- when who did we see, but Harry Potter star, Helena Bonham Carter herself. It's Bellatrix, bitch. 

LFW: Pringle of Scotland AW14

  Siobhan & Miriam's favorite looks from Pringle of Scotland AW14 (respectively) courtesy Vogue.com. To see the whole collection, click here.

From the beautifully gilded location of the Savile Club in Mayfair, came a surprisingly lovely Pringle presentation. To be honest, we weren't half as looking forward to this  as we were to some of the other shows, but were pleasantly surprised by the heritage brand's expression of the Sports Luxe aesthetic and its innovative use of 3D Printing. Even Sad Keanu would surely smile to see that 3D printing has made its ready to wear debut in the form of matte sequins!

LFW: Nasir Mazhar AW14

Siobhan & Miriam's favorite looks from Nasir Mazhar AW14 (respectively) courtesy Vogue.com

To see the whole collection, click here.

From the TLC references, to the heavy handed use of metallic there was a lot to like about this show, not least the pounding rap soundtrack, which had us awkwardly trying not to seat dance. There were strong streetwear elements and Mazhar's hat making background was apparent, with his signature box peak cap cropping up in most of the looks, but with stomping cyber-goth boots and 90s chola hair and makeup references, it was clear that he had found inspiration in many style tribes. Have a look at our snaps from the show and try to tell us that you don't want to join a girl gang.

 

Warehouse Flagship Store

As we mentioned on our Haim concert post, we attended the launch party for the new Warehouse concept store last week and it was an absolute blast! Fruity cocktails, promises of polaroid pictures, 90s R&B spinning in the background and all the lovely new items for Spring decorating the shop was a recipe for ultimate RF enjoyment.

LFW: Fyodor Golan AW14

Siobhan & Miriam's favorite looks from Fyodor Golan AW14 (respectively) courtesy Vogue.com

To see the whole collection, click here.

Having seen Fyodor Golan's Fashion in Motion at the V&A, this was one show that we were really looking forward to and it certainly was arresting! Inspired by the duo's recent trip to Cambodia and Burma, the collection had strong streetwear elements, heaps of pink and metallic in abundance, which meant that our eyes were on stalks throughout.

LFW: Jean-Pierre Braganza AW14

Miriam & Siobhan's favorite looks from Jean-Pierre Braganza AW14 (respectively) courtesy of Style.com, to see the whole collection, click here

Jean-Pierre Braganza's Baroque n' Roll collection was one of the most memorable from our time at LFW. The show began with oversized biker jackets and dramatic skirts with metallic splatter prints, perfect for channeling our inner moody artists. Later looks in the collection made us wanna scream "Rock me, Amadeus!" as we saw digital prints of Artemisia Gentileschi's artwork grace skirts and blouses.

Well Fancy That: Clueless Inspired

Stop whatever you're doing and look at this! Iggy Azelea's new video, Fancy, is a recreation of one of the finest films that the world has ever seen. Clueless has had such a profound effect on us, that now if we see that Paul Rudd is in a film, we take it as a mark of quality. In the music video, Iggy plays the confident but ditzy Cher and another recent musical favorite, Charli XCX, portrays the adorable Ty quite flawlessly. We recommend rewatching Clueless immediately after for optimal enjoyment and if your appetite is still not satiated, then look no further; we have gathered together the essentials, just in case you feel inclined to dress as Cher, bump some No Doubt in your white Jeep and exclaim "As if!" with your color-coordinated BFF.

Haim & The RF Anthem

Happy International Women's Day, everyone! 

This week, courtesy of RF Ken Doll, who seems to be intent on reaching hitherto unheard of levels of awesomeness, we found ourselves at the Haim gig in lovely Brixton. We haven't exactly been backwards in coming forwards in declaring our love for Haim (and here too!), but safe to say, that it was cemented with diamonds on Thursday. We met up earlier in the day and found ourselves guffawing at our own synchronicity  again (textured outerwear, monochrome, matching holographic nail polish and new fringes). We bounced around central for most of the day and inhaled bowls of Japanese ramen at Bone Daddies for lunch. We somehow even managed to find time to drop into the brand spanking new Warehouse on Oxford street, which piqued our interest in overalls to an all-time high. But as the night fell, we merrily skipped to Brixton where we danced and sang our asses off to Haim's thrilling performance. 

Lammily: The Normal Barbie

Will Lammily usurp Barbie? 

This week Nickolay Lamm raised enough money from his Kickstarter page to begin manufacturing and selling Lammily. In case you haven't heard of her, Lammily is a doll based on the proportions of an average 19 year old American girl and was designed to promote realistic beauty standards. Because, as her critics love to point out, were Barbie a real woman, her jumper-bumps would be so large and her feet so tiny, she would simply topple over.  Well, realistic beauty standards are all well and good, but  call us shallow (you won't be the first) is it really necessary that Lammily's wardrobe be imbued with the same spirit of "average"? As Barbie's wardrobe gets ever more exciting, it would have been nice to see Lammily in something a little less boring, after all, there's nothing wrong with a bit of aspiration.

LFW: Street Style Exhibit B

 Introducing our second example of the amazing street style from London Fashion Week -- enter Katie Bowkett! Student at London College of Fashion, with personality that twinkles and style never ending, Katie was one of our oh-so-kind navigators during our first fashion week experience, introduced to us thanks to our Übermentor Sasha Wilkins. We'd like to thank her again for her kindness and wish her lots of unicorn luck as she finishes embellishing pants (a.k.a. underwear for the Yankees out there) for what is going to be one SPECTACULAR menswear collection.

Oscars 2014 Best Dressed

Nope, no idea who won what, but we're sure it was a very lovely, inoffensive affair (bring back Ricky Gervais we say). What we do know, is whose red carpet looks we liked the best and so, without further ado, we would like to award our fashion Oscars to...*drum roll as the air bristles with tension*

Lupita Nyong'o

Who really ought to be awarded with the fashion equivalent of the Victoria Cross for her dedication to making the red carpet a much more delightful place. Her rainbow of dresses make us ever more certain that she is in fact The Last Unicorn - speaking of, how many nominations did that film receive this year? 

LFW: NEWGEN's Claire Barrow

 

Siobhan & Miriam's favorite looks from Claire Barrow AW14 (respectively) courtesy of London Fashion Week. To see the whole collection, click here.

NEWGEN, created in 1993 by the British Fashion Council to recognise and support a new generation of talent, has an incredibly impressive roll call and from its ranks have emerged Alexander McQueen, Christopher Kane and one of our personal favourite design duos (we do love a good duo) Meadham Kirchoff. Hot on their heels is the incredibly lovely and preposterously talented Claire Barrow.