We stumbled upon designer Sarah Claire and her lovely collection of mesh leggings “Dainty Things”.  What a great way to wear leggings in the summer, with built in air-conditioning!!  Wonderful.  This small capsule collection ticks all the boxes for us:- cycle shorts – check, mesh – check, nude colour palette – check,  knee pads – check!   Now check it out in the store.

It’s summer in Australia at the mo so that means festival time. Today was all about Gold Coast Parklands, Good Vibrations festival, it was a wicked line up and a wickedly, hot day. Hot, sexy, chiquita’s a plenty and the order of the day were the 3 ‘S’s “shorts, sexy and see thru”. It was freakin crazy to see how many girls were sporting shorts of some form or another, mainly the faded, v.short, ripped denim kind. The girls pulled out no stops and you could feel the sass and love in the air.

Nautical was everywhere, mainly seen in body con dresses

and our grandmamma would have been proud……or disturbed with all the lace and crocheted tops that were out, oh where oh where is my lace hanky to be………

and thankfully to my surprise people have stopped wearing stupid ,silly outfits to these festivals, thank Christ!

Cut-away body suits were also out in force

and prints a plenty

There was nothing really show stopping here today but I was loving these ladies style and loving these ladies vibe. They pulled it off with little effort and lots of love. Other styles that stood out for me today were pixie boots, lace up shoes and gladiator sandals still lingering, crop tops and fringing.

Check out these sassy babes below; it’ s my fav girls for the day. I think these girls did it oh so right and look fabulous

Construction Jean AW10 - coming to bitchingandjunkfood.com

Something devastating happened over the summer. I ripped the arse out of my favorite jeans at Hackney Wicked festival. I’m a grown-up, things like this shouldn’t happen any more much like grazed knees(yup ticked that box again recently, a direct result of vertiginous heels over fashion week) but they’re gonners(the jeans not the knees). I loved them so much that I recently wore them out with black knicker shorts underneath, the hole gaped and they now resemble chaps and I still haven’t thrown them out(this doesn’t mean I’ll be wearing them though but this has started me thinking about chaps but more about that later).

Textured Stripe Knit

Anyway, aforementioned jeans were cheap Monday and what I’m getting round to is that I LOVE Cheap Monday and that’s why we’re stocking them. Ann Sofie Back was appointed creative director at Cheap Monday when she returned to Stockholm just before SS10. We fell in love with the SS10 collection and managed to get some last-minute orders through which and we’re even more excited about the brand for AW10.

The brand’s received a lot of blog love lately – you heard it here first – but there’s been very little commentary on fit. Cheap Monday’s fit is pretty special and they’re unisex. We all wear them in the office(my faves are the lace window jeans) and we’re all different sizes but they do wonders for each and every butt here. They’re also just really comfortable. Any jeans label that can do unisex and make 3 different BITCHY butts look good is pretty high up the scale for us. 

The brand is just going from strength to strength at the moment. Personal fave from AW are the corset laced jeans and yeah I do really like them on the guy. We’ve ordered them for bitchingandjunkfood.com and we can’t wait to get them.

Cheap Monday Corset Jeans

Corset Jeans

Until then you can shop SS10(which are also Unisex but styled on a girl) at bitchingandjunkfood.com.

Cheap Monday SS10 Available on bitchingandjunkfood.com

I particularly loved her range of accessories – the neckpieces are wicked, and the interesting thing is that everyone seems to interpret them differently.  They have tribal elements yet have a techno edge to them as well, what a crazy combo right? And is it just me but can anyone else see Transformers in these neckpieces? To create these Holly Fulton uses acrylic plates with giant oversized crystals, leather straping and chunky dog-clips.

They work so well and not just if you’re a cute little pop star.

We were greeted today by three shiny copies(not one, not two, three, need to be specific ) of Sportswear Interntional. We were featured in “New blood” designers to watch shoot from the Jan/Feb edition of Sportswear International. We’ve lots more coming your way for SS10 and will be posting a preview of our Uni-sex label TWO WEEKS in the next two weeks.

