What should I wear on a British summer holiday?

Forget the cute shorts and rope sandals – pack your wellingtons and woollens instead. You can't bring on warm weather by dressing for it, and there's no point freezing to death.

I'm going on a girly break in Cornwall next week and am in a fashion quandary. I don't want to freeze to death but dressing in wintry clothes is depressing on a summer holiday.
Jane, by email

What to do? Jane, it seems to me that you – as so many correspondents to this column do – answered your own query in the letter. Yes, dressing in wintry clothes on a summer break is depressing. But you know what is even more depressing? Freezing to death.

Look, you would probably get a different answer if you wrote to one of the myriad British journalists around, but I'm going to give you some straight talkin' American advice here. There are many things I love about Britain: the national obsession with chocolate; the existence of Speaker's Corner; the fact that newspapers run front page stories about the health of the Queen's corgis.

But one thing I do not love and will never understand is the sense of pride some Britons take in being deliberately uncomfortable. You know, the ones who swim in the sea in November in the rain. The ones who insist on going on walks in lashing storms. The ones who seem to think they're residing on some kind of moral high ground by not turning on the heat until December, when all they're really residing on is a pile of their own smugness, which is all they have to heat their frostbitten bones.

I fully concur that Americans tend to take the whole "personal comfort" thing too far, with their overheated apartments and icy cold air conditioners, their giant cars that they drive 50 yards to go to the gym, and their insanely large portions of food. But really, there is a middle way, and seeing as "middle way" goes against every grain of American ethos (over there you're either a raging Muslim socialist or a swivel-eyed rightwing shock jock), then it is up to modern Brits such as yourself, Jane, to find it. There is nothing superior about making yourself uncomfortable. Rather, it is the person who feels genuinely at ease who should be the most commended, and that person is living in neither an unheated nor an overheated house.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/fashion/2013/may/27/what-wear-british-summer-holiday

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Lessons from the stylish: Bec Clarke

Are clothes important to Bec Clarke, a woman with more beautiful, precious jewellery than almost anyone else I know? Put it this way, she was sent home from her first job for wearing the wrong trousers. It was a fashion agency. She was front of house. The trousers were straight, not boot-cut. Catastrophe.

So it's probably not entirely coincidental that, almost two decades on, Clarke's daily uniform comprises of boot-cuts and blouses - low-cut usually, the better to show off her curves and her jewellery. She's dressed like this for years. She calls it east meets west London, although when we try to identify which bit of it is east London (she was actually raised in Islington, north London, so I think she just doesn't want to be identified as a pampered yummy mummy type) we're both stumped. "I suppose I dreamt of being edgy and androgynous, but with these boobs and bottom, it's not going to happen. Maybe I mean I'm half groomed, half mess. I'm definitely not experimental."

Lessons from the stylish: Lulu

If mess is the right word, it's more the sleek, Euro version than the mega-strength British genus. Her blonde hair, the colour of a Timotei ad, is lovingly nurtured at John Frieda ("I tried the €30 highlights in a salon near our house in Umbria and it was a disaster") and her nails are impeccable. They'd have to be, given that she's a walking advertisement for the colourful precious and semi-precious stones she has done so much to make accessible. "As a company it's increasingly important for us to present ourselves glamorously," she acknowledges.


Read More:http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/columns/lisa-armstrong/TMG10078373/Lessons-from-the-stylish-Bec-Clarke.html

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Zimbabwe: ‘Mugabe worksuits’ new fashion trend

A HEAVY-duty worksuit that is emblazoned with the signature of president Robert Mugabe is the latest fashion craze in Zimbabwe – and the designers claim orders are flooding in from outside the country.

Designers James Pande and Herbert Huruba say young Zimbabweans can’t get enough of their worksuits – even wearing them to football matches.

“What surprised us was the overwhelming orders and interest of people in the [suits],” said Mr Huruba, of local fashion house Hovhorosi $tyle.

“Currently we are seeking to fulfil an order we received from Scotland showing that we have gone platinum since our inception in the fashion industry,” he told the local Standard newspaper yesterday. It was not immediately clear which Scottish company has placed the order.

Available in green, yellow, orange, red and white, the one-piece worksuits were originally designed for delegates attending a conference of Mr Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party last year and bear the 89-year-old president’s signature across the front.

At £20 each, the overalls are not cheap in a nation where many earn less than £200 a month. Fans can purchase a matching beret for £7. Promotional materials show models pairing the overalls with stilettos, knee-high boots and the dark glasses Mr Mugabe favours.

Agents are selling them across the border in Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa, the ­designers claim.

They say the overalls will promote “solidarity and unity”, a catchphrase for Mr Mugabe’s dream of a one-party state.

But critics say they are being used to rebrand the octogenarian dictator ahead of elections this year – and warn that survivors of the last violent elections in 2008 may find them ­intimidating.

Youth militias dressed in not-dissimilar green uniforms rampaged through Zimbabwe’s rural areas after Mr Mugabe lost the first round of voting in March 2008, attacking anyone suspected of supporting Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change party.

Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/news/odd/zimbabwe-mugabe-worksuits-new-fashion-trend-1-2945163

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Jenna Lyons: fashion queen of America

The stylish J Crew creative director, with her colourful personal life and famous fans, is behind the rise of one of America's most influential brands. But will the UK love her look when her first shop opens here?

It is Memorial Day weekend in America, the unofficial start of summer, and my friend and her teenage daughter are in the Hamptons, having scored an invitation to stay at the beachside mansion of one of New York's wealthiest families.

