Mr. Kanye West: Original College Dropout

Now i ain't saying he's no fab rapper but he ain't rapping about his love of art???!!!

Kanye West has been in the UK for this Glow In The Dark Tour, yesterday he graced Birmingham. His futuristic theme has been eminent since his smashits "Spaceship" and more recently "Stronger", in true West form Stronger sampled Daftpunk infused with his own flair collided to create a cult track. His spaceship crashes and so the concert begins. The concert saw West show a side unknown to his fans; budding actor and art school drop out! West showed his acting tendancies as he played along with the skit of being stranded on a desserted planet with spaceship;Jane (what a name Kanye?!). Loved the impressionist piece when he was having an imaginary fight with a space dinasour! But it was his passionate talk/key note speech on cencert set designs, which blew me away (aside from the music-of course). West during his acknowledgements enthused about the value and importance of set designs for concerts. He mentioned how the graphics rolling on the back screen had been hand painted including the "sky" and "clouds". He also touched on references of favourite movies as a child that inspired his set design. He bigged up all the artists out there and as a art school drop out himself admired them for their work and passion, espcially toward Popart. Mr. West we like this intriguing side to you, but don't let the other sides fade away; like your strong sense of style. Where were the snazzy outfits?!

It's LBD time

Although it's a generic Christmas fashion theme; the LDB is a classic. French Connection have a section dedicated to LDB ranging from; sparkle, one shoulder, frill tiered, tulip and lace. My fav is this frill hem LDB; very Holly Golightly.

£90 French Connection

Black Essentials (black-essentials.com) has a permenant collection of LBDs but it's a shame they haven't made a song and dance over displaying them.

But don't fear, Net-a-Porter is here, their chic editorial, mag-like portfolio of the LBD is very seductive. Check it out; net-a-porter.com

Happy Birthday Prince

As the Prince of Wales is about to turn 60, the BBC honour him with a candid documentary, Charles at 60; the Passionate Prince. The balanced juxaposition between his passion of gardening at his residence Highgrove and his hands on ethic through his various charitable work. The man behind the title at the age of 60 is very much laid back but still seemlessly passionate about city regeneration, helping the environment, organic farming to international relations. This insightful film manages to capture humour; the quick dialogue between father and son as Prince William is being honoured, or agitation as the helicopters furiously do their rounds during Charles' video interview. My personal favourite was the 'black spider memo'- what a delightful way of practising business in the era of hyper technology. Happy 60th.

P.S. My brother made it in the background of a shoot in the documentary.

500 Miles of Teamwork

The young women of the charity organisation, BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar-Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) are raising health and fitness awareness by launching a monumental and exciting fundraising campaign in the form of a 500-mile cycle challenge. This event to be held on 30 August 2008 will provide a unique opportunity for the BAPS Leicester women’s youth wing to raise essential funds for the forthcoming BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir (temple) & Cultural Complex. BAPS, a socio-spiritual care organisation is committed to promoting social cohesion and harmony. BAPS Leicester has been based at St. James Street for over three decades and will now develop a new mandir within the heart of the Leicester’s Indian community.

A fundraising campaign with a difference…

The two-fold campaign is to propel health and fitness awareness within the community and raise funds towards sports equipment and recreational activities for the new Mandir & cultural complex. The challenge also includes a target of £5,000, which is to be collectively raised by the young women. The challenge involves two months of rigorous training where the young women have been meeting in their respective areas and cycling together in a local park. The very foundation of the challenge is designed to drive teamwork and solidarity amongst the participants. These training sessions are intended to boost teamwork and motivation between the girls, as is sharing the 500 miles and target of funds to be raised.

Leicester City Council has strongly promoted numerous initiatives to encourage cycling and fully supports this challenge. The Cyclists Touring Club (CTC) – The Cycling Champions, UK’s National Cyclists organisation has kindly donated bicycles, helmets, mile counters and a great deal of advice and support to this event and the BAPS organisation.

The day of the cycle challenge will have a strong focus on health awareness; this will include stalls from charities such as Diabetes UK, The British Heart Foundation, Breast Cancer Care UK and Asthma UK. The Right Worshipful, the Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Mrs Manjula Sood will launch the event at St Margaret’s Pastures Sports Centre.

