Design your own tote bag!

Handbag designer Rebecca Minkoff has teamed with Bloomingdale's to launch a contest where you get to design your own enviromentally friendly tote bag. (Everyone has to think green nowadays!) I've only ever been to Bloomingdales once, but it always makes me think of Rachel from Friends! This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Bloomingdale's. All opinions are 100% mine.

To get involved you have to log on to the Tote-ally Green design contest website and design your very own reusable bag. The competition runs until 25th April and the best tote will be chosen everyday to win a $100 voucher to spend in store. And there's loads more ways to win: Submissions will be whittled down to 50 favorites based on user votes, the grand prize winner will receive a $2,000 shopping spree and the winning design will be sold exclusively at bloomingdales.com. Plus the entrant with the most votes will also win $1,000 shopping spree.

The chances of winning these competitions are as rare as seeing rocking horse poop, but it's a fun way to kill five minutes (i'm really good at bringing you those!) and i'd love to see what you guys come up with! Here's my inexpert attempt at creating something fabulous:

As you can see, its a good job I don't design things and I just write about them! But if you fancy yourself as a budding designer, why not give it a go?!

Love, Tor xx

Disclaimer: I only do sponsored posts if it's something I would have written about anyway. However if you don't like reading them just let me know, and i'll use that to decide if I write any more!

Swim in it for charity!

Sometimes more interesting than what people do is how they go about doing them. For me, the thought process of a designer is just as inspiring as the final designs he or she produces. You can appreciate the design more when you see where it started and where influences were taken from. I hope this explains my fascination with the boards I am going to show you for today's post.


Cult British fashion label PPQ have designed a range of one off exclusive swimming caps in collaboration with the Schweppes Abbey-Well 'Get Britian Schwimming' campaign. The campaign aims to get more people swimming. Now I like to swim (its the only exercise I get if i'm honest!) but I would see these hats at the wedding before I would see them ruined in a swimming pool!






As you can see, PPQ used British heritage as the design influence for their pieces. The four caps channel four distinct British fashion traditions- Punk, 50's Britain , Rockabilly and Royal.

But because i'm a tease i'm not going to show you the final designs, but you can view then on eBay where they are now available to buy - it is, after all, for charity! Now i'm going to watch Xfactor and eat a roast dinner - enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Love, Tor xx

Dresses and Boobies.....

Instead of selling sex, Amsterdam is trying to sell sexy. Although i'm not sure those ladies need any advice on how they should Bring Sexy Back.

The city unveiled its "Red Light Fashion" project on Saturday, having converted 16 'buildings' (or "lady windows") that used to house prostitutes in the city's ancient red light district into studios for young fashion designers. And rather lovely some of the ladies (the models, rather than the working women) looked too:

The idea was born out of the government's desire to crack down on crime in the area. But many neighbors are displeased with the high-class newcomers in an area that thrives on its seedy reputation; and lets be honest, people head to the red light district in Amsterdam to buy ladies that will take off their dresses, not a new dress for a lady.

Although the 10 up and coming designers are being rented their new studio homes for free for the first year, they say they're are taking a risk. Having said that, I like the quirky mix of sex and sexy clothes. And, has Becky has lamented in previous posts, there's alot we can learn, fashion wise, from those women that walk the street.

Those Dutch really know how to bring new meaning to the phrase 'window shopping' don't they?

The clothes on sale in these new boutiques though, are considerably more expensive than the women. A lot of the stores only offer a "made-to-measure" service and the semi-established designers are creating haute couture in their new homes. But the key question isn't how much the clothes cost or whether they're made in a brothel or not. The key question is whether we like them! Well the answer is I do! In this business your only as good as your last collection dahhling, and the most prominent of the designers, Edwin Oudshoorn's last collection was very interesting indeed!

I am slightly biased, but 6 months in China means i'm a sucker for Oriental styling. I also love Oudshoorn's use of constrasting textures and the way the use of almost cliched textures seemed fresh and interesting. I also think the prom style dress is infinitely wearable.

Although you wouldn't see Julia Roberts wearing any of these dresses in Pretty Woman, I can see why a Dutch set of Pretty (and rich) women would brave a stroll through the red light district for one of Oudshoorn's designs. I only hope that this new initiative doesn't drive many of the women living and working from the safety of their regulated wndows in the red light district and back onto the streets.

Self-flagellation, H&M and a dress for Mary.

Hello friends,

When I started this blog I thought I'd be aces. I'd be breakin' news, crackin' jokes and all whilst being the epitome of fashiony chic.

Frankly, I forgot that my manner and dress is little above that of an early 20th century hobo and my ranking in the Unspoken Order of Fashion Events and Things reflects this. Honestly, I don't think Karl Lagerfeld would even bother to shit in my mouth, let alone invite me to the factory. This is the cross I bear: jeans and a t-shirt and second-hand news.

Here it is:

H&M are collaborating with Finnish textile company Marimekko to produce a range of over 50 products consisting of smocks, dresses, shorts and accessories that'll be out April 2008.

You knew that? Nuts.

I bet you've seen this picture too, right? Vogue.co.uk? Catwalk Queen? I know, I know. Worst blog ever. I want credit however for searching the web to find an image this big. H&M's Press page is like bloody Fort Knox. I steal for you, sweet readership out of the tenderest love. However, I also have some neato Marimekko facts and images for ya in the hope of squeezing just the tiniest bit of originality out of this thing.

FUN FACT!
Marimekko is all about feminism, sisters, and those who are doin' it for themselves! In the male-dominated business world of the 1950s/60s, Marimekko was largely run by women: Armi Ratia a textile designer and company fouder and Maija Isola, the women she hired to create some of Marimekko's most iconic prints. There's a very interesting potted history of the Marimeko company's feminist ideals here in The Guardian. Odd, because The Guardian is usually about as fashion-forward as a scotch egg. Hm.

FUN FACT!
The name Marimekko literally means "a dress for Mary" that is to say -the everywoman.

The blessed mother models a 1963 Marimekko design which can be bought here from blueforestdesigns on ebay for £87 plus postage. It's a much nicer change from Mary Kate Olsen, no?

FUN FACT!
HandM wishes it was the only one getting hot Marimekko action! Manolo Blahnik is using two iconic Marimekko designs for his Spring/Summer 2008 collection.

They're available in January 2008 if you're monied and interested. Apparently they're a fusion of "Turkish architectural lines and Finnish protest" [Source]

FUN FACT!
The signature Marimekko shape is: clean unisex lines and free-flowing style, [that] convey a utopian feel of sexual equality.

That's a shame. I'm very fond of my breasts. Still, who needs udders when you look this pretty?

Lovely. Undeniably lovely. But I think I'll just get a hat and wait until Christopher Kane designs his utopian feel of sexual blah-de-blah. My boobs will thank me, I think.

Your pal,
Becky.