How Sweet It Is!

TFFF never got to properly celebrate our anniversary (can you believe its been over a year) but thankfully our friends at Vosges Haute Chocolate were kind enough to send us a some delectable chocolate in honor of it.

As a rule I only talk about things I actually like on the blog so believe me when I say I love this stuff. I might actually be addicted to the Macha Tea Bar, its that good. I just wanted to give a little shout out and say thanks to Paige and co. for treating us to these incredible delicacies.

Now, since were already on the subject of chocolate feel free to chime in with your favorites.

One, Two, Three Is Sesame Street

Forgive me readers, for I have sinned: the beauty of the blogosphere (aside, obviously, from the word "blog" which I like to use as often as possible in the hopes that somehow, somewhere, Anna Wintour will cry out in pain and she won't know why) is that you can update round the clock, bringing readers the fashion news even before it has happened.

Yet here we are and I think the last update from your Euro correspondent was way back in the mists of time...when Rachel Zoe still had representation, when Professor McGonagall still had hopes that Albus would one day see what lay beneath her stern robes, when it wasn't so flipping cold.

Mea culpa. However please accept a number of delays between now and December as I struggle to complete my magnum opus on teen television. I hope to cast aside such worthy issues as "does Dan Scott from One Tree Hill use hair straighteners?" and "isn't Canada too cold for people to frolic al fresco like I'm seeing on Falcon Beach?" every now and then to bring you various fashion tidbits from across the pond.


Penelope Cruz for Spanish fashion label Mango

Like today's subject, inspired by a piece from The Independent, all about the Spanish fashion industry and standardised sizing on clothes:

Following years of complaints from frustrated consumers, the Spanish government has acted to bring order to the chaotic disparity of clothes sizes. The socialist health ministry, which has responsibility for consumer affairs, has struck an unprecedented deal with big Spanish retailers, manufacturers and trade associations to standardise clothes sizes and end consumer confusion.

...

Last month technicians from Spain's health ministry visited the first of 59 towns across the country to measure 10,415 Spanish women, aged between 12 and 70, to find out what size and shape the nation's females really are.

...

The aim is to promote "a realisable image of healthy beauty – neither Rubens women nor anorexic girls", according to the health minister, Bernat Soria. "It is our commitment that beauty and health go hand in hand."

The article goes on to note that the standardised system will also include promises from retailers to size up their window mannequins to at least a UK 10 (US 6), and to incorporate size UK 18 (US 14) into all ranges rather than treating it as a 'special' size and hiding it away.

It might sound like only a tentative move towards body acceptance, but UK 18 is one size larger than Topshop and many other uber-fashionable high street brands. Short of a bloody revolution and overthrowing the ateliers, or something, I think moves like this -- one step, or size, at a time -- are the way we're going to get progress in the industry.

The thrust of the article is less about the irritants of being one size in one store and another in another (annoying though that is, you eventually get to know your Size Per Store), and more about the negative effects differing sizes can have on body image. I can't speak for every Brit, but one of the delights of shopping in the US for us is -- aside from the strong pound and everything being totally cheaper anyway -- going down two sizes. Sometimes we'll buy stuff just to waft around and be all "I'm size 8!"

It's less fun shopping in continental Europe and coming out with a size 44 or whatever (not least because I really don't understand what that is). I have to assume that it's something metric that makes no sense compared to our thoroughly simple system of sizing things in pints, guineas and shillings.


Hastily constructed and not necessarily accurate size converter.

It's just too much. Like why do France and Spain go from a 46 to 50 in one sizing step? Just to be difficult and, y'know, French? What's with Japan going for the odd numbers? If S starts that low, do plus sizes end up being called XXXXXXXXL? Because that will look silly on the label and make nobody happy. And don't even get me started on Gap doing that annoying Sizes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. Size 3 isn't a size! Soylent Green is people!

I'm actually wearing right now: a Gap vest, Size S/P (?!), a Primark cardigan, Size 8-10 (so...in between sizes?), and Stella McCartney for Adidas track pants, Size 12 (the only label that gives a conversion to all other sizes, except, weirdly, the US).* Number-number style sizing I can cope with, up to a point, for stuff like cardigans or whatever -- if they're not meant to be fitted, I guess a random one-size-fits-several attitude is acceptable. Plus it's Primark. BUT 'S/P' IS NOT A SIZE.

