Cool Dudes Wear Pink!

My last and final varsity stalking favourite for this week has to be Mr Pink! I love the way he carries the pink hat and trouser look and styling this with a cool black varsity jacket makes it a bit more manly!

Mr. Pink works in fashion, which I suppose isn't hard to guess, as you need a certain air of confidence style wise to pull off this look!

If you're a fan of Mr. Pink's look, here are a few similar items: Jacket and Trousers

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Varsity Chic

For this weeks street style trend I've been stalking the streets of London to find the best and coolest peeps wearing their V jackets!

This stylish chick has perfected the 'college' trend with her pencil skirt and jacket - I'm a massive fan this type of skirt and dressed down with a casual jacket, tee and boots is the best way to wear these in my opinion!

For this look: check out this ASOS jacket which I love with the hood! HERE. Her skirt is also HERE

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Selfies: A Modern Day Narcissus ?

In Greek mythology Narcissus fell in love with his own image, which he saw reflected in a pool of water, unable to leave the beauty of his reflection, Narcissus died.

The modern day version of this is known within the social media world as a 'Selfie' (but less extreme) - Definition: Pictures taken of oneself while holding the camera at arms length. Recently since the arrival of facebook, twitter and instagram (especially the later) these 'selfies' have exploded in popularity, with whole social media platforms being created that specialise purely in these self adoring shots. So I ask you, are these harmless fun or annoying forms of narcissism that shouldn't be encouraged?

Narcissus by Caravaggio depicts Narcissus gazing at his own reflection, draws on similar parallels to all of us as we flip our iPhone camera's round to face us and pose for the perfect picture, of ourselves! As you can tell..  I can't talk - I'm a self confessed Selfie addict, but it's prominently to show new products I've got my mitts on or fashion! (I quickly add!!)

All started by the big social media boys; Facebook and Instagram which recently recorded more than 25 million photos tagged simply, "#me", this craze has spiralled with networks now specialising in these 'selfies' a couple include WIWT and recently twitter updated it's short video app Vine so that users can upload front facing iPhone videos of themselves - these are 6 second selfies!!!

With today's smart-phones offering high quality images, we've become a nation of amateur portrait snappers and we're all rather obsessed, so is this a good thing?  Psychologists and sociologists argue that the selfie craze stems not only from technology, but from the drive for self-expression and identity experimentation.

"What is its allure? For one thing, it's ridiculously easy to do," wrote Bim Adewunmi in The Guardian. "Selfies offer a medium of control in a snap-happy era, where you're in charge of the image produced, and all the editorial decisions are yours."

There are a mix of pro and anti views on the act of Selfies, the Huffington Post recently published an article about the new version of Vine, which titles it's article; Vine Selfies Are Worse Than You'd Expect, whereas Nancy Wang Yuen, associate professor of sociology at Biola University, told WORLD that “perhaps in two centuries, people will look back on the selfie not as an act of narcissism, but as a democratised form of self-expression.”

In fact the act of taking a picture or recording a representation of oneself has been around a lot longer than you think, look at artists such as Van Gogh, Rembrandt and Andy Warhol - these figures were never slammed or criticised for Narcissism, they were praised for their artistic nature.

So I ask you this... Could the Selfie be the new self portrait?

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The Duffle Bomber!

This weeks stalking I have added a little trend to my street style.. and one guess what that is? - Leading on from last weeks post I will be showing you some of my favourite varsity/bomber jackets I've seen on the streets lately and it's boys vs girls!  

First up:

 Please may I introduce Mr Duffle Bomber!

I loved his vintage brown hat with this very cool duffle/bomber/varsity jacket .. also how could a girl resist that cheeky smile, I got the impression he was quite pleased to be style stalked!!

Now boys, if you're duffle fans, check this selection out from Gloverall for shopping inspiration!

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Bomber Babe!

Most trends come and go but out of those trends you will usually find an item or two that will remain firmly 'in fashion' (I hate that expression but there isn't another)! One item which I think we will always love is that bomber varsity style jacket, I stalked this lovely lady in her fabulous yellow and black leather one.

