Snuggly buggly part deux

Shearling hasn't just been confined to jackets this season; the shops also seem to be full of fluffy boots, which, after getting my crappy faux velvet Primark flats absolutely destroyed in the rain the other day, I'm thinking I definitely need. Strong, sturdy leather on the outside, fluffy and warm on the inside? YES PLEASE!

AMORE Shearling Ankle Boots, £95 and Unique Fur Cuff Boots, (this colour isn't currently on the website) £140, both Topshop

Fornarina Lace Up Boots, £185 and KG Wentworth Buckled Ankle Boots, £180 both ASOS

Leather Aviator Boot, £79.99, New Look and Korr Lace Up Brown Leather Boots, £92, Office

I've just realised that my picks are all rather expensive, especially the ones from ASOS - eeek! Also, eighty quid seems like a lot for a pair of New Look boots, but I suppose if they're real leather, they're bound to be a bit pricier. Even so, apologies for not providing a more varied selection. I know boots can be expensive, but I'm sure there are much cheaper options out there - please let me know of any you come across!

Right, back to X Factor - are you watching it? One of the things I've noticed is how well dressed so many of the contestants are! Not all of them, obviously (Chloe Mafia? Bleurgh...), but I do think it seems that more people are giving more thought to the overall 'package' of being a pop star; not just having a good voice, but also having a good image and personality etc, which makes sense really as X Factor (whether you think this is a good thing or not) isn't really a singing competition is it? Thoughts? And who are you loving/hating? At this early stage, I've got a feeling that Cher will go quite far, she's something a bit different and interesting, though I really wish she'd sort her eyebrows out....

Snuggly buggly

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's lips are ridiculous. In a good way. Ridiculous though.

As much as it pains me to say it, the cold weather seems to be well and truly here to stay. All that talk of an 'Indian Summer' was clearly LIES, because I've seen nothing but wind, rain and oh, what's that? More rain. I'm already recovering from my first cold of the season and it's not even October yet. BLEURGH! Fortunately, while it's cold outside, I can stay warm and toasty inside with a cup of tea, my fluffy pink dressing gown and Ian Somerhalder's strong arms the new series of Gossip Girl and The Vampire Diaries. However, while I'd love to pretend that I'm a squirrel and spend the next few months hibernating, I'm not sure how happy my job and social life would be with that arrangement so there will probably be occasions when I'm forced to leave the house and brave the elements. Conclusion? I'm going to be needing something significantly more snuggly to stop me from freezing to death. And my first choice is a big, chunky shearling lined jacket.

Burberry Prorsum

Mulberry, Topshop Unique and Wunderkind

ADAM, DKNY and Giles

If money was no object, I would absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, be sporting that khaki green Burberry Prorsum jacket (the middle one). I would wear it everywhere, probably even in bed. Sadly though, since I'm pretty sure that I don't have a spare £3000 lying around (I'll check down the back of the sofa, just in case, but I doubt it), I'll have to settle for a high street version instead.

Faux Sheepskin Flying Jacket, £78 Topshop

Pilot Jacket, £24.99 H&M

Quilted Shearling Aviator Jacket, £290 ASOS WHITE

Sessun Short Duffle Coat, £199 Urban Outfitters

Of all the shearling jackets I've found online at the moment (and there is A LOT - these were just a few picks), this is probably my absolute favourite - it just looks SO WARM! And it's very similar to the Burberry one. Sadly, I found this on the Topshop website a couple of weeks back but it must be out of stock at the moment because I just checked back to get the price and I can't find it on there - anyone know how much it costs? And whether it'll be back in stock?! I hope so, because I feel this might be the coat that will help me survive the next few months of coldness and misery...

Camelot

So, as promised last week, I'm going to spend some time focussing on the big 'trends' for this season. (Have you ever noticed how the word "focussing" always looks wrong? I just checked; that is the correct spelling, I swear.) As coats are generally quite an important factor for the chillier months of the year, I figured where better a place to start than with the camel coat?

This is another of those subjects where I feel like I have a lot to say (you wouldn't think there'd be that much to say about what is ultimately a beige coat, but you know, there really is!) so please bear with me while I try to format this into something that makes at least some sense.

The Fall 2010 shows were literally bursting at the very seams with neutral shades, with khakis, browns, greys and beiges all neutralling down the runway, proving that a stark, yet classic palette is big news this season. Camel was the neutral of choice for countless designers and, while it wasn't just coats that were seen in a sandy hue, it was the camel coat that became one of the most stand out and talked about garments since sliced bread. (what do you mean sliced bread isn't a garment?!)

