New York Street Style...Hanneli Mustaparta

Jumpsuit for the Girls.


The ever beautiful Hanneli Mustaparta on the streets of Soho, New York, wearing smooshy, velvety goodness from H&M....and Zara shoes....oh yeah and that little 'ole Alexander Wang handbag ;)

Hanneli was another person I just randomly bumped into in Soho! Sometimes it really does feel like a small world out there.... p.s. Did not desert blog readers again for frolic overseas! Nope, just had a DISASTER....computer hard drive died.

Had bad, burny feeling after my last blog post that something DISASTROUS was going to happen so made sure all my photos were backed up to my external hard drive. Sure enough, 2 days after I did that I was sitting at the computer clacking away when I hear "clunk, clunk, whirp, burp, ker....plunk" and windows (I use a PC- yes, yes I KNOW I need a mac stat! No need to remind me of the obvious :) throws up some weird message and then everything goes black. As did my mind. Lots of huffing, puffing, choice words, panicked phone calls to my computer technician later (am I the only one who has a computer technician on speed dial?) and it was obvious that my computer had breathed its last little RAM-y breath. Probably just to spite me because it senses how much I despise it.

All my photos were safe (thank the Lord for my external drives) but my operating system, photoshop, lightroom etc all had to be reinstalled.....oh and appear to have lost all of husband's i-tunes purchases :( Complete and utter nightmare- I almost need a vodka gimlet just thinking about it..... Anyhow, I am back up and running again BUT if you are reading this and thinking gee, I haven't backed up to an external drive for awhile.. DO IT, DO IT NOW!

Running With The Fash Pack....London Fashion Week SS 2010

and a Jumpsuit for the Boys!


The gorgeous Joel Bough who absolutely rocks this Prada jumpsuit. By far my favourite male look from London Fashion Week.... he just looks so damn cute. I was actually taking a photo of Joel's (female) colleague when Joel jokingly said "Hey, don't you want a photo of me as well?!" whereby he whips off his jacket and reveals his jumpsuit!

Admittedly this is not a look a lot of guys could pull off (I suspect you need a lean body type for this little number AND a lot of confidence) but I think Joel works it perfectly.

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Love her teeny, wafty navy shorts (they sort of remind me of the shorts boxers wear in the ring) teamed with that simple tank and blazer. And note the socks, stockings AND heels?!

New York Street Style...Stars and Stripes

Okay, so she really isn't wearing any stars.....but we can pretend just a little bit, huh? :)

I took this somewhere in Soho (maybe Mott Street?), New York near one of the best coffee shops I came across, Gimme Coffee. Brilliant coffee, really friendly staff AND they are open nice and early which is great if you are suffering from jet lag and need a wee caffeine jolt to boost your energy levels.

We stayed in midtown at the Wellington Hotel (great location if you want somewhere near Central Park and Times Square, but hideous, hideous bed linen: the sheets were so wafty and thin {I'm sure they were about 50 thread count} that they kept untucking the whole night and sliding around the bed. Not fun, especially when jet lagged) but I think if we were lucky enough to go back again, we will stay somewhere Downtown which feels more relaxed and "homey".

In A New York State of Mind

Cooooeeee! Coooooeeee! Is anybody still out there?

Mmmmm, well, where did I disappear to? AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep, we went all the way to the United States of America and had, quite simply, THE BEST TIME EVER. It was just incredible: the people, the food, the countryside, even the coffee went way beyond my expectations.

I have only been to America (to New York) once before back in 2005 and I loved it then but going back a second time with our good friends and doing a road trip made it that much more enjoyable.

We flew into New York for a few days of Bright City Lights before flying to Denver, Colorado, where we picked up THE TRUCK (aka a Chevy Tahoe SUV) for the drive to San Francisco. When we first clapped eyes on the Chevy in the rental car parking lot we were all giggling wildly-it was ginormous! Once we were on the open road, however, we quickly realised that almost everyone drives these humongous vehicles- and if they aren't driving one of them, they're driving an RV with an SUV trailered to the back!

So where did we go?
Gunnison, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains (1 night).
Monument Valley, Utah/Arizona (1 night). We stayed at the View hotel which is located inside Monument Valley and is pretty spectacular especially as the sun sets and rises.
Flagstaff near the Grand Canyon (1 night).
Las Vegas (1 night). I am still not sure quite what to think of Vegas- it is almost like Disneyland for grown-ups but in very twisted way. Loved the lights along The Strip at night and the world's grumpiest Elvis who we encountered on an afternoon stroll (and who I swear is on tv advertisements back in the UK for Vegas) but I don't think I would go out of my way to go back again anytime soon.
LA (2 nights)- 1 night near Anaheim, 1 night in West Hollywood
San Francisco (following the coastal road) and the Napa Valley.
Home to London and the most dreariest weather ever.... with a horrid flu to top things off which has kept me in bed for the last week:(((

If you are thinking of doing a trip to the States and want to start in New York and finish in San Francisco, I would highly recommend the route we took. We saw so much diverse countryside (a lot of California reminded me of Australia) and stayed in some fantastic motels along the way which were really cheap and super roomy (compared to travelling in Europe).


