Vincent.

This song by Don McLean is incredibly beautiful, based upon the painter Van Gogh. I first heard it on the mighty Radio 4's Desert Island Discs programme as Johnny Vegas's choice (which I definitely didn't expect). I was immediately struck by how hauntingly beautiful the song is - the lyrics are aptly poetic and poignant. It feels like he has put poetry to music. It is also refreshing to listen to a song that isn't about love / relationships / something equally cliché. I also like the last line "...perhaps they never will..." which I feel is a bit of reverse psychology - inducing the desire in the listener to try and understand Van Gogh and his work. Clever.

"Starry, starry night. 
Paint your palette blue and grey,

Look out on a summer's day,

With eyes that know the darkness in my soul.

Shadows on the hills,

Sketch the trees and the daffodils,

Catch the breeze and the winter chills,

In colors on the snowy linen land."

For something that is always there, we definitely do not admire the sky enough!

ORANGE.

So, we now have the material realisation of the trends for Spring/Summer 2011. It has cheered me up incredibly to see such summery colours and clothes on the catwalk now that Autumn is here and the woolly hats and scarves are out. Watching the SS11 catwalks is a sure-fast method of keeping SAD (seasonal affective disorder) at bay!

Orange has been the colour of the moment on many catwalks, despite being a colour usually worn only by children, the odd adult and A.A. Milne's Tigger.

From left to right, top to bottom: Jonathan Saunders x2, Prada, Philosophy, Vera Wang, Gucci, Julien Macdonald, Kinder Aggugini, Giambattista Valli, Christian Dior, Damir Doma, Cacharel, Kenzo and Alexander McQueen. 

 

 

So, the moral of the story is: get your orange on. 

This is my favourite scarf - one I brought back with me from Morocco. The photo doesn't do it true justice, but it is a beautiful rich orange colour with gradations of burnt orange. I think it shall be around my neck for a large proportion of my time at university!

Teeny tiny living.

The Small House Movement is a very quirky concept that advocates a better quality of living through residing in a smaller abode. Advantages, in their opinion, include increased simplicity and ecological and financial gains. There seems to be no firm basis for this belief (such as scientific research), just a general sentiment among the movement's proponents. Although I am unsure whether I believe that this way of living is preferential to any other, I like the idea and the small houses are often fantastic!

I have always wanted to own a gypsy caravan or vintage campervan. I guess it would fulfil the Small House Movement criteria, except perhaps for fuel consumption. I find them to be very charming vehicles and I would also love to be able to sit on the veranda of a caravan (like the one below) in the evenings to stargaze.

Talking of such small houses reminds me awfully of The Borrowers by Mary Norton! When I was younger I always wished I could find Borrowers under my floorboards so that I could donate my dolls house furniture to them and make them things! Bizarre, yes.

A room with a view.

This is the view from my new room - incredibly beautiful, and I love the big tree.

Guilty Pleasure.

I have something to tell which I am not ashamed to admit - I love the Harry Potter series. A lot.

J K Rowling gave an interview to Oprah in the United States recently, during which she said something very exciting. Oprah questioned Jo about whether she would write any more books about the wizarding world, to which she replied, "I'm not going to say I won't." A slim glimmer of hope, but an exciting one! In honour of this interesting news, I have posted these wonderful seven redesigned Harry Potter book covers by illustrator M S Corley (http://mscorley.blogspot.com/). The designs weren't ever published, to my knowledge, but I really like them anyway.

Here is a YouTube video of the first part of the Oprah interview. I'm not a big fan of the 'drama' of Oprah interviews, but it is fairly interesting nonetheless:

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Just a girl on a hot tin roof, staying on it as long as she can...

My current music addiction (play it very loud with good bass):

Jean Paul Gaultier: anti-establishment.

I am very impressed to see Jean Paul Gaultier's SS11 show hit the catwalk with a controversy! The show included UK size 28 Beth Ditto (right image) and one other "plus-size" model alongside the usual band of waifs. As is fitting for a show inspired by the punk era, where anti-establishment everything was the mantra of the day, Gaultier has made a stand against an industry dominated by one extreme of body size by confronting it head on with the other extreme. Will it change anything? I'll not hold my breath, however, this small gesture from the king of couture has certainly made me smile this evening :)

Paranormal Activity.

Nowadays, it is easy to manipulate an image to create some special effect or desired alteration. Photoshop is an incredibly popular program, "Auto-enhance" is the default for all photos, and fashion images are cropped, lengthened and shined to produce god-like beauty. However, manipulation can also be used to create atmosphere, play with your beliefs and to shock. Freud talked about the "uncanny" where something familiar can concurrently appear foreign, resulting in a general feeling of being unsettled and wary. This paradoxical sentiment can be used to great effect with photography and art. 

