Love

This mug sits next to my bed and always makes me smile. It is a Rob Ryan design (I have already blogged about him but I actually LOVE that man) that my friend gave to me for Christmas.

If love was a colour, I think it would be pink. Perhaps red may seem the more obvious choice, but for me it is the less romantic. Red shouts what pink whispers softly. Red sings and dances but is tempermental. I would rather have dusty pink roses any day.

Libby

Emma Thompson loves pink

When I arrived home from school today the first thing I saw was an envelope addressed to me propped up on the table. I immediately recognised the scratchy handwriting as my own. Did I in a moment of madness post myself a letter? "Dear Libby, go and eat some cake, you deserve it." I wouldn't put it completely past me, but it seemed unlikely. As I was thinking I suddenly remembered back to last year, when I fed a pile of envelopes into the post box, addressed to everyone from the Queen to Judi Dench. (At the time I liked to imagine the post man opening the letter box and rifling through the envelopes: Madonna, Joanna Lumley, the editor of Vogue...) Each envelope contained a questionnaire I had made to gain quotes for 'Love Pink', and a self addressed, stamped envelope. The journalists and celebrities I was writing to must lead incredibly busy lives; I wanted to make it as easy as possible for them to reply.

I was overwhelmed by how many responses I received, considering I expected only a handful. But despite the replies I did receive (which ended up in the book), there were naturally dissapointments. After all I did send out over 50 letters. (I spent about a week hand writing all the envelopes, thinking that they would be more likely to be opened if they weren't impersonally typed.)

The replies arrived in surges, some within the first few weeks, some the next few months. A year later, and this envelope caught me by surprise. Opening it up and seeing Emma Thompson's name surprised me even more. Perhaps the response is a little late, but I love the fact she still replied. To me it makes me think that she must receive a huge amount of letters but still wades through them all. Mine must have been at the bottom of the pile, but it still got opened and replied to.

Emma Thompson thinks the colour pink would smell like babies. I agree. Soft, warm and with a hint of Johnson's baby oil.

For now Emma Thompson's letter sits proudly on my dressing table, but then it shall join all my other replies in my prized folder full of 'Love Pink' things.

P.S If you can't read them clearly, the questions in the questionnaire are:

1) What is your favourite pink item you own (I like her sense of humour!)

2) What is your favourite pink flower? (Roses were a popular favourite)

3) What would the colour pink smell like?

Libby

Pink Day

Today was a non-uniform day at school; students bought in £1 to wear their own clothes, as long as they wore something for this year's theme. You'll never guess the theme...! Armed with my camera, I walked around the school snapping people dressed from pastel to neon pink. Pink shirts flashed as the boys played football and giggling girls huddled in groups of fuschia leg warmers and pink pashminas. Perhaps it was just my imagination, but I swear I saw more smiles around the school today.

It wasn't just the girls who wore pink. My friend Louis donned pink polo shirt and this candyfloss wig. The wig was leant by a friend and passed its way from guy to guy, followed by giggles and pointing. But what a sport.

One of our teachers, this pinkly clad man said I could only take his photo if I made it clear the pink hoodie wasn't actually his. So, point made!

The cheeky twins.

Brad and his pink polo shirt.

I saw these girls walking across the playground like this, arm in arm, and had to stop them for a photograph.

How cool is she? The tights, robot t-shirt, bright blue eye shadow, and coolest of all - her confidence.

It made me smile how serious this boy looked, despite the bright pink of his top. A serious cool dude in my opinion.

Sporty pink a la smiley Sarah.

Frankie and her pink tights.

Pink jeans and snuggly Uggs.

These two very pink friends caught my eye. I don't think they realised they were BOTH doing bunny ears behind eachother, but I thought it was cute.

Pretty floaty skirt, fab tights, gorgeous shoes, and an attitude to match.

When I saw my friend Jemima, wrapped up in her coat, she immediately flashed her raspberry jumper and scarf, to prove that she really WAS wearing pink.

As I was taking a photo of a girl and her pink trousers, these boys asked to be photographed. The two on the right and left insisted that their hair was dyed pink in order to get in the photograph. Perhaps it may be more red than pink, but I thought their cheeky grins warranted a photograph anyway.

