Earn Your Fashion Stripes with Farfetch

Recreate these looks and get inspired on the Farfetch website here, infographic courtesy of Farfetch

             Although most Londoners were left a little underwhelmed during yesterday’s solar eclipse due to some unwanted clouds, March 20^th also signaled the first day of spring. I don’t know about you, but I’ve already started preparing for the spring by ditching my dark ensembles and revamping my outfits with pops of color. The weather might be unpredictable, but one timeless trend that we can count on to accompany the arrival of spring is stripes. Spring/Summer 2015 looks to be no different with this tried and tested design.

             The versatility of stripes makes it very difficult to have a wardrobe malfunction. Indeed, they are a staple in my own closet. Vertical stripes conjure up the image of a crisp, collared shirt ironed to perfection for a job interview. Navy blue and white horizontal stripes are the classic embodiment of Parisian chic. Who could resist a young-faced Johnny Depp in his black and white striped prison uniform in the 90’s film Cry Baby? Going to jail never looked so good…Then there’s fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier, who has made sailor stripes his trademark across his 40-year career and not once have they looked out of place on the catwalk or on the shelves. This really is quite the sartorial achievement, especially considering that the fast turnover of the fashion industry means most trends are “out” before they are even “in.”

             Even the unsavory Freddy Krueger made a style statement in his chunky knit red and green striped sweater. We could go so far as to argue that the comic strip character Dennis the Menace is the original 2D mascot for stripes. To ensure you don’t channel either of these less than desirable characters, look no further than the Farfetch infographic provided above. Whether Françoise Hardy, Cyndi Lauper, or Audrey Hepburn is your style icon, you too can earn your fashion stripes.

             To prove the lasting power of stripes, I needed to look no further than my style blog, A Stitch in Time. In May 2014, my outfit post consisted of a striped sweater and denim short dungarees. When I was shopping this weekend, what lined the racks of the stores? Dungarees and stripes, stripes, and more stripes.

Diamonds might be forever, but so are stripes. View my full outfit post here.

Selfridges Set to Suit Everyone's Agender

Selfridges department store located on London's Oxford Street, photo courtesy of Dezeen

             If we take a trip back to the 1980s, we will discover that the bending of gender rules is not a new concept. Stars such as David Bowie and Grace Jones dominated and perhaps even pioneered the open discussion about blurred lines. Fast-forward to the present day and we have the intriguing androgyny of actress Tilda Swinton (who inspired Vivienne Westwood’s Autumn/Winter 2014 womenswear collection), singer Janelle Monáe, and model Andreja (formerly Andrej) Pejić.

Actress Tilda Swinton looking rather reminiscent of David Bowie (left) and singer Janelle Monáe sporting her characteristic suit and tie ensemble (right), photos courtesy of Pinterest

             For example, Pejić was born a male, but went on to model women’s and men’s clothing (both beautifully, might I add). Pejić, curlers in hair, posed removing a white shirt on the 2011 cover of Dossier Journal. U.S. bookstores Barnes & Noble and Borders feared that their customers would view Pejić as a topless woman, which resulted in shielding the image with an opaque sleeve. Pejić, who previously reported living “in between genders,” underwent sex reassignment surgery to become a woman in 2014.

Andreja Pejić's controversial 2011 cover for Dossier Journal, photo courtesy of The Huffington Post

             Some people might argue that, in the year 2015, we are in a more enlightened and accepting age than ever before in terms of gender identity. It is indeed true that the times, they are a-changin’. A year ago, Facebook traded in the “male” and “female” gender options for a more inclusive 56-item list to choose from, such as: bigender, cisgender, gender fluid, genderqueer, pangender, transgender, transsexual etc. If you don’t know what any of those mean, I highly recommend that you look them up (I definitely had some researching to do)!  

