tavi and sassy

Click on the image of the video to view it..

I love Tavi. I think she's great and well, along with most people I think, I'm in awe of her. There was a brief spell last year when I didn't really get the fuss, I didn't go a bundle on her personal style and seeing a 13 year old so entrenched in the fashion world kind of freaked me out; could children not be children anymore? But then I watched some of the videos of her speaking at various conferences and gave her more of a chance, catching up with her writing and I was in love. This video is half an hour long but is such easy watching and is so inspiring. Tavi is as cool and articulate as ever. She is generally kickstarting the same conversation that I and my friend Emily find ourselves having whenever we go to the pub (albeit Tavi in a much more comprehensive way) and I'm so proud that she's talking about putting Women's Rights back on the agenda for teenage girls. I used to get so frustrated when my peers at school would wrinkle their noses at the word 'feminist' which is just crazy because all feminism means is that you believe in equal rights so surely everyone regardless of gender should be able to call themselves a feminism without it being unjustifiably embarrassing.

Hearing her talk about Sassy Magazine actually taught me a lot. I know some of you will have cherished Sassy back in the day or since discovered it of your own accord but I've never known an awful lot about it. Tavi really delves in its history and I can't believe its taken me this long to notice the gaping hole in the magazine market when it comes to teenage girls reading something good. I think the closest we ever came to Sassy was Ellegirl which folded and seems tragic proof of the difficulty that comes with running a magazine that prioritises positive messages over adhering to the mainstream.What I really love about this talk is that Tavi continues to emphasise that girls want to read a magazine that is ultimately fun and isn't hard hitting but simply promotes values of self respect.

After she mentioned it I've gone away and googled the 'Dear Boy' feature which had famous male musicians offering readers the most stellar and cool advice. What's brilliant is that the answers revolve around them saying things like 'hey, this guy is clearly acting like an asshole and tell him I said so' rather than the samey gently-gently approach such a column would take in another magazine. Say, Cosmogirl's 'Ask Him Anything' as Mish Way points out.

Here are some of the best Dear Boy Q&As I foraged from here and here.
They are brilliant and reaffirm that those silly boys who act interesting one moment and then cool and aloof the next are just bad apples amongst a very good bunch.

Thurston Moore
There's this guy that I really like. He tells everyone that he doesn't even like me as a friend, but when we're alone together we do things that are reserved for people who think of each other as more than friends. What do I do? A friend, more, or less? Huntley, IL

The guy's a jerk. I know that won't discourage you from liking him, but he's got a major personality flaw: disrespecting you. Be careful of this kind of butthead, because his sleaze behaviour may rub off on you, and then your life will become more and more hellish. Next time you're alone with him and he tried to get "friendly," tell him your friend Thurston Moore wants to kick his ass. And then tell him why.


Deen Ween
I used to have a lot of friends last year, but this year all my friends are ditching me because I don't have a boyfriend yet. They say that I can come to their parties if I bring a guy. These girls are really funny and nice, and I still want to be their friend. What do I do? Boyfriendless and confused.

I've never heard of anything like that in my life. Go to the party alone, and leave with someone else's boyfriend.

Billy Corgan

I have a thing about Gary Oldman and what I don't understand is why no one else does. I'm 14 and no one understands! Does this mean I like older guys? Sophisticated in Shorewood, IL.

It's very funny that you ask me this, because my wife, Chris, has a thing about Gary Oldman. It started about four years ago. It was "Can we go see the Gary Oldman movie?" And "Can we rent this Gary Oldman movie?" And of course she saw Dracula right when it came out. If Gary Oldman showed up at our door, she would start packing. So you are not alone. Liking Gary Oldman does not neccessarily mean you like older men. Gary Oldman is not old or young; he is Everyman at every age.

Beck

Here's my problem. Whenever my boyfriend and I go out, I have to pay for everything. I work and he doesn't, so if I want to do something I have to pay. It's starting to make me really mad. How can I get him to start paying his fair share? Becoming broke.

This slacker scourge is ravaging the minds of our youth. Tell this guy to get motivated Tony Robbins style: "Yesterday is a canceled paycheck. Your maximum point of power is now."

10% off Fall/Winter Pre Orders and New Arrivals at Peach and Plum

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Discount not valid for Halabaloo and Matooka.

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i'm feeling

adidas classics with suits, white nikes with bare bottoms, plastic laundry bags, jumpers with personalised stitching, 'ginsberg is god', verdant council flat balconies, this minidress/fur gilet/cowboy boot combination just because, chloe sevigny channelling lauren hutton, bowie and his metal kettle.

west side

Like a true gap year cliche I've spent a lot of time missing the adventures that Joanna and I had in the US in the Spring. I find myself thinking about random moments from the trip without even realising. This morning it was as I poured hot water over a chai tea bag and instantly the smell took me back to Brooklyn where we consumed heaps of the stuff. Lately it's been the California leg mostly on my brain, just before the end when we went to Coachella and had Patrice introduce us to the joys of Denny's. I was thinking about it all as I walked home the other day and I'm so pleased the way everything worked out. When I'm older and wiser (here's hoping) I really think I'll look back on those 7 weeks surfing on people's couches and napping in greyhound stations as one of the greatest experiences as a youngster. This month I've begun saving for Round Two. Here's hoping there'll be enough pennies in my pot come next April.

granny annie

I've already featured my Dad and his aviator jacketed, dungaree wearing, beret posing self (back in the day). So it only seems fair that I push my Granny into the limelight too as it's thanks to that indispensable stack of magazines next to her loo that whet my appetite for fashion in the first place. I've mentioned her a couple of times already as she is the self proclaimed number one fan of Discotheque Confusion and reads often.