*I'm at home and it's cold and I'm poorly! Please don't judge me on this mishmash.

Am I alone? Do y'all find yourself wandering around stores just utterly perplexed and guesstimating the size? Feeling crappy when you go up two or four numbers? I do think that using numbers or graded size words plays into this: would one strive for a size zero if it were called something else? And as pointed out above, if you start sizing S at a UK 10, you pretty quickly run out of options except to just keep adding Xs in the manner of the stalkery love notes I write to Bryan Greenberg until he gets a restraining order, um, you can't fit any more on the label.

I personally think the fashion industry needs to steal a leaf from the food industry's book (perhaps playing speedknob on it, and writing 'I smell' for good measure, then flicking its pigtails), and, following Spain's lead, standardise the lot. Perhaps not worldwide, but cutting a swathe across continents so you can flit between, say, London, Paris and Milan buying up a storm without having to carry a calculator. As each country's population has changed a great deal, and differently, measuring 10,000+ women seems a good place to start in drawing up the new sizing.

(If they can also make bra manufacturers stick to the same sizing chart, I and my boobs would say a hearty thank you also.)

Then when they're done measuring and cutting and sticking and drawing and deciding, (you know, the all powerful 'they'), a system that doesn't involve ever increasing numbers or judgey words would be super. I'd far rather be a size green or a size fabulous than a size 12 anyway. How great would that be? Not only are you the same size in every store, but it's a positive (if totally random) word, that bears no relation to any other size words. So instead of having people sniffle that they're now a size delicious and need to diet back down to size effervescent, they..wouldn't.

After the Fall : Autumn Fragrances

The weather is finally cold enough to be called fall without my resorting to irony. As such its high time to switch the summer fresh scent staples and head into deeper, darker, sexier perfume territory. All those heavy decadent scents that were too pronounced back in summer are just perfect for fall. Now is not the time for a whisper of lemon zest and a hint of lily - fall is when we have free reign to break out the tuberose and go wild so we might as well enjoy it. As such here are six perfume winners, tried and tested - no hyped up scents that fail to make the grade, no ridiculous celebrity perfumes (why would anyone even want to smell like Britney Spears at this point) , just six incredible warm, heady, sensual scents you should try right now.



Les Nuits d'Hadrien

Notes : Green Mandarin, tangerine, bergamot, Sicilian lemon, ylang-ylang, cumin, sandalwood, white musk, amber, vanilla

Everyone knows that Eau de Hadrien is pretty much summer in a bottle. Its the kind of bright, sunny citrus that you want to just bathe in the moment the temperature hits past 75. Nuits d'Hadrien takes that essence and deepens into something great for all year round. You still get that initial burst of rich lemon but its surrounded by spicy woody notes that are intoxicating. Best of all its always stays fresh and clean - a great bonus for anyone looking to change their scent for the season without getting into anything too intense.

Premier Figuier
Notes : Fig, fig leaf, milk of almond, sandalwood and coconut

Delicious. Absolutely and completely delicious. You'll be licking at your wrist it smells that good and while that prospect might not seem particularly enticing something has to be said about a sweet and infinitely addictive fig scent. There is something about this perfume that is completely quirky - if you want a break from the usual florals or zesty citrus blends Premier Figuier is delightful. And for an even more intense experience try the Extreme version.

Gucci by Gucci

Notes : Guava, raspberry, pear, Tahitian Tiare flower, orange blossom, spider lily, patchouli, honey and musk

Anyone who knows me knows that I've had my issues with Gucci since Tom Ford left. Sorry Frida, I just can't get excited about the clothes anymore but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the latest scent to the fullest. A smoky mix of patchouli, amber and enough fruit to make a smoothie that dries down into something musky and close to the skin. Gorgeous enough to make me forget all about the horror of those plaid pants they showed for fall. If anything this veers back to the houses 1970s disco roots - there is something very Studio 54 about the whole deal from the scent itself to the print ads and even the bottle its all just decadent.

Serge Lutens Un Bois de Vanille

Notes : Vanilla, Bitter Almond, Musk, Licorice, Sandalwood, Coconut Milk

Do you know that feeling of curling up by a fireside with a warm cup of tea on the coldest day of the year? This is that feeling in a bottle. Warm vanilla spice mingled with a creamy caramelized sugar and sandalwood. There is something comforting about it but at the same time its just a little dangerous. You can smell the hint of smoke that keeps this from being just another milk and cookies vanilla scent.