Now, this might make me sound a bit stupid but I'm going to say it anyway, how does a trend like this actually come about? What I mean is, how is it that seemingly every designer under the sun decided that Fall 2010 was the season to resurrect the camel coat? Was there a really good deal on camel coloured wool at The Big Trendy Haberdashery? Or did all the designers get together for tapas and discuss it in advance? If they did, I think the conversation went something like this;

Jean Paul Gaultier: "So basically, I've been thinking, you know what colour I've not really used in a while? Camel."

Hussein Chalayan: "Camel? As in the colour of camels?"

JPG: "Exactly. Camel has so many wonderful connotations - camels...sand...er...llamas... and yet it's simple and classic at the same time. It's elegant, like a camel. Aaaah the graceful camel."

Hannah Macgibbon: "You know, I think he's on to something! Let's do it, let's do something a bit different for once...Philip Lim, can you PLEASE stop hogging the garlic mushrooms?"

JPG: "Yes Hannah! Different! Crazy!"

Carolina Herrera: "Well, JPG, I'd hardly call camel a 'crazy' colour, but it would make designing my new fall line a lot easier - I mean, camel goes with everything. Think of the possibilities for coats!"

JPG: "Yes! The camel coat! So graceful, so chic! CRAZY!"

Carolina Herrera: "Er... yeah, ok JPG, think you might have had a little bit too much sangria. But we're all agreed then, camel is the colour for Fall 2010?"

Michael Kors: "Yes, definitely, I mean JPG is a full on nutter, but he's right, the camel coat will be seen as a classic investment piece - everyone will want one!"

Hannah Macgibbon: "Then we'd better get designing! Quick designers! To The Big Trendy Haberdashery! I hear they've got a sale on camel coloured wool! We'll take the Chloémobile! Oh, and Philip Lim? If you get one drop of olive oil on my suede interiors, you're walking..."

The little curly girl - giving you an (entirely accurate) look into the minds of fashion designers since 1972.

Anyway, I understand that there are always trends; whether it's a certain theme, such as "ladylike" or "grunge", or a colour, or even just a specific accessory - if a certain thing crops up on several catwalks in a season, then it's likely to become a trend. And since fashion often recycles old ideas (albeit in new and different ways), it makes sense that if a colour or style of garment hasn't been seen on the runway for a while, then it's only a matter of time before it makes a comeback. That being said, I still find it a little crazy that so many fashion houses seemed to champion the camel coat for this season. It just seems like a quite a big coincidence, I mean there's loads of them! See for yourselves;

3.1 Philip Lim

Aquascutum, Carolina Herrera, Hermès

Hussein Chalayan, Lanvin, MaxMara

Tommy Hilfiger, Chloé, Michael Kors

[images all from style.com]

Of course, fashion being as it is, even though so many designers have 'done' a camel coat, they're all somewhat different (I LOVE the 3.1 Philip Lim one with the black piping and the double breasted 'boyfriend' style one by Hussein Chalayan) and I suppose that's part of the reason why every blogger and fashion journalist this side of Nebula 53X1 (I just made that up. What is a nebula anyway?) has been going crazy about camel coats since the Fall shows back in February. The camel coat is an easy to wear, versatile piece that goes with most things and instantly makes you look classy and chic (well it does to an extent; if you're wearing a pair of Crocs and one of those beer can hats, you can pile on as many camel coats as you want but you'll still look completely ridiculous). It's what I like to call a 'grown up lady coat'.

However, as the epitome of classy, chic, smart, grown up lady fashion, the camel coat is kind of supposed to look expensive. And most things that look expensive are expensive. Now, I've been trawling the Interwebs looking for camel coats, and while there are some high street versions, I worry that they may, in person, look a bit cheap. And I don't think you can get away with a cheap looking camel coat, it's positively paradoxical. So here's a few 'proper' camel coats, for grown up ladies with grown up salaries that can afford grown up coats.

£225, Karen Millen

£119.90, Mango

£225, Reiss

£129, Zara

See? Pricey. Maybe it just depends on how much you're willing to spend on a coat. Currently I've got about £3.64 in the Franki's New Coat fund.

But Franki! You're missing the point! As Michael Kors said in the completely non-fictitious conversation above, the camel coat is an investment piece! It may be expensive but you'll wear it forever and ever!

But I won't, will I? Because this time next year, there'll be another 'must have' coat and the camel coat will be long forgotten. Oh fashion, you are a fickle mistress!

