Surviving London in Stilettos

‘Foxy Knoxy’

anamaria87 — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:46:46 +0000

In my long absence from blogging one thing which I particularly remember enraging me every morning whilst flicking through the ‘Metro’ to work, was reading all the gory outliers on the crimes of passion reported. Details which were given in an extremely ‘grotesque’ and juicy manner, often a little too much to swallow with the morning’s Nero latte. Amongst headlines of ‘Hamster Killer, man who microwaved pet’ were regular updates on the high-profile ‘trial de novo’ of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia. Scandalous details leaked from Knox’s diary were published, along with a full biopsy of her hair and make-up, on arrival into court that morning. Something had to be said about the sensitivity of a trial. This was all to the effect of making readers feel like an actual juror, or being instigated in some dark BBC drama. Later I discovered that the proceedings had finally been made into a film Amanda Knox, Murder on Trial in Italy, the story of a ’riveting real-life murder mystery’ details of which were far too enticing to be kept out of the press or a movie. The film would be glittered with A-Listers playing the principle protagonists of the case.

Indeed Hayden Panettiere portraying Knox has commented ‘She’s not a malicious girl. She didn’t have any intention to do this. This wasn’t an angry or dark girl,’. Hayden later also added ‘She really tried to be as stoic and as brave as she could against all odds and I do commend her for it.’I just hope that Amanda Knox approves of this depiction, and her newly found fame. Finally with or without a ruling, it seems that the case has been closed for what, in the eyes of a movie director and a ‘few’ worldwide viewers. The trial is scheduled to end in late 2011.

Erin Kleinberg

anamaria87 — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 12:35:17 +0000

A few months back I was flicking through US Vogue and stumbled across something very hot…erinkleinberg. The fashion line had just been launched in the US by young new designer Erin Kleinberg. I hate clothes that are too feminine pretty. I always put waves in my hair and go full-board with candy girl make-up, so to give myself an edgier look I find myself choosing bold clothes in neutral colours. My whole wardrobe is black, grey, neutral, or oyster. But so that I don’t look completely Puritan I love detail…gunmetal chains, slouchy detailed necklines and the occasional sequin (but not too cabaret). Erin Kleinberg has mastered this recipe perfectly.

“I like to think of my collection as American Apparel meets Nicolas Ghesquière!” Effortlessly sexy tops you could throw on with a blazer and pair of ripped Levi’s.

Although her line is only currently available in the US, I couldn’t help myself and went over-board by creating the first official Facebook page for the label. I was then greatly overwhelmed when my Inbox displayed a thank you message from Erin Kleinberg herself! She also informed me that she is working with her representatives on securing a few retailers in London for Spring. Label lovers watch this space…

PRIMARK Loathe!

anamaria87 — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 14:06:08 +0000

PRIMARK disgusts and offends me! Before anyone dismisses this as snobbish…please read my justifications. Not because Primarettes clad head to toe in ‘Primani’ fashions-a complete outfit costing about £9, look cheap and homogeneous. ‘OMG you’re wearing the same outfit as the other 5 of us in here!’ Or because their bulging brown paper bags take up the entirety of a train carriage/bus/pavement. Which I wish would just explode from the strain of the shoes,slippers,blanket, hot water bottle, pyjamas and six vest tops in there! But solely due to the business ethics involved. Although my comrades seem pleased to announce that their ‘skirt (complete with belt) only cost £3 from Primark!’ I flinch whenever I hear this….and start my ranting. Primark can offer cheap clothes due to their economies of scale, and due to the fact that they abhorrentley abuse the human rights of their sweat shop workers.

Their workers in Bangladesh receive a wage of £13.97 a month, far less than the £44.82 amount needed for food, clean water, shelter, clothes, education, health care and transport. More closely to home…the BBC found exhausted illegal immigrants forced to work 12 hours a day, seven days a week sewing clothes for the chain in unserving factories. An undercover reporter received £133 for working 43 hours at one of Primark’s garment suppliers in Manchester , just a mile-and-a-half from the city’s flagship store. That’s just £3 an hour. And on Friday, a News of the World reporter bought a £10 taupe ladies’ cardigan from Primark identical to a garment the investigator saw being made.

