Must Sleep....

Zzzz x

Press Day

A press day is a double edged sword for a PR.  On one hand, a 5.30am start, standing all day in heels, enduring the 'press day diet' (no meals, over indulgent canapes grabbed at any possible time) and finally packing up the whole event at the end of the day, wrestling with bubble wrap, package tape and unassembled cardboard boxes.  On the other hand, lots of lovely press, the joy of pretty little nibbles and usually a glorious location.  The St Martin's Lane Hotel Penthouse was my home for the day, with sensational views of the city and the hotel's eccentric decor.   

Best Outfits of the Day

Lisa Haynes, Fashion & Beauty Editor 

Press Association

follow @FashionBeautyEd

Mark Cullum, Editor

A La Male

follow @markcullum1

Linh Ly, Senior Fashion Assistant

Harper's Bazaar

follow @MissLinhLy

Finally, I had my very own expert colour consultation.  The amazing Pauline, after announcing my colouring is 'soft and sultry' (yeah, I'll take that), took me through every colour and tone that I should banish from my wardrobe and makeup bag, and all those lovely shades I should wear in abundance.  Here is my bespoke swatch chart.  Time to start culling!

Monday

Girl Crush

Once in a while, a star is born.  

 

 Video Games

Born To Die

All That Glitters...

 

 

En Pointe

It all started when I was little.  Like any young girl in Surrey I was whisked into obligatory ballet classes with tiny little ballet shoes with nude elastic (I always longed for ribbons) and a steely determination to be a prima ballerina.  Of course all I remember is a lot of pink and holding hands with fellow little ones whilst we almost galloped around...perhaps this was the first sign that whilst ballet is a significant first love of the stereotypical girl in suburbia, ponies were to become an even greater one. 

I can't remember how long I continued the classes but it was pretty clear I wasn't born to be the next Margot Fonteyn.  But two thing kept my ballet interest alive.

The first was my mother taking me to a London gallery and seeing Degas' bronze ballerina sculpture.  I thought she was the best thing in the whole damn place and I kept the gift shop post card of my new idol for years.  

Little Dancer of Fourteen Years (1880-1881)

Degas

The second was the introduction of Noel Streatfeild's Ballet Shoes.  I devoured the book over and over.  This was the exact cover, part of a series of Penguin classics with different coloured jackets and like any little bookworm who was destined to read less and shop more, I kept this collection of stories meticulously colour coordinated.

Ballet Shoes

Noel Streatfeild 

Nowadays, the ballet makes me yearn to don a full, snow white skirt and tiara, and twirl as if my life depended on it.   After years of never shedding a tear at a film, seeing Swan Lake has made me weep like a baby - the music, the effortless movement, the copious use of glitter.

The beauty

Valentino Spring Summer 2012

To bring ballerina style into every day life, try a halo braid by wrapping plaits round the head and pinning.  Allow some pretty wisps of hair to escape, as if you've done one too many pirouettes.  

It shouldn't look too perfect.

Louis Vuitton Spring Summer 2012

Skin should be fresh, silk soft and peachy, like the satin of ballet shoes.  

Add highlighter and gloss on cheekbones and lips to gleam and glow.

Coloured Kittens

At the Spring Summer 2012 shows, the beauty press was abuzz with the new trend for coloured tresses.  Painted hair, the colour of gelato and sugared almonds, was seen at Thakoon, Narciso Rodriguez and Julien MacDonald. 

 

Wearable?  Perhaps not.  

But certainly for Tim Walker's handsome collection of feline friends.