The photograph above was taken in 1936 by two photographers assigned to photograph Raynham Hall, a country house in Norfolk, for Country Life magazine. The spectral figure descending the stairs is said to be that of Lady Dorothy Tonshend. It was rumoured that Dorothy had been unfaithful to her husband Charles Townshend, Second Viscount of Raynham, who had consequently created a sham funeral for her and had her locked away in an isolated area of the house until her actual death many years later.

Do I believe in this? Being a firm materialist and (amateur) scientist - no. It is an inbuilt facet of human nature to believe things that present resounding evidence. For example, superstitions often arise from sheer coincidence, like mirrors breaking coinciding with a swathe of bad luck. It is logical to think like this - if it seems cogent, it is believable. Everything must have an explanation, 

By Charlotte Bassat, Illustrator

Images that evoke the paranormal are captivating, and this is where the real art of creating haunting photography lies. The photograph must be left a half-painted canvas, forcing the viewer's mind to fill the ambiguous space and create the tension and enigma themselves.

I stumbled across the work of photographer Ellen Rogers and was thoroughly impressed by her capacity to create beautiful imagery which plays with notions of the paranormal and supernatural. Ellen Rogers' photography is haunting and archaic, often exploring the line between dreams and reality, normal and paranormal. Ellen also doesn't believe in computer-based photographic manipulation, which is a refreshing tone for a fashion photographer. As you will see from the images below, an image that has elements of Freud's uncanny has a charming way of holding attention.

http://www.ellenrogers.co.uk/

There's no place like home.

I am moving to university next week, after several 'gap years' in which I believe I have learnt more than during my whole thirteen years at school! I am currently in the process of packing up my belongings to take with me - a highly important manoeuvre! There are many people who would argue that being so materialist with your possessions is a crime and that we do not need little ornaments and pretty photo frames. However, I truly believe that your possessions can be as important to your identity as your clothes and personality are.


Here are a few of the things on my packing list (photos taken from phone, hence poor quality):

Some Russian Dolls that I have had forever and really love

This is a little fish with a moving tail that I bought from a street seller in Belize. I bought it because it reminded me of 'Finding Nemo' and the quote "Just keep swimming" which got me through the most difficult two months of my life when I was teaching in an impoverished rural school in Cayo, Belize.

My beloved teapot and tea cups - I bought the teapot in the souks of Marrakech, Morocco. The tea cups are fake willow pattern and are the best shape for drinking mint tea from.

And here is my mint tea! The pukka brand of mint tea is really really good, and this is the pot I shall keep the teabags in. Mint tea tastes best when brewed for a fairly long time and when very sugary!

My army of diaries and notebooks - from top to bottom:
1. Personal diary (Paperblanks)
2. Quotes notebook where I write down snippets that I like from books, newspapers and everyday life etcetera.
3. General notebook for lists and scrappy notes (Paperchase)
4. Poetry notebook - I record any poems that I come across and like (Paperblanks)
5. Moleskine diary for appointments and timetable, also has address book inside
6. Notebook to keep interesting newspaper cuttings and interesting facts in! (Paperblanks)
Below: some of the pages from notebook number 6!

My favourite mug and one of my favourite books :)

Last week I spent an afternoon wandering around London looking at homewares in shops such as Liberty and Selfridges, and also little antiques shops and charity shops. I couldn't afford to splash out on all of the beautiful things I fell in love with (there were many) but I made mental notes of my favourite things to add to birthday and Christmas lists! Here are a few of the items I love:

My wish list (in a vaguely logical order):
1. Tile by Rob Ryan www.misterrob.co.uk
2. Wedgwood 'Queen of Hearts' Sugar Bowl and Cream Jug
3. Paperweight from Liberty
4. 1940s style perpetual clock (oak) www.pedlars.co.uk
5. Roberts DAB Digital Radio
6. Liberty print Union Jack cushion
7. Virginia Graham, ceramic coasters and cups
8. Leather Rhino footstool, Liberty
9. Globe, www.pedlars.co.uk
10. Espresso Maker, www.pedlars.co.uk
11. Spotty dinner plate, The Conran Shop






These two jugs by Adele Thurstan are absolutely gorgeous. I have no idea whether you're actually meant to use them, or simply 'display' them somewhere prominent in your house, but I would definitely love one either way.