IN THE AIR EVERYWHERE...

I haven't been excited about buying anything from Whistles since about 1994. They used to actually have some cool stuff - they were one of the few London stockists of Martine Sitbon back in the day for example. I'm sure everyone KNOWS all this, hence the title of this post; but at some point Whistles blanded out into Karen Millen territory and I hadn't set foot in there for ages, until a few months ago when the changes brought in by Jane Shepherdson started trickling in. The shops were freshened up and recently the Whistles section in Selfridges, previously an easy to bypass area was moved to prime position and yes, every magazine started harping on about it to coincide with the winter collection, designed by our heroine Jane hitting the stores.

I was drawn in by this coat in the window and proceeded to ooh and aah over a variety of blouses. I bought this one, which is exactly what I've been looking for to go with a flick of eyeliner, black mannish APC trousers and in my imagination fiercely clompy heels, in reality, probably flats because I'm lazy. The detail on it is amazing - and almost identical to that on an antique silk nightshirt I have from Florence that's so old and delicate it rips every time I wear it.

When I was in Selfridges, the music belting out was MIA snarling Where Were You in '92? Ha! I'm really chuffed that the decade is enjoying such a renaissance. I had a veeerryy good time in the nineties, being in my teens and early twenties and totally immersed in fashion - but more importantly I had REALLY GOOD CLOTHES. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for my health I'm no longer a size zero - I think even my bones have grown bigger since then - cue much puzzled holding up of circa 1992 Helen Storey and Katharine Hamnett jeans/trousers I used to wear and struggling to fit forearm in leg opening.

I've been sort of tempted to do a mega nineties post but I think once I unleash it, I won't stop at one. Oh the days when Helmut Lang and Jil Sander owned their own names and Prada took over the world; you could tell models apart and still remember their names now they're popping up again: Tasha Tilberg, Guinevere van Seenus, Kirsten Owen. Venetia Scott's styling...

But as Diana Vreeland would say, if you think the past was better than today you might as well give up now. I think Karl Lagerfeld has said that too. (If you think that he will have you removed because you are demode.) Though it's funny to see a younger generation who were little kids in the nineties appropriating that era when it doesn't seem that long ago to me (pass the zimmer frame).

Ah, now Lula. Again, on everyone's lips. The first issue of Lula came out around the time I started this blog. I was in Paris and literally devoured it - it made me ache for London. I was so naive to the ways of blogging that I didn't dare scan any of that issue, then for a couple of issues I scanned away merrily, thinking well, everyone does it, then decided NO! Lula is a magazine that must be bought and it won't be around for long if the contents of every issue are beamed around the world for free.

But this time something funny happened. Two of the editorials and the 2 covers made their way around the internet before it was released. Did Lula leak them? Not a bad idea since there is so much more in the issue besides, that it's still worth buying. Not that they need any help but it's like a siren call saying it's here, go and buy it. Buy it I did and flipped through with a glass of red at a zinc topped table in Soho it was almost like reading the first one in Paris again.

Cover with Ali Michael: Photographer: Yelena Yemchuk, Stylist: Leith Clark
My favourite page: Photographer: Laura Sciacovelli, Stylist: Elisa Nalin
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