Schools closed, transport disruptions and blackouts as storm hit Scotland.

Storm hit Glasgow

The Met Office issuer red alert yesterday night for Hurricane Bawbag, which hit Scotland today. Bridges and roads closures are causing many disruption, The Met Office warned people not to travel and schools stayed closed today.  The Scottish government have warned that power lines might be affected by the storm.

Public was advised to prevent power cuts which many homes in Scotland are suffering at the moment, by charging their phone and having torches and candles available. As winds reached 165mph, a bus has been blown off and two were injured in the north east due to the collapse of a ceiling, STV reported.

ScotRail is operating a reduced timetables, thous Glasgow Central Station is not closing. Travellers are advised to check if their route is affected on http://www.scotrail.co.uk/low-bandwidth/.

 

 

Million Dollar Question.

I guess you all know how tough it is when it comes to the question “how would you describe yourself?”; that’s the typical ‘job interview question’, the million dollar question which for you should always have the answer ready. It should be a good, proper answer,  midway between confident and humble. That answer should be so perfect to leave the person in front of you so  astonished to hire you straight away. But that is a fairytale and for what concerns me I still haven’t found my perfect answer. If you have, give me a call, I am serious.

I have always thought would be easier answering such a question by listing  my likes and dislikes. The film Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (Jean Pierre Jeunet, 2001) starts saying what the protagonist loves the most and the least. The first time I watched it, I thought it was simply genial. I guess a similar list on every CV would be enough in order to outline a person.

Since I had this epiphany I have been dying to have the chance to give my list of likes and dislikes. And that list would almost perfectly describe how I am. At this point, to prove I am right, you’re invited to read on.

G likes: being born in Italy, living in London, fashion -especially Stella Mc Cartney, Phoebe Philo and Raf Simon, coffee and cigarettes, prawns, going to exhibitions, writing while listening to music, studying, reading books slowly, classical ballet, carrying heavy issues of fashion magazines, pineapples, wearing classy and vintage clothes, shoes – especially Doc Martens and Jeffrey Campbells, going to bed early and having breakfast with Weetabix and raspberries in soy milk.

G doesn’t like: waking up late in the morning, deadlines, garlic, stairs, clothes that don’t fit her, cleaning the house, being told what to do when she has a problem, selfish people, running out of cigarettes, pizza abroad, people with a weak handshake, strictly following the given theme when it’s up to write a piece, and engineering works on transports.

 

Yojhi making waves @ The Wapping Project

While at the V&A a huge retrospective on Yamamoto is on show, I was luckily suggested to visit this installation at The Wapping Project. The Wapping hydraulic power station closed in 1977 and was reconverted into an arts centre/restaurant and became The Wapping Project which at the moment in hosting the exhibit “Yohji Making Waves” until the 14^th July.

MFP strikes again.

MFP - SS 2011 "Amor los une" courtesy of Maria Francesca Pepe

Maria Francesca Pepe is a an incredibly talented, Italian born, young designer. Her previous studies  include famous names such as Istituto Marangoni in Milan, where she graduated in 2003 showing her collection at Milan Fashion Week, and Central Saint Martin where she attended her MA in Fashion womenswear and graduated in 2007, taking part in the Central Saint Martins MA show during London Fashion Week.

Tumult or a breeze of fresh air?

Olivier Rousteing

 

 

It seems that in the last months an earthquake hit the fashion industry. During the season so many designers left and so many others came out to take their place. It all began with the Galliano scandal on the 25^th of February, when the head designer at Dior was arrested by the Police for have heavily offended a Jewish couple in a Paris bistrò. Five days later newspaper reported the Dior creative director was sacked by LVMH – the French holding which is the major shareholder in Christian Dior. A month later, John Galliano was also sacked by its eponymous label. 

Serendipity

Sunny London Sunday, what to do?

I woke up this morning and the sun was shining. I’m sincerly in love with London since Spring came. I mean, why can’t this city be always like that? I found it hard dealing with cold weather this winter; I was always in a bad mood. But now, days are longer, the sky is blue and temperatures warmer: London is giving its best.

After a cup of coffee ( I can’t even start thinking in the morning if I don’t have my Italian coffee first!), and a little browse trough Facebook and Vogue.com, I decide to go out. I mean, I have nothing to do, and I can’t stay all day long lying on the sofa, can I?

Thirty minutes later I am out in the street heading nowhere. Where shall I go? Almost automatically I head to the tube station. And then, something come up to my mind. I was talking about Canary Wharf with a friend some days ago. I have never been there, I only know that’s one stop from where I live and that I can see its highest skyscreaper from my room. It’s quiete enough, isn’t it? I jump on the tube and get off 5 minutes later.

Canary Wharf, what a find!

First thing: Canary Wharf tube station is sincerly the hugest station I have seen in my entire life. Once I’m out of the station I find myself a bit overwhelmed. I was expecting Canary Wharf to be very modern etc, I knew it was the new City of London, but this is much more than I was expecting! It seems a little New York, just some miles off my house! (Okay, I haven’t been to NY yet, but I watched a lot of movies which are set there, it’s quiete the same thing!)