I also loved her whole look, the casual backward baseball cap fitted in perfectly with her American style jacket but she glammed the whole look up with that studded clutch. I didn't want her to pose for me as there was something so beautifully natural about her just texting away that I couldn't resist capturing.

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Sweet Treats at Next's Press Office

As the summer months approach us, it's finally time to start dusting off our bikini's and high waisted shorts and getting ready for some serious vitamin D action! Whether it be in our own country or somewhere hot and exotic abroad, let the summer wardrobe shopping begin! My first stop to get me in this summer mood was at the Next Press office, for a sneaky peep at their summer collections.  

Think Metallics, flouro brights, 1960s prints and lots of lovely reds, pinks, oranges! 

Next always holds fantastic events for it's favourite bloggers, check out their Christmas shopping event here. This time we guzzled delicious old school sweets and champagne, while listening to some of our favourite classic tunes that we has chosen ourselves prior to the night. 

Like true happy snappy blogger, we all fell on the photo booth, adorning ourselves with the silly props inside, like mickey mouse ears!! 

The summer collections are really fun this year so definitely worth popping into Next! If you need some inspiration check out our blogger edit here of all our favourite items, on Next's blog. Personally a massive favourite of mine were all their 1960s prints and shapes, any excuse to don a printed mini skirt and over the knee tights!

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New Fashion Kids On The Block

If you noticed the a shortage of rock 'n' roll fashion folk in certain parts of London a couple of weeks ago, let me enlighten you to their where-abouts, 46 Carnaby Street for the opening of the first London store of the Parisian Rock 'n' Roll kids Eleven Paris.

 Much to the excitement of all the guests mid way through the night, frozen cocktail ice sticks by Icey Done were handed out to all of us who were dancing a little bit too much to Boy George and getting a little bit too hot!!! 

Loving BG's eye shadow!!

As well as some awesome music by the likes of Boy George, this was one of those launch parties which were full of delicious surprises, like Big Apple Hotdogs to satisfy our post work munchies and washed down with pink lemonade gin cocktails!

Guests included London's rock creme De Le creme; Daisy Lowe and the Le Bons!

Eleven Paris are the new rock 'n' roll kids on the block in London, two years it was The Kooples, now it's these guys, with a cracking brand attitude and advertising campaign to match, featuring Keith Richards, Iggy Pop and Lenny Kravitz. 10 years old, Eleven Paris has 16 stores in France with 8 in Paris, so I think you will agree it was about time our French fashion friends crossed the waters and opened a stand alone store here, after already having a big presence online and in multi-brand stores such as Urban Outfitters, ASOS and Selfridges.

I adore their tee's most of all and to the delight of all of us money saving shopaholics the tees are on the right side of £50!! Love the Marilyn one above!

Check out their new store on 46 Carnaby Street! Find them online here.

http://www.elevenparis.com/en/

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The Hyena Men

I came across this story and photographer a few weeks ago and was instantly captured by it, it was one of those fascinating stories that I couldn't get just forget about, therefore, this why I'm sharing it with you.

A truly talented photographer doesn't just take great pictures, they capture a moment that allows the viewer to be transported into another world, much like an artist would with his paintings.  Pieter Hugo's work is truly unique, he's captured the essence of a society in Nigeria that no one has before, he calls them The Hyena Men!

Abdullahi Mohammed with Mainasara, Ogere-Remo, Nigeria 2007

 Mummy Ahmadu and a snake charmer with a rock python, Abuja, Nigeria 2005

While in Lagos, Pieter Hugo spotted a group of men walking through the local village with Hyena's on chains, as tame as pet dogs, although it is a common fact that these creatures are far from well natured and friendly, they are vicious predators. This image stuck in the photographers mind and encouraged him to delve deeper into the story. Myths surrounded these men, the local newspaper said they were bank robbers, debt collectors, body guards and drug dealers, in fact they are itinerant minstrels, performers who used the animals to entertain crowds.

 Mummy Ahmadu and Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara, Abuja, Nigeria 2005

 Mallam Mantari Lamal with Mainasara,Nigeria 2005

Pieter spent eight days with the group, soon realising that taking photographs of these strange but incredible individuals performing was easier said that done, as the crowds that gathered to watch were overwhelming. Instead he took a much more personal approach and one that I think is far more special, he photographed the men in a series of portraits, travelling along side them and experiencing their lives.