Priya Palan, a 20 year old Art student and a participant, expressed how, “Finding the balance between living a busy student lifestyle, being an active individual and managing my diabetes can be tough. Given the opportunity to be involved in an event that is not only good for my health but a great chance to encourage others to understand how important it is to maintain good health makes this event extremely valuable for the entire Asian community”.

Visit www.justgiving.com/bapscyclechallenge to offer your support.

A Penny For Your Thoughts

Remember when you wanted something so much but couldn't afford it so you painted a picture of it? No i don't remember doing that either, but Christine and Justin a couple in New York do that. Their website Wants For Sale illustrates paintings the couple paint in hope for the genuine object in exchange. So you can have their cartoon style painting of a slice of pizza if you buy them a slice of pizza in return. Sometimes you may not need to buy them something for the painting, for example a painting of a "good joke" will require you to simply tell them a good joke. This is such a wacky idea but the couple have collected a fair amount of cool stuff.
Take a look: Wantsforsale.com

StyleSpotting: Summer Translated

A few tips on how to create summer looks off the runway.

Alber Elbaz created a ruffled electric blue one shoulder dress for Lanvin S/S 08 this can be translated with Topshop's ruffled bib top, £25. Topshop.com

Amanda Wakeley for her S/S 08 collection designed some floaty shaded maxi dresses, this can be translated with the shaded halter neck dress from French Connection, £75. Frenchconnection.com

StyleSpotting: Cartooning Around

Graphic Tees have have certainly become very popular. With it's youthful energy, graphic tees range from bizzare shapes to famous cartoon chracters. An online store that does them particularly well is Lazy Oaf. Lazy Oaf was established in 2001 by designer Gemma Shiel who describes the fast growing company as an "illustrative style that is likely to make you smile and sometimes spontaneously dance with joy". The cute and girly cartoonlike illustrations evoke such an innocence.

Sailor T-Shirt £25

Sonia Rykiel's Spring/Summer 08 collection uses this cartoonlike graphic print and the designer is of course known for her upbeat tone and models dancing down the runway.

Sonia Rykiel Spring/Summer 2008 Collection

So dance and be graphic with your tees this summer with the help of Lazyoaf.co.uk.

Check out these other sites for similar funky tees.Truffleshuffle.co.uk Spunky.co.uk Noflysonus.com

Soaked in Champagne

The erratic British weather cannot be tamed, but that's not to say we can't be stylish. Invest in this handbag sized lush umbrella. With a hint of vintage and champagne in colour, this umbrella is a fashionista must have!

Champagne Umbrella £15.75, Valentine and French

Let this dress from Sonia Rykiel's Spring/Summer 08 collection be a trend indicator for this sultry champagne colour.

Sonia Rykiel Spring/Summer 2008 Collection

The online boutique Valentineandfrench.co.uk have got lots of gorgeous girly gifts. So check it out.

StyleSpotting: One Shoulder

A trend coming out Autumn/Winter 2008 runway collecitons is the one shoulder. Used in Proenza Schouler and McQueen the one shoulder gives a soft and extrememly feminine look. Jaeger uses the one shoulder on maxi type dresses which create a floaty grecian look.

Not just a show

Fashion houses are adding extra flair to their shows and making them extravagant events. The shows, apart from the clothes are making important brand value statements. The venue, set design and music all reinstate the ideas behind the collection. But fashion being so ambigous it would not be entirely suprising if all these elements were carefully constructed to simply juxtapose the collection at hand. Diesel for their Spring/Summer 2008 collection stretched the boudaries of the catwalk and used halographic technology to create floating 3D fish and people to walk the catwalk with the models.

Diesel Spring/Summer 2008 Collection

Diesel standing for all that is urban and youth created a multimedia event showing it's techno-futuristic edge. www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCcTRjxP-Fc

Chanel for its Autumn/Winter 2008 collection used a carousel at the end of its runway adding a tremendous focal point. The models having walked the runway would find a spot on the carousel and sit until all the models had aborded, the carousel started going round giving the show a fantastic finale.

Chanel Autumn/Winter 2008 Collection

Being distinctly french, the carousel was a perfect match for the Chanel show. Adorned with pearls, purses and bows it epitomised everything Chanel.

