WFP: Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Weekend Flick Pick

This film is the best film that Woody Allen has produced in an age!

I like Woody Allen Films; but prefer the ones from when he'd just started out (Bananas, Take the Money and Run). The comedy in the early films is very slapstick. Allen initially was a stand-up comic, and this really shows in these films. With "Hannah and her Sisters", Allen found the neurotic, nerdy, self obsessed blueprint for most of the work that was to come later. Cristina Vicky Barcelona is a bit of a departure from this. It's a wonderfully perceptive tale of the choices that young women make when looking for love. The story follows two young female American friends taking some time out in Barcelona. it's safe to say that they have very different personality types!

Vicky (Rebecca Hall) is the sensible one; her fiancé is her "ideal" man - steady, regular and reliable. Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), on the other hand doesn't really know what she wants, but does know what she doesn't want: A man that is - steady, regular and reliable! Cue Juan Antonio, played by the gorgeous Javier Bardem. Of course, the inevitable happens; they both fall for the same guy. What isn't expected however, is the return of Juan Antonio's dramatic, and possibly slightly insane ex-wife María Elena, played brilliantly by Penelope Cruz. Chaos ensues.

I shop therefore I am

Yes. You too can be a right-proper Pseud with this bag from outrageously good US-store, ModCloth. The neon image is a Warhol inspired print of that famous philosopher and misogynist, Friedrich Nietzsche. Make him turn in his grave by carting about his digitally manipulated visage - stuffed full of Vogue magazines! Designed by wonderfully colourful illustrator Josh Cochran http://joshcochran.net/

Cutouts cut a dash!

Rob Ryan's stunning work appears everywhere these days. You can visit the fabulous Ryantown store on the very Trendy-Wendy Columbia Road Flower market; or the Tate do some rather nice bits n bobs. Cutouts are now becoming hugely popular. The Tord Boontje Garland lampshades have made Habitat a fortune! I guess they're a bit of a backlash against the very minimalist decor that has been around for a while, and which will probably continue, but with some really detailed pieces chucked in for good measure (or you can rebel and go for detail overkill - please see below!)

Tord Boontje Ivy wall panel available at http://www.dutchbydesign.com/

Rob Ryan "Caged Lovers" vinyl wall-decal at the Tate online shop.

Lomo Fisheye camera for Urban Outfitters by Rob Ryan (picture on Etsy)

Jackie Brazil

Jackie Brazil is like the Clarice Cliff of jewellery. It's mass produced, bright and bold, each piece is ever so slightly different and if you choose wisely it could be a collector's item of the future. I don't often mention stuff that I put in the Amazon shop in posts, as I think if people want it they'll buy it, but I make an exception here. Whilst adding some other pieces I came across these below wonderful items. I especially love the keyboard ring - perfect for computer nerds like me really!

WFP: The Red Shoes

Weekend Flick Pick

This film is based on a story by Hans Christian Andersen, and is directed by inimitable British film duo Pressburger and Powell. In the film Moira Shearer plays the prima ballerina who has to choose between love and her career - quite a modern subject considering it was made in 1948! This film is wonderfully vibrant and melodramatic and contains one of the most beautiful dance scenes ever committed to celluloid. Martin Scorcese is a huge fan, and Kate Bush named an album after it. Pressburger and Power also made the superb Black Narcissus - a 40s melodrama about squabbling nuns trying to kill each other in the pressurised atmosphere of the Himalayas!

Weekend Flick Picks - Introduction!

It is nice sometimes not to be obsessed with the new and for that very reason (and because I'm a total film anorak), I have decided to do a series of posts looking at retro classic films, including; chick flicks, world cinema, art-house, American indie, shmultz and also the totally indefinable! So if you are stuck for something to do of a weekend; get yourself a bottle of wine, delegate the cooking to someone else and check out one of these top flicks!

Let's Dance!

