So valentines day is just around the corner and just incase you don’t have a clue what to get your significant other kind of matter blog is having two weeks of guest bloggers sharing ideas, print outs and diys for people to create and give for the holiday. Today just so happens to be my day! I chose to create a cut out for you all to print out and cut yourself. It’s pretty simple and I included some tips for beginners too so even if you’ve never done it before you should find it pretty simple and do it with ease. The details and print out PDF can be found over here, so go get printing, cutting etc!

I sort of fell off the wagon with the blogging thing again, although I did have a big post typed up on the paris menswear which I’ll maybe post at a later date. Today however belongs to Chanel. I’m not that bigger fan of couture wear, I can admire it for what it is and the amount of time and effort the pieces take to create however a lot of couture is a bit over the top for my taste. However, Chanel couture is the perfect mix for me. Its wearable, perfectly made and it still has that classic Chanel look.

This being said, the spring 2010 show was no different and was absolutely amazing. I loved the pastel color palette with hints of silver here and there and how romantic the whole collection was. Not to mention the amazing hair the models had. According to style.com this is the first time in Karl’s career that he has not used black or navy at all in a collection, he insists that there is “not one gold button” and it totally worked. In my opinion this was the best show out of the couture shows closely followed by Elie Saab of course.

Amazing!

If truth be told I wasn’t that impressed with many of the shows in Milan. I waited until all the shows were over to blog in hopes that I’d have seen more shows/collections I really loved but no such luck. I usually love the Autumn/winter shows because of all the layers and amazing knitwear but I just wasn’t feeling anything in Milan. However it wasn’t all bad because amongst all the huge jackets, stripes/plaid and boots I did really like two collections a lot. It’s surprise that I loved Burberrys collection. I loved the subtle color palette and the jackets where absolutely amazing, especially the huge fur collared ones. If I had millions in the bank I’d probably buy the whole collection. Christopher Bailey is a pure genius in my book.

The other collection that took my eye was Trussadi 1911. Like burberry it was slightly subdued and not too over the top with slight fancy bits here and there. The jackets were also rather amazing too. In particular I really liked the duffel coat with the nordic patterned sleeves. The bags were a nice touch as well, although some maybe a little big for everyday use.

I’m hoping that Paris holds a little more promise for me than Milan did and with Vuitton, Dior Homme, Tim Hamilton, YSL and the like I don’t see how it can’t really…

Yesterday, despite the weather I took a little trip to brighton. Although it rained and hailed nearly the entire way there lucky I managed to dodge the rain for the best part although it was rather foggy all day hence the sort of eery mist in most of my photos. I love Brighton, it’s probably the only other place apart from London and maybe Cornwall that I’d actually consider living in the UK. I Didn’t have the time to make it to the Pavilion sadly but nevermind, makes for yet another trip!

There’s a few more photos over at my flickr

I just designed a mini site for Illustrator Danny brito’s new side project entitled the polaroid project. You should go and take a look and while you are there maybe buy a polaroid or two…

I’m a massive Rodarte fan and love their knitwear to epic proportions, although the only problem is/was rather, that it was all made for women. However that is not a issue anymore as opening ceremony have added 4 knitwear pieces to their store created by the Mulleavy sisters. I would basically sell my soul for any of these pieces and at nearly $3,000 a piece I would probably have to. Never mind though, one can always dream.

I haven’t posted a editorial in a while here, so here is one of my current favorites. I love Lily Allen anyway so it’s not surprise that I was going to love this editorial but I think she looks amazing and her body looks pretty banging too. A good way to start off the new year for Bazaar and Lily.

Image source and more of the photo shoot can be found here.

The other day after much waiting I watched Nick Hornby’s An education. I had heard good things about it and naturally wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I was pleasantly not misguided in the slightest. I’ve not seen a film in a while that I’ve enjoyed as much. Granted the plot is sort of predictable at times but I didn’t think too much about it. The cast is brilliant with the super cute Carey Mulligan carrying the film. I think it’s fair to say that without Mulligan the film would have easily been written off as another coming of age story.

visually the film is perfect too. The scenes are all picture perfect and the theming is perfect and in just the right amounts, subtle and not over done in the slightest. Mulligans outfits are also just the right amount of understated glamour as are her male counterparts in their rather lovely tailored suits.

I wasn’t that sure what to expect from this film, I assumed it would be good but did not expect to enjoy it and find it as pleasing as I did. Definitely one of the best films I’ve seen this year and I’d totally recommend it if you have the chance.

It’s been a semi busy week or few days and it’s only wednesday… I feel like it should be friday already, or maybe I’m wishing it was Friday, I don’t know… We’ve had tons of snow/ice/disgusting weather in London which of course is not exactly great for getting around as London basically comes to a stand still if we get even a inch of snow but of course is good for things design and I can stay indoors in the warm and get some bits and pieces done.

After watching lots of sleeping beauty and looking back through my old illustrations I found a (now) rather crappy castle I drew, which I decided to jazz up a bit, which you can see below. As well as that I decided I quite like drawing portraits of people, (which I started with danny) and maybe this could be a on going project or something and so I drew Lily Allen. I quite like doing illustration, and since leaving uni I’ve sort of gone down a illustrative path with my work, which is rather interesting. I still like more graphic work too but I think right now my design esthetic is very illustration based.

I’m going to start working on Neil J Rook’s 2010 layout hopefully soon. I want something new for the new year and maybe more reflective of my current design style. We’ll see.