Rockin' Lullaby

Does anybody even sing lullabies anymore? Rockabyebabymusic.com makes bedtime for children and moreso for their parents much more enjoyable. Using renditions from some of the most classic rock bands ever, Rockabyebabymusic have recreated their almubs into soothing instrumental lullabies. Whether it's The Beatles, U2 or The Rolling Stones you enjoy, this is truly an ingenious idea and worth checking out.

StyleSpotting: Tights

Count on wearing tights in the next season, as the autumn collections from Chanel and Proenza Schouler have proven to be big hits with thier choice of tights. Chanel has created a twin colour pair of tights, this monochrome and silhouette is a classic Chanel look.

Chanel Autumn/Winter 2008 Collection

Proenza Schouler shows wearing deep and rich colours together works incredibly. Tights don't always have to be black ladies, try a deep red or berry for a cutting edge look.

Proenza Schouler Autumn/Winter 2008 collection

A Green Thought

Polar bears are becoming so rare,
So lets be fair and not pollute the air.

Wallpaper Redefined

What's the first thing when you think of wallpaper? 60's? Retro? Grandparents? Wallpaper has certainaily evolved with a new desgin ethos. Painted walls can't give that quirky edge like that of well designed wallpaper. See if you can imagine any of these in your home. Wallcollection.com showcases wallpaper designed by artists who use a fusion of graphics and photography to create an entirely new landscape for wallpaper.

Vintage Car By Casper Balslev

Landscape 4 By Mette Løber

Interiors-europe.co.uk has an extensive collection of wallpaper whether it's glamour, retro or contemporary you want I.e...wallpaper is not to be overlooked. These vertical stripes are uber contemporary.

Raffles Stripe, £51

Isak.co.uk design beautiful happy things for your home and make great gifts. Designer Sandra Isaksson has created a very lively brand. Owls, tulips and apples are a few of her muses from which she has developed into cards, tea cups and wallpaper. Wouldn't this look adorable in your child's bedroom?

Brid Wallpaper, £20

The Lotus Temple

The Lotus Temple in Delhi is a vivid symbol of peace and harmony. Initiated by the Baha’i, an international community embracing all faiths and races. The temple highlights a move towards unification. The monument was opened in 1986 and took ten years to build with the help of 800 engineers. Designed by architect Fariborz Sahba who used the idea of a lotus to manifest ideas of harmony and unity.

The stunning builiding is made using marble, dolomite, sand and cement but as a temple in India it looks very unconventional in comaparison to others. The sleek lines of the petals and clean finish gives the monument a modern look as it has steered away from fine carving and detail.

When visiting you will experience a sense of multiculturalism and not just from the variety of tourists but more so from the volunteers. I heard an American, British, Australian accent, to mention a few from the student volunteers as they guided the visitors. Avoid visiting during Christmas as you may not experience all the peace it has to offer. sahbaarchitect.com

Time flies when you're having fun...

Honouring the 1st of April and it's traditions check out this Backwards clock. The numbers are in the entirely opposite postions and the dials move anti-clockwise. Watch your colleagues and friends squint and squirm.

Backwards Clock, £9.95 Iwantoneofthose.com

A Green Thought

The ice caps are melting, so we must start walking.

"He said what?..."

We are so intrigued by other peoples conversations and we have all knowingly or unknowingly eavesdropped onto a conversation in a bus, lift, shop etc. But what is it about them that interests us so much? Do we find drama in a couple having a fall out? Or humour when people talk loudly on thier phone? For a moment we reliase that other people have sorrows, laughter and drama in thier lives too. In a big crowded city like New York these sorts of overherings are a daily occurance. Overheardinnewyork.com is a hilarious site where New Yorkers post conversations they overheard. The site has a network of masterd eavesdroppers who scoop all the real gossip and drama of people they will probably never see again. A must check out site for a laugh out loud time. Over heard at the beach and over heard at the office are other great sections to check out for a chuckle.

Check these out;

Homeless guy: Yo, yo. Can I get a donation to my broke-ass foundation?
Hipster guy: Sorry, dude.
Homeless guy: Aww, come on brother. Just pretend that you love me.

