Summer 2010
Summer’s here. The temperature is rising (well sort of) and with auntie Gok back on our screens there is absolutely no excuse for your style to plummet.
Last year it all went a bit mad with massive shoulders, crazy graffiti and futuristic prints. Personally speaking I think it was a reaction to the recession – amidst all the gloomy news we all decided we needed to have fun and fashion was a great vehicle for it. This summer, thankfully, things are much more pared down.
Not that you would have noticed with the egyptian headresses and crazy harem styling in the recently released Sex and The City 2. Of course the sequel required excess but what it certainly didn’t warrant was a universal panning by film critics. Sure SATC2 isn’t the “Female Eunuch” but it never tries to be. It is unashamedly about the four Fs: freedom, fashion, fads and friendship and for one critic to say it made her ‘vomit in her mouth’, is probably as gross a statement as ever uttered by Samantha herself!
I saw it on opening night with Mary, one of my oldest and bestest friends at my local cinema, a place joyously filled to the rafters by women of all ages, shapes and sizes who were dressed to the nines and who understood they weren’t supposed to wear the clothes, afford the $20,000 a night hotel suites or feel jealous of Carrie’s new apartment, and who loved it nonetheless! SATC2 may have sagged a bit – but haven’t we all? – but it certainly hasn’t lost its sparkle and I even got “Carried” away (sorry I couldn’t help the pun) by the Halston Heritage one shoulder Kaftan Carrie wore arriving in Abu Dhabi…
I had originally spied the dress at a very stylish soiree in Victoria Square’s Cruise. The dress sashayed down the makeshift catwalk and maybe it was the beautiful evening or the beautiful people or maybe it was the champagne but it was lust at first sight. I made a lunchtime dash into town the next day to try it on and the lust became love. The cut, the cloth – it was perfect! But I faltered and told the lovely sales assistant I would come back the next day with a friend for a second opinion. Later that afternoon I decided I didn’t need to think anymore and rang to say I’d take it. Imagine my horror when I was told that the object of my desire had been transferred to Newcastle! Aaaaah!
This is when things got a bit “Fatal Attraction”! After an unsuccessful attempt at bribery – the girl had integrity - worst luck! I spent three hours googling Halston Heritage only to discover that this particular dress was sold out on nearly every internet site. I emailed Gok’s arch nemisis Brix Smith-Start, as her site, start-london.com teased that it may be coming back into stock , but to no avail! I even considered renting the dress from girlmeetsdress.com but finally I found it and without the slightest hesitation I surrendered my credit card details and 48 hours later I was the proud owner of my very own HH creation courtesy of Harvey Nichols!
Obsess much? I know – it seems ridiculous but my Mum always says “you have to cut the blackthorn stick when you see it” whatever that means but if something fits perfectly and you feel fab wearing it as long as you can afford it you should have it – after all ladies – we’re worth it!
So when will we be seen out in public for the first time? The end of the month brings the annual PTA Mid Summer Ball and I was drafted in to help with organisation, which basically means it’s my job to shamelessly beg anyone with a pulse for goodies for the tables and prizes for the raffle. Remind me never to attend a meeting when they are delegating tasks for PTA events! And while I might spend the next few weekends chasing bottles and vouchers at least I know my outfit for the ball is in the bag!
Speaking of bags – Lisburn Road has a lovely new designer bag shop in the form of Angelo – stocking Furla, Coccinelle and Longchamp and the utterly delicious Pasotti umbrellas! Well worth checking out. And if that wasn’t enough bag news - locally acclaimed artist Terry Bradley will be launching his new collectors “Bradley Bag” later this year. The last limited edition Bradley shopper sold out in House of Fraser in a matter of hours so if you want to be one of the first to get your hands on his new bag just email info@terrybradley.com and you'll be added to the list!
Stephanie Berkeley is marketing manager at W5 at Odyssey, Belfast and former editor of Northern Woman magazine. She is married to Jim and has two children Charlie (9) and Tara (6).