"We'll drink a cup of kindness yet for the sake of auld land syne..."

Bonsoir darlings, apologies for the erratic frequency of posting. Usually I post once every two days but I have French exams in January which I have to do beaucoup de revision for so its going to be a bit unpredictable for a while but the post regularity will resume after that, I promise. Its New Years Eve Eve. So excited and so ready to see the back of this year and look forward to a new year and a new decade. I can't quite imagine that ten years ago we lived happily without ipod's, DVD players and had no idea who Lady GaGa or Miley Cyrus was (can't quite decide if this is for the best or not =P). I was born a little way into the last decade so this is my first full one and so i'm getting all 'deep' and reflective. I just think it is amazing how much such a short amount of time can change so much. I makes me think about all the events, new technology, new singers/actresses/socialites that we have yet to be introduced to or that are yet to happen that will change our lives and our world as we know it forever in the next decade. Weird.

I've got a good feeling about next year darlings. It would be an immense understatement to say that '09 wasn't the best of years for me, in fact it was pretty damn merde until I starting blogging towards the final few months and it really turned around. I just want to take this opportunity to thank all my readers, regular and new from the bottom of my heart. You guys are all so fantastic and your overwhelmingly positive feedback and support means the world to me. I started this blog as a way to get out of a rut, as a hobby, a distraction, a possible entry into a career path, a way to vent my feelings and express myself and lots of other things. I had no idea whether anyone would ever read it and the speed at which the blog has taken off has astounded me and I still have to pinch myself sometimes. I hope the blog continues to go from strength to strength and that you'll stay with me for the ride. Even if this is as good as it gets and I get no more readers I'll be a very happy girl indeed.

Speaking of the success of the blog and my awesome readers I am so immensly honoured to have been nominated for three blogging awards in the past week. The first is a Haute Mess Award from the absolutely fabulous Jen. I'm supposed to write 7 things about myself then tag seven other super fabulous bloggers. Here goes nothing:

1) I'm incredibly musical- I can play the piano, flute and guitar, I sing (not very well), have an extensive vinyl collection and would be lost if anything happened to my ipod.
2) I'm a complete and utter music snob - there is nothing worse to me than someone getting the lyrics of a song wrong.
3) I'm a perfectionist and can be incredibly hard on myself.
4) I detest rap music generally but for some reason adore French rap music. Strange.
5) The only thing worse than destroying a beautiful song by getting the lyrics wrong is destroying the English language through poor spelling and grammar.
5) I'm petrified of heights, insects and birds.
6) I'm in love with Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl.
7) I did ballet for 14 years but gave it up after I started pointe work and my toes started bleeding.

I'm tagging Lexy @ Quirky Explosion, Elaine, Betz, DIANA DYE, Tegan, Neon panda, The F Word Online

The other two awards i'm going to lump together because they are the same one and you must be bored about reading about me and i'm not quite sure I have 21 things to say about myself. I got two seperate nominations for a Beautiful Blogger Award from the immensly brilliant Phoebe Rose and Heather Taylor. Thank you so much darlings, it means a lot. Again I have to write 7 things about myself then tag 7 other bloggers so:

1) Every single Easter without fail I watch Easter Parade with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. It's my favourite movie of hers and I never get bored of it.
2) At one point in my life I could quote the whole of Mean Girls and Clueless from beginning to end. No joke.
3) I name my guitars - my vintage Indigo Fender Stratocater is called Sapphire and my Accoustic Fender is called Roxy.
4) My favourite book is Les Miserables. It's sheer perfection.
5) My favourite colour is purple.
6) I spend way too much time daydreaming
7) I am obsessed with magazines. I can easily spend all my money on them and like to read them cover to cover in one go.

For this award i'm nominating:

Erika, Susu Paris Chic, Jennifer Fabulous, The Dream Machine, Daisychain, Sidewalk Chalk and Andie

So what are all of your plans for New Years Eve? More importantly what will you all be wearing? If it's not raining I might go to Central London for fireworks in which case I will wrap up warm or to my friends' house party where I might showcase my new dress, I haven't quite decided yet. I probably won't post tommorow so let me be the first to wish you all an immensly safe, chic and happy new year (and decade) full of everything you could possibly want and more.

