Christopher Bailey keeps a pretty low profile outside his role as Burberry's creative director but word seems to have slipped that he's reportedly set to marry English actor Simon Woods next month. The couple, who met back in 2009, will allegedly tie the knot at Chelsea's register office this week to maximum of 38 guests and all of this comes shortly before he shows the brand's S/S13 collection.
Fashion compromises don't usually work. Take the kitten heel for example. It doesn't have the transformative superpowers of a killer heel, nor does it have the chic quality of the ballet pump. The midi-skirt, on the other hand, is one compromise that works.
After half a decade of thigh skimming dresses and a general obsession with showing skin, we're all over the mini. Even Balmain has moved on and considering that the brand has always been amongst the big supporters of all things mini, that's a big deal. The maxi has also served it's time, especially after the whole boho trend that never really went away, so the midi is the perfect balance.
It's been around for a while. Marc Jacobs was amongst the first to resurrect it back in 2010 with the Louis Vuitton fall show and ever since, everyone from Victoria Beckham to Dries Van Noten have championed the length. At Burberry this season it was all about showing the style on mixed fabrics like plaids and tweeds and Sarah Burton opted for tartan and leather on skirts and also tapped into the length on coats with strong cinched waists at McQ.
What these brands showed is that the midi length doesn't need to be stuffy. Granted, it's one of those trends that will catch on in the mainstream amongst the more mature woman, aka the women that still have money to splurge during this recession, but there are enough reworked pieces to keep everyone happy.
It was this image of Caroline Issa that convinced me ad fellow editors like Giovanna Battaglia, Taylor Tomasi Hill and Shala Monroque show just how versatile it is. So how to style it? Well if you're going for a polished look I'd do like Ashley Olsen and tuck your top in. As well as emphasising the waist, it also helps elongate the body, which, I'm sure, is music to the ears of anyone that doesn't have model length legs. For a more casual day look this season, team it with thick wool tights, hard wearing ankle boots, knitwear and a biker jacket to give it a tough edge.
If you're still undecided, just give it go. While it has very much been the maxi's underrated sister, the midi has slowly been gaining traction over the past few years so you can be rest assured that it'll have staying power.
Taylor Tomasi Hill
The sweater is one of those wardrobe heroes that everyone needs. It's one of the few pieces that can stand you in good stead whatever the weather and over the past few years, it's hard quite the transformation. In the past, it had a bit of a bad wrap. The styles felt heavy, boardering on frumpy, and the colours didn't tend to extend too far beyond neutrals like black, grey and nude. The more recent variations, though, are really good.
3.1. Phillip Lim's comic-inspired sweaters got everyone excited for S/S12 and while his offerings for fall are a lot more subdued, they're definitely still something to keep an eye out for. Even Burberry experimented with sweaters this season with their fun owl embroidered options.
As far as colours are concerned, Sonia Rykiel, Missoni and Marni have great bright printed styles while Acne continues to lead the pack with their bright block coloured pieces. If you don't want to spend too much, J. Crew is the place to go. The colour ways and print options are extensive and the quality hold out from season to season. The moral of the story is that you don't need to conform this winter. Just as colour and prints have been for summer, there's no reason why you can't continue it for winter on your knitwear. Who knows, it might actually make you smile and with the British weather the way it is, that's going to help.
SHOP THE EDIT: 1. Cashmere blend sweater, £148.75, Thakoon at The Outnet; 2. Zebra print sweater, £35, River Island; 3. Sequin fine knit sweater, £45, J. Crew at The Outnet ; 4. Colour block sweater, £450, Chloe at The Outnet; 5. Merino wool sweater, £139.50, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel at The Outnet; 6. Mohair jumper, £175, Sonia by Sonia Rykiel at My-Wardrobe; 7. Chunky knit wool sweater, £105, Paul & Joe at The Outnet; 8. Lace mohair knit sweater, £220, Vanessa Bruno Athé at My-Wardrobe; 9. Cashmere knit jumper, £169, Paul & Joe Sister at My-Wardrobe; 10. Cotton blend sweater, £124.35, ADAM at The Outnet; 11. Open knit jumper, £190, ACNE at My-Wardrobe
The 'supers' were not the only ones flying the flag for British brands tonight. Tinie Tempah opted for this block coloured orange and yellow jacket from the S/S13 Burberry collection tonight to perform with 'Written in the Stars' with Jessie J at the closing ceremony. Not my favourite look from him but you might disagree.
Are you a fan?
