DINGDONGTHEDREAMISDEAD

House of Fraser has killed Biba.


Biba was everything a shop should be. It was the life and soul of 60s clothing & it epitomized a generation, but unfortunately as those of us with experience of great creativity & little business sense know, it's hard to keep that kind of thing going without selling out a little bit. & so it closed it's doors to the sounds of crying in the street (well...my mum at least).




There was the design company Barbara Hulanicki set up to keep herself going & there was the diffusion line for Topshop which I still own one of my favorite dresses from & then the news came in the form of posters on the outside of House of Fraser. A short conversation with the staff revealed that they new absolutely nothing & I don't go into town much so I was worried I might have missed something... The 'coming this September' signs are still up though.




But flicking through the online lookbook and the things they've put on the website I don't think I'll hold my breath anymore. Everything is shiny & it's either too basic for the price or simply too extravagant to warrant it, who do they think their target market is? My mum? Or me? Because I think they got a little confused & then using Daisy Lowe as the model well, that I'm afraid is a step too far.



Again something that I have treasured in my heart for many years (like finding perfect vintage things or aviator jackets...) has been ruined by being turned into something that is supposed to make a lot of money, but at the expense of everything I ever loved about those things in the first place. I'm not saying you have to be poor to make beautiful things (eg, couture) but there has to be a line. Why didn't they employ someone that knows something about the brand other than, "Oh you know, 70s..maxi dresses they're big, who did those? Well Ossie Clark's got money, why don't we buy Biba instead?"

Any thoughts?

TODAYISMYLASTDAYOFFREEDOM

College starts again properly tomorrow. How depressing. Summer is over. But this weekend (today is still the weekend ok? Not Tuesday...) has been rather lovely. Went back to work boo, had to cover someone on Sunday but the wonderous/hilarious/beautiful Amy was there who I haven't seen in about a gazillion years so it wasn't too bad.

& my sister ran the Bristol Half Marathon so me & my mum went down with our 'Go Ruth' sign in the soaking wet rain to see her off. Almost got trapped on the wrong side of the fence. She did it in 2 hours & 20 minutes though so I was well impressed! Can't remember what I did exactly yesterday but Jay was there & everything seemed shiny so it must've been good...

Have just realised the post below sounds like a big spotify advert...
The competition I'm doing is still very much open...

This skirt is from the best shop I've ever been to, in Paris. I also got the pin up girl dress & a silk dress & some other stuff from there too. I know, I know...I still need to do a post about Paris but a friend said they could develop my film for me until they realised it was 120 & slide. Damn those lomos. Eventually, I promise! But the tops from H&M, it was like in their main collection for an age & when I finally realised I had been thinking about it solidly & got over what it was made of & let myself buy it they only had large left. It's ok, I just have to remember to wear nice bras. I don't know what I'm talking about, let's reschedule.

How was your weekend?

MOMSENLIKEMARMITE

My friend sent me a spotify link to Light Me Up. The new Pretty Reckless album. & I have to say that having fallen out of love with Make Me Wanna Die after overplay on Fearne Cotton & then fallen in love with a random song, Blender by them that was much much better... I've become very intrigued by Miss Taylor Momsen's little side project.

There's something so fakely authentic in her that has both my hatred & applause. Much like Lady Gaga when she first appeared. Being a hardcore Hole fan & being sadly a little obsessed with Courtney Love though, I have to say that if she wasn't 'Taylor Momsen from Gossip Girl etc' I think I would dive full heartedly into The Pretty Reckless & ignore the mis-guided references of their teenage lead singer & her awful extensions. But she is, so I kind of...can't.

From the very loud inhale/exhale of a cigarette at the beginning of the first song (& possibly one of my favorites) to the seemingly only-when-she-sings gravly, husky voice there's something so achingly try hard about the first few seconds, never mind the rest of the album that leaves me feeling a little confused.

But then... I could never see them live. & so does that mean I don't take them seriously as a band? I don't honestly think I ever could unless they did no videos & Taylor Momsen did all their gigs in a bin bag (no doubt studded & bodycon with fishnet suspenders but hey). Because part of me thinks that pretty much all of my friends who can play an instrument & are in 'bands' would make exactly this kind of half-of-nothing try hard, good-but-uncomfortable album if they had the means to make it & get it out there. So maybe it should've stayed in the garage?

