Outfit Post // Vogue Festival 2012

As anyone who is following us on twitter or instagram will be well aware, on Saturday we were lucky enough to attend Vogue's very first fashion festival at the weekend. We will warn you now, this is probably going to be a long post, so much to tell you!

Our journey to the Royal Geographical Society, the venue for the second day of the Vogue Fest, was somewhat less than stylish. We sleepily dragged ourselves up and out of bed at the ungodly hour of 5am, to manically rush to the train station, attracting some dubious stares from passers-by on our way as we coated up on layers of lipstick and clumped by in completely unpractical platforms (further confirmation on the unpracticality of platforms coming later...) 


We then had an anxious 40 mins of watching announcements of our train getting more and more delayed! We made it to London with 15 minutes to make our way over to South Kensington, so we got our fast-as-we-can-in-huge-heels walk on!

Lauren wore: Coat, ASOS Premium; Collar, Lou Lou Loves You; Jeans, Topshop; Shirt, H&M (ribbon added!); Wedges, ASOS; Socks, Topshop; Satchel, H&M.

Rhi wore: Dress, Christopher Kane for Topshop; Coat, Topshop; Cardigan, Matalan; Shoes, Next; Bag, Primark. 

Equilibrium was restored once more as we flounced up Exhibition Road, home to the marvelous Natural History Museum and the V&A, stopping to take a few snaps of the magnificent architecture... until, Lauren stacked it and went head over heels (platform drama)... and came back up with a cut hand and damaged pride, gah. Luckily, there was only one other lovely man in the vicinity that viewed the disaster, and came over with concern and a whole lot of pity in his eyes. C'est la vie!

 

First up was a talk by the absolutely incredible Diane Von Furstensberg, entitled, 'Turning a passion for life into a penchant for business'. We've all heard about formidable impact that Diane made upon the fashion world, creating the first ever wrap dress, and staying true to the goals she set for herself at an early age. She began her fairytale (literally, she married a Prince!) by recalling how she created her very first collection whilst heavily pregnant, and then continued by leading us through an enchanting labrinyth of her life, career twists and turns, her walk away from fashion, and finally her phenomenal comeback! 


She was beautiful, inspirational, funny and unbelievably grounded. What a lady! We think everyone left wishing that DVF would be their fairy godmother, appearing whenever we had a momentary crisis of confidence, or were in desperate need of one her figure loving wrap dresses. We might even allow ourselves to watch all the re-runs of The City to get more glimpses of the DVF HQ! Here's a few of our favourite quotes from DVF,

"Be the woman you want to be."

"I was told to focus on the vintage, after all I am myself, vintage", DVF on bringing back her 70s wrap dresses.

"I had three children, a boy, a girl, and a brand."
"As a young girl, I did not know what I wanted to be, but I knew the woman that I wanted to be... independent, a woman that pays her own bills, can go out with a man without worrying if he'll call."

 

We left the main auditorium as fast we could to try and catch Tim Walker, only to find that that the session was already in progress and the queue for the second was so big it spiralled through 3 rooms. We are sad to say that we sacrificied our position to ensure that we didn't lose a seat for the next few talks back in the main theatre. 


However, we did manage to find out that he only uses film rather than digital cameras and natural sunlight, amazing (thanks Emma!). For the hour that we had spare, we had a wander through some of the other rooms, and stumbled across the cover shoot room (where you could dress up in designer and adorn yourself with a Chanel bag and leave with a professionally taken photo of yourself on the front of a mocked up Vogue cover) The other highlight was the red lipstick bar... we died and went to red lipstick heaven!

 

It was then time, to head back for the next session. Fashion Question Time! We definitely should have got ourselves a quick refreshment from one of the lovely make-shift cafes that Vogue had set up, dehydration is not cool. Anyway, Fashion QT was a panel of fashion's finest talent, including Christopher Kane, Holly Fulton, Henry Holland, Roksanda Ilincic, Mary Katrantzou and Nicholas Kirkwood, interrogated by a selection of questions sent in via twitter and the audience. 


