Sloane rangers in space

Lest anyone think I’m the kind of gal who doesn’t go through with their sponsored posts, I thought I’d share my favourite thing from my latest ASOS piece.

Yeah, I bought ‘em.

Everything I ordered is fantastic – of course it is, I ordered it – but the rainbow metallic loafers are by far the most awesome. In fact, they are one of the most awesome things I’ve bought in recent memory, which is why they get a whole post dedicated just to them.

I call this look, ‘SPACE SLOANE’.

Sloaney.
Spacey.
The kind of thing any Sloane worth her salt would wear should she be transplanted to space, temporarily.

 

Yup.

Buy your own pair here and join me in my space sloane army!

More from Maria Francesca Pepe

When I like a brand I do have a bit of a habit of becoming ferociously loyal to them – see the Antipodium dress hunt as a case in  point. I have a tendency to be a bit obsessive about most things I like actually; that whole 1920s thing, you know? The fact I cannot rest until I have read every Persephone book in publication? Mainlining Mitford everything until I become a genuine Mastermind champion?

Maria Francesca Pepe is fast becoming a target on my hit-list. It’s a rare day that I don’t wear some MFP jewellery and because it’s so wonderful and eye-catching you inevitably end up with people asking you where it’s from which means I also spend a lot of time typing her name/website into people’s phones.

After attending the press preview of her new range recently I ended up putting in another order and it arrived this week – with one piece in particular attracting a lot of attention… See that safety pin R? Yeah, everyone in my office was pretty taken with that. “I like your… what is that? Is it a nappy pin?” Who knew that everyone knew what a nappy pin was in this day and age? As a side note, I did actually wear a nappy pin as an accessory in my youth – punk for life, you know?

Anyway, the letter safety pin is my new favourite thing and I also got the safety pin earring because, again, punk for life and that. And also Iso got it and I was jealous.

Unfortunately my order got a little bit lost in the post, so MFP also kindly sent me this R sleeper to soften the blow. And soften the blow it did, because there’s nothing I like more than initial jewellery.

The Complete Book of Dreams, incidentally, is a tome that spends a great deal of time open on my desk at work. The day can’t commence really until I’ve done some analysis of last night’s brain activity – and I wish I was joking, but I’m not. See, obsessive.

Thank Furcoat it’s Friday

1) Fashionista reminded us that it’s a timely week to revisit the Balenciaga Did it First Tumblr. Au revoir, Nicholas, we will miss you and your big old clever brain. 

2) The late, great Vidal Sassoon was an enormous architecture geek and his house, which is now up for sale, is testament to that. Not just any old Beverly Hills house for him – Vidal was proud owner of a beautiful 1950s Richard Neutra place on Mulholland Drive. I submitted it to my favourite daydreaming site, WowHaus, and was MEGA excited to see them post it with my name on today! FAME.

3) The New Yorker had a really good article (well, duh) about Spotify and the problems that come with endless music choice. All Spotifiers duty-bound to read this please.

4) I’m not a film person at all really (my attention span is frighteningly short) but the 32 Greatest Unscripted Movie Scenes still made for a good read. AND I’ve seen pretty much all of them! [Picutre: Sound on Sight]

5) London’s top ten jukeboxes. Pleased to see CroBar at number one. [Picture: Murfie]

Dorothy Hartley’s Food in England

My favourite posh historian lady, Lucy Worsley, is back on the BBC with a documentary all about Dorothy Hartley and her iconic book, Food in England. Hurray!

I’d vaguely heard of the book before, because I like old cookery books from slightly posh people, but I didn’t know anything about Dorothy at all until I read this interview with Lucy in the Guardian at the weekend. Not only was I pretty gleeful at having someone new to obsess over, but the piece told me there was also a TV show to go with it. GLEEFUL, as I say.

Food in England hasn’t been out of print since it was first published in 1954. It’s not just a cookery book either; it covers everything from foraging and seasonal eating to sheep shearing and butchering and general advice about  all the interesting things you can find to eat and look at and enjoy in this green and pleasant land. Dorothy may have been the daughter of a private school headmaster but she wasn’t averse to going and sleeping under a hedge to get a real feel for the natural world and all its wonders – she just had that kind of level of interest in what she was doing.

