Soft versus structured

The bag I have been using most often for the last 2 years is the Balenciaga Velo bag on the left. It is so floppy and soft, it sprawls all over the floor when you put it down. On the right is my brand new Serapian Melinè bag, structured and standing tall. I am ready for a change. Do you prefer soft or structured bags?

Christmas wishlist

I'd love to put a rose gold Rolex on my wish list, but my lovely husband does not believe in more than one. So I remind him often that I am wearing it every single day, and it's just the best present ever. He of course takes that to mean I will never need another watch. 

This was a perfect sunny Fall day in Hong Kong, reading Vanity Fair by the pool wearing my JDCamicetta Lucy top. But it was also the last day we spent time with my daughter's Aussie friend. And now we are all sad they have moved away... We miss you, five girls!

Tod's by Alessandra Facchinetti

It's been ages since I was really excited by anything at Tod's, but that is changing rapidly. Alessandra Facchinetti's version of the D-Cube bag is adorable.

Zara's styling rivals Céline's nowadays

Faux leather peplum top and high waisted pants - I absolutely love the styling.

Jackie Kennedy pictures

all photos via New York Magazine

New York Magazine has an amazing slide show this week of Jackie Kennedy pictures, many of which I had never seen before. Find it HERE.

Last night Serapian officially opened in Hong Kong

The Melinè bag

a moon grey Melinè bag

I missed the opening party last night of my dear friend Arda's new store. I had been so excited but an egg salad sandwich with some very dubious watercress came between me and the best fashion party of the year. I spent time working with Arda over the years as a young handbag designer. His company made the finest quality bags money could buy for all the great fashion houses in Italy, and I had the pleasure of working with him at his Milan headquarters while I was at Burberry. Since then I had kids and moved to Hong Kong, while Arda set out to conquer the world with a beautiful collection of bags under his own name. And now he has a store in Hong Kong!!! The store is on On Lan Street, the street where you find Christian Louboutin on the corner just behind Queens Road Central.

I learned so much from Arda. I would submit drawings and his first sample would always be ten times better than my drawing - because my experience was just from school, while his experience came from years of work with craftsmen on the factory floor. If you have a minute, you simply must go and see his shop and my favorite Melinè bag. Yes I am entirely biased because I love Arda, but trust me, you will be impressed. Just don't eat any watercress before you go.

The ankle boots trials

how many ankle boots must one buy to get it right?

my most recent pair - Gianvito Rossi

I remember just 3 years ago saying to a friend, why is everyone wearing ankle boots? I thought they were so unflattering, and my eye didn't get used to them for a long time. And then I suddenly became obsessive about Isabel Marant's Dicker boots, and one pair led to two more, and then to Alexander Wangs, Louboutins, Phillip Lims etc. But I never got the perfect pair of day boots. Some were too low on the ankle (the Dickers), and therefore making me look like a garden gnome. Others were too high cutting off half of my not so tall legs. Other are too tight around the ankle which makes tucked in trousers look wrong. Some are too clunky, and some pointy toes are too long. And then my biggest dislike is toes that don't stay flat on the floor. That usually happens with higher heels, but often it's a sign of a badly made shoe last. For comparison, have a look at the highest Manolo Blahnik pump - it will always have its toes flush with the floor.

I have only just bought the army green Gianvito Rossi pair above, but I think these may be my best ones yet. The heel is a very comfortable 8 cm, the toes are perfectly flat on the floor, and they are loose around the ankles, therefore making my ankles look very slim. Now I have to start wearing them to know for sure, but I have a good feeling. Find them in army green and black HERE - the black is almost 25 % more expensive by the way...

I HATE curled up toes!!!!

Phillip Lim is trying to capture the cubano boot spirit - but the granny heel makes the whole thing disturbing. Why do I own it? Let's just say internet shopping is dangerous sometimes. And they were on sale so my judgment was clouded.

Hello little friend

Please come to my house for Christmas....

Chanel boy bag from cruise 2014 collection

Brown revisited

When I lived in New York, I sometimes despaired at the enormous amount of brown everywhere. People in the US absolutely love their classics, and while classics often undergo subtle changes, in the US not as much as elsewhere. Now that I have been away for a while, I kind of miss that consistency, the reappearance of barn jackets everywhere in Fall, the Bass loafers, the baseball caps, the chinos. Well, just in time, JCrew comes to the rescue, and their catalogs have been full of brown this season, with my all-time favorite, their shoot at Amanda Brooks' English farm. Find Amanda's blog about fashion and country life HERE. All photos from JCrew's Facebook page. PS. have you all read the news in the South China Morning Post this morning about JCrew coming to Hong Kong in spring???

The Parker ankle boot

a Schoolboy Blazer in the English country side

Toggles... I might not go that far but love Amanda Brooks' house in the background

the chocolate brown Parker boot

did brown boots ever look better??? I wonder how many of the shirt, pants and boots were sold after this picture came out. I know I bought the shirt and boots, and would have gotten the pants but they were sold out.

Fashion's formidable hold over us

I came across this picture of bridesmaids in National Geographic - it accompanied a story about brutal conflict in Northern Nigeria, where in the name of religion regular people on the street suffer from horrific violence regularly. I was really struck by this photo, mostly because I am rather ignorant about Africa, a continent I have never visited. I was surprised by the "current" nature of the pink suede platform pumps, but I was mostly surprised after I had read the context, the daily violence in these women's lives.

I constantly wonder what drives the desire for fashion and embellishment, and what drives my own never ending desire for new clothes, shoes, make-up. Look at these beautiful young women: they may live in circumstances most of us can't begin to imagine, yet they are dressed beautifully for the occasion. They either love beautiful things so much they simply won't live without them, or the beautiful things are a way to defy their shocking every day reality.