Oh & one last thing. The fact that she spends the album singing about drug fueled hazes etc etc & her look is based of heroin chic, when I think we can pretty much all say that the closest she's come to any of these things is playing Jenny Humphrey just sums up my issue with their music. So I will listen. But just on spotify.

You should see this.

PS. Shit I just closed all my tabs. All photos via flickr & weheartit. If one of them if your photo let me know & I'll credit it!

SWEATISSUE±5

ISSUE±5 BABY!
And it's the biggest issue EVER in the short history of SWEAT!

Including:
Hannah Dostine
Fake tan
Graffiti
Fleuron &
Welcometoviolence

It will make you laugh, cry, think & make stupid faces in front of photobooth then plead the inability to flip photos so that you can actually read them *ahem*

You can view it HERE
You can buy it HERE


I have too much to blog about!

DIDYOUSEETHESTYLISHKIDSINTHERIOT

So I know, I know all but no one has been waiting in suspense of the competition I let slip last post. But it's been just over a year since I started this blog & I would just like to say a ma-who-sive big !THANK YOU! to all the lovely people who read my blog, never mind those angels who actually comment!


THE PRIZE:
I work in a bookshop & one time around Christmas, when there are really big queues & I feel like I'm working in a horrible big chain for once, this guy came to the till in full get up: leather jacket, hat with bandana & wrist of festival bands. The book he was buying he proceeded to tell me (to the annoyance of everyone behind him) included pictures of him & ones his daughter had taken at Glastonbury. We then had a disagreement about Reading being better than Glasto but eventually ended in a high five before he finally left & I got on with my job.

What I'm trying to say with this little rhetoric is that I have 8 copies of Festival Annual 09 to giveaway! They're lovely & new & hardback with glossy photos of festivals from all over the UK. You can see more on their website or their facebook.

Ooo & if you've been to any festivals this year they're still open for photo submissions for Festival Annual 10 until 15th September. You can submit your photos HERE.

TO WIN:
Well this was the tricky bit. I was going to try & make you dress up but I figured I should do something that I myself would actually do so:
The 8 people that come up with the best name & new festival win!

You can either leave your ideas in a comment on this post or e-mail them to me at: neonpeg@gmail.com Please make the subject: Festival Annual.

The 8 will be told by 1st October that they've been successful.

MY LAME EXAMPLE:
Supermarket Sheep
A giant supermarket decamps to the countryside where humans & sheep roam the isles & comedy, bands & food related acts can be found at every turn.


So summer might be over & there's mainly Bestival left, but screw it you can spend the next three seasons staring at beautiful people until they roll back round again!

L.O.V.E

KEEPROLLINROLLINROLLINUPKEEPROLLINROLLINROLLIN

I've been model scouted on a morning after a weekend of no sleep & self medication, I've had hour long conversations with a charity worker about physics & life & hair that resulted in bribing & him taking a photo of my tattoo on his phone, I've been talked into getting married (but obviously didn't actually) by old ladies at bus stops.

& today I was stopped in the center & interviewed by a woman for an X Factor magazine. Yes. Apparently it's to include style & music & when pressed for style inspiration from the music world the only thing she really picked up on was when I said that my sister had pointed out how like Frankie from the Saturday's my hair was. I don't really count that as a valid hair style inspiration, in fact barely a person who registers in my cerebral. But she liked that, so my vintage/meets-gap/meets-french-la-senza-oysho outfit will (if it appears at all) be accompanied by a picture of this non human no doubt. As my style inspiration. Ok.

The world is a strange & wonderful place.









Going to be doing a giveaway hopefully next post but can't decide what you lovely people would have to do to win. Would you be willing to take photos? Or is that too far? Hmm...I will work on something interesting, promise.

Also: apologies on the photo in the last post...my mother. & this one in fact, shows why I should never smile in photographs. But Reading was absolutely fanawtasmic, not able to be sufficiently expressed through words but comes close in what I screamed at my friend after the Libertines on Saturday night, "I think my heart just exploded."

Nuff said.



PS. On the Libertines front, I have to say that feeling of building yourself up for disappointment made me feel a little sick after they arrived on time & got through the first song. But having heard they had breaks in both legs of the R+L festival for "security reasons" & the fact that Pete had long sleeves on for both performances did nothing for my worry & sadness... I have to say though that at least he remembered the words correctly unlike Carl Barat. But nothing, not even Arctic Monkeys last year, beat that. My friend fainted & none of us wanted to haul over the barrier with her & leave the performance, that's how amazing it was. (she was fine, obviously!) I dunno, does anyone still care?