Granny is the one behind my love of sitting in cafes with reading and writing materials and she always encouraged an appreciation of individual style. In turn I introduced her to the world of blogs and she now has her own brilliant one chronicling the world of Allie Allbright.

I remember she once bought us two matching scrapbooks and we spent an afternoon together in her cosy flat with scissors, glue, magazines (and probably caramel biscuits and lemonade too) creating collages. Hers was filled with quotations and bright colours. It was the image on her front cover that sticks in my mind; an image of Betsey Johnson sitting in her bedroom, a mish-mash palace of pink furs and batenburg cake shades, the perfect ode to growing old disgracefully.

My Granny has the perfect mix where growing older (she's still in her sixties, hardly old) is concerned with a few fantastic trouser suits (in oatmeal and turquoise), lots of go-to classics but also some dabbling with flirty thigh high boots and inappropriate fancy dress outfits here and there..


I think for a lot of women their relationship with their Grandmother is always a very special one and just sitting and writing this should show this is certainly true in my case. Our relationship only mirrors the one she had with her own Grandmother (though likely minus giggling together through Samantha's infamous scenes in Sex and The City) who would bring her back sacred copies of Seventeen from trips to America.


I should really show some pictures of her style now but that's perhaps another time as Granny back in the day (think floppy hats, 60s minis and army surplus wears) in very in line with my current 60s/70s fixation. And so follows the scans I made from her photo albums some time last year.

Britney Spears in Pop Magazine

The cover of the latest Pop Magazine is insane! In the best way possible. Britney Spears is the unlikely cover star and comes over all Japanese schoolgirl thanks to artist Takashi Murakami who collaborated on the cover. Inside of the issue you'll find Manga style stickers and a shoot with a wedding dress clad Britney lying in a field of daisies. 

This issue, which is the third under the helm of Dasha Zhukova only goes to cement my view of her as an amazing editor. She has a great eye and a knack for bringing together an incredible bunch of collaborators. I also love that Dasha has taken the magazine in a more arts focused direction. It feels like the publication is more worthy and packed with interesting features post-Katie Grand who took what Pop was all about in the first place (lots of glossy fashion and curiously chosen celebrities in head to toe Louis Vuitton) with her to Love Magazine. In one sense the choice of Britney as cover girl is surprising purely because it seems a very Katie Grand thing to do. But I've relished every issue of Pop and actually prefer it to Love Magazine. How fitting after I posted a Britney Spears video a couple of days ago. With her Glee appearance in the pipeline I can see a fond Britney revival, one shrouded in nostalgia for the grinning 90s Britney you could easily imagine giving the peace sign from the pages of a Japanese magazine. The issue hits shelves on 1st September.

five outfits

camel ribbed zara top, ebay. jeans, charity. casio watch, amazon.

purple silky top, charity. button down skirt, ebay.

black sheer shirt, charity. brown suede highwaist trousers, ebay.

green shirt, beyond retro. scalloped shorts from topshop (they've temporarily disappeared from the site but you should find them still in store.)

'nbc decision' 1988 presidential race tee, urban jungle vintage, bushwick NY. skirt as before.

Five outfits I have on current rotation. It feels like something has clicked this year with my style. I feel so much more at ease with more of an understanding of what I like and what works for me. I stick to the same formula with shapes (a-line mini skirts, trousers with high waists) and textures (suedes or comfortable cottons). I've also utilised eBay this year, it's now where a majority of my clothes from and being able to search for exact keywords is a godsend over charity shop trawling where I find my success is completely mood dependant. As somebody who is pretty frugal (I try to live below my means and prioritise saving for travel) I find it difficult to justify the price tags of even high street stores and buying second hand means that you're not confined to the trends in the shops.  Maybe I'm just growing up, I feel like there's been a lot of that this year. With September just around the corner I'm finding myself already feeling sentimental about my Gap Year before it's even finished..

But back to clothes ('this is a fashion blog,' I hear you say 'less of the deep stuff!') I seem to be taking my commitment to the camel trend pretty seriously at the moment where trousers are concerned. Literally. I was walking through the park the other day, wondering if my Topshop Camel Jamie jeans were given their name for a reason besides the colour when I kid you not some charmingly mannered 15 year old shouted 'camel toe bitch!' at me. After one of her comrades had chucked a stone at me! I have to applaud her brilliant insult based on pure value for comedy but all the same.. I arrived home in a rage with my Mum standing patiently as I ranted about how these days nobody stands up to shitty mouthed teenagers and what happened to youths having a healthy fear of their elders? and yadda yadda and then I moved onto knife crime before we both became bored of my general tirade and quietly crept off to go about some other business. Needless to say my camel jamies are now worn with tops just covering the crotch. Lond aran jumpers were never so handy..