I highly advise you to read Lucy’s profile on Dorothy here - I mean, how can this not entice you in?

She saw off would-be suitors with talk of Viking burial customs, and had a life-long habit of signing letters “D Hartley (Miss)”, to draw attention to her single status…

… Much more than a recipe book, it also covers fire, magic, fungi, Elizabethan households, salting and “tracklements” (sauces). “Overheard in Wigan market” is a not uncommon source for a recipe.

That was all it took to sell the book and the show to me. I guess I’m a soft touch and fairly predictable, but I also think there’s a lot to be said for having knowledge of mushrooms that you’re safe to eat and knowing how to gut a fish and light a fire in the rain all that good stuff. We could definitely all do with a few more of those skills, right?

Not entirely sure how many of the recipes you would want to eat today, but I’m pretty taken with Stargazey Pie and the kids on Lucy’s showed like it too so it can’t be all bad. A traditional cornish fish dish, it’s said to date back to pre-16th century and gets its name from the lil fish heads poking out the pastry. Here it is – might give it a bash this weekend?? Hmmm….

Stargazey Pie

Ingredients
6 tbsp breadcrumbs
150 ml milk
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
3 tbsp lemon juice plus zest
1 onion, chopped
6 pilchards/mackerel/herring, filtered with heads left on (EWWWWWWWW, get over it)
1 rasher of bacon, chopped
salt and pepper
150 ml good cider
225g puff pastry

Method
Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk and leave to swell a little then add the parsley, lemon juice, lemon zest and onion and mix well.  Divide the stuffing between the fish, spreading it over the flat fillets.

Fold them over then put them into a round ovenproof dish, tails downwards with the heads poking over the edge. Put the bacon, seasoning and cider all around and in between the fish.  Roll out the pastry to fit the dish. Press on, leaving the fish heads exposed on the rim.

Bake at 220°C/ gas 7 for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven to 190 °C / gas 5 and cook for a further 25 minutes.

The show was broadcast on Tuesday but you can watch it here and you can buy the original book here.

[Pictures: BBC]

#BestNightEver

[Eniko Mihalik for Harper’s Bazaar US November 2011; Amanda Norgaard for New York Times T Style Winter 2010; Chanel Fall 201o; Naomi Preizler for L'Officiel December 2011]

When it’s time to party I will always party hard, so when ASOS asked me if I wanted to take part in their #BestNightEver party campaign the answer was obviously a resounding yes.

Being in the company of Charlotte Free and Azealia Banks is pretty dreamy – Ellie Goulding is exciting too, but after I lay at the backwash in a massage chair next to her a few months ago, I already feel like we’re pretty close. [HOB Salons Camden, FYI. Colourists to the stars. And me.]

There’s more to come from them at a later date, but for now here’s what I’m going to be wearing for my #BestNightEver this year. When it comes to Christmas and the fabled party season, I have a bit of a weakness for dressing like some kind of snow princess. Lots of white, faux fur and costume jewellery are all favourites at this time of year – despite the fact I never wear white as a general rule and despite the fact that I generally don’t like silver.

One of my former #BestNightsEver occurred at a work event when I wore some kind of Ronettes white chiffon sequin babydoll number with a white fur coat and the presenter said (on stage!! In front of 500 people!!) that I looked like the Snow Queen. AWE-SOME.

Dressing in costume is definitely a problem for me, but at this time of year I reckon it’s excusable. So here’s what I’m after.

1) ASOS Prom Dress, £65; 2) Limited Edition Crystal Aliceband, £12; 3) TIGI Catwalk Session Series Dry Shampoo, £12.95; 4) NARS Holiday Soft Touch Eye Pencil, £17; 5) Barry M Lip Paint in Baby Pink, £4.50; 6) ASOS Glitter Cat Eye Sunglasses, £12; 7) ASOS Jewel Lace Clutch, £30; 8) ASOS Stone Bouquet Stud Earrings, £12; 9) ASOS Multipack Gem Cocktail Rings, £12; 10) ASOS Social Metallic Pointed Heels, £35; 11) ASOS Snow Leopard Fur Coat, £75

The really good news is that you can get 25% off full-priced ASOS collection until the end of today (Thursday 8 November) – just because I feel like sharing my special-person code. Stick in SUPERGOODIE at the checkout to reap the benefits!

