J'adore Dior..

Well i've been somewhat of a potty mouth or  to put it more accurately a potty worded typer on Facebook of recent days so, in an effort to redeem myself and restore my ladylike image ( assuming I have one that is..) I thought I would share with those of you who are not involved in the world of fashion something beautiful. I say fashion but that's not entirely true, something can't really be classed as fashion until people on the street are wearing it and you certainly won't see this being worn by your average Jo Fasionista, not even on Kingsland road.. This is Couture baby and it's very very exclusive. You can only afford it if you're very very rich or very very connected. Even Paris Hilton might have to cut back on the Coke and Crystal champers consumption if she wanted to buy a piece from this collection. I am neither rich nor connected, but that doesn't stop me from yearning for the day that I might be able to afford to buy me an item of Dior Couture, or just Dior ready to wear even!! 

The following photos are from the SS11 Dior Couture show, designed and created by the genius maverick and fabric magician that is John Galliano. JG has been at the helm of Dior for many years now and is fond of plunging the archives and often references couture's greatest eras the 40's and 50's. And yet he always manages to bring something new to the pattern cutting table and whilst the reference is obvious there's something very fresh and very now about this collection. This is real eye candy, so feast your eyes and tuck into on the following... 

John maybe a genius at designing for the ladies

but his personal style is somewhat a work in progress

and evidently he is an XFactor fan. Here he is looking

like one half of Diva Fever...

10 impossibly cool men..

Carrying on from my previous 10 impossibly cool women post I thought i'd also write and tell you my thoughts on the 10 coolest guys. . I couldn't leave the fellas out could I? I should add that this is in part a list of guys both living and dead that I would like to date (not all of them, mind..).. However, it is not based on looks, yes some of them do happen to be really, really handsome (in their hey day or when they were alive..) but I am a woman who fancies first with the mind, second with the (dancing) feet and thirdly with the eyes. After all I do suffer from a short attention span hence fashion design was the perfect choice of career for me and i'm freelance at that.. Nope, it's all very well being easy on the eye but if you've got nowt to say for yourself then i'd get bored very quickly. Anyway i'll stop waffling.... The criteria is pretty much the same as it was for the ladies, charisma, style, wit.. etc etc.. blah blah...

So let me introduce the 10 coolest guys ever, for me anyhow. I hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing and researching..

1. Oscar Wilde

Writer, poet and never ending source of wit and wisdom. My favorite quote of which is 'we are all in the gutter, but some of s are looking at the stars', I feel this best describes my Dalston lifestyle.. With his acidic wit and flamboyant style Oscar Wilde was one of the most celebrated and best known play wrights of his day. If I could throw a dinner party and invite anyone both living and dead (not in my flat, mind, there's barely enough room to swing a cat, plus I don't actually have a dinner table, it would be plates on knees whilst sat on the sofa..) I would surely invite Mr Wilde and not only that, i'd have him seated next to me.. lucky him!

Datability factor 0/10 ( Nah, he was gay init..)

2. Cole Porter

Cole Porter is quite simply perhaps the greatest writer and composer of the 20th century. He is responsible for writing and composing many of my favorite songs. He was a very, very clever lyricist, the best example of this in my opinion would be 'You're the top". It is a fete of lyrical genius if ever there was.

Datability factor 9.5/10 ( when he was a bit younger though, he's a bit wrinkly in these pics..)

3. Humphrey Bogart.

Regarded by many as not only a cultural Icon but perhaps the greatest male star of Hollywood ever and whose lips have uttered some of the most memorable lines in cinematic history. He was also a real dish and very stylish. Never has a Trilby hat and double breasted suit been worn to such swoontastic effect. If Humphrey Bogart were alive today (even if he was like, really old) I should like to have a dance with him, even if he wasn't very good at it.. just so he could dip me at the end.

Datability Factor 10/10 ( although i'd stand no chance against Lauren Bacall)

Humphrey dips me at the end of the dance..

..Errr sorry no, that's Lauren Bacall..