To our surprise, they were all incredibly humble and dare we say, quite shy. We were expecting Devil Wears Prada esque attitude from someone, but they all seemed, lovely. They were also all incredibly knowledgeable about the design business as a whole, and most of all realistic about their profession. Recalling moments of excitement as their business began to explode across the fash-o-sphere, divulging secrets about their pre-show nerves, post-show celebrations (they party hard) and offering fascinating insight into their brands and helpful advice to audience member's questions.


It has to be said, Roksanda Ilincic is out.of.this.world. Not only is she one of the most beautiful ladies in the whole universe, with a wardrobe and collection to die for (a collection that has been worn by Michelle Obama & Kate Middleton no less), but she is also blessed with the most enchanting, ethereal manner, it would be difficult not to be captivated by her absolute loveliness!

 

We have been banging on about our excitement for the David Bailey relentlessly for a week now, we apologise profusely if you follow us on twitter. It goes without saying that he is one of the most iconic photographers of our time. In fact, iconic doesn't even cover it. There's not anything that we can say about his back story that everyone shouldn't already know. Interviewed by Vogue Features Director, Jo Ellison, Bailey was an absolute gem. Completely charming, endearingly brash, charismatic and oh so, cheeky (admitting that he was unsure about the casting of Karen Gillan as the beautiful Jean Shimpton, joking that he'd rather bed Aneurin Barnard than Karen, eek!) In addition to this he spoke about his more recent ventures, namely the photography he's been doing out in Afghanistan. He had the whole auditorium laughing with him and at him, the entire time. Here's a few of our favourite Bailey quotes,

"Everybody has a story, I just have to find it"

"This shirt I'm wearing is, David Lawrence, Ralph Lawrence? what is it? Ralph Lauren!"

"Most people don't like the photos I take of them at first, it takes about 10 years and then they say that it's the best picture of them ever taken... it's probably because the photo is too honest"

"I'd like to photograph everybody in the world"

Uh, us first please, Mr Bailey!

 

We met Alexa outside, who was also in attendance for the great, DB!

 

By this time, we were well & truely parched so we took a wander through Knightsbridge for a lunchtime beverage... and ended up in Harrods, lusting after Mulberry's and trying not to purchase every delicious looking thing from the food courts! Mmm. Though, just who buys milk from Harrods?

 

We did however, allow ourselves to purchase some teeny treats, including a very yummy strawb & champagne preserve for Lauren's mum & the cutest box of Macaroons in all our favourite flavours from the Laduree Cafe! We went for Rose, Violet & Blackberry, Raspberry & Coconut, Lemon and Salted Caramel! Best ever!


All in all, a pretty good day!


Much love,
Lauren xx

PS.  To celebrate our first year in Twee Towers on Sunday, we're giving you the chance to win all of our fave twee-treats in a GIVEAWAY! ♥  Remember to check back for your chance to win!

Live blogging from Vogue Festival!

Image source: here
We're insanely excited! To kick off festival season, we're heading to London tomorrow to attend Vogue's very first Festival! Bringing together fashion's finest designers, photographers, models & journalists for two days of Q&A's, talks, films and style excess! Those in the business will be imparting their knowledge & sharing their secrets and there's even opportunities to take part in workshops and makeovers.
Split into am & pm sessions, we've gone for Saturday morning's delightful line up of amazingness... Diane Von Furstenberg, TIM WALKER, Holly Fulton, Henry Holland, Roksanda Illinic, CHRISTOPHER KANE, Mary Katrantzou, Nicholas Kirkwood and DAVID BAILEY!!!! If it was appropriate to squeal in public, we would.
Let us know if you're attending, we'd love to meet up with fellow bloggers and fashion obsessives! 
If you can't make it to the event, we promise to keep you up to date with what's going on... we'll be tweeting through out the day, instagramm'ing our snaps and generally just sharing our excitement about getting so close to Fashion's greats.  Follow us on twitter and to follow on instagram, search for dressesinblack. 
Have a lovely weekend!
Much love, Lauren xx

Tremendous Tips for Braving Spring Flea-Markets!

As the Spring season draws in, there is nothing better than getting up early on a Sunday morning and going for a meander around a flea market. One of the must-do's on the agenda of Lola & James' Berlin adventure was getting to one of the hugely popular flea markets that were littered around the City. After checking out a few online first, they opted for the Arkonaplatz market, located in the Mitte district, advertised as a haven for fans of Sixties & Seventies. Nom. 