PS;

I went acoustic, to fit with my snowy princess theme. Andrew WK is totally a snow princess, isn’t he?

! THIS IS A SPONSORED POST! 

Nan Goldin shoots Rodarte

Nan Goldin was one of my favourite photographers at college. Big deal, right? I don’t think you can go to art college and not think The Ballad of Sexual Dependency is an inspirational bible of ideas – I did a whole project around The Hug and still covet that dress dearly.

I’m not sure if it’s cool to still dig Nan as much as I do now that those days are behind me, but when I came across these pictures  that she’d shot for Grey magazine‘s Autumn/Winter 2012 edition I was pretty psyched. For this issue of the biannual hardcover ‘magazine’, Nan has shot the Rodarte archives which is just about a match made in heaven.

The grungy, gritty moodiness of Nan’s pictures is the perfect complement to the Rodarte pieces and the sisters’ general ethic of romantic but slightly dishevelled couture – there’s a real feel of a dark, slightly disturbing modern fairytale vibe throughout the story.

You can see the whole collection of images on Fashion Gone Rogue, which is also where these pictures are from.

Match made in heaven. You can buy Grey magazine for the mighty sum of $75!! to the UK, if online isn’t enough for you/.

Furcoat favourites: There’s a word for people like you

 

In Sheffield there’s a word for people who feel the cold badly; nesh. I never used to be nesh, but moving south has definitely transformed my inner thermostat. I am constantly freezing. In the office I have been known to sit under a blanket. I am wearing two dresses today, one basic jersey one purely serving as a snuggly bonus layer. My ASHISH x Topshop ski jacket is just about warm enough if worn with thermals, gloves, hat, scarf and triple-socks.

Regardless of whether you’re as nesh as I am, there’s no doubt it’s proper cold out there at the moment. Here are some things I’d like to use to tend to my extremities and… innertremities?

1) HeatTech Knitted Shorts, £9.90, Uniqlo - Cannot rave enough about HeatTech, ever. It is proper magic and has seen me through winters in Iceland and Norway and, indeed, Sheffield. Not so great when you’re getting on the tube and end up sweating like a beast but at all other times, A+.  Think these shorts are new for this year as I’ve not seen them before, but they seem a perfect alternative to the leggings that I usually wear.

2) Frauenschuh Wool Beanie, £140, Browns - I’d never heard of Frauenschuh until today, but any old German skiwear brand has got to know a thing or two about keeping warm. I’ve spent October in Hamburg and that was effing freezing, so I’m sure when it’s actually cold they’d pull all the stops out. And, still obsessed with beanies.

3) Bandana Scarf, £25, Lazy Oaf - It’s a SCARF and it has a BANDANA print. That just blows my tiny mind.

4) REN Rose Ultra-Moisture Serum, £42, Salon Skincare - This has been a winter favourite of mine since I first started writing about beauty. A little goes a very, very long way and if you slather it all over your face before bed you do legit wake up with a baby-soft face. Also, smells great. Who doesn’t link drifting off to a rosy-smelling face?

5) Amble Stripe Socks, £11.95, Barbour - As with point number two, a country-wear company is pretty much guaranteed to get warm socks right. Right? And you can definitely guarantee that a country-wear company are gonna nail offbeat colour combos – green and pink and violet and powder blue are my faves after this festive pair.

6) Markus Lupfer x Whistles Gloves, £45, Whistles - Markus Lupfer’s capsule collection for Whistles brings all the charm of his witty knits to the high street – to be honest my favourite things is the dog coat but as I’m sadly lacking in a pup, these gloves will have to suffice. They look pleasingly long too, which is handy as all my coats seem to have bracelet-length sleeves. That or I have freakishly long arms. Never considered that until now. Shit.

7) Nikka Whisky, £39.99, Selfridges - if in doubt, nothing beats a booze blanket.

Things I bought in America ii

 

Despite my elongated stay in America, I didn’t do much in the way of shopping. And I only bought one thing in Walgreens! Actually it wasn’t even Walgreens, it was CVS. RUBBISH compared to last time, especially when you consider that it was Halloween and I was in Southern California. Although… that may also be the reason I did less shopping – all of my money went on SoCal Mexican food. No kidding, I did my expenses yesterday and they were all for burritos and Pacifico.