Narciso Rodriguez for Her

Notes: Honey Flower, Solar Musk, Orange Blossom, Osmanthus, Amberlyn, Vanilla, Tactile Musk, Tactile Woods, Vetiver.

Musk is one of those love it or hate it things. There's something animalistic about it that either you respond to or your don't. Personally I can't get enough of it but I know its not for everyone. Thankfully Narciso Rodriguez for her exists - a musk thats just dirty enough for the bad girls but still clean enough that you can pair it with pearls and a twinset without resorting to irony. Plus there is more than a fair amount of amber in the mix - a complete fall fragrance standby.


Carnal Flower

Notes: Bergamot, Melon, Eucalyptus, Ylang Ylang, Salycilates, Jasmine, Tuberose absolute, Orange Blossom absolute Coconut,White Musks

Alright. Here's where we separate the girls from the women. Carnal Flower is not for the faint of heart - its deep, entrancing and completely sexy. The words strong and powerful come to mind when I think of this. A blast of tuberose completely anthethetical to any you've had before. This isn't Fracas 2.0, its something new. A green freshly picked tuberose mixed with jasmine that dries down to a deep dark musk. Intoxicating and so luxurious. Its rare to find something that combines green and warm so expertly but this does.

What will you ladies be wearing this fall in the fragrance department? I've got my Carnal Flower right here but the new Tom Ford Black Orchid Voile de Fleur is also high on my list this time around.

Wonders Never Cease...

Never thought I'd see the day but Kaiser has rejected 3 models from the Chanel S/S show for being far too thin.


Models Raquel Zimmerman, Julia Dunstall and Vlada Roslyakova with Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel S/S 08

Karl Lagerfeld revealed in Paris he had taken a dramatic stand on the size zero issue by rejecting three models for his Chanel catwalk show yesterday (Friday) because they were 'too skinny'.

"It is the first time I have ever done something like this," he said.

"I have nothing against skinny girls. But these were terrible. They looked as if they had grown up in a Third World country with no food to eat.

"I sent them back to the agency. I did not think they should be modeling," said the designer.

He described the three models – who he did not identify – as being so thin as to look 'almost deformed' and agreed his stance may persuade other designers to follow suit.

I can't help but be curious as to which girls he sent packing (though I have my suspicions) but of course thats just my inner gossip fiend working over time. Kudos to Karl for actually doing that in his rude very Karl way. Granted, Karl is no friend to anyone over a size 4 but I give him credit for sending the girls home. This is one of the few times I've heard of a big designer sending girls back for being too thin and this is Karl "The girls are not anorexic but the clothes are" Lagerfeld, who has defended the size zero trend in the past. Good to see that he's changing his tune or at least altering it slightly. I really am curious as to which girls were sent back - usually its very known models (or up and coming) who get cast for Chanel and for someone to be so thin that Karl thinks they look bad they would have to be essentially transparent.

One small step I suppose. I hope more designers aren't afraid to send girls back to their agencies.

Smoke & Mirrors

I remember being around 12 when it occurred to me that all my favorite models had one thing in common - cigarettes. It seemed at the time like an odd shared habit given the little I knew about cigarettes themselves but I couldn't help but notice that in every other runway picture or behind the scenes photograph the models were standing around sipping champagne and puffing on Marlboros. The images were so prevalent that I began to merely consider smoking to be one of those things models did - much like wearing fancy clothes or knowing how to walk in 6 inch heels. It was just part of their job.

It wasn't until a year or so later that I learned models use cigarettes to avoid getting hungry and suddenly it made sense.


Snejana Onopka lights up

This week The New York Times has an article Still Too Thin, and Getting Younger on the rampant use of cigarettes and other appetite suppressants along with the continuously decreasing age of fashion models. Its a sobering (and depressing) look into the tactics girls use to keep themselves waifish. The facts are unsurprising yet still manage to be staggering - a few choice excerpts:

There, one might be startled to find, scattered on the makeup table alongside the iPod and the Motorola SLVR (a device that electronics blogs approvingly call the anorexic phone), other currently common tools of the trade like Vicodin, clenbuterol and Marlboro Lights.