Fashion has a formidable hold over women, that's one thing I know for sure.

I am watching Season 4 of Downton Abbey

And I am so fickle I now want to live in England and go for walks in the fields which end up with a pint at the local pub. Just last month I wanted to move to California. And guess what, I still live in bloody Hong Kong. Well, if I were in the English country side I would love to wear all this, which would probably get me cast out as eurotrash rather instantly.

JCrew jumper

Uniqlo jeans

Dolce and Gabbana wellies

Sophie Hulme mini cross body bag

New Look beanie

Prints are here to stay

Kate Moss in print combined with black - December US Vogue

Givenchy flower print shoes

Céline for Spring 2014

prints combined with black in December US Vogue

JDCamicetta "Kate" tops

Doing trunk shows can be a pride swallowing experience, let me tell you!  For the most part it's fun, but there are always a few people who don't like what you show them, and who feel they really want to share how much they don't like it.  This time someone said "I just don't do prints, they are so eighties" - it's always hard to reply when you are surrounded by a sea of colorful tops and dresses in November of 2014...  But it did make me think about what's out there right now in terms of prints.  The coolest designer of them all, Phoebe Philo, is doing prints for Céline Spring 2014.  Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy is even putting flower prints on shoes.  And prints share the spotlight with colorful jewelry in a really beautiful editorial in December US Vogue.  So I think they are here to stay.

My photographer son

No!  My torso looks huge!!

No!  Mini legs and linebacker shoulders!

No!  Too far away!  The kitchen tiles are too ugly!

No!  Oh for goodness sake just give me the phone!

I enlisted my poor 10-year old to take a not-so-selfie of me - showing off my new JDCamicetta "Kate" top. That didn't go so well. But I do hope you can tell how easy these tops are - they all have black sleeves and back, so you are instantly dressed when you put it with black jeans. Here I also wear Valentino shoes.

Random inspirations

In this post I owe apologies to my husband and to all magazine editors I have ever insulted. And to you readers for not posting for a while. As you may have read before I have a small dress business called JDCamicetta with my friend Jane, and we have been preparing for a show, for new deliveries to stores and for next collection, which has all been hectic.

An interesting thing has been happening to me lately. The more we earn money with our own work, the harder it becomes to spend the cash. It is way easier to buy yet another pair of shoes when the money just appears into your possession on account of your husband's hard work. Now the Granvito Rossi boots I am currently eyeing represent possibly 5 days of hard work, which makes you think a lot harder - are those boots actually worth it.

I have at times been disdainful of magazine editors who whine about how hard it is to find the right models and locations (Carine Roitfeld of course) or how hard it is to come up with new stories (Sally Singer). Well, I still think Carine has got to get a grip, but do agree with Sally how hard it is to try and say something meaningful about fashion on a regular basis. I mean, here in Asia we are still reeling from last week's devastating typhoon in the Philippines - during weeks like these, it feels rather wrong to talk fashion.

But maybe I should just get over that. I love www.net-a-porter.com and love the short videos in which Kim Hersov styles runway clothes for real life. See last week's video HERE. Her fidgeting drives me nuts, but I do like how she talks so earnestly about the importance of a shoulder here, a hemline there. She is unapologetically doing her job and that doesn't mean in any way that she doesn't care about suffering in the rest of the world.

Quite a few random thoughts there, so now I will post a few random pictures, so you don't even have to bother reading this!

a bracelet that can also be a weapon

an old selfie to inspire me to swim harder - I can't fit those white jeans now

the perfect english country house - I'd rather have this one than the abbey proper

JDCamicetta hall of fame Fiona shirt

a faded gem from Shenzhen

Larisa proudly wears her Aussie designers - dress by Collette Dinnigan

more Aussie inspiration - paradise in the south west

statement necklaces

the real thing in the Met

JCrew necklace

How pretty is this JCrew necklace on a real life girl. I love the top she picked to go with it.

Michael Kors coat

Michael Kors coat from a few season ago - discounted (but still pricey)  on www.yoox.com

I'd wear a big soft coat like that with very classic clothes underneath:

Chanel flats

Tsumori Chisato white shirt

Gucci jeans

Alexander McQueen embroidered belt

Melbourne Cup

you've got to love a car that can hold champagne standing up

Off I went yesterday to have a lunch party for the Melbourne Cup.  Lots of great Aussies among whom my very cool friend Larisa, who was wearing an amazing Sass and Bide jacket and Prada pumps so lovely I wanted to rip them off her. I was wearing our diagonally striped "Larisa" dress, named after said cool friend.

If you are interested in seeing our new batch of Larisas and other dresses, come see us at the Conrad Hotel on November 14, on the 7th Floor in the Salisbury Room, from 10.30 - 7.

www.pose.com

I keep going back into Céline and trying on these boots.  Sales girl Erika sees me coming and still seems happy to see me - I suspect she knows one of these days she's going to make the sale. They are quite beautiful and more comfortable than slippers in the softest leather you can imagine. But the toe is just a tiny bit more square than I like, and when you have small feet, it makes the shoes look teensy and dare I say it, petite. Anyway, then I get home and look up pictures, and lately I keep coming across something called www.pose.com. If you have never seen it, check it out. It's just thousands of people striking a pose - outfits galore, a proper street style extravaganza. That is if you want to waste more time in front of a screen.

Best Makeover EVER

do you know who this is? - photo from the NY Daily News

This coat is so cool

Vanessa Bruno coat - buy it HERE