As I walked around I came across this bench piled high with an extraordinary number of Cath Kidston bags. From a distance the pink of the bags drew me instantly for a closer inspection. The bags had been abandoned by a group of girls who were running around in the sunshine.
Libby

Today's outfit

This pink bunny necklace was given to me by one of the fashion assistants at Cosmopolitan when I was working there this summer. When she asked if I would like it my response was rather high pitched : "Pink? Bunny? My favourite things!"
I think this cream shell necklace makes this outfit very ladylike. To harden it up a bit I would wear black opaque tights with black boots, or instead succumb to the girliness with bare legs and my ribbon bowed plimsolls.
Here I have pinned on my pink 'Head Girl' badge. My sister gave me this badge last year; she said it was pink and made her think of me. Funnily, I actually am Head Girl now. I had my photo taken last week for the wall of fame (as I like to call it) and contemplated wearing the badge. In the end I didn't quite have the courage!

Libby

have a look

http://lamodeandotherthings.blogspot.com/2009/10/size-zero-and-plus-size-at-fashion-week.html

Bows and Bras

I am obsessed with underwear. Flesh coloured knickers are a crime to humanity, and however much sport I did (admittedly that would never be very much) I could never ever bring myself to buy a sports bra. Why does 'functional' seem to immediately exclude 'pretty'? Perhaps they are hidden away from sight but that doesn't mean they should be forgotten. In the morning when you are bleary-eyed and full of sleep, to open a rainbow knicker draw full of bows and frills can surely only lift your mood.

These are some bras I have decorated. Old bras I have Libbyised are pegged to bunting in my room and hang as if from a washing line. I have customised plain bras for friends and last year's school textiles project featured a whole set of them.

Perhaps I'm just mad, but I think the success of luscious lingerie labels from Agent Provocatuer to Myla and La Perla tell me that I'm not the only one.

Libby

Pink on the Catwalk...

Over the past weeks I have been spending every evening on style.com, as the fashion shows from new york, london, milan and now paris have been reported. To me there is nothing quite like waiting for the photos from the next shows to be posted, and to see what Marc Jacobs, Erdem Moragliolu, Matthew Williamson, or Elbar Albaz (some of my favourites) have offered up to pine after. I feel almost as if I could jump into my laptop and tumble down to the runways in Paris or Milan. Hopefully one day I won't just have to dream about being there, but will be sitting amongst the well-dressed crowd.

As I have been watching I have been pleased to see my favourite colour gracing the runway. Here are some of my favourite examples.

Libby

... some of my favourites

Admittedly this hair is dodgy to say the least (I don't see the wind-tunnel look catching on) but I think this outfit at Mulberry makes up for it in coolness. I love the hint of neon pink beneath the sheer dress, and the splash of neon on the shoes. As for the leopard print pink bag, well it could look tacky, but as it's Mulberry I think it is an ironic twist that makes it fabulous.

For Marc Jacob's Marc by Marc collection his models sported these bright pink silk bows as they strutted the catwalk.

Paul Smith was inspired by a new book about the Congolese fashion forward 'sapeurs' and used the colours from the front cover for this orange lined pink suit.

Fuschia and nude pink cropped up at Dior in baby doll and floor skimming dresses. This is pink to smoulder in, following the example of the forties starlets that inspired John Galliano's collection.

Gingham is the new polka dot at Christopher Kane. This baby pink dress also references details of another upcoming trend - lingerie.

I love the clash of orange and pink at Emanuel Ungaro, and the itsy bitsy pink bandage dress. This is hot-pink in every sense of the word.

Isabel Marant showed pink worn with ease and style. The models may be wearing the most feminine of colours, but there is still a 'don't mess with me' attitude to these clothes that I love. The tailored shorts, silver jacket and kick ass fringed boots make this anything but Disney Princess, proving to me how versatile the colour is.

This Issey Miyake outfit makes me think of a flamingo. Masculine shoes + Bubblegum Pink = oh so cool.

Lanvin celebrate their 120th birthday this year, making them France's oldest couture house. Elbar Elbaz sent out a collection surely worthy of the anniversary.