Strike a Pose

There is no denying it, we live in a celebrity obsessed world. They look out at you from the T.V when you turn it on, down on you from the shelves of your local newsagents and their names pop out at you every time you go online. And they know how you feel about them because they are totally cashing in on it. If your a fan of Victoria Beckham, you can wear shades from her sunglasses line, jeans from her denim range, a dress from her new line of those, you can read her biography as well as her book about style, and spray yourself in one of her perfumes as well. And those are just the things that have her name on them, never mind all the things she's endorsed and all the fashion labels she's known to wear. She's even had a guest appearance on Ugly Betty. In short, she may well be a person but she's also a brand and mostly a fashion brand. I have to admit that I have a sort of admiration for Mrs Beckham, she has previously stated that she was never the greatest singer but that she loves fashion and now has the opportunity to turn her hand to that. I'm not a fan as such and don't own any of the above things that's she's put on the market, I just admire her for being honest about who she is and what she does. She seems to genuinely love fashion and although her style might not be to every one's taste, she's doing her own thing and I'll always respect that. Plus I'll always admire a woman who takes the rubbish out in 5 inch stilettos and if she ever actually takes out the rubbish I'm sure she does it in heels.
However I think fashion's love affair with celebrity has gone a bit far and in the last week there were a few examples that proved this to me. One: Cheryl Cole will be on the cover of Vogue in the new year, Two Madonna will be featured in the new Louis Vuitton campaign, and Three Pamela Anderson will be in the new Vivienne Westwood advertising campaign. All of these facts left me baffled. The first two are pure, unadulterated and disappointing attempts to make more money. These two woman have been featured in the press a huge amount in 2008, both for their marital problems. Madonna's divorce is one of the biggest celeb stories of the year and it's disappointing to me that two well-respected names in fashion would sink this low to sell a few more mags and bags. The third thing, well that's just completely random and I will reserve judgement until I see the ad's because usually Queen Westwood gets it right. All in all I just think that it's all a bit excessive and that far too many talented 'normal' folk in the fashion industry are losing work to these famous people who already have enough money.

Westside to Westfield

Given my experiences of shopping as described in the previous post it would seem weird that so soon after that wild, wet and windy day on Oxford Street I would be back to battling with any kind of retail experience. However with my mum still visiting it seemed like a good idea last Monday to check out the new Westfield centre in Shepherd's Bush. Given that it was a Monday I figured it wouldn't be as busy as it would have been that Saturday and given that it was all indoors I figured we would be safe from the elements. I was right on both accounts. It's an absolute giant of a place and at first I thought I would never find my way around never mind back out again but with the aid of one of there maps I was soon sure of where I was and where I wanted to go. Its well laid out with the four large department stores each having a corner. The thing about it that is so great is that everything is there. In central London you would find yourself having to go from one end of Oxford Street to the other to get to the shops you wanted to go to. Westfield makes it all a little more pleasurable. One thing that was a little disappointing was that the majority of the designer stores hadn't opened yet, although they all seem to be moving in before Christmas. Those are the stores that will lift Westfield above the other big shopping centres, like Bluewater, and give it something worth going for, even if it's just to leave dirty hand prints on the windows of Prada.
I plan to return there soon to do my Christmas shopping, safe and warm and dry and with a Yo Sushi to reward myself at after I'm done.

Shop til you drop dead.

As I get older, which is a depressing enough thing to be dealing with as it is, I have also discovered another depressing thing: I am starting to dislike shopping. Not the actual spending of money, that bit is still far too fun for my bank accounts liking, but the actual act of shopping. Attempting to deal with Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon in a downpour that was accompanied by a gail, I realised that I'd rather be tucked up in a bed with a good book or at least in a warm coffee shop with a muffin and a mocha. I was with my mum who was visiting and I was attempting to find her Christmas present for me. It was a bit of a nightmare. Between the horrendous weather, the umbrellas getting blown inside out and then dripping all over slidy shop floors it was just all a bit too much to be bothered with. It's a bit sad really. As a teenager I loved to go shopping and found it wonderful fun no matter what the weather. Sometimes I'd only come back with a Rimmel nail polish but my god I'd had some fun.
Now it just feels too much like a chore and the fact that pretty much everything you could ever need or want can be bought from the comfort of your sofa and then delivered to your house makes shopping seem even more pointless. I used to say that no matter how great the Internet got I would still love to see the clothes hanging from rails and be able to try them on before handing over any of my hard earned cash. Now I'm not so sure. It feels too much of a battle.
Having said that I did get the most beautiful Diesel leather jacket, made of wonderfully buttery soft leather. I saw it in Selfridges and feel madly in love with it, fortunately my mum did too and it now hangs in the second wardrobe of my flat, next to my favourite vintage dress. I did a quick online search and after about 10 minutes of getting a bit lost on the Diesel website, I discovered it on the ASOS site. So in theory I didn't need to be subjected to the madness in order to have it. However I do have to wonder if I would have got the same buzz from trying it on for the first time.