Jacket by James Hock

Another shoot that happened a few months back that I’ve been meaning to blog for ages. Readers of the blog will already be familiar with Rachel Friere, one of my very close friends and a big inspiration. She regularly collaborates with photographer David Alexandre on shoots and the team came together again for the shoot in this post.

The new addition is James Hock, a charming and immensely talented London-based designer. I first encountered his work at a pop-up space on Redchurch St during Fashion Week in September and introduced him to Rachel and David as I knew they would be as in love with his work as I am. His garments are sculptures in their own right and look just as impressive as an installation pieces as worn. James showed off-schedule last Friday and unfortunately I couldn’t make it down, however I am eagerly awaiting some images of AW10 and will blog again as soon as I’ve received same.

Sheet Music Dress by James Hock

Jacket and Shorts by Rachel Freire

Measured Collar by Rachel Freire

Blouse by Rachel Freire, Human Hair Zip necklace and Reworked rosaires by Bitchingandjunkfood.com

Sculpted Skirt by James Hock, Pom-pom headband and Human Hair Earrings by Bitchingandjunkfood.com

Rachel has designed some leg-garter exclusives for us which can be bought here.

Bitchingandjunkfood jewellery also sold in our online store.

Right, I know it’s fashion week and I should be writing about same but I’m not. We will but probably not till it’s over and we have a chance to sit back and digest what we really dig and what we don’t. I am having a video obsession since we shot our first fashion video last weekend and as you probably already know I’m really interested in it’s capabilities as a medium to communicate fashion. We’re excited about what we’ve done for AW10 and we’re going to push it as far as possible for SS11- brain already ticking over.

I don’t know it it’s becuase I’m temporarily living in Brixton(where I laid my roots when I first moved to London) but I’m suddenly gone a bit rude-girl obsessed despite my generally gothic exterior. Style schizo strikes again. I guess it started when some of our 90’s vintage was shot recently in Nenah Cherry’s new video.

Haring and Grace Jones

As most of my mates know I’ve always had a ghetto nails obsession – bigger and bolder the better however like a dog that bites a nextdoor neighbour they “had to go” as I started to design more. To compensate for the big gaping ghetto hole I hot-footed it to the local afro-caribbean hair salon to have some cornrows down the side or my curly mop – I call it the Brixton facelift, does wonders for the delicate eye area when they’re yoinked out either side of your head. I haven’t got pictures of it yet but will post same in a few days. Also loving string vests…. think I need a proper inspiration day fuelled by Jerk Chicken and guinness punch(any excuse for a drink)

I didn’t intentionally copy Rhianna as I’ve been banging on about this one since last March – ask Kath she was like “can you just go and get the fkn cornrows and shut up about it!” I discovered the Rhianna video today – also after we’d just done a Haring tribute for our installation off Carnaby st. Our AW10 collection references Haring in a very subtle way and is kind of tribal meets sports. I’d love to say our people have been talking but unfortunately we haven’t got people and if we did they’d be too busy to talk to Rhianna’s people

For the record I think the songs hurrendous and the lyrics embarassing so please turn down volume when listening to same and soak up the video in all it’s Pop-art glory. 

The video was created by YC based agency Click3, will be spending a lot more time on their site. 

We’ve been really bad bloggers of late, all of us. If you read “the rules” you’re supposed to blog daily. But what if you’re just too busy designing. Everyone who writes for BITCHY has a full time job in the fashion industry and sometimes squeezing out a blog post at the end of an 11 hour day just isn’t possible. It’s something that should be organic, we do this our of passion and we don’t feel like anyone should feel ‘forced’ to write or guilty for not.

We haven’t just been sitting there twiddling our thumbs, although we have been twiddling fabrics and trimmings. We’ve just shipped our first two major international orders on our re-made range and are working on two other collabrations – one London based the other, Tokyo.

We’re also doing an off-schedule presentation at fashion week – will post the event in a day or so. We’re the girls who just can’t say no. I personally have a habit of thinking slightly too big and then getting swept along on a tidal wave of twitchy nervous enegery to make things happen. BITCHY Kath balances the partnership out as she’s more the “right how is this actually going to happn?!!” person. Rather than using models or a standard lookbook for our presentation we were decided to make an fashion/art film. I’d love to say we’ve been planning this for months but that would make me a liar and this girl doesn’t like making things up. We shot Sunday with a team of 9 very talented people and we’re pretty damn excited about it too. At the end of the day if you want to make things happen JFDI – just fkn do it – even if it means not sleeping for a week. I guess it’s like cramming – you spend so much time taking images and ideas in, churning them around your head on bus journeys and in airport lounges that when the time comes you can download it all instantaneously and set it free.

