Day: February 27, 2008

!(imgcenter)http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3188/2295619909_d64a690e07_m.jpg(Thenew Female magazine)!:http://www.flickr.com/photos/yannie/2295619909/

Local fashion rags generally don’t appeal to me because I find them dull, uninspiring and always repeating the same things ad nauseum. To me, magazines have their own personalities: Her World is faux sophistication wrapped in scandalous, sensational headlines that don’t appeal to me. On the other hand, Female has always seemed more avant garde, creativity-driven and daring to push the envelop. Needless to say, Female is the one that I pick up whenever the urge to flip through glossy pages of ads and colourful pictures strike.

!(imgleft)http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3081/2296412714_e39b661876_t.jpg(Fashion spread)!:http://www.flickr.com/photos/yannie/2296412714/ So now that Female has undergone a drastic makeover (to ensure it does not compete directly with Her World, I reckon), how does it fare?

Unsurprisingly, I love it! The masthead has a 1940s feel to it and the fashion spreads are innovative, colourful and very attention-seeking. I like how they play with the colours and employ the use of interesting locations (Books Actually being one of them). Plus, it no longer has those silly feature stories that I flip right through, which means more indulgent fashion spreads for me to devour.

Yums. Go check it out!

!(imgcenter)http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2213/2270541539_e9ef9fa0b4_m.jpg(Click for bigger image)!:http://www.flickr.com/photos/yannisms/2270541539/sizes/o/

The first time I got to know of Luella Bartley was when her partnership with Target (under its GO International capsule) was announced back in 2006. I fell in love with her designs then: the cute cherry iPod case that I almost purchased for my beloved fruity gadget, the puffy, tulip-hemmed dresses and feminine blouses with ruffles.

This time, for London Fashion Week, she sent models down the runway in witchery-inspired outfits. Ignore the scary goth makeup and big hair (if you can) and look at the collection with an admiring eye. Somehow, she has managed to come up with pieces that are funky, nonchalant, girly, punk and outrageous all at the same time. Overall, the clothes look well-tailored, have clean lines and are worn with quirky accessories.

I especially love the cute little prom frock with a frou frou (for lack of a better word; I love frou frou!) skirt paired with coloured, opaque tights or worn over a striped tee-shirt, and the gingham print dresses. I’m currently mad about gingham but am resisting because I would probably end up looking like an outdated cowgirl (yee har!).

And to that Straights Thames fashion reporter who said that coloured tights are out, yawn to you. I trust Luella’s taste (orange tights!) more than yours, so there.

(PS: Milan is just over but I think I am going to skip it for Paris!)