I *heart* you America!


p.s. more importantly than my blithe holiday wafflings, this photo is of the lovely Francesca Vuillemin, commercial director of Six Scents Parfums in NYC. Francesca was wearing a cute customised t-shirt by Philip Lim; Dr Denim high waisted jeans and Melissa shoes.

New York Street Style...Chantal of Cocorosa

A little bit of Christopher Kane for Topshop in a New York State of Mind......the gorgeous Chantal from cocorosa blog.

Okay, so this was a very cool, random afternoon- I met up with Craig Arend from Altamira for coffee and we were just sitting outside Balthazar in Soho, New York, sipping our lattes (actually, I think Craig was having a cheeky mocha) when along came Guerre from Swagger360 who you might remember I bumped into randomly on the street in Paris earlier this year. So we chatted for awhile and then next thing we bump into Chantal and her friends who had been out shopping and making some photos for her blog! So of course I jumped at the opportunity to photograph Chantal as well.

And best thing was, Chantal had only just purchased her Christopher Kane for Topshop hoodie earlier in the day. Yay, we love a new purchase :))

Thanks Chantal (and Craig and Guerre) for a super afternoon.

New York Street Style....Yellow

The girl above (yep, I forgot her name-nothing has changed!) was my very first street style photograph in New York. I was wandering past the Apple store near Central Park, spotted her yellow tights and pretty jacket disappearing through the Saturday afternoon crowds and scampered after her. I really wanted an image with yellow cabs in the background, so to get the rickshaw driver (what are those things called in NYC, anyone know?) in as well was an added bonus.

And when I was trawling through my photos tonight I noticed there is LOTS of yellow in NYC!

Grand Central Terminal New York:


On the wall at Chelsea Market near Ninth Street Espresso (great lattes) and Ronnybrook Dairy (home of phenomenal chocolate milkshakes):

My attempts at panning with the camera (so hard to try and get something, anything, in focus while keeping the background blurry):

At the Empire State Building:

Katz's deli Rueben sandwich (my arteries are clogging- and my mouth is watering- just thinking about it!):

More woeful attempts at panning with my camera:

Okay so he isn't exactly yellow (maybe a little orange?!) but he is pretty darn cute. He reminds me of the pup out of As Good As It Gets:

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The stunning Clémentine outside Louis Vuitton.

p.s. I am taking a little blogging break of about 2 1/2 weeks (hence the furious uploading these past couple of days!) to go have some adventures (and hopefully take some pics :). I won't be blogging during that time but I will be checking email periodically (yep, I am one of those 0.00000000000000002 % of the population that doesn't have an iPhone or a blackberry) so if you want/need to contact me just send me an email.

p.p.s. Thanks again ever so much for all your comments, emails and encouragement over these past few weeks- you guys are great. Normal transmission (including replying properly to comments) will resume shortly :)

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The oh-so-beautiful model/photographer/blogger Hanneli Mustaparta. She is an absolute dream to photograph AND just so nice as well (we like that :)) If you haven't checked out her blog then DO IT! Click here for the link.


p.s the dress is Rad Hourani and the bag? Alexander Wang.

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Outside Kenzo.

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The too, too divine Ms R.

Carine Roitfeld, Editor in Chief, French Vogue.

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week 2010

Charles Guislan, 16. If you purchased the latest LOVE magazine (Issue 2) you would have seen Charles in a beautiful story ("Bloodline") photographed by Mert Alas&Marcus Piggott and styled by Katie Grand.

I photographed Charles outside the Giles show last Thursday.

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Neutral palette and distressed leather outside Chloe.

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Julia at Chloe (see the little badge on her cardi?)

Wow, could she move FAST!! She was like a super charged Energizer bunny :)))

How lucky are all these little kids to go to the shows? When I was only a little Vanessa the absolute highlight of my year was the RAQ fashion awards which used to be held in Brisbane, Australia. They were televised and I would literally glue myself to the couch on the night they were shown and NOBODY was allowed to interupt my viewing. Balenciaga, Lanvin, Chloe...pffffff! You should have seen our Daniel Lightfoot, Kerry Craig and Anthony Leigh Dower!

Running With The Fash Pack....London Fashion Week SS 2010

The fab Gloria Baume, Fashion Director, Teen Vogue.

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Outside Louis Vuitton.

Now this is my kind of bag....crikey, I could fit TWO cameras in that little beauty (plus a whole heap of other crap that I carry around with me on a "just in case" basis). And those heavy-framed glasses? perfect.

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The divine Ms G.

The incredibly stylish and lovely Ms Vika Gazinskaya, designer (check out her collections here), outside the Hermes show in Paris.

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Outside Kenzo. Do you note the little suspender belt at the side of her leather skirt?!



p.s. okay, okay, yeah, I know, maybe she has red hair.... :)


Officially addicted!

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The divine Ms D.


Claire Dhelens. This, THIS is what I love so much about French women. So elegant, so chic, so understated....so utterly perfect.