Anyway, here are some things I did pick up;

a) Revlon Cream Brush in Flushed - I actually picked this up when I was looking for Halloween makeup because, man, that colour is bright in the pot. More fool me, it’s actually a pretty wearable shade but what’s great is that you can build it up to a bolder colour by layering it on. Really nice smooth consistency – I love creme blushes, so much easier to blend in for no go-faster stripes. It’s also  in a pale pink and a coral and you can get these in the UK as of about now too!

b) Vampire bat Pez – I’m not a Pez collector by any means but it’s a glow-in-the-dark bat with sweets inside it, so what did you expect?

c) Ghost Peeps - People at work just don’t get Peeps, so all these marshmallowy bastards will be eaten by me, before I crash and burn in a sugary heap.

d) Urban Outfitters Fuck Yeah! glass - Well, mainly I’m a child. But also I hate those tiny glasses you get in hotel rooms and I had a week to kill hanging out in my room drinking beer, it seemed sensible to buy my own bigger one.

e) Stussy Varsity Bear Sweater - I mean, I saw this and it had to be mine. It’s a bear with a skateboard! And there are palm trees on the sleeve! I wore this all the way home but since then it’s mainly been worn by Andy. Hmm. The actual jumper of dreams that they didn’t have in stock was THIS one. Beavis and Butthead representing Stussy in a big sloppy white sweater? Yes, oh yes.

f) BCBG Spike Headband - Man, the accessories at BCBG are good this season. I had about ten variations on this headband in my sweaty palms until I stopped to think about being 28 and buying ten spiky headbands.

g) Ricky’s No-Crease Bow Clips – I didn’t actually buy these, but they are from America and I did get them the other week from Christine who got them from me in NYC, where Ricky’s is based. I have harped on about these a lot but that’s because 1) look at them and 2) they’re really useful when you’re doing your hair. You basically use them to clip your out of the way while you’re doing your makeup  without living indents in your hair. Which probably sounds stupid, but when you’ve spent ages doing your hair, the last thing you want it a grip mark half way down. Probably one of those things that doesn’t cross your mind, but doing my job and spending a long time fannying around with hair, it’s a big deal to me. And now they’re mine!

Thank Furcoat it’s Friday

A little late, but I’m finally back in the country – let’s hope things go back to normal for real next week.

1) An interesting piece on the Dolly Sisters from The Daily Mail (sorry). Perfectly timed to build some hype for ITV”s upcoming Mr Selfridge drama - the sisters were a long-term obsession for the department store founder – I just hope this  leads to a new biography… I wrote a bit about the sisters here and you can find the existing biography here. [Picture: Unique Creatures]

2) One of my favourite writers, Jon Savage, is interviewed for the Guardian about the Californian punk scene. You’d better believe how much I enjoyed reading this and listening to the compilation album while I was stranded in SD. You can previous mentions of Jon Savage on this blog here! [Picture: Continuum Transfunctioner]

3) The Business of Fashion has a nice interview with Whistles CEO, Jane Shepherdson, here. [Picture: Because London]

4) 10 London Pubs with a Story to Tell – it’s things like this that make me love the Time Out blog so much And London, I guess. The one about the Grand Union, huh? And the Widow’s Son – what a tradition…? [Picture: Spitalfields Life - there are SO many good old pub pics on here that you should check out]

5) I found Charlie Porter’s review of the Hollywood Costume exhibit at the V&A pretty interesting. I’ll still be going to see it – and I’m sure I’ll still thoroughly enjoy it – but it does raise some questions and it’s good to see a review looking at the nitty gritty of the exhibition rather than just swooning at the sight of everything. I really, really love everything Charlie writes. It’s embarrassing. PS The Hollywood Costume app looks SO much fun. [Picture: All Movie Photos]

Trapped in the whale’s vagina

Guess who’s stranded in San Diego for the rest of the week?

The weather in California may be glorious, but the flight schedule isn’t. On the plus side, this means I can go and visit all the shops/taco stands/museums/taco stands/galleries/taco stands that I’d researched and didn’t have time to fit in.

First stop; TAANG!

Here’s to the San Diego punk scene for keeping me psyched this week – Ill buy everything in TAANG! to return the favour;