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Thursday, October 30, 2008

Hail Mary! Click this...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7699339.stm

Inside Westfield London

I'm live from Westfield London - towards the end of what's shaping up to be a 16 hour day. I was here as they put the finished spritz of Gleam on the windows and have just gone to collect the London Paper, The London Lite and The Evening Standard to find we had made all three front pages!!! The crowds have been immense and the sheer number of laden shoppers made everyone wonder ' credit crunch? what credit crunch?'. Hurrah!!! We made it!

More in-depth analysis forthcoming (as soon as I've had a hot shower, some hot food, and one long night's sleep!)!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Not seen this before - not even sure what name they go by. Curved, outdoor plasma screens on the underground. Drew quite a crowd at Bank.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Ok, I am now OFFCIALLY super-cool. For tonight I finally made the pilgrimage across to East London and to Shoreditch House. Those who are regular readers of this blog will know my position on Shoreditch-ites and I went to SH hoping to loathe it. But I am forced to admit that it is gorgeous - every aspect done with incredibly good taste and attention to detail. And don't even get me started on the roof-top pool. Not to mention that my companion and I enjoyed a perfectly hearty supper for no more than £15 each.

The only downer came as we waited to take the lift back downstairs, only to find a group of my old school pals with a similar agenda. Groucho Marx famously said that he could never join a club that would have him as a member. I rather fear that I might be just be a Shoreditch-ite myself after all! Oops.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

The Perfect Saturday

Had a shifty down the lovely Marylebone High Street yesterday. MHS is wonderful not only because of it's fabulous mix of boutiques but also because it is one of the last centrally located havens mostly undiscovered by tourists. Well, apart from the acceptable kind of tourist like Jake Gyllenhaal whom I saw meandering there recently.

Marylebone is also a joy year round - whether you have a lazy al fresco brunch at Le Pain followed by a stroll round their Saturday street market in high summer, or scamper between bars of delicious dark chocolate at Rococo, cashmere heaven at Brora, and a lingering mosey round Divertimenti in the depths of winter. From shopping mecca The Conran Shop at the top, to clothes boutique KJ's Laundry at the bottom, MHS is all things to all the right sort of people.

I lusted after...

A selection of Rococo Mini Bee Bars in 8 unbelievable flavours.



And this divine Globe Trotter vanity case from the Conran Shop.

Friday, October 24, 2008

Will Ferrell as Bush, Tina Fey as Palin. It takes a team to make a dream.

Oh my god!!! Anthropologie is about to sign on a place in Regent Street! I am all over this. All over it like a rash! Yes!

Check it out by clicking HERE!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Whole (lotta) Foods

Given that all work and no play makes Camilla a dull blogger, I am forced to post vicariously. For, whilest I was slumped post-prandially on the sofa, my 'What's on in London' guru and Housemate Extrordinaire, enjoyed 'Thristy Thursday' at Whole Foods in Kensington. I attended the pre-launch preview back when it opened in 2007 - which, with the whole food court laid open for free, escalated into a full-blown binge fest. So I can only imagine what delights my Housie enjoyed for a mere £5 entrance fee and, as they say in the spiel, 'a self-guided tour of the best food in the store'. Sounds like marketing speak for 'dig in!'.

I hate to put a downer on everything, but I'm going to be keeping an eye on Whole Foods to see how it fares during this economic wobble, for I believe it will prove once and for all whether Green is an investment buy or a passing trend.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

I fear the next few days herald a considerable drop in blog post rate and quality. With working days so long they are putting us up in a hotel, I can only dream of a holiday right now. Pater recently found photos from our two week jaunt to Florida several years ago. What I'd give to return to that little suburban enclave with days out to Wal-Mart!


Photograph by Blazing Cameras.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

As I write this I am tucked up under a 40 tog duvet, wearing M&S slipper socks and clutching a hot water bottle (don't worry, I'm still glamourous - the hottie has a cashmere cover). It is now cold enough outside to begin my third November in a row contemplating forking out for my first ever pair of Uggs. But... is anyone else sick to death of this look...?