So, in conclusion, the camel coat is lovely, versatile, classy and makes you look and feel like a real, live grown up type. Will it be my coat of choice for this season? Judging by the ones I've found online so far, possibly not. Although, H&M Magazine did recently feature this image;

and while I've not actually seen it instore yet, if the price was as reasonable as most H&M things are, I could be tempted.

The only thing that's still bugging me? What about all the camels? Haven't they suffered enough?*

*camel coats are not made from real camels.

Tin can at my feet, think I'll kick it down the street...

Well hello there! It's been a while hasn't it? How are you doing? Sit down, take the weight off, I'll put the kettle on and you can tell me all about what you've been up to!

...where have I been? Oh, well, that's a good question, you see I was...ummm...I had to...er...

I was being a bad blogger.

I've got no excuses really, I haven't been on holiday, or been kidnapped, my computer wasn't broken and I didn't decide to give up all my worldly possessions and become a Hare Krishna, I was simply being a big pile of rubbish when it came to the old blogging malarkey.

I don't know if anyone else ever gets like this but I've just been feeling massively uninspired recently. I keep a list of things that I want to blog about and even though the list currently has about seven trillion (no lie) things on it, none of them sounded particularly exciting and I couldn't think of anything new to talk about. So I didn't blog. And then the longer I went without blogging, the guiltier I felt, which in turn made me not even want to look at my blog because it would remind me how long it had been since my last post. I even started avoiding my Google Reader, because seeing everyone else in the Blogosphere, blogging away like merry little chipmunks, made me feel EVEN GUILTIER (is guiltier even a word? I'm looking at it and it looks ridiculous, so I doubt it, but still, who's to say what is and isn't a 'real word' anyway? Exactly). Basically, I was in a terrible guilt-shame spin cycle in the washing machine of life. If there is an image to sum up how I was feeling at that time, it would probably be this;

Yeah. I know.

I think perhaps one of the reasons why I've been so uninspired lately is because I've been in a bit of a rut with myself. Do you ever feel, when you open your wardrobe that you're just completely sick of all your clothes? I look at my clothes and just think

"urgh, I've worn you all!"

and I realise that I just wear the same few items every week. I think it's partly because I don't wear 'work clothes'. Although I do work in an office, there's no dress code and I hate traditional office attire so I just dress kind of smart/casual and end up wearing all my nice, interesting clothes for work, which makes them not seem particularly nice or interesting anymore. It's times like this I wish I worked back in my old horrible job in the sports cafe, where I had to wear a maroon polo shirt... actually, no, I really, really don't.

I suppose it's a good thing then, that Autumn is fast approaching, as it gives me an excuse to buy plenty of exciting new items. New coat, new boots, new knitwear, the opportunities are quite literally endless. Whenever I think about Autumn I get this image of me skipping down country lanes in a pair of sturdy tan knee boots, a big snuggly coat and a long chunky scarf, cheeks rosy from the wind, a bag of stale bread to feed the ducks and a song in my heart. In reality, it would probably be more a case of me stomping through puddles to get to the bus stop, only to realise that I've missed the bus and the song in my heart has become nothing more than a low, continuous droning of swear words.

Anyway, the point is, this is a very exciting time of year, the September issues of all the magazines have been out for about a month already, trends have been well and truly dictated (camel coats and shearling anyone? I think I might have heard that somewhere...) and the super organised fashionistas amongst us will have already been thinking about (if not already purchasing) their key items for the season. Of course, as Last Minute is actually my middle name (it's Swedish), my thoughts about key pieces for Autumn have so far consisted pretty much of me going "I'll probably be needing some new tights" and nothing more. However, I have decided that as I am now a proper grown up type (I'm 23 tomorrow - eeep!), I am going to be methodical and organised and make a list of what I'm going to buy for Autumn and actually stick to that list, instead of aimlessly wandering into H&M every now and then and going "ooh that's a nice dress I'll only ever wear once/shawl covered in pom poms/necklace made from twigs, gimme!"

In order to help me with my list, I'm going to try and do a lot more blog posts over the next week or so, discussing the big 'trends' for this season, how easy it is to translate them from catwalk to real life and where on the High Street we can find these 'key items' (the more I use that phrase, the wankier I sound. I feel like Trinny and Susanna. Feeling like two people when you're only one person is probably not a good thing) - your input will be muchly appreciated during this difficult time as I don't always have a very good brain.

I'm aware that this post has been very wordy, so here's a picture of some nice blue eye makeup that I scanned from the latest ASOS Magazine;

The line down the middle is the fold from the magazine, as it was a double page spread, but I didn't want to rip the pages out because it's Liv's magazine and I'm very considerate about what I do and don't rip.