4. Miles Davis

There are two quotes which perhaps sum up why I think Miles Davis is so cool. Both of these quotes are from his own mouth. 1 "For me music and life are all about style". 2. "I know what I've done for music, but don't call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis." Well I could not have said it better myself except perhaps to say that for me life is all about music and style, and dancing (with style). Miles Davis was the one of the most innovative and influential jazz musician of his time, in fact ever and not only that he was an outspoken social critic and an arbiter of style in attitude and fashion, as well as music.

Datability factor 9/10!

5. Chet Baker.

Aghhh Chet. Every time I hear a Chet Baker song my heart breaks a little. He had such a smooth, soothing, emotive and beautiful voice. I can never play Chet Baker if i'm feeling even the slightest bit down because I will cry, he's the only person whose voice can bring me to tears. It is all the more compounded by the fact he was so handsome and so, so troubled. When I listen to him I want to crawl down the sound waves, back into time and give him a hug. I want to look after him and make him cups of tea. Hell i'd even learn to cook for him.. Hmmmmmmmm.....Ok so in the end he did turn into a scraggly haired, bandanna wearing, fringe suede cowboy coat fancying, picket fence toothed mess but we won't hold that against him..

Datability factor (when he was younger) :100/10. Restraining order required by Mr Baker against Ms Ratcliffe: Quite likely.

6. Johnny Cash

The Man in Black, The Outlaw, Johnny Cash never did any real, hard time, but that doesn't stop me believing him when he sang " I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die". I am a massive, massive fan of Johnny Cash, he was such a great story teller. Even in his final years he was still on the money, his cover of Nine Inch Nails "Hurt" on American IV is one of the most heart wrenching, emotional, just down right brilliant cover versions ever. He is the epitome of I don't give- a- fuck cool. He did however give a fuck about what June Carter thought and theirs was the greatest of all great love affairs, passionate and full of turmoil but ultimately redemptive. June Carter Cash said of her husband that there were two men inside him: John the caring family man and Cash the selfish bastard. Joaquin Phoenix (who famously portrayed Johnny in the film Walk The Line) met Johnny Cash and had dinner with him and his family a few years before he died said.. "He appreciated both sides of himself, He didn't suppress either the family man or the shit-kicker, which is what made him such a fascinating character and such a complex person to portray." I could not agree more.

Datability factor (if he were youngish and alive even..) : 0/10 (I think this is best left to June Carter)

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash having coffee together!!

Holy Crap, what i'd give to be sat at the next table...

Johnny and June.

Check out Junes 'Doo! It's like an experiment in hair physics..

7. Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan is just a genius musician and song writer. He is one of the most prolific and important social commentators of the last century. His greatest songs captured the zeitgeist of a socially and politically unstable America and yet are still as relevant today as ever. He was also quite beautiful when he was young too.

Datability factor: 10/10.

8. David Bailey

If the Rolling Stones and the Beatles provided the soundtrack to swinging London in the 60's then David Bailey created the image. The idea of 'cool' was probably conceived in America sometime during the 1940s in Hollywoods Golden Era but in Britain cool really came into it's own during the 60's. So much of what we associate with cool was defined by the image David Bailey created in his photography.

Datability factor (when he was young- too hairy now, he's starting to resemble a member of the Conservative Party): 2/10 ( too much of a tart.. He's slept with most of my 10 coolest ladies).

9. Michael Caine

Naturally blond and blue eyed Micheal Caine, with a bat of the eyelashes could spin you the most transparent of tangled lies and you'd still give him the benefit of doubt. He is perhaps the most iconic British actor ever and his career is still going strong, if Harry Brown is anything to go by. Ok so he's been in a few stinkers along the way (Jaws: The Revenge, anyone??) But we'll always love him for being a charming bastard in Alfie and Get Carter.

Datability Factor (a few years back..) 10/10 (although i'd probably live to regret it)

10. Jack Nicholson

If the Devil were to resurrect himself here on earth he could do no better than to choose Jack Nicholson as his human vessel. Who wouldn't fall under his wicked charms? He's already had a practice run in his brilliantly devilish portrayal of Daryl Van Horne in the equally fantastic Witches of Eastwick. In fact he played the part with almost frightening ease, art imitating life perhaps.. It is however the roles he played as George in Easy Rider,  Randle Patrick McMurphy in One flew over the Cuckoo's nest and as Jack Torrance The Shining that really define his acting greatness.

Datability factor ( even now!?!) 10/10