You are currently browsing the monthly archive for May, 2009.
Name: Siouxsie
Occupation: Freelance fashion stylist
Describe your style: Don’t follow trends, incorporating high street and vintage, edgy, depending on the mood of the day.
Favourite fashion label: Burberry, Christopher Kane, Vivienne Westwood
Favourite clothing store: Harvey Nichols
I just had a quick look at Siouxsie’s work, some great things! Have a look for yourself here.
Name: Prema
Occupation: Maths and logic teacher
Describe your style: Not having any style.
Favourtie fashion label: None
Favourite clothing store: None
Prema’s blog is here if you’d like a read.
From polished designer high fashion to my crazy space outfit, now I bring you to the other side of the town, Camden Town. I only very recently discovered it’s about 25 minutes walk from my place, why the hell didn’t I go earlier. Camden is crazy, full on, energetic and just plain awesome. It’s the ultimate place for clashes of fashion, from gothic lolitas, to punks, rockabillies, indie kids, high street kids, vintage gals, hip hop boys, it really shouts “youth of Britain today” to me.
Today I went for a stroll again armed with my camera!
Camden market is a huge market that interconnects many sections, with indoor and outdoor space, they sell anything from vintage wear to designer rip offs and everything in between. I found myself a nice little something for £6! More about that another time. Cyberdog is crazy! Rave music turned up loud pumping straight through me, those fluro detective lights that showcase the special ink on their tshirts, robotic mannequins line the walls. Some of the womens clothes were very avant garde, I can see how a piece or 2 combined with high street stuff can become a very edgy and cool outfit. Now why didn’t I go there before my space themed party, oh well, at least I know now for next time.
So here are 2 quick shots from today.
Got to go now, more posts tomorrow! Happy Thursday!
Saturday night, 10.30pm, a girlfriend and I arrive at a unremarkable blue door with a security guard outside and a silver sign that says MOONBASE. “This must be it!” I squeal. Moonbase had a rotation of DJs, an accordion player that one of the hosts met on the tube, a roof terrace, a ball pit involving 500 coloured balls and many intergalactic creatures.
It was fancy dress, if you haven’t guessed that yet. This is what it said on the facebook event page: Every millennia an enigma takes place, one which hails upon all life of the universe to unite under one cause and on one planet… DISCO GALAXIA is here! In the name of strengthening inter-galactic peace we would like to invite you to the biggest party in the universe. From the 8 corners of the cosmos every intelligent life form from Space Rangers to Cosmic Freaks will join for outer space disco festivities. Get yoll shiny shit on and charge the Cosmic Peace Laser because you know no one knows how to party like a DISCO GALAXIA party!
So how did I get such crazy friends? Who cares! But most importantly what did I wear?!
Voila! Remember the Balenciaga rip offs I’d been eyeing at Topshop, this was one of them, it’s so short! I never wear anything so short, but with 2 layers of tights, I figured what the hell, just do it. I’m going for a bit of futuristic chic here, black, silver, nice splash of colour, bold and geometric pattern. The black tights, oh they were fun! I got them from Primark, 5 pairs for £2, so I cut up 1 pair, tried them on and cut up another with slight adjustments for the night.
Self portraits without a tripod and a remote is simply impossible, I had to rely on the crusty dirty mirror in the living room. Urgh.
So here’s the break down of the outfit.
Top: American Apparel (it’s actually a dress)
Skirt: Topshop
Silver tights: Urban Outfitters
Black tights: Primark with homemade holes
Shoes: H&M
Oh those shoes, I am so in love with shoe chunky heels and how they make my legs look. If I didn’t have to walk, I’d live in these shoes forever! Forever! Ok… just until I fall in love with the next pair of shoes…
Here are some shots from the night.
Seems like most intergalactic beings favour shiny legs.
He had a camera phone!!! As in a camera taped to a phone, as in Flight of the conchords.
And on that note, I’d like to take this post out with a binary solo: 01011001011011110111010100100000011000010111001001100101001000
00011100110110111100100000011000010111011101100101011100110110
1111011011010110010100100001
Oh these English people, they are just so bloody good at doing this Englishness. The men, especially the men, most dress very well, from the executives in Mayfair to the young ones walking around high street, this dapperness seems to be in their DNA. The mismatching, the tailored look, I have to salute you male Londoners! It’s great to see young men also putting in effort, taking from the old and translating it all into their own style.