Adore her Chloe lace-up wedge boots:

Running With The Fash Pack....London Fashion Week SS 2010

The divine Ms S.

Ece Sukan, stylist/model/vintage shop owner/Vogue Turkey* Editor-at-Large AND possessor of THE most fabulous legs! Phew!

Check out Ece Sukan Vintage here. I am disappointed I didn't know about her store in Istanbul when we visited earlier this year....




*It launches next April I think.

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The divine Mr C.

Mr Francesco Cominelli outside Kenzo.

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The divine Ms C.

Christine Centenera, Fashion Editor, Harpers Bazaar (Australia) wearing Josh Goot photographed outside the Collette Dinnigan show! Yay for the Aussies :)))

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The divine Ms B.

Giovanna Battaglia

Running With The Fash Pack....Why I *heart* Paris

These photos are why I love Paris so much...and Fashion Week just makes it even more incroyable.

I chased after the girl on the bike above but alas my short little legs couldn't compete with her Vélib' treadly. So we have to be satisfied with just the back view of her neat little jacket, rolled jeans and that fab studded belt.

At Louis Vuitton (below):


At the Musée d'Orsay:

Pierre Auguste Renoir, Fernand Halphen, infant (1880)


I loved this Renoir and felt moved to take a photo of it (it isn't naughty to take photos of most artworks in Paris!) for future inspiration........and when I was looking through my LFW photos today I spotted this one:

:)

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The divine Miss Alix from The Cherry Blossom Girl.

So beautiful.

And just look at her palest blush top! That gorgeous big bow at her waist! And her little Chloe boots! And her dainty dotty tights! And her leather shorty shorts! And that fabulous, comfy cardi slung across her shoulders!

!!!!!!!!!!*


*My exclamation mark use is directly proportional to my excitement level :)

Running With The Fash Pack....Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Olga from Vogue Russia.


Adore her flirty little leather pleated skirt, dotty tights and grey t-shirt. And that necklace just polishes things off perfectly.

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

This is the beautiful Jo who was my first photographic subject/victim in Paris. I spotted Jo in her wonderful trench (love that gorgeous big bow nestled at her waist) and deepest red beanie sitting outside the Chloe show on Tuesday afternoon. Unlike me, who, when someone says "Oh, are you going to the XXXXXXXXXXXXX show" has to say (rather sadly and pathetically) "Well, um, yeah, I am going.....but I am just sort of standing outside!" Jo actually does get to see the runway. Chloe, Louis Vuitton, Sonia Rykiel- yep, Jo was there. Jealous??? Who moi?! :):)

Jo is absolutely lovely (and has worked exceptionally hard to get where she is now so we mustn't be tooooo jealous of her!) and I am so thankful that I met her on my first day in Paris when I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed by everything (getting 3 hours sleep the night before always makes me a bit tetchy). You must check out Jo's blog, Curiouser and Curiouser and take a peek at what she was wearing underneath her trench (last post on the first page)- it was BEAUTIFUL! I have already emailed her and demanded to know why I was so silly not to have asked her to unbutton her coat like the other photographer did!

Anyway, thanks so much Jo for making Paris (and standing outside all those shows) a blast :)

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The gorgeous Shala Monroque outside the Louis Vuitton show. The whole point of the second photo was to show you her marvellous shoes.....and I cut them off! Arggggh. Anyway, love Shala's style.

p.s. Is that a Kiehls goodie bag Shala has slung over her arm?!

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

The sublime Anna Dello Russo outside the Louis Vuitton show. The day before, at the Chloe show, was the first time I have ever laid eyes on Anna in "real life" and I was just so excited! It is one thing to see photos of these amazing women in magazines and on blogs but quite another to see them in the flesh: to hear them talk, to watch them move, to see what they are wearing up close, to be able to photograph them is simply breathtaking.

p.s. I had an awful "brain freeze" moment just as I was about to take these photos....as I watched Anna walk towards me I thought, okay, now or never: I really want a photo of her in that dress and those shoes (and do you note her diamond earrings?!), I need to ask NOW. So I lurched forward with my camera, took a deep breath and said "Um, Anna, would you mind etc etc etc" but as I said it I was thinking "Oh sh*t, is her name really Anna? Bl*ddy heck, maybe I'm thinking of the other Anna...oh god, how hideously embarrassing- I will be blacklisted forevermore!" Luckily Anna is Anna and all was well :))

p.s.s. I am really conscious of getting people's names right particularly after I watched some paparazzi yelling "Rhianna, Rhianna, over here, over here" as Michelle Williams of Destiny's Child exited the car......

Running With The Fash Pack...Paris Fashion Week SS 2010

Peace Out :)

How adorable is this little girl?!! Normally I'm not a big fan of the peace sign in photos (well, photos for this blog anyhow) but this little girl was so unbelievably cute and she did it so naturally that I think it is one of my all-time favourite images.

I saw her darting around in the trees in the Tuileries and asked her mum if I could take her photo. I thought I would capture a "candid" one of her running around but as soon as she saw the camera she stopped still and did this! Yay for littlies!!!