Resolutions for the new year

my friend's Zara necklace - love the spiky studs with the lace dress

I am keeping it very simple for the New Year - I am going to try hard to always (and I quote the inimitable Wayne and Garth here from one of the finest movies ever made) LIVE IN THE NOW. In fashion terms, I find myself quite often saving outfits for a special moment in the future - well the future is sometimes precarious. As I am surrounded by friends going thru break-ups, having family illness or looking for work, I am reminded that it is vital to make the best of every single day. (So I'm wearing my Valentino shoes today)

Oh and my other fashion resolution is to never buy any more suede. It just rains too much all over the world for it to ever be useful.

so pretty, yet still in the box

Christy Turlington 1987 and 1992

As another year is about to pass, here are some pics of an incredibly young Christy Turlington. Do I sound old if I ask where does time go? Pictures from www.vogue.fr.

362 days till Christmas

Christmas in Holland was lovely but much too short. 

a chance to wear tweed

               

drinking lots of red

and you think buying a bike is easy - not in Holland, this is the 7-8 year olds section only

endless games of memory busting Kom er maar eens achter

I love this chair

two hours of sunshine in seven days

and lots of fires everywhere

Delicious Anticipation

picture from www.thekitchn.com

Drinking champagne pre-Christmas from my mum's coupe champagne glasses. I am bringing them back. Literally, cos mum's happy for me to ship them off to Hong Kong, since she never uses these 40-year old crystal beauties. Jacqueline Bisset in Casino Royale (1967) - she has got to be the most beautiful woman in the world - drinks champs from a coupe glass wearing nothing but a pajama top.

Drinking white wine in the sun

IFC and Central seen from the Star Ferry

On this perfectly sunny Hong Kong day we crossed an unusually calm harbor to attend the Nutcracker Ballet at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. But if it is a traditional cold weather Christmas you are after, the Landmark's snowy slopes and cable cars are only moments away...

The Landmark mall's incredible Christmas display

Christmas List

Chloe Medium Ethel bag in Watermelon from www.neimanmarcus.com

Ever so often I hope my husband reads this blog, and maybe finds hints in it.... Most of the time though, it's better if he doesn't! This bag is just perfection. And it is on my Christmas list. What do you think, Niecey??

Grey Diamond???

photo from www.vogue.fr

Okay if I was going to spend money on a diamond, it would have to be this thing. Totally stunning, not just like every other diamond (let's face it for a product valued so high for its scarcity, it's rather ironic that virtually every married woman in the western world owns one), but a grey diamond??? Let's hope that's not a De Beers euphemism for a not-so-clear diamond. Absolutely stunning.

Bagless Challenge

Chloe "Alice" bag on www.net-a-porter.com

The other day I went to a casual outdoor dinner at the Hong Kong Cricket Club, followed by a choral Christmas concert on the lawn. I wore jeans tucked into boots and a JCrew field jacket with lots of pockets. When I couldn't decide what bag to bring, I thought actually I don't need anything other than my Hong Kong ID, a house key, and some taxi money, so I put everything in my pockets and went bagless. What a revelation! How nice to be a man and never carry a bag! I didn't worry about leaving it anywhere, it was just me, my jeans, my boots, my t-shirt and my field jacket. Look at this slightly ridiculous picture.... A girl in a pink silk dress and high heels carrying a GIANT tote to go where? A party? A flight? School pick-up? Granted it's easier to go without a bag in winter because you can wear a coat. Still, I am going to see if the tailor can make my future jackets with two reinforced internal pockets. I may even ask for a thin nylon zipper on them. 

And in case you are wondering this Alice bag costs £1033.33. You could buy all three jackets below (last one is the field jacket) for a total of £835 - pictures from www.jcrew.com.

Alexander Wang red sandals

Alexander Wang croc embossed red sandals. If the heels weren't 11 cm high I would be all over these babies. But size 37 feet in 11 cm high heels is a bad mistake (as I have learned the hard way from another pair of irresistible red shoes). But for you 38s and above, buy them HERE.

another pair of red shoes perfect for sitting

Granny boots

picture from www.purple.fr

picture from www.purple.fr

I have an irrational and extreme dislike for granny boots. I mean, really, a kitten-ish heel and laces. So wrong!!! Only good if you want to look like an extra in Oliver Twist. And then a while ago Nicholas Ghesquiere came up with these things - basically a granny boot but now they have thick white athletic laces. I am fascinated... not enough to buy them or consider ever wearing them, but I find myself liking them a lot in pictures. 

Speaking of boots, do you ever feel you have quite enough pairs, but never the one you actually need? I suppose because boots are a big investment we tend to hold on to them for a long time. And seeing them all in your wardrobe is a constant reminder you shouldn't buy any new ones. I am currently feeling I could use a boot that's tight around the ankle and maybe even an inch or two above the ankle, with a sturdy but high heel. That way I could wear skinny jeans with them and put the jeans over the boots rather than into them. A lower tight boot often leaves a visible gap between boot and bottom of the jeans, and I am hoping to avoid that.

The one affordable boot I have found which seems to match my criteria is this Marc Jacobs one, but is it too close to granny style for comfort? BTW, if you have not seen www.purple.fr then click on it right now. You can buy the Balenciaga boots there, for one, but it's also just a great fashion and design site.

Marc Jacobs boots at www.theoutnet.com

A few Vogue covers from the rest of the world

December 2012 in Russia

December 2012 in Spain

December 2012 in Germany

December 2012 in The Netherlands

Required reading for the holidays

These will be my holiday reading. I got the first three in the new Kelly & Walsh shop at Pacific Place. Such a great shop for fashion and design books.

Paris Vogue Covers, Dior Joaillerie, and The First 40 Years of W Magazine

Windows at Bergdorf Goodman

Nan Kempner and Jackie Kennedy in the W retrospective

Lady Gaga before the hats, masks, and make-up, from W

Yves St Laurent from W

two stunning rings designed by Victoire de Castellane from Dior Joaillerie

Catherine Deneuve and Brigitte Bardot on the cover of Paris Vogue

Jerry Hall on the then bi-annual Haute Couture issue of Paris Vogue

London at Christmas

This is the time of year when I always miss London....  London in November 2012.

Royal Albert Hall

The ice skating rink at the Natural History Museum

Regents Street decorations

grungy models and manufactured girl bands

Alexander Mcqueen

Notting Hill - the best mix of high and low

Harrods in all its glory