Of course ballet pumps are now iconic footwear. Think of ballerinas and so many images of elegance spring to mind: Swan Lake, Audrey Hepburn, Darcy Bussell and erm, Amy Winehouse in her blood splattered pair! Well, anyway, though life may not seem to have existed without this wardrobe staple, it was the young Brigitte Bardot (who was from a ballet background) who famously first asked Rose Repetto to put a sole on a pair of ballet shoes for her. She then wore them for "And God Created Woman", and a footwear icon was born! Repetto, an uber cool Parisian company (that still makes shoes for "trade") now have a concession at Liberty. Alternatively, get down to some of the great ballet wear shops in Covent Garden, pick a pair, get them soled and then order a copy of "The Red Shoes" on DVD and dream of being Margot Fonteyn!

Darcey Bussell bows out

BB Repettos!

And God created Bardot!

Kapow! Reclaimed Comic Book Chairs, OMG!

I love, love, love decoupage. I really like the nice floral Victoriana variety, but now, there's the totally funky, pop art, comic strip cafe chair variety! Please see below "his n hers" varieties for a bit of extra kitsch, from the utterly brilliant Notonthehighstreet http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/

Excuse me, whilst I go off and swoon somewhere!

Etsy Corner

Now girlies, are you sitting comfortably? Then let me introduce you to Etsy Corner. We all love looking at Etsy... and going wow I wish I could buy that, but then our hearts sink as most stuff's from the States and I live in the UK. Well, of course there is Folksy, which is a kind of UK version, except it's still got a way to go to catch up with Etsy, and obviously the US is like full of a gazillion people, so the law of averages probably stipulate that Etsy is going to feature a large amount of stuff by very crafty people!

To kick off with, here are some delightful little sketches and felt pictures from Lisa Stubbs, that I came across this week. They are inexpensive, adorable and shippable to the UK, so you have no flippin-well excuse to say it's too much effort to buy things from the states OK! Ps. If you like this, you will also almost certainly love the work of Los Angeles based artist Liz Adams, who created the artwork for this site, and I shall be creating a special post on her work in a few days time. Pps. She also sells stuff on Etsy.

AnOther bag

...from the AnOther shop, this absolutely stunning Futurism inspired bag (Peter Pilotto for Mismo). Link same as the magazine in below post!

Plastic Fantastic

Recently, I've been having a real plastic moment.

Firstly, I totally love "Melissa" shoes (who'd have thought the jelly shoe could EVER be cool again). They recently collaborated with Vivienne Westwood, to create THOSE heart shaped shoes. And then, today, I came across this great selection of new 21st century Swatches on the Grazia Daily site. They are the watch version of the Mini car; the old ones are indeed fabby, but the new ones keep the original character whilst adding something new and fresh (oh dear, seen too many episodes of Top Gear recently!)

Both the Melissa shoes and the new range of Swatches are totally pop and plastic; but they are also strangely ladylike and wearable

http://www.swatch.com/

http://www.melissaplasticdreams.com/home

Made in Taiwan - Modern Toilet!

O.K. This concept is not for everybody. Modern Toilet is a resturaunt chain in Tawain where you sit on the loo and eat your noodles from porcelain that you wouldn't normally associate with the dinner table. The idea was inspired by a manga cartoon called "Dr Slump on the Toilet"! If that hasn't made you feel a bit queezy already, the whipped chocolate icecream is made to look like, er...well, you can guess  the rest... I think I'll be sticking with Wagamammas! http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/about.asp

AnOther Magazine

NoOne does photo-shoots like AnOther Magazine. If you want evidence of this then check out the below pictures of the mesmerizing Marion Cotillard in the most recent edition. Their shop also has some top stuff in it. http://www.anothermag.com/

Jaeger

I so love Jaeger.

Sylvia Plath, the American poet, apparently wouldn't wear anything but. In the 90's the Jaeger brand had quality, but the style was rather octogenarian. Then a few years ago, Jaeger started getting really good again. They'd obviously hired someone who knew what they were doing, and shook things up a bit! We saw the beautiful Poppy dresses and Stanton bags appearing on the website. Jaeger were back! And then, disaster. All the attention they started getting at London fashion Week went right to their heads and we saw Jaeger creating enormous multicoloured mohair jackets which ever-so-slightly resembled a Fraggle’s bikini line! Luckily Jaeger has a talent for longevity by learning from their mistakes. Cue, Jaeger's Spring Collection - Back 2 Form. They even have a slot on Asos now for goodness sakes - sterling work guys!