A side note…

Just a quick side note: I am not dead and neither is this blog!
These last few weeks have just been hectic. First my internet went on strike. Then my 7 years old laptop gave up on me, and last – but definitely not least! – I had to pack my entire life as I followed my better half who has been posted to work in a different country, half way across the world!

Very little chance for fashion research amidst all this, as you can surely imagine, but I am slowly getting back on track, and hopefully the Dell Fairies should deliver my new laptop soon.

Thank you all for your patience and see you very soon!

xx Lau

Brown belt and internet woes.

“Murder, She Wrote” Series 1 – Episode 8
“We’re Off to Kill the Wizard”

Fashion Tip learned :
Belts make all the difference: even a simple shirt can have that smarter and classier look if you choose the right belt to complement it.

Life Lesson learned :
Never take advantage of your friends or family’s hospitality. As Jessica herself says: “A good guest is like Halley’s Comet: seen and enjoyed seldom and briefly”.

Episode’s Highlight:
Joaquin Phoenix and his sister Summer starring as Jessica’s grand-nephews.

Ok, ok, I must confess: my boyfriend noticed their names in the end titles and here I am taking all the credit!

Apparently actor Joaquin Phoenix was credited as Leaf Phoenix in his early roles (source: Wikipedia). In 1984 he would have been 10 years old and this small part in Murder, She Wrote is one of his first appeareances on screen, along with his sister Summer. They are both adorable and already so talented!

In this episode, Jessica is staying with her niece’s family when she gets involved in solving the murder of a very arrogant and unpleasant businessman. He had previously tried to convince her to create a horror attraction for his theme park, but she found this idea totally preposterous!

~~ On a side note, my internet has been down for days. It’s now back but sadly still hiccuping, and my provider’s customer service is frustratingly useless. I sincerely apologise for missing last week posting: I tried my best to write a post this week with the few bit and pieces of research I could do here and there, but I must apologise in advance if updates might be a bit irregular until the problem get fixed… I hope you will be patient with me!~~

In most of the scenes of this episode Jessica is wearing clothes we have seen before (pinstriped shirtdress, buttoned blue shirt, grey tracksuit, floral scarf… and so on) but the first ‘new’ outfit that attracted my attention is this simple pairing of a pencil skirt and double-layered shirts (a striped pink one under a more thick-looking khaki one) all tied together by a lovely brown belt.

I really think it is the belt that makes this outfit. Jessica’s brown belt seems to have a round buckle, so I picked this tan belt by Urban Outfitters and this similar belt by Dorothy Perkins, but the choices would be endless.

A pink striped shirt is quite easy to find, so I picked this classic 100% cotton shirt available at M&Co, or this short sleeved one available at Yoox, which has a pretty twist on the theme with an added gold line.

On top of this first shirt, Jessica wears another one, similar to this khaki shirt available at Dorothy Perkins, which is a bit more modern thanks to its shoulder embellishment.

As per Jessica’s pencil skirt, I found this beautiful vintage Valentino on sale at only £80 at Farfetch, which I think it is a great bargain.

I must confess: I had never seen before a skirt suit (or two pieces dress?) quite like the one Jessica is wearing in the next screenshots.

As it has proved very difficult to find something like it, I tried to make up for it picking dresses which have at least a somehow similar pattern, such as this skirt suit at Oxfam, this 1970 cocktail dress available at Beyond Retro and this polka dot shirtdress by Ruche.

Under it, Jessica wears a simple white top, such as, for instance, this sleeveless one by La Redoute and a red beads necklace like this lovely hand knotted necklace by Etsy seller BeadDweeb.

I really like Jessica’s airport outfit in this episode.

Jessica wears a beautiful white pleated skirt, like this vintage 1980s by Etsy seller Wildrose Primitives, or this vintage 1960s by Etsy seller Otra Vez Vintage.

On top of it, complemented by the same brown belt we saw above, she wears a simple navy shirt, like for instance this roll sleeve linen shirt by Matalan or this more casual lightweight cotton shirt available at John Lewis.

As a final touch, Jessica wears a multicoloured scarf with a checkered pattern. Somehow on a similar vibe, I like this pastel vintage scarf by Etsy seller Vintage Threadz and this vintage Vera Neumann scarf by Etsy seller Blue Sky Lane.

Quick update on the Fish Cardigan!

I don’t usually manage to post more than once in one week, but this is just a very quick update on one of Jessica’s outfits which is an all-time favourite of mine: a very excited friend just told me that Mary Maxim discovered one of my old blog posts featuring one of their cardigans (see the original post here if you have not read it the first time around) and posted on Facebook that they still have that original pattern available for purchase!

So, if you are looking to knit one of these cardigans yourself, they wrote on their page that you can now “call 1-800-962-9504 and ask for pattern number 414. They will pull it from our archives for you and get you taken care of.”

How fantastic!! I think this is definitely going to go on my birthday wishlist!

(Source: Mary Maxim Facebook page).

Jessica as Adidas spokesperson? Yes please!

“Murder, She Wrote” Series 1 – Episode 7
“Hit, Run and Homicide”
(Post 2 of 2)

Hello everyone! Thank you for your patience and kindness! I will try my best not to miss a post again! :)

So… it might seem like an odd question… but do you know what Justin Bieber and Jessica Fletcher have in common?
One of my friends cheekily said ‘the haircut’, but I will ignore her outrageous suggestion!!

The right answer is… they both wear Adidas trainers!

Actually, if I am not mistaken, Mr. Bieber is the official spokesperson for Adidas at the moment. I tried to look up on the internet if Adidas ever officially enlisted Jessica in any capacity, but apparently they didn’t. What a pity!
Oh well, their loss, totally.

