OTT fashion icons

Following on from my post yesterday, I thought I'd do a post on some of my favourite eccentric fashion icons - people who dare to wear whatever they like with flair and a sense of fun. So of course I had to start with Vivienne Westwood.

and continue with Isabella Blow.

Nice to see a picture of her in her youth I think. I remember seeing Isabella Blow resplendent in a Prada jewelled coat and Philip Treacy hat whilst shopping in the Belgravia Waitrose.

When she wore this hat above, she noticed that there was a terrible smell at the party she attended, but on reaching home she could still smell it. It turned out that the milliner had forgotten to fully scoop out out the remains of the lobster!

Fashion iconoclast Iris Apfel, a distinguished collector and authority on antique textiles as reflected in her elaborate, often ethnic style outfits.

This chinoiserie style outfit, was photographed in a book on her clothes 'Rare bird of fashion'. It's a beautiful book.

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo wearing traditional Mexican dress at a time when it wasn't fashionable, combined with elaborate and large floral headdresses and Tehuana ribbons in her hair.

The next icon I would pick would be Elsa Schiaperelli, pictured below.

So ahead of her time - practically the inventor of shocking pink, such an irreverent witty approach to fashion, and the creator of truly eccentric hats.

This is her stiletto shoe hat!

And finally I had to finish with poetess Edith Sitwell, famous for her often medieval style of dressing and the many large rings that she would wear on her extremely long fingers.

Portmeirion

The other night I had dinner at a friend's Dad's house and his china is all from that traditional British pottery, Portmeirion and we got chatting about the village Portmeirion itself and what fun it is.

The village was built over a period of 50 years starting in 1925 and was the dream of architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis.

It's a real fantasty world with a higgedly-piggedly mix of different architecture incorporating fragments of demolished buildings all mixed together in a rather surprising way. The quirkiness of it is just great and in addition there are a wealth of exotic plants, avenues of rhodendrons and a stunning position on the Welsh coast.

Apparently Williams-Ellis started dreaming of this project when he was just five years old!

Portmeirion was famously the backdrop for the cult 1960s tv series The Prisoner, but was also where Noel Coward wrote Blithe Spirit and boasts guests ranging from filmstars Ingrid Bergman and Gregory Peck to legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright who can be seen below going over plans with William-Ellis himself.

If you haven't been already I would definitely recommend it - so inspiring!

English eccentric

I have decided to make some little changes to the look of the office and so have been trailing the London shops for some new things. I really like the English eccentric look that is around at the moment so I paid a visit to Caravan. With chintz covered mannequins, teapots galore, and old wooden display cabinets in the shop it didn't disappoint. I even like the graphics on their website, see www.caravanstyle.com

I ended up with these chintzy cushions, and they wrapped everything beautifully. Another place I visited is just up the road from work, Howie and Belle.

It has vintage clothing, 30s style lampshades, French tub chairs, and curios. It always has different things. I ended up with a barley twist lamp.

The Howie and Belle website is www.howieandbelle.com The final stop was Tower Bridge Antiques in Bermondsey - a massive warehouse full of antiques and junk (photo below). You never know what you might find! I love this chair. Unfortunately it wouldn't fit in the office, which is probably just as well as I think I'd feel pressurised to dress like Barbarella every day just to sit in it!