Monday, October 20, 2008

Westfield London. I shop, therefore I am.

In 10 days Westfield London, Europe's new biggest shopping mall, opens its doors. On launch day the usual circus of events, celebrities and media will herald the opening of 265 retailers and 50 restaurants all under one stunning glass roof. And with a dedicated concierge service, a mix of both high-end luxury and highstreet staples, and a McBan on the usual dire food offer, Westfield looks set to knock the socks off its rivals Bluewater and Brent Cross.



But there is a huge pink elephant standing in the middle of the central atrium, and Banksy has stenciled 'RECESSION' on its rump. Can a credit crunched London handle a shopping mall of this ilk right now? Westfield has been a building site for the past 12 years, so they weren't to know of the economic situation come opening day, but this month has been the tipping point for a downturn that is making everyone hold on to their pennies.

Retail analysts are right - during hard times, people need cheering up and transporting to a fantasy world. And where better to do that at Westfield, where many of the retailers have made flagships of their stores, and where a combination of shops, restaurants and, in 2009, cinemas and spas, will create a full day out? In a few months, this opportunity for escapism will bring thousands to the centre. But this month, of all months, I fear that escapism is barely an option as we look reality straight in the face.

I'd be nervous if I was opening the doors to the public at Westfield next week, but I'm sure by Christmas this new wonder mall is really going to be giving Oxford Street - just minutes away on the Central Line - a real run for its money.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Geek chic on the Northern Line

Well, I've been a few days off radar due to certain Hen-related activities. Fortunately, we managed to avoid the usual L-plates and blow-up penises that have become somewhat stereotypical of today's Hen parties and achieve quite a classy array of festivities over several days.

Best of all, my fellow bridesmaids and I (yes, you heard right. A bridesmaid) managed to find some totally non-horrific bridesmaid dresses. In fact, some might say they are rather fantastic. Thank god for Oasis.

I'm going for classically demure in black.


While, another is in disco heaven in pink.


Not a meringue in sight!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I love Sarah Silverman. I love that she can say things like 'I don't care if you think I'm racist. As long as you think I'm thin' and get away with it. I love this Vote Obama video she made.



I love that she is playing the Hammersmith Apollo on Saturday. And I love the interview she gave in the Guardian last weekend.

Oh, and I love that the poster in the video is from www.theposterlist.com

Wow, just how many shout outs did I get into that post! Gotta get me some sponsors! Go pro.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

As the Beckhams have recently discovered, Ebay can be a pretty scary place. I've lost many a friend to ebay. I've even nearly lost myself, and my pay packet, to it a number of times. The scope means your every whim is catered to - hell, Pater once sold a vase and made a girlfriend out of the buyer! It appeals both to the gambler in us with the auctioning system and the thrill seeker with the 'buy it now' function. And it has a community feel that brings like minded people together to exchange their wares.

And yet, despite a recent overhaul, I can't help but feel its usability is somewhat lacking. E-customers are a fickle bunch; on our local highstreet we still have to walk past the sellers we've shunned. On the web we can slip away without a backwards look. A competitor with the interface of a Amazon or Facebook, would make a MySpace out of Ebay in a matter of weeks.



In the meantime, however, I'm doing all I can to ignore the Abercrombie & Fitch buy it nows.

For news on the Beckhams, click here.

Monday, October 13, 2008

The Last Hurrah

If the economic forecasters are to be believed we are on a slippery to slope to a major recession. This means that 'It' bags and bling will give way to a major focus on inconspicuous consumption. And, so, like a WWII madam giving her best girls to the soon-departing soldiers, I offer up the Camilla's Store Top 5 Last Hurrah Buys. 5 trinkets which, in a matter of weeks, will be seen as morally irresponsible, reprehensibly decadent and downright vulgar. Make the most of it people because I fear that no matter what Grazia says, there just isn't such a thing as credit crunch chic.