             The word on the street is that Selfridges department store, located in the heart of London’s Oxford Circus, will be dedicating three of its four floors to a gender-neutral shopping space called Agender. Grace Jones, eat your heart out. The Manchester and Birmingham Selfridges outlets, as well as the official Selfridges website, will also be jumping on board. The takeover will be implemented come March 1^st until the end of April.

             The next kicker is that the new gender-neutral revamp will also apply to mannequins, beauty products, and accessories. Instead of traditional male and female mannequins, the department store’s windows will be given a non-gender-specific makeover. Photography, film, music, and design pieces delving into the concept of gender will additionally be featured in-store and on the Selfridges website.

A previous KTZ design (left) and a creation from Hood by Air during this month's New York Fashion Week (right), photos courtesy of The Daily Mail and The New York Times

             Interior and furniture designer Faye Toogood will be responsible for bringing the concept spaces to life. Expect to see brands such as KTZ, Trapstar, and Hood by Air. I predict that BOY LONDON will stay sitting pretty as it watches the newcomers encroach on its already well-established unisex territory. Toogood’s ready-to-wear collection, a capsule collection by Bodymap, Nicola Formichetti’s collection Nicopanda, a collection from footwear brand Underground, and Rad Hourani’s made-to-order couture designs are all set to make an appearance. You will also be able to feast your eyes on designs by labels including Ann Demeulemeester, Comme des Garçons, Meadham Kirchhoff, and Gareth Pugh.

Gender-neutral looks by Meadham Kirchhoff (left), Toogood (center), and Nicopanda (right), photos courtesy of Women's Wear Daily

             Gucci’s Autumn/Winter 2015 collection saw the emergence of women walking the menswear runways, while Acne’s male models donned feminist scarves with empowering phrases: “Woman Power,” “Radical Feminist,” “Gender Equality.” Cos and Gap have noted the upsurge of menswear purchases by women, while men have gravitated towards buying women’s knitwear. As if we needed further proof, this month’s New York Fashion Week has shown that the next big trend to adopt comes in the form of a gender shakeup.

Gucci's Autumn/Winter 2015 menswear collection included women on the runways (left), while Acne debuted feminist scarves (right), photos courtesy of DAZED

             In Sweden, a toy catalog challenged gender stereotypes with images of a boy in a Spiderman outfit pushing a pink stroller and a girl wearing denim riding a yellow tractor. In 2012, the gender-neutral personal pronoun hen was added to the online version of Sweden’s National Encylopedia as an alternative to the Swedish han (he) and hon (she). In the United States last year, an employee who wished to be identified by a gender-neutral pronoun sued her company for $518,000 when coworkers insisted on using female pronouns.

Leklust, a Swedish toy company, proposed a gender role reversal in one of their catalogs, photo courtesy of Leklust

             Where you draw the line on the gender-neutral discussion is a matter of opinion, but soon Selfridges will be forcing the conversation out into the open. The fact that the high-end department store is backing such a revolutionary implementation speaks volumes. Perhaps Selfridges could act as the catalyst for some major changes to occur as it tests the cultural norms of our society.

             A Selfridges spokesperson told The Times, “We want to take our customers on a journey where they can shop and dress without limitations or stereotypes…a space where clothing is no longer imbued with directive gender values, enabling fashion to exist as a purer expression of ‘self.’” This powerful statement is hopefully a foreshadowing of a new wave of fashion to follow suit, where boundaries are jagged and edges are fuzzy. Lines will be crossed and that’s okay. Fashion is meant to be controversial, a talking point. Life isn’t always black and white, so it’s about time we made room for the gray. 

             Female, male, or anything in between…it doesn’t really matter. All I know is that never before have you been given a better excuse to steal your boyfriend or girlfriend’s shirt and absolutely rock it. Browse the Selfridges website here.

Winning Is Far from Farfetched

Photo courtesy of Farfetch

             I teamed up with Farfetch, a global community comprised of more than 300 fashion boutiques, last November to present my blogging journey to date (view the post here). In our current collaboration, I just wanted to pass along some exciting competition news! All you need to do is sign up here and introduce four friends to Farfetch. After you’ve completed that simple step, you receive 10 percent off your next Farfetch purchase and you and your friends are automatically entered into the $2,500 prize giveaway!
 

