Designer Profile - Karen Walker

I have to admit it took me a while to really recognise Karen Walker's collections. I only noticed her name probably for the first time when I was working in the Glamour fashion cupboard and they had quite a few of her pieces floating around.

The other day when I was flicking through Heather Marks images on Style.com for a previous post I noticed one of her wearing an adorable Karen Walker ensemble on the runway with a cute girly denim skirt and decided to look through more of her shows.

Needless to say I fell for her designs. She has fun, playful flirty garments that I could imagine seeing in TeenVogue, then more sophisticated classic pieces that would very easily be featured in Vogue. Her designs aren't ridiculous or particularly groundbreaking, but it's all wearable and fun which is something very important and that many budding designers forget about.

We had a talk at my university a few weeks back with Peter Jensen, and he described how some of the CSM students would try and make things with 50 pleats and pockets just to try and be edgy, and that is not what good fashion design is all about. He made a very good point with that I think. Let's face it, if the design world was full of Pugh's and McQueen's, we would all look a bit weird and uncomfortable at the best of times.

Anyway, here is the lovely New Zealand born Karen Walker herself and some of her designs from Spring 2007 to Spring 2010. Her most recent collection is definitely my favourite.

(Images: Style.com)

Paper Chains

Topshop have finally done a non-tacky/cheap looking version of the Louis Vuitton paper-chain style necklaces from their Fall show.

I fell in love with them at first sight courtesy of Style.com's coverage, then even more so when I got to hold one of the (surprisingly heavy) beauties in the Glamour cupboard back in June.

Topshop's version is an easy £18 - Guess where I'll be heading first with my Christmas present money...

BusyBusyBusy

VERY busy week gone by!

I've been interning in the Glamour fashion cupboard, can't believe my first week is already over! It has been tiring and at times stressful (no thanks to the ridiculous 48 hour tube strike), but as I keep saying, the girls there are sooo lovely :)

The closet is filled with sequinned garments, mostly of the blazer variety! (see previous posts - clearly dying for one)

Pure torture.

The pristine glossy barbie pink Loubou's that arrived for Karen today almost made me weep!

I'm a bit gutted that Oasis' sequinned copy of the Balmain dresses have already sold out - theyve been floating around and I was blissfully unaware that they were already on sale :/

Anyhows, something more interesting in the coming days perhaps as I adjust more to my 9.30-5.30 schedule.

OH!

PS. I'm off to see Britney tomorrow night!!!! Childhood dream come true :D

Catch Up...

Well, not that there's much to catch up on. I may have been a bit out of the loop but there doesn't seem to be much happening right now in the wonderful world of fashion. This leads to a lack of inspiration.

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However, for a change, I enjoyed reading the new Vogue today. Despite being a subscriber, I rarely make my way through the whole issue lately. This month's issue is allll about bodies. Cue envy-inducing shoots with a naked Natalia Vodianova (no way has she had 3 kids?!) and a beautifully busty Lara Stone. Note to self: Invest in a scanner!

I found Christa D'Souza's article on her obsessive weight control very interesting to read. Lately I've been getting quite strict with my food* (if we ignore todays unusual binge) and I generally dont tend to crave chocolate anymore.

*Not in a concern-raising way may I add.

Reading about other people's eating habits interests me for some reason...

Anyways, if you're into all that then it's a good issue to buy if you dont plan to already. I'm always amazed at how large their word counts must be! Articles going on for pages and pages...

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Oh and news on the Glamour placement. I was invited a few months back to start in June, but they needed extra help in the office last week so called me in to lend a hand. I was in the fashion closet most of the day and almost cried at the wall full of (mostly) Louboutins. And a floor covered in Chanel jewellery. I'm so excited to go back - everyone there is soooo so lovely! More than I could've possibly imagined. I know that sounds bad, but I watched The Devil Wears Prada for the millionth time a few nights before and got the nerves/fear of nasty fashion people?

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Anyhow, I'm off to read more blogs for inspiration/catch up on the new Gossip Girl... This episode looks so good I think I may DIE! (Also been watching the Rachel Zoe Project, quite obviously...)

Ciaoo :) x