1) Expensive nail polish. It chips within seconds, costs £16 a pop and goes gloopy almost immediately and yet.... so pretty!



2) Waitrose. Shockingly over-priced but, as Nigella no doubt mutters to herself, where else can one buy crystallised voilet petals and 14 types of organic butter?? For staunch anti-credit-crunchers, I suggest you drive there in your 4x4 and refuse to re-use. Plastic rules!



3) Luxury gym membership. If we're going to be poor, we may as well look buff doing it. My favourite gyms are the ones that offer a £300 joining fee on a 5 year membership that has no get out clause. Yes.



4) Proper Tea. I once convinced a Texan that it was against the law not the drink tea at 4pm in the UK. High tea is our birthright. They may freeze all our assets but we will always have cucumber sandwiches goddamit.



5) Louboutins. A fleck of crimson as you step out the taxi offers the most flagrant display of wealth. But be careful, as these are almost passable as an investment buy, so be sure to buy in this season's style and then make an anecdote of how you accidently left one of them at Whisky Mist! Such larks.



Happy Shopping!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

So freakin' brilliant. (Takes a sec to load video, but worth the wait!)



God Bless Saturday Night Live.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Pink Boots. Hyde Park Corner

Another satisfied customer leaves the new Space NK on Tottenham Court Road.

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Photographer, fellow blogger and sometime classmate of yours truly, Marcos JQ, busted a very cosmopolitan move and attended the opening of Apple Mac, Geneva.





See more from this series and others at http://marcosjq.blogspot.com.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

She's the voice behind Zero 7 and has now gone solo with her album 'Some People Have Real Problems', which is AMAZING. All the soul we loved in Zero 7, but with a sense of fun and oodles of power we never knew existed.

Buy it now. Don't question me. £7.99 on itunes. Do it.

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Cinch it!

I've heard that during recent times of war, the fashion scene on the homefront has embraced army-prints and combat trousers (see little cited pop/history moment: girl-band All Saints' Marharishi trousers during the Balkans). Well, now it's the credit crunch and dippy women everywhere are taking the advice to 'tighten our belts' a little to literally. Kicked off by cult series Mad Men, popularized by our lady in LA, Posh Spice's body-con look, and now rampant on the catwalks of Paris fashion week, feminine curves are IN, IN, IN.

It's a shallow way of looking an impending economic doom, but on the bright-side a belt's cheaper than a whole new dress, and we'll be starving enough to get into those size 8s! Woop woop.

Sunday, October 05, 2008

Loving this!



available from www.knockknock.biz
When I was 16, my best friend lived in her own house at the bottom of her parent's garden. She had fish in the bathtub and, in the spare room, a truly awe-inspiring collection of over one hundred My Little Ponies. Saw her again this weekend, the ponies may be long gone but I still think she might like these prints from Garudio Studiage.

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Back in the early Summer of this year, when Sex and the City mayhem was in full swing, I posted something along the lines of M&S being a little late off the mark to announce they were doing a collaboration with Patricia Field for AW08. Typical M&S - always last to the party.

Anyway, this coming week sees the new collection hitting the shelves and, if the editorial in today's Guardian magazine is anything to go by, it is typically underwhelming. As similar piece on Jane Shephardson for Whistles literally had us all dashing down off to the highstreet but this... not so much. You can't shove a bit of leopard lining on a trench coat and call it Sex and the City. I'm thinking more Fumble in the Suburbs.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/04/fashion.marksspencer

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Went to see Now or Later at the Royal Court this evening. Fab play and very apt what with Election fever rising. I only think that the director missed a trick when it came to creating dramatic tension between the passive, laid-back son unwilling to compromise and the Presidential entourage who come in and out desperate to make him change his mind. While the dialogue convinced us these characters were being forced to deal with a stubborn teenager whilest on the brink of Presidential election, their relaxed on-stage body-language made us think otherwise.

Being at the Court also reminded me what a great little restaurant they've got going on down there. As Pater would say... 'somewhere nice to meet your friends'.