what to wear - new year's eve

new year's eve is that one special occasion where you get to dress to the nines and gorge on hors d'oeuvres and champagne and kiss whomever you wish.

with that in mind, i've compiled some inspired outfits to wear on that most glamourous of evenings, looking to three separate sources of inspiration...

the first is angelina jolie's glamourous red carpet look from the oscars. i always love black with a punch of colour and angelina's use of emeralds added a unique and unexpected pop to what was otherwise just an average little black dress ensemble.

she kept makeup simple with smokey cat eyes and neutral lips so as not to take away from the impact of her emerald earrings.

this was truly a fabulous look with an unexpected use of an otherwise underrated colour.

my second source of inspiration is something you can't escape on new year's eve, (so why not embrace it?)... champagne.

i've come up with two separate looks using a single colour scheme, champagne and black. this is my absolute favourite mix of colours; a blend which i think exudes elegance and glamour, almost efforlessly.

a little black dress pops with a sparkly champagne clutch and similar shoes. a champagne tinted dress sparkles on its own, so black accessories let it speak for itself. champagne lips and dramatic eyes are the finishing touch to this glass of bubbly.

my final inspiration is cranberry, a perfect colour for those cold winter evenings, it brightens up any room while still feeling seasonally appropriate. lace tights and a pop of berry lipstick complete the look.

whatever you choose to wear this new year's eve, have fun, be safe and bonne annee!

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and so this is christmas

i hope everyone had a merry, joyful, happy, food-filled, fabulous christmas!

I certainly did...

Dear Cartier Tank: you haunt my dreams

the cartier tank (louis cartier) is the ultimate little piece of luxury. worn by the greats (jackie kennedy, truman capote, michelle obama) it is the symbol of class and excellent taste.

i will not try to articulate the fascinating history of this watch (one of the first watches to be designed for style rather than functionality alone), so i shall instead quote from a recent article in vanity fair:

Placed without ceremony into the windows of Cartier's Paris salon in 1919 -- 90 years ago -- this wristwatch instantly took its place in history: as an icon, a symbol, and a standard for modern design. Within months it had a name: the Tank. And within a decade it was the watch of choice for the most singular people in the world...

This is a piece that haunts me, and i almost bit the bullet and made the grand purchase; i was all set to march into the local Cartier, credit card in hand, until i discovered the price... it's CAD $7,400. Then a little piece of me died.

one day...

new york i love you

last weekend i was fortunate enough to spend a few days in new york city. it was the first real time i'd ever been there and despite arriving with a feeling that i'd already experienced the city (through television and the movies, mostly) i was awestruck.

there is a strange energy at work in this city, giving it the feeling that it is a living, breathing animal.

i have to say that what surprised me the most was the beauty of the city. i never imagined i could describe new york as beautiful (not like i would paris or venice) but it truly is. on one hand, the architecture of some of the older buildings is akin to anything you could find in old-world europe, with rich, dark interiors, and gorgeous, detailed facades.

on the other hand, there is a sense of beauty that lies in the life force that pumps through the city each day. not to sound cheesy, but there is an energy here unlike anything i have ever felt in any other city (and i've been been lucky enough in life to have visited most of the big ones).

The Algonquin

we stayed in one of new york's most famous hotels, the algonquin, on west 44th street.

built in 1902, it is a historic landmark, and birthplace of the vicious round table, a literary club featuring some of the city's most famous writers, and the incomparable New Yorker magazine.

stepping into the lobby of the hotel felt like stepping into a time capsule, with its warm, cozy lobby and its small but endearing rooms.

the lobby itself was the home of the famous round table, featuring some of new york's most well-loved authors, columnists and playwrights of the 1920s, who would meet here daily for lunch, sharing quips and wits and their favourite bon mots with each other for nearly ten years.

I think it's pretty safe to say that I'll be back there soon!

please note: all photographs are the blogger's own, please don't steal them!

it's a dior christmas

ever wonder what happens when you ask John Galliano for his interpretation of a christmas tree?

new marilyn

holiday beauty

after the santa claus parade today, it's now officially the christmas season! once you've decided what to wear to that never ending list of holiday parties and events, the next step is beauty.

for makeup, i always love either a smokey eye with a nude lip, or a nautral eye with a red lip. one screams sensual drama, the other classic hollywood glamour.

how to decide which one? simply think about which you you want to portray.. the enigma or the femme fatale.

down the rabbit hole

after my posts on hansel & gretel and where the wild things are, i felt inspired to find more fashion editorials that take stylish jabs at some of my most treasured children's fables.

american vogue did a stunning rendition of alice in wonderland back in december 2003, once again shot by annie leibovitz and starring the innocently beautiful natalia vodianova. the feature follows alice as she enjoys a day out with her grandmother (portrayed most fiercely by karl lagerfeld), falls down the rabbit hole and encoutners a array of oddballs and mad hatters on her journey through wonderland.

dazed, confused & wild at heart

wild things are everywhere with alt magazne dazed & confused paying yet another homage to the children's tale-turned hipster film where the wild things are. Abbey Lee Kershaw lets out her inner wild thing for the december issue. photographed by daniel jackson and styled by karen langley.

remember kids, pebbles not breadcrumbs

vogue's december 2009 issue features lily cole, andrew garfield and lady gaga in a freaky rendition of the classic children's fable hansel and gretel. shot by the renowned annie leibovitz and styled by the now-legendary grace coddington, the editorial reimagines the fairy tale in a nightmareish setting, with the immortal lady gaga as the witch.

caught in a fabulous video

lady gaga's new video for Bad Romance has been released online and people are absolutely freaking out about it.

says the Lady:

"I wanted to design a pair for some of the toughest chicks and some of my girlfriends — don't do this at home! — they used to keep razor blades in the side of their mouths," she explained. "That tough female spirit is something that I want to project. It's meant to be, 'This is my shield, this is my weapon, this is my inner sense of fame, this is my monster.'

"There's this one shot in the video where I get kidnapped by supermodels. I'm washing away my sins and they shove vodka down my throat to drug me up before they sell me off to the Russian mafia."

baby it's cold outside

now that it's november, signs of christmas are popping up all over the place. the sun is setting earlier, the air is a little bit frosty and holt renfrew is unveiling its holiday windows tomorrow!

that means not only is it time to start thinking about christmas shopping, bu what to wear to christmas parties.

for me these two images portray perfectly what to wear this christmas:

uber glam with a touch of shimmer or gold to bring out that sparkle. just add a cocktail ring and you're set!

les gamins

i simply had to share this lovely picture of julia et son frere, courtesy of i want to be a roifeld

long live the queen

ever since i saw her in the tudors, i've been a fan of natalie dormer. as anne boleyn, natalie portrays a seductive innocence that makes her perfect for the role. while the show is now well into the third season (and now passed the king's third wife), it lacks the same spark of energy that natalie brought.

i can't wait to see what she will do next!

haute halloween

source: Harpers Bazaar UK October 2009