La Vie Boutique

Festivities and curiosities are alive in an explosion of colours and sounds as soon as you see the cobbled street of Broadway Market; an East London street where market stalls are set up freely and the shops sit mismatched next to each other, like books on a gnarled shelf.
La Vie Boutique resides in the middle of the street, almost like a glistening chamber that arouses your curiosity. The window sparkles alluringly with accessories and if a diamante encrusted necklace winks at you it will almost ensure you will enter.
As you walk in through the door, you’re greeted with chatter and tranquil music coming from the back corner.

The shop is a single small room, carefully cluttered with innumerable amounts of accessories in glass cabinets along the window which also has mannequins dressed in vintage pieces. In the centre are a couple of mannequins styled in new and vintage clothes. Also in the centre are the defining features of aging chairs, decorated with oriental boxes of silk scarves and baskets of customized bags, hats and gloves. Along the left wall are shabby chic shelves cluttered with jewellery, from diamante encrusted pieces to bohemian beaded works, all in diverse sizes and materials, modelled on majestic hands or miniature French boudoir bodices. The top shelves hold bags and hats embellished with ‘found’ objects. The right wall has lower and upper racks travelling to the back, packed with different types of clothes.

The Boutiques ambience has a welcoming bohemian vibe. In the back corner, working at an opulent yet aged wooden desk, is the owner, Christiane Victorin, originally from St Lucia. Christiane passionately creates most accessories in the store, also doing alterations of designs, making each piece individual. She also sources one off pieces, often gallivanting abroad for “continental inspiration”.

Also stocked are designs by local small time designers.
‘Fran Chan Chan’ whose designs were rather ‘baby doll’ with most fabric sourced from China.
Georgina Evoke, whose vibrant fabrics are sourced from Africa, blending well with the frequent trends of prints.
Cassillda Goldcress ‘50’s Style’ designer and the store had sold out of her pieces
“But I never get anything mass produced, only things that there are very little of” explains Christiane.
The racks are tightly packed with diverse pieces, from white faux leather quirky biker jackets, 5o’s dollish tunic jackets, silky long dresses, knitted and dyes tops to funky tartan trousers, waiting for shoppers to fervently rummage through.
The clothing and accessories range from as little as £5 to a pricier £200, “something to suit everyone’s pocket” claims Christiane. Size labels are also cut out of the pieces so shoppers are more willing to try things on without embarrassment- also a persuasive ruse to make curious shoppers merely browse.
Her Customers Range as vastly as the price, from “housewives to professionals, quite a mixture – like the designs” escalating popularity in Broadway Market have even changed La Vie Customers –
“I don’t just have locals anymore” – visitors of the market has increased clientele.

La Vie Boutique Shoppers on the street.

Ending the World

If you’re in search of traditional British tailoring with an idiosyncratic quirk there is one place that you should visit without a doubt – the globally celebrated Vivienne Westwood.

One terribly chilly November evening I gallivanted towards Westwood’s original store, ‘Worlds End’ in Chelsea. Despite the icy wind tautening my face, the 15 minute walk from Sloane Square tube is worth the hike. Kings Road was once a stream of ‘alternative’ stores, however now Worlds End remains the last but most dazzling gem along the pathway.

When you arrive at ‘Worlds End’ there is an unmistakably unique sense of escapism. Since its surrealism reinvention in 1980, shoppers are made to feel like Alice as they step into Westwood’s Wonderland. The exterior is set like an inviting cottage with Georgian style windows and an impressively gargantuan timepiece with 13 hours and ‘Worlds End’ emblazoned on it. The interior is not unlike the outside. As you walk up the wonky steps, all the senses are greeted. There’s a flowery scent of ‘Sin Garden’ perfume and the ears are welcomed with soft rock music as you take in the beautiful cherry-coloured exposed wood flooring, the subdued but flattering lighting and another 13 houred clock speeding backwards, all creating an exciting fantasy illusion of having gone down the rabbit hole. It’s remarkable to think of the historic opus the store has, having lived 3 decades starting mohicaned punk gangs to new-romantic boys.

(image from iD magazine, may 2008)

The shop floor is set into two rooms. Along the left in the first room is the cash desk in form of a long glass cabinet filled with jewellery made out of Swarovski crystals, silver, gold or wood with the iconic orb dazzling in diverse adornments. Along the right are mannequins styled in the more idiosyncratic and luxurious pieces to grab the attention of shoppers. The window display is quite minimal; turquoise box shelves with iconic shoes and bags, the focus being a clear view into the store. Same box shelves reside in the 2nd room, past the crooked pillar with a clock. To add to the surrealism, the floor is also slanted and the entire back wall a mirror with a single changing room.


The stores most frequent shoppers are Japanese, where Westwood has a cult following, however, an eclectic mix visit the store.

Rails and shelves sparsely display the designer's quirky talents. Menswear and womenswear are displayed side by side, creating an open minded, unisex vibe.
Some of the finest fabrics are used in the construction of the garments. Soft jersey t-shirts carrying Westwood's famous prints and inflammatory slogans, luxurious orange silk taffeta pleated skirts, oversized hand-painted cotton shirts, and gorgeous chunky merino wool knits all hand temptingly in a row.
The swing tags in her clothes carry quirky garment names such as ‘Alien Shirt’ and ‘Drunken Jacket’.

