Thursday 29 July 2010

The Girl Behind The Blog....Tala


Sitting down over afternoon tea with Tala (gorgeous little lemon tarts, in case you are interested) in her London apartment, is like sitting down with any other beautiful, talented, fashion-loving 19 year old student. Um, except when she lets slip that her mama is the face of Nina Ricci for the Middle East (cue squeaks of delight from me! I met Lina Samman briefly outside the Christian Dior show in Paris in March when I first photographed Tala), she has interned at Grazia, Tom Ford (positively swooning now), freelanced for the Dubai-based online magazine Savoir Flair, she has been featured in Harper's Bazaar Arabia earlier this year, she lives between London and Dubai, and she blogs daily at MyFashDiary no matter where she is in the world (current location: Tuscany).Oh, and she is a full-time student at London College of Fashion studying fashion promotion. And she is impossible not to like (she gets extra scooby snacks for those lemon tarts :))


So where does she get her beauty and style from? Her parents are Syrian but Tala was born in the US, and moved to Dubai when she was just a littlie. After a few more squeaks of encouragement from me, I discovered that Tala's mama, apart from being the Nina Ricci brand ambassador, is one of the most stylish women in Dubai. Which would explain Tala's London wardrobe: peppered amongst the American Apparel, Zara, Topshop, Office, Reiss, H&M, Acne purchases are pieces by Alexander Wang (handbag), YSL (trib pumps and handbag), Balenciaga (handbag and sunglasses), Fendi (handbag), Chanel (handbag), Hermes (Birkin), Mulberry (Alexa),most of which she "shares" with Lina (sort of like a timeshare scheme for handbags and accessories!)


After oohing and ahhing over Tala's jewellery, make-up and sunglasses collection (as well as the little mood wall where she keeps all her invites, thank you notes etc), we went outside to take some photographs. And despite the attentions of passing motorists (I am still recovering from the lascivious stares of one particularly creepy older gent who crawled past us in his car), Tala was a dream to shoot. I think the second photograph from the top captures Tala the best: warm, caring, down-to-earth and with an utterly infectious smile :)
Tala's denim shirt is from Topshop, hat from Sonia Rykiel, black wedge boots from Office and cocktail ring from YSL. In the photographs below her skirt is from American Apparel and her shoes are the sublime YSL pumps. I can't remember where her lace top is from- I will find out for y'all.


p.s. You can click on the collages to make them bigger.

34 comments:

  1. Love the masculine look with the loose shirt! absolutely perfect on this woman!

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  2. Gorgeous look...Fabulous shots...
    Great post.

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  3. wow!!! loved this post. she is so stunning xx

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  4. What a lovely lass, and an awesome post. I need to check her blog out. Of course, your photos are exquisite.

    ♥ V
    http://www.gritandglamour.com

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  5. She's beautiful and seems very interesting! Thanks for this post and for showing us a new face in fashion :)

    http://tovogueorbust.blogspot.com/

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  6. @everyone- thank you! Well, actually thanks to Tala cos she is just gorgeous and it would be hard to take a bad photo of her!
    @Alexandra G- yep, she is really interesting, and has amazing stories of people she has met through blogging, and her mum. A chance encounter with Christian Louboutin in Damascus? (I think) in a coffee shop was just one she told me. Ahhhh I live vicariously through the girls I photograph!

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  7. Very well-deserved, Tala - we're so proud of you!

    And thank you so much for the mention, Vanessa!

    The Savoir Flair girls xx

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  8. love the 1st look, gorgeous photos

    http://elenavasilieva.blogspot.com/

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  9. Double Denim - I'm won over straight away! =)

    Love, Nicky
    at: fashion-fruitcake.blogspot.com

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  10. Beautiful!!!

    http://minnja.blogspot.com/

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  11. Aw, she's gorgeous! Denim on denim is always a winner. I'm super jealous of her resumé at only 19!

    threadbearer.blogspot.com

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  12. @Hayley- me too!! At 19 my resume consisted of school, uni and my part-time job in the curtain department of a department store! Well, it was actually called soft furnishings but I didn't know what that was until I started working there (goodness only knows how I got the job!). Ahhhh the super glam life I have led, huh?!

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  13. Adorable!
    http://styleandoutfit.blogspot.com/

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  14. She is very special. Great post. Xxxx

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  15. I love it when you write to accompany your posts Vanessa!! And these are gorgeous pics! xxo

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  16. gorgeous. i think it takes real guts to do the denim on denim trend. though i like that she did it with shorts to minimize a bit!

    CLOTHESURE

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  17. i really like this feature, thanks so much for it :) she has a gorgeous smile & beautiful complexion, which i truly believe should be what every girl should strive for because with those in hand, you look good in anything <3

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  18. She's Gorgeous cute adorable same as her Mama Queen Lina:)

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  19. this girl is impresionant!
    ;)
    __________________________________
    http://buscandoenmiarmario.blogspot.com
    __________________________________

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  20. you look amazing i love the hat in the starting pictures and the everthing in the ending photos

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  21. She is such a beauty!

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  22. Great style! Love the denim on denim outfit!

    XXX
    Teresa

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  23. hey! i just found your blog by reading an article by instyle.com....i love ur style!

    www.rachaeldiab.blogspot.com

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  24. She's absolutely stunning. I love the photos and her jeans ensemble.

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  25. Great outfit with the denim allover look and the biba sun hat. She has absolute secure style.Easy, but with a lot of impact.

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  26. gorgeous look.she's so pretty.

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  27. she has a different kind of beauty :D and that's wonderfull..love her eyes and smile. And she seems to have a really nice life.

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  28. Thank you Vanessa for such a great post!
    you are such a talented photographer, had a great time shooting with you!

    Tala xx

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  29. She's got such a sweet, girl-next-door kind of look. Love it!

    ~Vanessa from Smashion

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  30. Agreed, v jealous of her resume! She seems like a great, grounded and switched on girl- quite easy to turn into the next Paris Hilton when you own a Birkin before 20. Go Tala! And Vanessa, great pictures as usual :)
    XX

    fashionmorebidity.blogspot.com

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  31. You're work is so inspiring! I love your blog.

    Rachelle xo

    www.wanderingbabcia.com

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  32. she's gorgeous! I'm going to check out her blog :)

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