Festival fashion - Hay on Wye

Going the Hay's Festival of Literature and the Arts, to give it its full name, is always a hugely enjoyable intellectual treat. I love the opportunity to hear writers talk about their books and artists perform in a friendly, attentive and rigorous atmosphere where the audience is as smart if not smarter than the speakers. In the midst of such intellectual refinement and stimulation, one area is always problematic: what to wear at a festival where heavy rain is as likely as scorching sunshine, where one walks a lot but also sits in over-heated or freezing tents!? Frankly, I have not yet found the answer and found that my feeble attempts at covering all options, from raincoat, scarf and heavy duty boots to layering light jacket and T-shirt and packing flat shoes in my handbag were not successful. As it happens, fashion is clearly not high on the list for Hay festival goers.  As is often the case, intellectual pursuits are seen as incompatible with elegance and the resulting mix of sensible shoes, baggy tops, inappropriate floral patterns and bad haircuts is overwhelming. Whilst the general look was not as inspiring as the talks, I thought there were a few successful festival outfits, in particular a very good use of hats.

Ultimately, my festival companions got the prize for relaxed elegance!

As to talks and books, I would like to recommend Terri Apter's work on sisters. Her book, "The Sister Knot" explores with great skill and sensitivity the complex relationships that bound sisters, from love to hate and envy, companionship to competition, fear of annihilation to protectiveness. Her look...sensible and academic!

To learn more about the Hay festival: http://www.hayfestival.com/wales/index.aspx?skinid=2
To learn more about Terri Apter: http://www.terriapter.com/

Plug for Goop!

Goop is Gwyneth Paltrow's website/newsletter - it covers a variety of topics from recipes to great places to see, books to read and reflections, organised under the following headings: Make, Go, Get, Do, Be, See. My friend Alex put me on to the website and I am impressed. Not only is Gwyneth Paltrow beautiful and a good actress (I loved her in Two Lovers) but she is also thoughtful and accomplished. I know that she is sometimes ridiculed as overly healthy, worthy and "boring" imposing her over-the-top diets on her long suffering husband Chris Martin. However, I think her interests are worthwhile and go beyond the silly and overblown "celebrity" fluff.  She often calls on friends, other actors or specialists in their own fields to contribute their expertise to the website and I enjoy reading the resulting newsletters.  By the way, she is not 40 yet, but not too far off at 38!

I very much enjoyed her piece on children's book - a literary genre that I love and miss now that my daughters are growing up. The world of children's illustration is magical and never fails to make me travel back to my own childhood.  http://goop.com/newsletter/78/en/

Also, the places she recommends in London make a lot of sense to me and I recognise a lot of my own favourites: http://goop.com/newsletter/67/en/

To get her newsletter: http://goop.com/

Oliver Goldsmith - How cool do you want your sunglasses to be!

Founded in 1926 by Oliver Goldsmith, the company is still family run today by his great grand-daughter Claire who is injecting new blood and energy into its fabulous collections and heritage.

Early on, Oliver Goldsmith then Charles who joined in 1935 had the foresight to introduce new materials for frames that used to be made of expensive tortoiseshell or clunky metal. Using colourful acetates, Oliver Goldsmith was able to produce a wild and wonderful variety of frames that captured the mood of each decade. 

 Most of all, the company were able to recognise that glasses, especially sunglasses could be fashion accessories and make a style statement.  The extensive archive kept on the shop's premises gives a glimpse into years of creativity and success with the rich, famous and beautiful.

Some of the frames have become iconic and were named after the stars who wore them such as Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren for the frames shown below.

Every season Claire Goldsmith chooses 5 to 10 frames out of the hundreds available in the archive and re-edits them in a variety of colours (prices between £200-250). Oliver Goldsmith also run a bespoke service allowing you to choose your frame and your acetate and have you own special pair made (from £350). Bespoke frames are manufactured in the UK, whilst the ready-to-wear collection is manufactured in Italy.

Claire has also launched a collection of optical frames that she creates with her design team.

The shop is located on All Saints road and you are invited to a Pimm's party on 19th June to discover the new designs and re-edited frames for the summer. The 10% discount offered on the day on selected items might also come in handy!

The shop is at 15 All Saints road, London W11 1HA.
www.olivergoldsmith.com

Carolyn Cowan - Devotion

Carolyn Cowan is a fascinating woman. An assertive and statuesque beauty who does not baulk at taking risks or putting herself forward, she projects authority and strength. Her work spans different fields and her multi-faceted life can seem hard to pin down but all converge into the notion that individuality deserves to be expressed and celebrated.

 Locating her Camberwell base takes you on a journey. The initial reason to go and visit her with my friend Alex was to see the clothes that she designs under her Devotion label. Finding the blue gate to her fabulous house turned into a bit of an adventure in a foreign land of derelict housing and one-way streets - we'll blame my poor navigation skills. Once we finally got there, it soon became clear that designing clothes is but one of many aspects of Carolyn Cowan's life.

A woman of many talents, Carolyn Cowan is currently exhibiting her photography at the crypt, Saint Pancras' church as part of group exhibition Lingering Whispers. A gifted and adventurous photographer who spent months sleeping rough in Gujarat to photograph nomads, she is a portrait photographer with a particular interest in images of maternity.  Her portrait photography activity is recorded in her Mooncycles website.