Here's looking forward to a new season and a new, better, bloggier little curly girl. 23 and never been kissed (not really). To infinity and be-bloody-yond

Factory Girl

I've been trying to write this post all week, but I just had too many words to say and ended up having a small breakdown. Don't worry, I'm ok now, but following on from my breakdown, I'm thinking that the best way to write about this particular topic is to break it down... (you see what I did there? I am just SO street!)

First, let's all share a moment and look at this;

I know, I know, crazy/epic/mental/ridiculous/fabulous/insane right? But what's even more exciting about this is that moments before this photo was taken, that gigantic ruff/cloak thing was actually this skirt;

How Franki? How? And why? And also what? And who? And when? But mainly how? Explain all, please, for we are so confused by these images of strange and wonderful things.

Well children, are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin...

Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoering, also known as Viktor & Rolf, the crazy-cool Dutch design duo, have always been known for their whacky but wonderful approach to fashion. I've mentioned them briefly in previous posts but not really gone into great detail about them... that is UNTIL NOW, because, having been rendered completely and utterly dumbfounded by their Fall 2010 show, I have to comment.

Imagine the scene; a fashion show. The runway is completely plastered with images of cogs, gears and screws and the music is layered with the mechanical sounds of a factory. The lights dim. Kristen McMenamy (a popular face of the 90s... I've never heard of her) heads down the runway wearing a ma-hoo-sive fur and tweed cape. The designers follow her and the three of them stop on a rotating circle in the centre of the runway, where Viktor and Rolf then proceed to remove said ginourmous cape from the model, who is standing as still as an extremely still mannequin (that's VERY still). Another model appears on the runway, steps onto the magical rotating bit and the designers dress her in the cape, which, with a few minor adjustments, becomes a coat. This process is repeated again and again as it is revealed, on removal of the giant cape, that McMenamy is actually wearing several layers of coats and jackets, which are each removed in turn, transformed into another garment through the magic of drawstrings, zips and fasteners and then placed onto another model, who then carries on down the runway, while McMenamy is STILL STANDING STILL!

You want a cape or a coat? Voila! You can have both!

Once all the layers are removed and McMenamy is stripped down to nothing but a nude bodysuit, the process starts again, this time in reverse, with models wearing various dresses, which are then removed, turned into yet more coats and placed back onto McMenamy, who, believe it or not, is STILL STANDING STILL! Is she a robot? Possibly.

First it's a dress, then it's a coat. Ah, the things you can do with a drawstring.

Basically, the whole thing was insane. I don't know what I was more impressed by; Viktor and Rolf's ingenuity and precision when removing/transforming/replacing garments or Kristen McMenamy's ability to wear twelve million layers of clothes while maintaining an air of zen-like coolness.

But what was the reason for all this? Are Viktor and Rolf telling us that layering is going to be such an important aspect for the Fall season that we should just wear all our clothes at once? Were they taking tips from that video of the 1930s future fashion predictions where they thought we'd all be wearing clothes which could adapt for day and night? Or did they just want to play dress up with a life-sized Barbie doll? (Don't we all?)

No. Don't be silly, it was none of those things.

The show was entitled "Glamour Factory", the runway (I think) represented a conveyor belt and the designers were like the two little workers, busily producing new garments. They were also playing with the concept of "Ready to Wear", as the pieces were somewhat extreme but, with a few tweaks, became instantly wearable.

I'll be honest, I don't really get where McMenamy and her layer upon layer of coats came into it all, but I'd like to think she represented a big stylish onion, which could be peeled to reveal more and more lovely things.

Regardless of what it all meant, I think it was brilliant, simply because it's a nice change to see a runway show which involves something a bit more than models just walking. Even so, having read several reviews, it's clear that the spectacle and theatrics of the show managed to overshadow the actual clothes, which is a shame because they were really gorgeous;

Those circle-lens sunglasses do remind me of Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit? though;

Anyway, Viktor & Rolf have to be commended for the brilliant design features which utilised a simple drawstring to conceal or reveal volume, allowing garments to transform effortlessly from one thing to another. It was never a case of "oh that coat looks a bit like a dress now"; the coat was DEFINITELY a dress.

I also think it's great to see the designers taking an active role in the show, as usually, designers don't seem keen to enter the runway at all. I'm hoping that next season, designers will take their cue from Viktor & Rolf and we'll see Karl Lagerfeld whipping out a sewing machine on the Chanel catwalk and making all the clothes from scratch, right there and then. Brilliant.