We’re really looking forward to fashion week so we can check out other stores and party – something BITCHY girls do very very professionally.

The images above and are by Floria Sigismondi, a director I’ve become a tad obsessed with lately. She directed Marilyn Mason, The Beautiful People and Stronger by Christina Aguilera – I always LOVED that video especially the moth part. Youtube her and prepare to be amazed…..What a talented woman.

My backyard.

Unfortunatelly during this specific week I had promised to walk my friends dog, Alfie, as his regular walker was on holiday and they live just around the corner from my house. No big deal really. An hour or so of walking in the sunshine along the beach with a cup of tea from Abbotts Habit in my hand.. there are bigger favours to do….unless of course this is in the middle of torrential rain and tornado warnings.

On day one I gave it an hour or so to finish, I mean I knew the forecast said a week of  pouring, but at the end of the day, this is CALIFORNIA, the sunshine state, it’s bound to stop before you know it.

Three hours apres regular walking time and no sign of blue skies I figured I should just wrap up in some waterproofs, get out and have it done with. Unfortunatelly the most waterproof garments I found in my wardrobe was a wetsuit and flip flops. I gave this outfit some consideration before realising that not even in Venice could I pull it off. Not with a dog on leash…and not without a surfboard. Re-considered bringing my board for a while, but it’s super heavy and not really dog walkable.

So I dug deeper in my treasure cove aka my wardrobe and ye and behold, there in the midst of sequins and denim are all the freebees only someone in the film industry can accumulate. Rain proof-ish jacket from Discovery Channel. Blue. Size XXXL. Umbrella, even brighter blue, from Universal. I decided to let go of vanity and do my best to stay warm and dry. So said blue wind proof jacket and umbrella was put on, paired with a Max Payne grey and black fleece, also a freebee, jeans (writers own) and trainers (also writers own). The trainers were soaked before I even left my garden but they were old and I did not really care. I was just going to take the dog out, let him pee and poo and be back before I knew it. Sadly the dog, Alfie, is not a big fan of rain and was not even co-operating with part one of my plan; Leave house. He refused. REFUSED. He sat down and I literally had to drag the poor thing out the door, still in sitting position. Figuring his dislike for rain would make him take care of his business much quicker I was still convinced this was an in and out job. 40 minutes later I am still out in the rain. Alfie is giving me his rescue-dog-puppy-eyes and is shivering of (pretended) fear. There has been no taking care of any kind of business and for the past half an hour the umbrella has been covering Alfie, not me, in a desperate attempt to protect him from getting cold and wet and thus maybe, hopefully making him have a pee.

Twenty minutes later magic happens and I return home, absolutely soaked to the bones. By day two my trainers has still not dried and I pull out old shoes number 2 for the same treatment. The walk is not much different from the previous day, except that we discover that the garage has been burgled, by tramps looking for dry warm clothes.

Every day for seven days I am thinking I should stop degrading my fashion self in this blue combo and buy myself a pair of awsome wellies and a beautiful rain coat. And every day I stop myself by thinking yes, I should, but as soon as I buy it it will stop raining and I will never have use for it again. So for seven days I dug out an old (dry) pair of shoes, donned my blue outfit and was walking a dog looking like a walking film poster.

Yesterday it rained again and I had a meeting with Fashion people in Downtown. I swore to myself I must not slip in to something a little bit more comfortable but remain my stylish self. I figured high heels, leather ,would be a good choice, staying as far off the ground as possible, and leather jacket. Surely leather is water proof? Cows don’t wear rain coats do they?! Needless to say I arrived soaked, and freezing. And blue lips was so last season.

Sun is out again today, sky is clear blue and I was out running in a t-shirt and even got a bit sun burned. But I know there is more rain coming, especially if I don’t buy appropriate rain wear. So the hunt is on:

For my feet I was thinking these babies:

Red Celine wellies to brighten a grey day.