Chick #1: I didn't call you fat.
Chick #2: Yes, you did! I remember it vividly! But it's okay, 'cause I just forgot.

Hot girl #1: It's the guy on the end of the train.
Hot girl #2: Wow. It's amazing the human body can smell like that and still be alive.


Alot of the conversation snippets are very American and quite crude but you will find a moment that you've been in or overheard yourself in your very own city. Check it out.

StyleSpotting: Ruffles

Ruffles and trimmings are a fun and chic look. They can be worn in several ways, whether in Topshop’s racer vest, the Asos summer cami dress or the princess prom dress by Giles. Ruffles are great as they can add volume and detail to a look. Watch out for ruffles in the next season too as Lanvin demonstrates in a black cocktail dress.

Ruffled Tiered Racer, £18, Topshop

Pleated and tiered ruffles Cami dress, £35, Asos.com

Giles Spring/Summer 2008 Collection

Lanvin, Autumn/Winter 2008 Collection

A Tale of Two Cities

Wellington and Auckland are two of New Zealand's biggest cities, but if you've visited any of the world's truly cosmopolitan cites, you will find these cities have a very different vibe. The capital, Wellington has some great spots which must be visited like the much acclaimed Te Papa musuem(Tepapa.govt.nz) which holds some great Maori artefacts, The Botanical Gardens that can be reached with a interesting journey on the cable car and check out the amazing panoramic views from Mount Victoria lookout point . Wellington as a city moves away from a crazy bustling atmosphere and more twowards a laid back and friendly one.

This builiding will not fail to catch your eye. It adds fliar and youth to its surroundings.

The Wildlifehouse is a great backpackers hostel, one of the most clean, modern and spacious. With is great central location, it is not to be missed if your looking for cheap accommodation in Wellington. Wildlifehouse.co.nz

Auckland is one of the most laid back places you can feel instantly comfortable in. With a bustling harour environment, the Viaduct is a great socialising point. Check out the Aotea Square Market for come cultural souvenirs and the views from the top of the Sky Tower are unmissable.

Standing at a stunning 328 meters, the tower offers bars, restuarants, a casino and you can also climb the tower or do a sky jump off it. When lit up at night, its changing colours light up the city.

Be green, it could be expensive not to

Marks and Spencer’s new eco initiative is to reduce the amount of plastic carrier bags being used by their customers. The plastic bag is a culprit against many anti-environment crimes. Plastic bags when piled on rubbish landfills, take decades to erode into the earth or how cows and fish mistake it for food and thus severely damage their intestines. Not to mention when they blow away and tangle themselves onto trees for years on end.

“Because there is no plan B” say Marks and Spencer on their pro green website (Plana.marksandspencer.com). Though Gordon Brown commended Marks and Spencer’s initiative, it should not over power their much debated non-environmentally friendly packaging materials. As well as their materials, M&S have been recognised for over packaging, however its packaging does fundamentally support its luxurious and refined brand values. So why not just use recyclable materials.

The economic incentive of having to pay 5p per bag is such that customers will automatically turn to eco alternatives or at least cheaper alternatives. According to Reusablebags.com we use 117,372,223,216 117, 008, 980, 410 (whoa!) plastic bags a year and counting. For many households the plastic bags holds an extremely important place. For years we have used it as bin liners, storage, packing shoes, taking lunch and countless others. Though there is an inconsistency, if plastic bags (any kind not just from a store) are so anti-environment, what do we line our bins with? Does its practical use out trump its environmental damage?

Food stores offer environmentally friendly reusable bags, but the lack of style can be a turn off. So here are some stylish options. Anya Hindmarch's “I’m not a Plastic Bag” made famous by the A-listers and elaborately priced for an eco product. Recycled woven bags made from juice packs, £16.99, Nigelsecostore.com Nigels Eco Store is a really great online store to keep in mind for everything eco.


The store proves all types of eco products whether its homeware, gifts and children’s toys can have great design and innovative ideas. Check out the solar powered toys and outdoor playhouses for children. Why not customise your own reusable bag at Canby.co.uk

A Green Thought:
Plastic bags are environment's dirty rags,
Cows and fish mistake them for food,
So lets wise up and reuse.