 

Whilst body-painting - another field that she has explored in depth has taken a secondary place in her life,  yoga teaching remains important. Until recently, her Kundalini yoga DVDs, her teaching and workshops represented the lion's share of her activity but her clothing line has now taken over. She designs and produces her collection from her converted coach house, an extraordinary island of beauty and energy in an otherwise pretty rough area of South London.

With her living quarters on one side of the courtyard, the shop occupies another side whilst the garden takes up the rest of the space. Bric a brac and creative recycling abound.

Devotion

Carolyn Cowan started her clothing line in India because "she could not conceive it any other way". India suits her esthetics and seemed a good choice as Carolyn felt she did not know enough about manufacturing in the UK. However, she rapidly found that local manufacturers had "no long-term concept of fulfillment" - another designer than philosophically inclined Carolyn Cowan would probably talk of being ripped off and of lousy quality. Sipping delicious cups of tea and munching on homemade flapjacks brought by her lovely assistants, we discussed the "insanity trap" that she describes as "to repeat an action and expect another result".  Keen to avoid such insanity, she moved her manufacturing activity to the triangle of Balham, Camberwell and Elephant and Castle. Forever creative, she managed to recruit her expert Bangladeshi and Sikh master tailors at the local dry cleaners.

Design philosophy
Whilst Carolyn's original motivation was to design clothes that suited her size 16-18, she describes her approach as respectful dressing. Familiar with the body through her yoga practice and teaching, her body painting activities and her photography, Carolyn knows everything there is to know about female curves, the existence of boobs and the issues related to the aging process.  She wants women to be conscious of their individual beauty and to respect the shape and form of their bodies.

Technique
Confident in the skills of her tailors whose couture-stitching ensures a perfect finish, Carolyn often adapts her design to the idiosyncrasy of her clients - a client with a 42DD bosom required a special pattern whilst another might just require slight alterations to sleeve length.  She sources her fabric with care, from Lithuanian linen to hand-stitched Kantar recycled saris such as those used for the reversible "swagger coat" below (£295).

To my rather pat comment that her prices are high for "ethnic" clothes, Carolyn responds that quality, a London based production, the lasting nature of her precise design and the possibility of a perfect fit through alterations are justification enough.
To know more about Carolyn Cowan's activities, log onto her website: http://www.devotion.co.uk/store/index.php

I have no connection with Carolyn Cowan other than my interest in her work and personality. The pictures are mine apart from the (beautiful) pictures of Carolyn modeling her clothes, which are taken from her website.

Lisa Borgnes - cross-stiching through life's crises

My friend S. put me on to Los Angeles artist Lisa Borgnes who documents her life and emotions in deceptively pretty cross-stitch. Her current exhibition at the ACME gallery, Stitching up the Noughties ploughs the fertile ground of women's aging and conflicting priorities.

More information on the ACME gallery: http://www.acmelosangeles.com/exhibitions/2010-5-lisa-borgnes/
To read Lisa Borgnes' own blog: http://abloomsburylife.blogspot.com

Tracey Neuls - a designer's designer!

Located at the corner of Marylebone lane, Tracey Neuls' shop catches the eye and transports you into a charming if slightly disturbed world. Her shop currently features Danish artist Nina Saunders' creations, using Sanderson fabrics that Tracey Neuls also uses for some of her shoes. The traditional floral theme of the fabric used for the chaise longue is subverted by its impossible shape whilst the silver birch conjure fairy tale forests and mysterious creatures. Hanging from the ceiling, the shoes can be seen from all angles, a more accurate way of displaying shoes according to Tracey Neuls, than on the usual shop shelf.

 

The decor sets the tone for the shoes which are conceived from a design, not a fashion perspective. The shoes are quirky and make a statement but also follow the anatomy of the foot and are rooted (forgive the pun) in solid cordwainer's principles. Tracey Neuls likes to use unusual materials for her shoes such as rubber and treats traditional materials in unusual ways - printing lace patterns on leather for instance. Despite the quirkiness, she also wants the shoes to be comfortable and wearable. I think Tracey Neuls' shoes are sometimes more interesting than truly beautiful, with a slight orthopedic look to some models. However, I very much respect her desire to expand the bounderies of shoe making and the unique look that she creates. The shoes could happily feature in a 40+ shoe closet and add their cool designer touch to a hip wardrobe.

From the TN_29 collection, inspired by vintage golf shoe, £395

Starting ten years ago with TN_29, Tracey Neuls launched her signature line 3 years ago.

From the Tracey Neuls collection, "Turban shoe", £395 in Sanderson fabric.

I was happy to see that Tracey Neuls also produces a cheaper line, Homage, which retails between £175 and £210.

 From the Homage collection, £195, inspired by nurses' shoes.

From the Homage collection, £195.

For Clerkenwell design week (25-27 May), she is involved in another design collaboration, with fabric company Moroso and its designers' Tord Boontje and Patricia Urquiola - see one of the models below.

If you want to know more about Tracey Neuls, log on to her cool website: http://www.tn29.com/index.php

Unhappy Hipsters

Courtesy of TN 29 (Tracey Neuls' shoe company - article to follow), I would like to recommend this very funny blog. Adding subversive captions to pictures from Dwell magazine, Unhappy Hipsters sends up "über cool" lifestyle.

She’d perfected the post-breakup stoic stride.
(Photo: Dave Lauridsen; Dwell)

http://unhappyhipsters.com/