             The competition runs from today until 9 a.m. on February 18^th. You can Tweet, email, and share your way towards the chance to win. It would be silly to pass up such a great offer and I’ve already taken full advantage of it! I don’t think you’ll need much convincing when you browse Farfetch’s luxe website here. Then again, did anyone ever need an excuse to shop?

             I would wish you good luck, but then again, this is a competition and we are all competitors!

Have You Heard About the Mexican in a Sex Shop?

             I am currently on my summer vacation from university and visiting my parents where they live in Germany (hence my lack of posts). The beauty of this is that I am only about an hour and a half plane ride away from London. Spontaneously one weekday, I decided to plan a quick three-day stopover back to the big city with my friend. I really was missing it and I guess I just couldn’t stay away for too long, so a whirlwind trip was just what I needed. I threw some clothes in a suitcase, and jetted off to London, where my friend and I would prove to have a couple of very jam-packed days.

             Now, I don’t want the title of this particular post to put you off from reading. I am by no means going to start waxing lyrical about my adventures in an actual, literal sex shop. To be frank, that would just be tasteless and lewd. I am, however, going to be introducing you to another one of London’s hideaway locations, which exists right in the heart of Soho.

             The problem with secret places is that when you don’t know where you’re going, it’s actually very difficult to ask for directions, as you can imagine. My friend and I also had another hurdle to overcome: a lack of technology. As soon as we landed in London, my phone conveniently decided to stop working, taking its GPS capabilities with it. Luckily, we had maps that had been printed off in Germany prior to our departure. We also split the cost of the hotel WiFi here and there if we were in desperate need of Internet access.

             I joked with my friend that our social skills were really going to be put to the test during this trip, because without a phone coddling us, we really were on our own. I actually really recommend taking a day or two to see what life would be like without your phone, because it’s an enriching experience to say the least. You’re forced to hone in on your surroundings and pay attention at heightened levels. What was infuriating about our quest to the sex shop was that it was supposed to be located three minutes from the Leicester Square tube station, and we simply could not find it. Perhaps problematic was also the thought that we would have to ask people how to find our way to, well, a sex shop.

             I started pouncing on unassuming pedestrians, who inevitably turned out to be tourists themselves, and just as clueless as us. I then started prowling the area for anyone with a smart phone, batting my eyelashes so I could reach my long lost friend, Google Maps. Eventually, we stumbled across a pub, where two very obliging men attempted to help us, but to no avail. The one with a very pronounced Liverpool accent asked a pub staff member, and we finally struck lucky. A London local emerged from his workspace and directed us in the right direction, with just 10 minutes left to spare before our reservation time!

             Have you twigged it yet? Yes, my friend and I were going to be dining at a Mexican restaurant called La Bodega Negra, under the guise of a sex shop! As I stood outside snapping photographs, onlookers must have deemed me odd or creepy, or both. After all, staring us right in the face were neon lights glowing with the promise of “Adult Video” and “Peep Show.” There my friend and I were, happy-go-lucky, and entering in the side door advertising “private dance downstairs.” As soon as the door closed behind us, I had a moment of horror, because I thought I had actually entered a genuine sex shop. To my left stood a mannequin draped in slick leather bondage gear, while two men seemed to appear out of darkness and ask us if we were okay. With a decent amount of trepidation, I phrased what should be a statement as a question, “We have a reservation at 6?” Luckily, they took my bait and seemed to know what I was talking about, so my friend and I had finally arrived, our bellies fully rumbling by this point.

             We followed a giant red lit-up arrow and approached the cellar-style restaurant to be greeted by extremely accommodating staff. A certain warmth emanated from the restaurant and candles flickered as the only source of light in the dim, intimate setting. In direct contrast to the catacomb-reminiscent underground, modern music like rap blared overhead. This was one trendy space indeed, as we would soon come to discover as more patrons filed in throughout the evening.

