Sunday, 21 July 2013

Going Dutch: Cheerleaders, gimp-suits and Edith Sitwell at Amsterdam’s Lichting 2013

Dewi Bekker 2 lichting 375 200x299 Going Dutch: Cheerleaders, gimp suits and Edith Sitwell at Amsterdams Lichting 2013


I’m at Lichting – which is a Dutch initiative, and a crafty one, showing the very best fashion High Low Prom Dresses graduates of seven Dutch academies in a single catwalk show. I was asked to be one of the judges on the panel, and I approached it with some apprehension. After all, despite knowing a number of Dutch designers’ work, and some designers personally (Viktor and Rolf being the most famous, and former Fashion East-ers Michael van der Ham and Maarten van der Horst the most recent), I must confess I don’t have a grasp on the concept of “Dutch fashion”.

Van der Horst was a fellow panel-member, and as a Dutchman vehemently argued it didn’t exist – at least, not in the way we recognise Dutch design, that stripped-down, pared-back feeling with lotsa elm and those spindly tapered legs you see everywhere in east London. And plenty other places besides. Mid-century Dutch has become twenty-first century cool. But is there a fashion equivalent?
Despite van der Horst’s arguments, the whole concept of Lichting seems to be to unite Dutch academies and fight for the country’s relevance in a crowded fashion Halter Prom Dress market. It’s also, obviously, an incentive for students to excel. They get a global audience for their work, and also €10,000 to do whatever they wish with. The prize is awarded at BA level, so the assumption is many will use it to fund an MA, rather than as seed material for a business.view more

BPO1MemCUAAJGsL1 1024x1024 Fearne Cotton joins celebrity bandwagon in dying hair pink

Fearne Cotton seems to have caught a bit of the post-baby ‘pinks’ by dying her hair  and posting it to fans on Instagram and Twitter. The 31-year-old appears to be clinging on to the vestiges of her twenties, having previously tweeted when she dyed her hair the same hue last year: “May have had my hair dyed light pinkish. One day left of my 20s. Had to do it.”
The TV presenter evidently knows how to pull in the pundits, posting “pink to make the boys wink” and “Candy floss boss” after her two photos, which together have been favourited over 4,000 times. Never underestimate the power of pink dye… Does anyone else think she looks a bit like LiLo in this photo?view more

joint When Gordon Brown Saved Us From the Euro 10 Years Ago

Dave Ramsden, the chief economic adviser to the Treasury, looked back on the Labour government’s decision in June 2003 to stay out of the euro, at a meeting last month of the Mile End Group at Queen Mary, University of London, to mark the 10th anniversary.
I have only just caught up with his lecture, posted here. It adds some important texture to the historical record. It confirms my reading of that episode: that it was not an artificial or casual operation by Gordon Brown to block Tony Blair. It was a thorough effort that came to a dispassionate conclusion: that adopting the euro was not in the British economic interest. Ramsden said:view more

5b61853721bad683ed4a1fb5771fe926ef842cdf 199x300 The best places to invest in student housing

Savills have been crunching lots of student accommodation numbers and produced an interesting report which includes their suggestion that around 66,000 homes for families could be made available if more was invested in new purpose-built student housing.
“Two-thirds of this unlockable family housing stock is in the top 25 towns and cities across England and Wales,” say the report’s authors, “where student demand and housing shortages are concentrated. Freeing up 66,000 homes would create demand for up to 260,000 student beds, opening up opportunities for developers and investors.”
They also suggest the best places to invest in student housing which “offer the strongest demand for accommodation” are Bath, Brighton, Bristol, Cambridge,Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, Oxford, and St Andrews.view more


Silhouette: A-line 
Neckline: Sweetheart 
Waist: Empire 
Hemline/Train: Long Length 
Sleeve Length: Sleeveless 
Embellishments: Beading, Ruching 
Fabric: Chiffon 
Built-In Bra: Yes 
Fully Lined: Yes 
Shown Color: White 
Body Shape: Hourglass, Inverted Triangle, Misses 
Occasion: Prom, Evening 
Season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter

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