Stay safe and chic mes amis,
See you all next decade!

English Rose x

"Its the most wonderful time of the year..."

Bonjour darlings! Hope you all had an immense Christmas and ate lots of yummy food, drank lots of yummy drinks, had lots of fun and looked oh-so-stylish whilst doing it. My Christmas was fantastic. I mainly just relaxed with family but it was nice because I hadn't seen loads of people in such a long time and it was only one day so we didn't irritate each other too much. I wore this pretty brown dress (a colour I don't usually go for) that I had got ages ago with brown satin shoes.

In terms of presents; because I was such a good, stylish girl this year Santa was very, very, good to me. I got lots of swoonsome, stylish things lincluding Coco Avant Chanel and The September Issue on DVD, shopping Vouchers, a vintage pocket mirror, a stylish umbrella and some gorgeous jewellery which I am so so grateful for. 

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DVDs









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Card Holder and Vintage Mirror

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Umbrella (cool right?)

I didn't think I could be any luckier but then something amazing happened that I totally didn't see coming; mes bloggeurs régulières will know that I had made a fantasy wishlist full of lovely things from Forever 21 that I wanted et voilà (geek glasses are not real):

How cool are they? I am so incredibly fortunate and so in love with everything I got. The past few days have been a blur of food, clothes and happiness and I have been hitting the shops hard for the incredible sales. I've bought way too much (quelle surprise) and may possibly have to file for teenage bankruptcy, but they are all so beautiful and I can't wait to share them all with you in the next few days.

I have also received two blogging awards which I am so insanely happy about and grateful for and will talk more about them in the coming days. How were all of your Christmases - where were you, what did you do, what did you get? Hope you all had a fabulous time because you all deserve it.

Stay safe and chic mes amis,
English Rose x

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas..." Judy Garland

Bonsoir darlings, this will be my last post for a few days until the madness that is Christmas is over, my next post will either be Saturday or Sunday depending on how tired/bloated/stressed I am =P

Today I went to Kensington with my friend and it was so much fun. Wrapped up warm with gingerbread lattes in mittened hands, we went to Holland Park for a bit (which was so wintery and beautiful) before browsing some shops on Kensington High Street and Kensington Church Street.

As you all know, I have shopped and spent way too much this holiday already and had promised myself that I wasn't going to buy anything else. But...then I walked past this little Vintage Shop and found a completely swoonsome dress that I just had.to.have and my resolve crumbled to pieces around my heels. I know you'll all agree she is worth it. Darlings, meet ma nouvelle amie:

Isn't she lovely? As a rule, anything that makes me gasp for breath needs to be bought. Love at first sight and just a  few days before the party season begins - what are the chances? She was super cheap considering how stunningly intricate and well made it is (£20/$40) And it was in my size. It was a sign. It was fate. Sartorial destiny. We belong together, me and my LBD. I tried it on when I got home and it was a perfect fit. The only thing I can compare the experience to is kind of like what people say about how when you see your wedding dress - you know (except obviously on a much smaller scale) I shall post pics of me in it as soon as I find the perfect occassion to debut it.

So my darlings, now I have blabbed on about my day, all that is left is to wish you all a very merry, insanely happy and an immensely safe and chic Christmas full of everything you could want and more; whatever you are doing and wherever in the world you are.


Stay safe and chic,
English Rose x

"Lights will guide you home and ignite your bones..." Coldplay - Fix You

Bonsoir darlings, hope you all had a fabulously fashionable weekend and are getting everything ready for Christmas. My weekend was fantastic and you'll be glad to know that my batteries have well and truly been recharged. Yesterday I braved the Central London crowds and the cold to see if there were any last minute Christmas bargains (I lovelovelove a good bargain, discount or sale).

