I’ve always loved platform shoes. Being only 5′2″ high shoes make me feel powerful (and taller) but it’s the platform or wedge that really works for me. I think if I had a high arch I would have loved the stiletto heel.

Marni patent leather wedges

Platforms have been around forever and I mean centuries. The Greeks first wore them in theatre plays - the more important the character the higher the platform. In the 15th & 16th century high-born prostitutes or courtesans in Venice wore platform shoes.

You could even be divorced for wearing high shoes. Charles ll passed the 1670 Act of Parliament - The Marriage Act, which said that women who “betray into matrimony” an Englishman by use of “scents, paints, artificial teeth, false hair … high-heeled shoes” risked having their marriages declared null, and they were subject to the same punishment as witches.

Platform shoes became immensely popular in the 1970s and in the early 1990s Vivienne Westwood re-introduced the high heeled 5″ & 9″ platform shoe.

I think platforms look great in the summer - they look great with jeans and the open toe platform can look great with a dress. Since I’m usually spending most of my day running around London - the platform will be the perfect alternative to my flats!

Check out this book Shoes by Colin McDowell (1989)

Models go on castings on a daily basis, the rest of us make up artists, hair stylists, photographers and stylists go on appointments. It’s hard to make the time when you’re busy shooting but it’s important to meet new people and show your work. You’re basically going on mini interviews all day.

What’s great and not so great is that you might be running all over the city while going to appointments. So I generally use this opportunity to check out any cool shops or cafes. Near Dalston Station there are two Oxfams quite close to each other - one for clothing and then just a few doors down an Oxfam book shop. It’s huge and all the books are 99p!

The lovely Helena Frith Powell was wearing a black signature Karen Brost dress for her book launch in Chelsea last night. Helena is a writer and journalist, she is the author of Two Lipsticks and a Lover - a book about what makes French women so special and her latest book To Hell in High Heels is about anti-ageing. Helena has recently opened the Renew Spa Retreats in the south of France!

Anyway, I’ve just started the book but so far so good!!
,

Most of us are starting to understand why we shouldn’t buy fakes but we don’t really understand why we should or shouldn’t buy luxury goods. We don’t really know any more what makes a luxury item really luxurious. I have never bought a fake luxury item, but I don’t own many luxury items I have a few Prada bags but nothing too extraordinary. This might be because I love new designers, I like vintage but not 70’s, 60’s more like 30’s and 1900’s. I don’t want to write a book review for you as there are already so many good ones out there but I think it’s worthwhile to read Dana Thomas’ book Deluxe How luxury Lost its Lustre. This book got me thinking…

Fashion is very intuitive, it’s visual, tactile, it’s fun and it’s social, but it’s also a business. In 2005, the UK clothing and footwear industry was worth £44.45 billion and employed more than 165,000 people - which doesn’t seem like a lot when there are 60 million people in the UK.

I’m trying to find stats that shows how many people work in every aspect of the fashion business in the UK from shop assistants, garment workers, designers to make up artist - anyone who makes a living from the fashion industry. There seems to be a lack of data on the fashion industry as a whole, it’s broken down into sectors and it seems a bit dis jointed. I guess what I’m thinking about, is that fashion can be so many things - but it’s still business and I’ve noticed that London fashionistas don’t like the business of fashion. London is an epic centre of creativity, it breeds it - there is a unique style in every area of London. London style is that there is no one style; it’s known & admired for it’s creativity and but not for it’s business - which I understand - but some how that means we don’t know how important the fashion economy is to the UK and it’s not appreciated. Last year when I was at Danish Fashion Week everyone was telling me the fashion was the 5th largest export and how proud people were of that. Even thought we have the British Fashion Council, there is no single organisation representing the whole industry, supporting its development and lobbying for policy support.
I have no idea how much the fashion industry is worth in the UK but once I find out I’ll let you know!

I love shopping online and I love when I find something new that reminds me of something old. I used to love playing with dolls. I don’t remember how many Barbie dolls I had but I wasn’t into Barbie stuff: the house, the car etc. It’s odd now that I think about it, as I’m still not into all that stuff. I used to love paper doll books too and I’d never cut them up; I’d just admire them. I was browsing My Wardobe.com and there are a couple of functions that seem really reminiscent of playing with dolls and paper dolls.

Both of the functions take place in the fitting room.

1. Products - If you click “day dresses” you’ll see all the day dresses. The images are quite small so it has a paper doll effect - which I quite like. (It’s not the only way to see the items, there is a see all function if you start of at Clothing - which then has larger images.)
2. Looks - If you click on any of the images you get a mood board of look and you can click on each garment for more information. it’s kind of fun!

…and for the real thing - check out Erté’s fashion paper doll books!

Another wondreful hotel room!! Good for yoga in the morning with nice big windows!

Marc Lagrange is a fashion,
advertising and portrait photographer. You should visit his site at www.lagrange.be as his work is beautiful, strong, sensual and playful. If you have a chance go to the exhibition:

PhotoMuseum
16/6-10/9/2006
http://www.fotomuseum.be

If you ever need an escape and only have 30 seconds read a litbit! Bite-size fiction

Ginette Spanier, the Directrice of Balmain.

I love a good book and I cannot resist buying them at little sales, maybe
it’s a church sale or a market stall but I love a used book. Not a library
book, although I do have a library card. I think I bought this at a bookstore near Hoxton Square.

Anyway I recently read “It Isn’t All Mink”. I saw the cover and
just had to buy it. It was first printed in 1959 but the copy I have is from
1961. It’s not the year it was published that’s appealing to me, it’s the worn
pages, corners that are bent, also the black and white photos in the book and
everything sounds so glamorous. But it’s some how it’s just not the story you
expect from a “fashion” book. Definitely worth the read!