Prada A/W 2010/11

This has got to be one of my favourite collections for autumn/winter 2010/11. I love the mix of fabrics and textures and the style is very MadMen! Sadly Prada is still financially out of my league, but I have a couple of vintage dresses in this style that could be copied in similar fabrics. I have a great dressmaker who will knock me up a dress like this for about £60. Absolute bargain! I will post the results closer tothe Autumn. In the mean time, check out these patterns I found on the internet for a few pounds. If you can findany similar, it's well worth finding someone to make them for you at a fraction of the designer price. GoodLuck!

Oh, and is it my imagination or are those Prada girls looking a little curvier these days??? Hurrah!

Kuala Lumpur

So, here I am in Malaysia. I arrived last thursday morning after a flight that seemed to go on forever. I have been long haul many times before, but for some reason this one felt a bit like torture!

Peter met me from the airport and took me for brunch Malay style. It was AMAZING! I can understand now why Peter never wants to eat Indian back home any more, for the price of one side dish in London (£4.25), we ate two huge plates of curried veg, daal and rice and drank two glasses of freshly squeezed carrot and starfruit juice. I have to say, it's the best curry I have had in ages. The food in this city is something else. Every street corner offers the most delicious delights from it's melting pot of cultures. All the street food is generally safe to eat, though I don't eat meat so I can't vouch for that. The thought of fish heads makes me go a bit wobbly but I had the most incredible fish head curry... (not a gill or glassy eye in sight!).

Jet lag kicked in and I didn't really surface again till Friday night when we went to the most incredible restaurant called Tamarind for dinner with a friend. The restaurant is owned by an entrepreneur couple who now own several award winning boutique hotels and restaurants in the far East. I'll be posting more about them later as we're off to their jungle hideaway on Tioman Island tomorrow. Anyway, I highly recommend the food here, especially the lobster Linguini!!!!

Last night we went to see the magnificent landmark Petronas Towers, and they are indeed, truly MAGNIFICENT! I could't believe how great the pictures came out on my iphone. The towers climb 88 storeys high which equates to 1,483ft , nearly a kilometre high! The buildings were designed to resemble Islamic art motifs through it's glass facade, a truly great architectural accomplishment. Check it out!

Catalogue Shoot

Apologies for this week's huge gap in posting. Time flies so quickly and before you know it days have passed and it feels like you just blinked!

Last week Tas and I went back to the beach this time with our gorgeous model Sara, to shoot the images for my fourth coming mail order catalogue. After weeks of the most glorious weather, I woke up at 5 am to the heaviest rain showers and thunder storms. I peeked out of the window on to the beach at the black sky and my heart sank. We had 9 swimsuits to photograph and I just couldn't figure out how we were going to be able to shoot them all in my little 1 bedroom beach chalet and make it look interesting.

I found Tas asleep in the car outside the gates at 8.30, frazzled after shooting all weekend on another project. He had driven down from London in the hammering rain after just 3 hrs sleep and felt as heavy hearted as I did. We decided to be optimistic, and willing the sun to come out we headed off to collect Sara from the station.

Fast forward to 11.30am.. all three of us are sitting inside the chalet looking out, it's pouring rain and it's really dark. I have done Sara's hair and make up and we are ready to go. We are desperately trying to come up with a plan when the phone rings and a friend called Marilyn who lives in the most amazing house in Whitstable saves the day. "I was just thinking about you and felt awful about the weather, so why don't you come and shoot at the house?". I couldn't believe it. The Gods were on our side. This house is a £1,500 a day location and dear Maz was offering it to me for free! Everyone has shot in her house, from Elle to Laura Ashley to Nigella Lawson! It is called 'The Battery' and has been everything from an arms house, to a look out for the home guard during WW2 to a holiday home for children in the 1970's. I think the building dates from Victorian times and still retains a lot of it's original features. Maz has filled it with the quirkiest objects and decorated it beautifully, most of all it is completely sympathetic to the surrounding landscape. The perfect location for Flying Fish!

Despite being a little fraught, the day went brilliantly thanks to Maz, and by 5pm the sun was shining again and we managed to shoot the remaining "Silver Screen" pieces on the beach.

The photo's added here are a mixture of some snaps I took of weird and wonderful objects I found in The Battery and one pic of lovely Sara taken on the deck in between shots.

Whoever was watching over us that day, THANK YOU!