A very English adventure

In contrast with some of London’s contemporary architecture and aesthetics Whitstable felt like the picturesque little seaside town I’d been looking for. The hugely seductive house we rented was the main ingredient behind the success of our weekend. With its impressive view and location we experienced the thrill and passion of living near water, we wandered about the town absorbing the very English atmosphere, visited Sandwich and Canterbury, and we forgot about London life for a few days. A real treat.

The pictures I took show the house, beach, harbour and Canterbury Cathedral

Twitter

As a rule of thumb, I like to update this blog two to three times a week. As some of my good “blogger” friends have stated in the past, it is not wise to ignore the routine unless you want to alienate your readers. I guess I’m to blame for the current crisis I’m facing, my decision to always take my time writing and focus on real fashion-related ideas and nuances has left me unprepared for the embarrassing fall in daily hits. Time has also been a significant contributing factor: a full time job and a social life means that my blog has recently only been functioning once a week. I absolutely love writing and finding interesting subjects to discuss on July Stars. It’s led me to fantasise about exciting scenarios, dreaming up a world with a “stop time” option or a three day weekend to accomplish more things and write. I should be brave and defiant, learn to write less but more frequently (unlikely)! And this is where the appeal of Twitter comes in: it encourages short and spontaneous sentences of 140 words. I’ve been religiously using it as a small extension of the blog, a new home for nuggets of inspiration dedicated to fashion, visual arts and anything else that could make its way on July Stars. As it transpired recently, it has become like a small notebook. Instead of a sometimes hibernating blog, my Twitter account is consistently updated with introductions to varied items I’m passionate about. Everyone can play the game and it’s so easy. You can follow me here http://twitter.com/julystars.
Next time you read July Stars, I promise you’ll be greeted by a fashion post in its proper context!
Until then, here are a few pictures I took last weekend in Whitstable. The house we rented was beautiful, a masterful piece of history located directly on the beach, facing the sea and surrounded by colourful traditional huts. I definitely want to go back in spring…

A new approach

A very good friend of mine has a list of books she wants to buy. It’s very long and she’s extremely disciplined about it. She constantly goes to bookshops with her list that always seems to get longer and searches for hours, the endless mystic quest for the long out of print or recently released book. It makes her heart race and the tears well up. She loves the quiver of anticipation and the feeling that she might find something very special. I, on the other hand, positively connect with the Internet on a daily basis and miraculously almost always find what I’m looking for on the web. So obviously I mock her relentlessly, as is only appropriate with one of your oldest friends. While I agree that exploring old and new bookshops for hours can be extremely enjoyable I find that buying online can be equally satisfying (although I do miss the intoxicating smell of dusty old books). In fact, I am always astonished that I get the same amount of pleasure buying online as I do in “real” life. Last week, I cheerfully bought several 80s issues of Zoom on ebay, a copy of the recently launched Twin magazine, More is More: Tony Duquette, Olivier Zahm’s Purple Anthology and The Marchesa Casati: Portraits of a muse. My taste for extravagant online book and magazine purchases probably comes from the fact that I’m deskbound during the week and it’s easy to practice Internet shopping during my lunch breaks! And I’m going to be completely honest: I may also be a little in love with buying clothes, shoes and accessories on the web too. Let me explore La Garçonne, Net-A-Porter, Browns and Colette for long enough and I can guarantee that I’ll feel the first stirrings of desire. I lost my Internet shopping virginity a very long time ago!
Books and magazines hold an irreplaceable romantic appeal, a simple way of life and there’s nothing better than a good fashion or art publishing hit offering escapism. But over the last few years traditional print media has had to compete with the sudden popularity of web magazines and high quality new media platforms embracing the world of fashion. This phenomenon has probably startled the publishing industry and the trend shows no signs of slowing down. I’ve been flirting with fashion related Internet tools for almost two years and it has blossomed into a true romance. When it comes to magazines, print continues to prevail in my heart. Fashion photography always seems a little too diluted online and certainly doesn’t have the same effect. But I’ve been conducting a very public affair with various fashion web platforms and I simply can’t imagine a better example than fly16x9. It is completely absorbing. The web channel was launched in October 2008 by Stephen Blaise and Catherine Camille Cushman and provides an engaging and outstanding video portal where fashion, art, photography and music collide to create and authentic and innovative voice. A genuine creative achievement that is defined by the influential personalities who collaborate on each film, bringing technology into sharp focus and complementing the world of fashion magazines. It’s a defiant riposte to the fashion greats who haven’t yet had the confidence and audacity to embrace moving images. It’s an impressive collection of experimental, sometimes provocative, exciting, vibrant and beautiful videos. Small ground-breaking fashion masterpieces!
Thank you Bon for the email and info.

Video courtesy of Fly16x9

Sportmax Code

My story begins with a blog focusing on fashion.
It started as a raw and unplanned example of blogging, a place to share haphazard thoughts and expand my horizons.
The fundamental point remains: it's all about the unholy alliance of words and fashion while improvising and remaining spontaneous!
Thank you so much Sportmax Code for the positive response and interview.
Read it here