ROSEMARY MAC CABE

I’ll be honest with you: I quite like American Apparel. I love their bodycon dresses (they give you smooth lines and keep you warm; no, I don’t wear them as outerwear). I love their leggings, which are expensive but wear and wash well and are nicely high-waisted. I like their unisex racerback vests. I like [...]

So the spring/summer 2010 Alexander Wang lookbook is out, and it features luxe, almost military-inspired sportswear with strong hints of tough armour and loose, luxurious fabrics. I like it a LOT. However, some caution would be advised; from experience, really loose items only flatter your body if your body is, well, sick to begin with. [...]

Yes, it’s a mouthful, but Sandra Backlund’s designs remind me of the masks in Stargate, which kind of come apart, like Transformers, as the touch of a pearlised button. There’s something organic, like the links of a caterpillar, combined with futuristic fabrics, bodycon shapes that are just so beautiful. I want, I want. I want. [...]

So I was asked yesterday who my favourite designers are, and despite the fact that I ritually observe fashion weeks, have every copy of Vogue published since my 16th birthday, and buy more clothes because they’re “catwalk-inspired” than I do because I really like them, I found myself drawing a blank.
Because liking designers is [...]

So Topshop has released its transitional spring lookbook 2009/2010. What does this mean exactly? Layers. Topshop’s peeps have got super clever with their seasonal releases, and instead of expecting us all to don bikinis and light chiffons at the first sign of a daffodil, we’re being given the option to pair our delightful floral nudes [...]

So here’s the deal: I’m doing a wee competition on the blog today, for those of you lucky enough to read it (har har). The prize? A travel-sized Elizabeth Arden Eight-Hour Cream set, that includes an Eight-Hour Cream lip protectant stick and an Eight-Hour Cream skin protectant, to the value of around €25. These definitely [...]

Givenchy is a label that evokes days gone by, luxurious fabrics and, indeed, luxurious times – since Riccardo Tisci’s inauguration as the label’s head designer in 2005, the label’s aesthetic has moved from pure classic to classic with a twist. Tisci’s stamp is all over Givenchy’s more recent productions: muted colours aligned with monotones, along [...]

There are some shops I rarely go into. It’s not that I avoid them, per se, but that I have certain preconceived notions about their prices, styles, or clientele. Jane Norman is one main culprit; to that list I could add Coast, Karen Millen, Next and Monsoon. If I were thinking very carefully, I could, [...]

via Stylecaster
I loved the McQueen alien shoes on the catwalk, if only because they were so otherworldly, so artistic, so to the point of what haute couture is all about. But trust Daphne Guinness to bring the crazy McQueen to the real world. I think this photograph really says everything I’m thinking.

Jennifer Connelly for Balenciaga
So I’ve had a serious soft spot for Jennifer since Labyrinth (second reference in a week, I know, I know, but I’m obsessed with it ever since I read that The Screen is showing it soon) – and the Balenciaga ads are no different. I love love LOVE the shapes, and I [...]