Vicodin, of course, is the prescription painkiller Eminem liked so much he immortalized it on “The Slim Shady LP,” and a drug better appreciated in the fashion business for its appetite-suppressing powers than for the truly unappetizing truth that it is only slightly less addictive than heroin. Clenbuterol is a steroid used by athletes, horse trainers and models to reduce body fat (one study of clenbuterol in horses showed significant weight reduction in a matter of weeks). “A lot of girls are using it now to keep their weight down,” said Kelly Cutrone, the founder of People’s Revolution, a fashion production company.

The one thing you will never hear anyone utter a peep of concern about when it comes to models is smoking. Yet it’s pretty common knowledge that they smoke more than long-haul truckers, road workers or Sylvia Sidney in “Beetlejuice.” The blue-collar reference here is intentional since, despite its putative glamour, a modeling gig is more like that of a supermarket checker than one would imagine. Both draw on a work force that tends to be uneducated and young.

. . .

No matter where, fashion-show readying areas all seem subject to local fire-safety standards, which designers observe by posting No Smoking signs prominently above the communal ashtray. Models smoke every place and all the time, in a nimbus of backstage hairspray, in alleyways at the rare shows (Prada, Bottega Veneta) whose designers won’t permit smoking indoors. They smoke at smart fashion parties and in the little Smart cars their agencies use to ferry them from one casting to the next. They smoke in a number of surprisingly tolerant restaurants here, of course, because the maître d’ has not been born who would tell the gorgeously sultry 18-year-old Australian Catherine McNeil to stamp out her cigarette.

. . .

It happens that there’s a sinister circularity in this process. Killing appetite is one reason people reach for a Marlboro. And there is no question that dieting is an occupational necessity for the girls paid to make the refined but punishingly slim clothes that Raf Simons showed in his much-lauded Jil Sander show on Tuesday (brave and courageous were words that were used a lot) look chic and also humanly feasible to wear.

It is also true that smoking to lose weight only leads to more smoking. Or at least that is what animal studies linking food deprivation to the use of stimulants have found. When the fashion community is used to its next fit of moral dudgeon and wakes up again to the problems of underweight girls and the largely hidden abuse of things like clenbuterol, it will be worth reminding them that there is good science demonstrating that when you starve an animal, you make it a lot more vulnerable to self-abuse.

I think this last bit really hits the nail on the head. The standards that many of these girls are place under are in unrealistic and in general unhealthy and given the relative ages of models (the article mentions girls as young as 12) its easy to see how very vulnerable they can be to eating disorders and/or drug use. Take a girl away from her family, dump her in a strange city or country and tell her that her job is dependent only on her ability to fit into clothing small enough to be sold at Baby Gap and its going to create problems. End of story.

As informative as this piece was it didn't seem to offer any solutions and lets face it the fashion world isn't exactly looking for them either. Things are still business as usual. Now depending on your views on cigarettes you may or may not feel that models smoking is a big deal but I think we can all agree that the use of cigarettes in place of food is a bad thing, not to mention the use of steroids and prescription drugs.

As always I ask you to tell me how this makes you feel - right now I can't help but feel frustration. After all the talk of model regulations it seems nothing has changed at all.

Thanks to Harini for linking me to this article and reminding me to check my beloved Thursday Styles

A Leg Up: Fall's Wide Leg Pants

And were back! TFFF is fresh from vacation with a glow in our cheeks and our 100th post!

Of course now that we are back we must bid adieu to one of last years trademark trends.

Goodbye skinny denim! We hardly knew ye!

The time has come to usher in a new (new-old anyway) silohuette and while some of us are ecstatic about this development there are others who are clutching their drainpipe jeans in horror at the very prospect of wide leg pants. Its not hard to understand why - for every vision of Kate Hepburn in perfect high waisted trousers there is another equally prevalent image of shapeless baggy pants with legs so big they look like skirts. Wide legs pants can look chic just as easily as they can look bad so its important to know just how to wear this trend.


The Late Great Katherine Hepburn and the pants she made famous


Fit
The most important thing with wide legs (and with everything else for that matter) is fit. You want your pants to fit perfectly. Never too wide and never too tight. The perfect wide legs will be roomy throughout the entire leg.


Wide Legs on the Runway at Givenchy, Proenza & Phillip Lim

Note how the pants are full throughout the entire leg - if a pair of pants nips in at the thigh too much or is tight in general just wont look right. Form fitted is not the look were going for with these. Granted no one wants the very baggy "these pants are two sizes too big" look either so pay attention to how the pants skim over your body.