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley may be busy working on her design debut lingerie collection for Marks & Spencer but that hasn't gotten in the way of her longstanding relationship with Burberry. The 25 year-old, who appeared in the campaign for their debut fragrance last year, has returned to front the brand's new fragrance campaign.
The 25 year-old, who was shot by Mario Testino, appears sporting the brand's signature trench much in the same way as she did in the last campaign. While the campaign doesn't seem to differ much from the last one, the brand was of the opinion that the debut was so successful that there was no need to do something different.
Are you a fan?
Christopher Bailey always does English gentleman at Burberry so well so the strong suits on offer over the weekend at the brand's S/S13 show came as no surprise. While you can appreciate their craftsmanship (last season over 100 tailors were involved in the construction of each look), it could have quickly felt samey but true to form Bailey shook things up.
This season was all about metallics. The suits and tailoring were broken up by the incorporation of shiny shirts and metallic jackets in bright pink, purple and blue and along the collars of shirts. While they are definitely not the faint-hearted, there's no doubting that they lifted the most subdued pieces. Colour also took centre stage on a series of two toned colour blocked bomber jackets, that replaced the puffa jackets that he showed last season, and came in combinations like aqua green and blue, purple and pink and olive and aubergine.
When it comes to menswear, us Brits are known for our tailoring and Hackett London delivered that in droves this week. The collection featured a wide selection of three piece suits, often coming with what looked like golf shoes along with the usual pocket squares and ties. While the dandy English gentleman look is something that Hackett have always done well, it all felt a bit stale. Rather than updating the look and doing something different with it as Christopher Bailey did at Burberry last season, the aesthetic hadn't developed.
The models were not always suited and booted though. If the Hackett man goes all out on the tailoring during the week, come weekend he likes to unwind. Okay, so the off-duty look was still a lot more polished than what you would see the average man wearing but nonetheless, it did help to break up the stiffness. Trousers came in casual styles and rolled up to flash a little bit of ankle teamed with brogues, simple tees and deconstructed blazers.
This week Jennifer Aniston jumped on the thigh high slit parade wearing this white Burberry gown to attend the AFI Lifetime Achievement ceremony honoring Shirley MacLaine. To finish off the look she accessorised with Tabitha Simmons' Flossie Ayers heels and Valentino's vava-voom flap bag.
The look works for Aniston. There's no denying that she has the body to carry it off but as always, the look is an obvious choice for her. Like Scarlett Johannson, I'm desperate to see her sport something interesting and different on the red carpet but considering that she hasn't steered away from dresses like this for years, sadly it's unlikely to happen.
What do you think?
At the Vogue Festival Christopher Bailey kept quiet about the Burberry's upcoming Fall 2012 campaign line-up but this morning these images from the campaign hit my inbox.
For A/W12, Bailey's changed the line-up so gone are Cara Delevigne and Eddie Redmayne and instead, Gabriella Wilde and Roo Panes take their place. Just in case the names don't ring a bell, you might recognise Wilde for her acting roles in Doctor Who and St Trinians and anyone that follows Burberry music will recognise Panes as the man behind the song, 'I'll Move Mountains.'
The campaign is really different to what we've seen from them in the past. The usual polished studio backdrop was replaced with misty cinematic shots of the streets at the Greenwich University campus at night taking you back to a London of old of sorts. 'We wanted to play with everything that's at the heart of the Burberry world - celebrating our brand and London through imagery, film, music, weather and iconic outerwear, all in a very poetic and British way,' Bailey said in a statement.
The full campaign will be revealed online on June 1 but are you a fan of what you see so far?
Since Net-A-Porter launched The Outnet, it's now hard to imagine a time when it didn't exist. The days where your favourite brands were inaccessible if you didn't have deep pockets are long. This week new e-commerce website, Covetique, launched with exactly that in mind.
The premise of the site isn't new. Sellers are able to upload their pre-owned designer pieces online in an easy, hassle-free way. What is different about Covetique, though, is the extensive range of designers on offer. The site includes great clothes from brands like Burberry, Isabel Marant, Louis Vuitton and Alexander Wang and accessories from the likes of Manolo Blahnik and Christian Louboutin. Unlike similar sites, the prices are incredibly low with tops from Isabel Marant coming in at only £100 and Jimmy Choo sandals being sold for £130. To celebrate the launch, Covetique have also teamed up with a number of key industry figures to guest edit the site and showcase their favourite pieces and first up this month is Louise Roe.