I am not normally a colour person, but I think a rainy day requires a bit of colour therapy… However I could go with any of these Hunters, black or brown, pretty classic and will go with most things in my wardrobe.

 

Jimmy Choo+Hunter-I see myself walking the queens dogs whilst sipping cognac AND smoking a cigar...in the rain.

Hunter-Lacing and rivets, perfect for your next S&M party or rainy day.

And I am normally not a big Dolce & Gabbana fan, but when they come up with these babies I might have to change my mind:

Dolce & Gabbana- I am thinking of accessorizing with a whip, Chanel clutch and maybe a horse.

Dolce again. Same horse different bag.

Dolce once again-And here I was thinking wellies came from Target and had pink flowers on them! I guess things have changed since I was 8.

And Good Old Burberry just added chains. If recession budget does not allow for any of the ones above I recommend you get inspired by these:

Burberry-Just add water, sorry, chains. And you will never have to go through the rainy days like I did.

I know I kind of need something on the top part of the body and I kind of want one of these:

A yellow classic. Think it comes with a pipe. And a beard. And a ship!

But mainly so I can put Alfie in this:

If the coat for you comes without pipe, beard or ship at least you can buy one of these yourself.

But what I would love is really this 1967 vintage Balenciaga rain coat:

If anyone happens to have one of these lying around please let me know and I will gladly take it off your chest.

Let it rain I say.

Afrodizza(second version) 1996
Acrylic, Oil, Polyester Resin, Paper Collage, Glitter, Map Pins and elephant Dung on Linen
243.8×182.8
Courtesy Victoria Miro Gallery London

New year’s resolution – get out and see more art shows(beats all that gym nonsense and spending less) so I’m starting with this one. An RCA graduate, Ofili established his name through exhbitions at Charles Saatchi Gallery in North London and has also had numerous solo shows during the nineties including the Serpentine Gallery. In 1998 he won the Turner prize and was selected to represent Britain at the Venice Biennale last year. He is counted as one of the UK’s top artists. 

Ok so that’s the serious art stuff out of the way but why should you really go to see the show and how can you relate to it? Ofili draws on many contemporary insiprations as well as primitve cave paintings. Themes referenced in his work include blaxploitation films and gangsta rap which he uses to question racial and sexual stereotypes in a humorous way. Lyrical content is very important in his work and he regularly uses hip-hop titles in his work e.g Pimpin Ain’t Easy by Big Daddy Kane.

He also has a personal top ten most influential tracks so if you feel like having an art inspired playlist download the following(maybe you can download and use it as your the Theme tune to your gallery visit – now there’s an idea Tate Britain): 

1. Notorious BIG – 10 crack commandments
2. Common – Heaven somewhere
3. Method Mad – Bring the pain
4. Public Enemy – Public Enemy number 1
5. Erykah Badu – The Healer
6. Snoop Dogg – Gin & Juice
7. Wu Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M
8. Jay-Z  – Blueprint
9. A Tribe called Quest – The low end theory
10. The Roots – Clones
11. NAS – Illamtic
12. Mos Def  – Black on both sides
13. Talib Kweli – Reflection eternal
14. Dizzee Rascal – Jezebel

 

Personally I just love the energy exhibited in his work. There are elements of Pollock and elements of high-school doodles in the painting above but the energy is more controlled and the meaning more tangible. The patterns also provide plenty of fashion inspiration(we regularly look to art to inspire what we do) and tie in with the whole 90’s hip-hop/tribal look that’s trending strong at the moment. 

Pictures and internet don’t do his work justice so go out and see it yourself. Nothing puts a Spring in your step like a great art show(or a pair of oldschool Reebok pumps). 

The show runs 27th of January to 10th of May, special £5 concession for those under 26. Even better catch it late at Tate on the 5th of Feb for a whole evening of entertainment including a fashion show and you can even have a few beers too! We’re going. Hope to see you there.