I visited Oxford Street and Carnaby Street for some late night shopping, and got some really great deals and quirky items. I am a really thoughtful present giver and always give better, more thought-out presents than I receive, which is totally fine, as long as I know I put in the effort and made someone truly happy. I like to really think about the person I am buying something for and what I believe they would like and would be useful to them rather than a generic last minute gift that could be for anyone and is likely to end up either; in a drawer, in the attic, in a charity shop or quelle horreur, in the bin. Don't get me wrong, i'm truly grateful for every single thing I receive, useful or not, its lovely to have even been thought about and I know some people just genuinely suck at the thoughtful present thing no matter how hard they plan or how good their intentions and some people are simplement impossible to buy for and I certainly don't have anything against receiving soap or socks, the more the merrier (and after all, you can never have enough right?)

Usually I hate winter partly because it gets super dark really early but yesterday I didn't mind because of the beautiful Christmas lights. The whole of England, but London in particular goes all out when it comes to Christmas lights. Every high street has their own individual displays (with varying degrees of both expense and festive cheer) but the ones in Central London are a pretty big deal, hundreds come out and they have all these celebrities come to turn them on. They are usually theme related in Oxford Street, this year was Disney's A Christmas Carol and they got Jim Carey who stars in the film animation to turn them on. Growing up, my idea of Christmas was the 'traditional' American ones I would always see in films and on tv; inches of snow and houses luminated from the inside out with hundreds of lights and decorations - enough energy being used in one street to sink a small country. As always, we English are a tad more reserved and subtle than our cousins across the pond in our festivities and so the closest thing we have are high street Christmas lights. The Christmas lights truly put me in the Christmas mood especially the ones in Carnaby Street which have a retro theme to mark its 40th anniversary and are a throw back to the 1970s. Voila:


Oxford Street













Carnaby Street

Fantastique, non? Are there Christmas lights where you live - especially those of you who live in places where Christmas falls bang in the middle of summer? How were all of your last-weekends-before-christmas-which-ohmygoodness-is-only-five-days-away? Tell me things darlings. Hope you are all fabulous.

Stay safe and chic mes amis.
English Rose x

"And since we've no place to go, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow..."

Bonjour darlings, something incroyable happened today - it snowed - IN LONDON. For all of you lucky people that have white Christmases or at the very leasy white winters, congratulations we here in the land of tea and scones never and I mean never see snow. Last winter the same thing happened and the whole city came to a complete and utter standstill - there was zero public transport, businesses, schools and offices were closed for days and it was estimated that the city lost over £250 million. For 1 inch of snow.

It was insanely beautiful this morning, freezing but gorgeous. I love snow, it truly brings out the little kid in me and i'll still admit trying to catch the odd snowflake on my tongue when no one is looking. Do any of you have interesting snow stories? I literally cannot believe Christmas is precisely one week away and even scarier, the end of the decade is two weeks away. Ten whole years has gone by in the blink of an eye. I have at least managed to get all of my Christmas shopping done and am finally starting to get into the festive spirit and am so hopeful for the coming year and decade.

I am also completely exhausted and am aware this is possibly the worst post I have ever done. I'm a tad low on both energy and inspiration so please forgive me, once i've had a good nap I shall be back to my fashion blogging best in no time. Thank you so much for all your lovely comments on the last post (I was really proud of it and sorry this is such a lame follow up), i'm so glad it had such an overwhelmingly positive response and was relatable for so many of you. Thank you also to everyone who voted for me for blog of the month, I can't tell you how much your support and love for the blog means and that you enjoy what I do because I really enjoy doing it. Ugh. I'm getting all sentimental. Je suis désolée. Here's what I wore today, taking my inspiration from the snow and channeling my inner Parisienne. And here are some immense boots that my friend bought that I had to photograph.

Hope you all had a great week and have the 'Festive Feeling' or at the very least a 'Friday Feeling.

Stay safe and chic mes amies

English Rose x

"Dont you know who I am? Remember my name...." Fame

Bonjour darlings, hope you are well, off topic, would it be awful if I asked you guys to vote for me for blog of the month here, as i'm kind of getting thrashed. It would be much appreciated.

