Burberry Prorsum AW11

I haven't had much chance to watch many live shows from this seasons London Fashion Week with me being extra busy at work and being in my third year at uni....but I made time to watch the always amazing Burberry Prorsum show, and again what a stunning show it was.

Before we were taken to the runway, we saw plenty of fashionistas entering the venue.....Kate Bosworth looked gorgeous in a Burberry studded coat, Ellie Goulding looked fab with her ice cream pink hair and creamy camel Burberry jacket, Alexa Chung looked stunning as ever, dressed in navy and black with a beautiful pop of pastel mint seen in her dainty bag- there was a plethora actually, of Burberry Bright bags making there way towards this seasons show.

Of course Anna Wintour came to see the fab show, and she brought something with her that I don't think I have ever seen her with, a smile...and her coat was fantastic, such a lovely print. I loved the way the show was screened and shot: the camera angle almost cut off the heads of most of the people on screen, so the clothing was key.

Anyway onto the show....

The gorgeous Jourdan Dunn opened and closed the show for Burberry AW11, but each look differed massively from the entrance to the exit. The show opened with a bright orange coat, the silhouette being oversized and quite boxy. After this look, many more Burberry brights came walking down the length of the runway. One of my favourite pieces, was a gorgeous Olive green coat- very practical but cut so well. This seasons silhouette looked quite boxy and as we saw with ss11, proportion play was definitely apparent in this show. I saw glimpses of military inspiration, there was a lot of lacquered black trimmings and fastenings on the jackets at Burberry. The coats looked very practical for aw11, which I love: to buy a piece of amazing fashion that actually does its job is fab! The jackets and heavy duty coats kind of gave me a 'prim and proper' sense but one with attitude and an edge. I loved the cute oversized flat caps too, with the dalmation-esque print, these were fun. The only print I saw from the show, other than the Cruella Devil white and black, was the tartan- in a variety of colours, mine being the monochromatic, of course. There was a gorgeous mix of textures on the runway too, I loved the 'posh poodle' sweaters and jackets. One colour theme I loved was a gorgeous black current purple with a soft beige-the colours just really worked together.

As for accessories the handbags were cute, and the shoes even cuter- they reminded me very much of a school girl shoe, but much more boxier and higher.

After Jourdan walked the last lap of the runway, the lights went down and came right back up again for the final walk through of the show- all the models walked the runway in very cute transparent sculptural raincoats, whilst snow fell from the sky.

This is why I love A/W.

Inspirations

First came Beth Levine...



then came...

Benoît Méléard.


Incredible design.

A Classic.

I love these images from the new SS/11 Dr Marten's collection.

The two models in the film are Phoenix Richmond and Louis Simonon (the son of the bassist from The Clash). Their look really catches the iconic feel and sense of the Dr Marten boot- this workwear, gritty punk look, but with a modern feel, with the clean lines of the styling.

Jamie Morgan, the photographer for this collection, has really captured the look of the brand within these images, you can understand he has real knowledge and style sense of the brand. I love the use of the stacked lacquered black chairs and the concrete blocks, the colours work really well with the shoes and the simple styling. Phoenix looks fab in her khaki green parka and those bottle green Dr Martens.

I love good old traditional brands that stick, and Dr Marten's will always be a classic.

Black Swan

Wow.

Just wow.

I saw the eagerly awaited film this afternoon and it really is incredible.

Natalie portman is just amazing, her portrayal of both the white and black swan is just mesmerising.

I loved the costume throughout the film; the ballet tutus, the shrugs, the perfect pink ballet shoes and the contrast of the monochromatic theme that is adamant in every scene is stunning. The colour changes throughout the scenes as Portman's character, the ever angelic Nina, begins to mutate into the dark, black swan.

Nina is a ballerina in a heavily competitive ballet company in NYC, her life is dance and nothing else: never has the saying, born to dance, been so right for this woman, this woman who strives for perfection so much so it becomes part of her downfall.
Nina is given the main character of the Swan Lake performance, the Swan Queen, a part she has wanted and worked for for such a long time, yet she hasn't got the role as she wants it completely, when Lily (Mila Cunis), another dancer in the ballet company, is always over her shoulder. The role for swan lake requires a dancer who can play the virgin like, ethereal white swan yet one that can turn and switch into the dark, sexy black swan. At first Nina seems to struggle with the formation into the black swan but after a night with the personified black Swan, Lily, she grasps the role and doesn't let anything get in her way.

Visually the film is just stunning. You understand certain choices of camera placement, fashion choices, lighting ideas: everything about the film hints at comparisons and the sheer starkness of black and white- the two sides and differences.

There were certain parts in the film that my eyes couldn't move from the screen, and others, where my eyes were covered with my hands. The film was everything I expected, Portman's portrayal of Nina is astonishing, and like I said visually this film is by far one of the best I have seen in a long time.