Mon 27th Nov: Circus 11 Christmas Fair

As the dawn of December draws closer, there's no better time to prepare your Christmas purchasing with Circus 11 = a festive fairl with a difference. Roll up, roll up for a bazaar of bizarre gifts and hampers of christmas confectionary to stock up for your stocking shopping.
I will be selling my archive of accessories alongside a line up of vendors including Lilli Vanilli, Susie Bubble, Polly Morgan, House of Hackney, Noemi Klein, Rebel Rebel, Alice Made This, Boeme, Lost Property of London, and Thorody. For the full list of stall holders visit the Circus 11 line up page. It's all a mystery to what each stall will be doing exactly .......... pushing the traditional Christmas fair traditions, with the theme being 'the more imaginative, the better'. I hear talk of Marawa teaching how to decorate your own hula hoop and open classes to have a go at learning her tricks of the hula trade. There will also be a classic Christmas contingent selling Christmas trees, roasted chestnuts, gift wrapping as well a cider bar and a Christmas bakery. So get the date in your diary for some figgy pudding and fashionable treats to pick and mix with Susie Bubble selling off her clothes in a trunk show.........
(Here are photos from the work in progress of the blue foil piece I made for House of Organza which Im using as inspiration for smaller sellable pieces for the fair...........)

14th-18th Dec 2011, The Tramshed, Shoreditch,, London, 10am-8pm

Sun 27th Nov: The British Guide To Showing Off

Here are some of my photos from Andrew Logan's "Alternative Miss World" from 2009 and at the top a photo of Andrew from last night's screening of the film about the show "The British Guide To Showing Off". To his right is the director Jes Benstock who has spent seven years piecing together footage and archives of photos to animate a documentary about the complete history of the institution. He also followed Andrew and partner Michael around London as they were producing the most recent competition in 2009 when Daniel Lismore was a contestant, who also took part in last evenings Q&A session.
The film is an uplifting, fun and colour filled visual feast that I implore everyone to watch either when it travels near you on the large screen or order the DVD when it is released. This is the English equivalent of New York's "Paris Is Burning" or California's "Cocquettes" and an essential addition to the genre of film dedicated to international dress up and drag. The interesting thing about Andrew's parties is that the emphasis is not on gender specifically, but more inclusive and open to provide a platform for anyone to get involved and get creative. Since the first foray in 1972, contestants have come in all shapes, sizes, ages and walks of life which is the component celebrated in this celluloid tribute to the cult of of this very English affair. Watch the trailer here to get a taste of what I'm talking about and join the Facebook page to find out the times and destinations of the tour to track down a screening near you. ........ its still on the Hackney Picture House for a few days before going national and then international.....



You can also hear a great interview with Andrew about the film and hear his musical selection with Jarvis Cocker over on Radio 6.

(Top to bottom: Jes & Andrew & Daniel, Jonny Woo, Duggie Fields, Piers Atkinson, Party Goer, Miss Sea-Sea-Sur Mer, Molly Parkin, Fancy Chance & Ruby Wax & Andrew, Zandra Rhodes, Roy Brown)

Friday Nov 25th: Pelicans and Parrots Black

Like the quote on their website states .......... As William Morris said “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”..........Ochuko and Juliet are magpies for collecting curiosities that will decorate and intergrate on to your walls and in to your closet! As the run of retail spots are springing up on the stretch between Shoreditch and Stoke Newington they have expanded to a secondary location. The new sister store over the road has been named "black" as the ying to the yang of their first "white" boutique. The opening last evening showed a larger collection of tribal masks, headdresses, necklaces and chunky accessories including this stunning outfit entirely and intricately beaded from head to toe. I returned today and the stag skull used for display had already been snapped up! The fantastical feathered goods are going to be flying fast in the run up to the festive season so make sure you pop in to have a peep if you are passing by the Beyond Retro flagship which is directly opposite.
Read more over on Susie's blog ......... who I introduced to my local amenity when she came to the area for her East London report for the H&M Magazine.

Pelicans & Parrots Black at 81 Stoke Newington road.