Probably I am a bit too excited, some of you may even dislike it, but I sincerly fell in love with it! So, I start walking randomly, feeling such a little thing under those incredibly tall buildings. I walk along the riverside, up and down the bridges, then I get to the Shopping Mall. “That’s perfect!”, I think. This area has everything: offices, restaurants, cafes, romantic view on the river, SHOPS! I want to live here as a grown up. Yes, I will be a successful journalist for The Telegraph, the fashion editor of The Telegraph of Fashion actually, I will have an amazing flat in the last floor of some of those building, I will be jogging down the riverside on Saturdays, and shopping in the mall on Sunday afternoons and…Okay, let’s be a bit more realistic now. I need to have lunch. I’ll think about my future later on.

Lunch time :P

I enter in the Mall, which is really nice. I do some ‘window shopping’, as I can’t buy anything at the moment. What a pity, I saw such an amazing midi skirt in Whistles: salmon pleated chiffon, simply perfect! Anyway, let’s have some food. Where shall I eat? Pret a manger? No, that’s for week days, when you’re in a rush. Paul? Good brasserie in French style, everything is delicious there, but I don’t feel like eat a filled baguette. Starbucks? I could have a coffee and a slice of cake, just to treat myself a bit. And then I see it: Itsu. See? Canary Wharf has everything! Itsu is, in my opinion the best sushi seller in the city. You can eat there and take away as well. It’s almost everywhere around ( Piccadilly, Chancery Lane, Bank..). It’s a bit expensive, but I never trust sushi from Tescos or similars. I have eaten at Yo!Sushi more than once, and it’s good as well: the atmosphere is really nice and you have your dishes from the roll. However, since my flatmate started working in Itsu, and used to come back home with loads of stuff in the evening, I have become addicted to it. So, I grab my tiny black box with mixed sushi in it ( salmon, tuna, crayfish), and a can of diet coke and opt for take away. I’ll have lunch somewhere outside. Once out the mall, I find a tiny green area, with wood benches, blossoming trees, and a sort of fountain. A corner of heaven among offices and modern buildings, lovely! I find a spare bench and sit down facing the sun with my lunch. I have my sushi, then I stay there half an hour just chilling out with my book (yes, the third from Sophie Kinsella arrived just yesterday!).

…and then home.

Then, it’s time to go back home. I have some work to do for uni, and I am also writing something very special, which I’ll talk to you about one day. So, I direct to the tube station, giving a last look to Canary Wharf, which out of the blue, gave me such a nice Sunday time. I’ll be back soon!

Confessions of a Shopaholic’ Reader

Well, here comes my confession: I am a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella’s novels. “Where’s the big scandal” you’ll probably wonder. The thing is that sometimes people, me first, don’t really feel at ease to admit that they like such things as silly best sellers or tv series. I think I shall overcome this problem now, and don’t be afraid to admit that since I bought The Secret Dreamword of a Shopaholic (also published as Confessions of a Shopaholic), I red it in three days or more; then I went for Shopaholic Abroad and I have just placed an order on Amazon for the third one : Shopaholic ties the Knot.

When is up to reading taste I am kind of extremely critic with the others, as I am for myself. I grew up conviced that you are what you read. It’s quiete logic that people personality can be easily described trough their likes and dislikes, isn’t it?

It would be great to have on our shelves just Woolf, Joyce, and Hemingay. And some poetry from Neruda and Eliot. Then some Dostojesky or Proust. Probably a bit of philosophy, let’s say Nietche or Sartre. Finally something extremely classic such as Giulio Cesare, or Platon and Aristotele. And I swear some of them are among my favourites, really! But we are not as strict, are we? We shall allow ourselves some lighter reading. And that’s exactly what I did!

A week ago I was on my way to a weekend off in Rome, where I am from. Due to my big anxiety when it’s time to catch a plane, I found myself at the airport far more earlier than required. Better sooner than ever, isn’t it? It was 4 am in the morning, and once I checked in I still had three hours before leaving. What to do? I was not sleepy at all, and after a brief look at the shops I got into WHS. “I’ll buy myself a magazine” I thought ” or maybe two or three!”. But I found that I had already bought all my favourite monthly issues (Vogue, Elle and so on). And then, I saw them! All the Shopaholic serie on a shelf. I already knew those novels, I mean, I knew some people who red them and I watched the movie some time ago. In fact, they first came out some years ago and soon became best sellers. I thought it was a great deal to join my desire to read something in English  ( I always read books in Italian, because I am not that good in English already to full appreaciate a good piece of literature) and to read something amusing. So, I went to the check out, holding tightly that pinkish book.

I spent the rest of the time in the airport and on the plane, completely absorbed by it. First thing: I didn’t know the novel was set in London because the movie’s location it’s NY. That’s why I appreciated so much all small details about the city in the book. When Becky (that’s the protagonist name) has a sandwich at Pret, or a walk trough Mayfair, or shops in Whistles, I know those place myself! And that’s great when you can picture yourself doing the same thing as in the book! Then, the writing is really fluent and every single event in the story is so amusing that I often found myself laughing out loud.

I already red two of them, in fact, once came back from Rome I bought the second one. Definetely they are the most perfect tube-reading ever. Now my travel to uni are not so boring anymore! I feel really happy of have chosen to cheer up a bit with the Shopaholic books, and now I can’t wait to have the third one delivered to me in the next days.

If you as me, are a young girl living in London with a passion for shopping and you have not red them already, hurry up!