 The Hyena Men of Abuja, Nigeria 2005

Abdullahi Mohammed with Mainasara, Lagos, Nigeria 2005

My Favourite image has to be 'Mummy Ahmadu and a snake charmer with a rock python', I love the way the child is affectionately pressing one of the world most dangerous snakes against her face. Pieter Hugo's story of his experiences with these men is one of the most fascinating reads, go to his site here to read it in full.

The Story.

Images; With thanks to Pieter Hugo

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Bare Knuckle Shootin'

Last weekend was divine weather in London and it's safe to say that as soon as the sunlight comes out to play so do all us street style photographers! I hit the streets around Old Street and Shoreditch for a spot of afternoon style stalking dressed in a couple of my new wardrobe items which I've been longing to share with you!!

In my opinion the best outfits are often the most simple - for a Style StreetStalker:

Jacket, cool tee, killer leathers, and equally killer heels - oh and a bag big enough to fit my Canon, is spot of perfect! Let me take you through Saturday's outfit...

Jacket - The Kooples: this brand is definitely one of my favourites. The French brand arrived in the UK roughly 2 years ago and has been a total hit within the rock 'n' roll and indie fashion kids!

Leathers - Burberry Prorsum !

Shoes - Burberry Prorsum !

Bag - Mulberry

Sunnies  - Next

Tee - This is a new East London t-shirt brand called Bare 77  - these guys are super exciting and I had the pleasure of interviewing them recently.

Bare Seventy Seven has been going since January 2012, each colourway and design is limited to only 77 pieces in total, they aim to stay apart from the herd by not being influenced by what others do. The tees are printed mostly on American Apparel t-shirts.  

Why Did You Decide To Start Bare 77?

In our previous Lives as wannabe hip-hop superstars we had a show in the East end of London and decided it would be cool to get some tees made. The tees came out great, which lead to us printing a few more, then printing a new design and another, and it kind of snowballed from there. Initially we did it as a hobby until last year when we decided to make a go of it business wise. And here we are today!

What's The Story Behind The Name?

The name Bare77 is derived from our previous incarnation as badrevolver clothing. When we first started out that was the name that we went by. We decided that we wanted a snappier name and one that would not bring up grizzly images of firearms. So we took the BA from bad and the RE from revolver added the year of our birth and voila Bare77 was born!

What Inspires Your Designs?

Our designs are influenced by random thoughts, old skool sensibilities, movies, music and all other things that invade the senses on an average day in the big smoke. We do not look at what other people are doing or try and replicate something similar. We just do what we do. Some are hits, some are misses. We take the view that every design we do is a learning curve, from the choice of garment to the type of print process we decide on using.

Check them out here - http://www.bare77.com/

 

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Brands To Watch

There's something very exciting about a new or start up fashion brand, not only are they fresh and unheard of, there's the cool factor of being the first out of all your friends to discover it! I popped along to the Good Results press day to check out the AW13 collections of some of the coolest new brands of the moment - here's my pick of the creme de la creme!

OLIVIA BURTON

Some of my regular readers may remember I blogged about this brand a while back, since then they have taken the watch world by storm. Their designs for AW13 are hot stuff - the honey bee watch was a personal favourite of mine and definitely warrants a sneaky purchase when they hit the stores!

Read more about Olivia Burton here.

BECKSONDERGAARD

Check out this brand for fabulous accessories and scarves!

 

ELEVEN PARIS

This cool French kid has just arrived in the London school playground and everybody wants to be friends with him!!

Last night they opened their first store in London, situated on the uber cool Carnaby Street - With Boy George on the decks, killer cocktails and yummy hotdogs by Big Apple Hot Dogs, it was quite a party, no fear I will be giving you all the goss from last night very soon.. in the meantime I need another coffee!!!!!!

PEARLY KING

Last but certainly not least is the awesome new menswear brand Pearly King, their t-shirts, jeans, and jackets are all designed and made in the UK, with a small production numbers - definitely one to watch!

Set in the penthouse of the Sanderson Hotel, Good Result PR put on a great event, manicures, lots of bubbles and fab collections - what more could one ask for!

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