Rachel Freire Suspender Trio

We’ve been a fan of Rachel Freire since we became warehouse buddies where we had our last studio. It was inevitable that her designs would find their way into our store. We managed to persuade her to recreate her AW09 sock garters and suspender trios exclusively for Bitchingandjunkfood.com. We’ve been keeping a close eye on street trends and have seen this look cropping up worldwide. Ties in nicely with the boudoir trend everyone’s talking about for Spring Summer but a little less obvious and a whole lot slicker.

Rachel Freire Sock Garters

Hand-crafted in her east London studio they are made in high-vis fabrication which is a soft dove grey until a flash pops and makes the high-vis shine.

Rachel Freire AW09 shot by Aurora Crowley

I-HAVE-THE-DRESS

We ran a competition this Christmas to win a dress of a lifetime that we found in one of our vintage suppliers. We were struggling to put a price on it so we decided not to sell it but to give it away for free. We asked entrants to come up with imaginative ways to get our brand out there and the winner would be sent the dress completely free of charge.

We’re happy to announce that the winner of the dress was an Australian girl who is also a talented fashion blogger. She mailed us with pictures of the T-shirt that she’d made  each image titled to spell out I – want – the – dress. BITCHY girls heart her and her blog….you can check it out for yourselves at Thrifandthread

The Winning T-shirt

Don’t know what’s wrong with me but face paint seems to be my latest venture ever since seeing Avatar and listening to too much Empire of the Sun…So definitely squealed when I saw these red brows on the SRC783 blog.

UMM…HELLO! The bleached white as snow brows can take a middle finger! I’m going with these!

Also started copying Empire’s white face stripe – successfully donned at a party a few weeks ago…

Cot would be replaced with modular corner sofa.

 Today the trail of Fashion blog reading has lead me on to architecture, not something I’ve ever blogged about before, nor something we even have a category for(so it will go under art for today). Having spent the last year living in a warehouse I’ve developed a little bit of an obsession with loft and warehouse living and, more specifically, mezzanines. There’s something quite grandiose about the two ZZs but apart from that mezzanines are a great way of creating extra space without dividing into compartments. Slightly reminiscent of  treehouses and bunkbeds, mezzanines awaken my inner child. My dream home, pictured above, was created by L. Comber architects in a 700sq feet loft in Canada. A little on the austere side, I’m not sure where all my paintings, candles, books paintbrushes and magazine tears would go. Presumably there is some walk-in-wardrobe concealed behind a glass panelled door. I imagine that the person living in this loft has a rack of clothing lifted straight out of 10 Corso Como. They probably also have at least two of everything. They are not driven by fashion but form, functionality and lifestyle. Distinct possibility that they are slightly OCD and I imagine shoes would not be allowed indoors. Wonder how aforementioned people deal with baby puke.

Anyhow, for now I’ll make do with a 3 bed period flat(with endearingly crooked walls, creaky floors and draughty windows) and dream of what might be one day(if I was tidier, less eclectic, chucked out all my clothes and became a bit more serious). I probably would also need to straighten my hair.

Six years later these boots have sipped Mojitos on rooftop bars, danced in mud at festivals, stood patiently in the cue for the ladies at clubs chit chatting with Louboutins and Balenciagas, fallen over on dancefloors and pavements due to earlier mentioned Mojitos. They have been drenched in rain waiting for busses and enjoyed fashion shows in Paris. Where I have been, so have they. They have also been worn, torn and battered to pieces, lost heels and soles many times over and have now reached the point when my shoe monger has said: “Next time that sole comes off, there is not much more I can do”.

After recievning the death sentence I did what there was in my power to find another pair. I sent my uncle on a treasure hunt as he was going to the same village I had visited in Morocco, the same with a friend. Both came back empty handed. I searched high and low on the net and found some boots that looked familiar but not as nice…and they probably didn’t even smell of camel fat!

The time for Favourite Shoe and Boot Farewells is a sad time in any persons life and for a while I felt both shoe less and soul less. But… turns out, I should step away from that Ben & Jerry’s and turn that frown up side down. Apparently there is a bunch of women in Peru making some wicked boots out of suede and vintage Peruvian blankets. Each pair is custom made to your liking. You choose between 14 colours of suede and then the color combo of the fabric, et Voila! Two weeks later they arrive at your doorstep ready for Mojitos.

New friends.

More information regarding colour, sizing, prizing, and details on how to order can be found on Munki Biznus.