"What are you going to wear?" I asked my friend, before she set off, mindful of the grey and drizzly weather and the fact that grand-style entertaining isn't her usual milieu. "Oh, I'm not worried," she replied breezily. "We went to J Crew."

A mother and daughter both buying clothes from the same retailer could be rather odd, but J Crew is a revered American fashion brand that manages to cater to the tastes of different generations. The clothes are affordable and stylish and wildly popular in the US. Last week, British shoppers got the chance to buy a limited J Crew collection at a pop-up shop in London's King's Cross, before the American retailer's high-profile and much-flagged first British shop opens in London's Regent Street in November.

Overseeing this foray into Britain is J Crew's president and creative director, Jenna Lyons, widely credited with transforming the company from a fashion retailer that had lost its way into a cult brand. The company has more than 300 branches in the US, a growing presence abroad and revenue of more than $2.2bn. The 44-year-old is currently the most high-profile woman in consumer fashion. This year, she was ranked in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People list.

Lyons has been with the brand for her entire career, having joined as a junior designer in 1990. When former Gap CEO Mickey Drexler took the reins of the struggling brand a decade ago, Lyons said that both she and the company were burned out by a corporate strategy that had lost interest in creativity and was simply trying to hold on to the bottom line. "We were lost soldiers, working away, following orders," she remembers of the era when J Crew lost its mojo. "I was shell-shocked… fried."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/theobserver/2013/may/26/profile-jenna-lyons-j-crew

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Kate Moss gets naked in St.Tropez

Kate Moss has become the new face and body of her long-trusted self tanning favourite, St.Tropez . "I have used St.Tropez since it started. Around 15 years ago, the first time I went to Ibiza, I didn't want to be the only white person on the beach so I had a St.Tropez," admits Moss.

During the campaign shoot (which you can go behind-the-scenes on in the video above) Moss explained why she loves a fake tan. "It makes me feel more confident, you just feel better when you look in the mirror and you look much healthier. Sometimes I think I feel terrible but I look great! There is no reason to go around with that pasty pallor anymore, which is really exciting."

So why is she now fronting St.Tropez? Because "it's a cool brand too," says Moss. "It is a natural looking tan which is most importantly what people want, they don't want something orange and unnatural. It is so easy to apply yourself, I always used to think you needed to have a professional spray tan but you don't have to anymore. St.Tropez has such a wardrobe of products, like skin polishers and tan optimisers that make it easy to apply yourself."

Read the full story : http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/beauty/news-features/TMG10045831/Kate-Moss-gets-naked-in-St.Tropez.html

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Rita Ora flashes her sexy midriff for night out with Harry Styles and model Cara Delevingne

Shine Ya Light singer Rita Ora went for a daring two-piece outfit last night, flashing her midriff to party with model friend Cara Delevingne and pal Harry Styles.

Rita, Cara and One Direction singer Harry hit the town for a War Child gig after Rita headed to the the Calvin Klein show and also to the Burberry catwalk to see Cara modelling earlier in the day.

Rita clearly doesn't mind the February chill – she'd already showed off her toned tum in a black satin combo earlier in the day before changing into retro print trousers and bright orange crop top for the evening.

Rita looked the epitome of style as she partied the night away with her new-found gang.


Read more at http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk

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Beyoncé To Perform At 2013 Brit Awards

BEYONCÉ KNOWLES will perform at the 2013 Brit Awards. The singer joins the line-up alongside British acts One Direction, Muse, Emeli Sandé and Robbie Williamson, who will also take to the stage. The news marks the start of a particularly busy year for Beyoncé, who is also preparing for a Destiny's Child reunion, the launch of her first fly-on-the-wall documentary and a much-hyped performance at the US Super Bowl half-time show. This year's Brit Awards will take place on Wednesday February 20, to be presented by James Corden and broadcast live on ITV1. Click through our gallery below to see the complete list of nominees. 17 JANUARY 2013 SARAH KARMALI










http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/01/17/beyonce-brit-awards-2013---performance-beyonce-knowles-perform-on-stage

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Stylist Jessica Paster: Designers Need To Be More “Open Minded”

STYLIST Jessica Paster believes that young designers need to be "a little more open" when deciding which stars to dress for events. Paster, responsible for the immaculate red carpet style of Miranda Kerr, Emily Blunt, Cate Blanchett and Fanning sisters Elle and Dakota - to name but a few - insists that it's not as easy to dress up-and-coming talent as it was 10 years ago. "You didn't see Jason Wu or Prabal Gurung on the red carpet [at the Golden Globes], because instead of them being a little open-minded, they're waiting to get these other people that they think they deserve," she said. "If you would've put a Prabal Gurung on a beautiful actress, it would have been showcased and he would have sold four more dresses. Everyone is like, 'No, I want to dress Cate Blanchett. No, I want to dress Cate Blanchett. No, I want to dress Cate Blanchett." The stylist continued to explain that she believes the problem lies with both the PR ("they're not public relations, they're dress traffickers") and the designer - while also expanding upon the lucrative effect that a red carpet outing can have on a label's sales. "They want the most famous person, and they're losing the chance to get their work shown. There are two reasons to dress somebody on the red carpet: ego or business. I just feel that these up-and-coming designers that are fabulous and amazingly talented should be a little more open," she told Fashionista. "If they can get their dress on a certain person on a red carpet, that's going to sell their clothing. But instead these designers have to go and do a line with - so and so, or for Kmart - they have to do those things because obviously their clothes are not selling."









16 JANUARY 2013 SARAH KARMALI
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/01/16/jessica-paster-stylist---celebrity-red-carpet-style---miranda-kerr-cate-blanchett-emily-blunt

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