             The only indication that we had entered through a “sex shop” existed in a raunchy wall decoration behind me with fishnet tights flying everywhere. All other evidence seemed to float away to make room for the spacious and romantic interior. The staff was very attentive and friendly, asking whether we needed anything explained on the menu. If you are not a well-versed Mexican food aficionado, then I suggest you take them up on their offer! My friend and I had perused the menu online back at the hotel, resorting to Google to look up some of the main dishes offered. La Bodega Negra does not mess around with their Mexican food! After much hemming and hawing, we decided on the beef tacos (playing it safe, I know).

             Our dainty tacos were presented on a stand made specifically for that purpose. We dug in while we watched the table next to us feast on the many other variations of tacos in rounds. With our order, my friend and I received two tacos each, but you can be much more adventurous than us and take your pick from a variety of other options (an octopus and chorizo skewer, spicy yellow fin tuna, or the Quesadilla Rustica, just to name a few). The tacos were bite-sized, filled with succulent beef and just enough vegetables to eat without embarrassing yourself.

             Afterwards, I had to indulge in their decadently creamy tiramisu. It came presented in a covered glass jar with the restaurant’s logo (a demonic scorpion-like creature) on top, laced with coffee traces and adorned with crumbled amaretto biscuits. Bliss.

             For a less menacing outer appearance, La Bodega Negra also has a café and bar located just around the other side of the “sex shop” that serves lunch and dinner Mexican-style. Unlike its counterpart, the café/bar proudly displays its name amid a teal décor.  

             For La Bodega Negra’s full menu, visit their website here. I’m a big fan of secret London, and it never fails to boggle my mind that in a city teeming with people, London still manages to surprise me with its less well-known haunts. I’m not going to give you any hints on how to reach the restaurant, but rather, my task to you is this: try and find this aptly hid and undeniably unique culinary marvel without technology, just like we did! Ask people, use a map, look at the signposts and road names. London is a lot more beautiful when viewed outside the screen of a smart phone, so look up and look alive! When you reach your destination, believe me, victory will taste all that much sweeter.

Scarfing Down a Helping of Orwell + Austen

Jessica Schuhle-Lewis, creative mind behind Orwell + Austen, with her stand at the Piccadilly pop-up shop

             When I think scarves, I think chunky, practical, and imposing, but they have been granted a new lease of life thanks to the 2012 launch of Jessica Schuhle-Lewis’ fresh new scarf brand, Orwell + Austen. The cashmere and silk scarves blend saturated candy-color hues and eye-catching prints to form lust-worthy outfit centerpieces. A pop-up shop in Piccadilly opened for a limited time, today marking its last day. Multiple brands were featured, displaying leather goods, clothing, and even tea sets. However diverse, I decided to head down to focus on Orwell + Austen and meet the artist behind the brand’s whimsy.

              Schuhle-Lewis’ section in the pop-up shop was recognizable by the scarves’ distinctive inkblot-like patterns and graceful placements. I was immediately struck by how playful and youthful the scarves were. The tasteful design made even the blacks appear uplifting. On drab winter days, these are the scarves that you want to perk you up, but by the same token, these are the very same scarves that will add zest and character to any summer ensemble.

             Upon meeting Schuhle-Lewis, her passion for her scarf line was undeniable. She has lived in London for 11 years, so will have witnessed a flurry of fads and trends emerge and fade with the ever-changing fashion scene. That’s why she has created something durable and essential. Schuhle-Lewis was more than obliging to speak to me about her vision and motivations. She had a soft demeanor about her to match the softness of her products, not needing to push her message, because she truly believes in what she is selling and she has every reason to.

             I would like to give a big thank you to Rosie Burn and Jessica Schuhle-Lewis for making this interview possible.

Laura Rutkowski: Your scarves are very eclectic and versatile. Where did you find inspiration for the prints?