But it is a fine line between “looking like you put minimal effort into your outfit and looking amazing”, and “looking like you put minimal effort into your outfit FULLSTOP.”  Some people got it right and others got it wrong.  Sydneysiders have a great sense of style and what you forget when you live in a city like London, is that sometimes it’s just too damn hot for all the fan fare.

Aussie chicks pull off the minimal “thrown-on” look perfectly, in fact I think they invented it, so I loved what I saw and thought it suited the weather and laid-back atmosphere of beautiful Sydney.

Like Mary-Kate Olsen, I intend to be anchored to the earth by all the bling I’ll be dripping in, even after hitting 90+. No one veiny, knobbly finger will be able to touch another due to the grandiose nature of the rocks they’ll be sporting. If I spend my meagre savings on anything at all, it’s usually obscenely large rings, so I was thrilled to see a post dedicated to knuckle garnishment on awesome blog Studded Hearts. Behold some of my favourites…

KTZ Brace Shoes SS10 – coming soon to Bitchingandjunkfood

In my mind it all started with KTZ’s SS10 collection, that’s what sparked my imagination and drew my attention to a trend that I’m now seeing repeated everywhere.  I’ve been meaning to blog this for ages but it’s taken the comfortably numb Christmas coma enable the allocation of some time to blog it – Injuries(not coma style though more acute pain, injuries, seeping wounds and lost limbs). We’ve bought the above styles for bitching – I’ve a black pair on order and I’m sure they’re going to help me walk better. This trend is particularly ironic in an industry that champions perfection and generally struggles with disability. 

The Bandage Dress, like a any word vocalised repeatedly, has almost lost its meaning. This cult item was originally designed by Herve Leger who walking through his factory decided to make a dress from all the left-over strips of fabric on the floor. Christohper Kane lead the re-emergence of the  trend with his graduate collection in 2006 – this deserves an entire post of its own, the fashion industry moves so fast we knock collections back tequila style rather than savoring like a full bodied red wine. 

Christopher Kane's Graduate Collection

Over the last few seasons bandages have made their way onto legs and shoes with the subculture of medical fetish Fashion becoming a huge source of inspiration on catwalks worldwide. We’re already bound, gimp-masked and gagged to the hilt so now is fashion’s turn to play doctors and nurses.

Stolen Girlfriends Club Bandage Leggings on Kingdom of Style

Posture Collar as seen on Dirty Flaws

London College of Fashion Graduate Una Burke

Una Burke focussed her graduate collection on human gestures associated with the cause, physical and psychological effect and the healing stages of human trauma. As with the KTZ shoes, many of the pieces were reminiscent of prosthetics.

I’m going back on my word – I banned anyone from writing about Gaga on the blog but it would be just plain ignorant to neglect the influence she and her team are having on fashion – the Lady and her House have been championing injuries for months,Papparazzi and the crutches, the blood and guts at the MTV awards…..Another iconic outift was the bandage number originally worn by Mila Jovoick the Fifth Element – Designed by Jean Paul Gaultier and this look made a reappearance in Lady Gaga’s most recent video Bad Romance designed by Alex Noble, styled by Nicola Formichetti.

Mila Jovovich designed by Jean Paul Gaultier

Alex Noble for Lady Gaga

Gaga MTV Awards

Bandaged and braced looks by Rachel Freire below

Rachel Freire High Vis braced legs

London based fashion designer BrookeRoberts moonlights as a radiographer(slightly more glamorous than waitressing) and used brain scans to inspire her prints and casts of metal plates used in surgery as fringing for her SS10 collection.

Word of warning – trend not to be taken too literally especially by the elderly. 

Covering up scars? Surgery gets scary, not just referring to the clothes.

When I’m feeling low I always turn to fashion for my fix and I can safely say it’s stronger then Neurofen ultra(although Codeine and Paracetemol tabs are pretty high on my scale, vodka and gin higher still). Nice things make me feel better. I guess this is fashion therapy in it’s most obvious form, bandges and braces to bolster not only the physical but the emotional too. I’m not a fetishist but I think it’s hot and I’m more than happy to play patient for the next few seasons. Now open your mouth say aaahhhh.