Livia Firth's GREEN Oscar dress and other red carpet tales...

Sitting here waiting on a call back from my teaching agency and just checked out last night's Oscar shennanigans...

The main girl of this post, Livia Firth, wife of Colin, King of the Oscars. Livia choose to go as green as possible at this years awards ceremonies - no, not wearing head to toe in the colour green, but good for the environment, eco-friendly green - and I must say she looked fabulous!

  image from ecorazzi.com

Her dress, by Gary Harvey, was the reclaimed product of 11 dresses from the very period that The King's Speech was set (what a lovely idea), though it certainly did not look out of place at the 83rd Academy Awards. I think in a society where were are increadibly materialistic (I'll be the first to admit to coveting beautiful possessions) it's nice to see a bit of thriftiness and thought going into to an outfit which, as with most red carpet creations, will more than likely only be worn once (although I'm sure Livia could well have other green plans for this dress, post-Vanity Fair party). What I love most of all about this idea, and indeed the dress itself, are the stories woven into the fabric, the sense of history in every stitch. It's one thing wearing a 'vintage' dress (the V-word is oh-so-fashionable nowadays, isn't it) but to actually create something new, from something old, gives it a whole new life and purpose, a sort of continuation of all the stories. I know many of you might be thinking, simmer down Mrs, it's just a dress, but I am a self-confessed 'oldie', and I love the memories, stories and secrets that old things hold. You could say I'm a bit of a romantic, and you'd probably be right. I loved this dress though, and moreso, the whole concept of ethical and eco-friendly fashion which Livia so expertly advocates. Now, with the huge and well deserved success of her husband, she has been given a platform from which to continue this promotion of green clothing, and maybe even start a trend.

What are your thoughts on Livia's dress, and on the idea of 'green' clothing?

Other Oscar dresses I LOVED, purely for their prettiness:

Natalie Portman (winner of Best Actresss) (Rodarte) looked radiant in this gorgeous purple number...

Amy Adams (L'Wren Scott) sparkled in a navy blue number, with gorgeous Hollywood styled hair.

Halle Berry (Marchesa), keeping with the nude trend with added tulle and sparkle, looked stunning and carried off the long train that featured a lot on this year's red carpet.

Cate Blanchett (Givenchy) was brave enough to inject a modern twist with her structured pastel number, yet still having an elegant and feminine red carpet look.

And still looking fabulous, the lovely Dame Helen Mirren (Vivienne Westwood) in Cappuchino silk.

images from itv.com

This year there was also a lot of RED and black, which I wasn't as keen on (strange for me as these used to be staples in my wardrobe!).

What did you think?



xxMxx

What I loved and loathed about LFW (extremely image heavy)

There was a lot of buzz and excitement around London last weekend as LFW hit the town. I actually spent the weekend in Glasgow and so didn't get the chance to experience the atmosphere (not that I would have got near any the top shows anyway!) but I managed to catch up with most of it online and in newspapers. As much as I love fashion though, I prefer to see how real people, wear real clothes, to go about their real lives. Stalking the progress of LFW online everyday wasn't quite the same thing. Yes, some shows amazed me, some of the colours were bold and exciting, and I saw a lot things I would love to be able to afford, but I'm still High St loyal I'm afraid. Nevertheless, I was very impressed by this little lot from days 1-3 (have yet to check back on the rest as I've been unwell so will post about that later, if I'm impressed)

House of Holland

Betty Jackson

Mulberry

Vivienne Westwood

 

Matthew Williamson

 

 

 

Unique

 

 

Temperley London

 

 

 

Issa London

Maria Grachvogel 

 

 

 

 

Paul Costelloe

By far my most favourite collection was Paul Costello. I was drawn to the rich, earthly palette of brown, green and Burgundy (being a typical Taurus) and think this collection basically summed up Autumn for me. The textures were luxurious and tactile and it was nice to see velvet making an appearance yet again after falling in love with it this Winter. The magpie in me was also drawn to the shimmering fabrics which would brighten up any cold morning and the array of tartan did tug at my Scottish heartstrings. However, what I loved most of all was the hair! I've been a red-head since early last Autumn (after recalling my brief red-stint when I was 15) and if I could style my hair like this I'd be a very happy girl.

That is what I loved: colour, pattern, fabrics, imagination, movement and shapes. What I loathed was this:

Erdem

 

This is all I've seen so far from the second half of LFW, and one of the reasons I chose to take a break and check back later in the week to view the rest of the collections. How anyone attending this show could focus on the clothes amazes me, when this model looks far from healthy. I'm a girl who has sadly seen two sides of this coin: the unhealthy, mind-controlling side that says this is attainable and a form of perfection and, thankfully, the side that tells me this is dangerously thin, unnatural and a sign of an industry that is ignorant of normal woman all over the world. This was also something touched on by the lovely Izzy at  Belle of the Blush  in this post! What worried me most of all, is that I saw this image and thought it was 'out of place', and that Yasmin Le Bon was 'bigger' than everyone else. 

I have now chastised myself though, and assured myself that she is in fact normal, and it's the rest of the images that were wrong. I'm not for a moment saying that these sorts of images cause eating disorders among young women, and men. However, they do nothing to help reassure those who are struggling to contend with these damaging thoughts, and if anything, serve as a dark reminder of negative thinking and behaviours that are best left behind. I would ask the question, when will the fashion industry learn and change? but that would be a waste of time I fear, as I doubt anyone will ever have the guts to, and indeed, whether they even want to.

The reason I love the blogging community is that I am able to see how real women wear clothes, women like you and I, unique and healthy. I will continue to tune in to fashion shows for the reasons that I love, but will proceed with caution for the reasons I loathe. 

Stay healthy :)

xxMxx