Jessica Schuhle-Lewis: The first set of prints, so the Leo and the Lily print and the Inca print, came from animals, so they’re all slight variations on quite traditional animal prints. The Lily is almost like a leopard print, but it’s crossed with moths and butterflies as well. Some of the color inspiration also came from moths, which I don’t like in real life, but I love their patterns. The Inca is like a deconstructed snakeskin, so I took snakeskin print and took a really small part of it and blew it up a little bit and then the most recent one, which is the Linden one, is more of a line drawing.

I was in Marrakesh at the Yves Saint Laurent garden, and he [Yves Saint Laurent] used to send out love postcards to key customers every Christmas, I think it was, and one of them is this really cool almost line drawing with a snake twisting around it and I really loved it, so I took a picture of that and then loosely based my design really loosely on that. I flipped the design a few times as well and that’s how I came up with the Linden one. I guess I just see things that I like. I use Pinterest a lot. I’ve found it really useful to find old patterns or textile things and just play around with them a little bit.

LR: What drove you to be interested in designing scarves opposed to any other clothing items?

JS-L: Well, because I had the legal background [Schuhle-Lewis was a lawyer], I didn’t go to fashion college. I grew up in a family of artists, so my dad’s an artist and a poet. My brother’s also a really good graphic designer. He does beautiful illustrations and things like that. I’ve always drawn and painted since I was little. I love fashion, but I don’t know how to make the perfect shirt. I don’t know necessarily the fit and through what I’ve been doing, I’m learning a bit more of that through the people I meet, but for me, because I’d always drawn and painted, a scarf is kind of like an actual canvas. 

LR: Oh yeah, it works with everything pretty much.

JS-L: Exactly. I love wearing scarves and I just thought, I really want to make a fashion piece, but I’m not going to pretend that I know everything about the structure of fashion, so I thought take what I know and apply it. 

LR: Describe your ideal Orwell + Austen girl to embody your brand. 

JS-L: I think she’s quite versatile to be honest. When I initially started doing the scarves, I was thinking more of a city girl, because I was a city girl, and when you work in the city, there’s very much a uniform and if you want to differentiate a little bit, but you can’t go crazy, a scarf’s a good way to do that. Then, as it’s continued, I have an idea of the type of brands that she would buy and the type of things she would wear. I think she would mix high street with high-end accessories - bits of Céline, quite simple pieces. Again, quite a simple base uniform, good quality, but likes to mix up things with accessories, so likes a fun scarf.

LR: I like doing minimal outfits and then if you add a scarf, it finishes everything off.

JS-L: Yeah exactly, and I love contrast as well, so I’ve been doing a few Polyvore things to show how I would wear it or I’d love customers to wear it. So the new Linden one, that turquoise, I found this gorgeous cashmere by Bora Bora, a mustard sweater, and it looks so cool with the really bright turquoise and the mustard, but then everything else is quite simple - androgynous accessories, a white shirt.

LR: A lot of fashion houses are known for their scarves and making really high quality scarves, so is there any one brand that you really want to emulate or that you particularly like?

JS-L: That’s a tricky question, because I kind of also started the scarves because I love a lot of the prints that come from the fashion houses, but I wasn’t that enamored with the quality. For example, Alexander McQueen’s skull motif, it’s super cool, but his 245 pound scarf is a modal mix and modal’s a synthetic fabric and I think if they can get away with having a cheaper fabric because of the name, I almost feel like if you’re buying that, into a luxury product, you should really be getting a luxury fabric as well.

I love McQueen, but I think I haven’t really seen that much on the designer end that’s at the 250 to 300 price point that’s actually cashmere and not cashmere mix, which is where you take 90 percent modal and you put 10 percent cashmere in.  All of my scarves, the lighter ones, are 70 percent cashmere with 30 percent silk, but no man-made fabrics. It’s all natural.

LR: What is your favorite way to style a scarf?