I had to pause my DVD several times to get a couple of half-decent screenshots, as Jessica’s shoes are mainly visible whilst she is running up a couple of steps, but I hope my images are good enough to throw Adidas into the deepest pit of despair upon realising what a great sponsoring chance they have missed on.

On the other hand, at the moment it does not really matter whether you are real or fictional, young or old, alive or dead: the boundaries of advertising are pretty flexible (has anyone asked Audrey Hepburn how she keeps her figure whilst munching on so much chocolate?) hence I don’t really see the problem in getting Jessica to run after a murder suspect in a pair of spanking new trainers! I bet their sales would soar in no time.

Jessica Fletcher as Adidas 2013 spokesperson? It would be awesome and I think I should probably start a petition about it. What do you think?

Jessica’s white and blue Adidas trainers are quite a classic. You can get something very similar on Spartoo, at NikeClassic or even on this website which I am not really sure what is called!

To complete her sporty outfit, Jessica wears a white jumper over a denim shirt and a pair of cozy deep blue trousers (that don’t look like jeans to me, but I could be mistaken).

Raise your hand if you would like Jessica to show up at your house with a pie!!
I know I certainly would. :) I think this classic knitted jumper by French Connection and this Jane Norman ‘slouchy tube cable jumper’ available at House of Fraser are really pretty. If you want something more modern, this mix knit jumper by Top Shop could be also a lovely choice!

A good denim shirt should be a staple in every wardrobe. You can get yours pretty much anywhere, such as, for instance, at H&M, at Only.com or – of course! – at Uniqlo.

I am convinced that in these screenshots Jessica is wearing the very same blue trouser I wrote about in this post, hence my choices are still these Bench trousers and these comfy chinos.

Later in the episode, Jessica sports another similar ensemble, with a jumper over a shirt, but this time all in grey.

I like this cosy unisex oatmeal jumper available at Woolovers and this pretty crew neck jumper available at Superdry, which she wears over a basic grey shirt like this one or this one, both available at Yoox.

Over her lovely floral pleated skirt, the same she wore in this past episode, she wears a tan belt, and my picks are this thin one (now on sale at less than £4!) available at House of Fraser, and this regular one available at Uniqlo.

I decided to group together three very pretty outfits that Jessica wears in this episode because I think they are all fairly similar: a smart shirt (with or without a cardigan over it) and a silk scarf worn like a tie.

The first outfit is composed by a long red cardigan, similar to this one by Woolovers, a white shirt, like this one by Zara, and an original silk scarf with a mix of dots and stripes. On a similar vibe I found this gorgeous vintage Diane Von Furstenberg scarf on Etsy by seller Evee’s Closet, or this simpler and yet really nice stripey scarf by Mishumo.

The next outfit is quite similar but with inverted colours. The same long blue Woolover cardigan is available in many different colours, and of course also in navy blue. Under it, Jessica wears a light blue shirt, like this simple one by Zara, and a red scarf with blue dots, so I picked this pretty classic vintage scarf by Etsy seller DesignT and this lovely hand dyed red silk scarf by Etsy seller KMSilks. Even if quite different, I also like this pretty long scarf by Etsy seller JoLindsDesigns.

The last outfit is a classic stiped blue shirt with a white belt (a look we have seen on Jessica many times, such as in this episode). I picked one more shirt as this 1960s vintage one by Etsy seller Socialiste was too pretty not to mention.
Her red scarf has a white pattern, so I chose this pretty vintage red and white ‘brushstroke’ scarf by Etsy seller Two Geeks Antiques, and this lovely red mid-century scarf by Etsy seller The Vintage Baker.

Lastly, here is a screenshot I really like: Jessica’s stunning smile.

No post this week! Sorry :(

Dear friends, I am so sorry but this week I had/still have! several (important) personal deadlines hence I did not manage to finish my blog post. I will try to write a longer post next week to make up for it. Sorry!

For the time being…  a quick heads up to my fellow Londoners: you might be interested in the Design of the Year 2013 exhibition at the Design Museum, where a small piece featuring our beloved Angela Lansbury is now on display.

This is a black and white version of a photo originally taken by Terry Richardson and it was nominated in the ‘Graphics’ category as edited by Veronica Ditting & Jop van Bennekom for the cover of the magazine The Gentlewoman.

I don’t live far from this museum so I just dropped by on my way to work.
The exhibition is very interesting, featuring all sort of original and fun designs, from the super-cute Berg little printer to the olympic torch and cauldron, and everything in between (fashion, architecture, art, furniture, computers, pottery, bycicles… you name it!)
It is not a huge room but I found that it takes a good while to watch every piece on display and read all about it, and I definitely wish I had more time to enjoy it.

I must specify that the magazine featuring Jessica… pardon, Angela Lansbury, is lovely but it is only on display on a table as a design item so you are not allowed to touch it. (Below is the photo I took with my phone).

Tickets include entry to all current exhibitions in the museum:
£11.85 adult – £10.70 concession
£7.50 student  – Free to members, free for under 12’s

If you plan to go only because of Angela (like I did!) you have to be aware that unfortunately the copies of this magazine are now sold out at the museum’s bookshop, and the image is only featured inside a small exhibition catalogue (in A5 format and on sale at £6).
BUT if you have still to visit the Design Museum (which is lovely) and maybe fancy having a stroll and a bite on our beautiful Thames, well, this is the perfect excuse for an excursion on this side of the river.

And if you really want a copy of The Gentlewoman and money is not an issue, you can buy your copy on Ebay.
I also emailed the magazine (which, by the way, looks absolutely fabulous) asking if there is any other way to purchase copies, so I will update this post if/when they will reply!

See you next week! :)
Lau x