Be My Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! My gift to you? A collection of the finest males known to mankind. Enjoy!

Tennessee Waltz

After a rather long hiatus - sorry! - I am back with a vengeance. Well.. back with a new lovely lady of fantastic style to show you! Today's muse is Tennessee Thomas of the LA-based girl band, The Like. Whilst all three members have a most aesthetically-pleasing way of dressing, it is the fantastically named Tennessee who has really caught my eye. Rubbing shoulders with some of the best-dressed kids around, such as Alexa Chung, Mark Ronson and Zooey Deschanel, it is only fitting that she should have her own playful and charming look. She likes to team her long flowing locks with sailor-inspired pieces, envy-inducing coats and excellent hosiery galore,and the finished result is really quite wonderful. Observe..

Girl With One Eye

Florence Welch (aka Florence and The Machine) and I have something in common - an intense love of all things sequinned! Particularly on tour, where she brings 'as many weird clothes' as she can pack, she displays an admirable collection of sparkly dresses, jackets and even hotpants that make us fellow magpies green with envy. She manages to avoid fancy dress connotations by having long, red Disney princess-esque hair, which in my books makes it perfectly acceptable to dress like life is one long disco. She also pulls off the toned-down look with aplomb, see the 3rd from last picture for evidence - checked and polka dots combo topped off with ankle socks, lovely! Here are some of my particular favourite looks of hers..

...And for soundtrack purposes whilst browsing this post, click here for the  link to her myspace.

This Is A Gift...

That's Florence And The Machine's latest offering... isn't it lovely? Directed by the wonderful Tom Beard, it has a very romantic fairytale-esque eel, and I've decided, I need some sort of crown! Enjoy :-) 

Oh, and a big thank you everyone who's been commenting on my posts - It's good to know people are reading and liking!

Femmes Fatale

''Southend-On-Sea is a portal to another topsy-turvy dimension where all the kids have immaculate style, impeccable taste in music, and intimidatingly refined cultural know-how. It’s said that each new born baby is issued with aNuggets boxset, the second Einsturzende Neubauten album, and a copy of Perfume.''

Ipso Facto, the pop-noir foursome currently making waves in music, hail from the same seaside town that was the birthplace of, amongst others, The Horrors, The She Set and These New Puritans. All I can say is, there must be something in the water, because as the above quote illustrates, they just look plain better than everyone else! Ipso Facto are no exception, matching their moody, 60's garage influenced sounds with an equally impressive dress sense. They often sport identical, Louise Brookes style jet black bobs and have a penchant for lace, leather and monochrome. They wouldn't look out of place in a silent movie, and their unique look is said to have inspired YSL's A/W08 collection. They are the muses of the promising new designer, Hannah Marshall, who favours tight, black, leather - perfect on-stage wear for the girl band on everyones (shiny black) lips!

Like A Virgin

The Virgin Suicides is Sofia Coppola's first full length feature, and one of my favourite films of all time. It's an almost Grimm-esque fairytale about the five beautiful Lisbon sisters, in the prime of their lives but trapped by their... well, not evil, let's say over-protective, parents. Set in 1970's suburban America, the girls sport some rather lovely, floaty, romantic creations that wouldn't look out of place trotting down the Chloe runway today. Lux, the most rebellious of the sisters, favours high waisted shorts and flowery cheesecloth tops for sunbathing in the garden, and dresses skimpy enough to bring her strict Catholic mother out in sweats! Meanwhile Cecelia, the youngest, prefers to float around in a 1920's wedding dress with the hem ripped off to the knees. And Lux's love interest, the divine Tripp Fontaine, wears some impressively kitsch corduroy suits and paisley shirts, not forgetting his signature aviators to make the girls swoon. 

Along with the costumes, Sofia has thought of everything to really make this film's aesthetic so ethereal. Special lighting techniques ensured the girls hair and skin were positively glowing, giving them an angelic, surreal look. Realistically depicting a house full of teenage girls, the Lisbon's bedrooms are over-the-top feminine and charmingly cluttered, with everything from empty perfume bottles to Catholic memorabilia. The score of the film is spot on, fusing nostalgic seventies numbers such as Heart's 'Magic Man' with the eery, electronic sounds of the french band Air, who composed a whole album especially for the film. Overall, this film is an excellent introduction to Coppola's films yet to come. Enjoy... 

Zooey Time!

I am very jealous of Zooey Deschanel. Not only is she unfairly pretty and the owner of my Dream Hair, but she has an AMAZING dress sense. She favours pretty, dreamy pastel colours topped off with quirky accessories, such as a bow in her hair or those ingenius sparkly tights (note to self: get glittering hosiery). She is also a worthy beauty icon, with her lovely country singer style locks and unusual pale skin. She never looks too made up, with her rosey blush and dark pink lips. As well as her impressive style and beauty choices, she has starred in some rather excellent films, such as Almost Famous, and my most eagerly anticipated summer flick, '500 Days Of Summer'. As well as being an actress, she also posesses a lovely, old world-y voice showcased perfectly in her side project, She & Him (click here for the link).