Length
Different strokes for different folks. I am an advocate of having just a little extra length on your wide leg pants incase you wish to wear heels. However no one wants to drown in excess fabric. If you are shorter your pants need to be hemmed accordingly, if you are taller they need to be extended accordingly. With wide leg pants slight differences in pant length are very apparent so its good to be conscious of these subtle differences.

Wide legs themselves are coming in different lengths as well now - there are of course wide leg capris and even shorts but the same rules apply. Make sure to try them on before buying. Too short on a wide leg can look like you've unintentionally worn high waters.

Proportions
I say this about everything but proportion is so important. Wide leg pants require the same amount of attention paid to proportion as skinny jeans do. If you're going for a wide leg its best to pair it with a smaller top. A flowing tunic top can look good as well but make sure its belted or cinched at the waist. Pairing a large top with large bottoms can be too much. Since the pants are already baggy its good to structure them with a fitted top or jacket.

Waist
High waists. Oh high waists. I'll be the first to admit they look cool. There is something very 1970s retro about a pair of pants with wide legs and a high waist there is no denying the popularity of this trend but buyer beware the trend is not particularly flattering. Be sure not to go too high - anything that cuts you off right under the boob are is almost guaranteed to look bad. And stick to darker colors - high waisted pants are already tricky and a dark color just makes things automatically flattering.

Accessorizing
Heels. Heels. Heels. I don't now how many times I have to say it but heels. If you are shorter (or even if you're not) heels will elongate your frame and make your wide leg pants look better. Try a great pair or platforms (more on those later this week) and I guarantee you wont regret it.

Since the waist is the focus of your outfit you'll want to invest in a good belt - something more interesting than the usual basic black.

So how do you feel about the resurgence of the wide leg? Will you be wearing this trend or is it something you'll skip? I'm quite excited for wide legs to be honest - even the high waist variety. There is something a little ladylike about the whole trend that appeals to me - I've already gotten a couple pairs now I just need this weather to cool down so I can wear them.

The Story So Far

Looks from (top row) John Rocha's S/S 08 catwalk show at the BFC tent and (bottom row) Basso & Brooke's S/S 08 catwalk show at the Louise T Blouin Institute, at London Fashion Week.

Yesterday's shows included the long-established John Rocha, print specialists Basso & Brooke, and today's uber-boring Nicole Farhi.

What's black and white and bored all over? John Rocha's S/S 2008 show. In contrast to my trumpeting in the last post of the return of colour, Rocha showed a structurally dull collection barely enlivened with the few dashes of colour on show. The predominant palette of black, grey, linen and cream might have worked on outlandish or desirable pieces, but a basic black cotton shift is only really desirable when it's on sale at H&M for a tenner. The one high point came in the form of a dark turquoise liquid leather coat (shown above), which whilst totally covetable wasn't gasp-out-loud waiting-list-worthy.

Basso & Brooke more than made up for the disappointments earlier in the day, despite forcing us to trek from sunny South Kensington out to an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere (Shepherd's Bush). A sunny weekend had given way to freezing cold weather and the crowd outside the show was furious to be kept waiting in the street when they could have been safe in the confines of the BFC tent, but those of us lucky enough to score front row seats (i.e., me) were ushered into the inner sanctum straight away to pounce on our goodie bags. Thanks to L'Oreal I'm now the proud owner of 2 eyeshadows, 2 lipsticks, the entire De-maq Expert range, Elnett hairspray, spray-on fake tan and some sort of weirdo collagen wrinkle filler. Sometimes dashing across London on three different buses in four inch heels is totally worth it...

The goodies put everyone in the mood to be nice about the collection, but bribery was unnecessary: it was stellar. Highly structured cocktail dresses with boning and stiffened fabrics were overlaid with waves of chiffon, folded to flatter, all in Basso & Brooke's signature prints. Floor-length competed with cocktail competed with sporty competed with body-con: the bubble hem seen at the previous day's Eley Kishimoto show popped up again, and the sporty-style hooded and drawstringed styles were again in evidence.

Sadly Nicole Farhi's show (which finished barely an hour ago -- if this computer were a press this entry would be hot off it) could be summed up in far fewer words: "blah". Ply us with champagne and canapes beforehand all you like Farhi, nothing will get me drunk enough to think that cheap high street-style gap-year-in-India cotton prints on elasticated dresses are a good idea. Photos not yet up but after tomorrow's shows I may post a couple.