Halston Rediscovered

Halston was THE luxury label of the 70s. Think slinky, think louche, think studio 54. It was founded by Roy Halston Frowick who could have been a poster boy for the American dream. He started off his career as a milliner but wanting to spread his creative wings established his own clothing label in 1966 with financial backing from Bergdorf Goodman and as they say a star was born. He rubbed shoulders with the elite of his day and the glitterati - Elizabeth Taylor, Anjelica Houston, Bianca Jagger - all partied in his sensual yet elegant designs. But his meteoric rise was to end in tragedy - he sold his business for 12 million dollars in 1973 and was sacked from the company he built from scratch in 1984. He died in the early 90s from AIDS. There have been several attempts to relaunch the label but they've all proved unsuccessful until now. Thirty years after the its inception a clique comprised of fashion and hollywood hotshots - Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon, hollywood heavyweight Harvey Weinstein, uber stylist Rachel Zoe and Versace's Marco Zaniniare -are taking a stab at recapturing the ethos of the brand. So what can we expect? Well the show debued at New York Fashion week today and net-a-porter has inked an exclusive deal to show footage of the launch and sell two key pieces tomorrow. You can check it out at www.net-a-porter.com

Quality Control

Marc by Marc Jacobs Jumper:



Paul & Joe Sister Cardigan:



Chloe Patent Bay Bag:



Quality. What does this really mean? And does this concept stand a chance in our mass market, 'I want it now', quick fix, fast fashion consumer driven culture. Proust I'm not but I was reading the book 'Style A to Zoe: The Art of Fashion, Beauty and Everything Glamour' by uber stylist Rachel Zoe and in it she talks a lot about having good quality things that stand the test of time. And it got me thinking about how in 07' I got completely carried away by cheap chic. Now by my own admission I am a magpie and a hoarder. I adore shiny, pretty covetable things. But now I realise perhaps it was a bit of a fashion faux pas - let's call it a blip. I mean do I really need 8 pairs of grey skinny jeans? Probably not. Worst case scenario if I wear them all in a week I'll be mistaken for a soap dodger too lazy to change her clothes. Best case friends and co-workers will think I look trendy-ish but lack imagination. Also for the price of the jeans I could have bought myself a seriously cool designer dress. You know the kind you fantasize about owning and accidententally on purpose bumping int your ex while wearing it radiating a casual cool - while he stands there speechless and mentally cursing himself for breaking up with you. But never actually get round to buying because it just seems so out of your price range.

This is what I call a price comfort level block. For some reason spending what I consider to be lots of money on one garment makes me jittery. It's derived from the same logic that makes me stop and mull over paying more than £4 for a shower gel I'll use every day but goads me into spending £50 on a ridiculously high pair of crippling stilletos that I'll only wear a couple of times.

Iman said it all when she uttered the phrase 'My image is my currency'. And if so shouldn't we be putting our best foot, face forward at all times. So I've decided to make more of an effort to mix high and low. And as I've got tons of low trust me I'm a high street addict prioritising quality above quantity will be my new shopping mantra. In comes items from great diffusion lines Paul & Joe Sister, McQ by Alexander McQueen and sartorial gems from Chloe, Dolce & Gabbana, and Boutique Labels. And I thinking of going the whole hog and even finding a good tailor. Fit is everything after all. And I suspect that this pared down approach will be the making of my overstuffed wardrobe. It's a work in progress but I'll post updates soon.