Today's post is a little reflective but still fashion based (I think). I was reading the January 2010 Issue of UK Vogue (which is great by the way) and in it there was an interview with Tom Ford which really left a lasting impression on me, but not for the reason the journalist in question (Christa D'Souza) intended.

For those of you who don't know, Tom Ford is just a little bit awesome. He's a fashion designer turned director, renowned for his creativity and unrivalled vision and has had a phenomenal, albeit turbulent, love affair with the fashion world. By 1999 he had made Gucci worth $4.3 billion (£2.2 billion). A year later he was named Best International Designer at the first VH1/Vogue Awards in New York. Ford continued to go from strength to strength after Gucci bought a controlling stake in Yves Saint Laurent and Tom was appointed creative director and communications director of YSL's ready-to-wear business, while continuing to design for Gucci. In April 2004, Ford parted company with the Gucci group after he and CEO Domenico de Sole, failed to agree with PPR bosses over creative control of the Group. He subsequently launched his fashion empire, Tom Ford - first with menswear, beauty, eyewear, and then both men's and women's accessories. After conquering the fashion world, he has now moved on the world of movie directing, launching his first big feature film 'A Single Man' with Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode and Nicholas Hoult.

I digress. The article in question, 'Fantastic Mr Ford', was focusing on Tom's transition but began with a bit about his career. It started off saying "Once upon a time, not so long ago, no one knew who Tom Ford was..." A bit harsh, but true. Then came the bit that interested me:

" "I was an assistant, I was a nobody," says Ford simply...So much so, apparently that I have forgotten that he and I once met. What? Did we really? He must be mistaken. There's no way I could have forgotten meeting Tom Ford. "Oh but we did," he gently insists. "Not that you would have known. Why would you? There's no reason for you to remember me at all." "

"How embarrassing" was my first thought, then "how rude". It's not just Christa D'Souza, all of us are guilty in some shape or form of discarding certain people from our memories because they 'don't matter' to whatever our particular focus at the time is. I think it speaks volumes about not only the fashion industry, and the arrogance of people who are extremely successful and believe that the 'little people' don't matter, but of human nature en général. What the journalist failed to realise, although I do appreciate her honesty and perhaps she is a little ashamed herself, was that Tom Ford was Tom Ford long before he became The.Tom.Ford. It's physically impossible to remember the names and faces of every single person we encounter, especially if we haven't been formally introduced but i'd like to think that when I meet people, especially if I've had a conversation or interaction with them, I make them feel as if they are important, as if I care about what they are saying - regardless of wheter they are a 'lowly' assistant or Anna Wintour and that if not the name, I can always remember the face of everyone I have been introduced to. Maybe that's just me, maybe it's just the way I was raised and the fact that I have a photographic memory.

I believe that as humans we all have a fear of being forgotten. That we won't leave our mark on the world and our existance will be erased along with the last of our family and friends. Being the sort of person that remembers everything and everyone, I know how embarassing it feels when you remember meeting someone, but they hav no recollection of you and think it is the first time you are meeting. Clearly, you weren't special or memorable enough to leave an impression. It sucks and it's hard not to take it personally.

I'm sure Tom Ford felt more than a little bit smug that he could embarrass her, and i'm pleased for him but it's sad that he had to get status in order to be memorable and worth someone's time. What about those of us who never become anything more than bus drivers or office workers? Are we destined to be forgotten? Is it only The Tom Ford's of the world that are worth our time and attention? I'd like to think not, but i'm not so sure.

I don't know if it will ever change but I guess I just wanted to make you all think, like the article made me think. Next time you meet someone, make them feel worth your time. Try not to see status as the only way of judging a life. Look to the person. There are receptionist way more kind, talented and knowledgable than magazine editors. The person cleaning the street may have a university degree. And even if they don't, does that mean they are less of a human? It brings to mind a favourite saying of my Grandmother's, "Always be  kind to everyone, always. Don't step on people on your way up, because you will meet them on your way back down."


Well said Granny, well said.

Stay safe and chic mes amis
English Rose x