Although it’s not only limited to Worlds End, the squiggle print pieces are the most popular, particularly in blue and gold – the scarves and hats are always in demand. The pirate boots and oversized metal orb stamped bags displayed in the window are also popular as they are iconic. Everything in store sells. Few eccentric pieces may reside on the racks longer, but if Dame Westwood puts anything like it in her campaigns it would become sought after.
There are designs for everyone, extravagant and complex designs sell for over a thousand pounds, but there are also graphic tees for as little as £60 which is directed at the young. The accessories are extremely popular too, because they’re dissimilar, quirky and suits every occasion with small and high prices – from £40 to thousands for authentic diamond and pearl pieces.

Dressing from Worlds End is about changing the world and the way everybody thinks.

ArchiteXtural

I copied these images to my computer a quite a while ago... but i have completely forgotten from which site. as structured as the pieces in the pictures may be, my mind is the opposite... the only parallel would be the details being unreachably high as the buildings.
Anyway, i really wanted to share them because i find them genius in their construction and how garments can become the echo of architecture.

Rihanna Runs Brixton Town

What was first described to be a 'private, invite only' gig at an 'intimate location' took an interesting turn of events as the highly anticipated show loomed closer... It was announced that there were plenty of free tickets to be won or collected in various ways and the show was going to be streamed live globally.
I was ecstatic when I won two tickets by simply posting a promotion of the event and her album 'Rated R' on my Facebook profile.

I'm guessing the great anticipation and heat of the event lead to it becoming more admissible, not only allowing her fans to connect with her but interestingly reflecting the grunge attitude of Dub-Step that her new music is so much influenced by. Either way the excited crowd congregating in and outside the event were a very eclectic mix.

I took my gorgeous friend Nina Lee Lauritzen. Also, to add to the thrill and randomness, i bumped into two of my friends from my hometown (who won tickets to the show aswell) which added a lovely sense of nostalgia to the evening :)

Rihanna opened with Chase & Status 'Madhouse' montage and the crowd went insane when she shot up from beneath the stage wearing a sexy black leotard and drenched in diamond studs that were styled like bullet belts... "I pitch with a grenade" she crooned with threatening attitude before telling us she's "such a fucking lady" & then blow kisses.
The stage looked stylishly haunting with crooked stacks of tv's from the 50's glitching and silver mannequins scattered around the set with a projected backdrop.
She grinded through her hits, including 'Dont Stop the Music' & 'Disturbia' also her new song, the poignant 'Russian Roulette'.

Half way through she changed the studded ensamble for a fantastic weaved, leather top, which looks as though its worn like a corset. I'm not sure who the designer is but it reminds me of Balmain.

Also joining her on stage was Young Jeezy, but what reignited the thrill was when Jay Z swaggered onto the stage from the shadows! It seriously set the place aflame if peoples screams were anything to go by. They performed 'Run This Town' while everyone raised their hands together creating the lost symbol of Roc, the devils triangle ;)

I had such an amazing night with Nina... Rihanna truly put on a marvellous gig.

celebrity snail breeder

Just for amusement...

Its been rumoured in Fabrication Hourly 'zine' (between two people only) that meg ryan is an avid snail breeder. she is good for the world.

The Goddess and the Snail

When a person is close to the glorious state of unconsciousness, the subconscious manifests itself in different forms within us. This might sound extreme or out of the ordinary, but in fact it happens constantly, to every single being. The results of this very ordinary phenomenon are even greater when the two states switch over from their parallel existence and entwine. I often find myself mostly aware of this state when I’m close to a beautiful nightmare or a sweet dream. So me and my friend, Cromestar, decided to delve into this state of wonderful madness.

It actually started sanely enough (maybe the stage were the mind first accepts its need for sleep and restoration). We were discussing Hermione De Paula’s S/S 10 Colletion which was shown at Vauxhall Fashion Scouts Ones to Watch during London Fashion week. I loved the collection; I thought it was powerfully feminine, goddesses on pedestals, with an erotic edge. I found the prints very alluring, beautiful in the way it kissed the female contour and also daring in the way the prints and sheerness of the fabric almost fades into the skin. Learn more about her and her designs at www.hermionedepaula.com

The admiration of this collection then lead us onto the shell quality the prints had, covering and protecting the delicate parts, the same way a snail might use its shell to protect its vulnerable body.
We became fascinated by how mundane snails and slugs are considered to be, yet there is uncountable beauty in them. For example, leopard slugs (captured mating by David Attenbourough) is possibly the most magical and sensual sex seen.

As we delved further into the madness of the ‘two states entwined’ we began ‘creature developing’. Enter the sensation of the Snelope, Snagatron and Physnilia family. It turned out that there are some celebrities that like to breed snails and slugs. A couple have even explored cross breeding and excelled in cell development, creating a new level of snails/slugs. The Snelope for example has been genetically enhanced with an unusual chromatic make-up which makes it slide at up to 90mph, nothing can beat it, it’s shell is also as hard and reflective as diamond but thin as air. Sadly, with their great speed comes great responspeedility – their cell development excelled to developing an emotion of guilt, the only emotion they posses. The leopard slug has been involved in a long experimentation of cell galvanization where it can transform into another species altogether, an actual leopard. With the interest in snails and slugs rising, and their existence becoming more crucial, there has been debate amongst other breeders to begin a non profit organisation that develops and caters to the needs of all the millennia and snail/slug species. PETA André, the Chairmen of a similar organisation was contacted and asked to consider the effects these creatures and their breeders have on modern and future day economy. Without the Physnilia family farms will be negatively affected, therefore limiting the continuation of other species and also disturbing the levels in the atmosphere.

This middle stage of the ‘state’ results in almost preposterous yet alarmingly believable concoctions that develop from different parts of life merging together. From mundane creatures, to politics, to travel to science. Something of it is relatable to everyone. Imagination... it can be of inspiration to any factor of life.