So putting this in retrospect…in the UK someone was being paid £0.30 to make that £10 cardigan, and in Bangladesh just £0.03! PRIMARK then enjoys the remaining £9.97 from every cardigan sold, and like a Monoploy board winner uses it to put up more and more Primark monstrosities on every single high street in the UK. What disgusts me even more is that the average Primark shop for the UK shopper equates to an Indian worker’s monthly wage and gets them four stuffed paper bags worth of ‘goodies’ which are then completely disregarded in a weeks time! I know of people who find it cheaper and more convenient to wear a new set of Primark socks and underwear each day and then throw them away, rather than washing them. Or wear a Primark garment once and then bin it or never wear it again….because come next week they like to traper off to Primark again, and fight with other shoppers in the abomination, leaving with another four bags-£15′s worth of wastage. To think that Primark is the root cause of the ‘throway fashion’ mentality emerging in today’s society which is not only wasteful, but also uses up resources nonsensically and encourages sweat shop labour. So before throwing away that top which costs less than a box of washing powder because you’ve just realised it looks cheap, everyone else is wearing it and you’ve worn it once anyway….remember the poor Indian guy who sat on the cold factory floor and only got paid £0.01p for making it. That’s the worst fashion statement you can make!

Snow Chic-’did you mean Snow Check’?

anamaria87 — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:08:17 +0000

I keep checking the internet for weather updates. Everyone’s talking about the ‘Big Freeze’, ”military troops have been called to help motorists in the adverse weather conditions”, my colleague’s flat mate who’s been granted a ‘snow day’ off from work is apparently at the supermarket ”stocking up on supplies for the winter”. As big snowflakes drift past my window, the cause of my stress is the fact that flights have been grounded at Gatwick airport. I have a four-star hotel booked in Milan for this weekend, and if those planes don’t budge off the runway I’m not going anywhere near the fashion capital. As I lived there for a year, I was getting rather excited about re-visiting my favourite hotspots…The Club, Trattoria Toscana-where you walk in through the kitchen first; to find the most charming restaurant complete with fountain round the back. Lolita shoes tucked in between the Duomo and Rinascente with beautiful soft leather shoes that feel like they’ve been made in heaven. Ok…daydream over as ‘adverse weather conditions’ sounds on the radio again! I Google ‘snow chic’ thinking about the Marc Jacobs yeti boots I saw in ‘City Am’ this morning and the server kindly suggests; did I mean ‘snow check’? Here we go again! Maybe its a sign, maybe not…I still hope that I can look chic in the snow in Milan this weekend!

Stilettos and public transport don’t merge too well!

anamaria87 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:43:35 +0000

So I had a Taxi addiction and it proved to be a very expensive habit…I’m now subjected to taking the underground everywhere. I hate the underground. Mostly because I believe that a colony of ants could run it better than the current TFL posy. ..

”Due to the adverse weather conditions there are delays on the Central line.”-since when did snow affect the tracks underground?

“We are currently being held at a red signal.” -I hear this and envisage them playing the underground like a massive scalextric.

So that we don’t completely lose our cool, they have taken to publishing such posters…

Ok thanks; well I’ll just walk then…

Who’s set for extinction in London…?

anamaria87 — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 12:11:15 +0000

For the last few months, just shortly after completing my university degree I have been contemplating moving out of London. The city which overwhelmed me as a young girl from the first time I arrived; stepping out of Green Park station, surrounded by the flashing lights of the Ritz and the hustle and bustle of city workers flooding into Starbucks and filing out of Fortnum and Mason at midday. I decided that I had to be HERE! I applied to London universities and chose to study at UCL. However four years later, the city which had once inspired me so much, no longer felt the same. On my way into the office this morning, looking around at the people who pressed up against me on the crammed tube…all the same, sharp T.M Lewin suits and shiny watches, I wondered where were the shop floor workers, mums doing the school run, or old age pensioners going to shop for their groceries? Then it hit me that those groups of people barely existed in London or central London to say the least. The constant demographic of people who filled my train carriage were city workers, bankers and a few young professionals who had ‘made it’. All those other groups of people now barely existed here or were extinct… It made me think that if I made the decision to quit the struggle in the city and move somewhere else, where my pennies stretched much further and I had more of a disposable income, what would be left in London? Middle age bankers, CEO’s and politicians, but where would their workers be, shop assistants, or bin men to collect their refuse?