Name: Toby
Occupation: Model
Describe your style: Rockabilly, English gentlemen, dapper.
Favourite fashion label: Fred Perry & Burberry
Favourite clothing shop: Charity shops.
Toby here is an extremely lucky young fellow. He told me he gets to raid his father and grand father’s wardrobes, he sometimes has to get things taken in a little, but they most fit perfect. I’m so jealous!
How was everyone’s weekend? Here in London, it’s bank holiday long weekend. I think I might take a day trip to Brighton tomorrow, let’s hope the sun will favour my little trip.
Today, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I take you to a very different world, but it is still in London! A world where I only get glimpses of, today you get a few glimpses too. Knightsbridge is one of the most expensive places in London, according to Wikipedia, 14 out of the 200 most expensive streets in Britain are in Knightsbridge. On street car parking spaces sell for £300,000 on a 94 year lease… Notable residents include: Nigella Lawson, Tom Ford, Hugh Grant, Sean Connery alongside many other aristocrats, royalties, socialites, writers, presenters and models. You get the idea.
There’s a strip of high fashion shops here, Chanel, Gucci, Jimmy Choo, you name it, you got it. And it was here that I did a little bit of street style hunting.
Name: Maria
Occupation: Lady of leisure
Describe your style: Hermes, Chanel when their clothes were simpler, more structured.
Favourite fashion label: None
Favourite clothing shop: Knightsbridge
Maria told me she was a model in the 50s, the height of the House of Chanel, dare I say, a time when sportswear isn’t what it is today. Maria has such elegance and grace, I’d love to have a head of silver hair like hers when I’m old.
Name: Withheld because this young lady is under 18
Occupation: Student
Describe your style: Chic
Favourite fashion label: Chanel and Hermes
Favourite clothing shop: Chanel and Hermes
An almost all black outfit which makes all the textures stand out, the bright pop of the red Hermes bag is very nice arm candy.
Now last but not least…
Way too cute >_____< He was a little shy but very sweet.
I hope you all have a good Monday, well, I hope!
I had an interview this afternoon near Piccadilly Circus, the role I interviewed for is somewhat up in the air but they are getting me in for a different project which is around a few days of work next week, I am poor so I’ll be very happy to see a few pounds in the bank account. So to celebrate, I went to Laduree! Hehehe, I’d walked past it last time and been itching to make up any excuse to go, getting a little job and being nearby was enough excuse for me.
I had some darjeeling tea and 3 mini macarons, lemon, pistachio and caramel with superfine salt. They were all yummy, had surprisingly thick creme fillings, my favourite is a tie between the caramel and the lemon. The lemon had just the right amount of sourness, the caramel one, well I had to get it, since it’s got superfine salt! I’ll be back to try all the flavours.
As I walked around I spotted the seemingly Chanel branded lamp posts. After a little googling, apparently this is the story. Coco Chanel had an affair with the Duke of Westminster, he was so in love with her, he branded the whole city with Chanel logos in an attempt to win her over. With no avail, unfortunately, but we are left with Chanel lamp posts!
Now a few candid snaps around town.
A little too much beige for my liking but an elegant outfit nonetheless, love the wicker basket on her bike.
Checkered suit and terracotta suit. Men here dress so much better than in Sydney, all their suits actually fit, unlike in Sydney where most suits are 2 sizes too big. Here their shirts match, their ties thought about, their shoes chic and shined. Awesome, so English, so dapper.
Over sized man bag, it’s Nike if you must know. This guy walked with such confidence it felt like he must own all of Piccadilly. Actually around there, men all dress so well, most suits look tailored, old money, heritage.
My favourite unbeatable 50mm lens has stopped working somewhat, I can now only manually focus which makes me a very anxious girl. But I did brave the fact today, I mean for decades people shot photographs without this thing they call “auto focus”, so hmm let me just create more hurdle for myself. Well, actually it’s because I can’t afford to fix it…
I got lost in Soho today, I veered off into Soho from Oxford St, I wondered around, past Chinatown, past all the gay bars, just walked to wherever looked interesting and before I know it, I was at the entrance of a small alley that contained a few too many sex shops. Oops. I turned back and somehow ended on Oxford St again… it’s as if Soho spat me back out after it concluded that I didn’t embrace the sex shops and therefore needed to be expelled…
Anyway, here’s the boy of the day.
