Packing, Dancing, Dreading...

So, in between bouts of madly packing I'm keeping up with my G Reader and I just HAD to share this -- Zac and Coco dancing together is just heaven!

Tomorrow afternoon I return to the frozen and beautiful city of Edinburgh to begin my final year of my English Literature degree1. That back-to-school feeling never goes away, despite this being my 18th year in the education system (madness!) that familiar mixture of apprehension, excitement and horror at the onslaught of work, essays, and, now, dissertations! Since my two flat-mates and I are also moving into a new place, we won't have any internet for a couple of weeks (HOW will I cope??) but I will endeavor to find a cafe with reliable (and free!) wifi in the next few days. In the mean time, enjoy what's left of the summer - autumn is in the air already!

The Majestic Camel

I had a camel coat when I was 16. I think it was from H&M and I can't for the life of me remember why I got rid of it. There is no chance that I "grew out of it" considering I had stopped growing to years before.

The camel coat comes around every few years as the must-have fall item, and every time I look around for a high street alternative to the inevitably enviable Chloe camel coat, or the elbow-patched Ralph Lauren camel coat, or the minimalist Celine camel coat.

On the two-hour flight from Corsica to London, I was in a heavenly world of Vogue, nose-deep in the biblical September issue. I loathe flying, but for those two hours, I could have been anywhere in the world. One of the pieces of loved reading was Jo Ellison's piece about her mother's camel coat. The writing so evocative, one felt as if our own faced were buried in the gentle, soft cashmere that lived at the back of her mother's wardrobe.

Wondering the streets as autumn turns its many shades of grey, a camel coat is exactly what I need. And here's what I found. In Zara, for under £100. I think this is the beginning of an autumn romance!

Recommended soundtrack to this post: A Foggy Day (in London Town), Ella Fitzgerald

Knit One, Purl One

I am dreading the Edinburgh winter, but I am also LOVING these big, statement knits. Chunky knitwear and boots are the only good thing about bad weather!

Source

Many Clouds, One has a Silver Lining...

I'm absolutely dreading the fall. I mean, this heat is ridiculous, but it's so much better than the freezing winds of the fall in Edinburgh. Going into my final year of university, I know it's the last time I'll have to live through a Scottish winter, so I should try to see the romantic side of the ice-cold climate. Well, that might be easier to do in the new fall lines! Gorgeous. I love the layers, and will certainly be looking into a flying jacket, ribbed knit tights, capes and curve hemmed hoodies! LOVE!

Topshop A/W'10

H&M A/W'10

Incredible Curves

Wow wow wow. Three generations of super model, three stunningly beautiful women, three times the WOW!

I can’t believe I never blogged the A/W'10 show… I love the clinched waists and full skirts, the amazing cleavage and the Mad Men-esque drama.

But this really takes the collection to the next level, what a wonderful campaign. I'm in L O V E!

Source

Is it Spring? Is it Autumn? Who the hell knows!

I love love love Isabel Marant's show... I love the proportions. AMAZING proportions.

However, if A/W'10 means bare legs and sky-high minis, then you can count me in!

Slate, Gun Metal, Sable... Jersey, sequins, fur!

Just amazing...

Source: Style.com

DSquared2: The Only Maths I Like

I hadn't seen this a/w show until I stumbled upon it at my.opera.com. It strongly relates my post about how rushing has become part of our process of accessorizing. Well, DSquared² certainly has illustrated my point well! I love that the models are carrying Starbucks (and I’m sure Starbucks love it too….). It’s very zeitgeist-y (yes, I made that up). I also love how they’ve really embraced layering – the practical side of fashion finally showing its face! These looks are actually wearable and you mind not freeze your teeny-weeny, size-0 ass off…

This look also really reminded me or Miroslava’s pairing a floor-length dress with a leather jacket –- it’s white tie meets street style, and I love it!

Source: style.com and TPF

Chloé Runway Make Up A/W'09

Charlotte Tilbury’s look for Chloé Autumn/Winter ’09.

It’s so striking, but requires being very bold with blush, and even applying blush to the brow bone above the temple.

The final look is so beautiful. Dramatic cheek bones, smoky eyes in taupe and fresh dewy skin. Perfect for Autumn!

photos: makeupforlife.net and fashiongonerogue

The Burning Bush

The tree beneath my kitchen window has absolutely exploded with colour in the last few days. The trees are burning gold! It seems to me a sign that we should be ablaze, too! It's natures glorious costume change before minimalist winter.

Bottle the Beauty

I wish I could bottle the smell of this night. It is Lapsang Souchong, bonfires and Advent. The smells of autumn.

Ode to Autumn

I love autumn. It might be my favourite season. Weather here tends to be bright blue skies and the leaves are all turning to burned gold and copper. Plus the cold starts to creep in, which appeals to my inner-dormouse, making it acceptable to hibernate under piles of blankets, and cozying up to share warmth! There's something romantic about autumn, that the other seasons lack. Something about mittens and pink noses and Ella Fitzgerald which warm the soul, despite the crisp, cold winds.

Keats likes it, too!

Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, -

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying dayAnd touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft

The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

~ John Keats, 'Ode to Autumn

My penchant for this particular time of year might also be why 'Autumn Effects at Argenteuil' is one of my favourite paintings...

'Autumn Effects at Argenteuil', Claude Monet. Courtauld, London.

'Everyone suddenly burst out singing'

Flashmob must be the ultimate zeitgeist of the late noughties. It is the ultimate smile-inducing show of optimism in a cynical word. The people who take part would terrorize terrorists with their unbridled playfulness.

Random pillow-fights, silent discos and posing as statues - a nod to the juvenile simplicity adulthood forces into the past.

Flashmobs are not just amusing to the participants, but also to passers-by. I recently walked past a man in the street who was howling out U2's 'With or Without You'. It was the most beautiful autumn day and in a moment which (very) vaguely resembled Sassoon's 'Everyone Sang', I felt uplifted.

In reality, the Bono-impersonator was probably drunk, high, deranged, or all three, but for a moment, there was song in the quiet, auburn world.

These spontaneous actions of playfulness are really a symptom of a world wherein sun must be made, rather than found. However, it is when people stop dancing, singing and hurling their bedding in public that we really should worry. Without sudden outpourings of silliness and joy, the darkness has won.