Friday Nov 25th: Marawa The Amazing

Marawa The Amazing truly is amazing as she has made me my own sparkly hula hoop and hand delivered it on her bike with its cute burger-bun bell! This is the beginning of my hula hoop career with a personal lesson in how to begin swinging .............. but anyone can get a tutorial from Marawa in the comfort of their own home because she has an APP - iHoola!!!!! I can't believe Ive forgotten how to do it since I was a little girl in the playground. I imagine Marawa has never stopped as she now tours the world with her skills and magnificent performances which I first discovered in a Vincent Vincent & The Villains video in 2007 and most recently enjoyed at the Major Lazer soundsystem at Notting Hill Carnival. If you are in London you can see Marawa next week performing "Ring a ring of roses" at a Lily Vanilli's wicked winter witchcraft night of canapes and cocktails. If you can't witness the spectacle .......... get creating your own with one of her glitterly hula hoops and a daily practise of two songs per morning!
Here goes.............

Marawa at the Jonathan Saunders LONDON FASHION WEEK S/S12 after party

Weds 24th Nov: Hunger Magazine Launch

On the cusp of Dazed celebrating their 20th anniversary with a retrospective exhibition and book, Rankin has also launched his very own solo magazine titled "Hunger". The wedge of a fashion and design bi-annual is bursting with familiar faces all shot by Rankin himself including his friends Rhys Evans, Ann Friel and Erin O'Connor. Either side of these stories sit iconic legends such as Linda Evangalista and newcomers such as illustrator / director Quentin Jones and menswear designers AGI & SAM. Each artist appearing in the physical print issue also has a film of their shoot to show behind the scenes and share some words over on the sister website, of which Ive selected these. Everyone pitched up at Rankin's Kentish Town studios last night to celebrate the launch with prints hanging on the walls and the videos projected behind a stage for the featured live act performing - musician / designer DELS. The place got packed out with hardly any room to move until the arrival of the magnificent beauty Erin O'Connor who parted the waves of party-goers in a floor length Craig Lawrence gown. ............. who was over the moon to see one of his creations on such an incredible personality. He became quite the lady's man by the end of the night with Portia Freeman seen also wearing one of his knits, this one a short mini-dress in midnight blue.
The magazine is only £4, so snap up a copy next time you are in the newsagents or head over to the site to see all the on-set footage.........

Weds 24th Nov: Ryan McGinley "Wandering Comma" at Alison Jacques Gallery

Last September Alison Jacques Gallery put on Ryan McGinley's show Moonmilk .......... and a year later updated the relationship with the artist to showcase "Comma"................... the artist's most recent move into grand scale works with seven 110 x 70" prints ........

Ryan McGinley "Wandering Comma" at Alison Jacques Gallery
24 NOVEMBER - 22 DECEMBER 2011
16-18 Berners Street, London W1T 3LN
Tel +44 (0)20 7631 4720

Tues Nov 22nd: Mini Calender

Mini have created a calender for the new year with a different artist contributing an image for each month. Every designer was assigned a model of Mini to celebrate in any medium they chose and here is my entry which has been used for September - the perfect month for the fashion page! Take a look at the site to see the other eleven candidates and how they interpreted the brief to immortalise this classic car.

Tues Nov 22nd: Piers Atkinson Studio

The fashion-centric street of studios on Shacklewell Lane is ever expanding with even more designers setting up residence. The original crew of Peter Jensen, Emma Cook and Shona Heath has sparked off a movement now including Christopher Kane in the same building and a second studio block further up the road. This includes the nexct generation and wave of London Fashion Week labels including Mark Fast, Simone Rocha and JW Anderson. Now a third hub of creatives has spawned like a Monopoly game of putting down extra properties on one side of the board. Alun Davies, Emma Roach and Piers Atkinson are just a stroll towards Stoke Newington and its a walk Ive been pacing quite happily visiting their new premises. Here is a little sneak peak at some of the shelves of blocks and archive pieces above Piers's work benches. Each one tells a story ............. I'm getting the downlow each time I go. Im sure more posts from the world of Piers will be popping up in due course.....

Mon Nov 21st: CSM Kings X

From one Central Saint Martins alumni to another.........I left Peter Jensen's show to get to the opening party for the new Kings Cross campus to catch a Tom Vek gig. The national institution has closed its doors on Charing Cross road and surrounding venues that previously housed all the different departments to combine and decamp the entire thing to a purpose built facility behind the new Eurostar terminus. The place is absolutely immense and you will have to visit for yourself to appreciate the scale of the new development............and see the condensed quoter of student street- style sensations to be snapped!

(the rainbow neon birdcage light sculpture in the forecourt and the headline Tom Vek performance in the auditorium)