Name: Lloyd
Occupation: DJ and sometimes model
Describe your style: Lots and lots of Vivienne Westwood
Favourite fashion label: Vivienne Westwood
Favourite clothing shop: Relic, Martin Margiela
Lloyd was in the last Vivienne Westwood campaign! In drag!
PS. I’m enjoying the Facehunter show very much!
Today I took out some time just for street fashion hunting, I want to explore all the nooks and crannies of London and see the different vibes and styles, so today I started at the most obvious place, Oxford St, the home of all high street sheilas. My first week here I went to Topshop on Oxford for the first time, it’s the flagship store with multiple floors crammed full of clothes. I wonder how does anyone even choose what to try on, I’d end up with piles and piles of things on my not-so-skinny arms! A lot of the clothes there were hmm, well, awful, but some Balenciaga rip offs did catch my eye, more about that another time.
Ladies and gentlemen, I do NOT recommend street fashion hunting on Oxford St, it was a nightmare! It is constantly crowded and Londoners walk very fast, I had to check myself several times to slow down. This London pace, it’s very infectious you know, I’m already starting to dislike tourists who walk too slow. Anyhow, back to style hunting. One second I’d spot someone, but by the time I see them, they are already 3 steps past me. Have you ever tried catching up to someone on a crowded street? Well, I did several times today, all without success. I also get frustrated when someone blocks my view, I need to walk slowly in the middle and constantly scan from left to right of everyone that passes me. Gosh, I sound horrible…
It seems to me that people wear more colour in London, people seem more daring, I’ve seen a middle aged lady with a long mustard coloured coat, many girls with coloured stockings, men with brightly coloured shirts and accessories. Or perhaps it’s the constant grey that makes the colours pop and more noticeable? The fashionistas though mostly stick to a darker simpler colour palette but it seems from time to time they can’t help themselves but add a nice dash of colour.
Name: Jai
Occupation: Visual merchandiser at Armani Exchange
Describe your style: Eclectic, vintage and cool.
Favourite fashion label: Vivienne Westwood
Favourite clothing shop: (so very sorry, I can’t make out my hand writing, I should get a audio recorder thingyo)
Jai made that bolero herself, too cool, where do we place orders?
Name: Felicia
Occupation: Looking for a job 
(Someone give the lovely Felicia a job?)
Describe your style: Vintage
Favourite fashion label: Don’t have one
Favourite clothing store: Urban Outfitters
Felicia moved from Sweden recently.
Aren’t both girls just too awesome! Jai’s bolero makes me very very jealous of her pattern making and sewing skills, the styling of her outfit is great too, the perfect splash of colour to top it off. Felicia is as cute as a button, the innocent floral print romper contrasting against black everything else is done just right.
Now girls, go off and add a dash of colour to your outfits tomorrow. Shoo shoo, you all go in front of the mirror and play dress ups now!
Ain’t nothing like a little self promotion City news is a local newspaper for the Sydney city central area and recently I was featured in an article about local bloggers, you can even see a little mugshot of me. City news doesn’t have a huge amount of circulation, but still, it’s nice to see my name printed on paper, knowing someone might read the article and check out this blog.
If you are interested, here’s a transcribe of the section about me:
Local goes global via a blogger near you
BY MICHAEL GORMLY
XSSAT
Woolloomooloo photographer and web designer Xiaohan Shen shoots street fashion – just people she sees on the street with something to their outfit, from quirky to trendy to casual to the “fashion-forward”.
The blog is based on successful overseas street fashion blogs like The Sartorialist and Facehunter.
“Xssat is not about high fashion, it’s not about designer brands, it’s about taking inspiration from the street and translating the looks with what’s already in your own wardrobe,” said Xiaohan.
Recent posts picture Sydney’s bowtie trend and its ongoing love of wearing black.
I’m quite proud of the blurb Michael quoted me on :p
If you are interested you can download the whole issue and read the entire article here.