JS-L: It depends on the season. I really love to get cashmere sweaters. I love silk shirts and a really loose big scarf keeping you cozy. In the summer, I tend to tie them or fold them a little bit more, tie them not like a tie, but in a bow - a little more chic, a little more close to the body, as opposed to really loose.

Kerry O’Brine shows how to style one of Schuhle-Lewis’ scarves in the pop-up shop using a sweater from her own clothing line

LR: How does your line represent your artistic abilities and interests?

JS-L: I just think I’m quite eclectic. I love color. I love pattern. I love print. I don’t want anything to ever be too simple, so I think it represents those aspects of me - my love of color, love of pattern, love of print. Natural fabrics as well are so, so important to me. I love good quality. I know that it’s hard because people have budgets and it’s sometimes difficult, but I always think buy the best that you can afford.

LR: A scarf is something you always wear and come back to.

JS-L: Exactly, and as you wear it, it gets better and better. Good cashmere, the more you wear it, the softer it becomes and you can pass that on. It represents the artist in me. It’s almost like I’m always wearing one of my pieces of work – around my neck or however I style it. They’re so personal to me as well. They really do feel like my little babies and when you put them out there, you’re really worried what people are going to think, but I love them all, so I feel like I love them, I hope I’ve got good taste, and I hope other people love them.

LR: They have sort of a modern twist, which is nice because they’re simple, but interesting.

JS-L: I think if you’re going to buy a quite expensive scarf, mine are I’d say mid-price, I think you want something as well that’s going to be a little bit more than just plain. You want something a little bit fun. You want people to look at it and go, “Wow, that’s unusual.” That’s what I’m always trying to think of.

 LR: How does it feel to see your finished product out and on display?

JS-L: It’s really cool. I’ve never actually done the display before. We’re in Wolf & Badger and they usually take care of that side of things, but it was so fun to have it all set up. It’s a bit of an eclectic collection at the moment, because you’ve got a mix of newer seasons and older seasons, which to see all of the stuff that I’ve done and what I’ve achieved is kind of cool because I think when you’re doing it, you’re not necessarily thinking, “Wow, I’ve got to this place, I’ve got to that place.” You’re just dealing with the everyday, but it’s quite nice though. I feel quite proud.

LR: If you had to choose one scarf, which one would you pick you as your favorite?

JS-L: It changes a lot. Over the summer, I was absolutely in love with the Inca in Sea + Sand, the blue dip-dye one. I wore that so much. The Inca in black and gray now I’m wearing more. They’re not out yet, but coming out in the next couple weeks are two Lily prints I’ll show you later and there’s one that’s really red with just black and there’s another in khakis. I was wearing one of them yesterday because the weather was obviously a little bit cooler with a really cool purple-pink sweater and lovely contrast, so I think every time I do a new one, that becomes my favorite.

The new Autumn/Winter collection includes the red and green scarves seen here with the Lily motif in a bigger style

LR: What is in store for the future of Orwell + Austen? What do you hope to achieve with your brand?

JS-L: We’re just turning our focus now to going into some big department stores, places like Liberty. I spent the last year just figuring it all out a little bit, getting Wolf & Badger stocked is good because you get lots of customer feedback and because they’re all limited runs, I can change things up quite easily and take feedback, so people wanted slightly bigger, so I’ve done slightly bigger and playing around with color a little bit more, but I’d love to be in somewhere like Liberty. That would be my dream. I’d just love to keep designing and keep evolving. Eventually, I’d like to add maybe some clothing pieces of some kind one day down the line, but like I said at the beginning, I’ve got a lot to learn in that area, so I’m trying to take tips, but that would be my dream. 

             Visit the official Orwell + Austen website here to see the variety of scarves on offer. Look out for an upcoming collaboration with Rosie Fortescue of reality television series, Made in Chelsea, fame. The designs have already been completed and Schuhle-Lewis told me that we should be prepared to see the inclusion of geometric prints.