The problem is, with the warmer weather also comes the larger crowd and the competition to bag yourself exquisite antiques and beautiful bargains heats up! At this time of year you need a plan as well as a good eye and it's also easy to feel overwhelmed by the vast array of knick-knacks on offer. So today we are sharing our top tips, that will hopefully help you have a successful trip around the flea-markets and as girls that love shopping, we like to think we know a thing or two... 







1. Arrive early - we're starting with an obvious one, it goes without saying. Not only are you putting yourself in the same privileged position as the rest of the savvy, flea-market frequenters to bag the bargains first, but it's also wise to be careful of item hoppers - a self-penned term ;)! That is, vendors browsing around the market early on, buying items and selling it on their own stall later in the day at an increased price! Apparently, it happens a lot more frequently than you think and sometimes items can jump from several stalls throughout the day and the price multiply each time!

2. Take cash - another obvious tip but in a day and age where we rely on carrying around our cash cards, it's so, so easy to forget to cash out for occasions like this and it would be simply tragic (we're not even being dramatic, tragic!) to miss out on something that you love, purely because you didn't have the cash on you!

3. Have an initial browse - As we mentioned earlier, it's really easy to be overwhelmed by the fast pace  and bumble of people crammed into compact markets not to mention the thousands upon thousands of items on offer.... just where do you start? We found that the best thing to do was to have an initial browse up and down all the aisles to get a feel for what sort of things were on offer before heading back to take a closer look at the things which caught our eye! Remember, most flea markets are open all day (9am-5pm) so take your time :) 



4. Make a wish list - it's so much easier to find something you'll love for years to come if it's something that will have a place in your home. Make a wishlist beforehand, even if you divert from the list for a couple of impromptu bought items, it keeps a sense of focus when browsing amongst the variety of knick-knacks available... it's easy to get carried away with no-so-practical purchases when it's all sittin' pretty! 



5. Buy old - Resist the urge to buy something new. At the Arkonaplatz market, vendors had also set up darling stalls full of home-made and vintage looking jewellery (Egyptian inspired beetle jewels & cameo necklaces, gah!) as lovely as they looked, it seems a shame to browse around a flea market, only to come home with something brand new that you could search out online. Keep to the old and the antique and then you'll truely feel like you've found a treasure!



6. Colour vision - Seems silly but it does work...use colour to scan out items from your favourite eras. Colour pops of bright orange kept catching my attention and pulling me towards wonderful stands full of 60s and 70s delights!


7. Do your research - This really does help! If you have access to internet on your phone, use it! This way you have a much greater idea of how much an item is really worth before you pay or barter... you could even show the vendor the prices that you've found to see if this will encourage them to knock off a little more dollar! James fell in love with a beautiful sounding harmonica from the 50s on one of the stalls, the vendor was adament that the price offered was a bargain... a quick browse on ebay soon uncovered that you could get them a little cheaper online! There's nothing worse than feeling fooled by a confident seller! 



8. Stay friendly & polite - although it might not aid your quest for lustrous bargains too much, remember that the majority of items on offer are probably from private collections or the seller's own possessions. Be respectful of sentimental value and use this to your advantage to find out as much information as you can about the items - it's always lovely to have a bit of backstory! 





9. Take a tape measure - At Twee Towers, practicality is not always our forte... remember we bought our sofa without even considering the shape or size of the living room before moving in... luckily it fitted! For bulkier, house hold items, being able to measure will be a useful tool and will save you tediously lugging around a chest of drawers only to find it's too big to fit anywhere!





10. Look past the wear and tear - we all get suckered in by pretty, visual merchandising and artistic set ups but some of the best antique junk looks just like it sounds... junk! We stumbled across a stall that at first glance looked like boxes upon boxes of recycled metal, on closer inspection they housed the most charming, ornate brass door knobs that would make an amazing feature on wooden drawers and dressers... and sooo much cheaper than you would pay elsewhere! At Twee Towers we live by the mantra that almost everything can be fixed, scrubbed up and upcycled!



11. A bonus tip - enjoy yourself! How often do you get to spend a day drifting around troves of vintage and antique treasure? Buying is much more interesting when you have to work to find your goods! 



We hope you enjoyed today's tips... happy shopping :)
Much love, L&R xx