The Wanderers

I’ve just finished reading The Wanderers by Richard Price. I’d like to say that I was aware of this cult book (and film) but the embarrassing true story is that I just fell in love with the cover without knowing anything about the captivating content! And I’ve developed an alarming obsession with it… It’s a masterpiece.
It’s about gangs, teenagers, the mechanics of survival and finding some breathing space, the constant ebb and flow of questions you ask yourself as an adolescent, it’s about trying to secure your independence, growing up, unfulfilled desires and sex, the faint outlines of adulthood, violence and the Bronx seen as a beastly, monstrous and immoral New York neighbourhood. It is set in the early sixties, a cultural context I adore, and is extraordinarily well-written. I can’t stop thinking about the gang fight with the mute psychotic Irish midgets called Ducky Boys. Pure weird comedy! Oh, and the musical references which serve to illuminate the fiction are just perfect: Dion, The Shirelles etc.
The vernacular took some getting used to but it definitely repays the effort.
And I just found out that Richard Price also won a writing award for work on “The Wire”, one of my favourite series. Remember the episode entitled “Moral Midgetry”? He wrote it.


I took a picture of the cover I fell in love with.

Self Service

One of the best things about fashion is some of the magazines. I consider myself obsessed. I've talked about my addiction on the blog before. It may sound ludicrous but I do get a feeling of complete exhilaration at the thought of getting my hands on one of my favourite publications. And last night I found a small preview of Self Service 36. Self Service is indisputably one of the best: highly accomplished, frequently extravagant and subversive, innately original, witty and visually influential. I absolutely love it.

Video courtesy of Self Service magazine for models.com

Fashion vermin

I’ve never been a Liz Jones fan and tend to avoid her columns. Reading her noisy convictions and unapologetically frank descriptions of her life with now ex-husband Nirpal Dhaliwal made me feel like I was charting the progress of a funeral. I didn’t find it riotously funny (some of my friends did) and all it conjured up was horror and human suffering. Oppressive conversations and snapshots of a turbulent life. I still wonder whether she aimed to demythologise the idea of marriage and relationships or if she derived pleasure in making her obsessions public. Too much personal information can be cruel. I don’t dislike her but I find her cherished confessional style unappealing even if her prose is good.
Anyway, the real story here is her piece published in the Daily Mail yesterday. My friend Laetitia mentioned it this morning and told me to read it. You should too. She’s certainly no Cathy Horyn when it comes to fashion writing but she does attempt to peel away the layers of the industry. She has a point when she ruminates about the legitimacy of hip it kids in the front rows, the quality of some of the clothes and the frequent elitist attitude of the PRs.
I’ve always had mixed feelings about London fashion week and find that I’d rather watch the shows online. It seems more dignified than having to deal with bouncers, crowds, queues etc. It’s a less taxing process! Or maybe I’m just getting too old for this circus. Hahaha.

I took this picture in Montmartre, Paris. It clearly has nothing to do with the subject of this post but I quite like it!

Acne: the making of a thoroughly modern brand

Is fashion becoming one huge party or has it always been like this and I’ve only just started noticing? I arrived at the Old Sorting Office last night for the Acne show and wearily looked at the queue which was going round the block. The cold and clusters of flawlessly hip name-dropping kids briefly made me consider a swift exit back home! The heroic and desperate attempts made by some to get in only seemed to reinforce the fact that the cult brand has resolutely taken centre-stage. I was lucky enough to immediately escape the bedlam outside and found that the situation inside was only a minor upgrade of the spectacle I had just witnessed.
I patiently waited for the models to come out and was rewarded by a continual flow of breathtaking shapes, gorgeous knitwear, hugely oversized coats and jackets, low slung trousers and as usual very cool and exquisite super high shoes. The highly seductive colours ranged from reds, burgundy, salmon, white, orange, yellow, pastel blue, black and grey shades which were occasionally combined radically with fluorescent green. The girls all had a slight robotic look created by the sculpted clothes and the way they walked. Blade Runner and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep flashed across my mind as I watched the show. This was Johansson at his best, defying our preconceptions of the brand and challenging us with this new narrative. It’s clearly not the easiest collection to wear but it was absorbing and unusual. A sort of exploration of what the future could look like.
I’m eagerly anticipating the arrival of the clothes in stores. At the end of the show I already had a feeling of I must have it and I must have it right now!
I felt that this collection was a staggering validation that Acne had joined the ranks of the big players.

Photos courtesy of style.com
Collage by Mat Maitland

Acne shop, Paris

A place of real individuality and quality.
Inventive and beautiful clothes.
If you're visiting Paris, the shop in Rue Froissart should be on your list!

Photos taken in January

My funny Valentine

Valentine's Day is by no means the real thing but I'm a genuine romantic and love breathes in my heart!

So, even if it's wildly uncool, I will regurgitate the dated "love" formula tonight and in a burst of emotional optimism I'm dedicating this post to my husband, friends and family...
I've now strengthened my own image of a hapless romantic and have slipped into complete soppiness. But who gives a shit? My approach to Valentine's Day is a little bit unorthodox since I associate this event with celebrating the love I feel for people close to me and even my cat!

Blogging hiatus over

After a two months absence from the virtual world it may seem like nothing much remains of this blog. It stands abandoned, like a memorial tree or a shrine to my previous passions!
I was in Paris for three weeks and spent the beginning of the year focusing on work and refurbishing our new flat in London. I have been engulfed in a world of decorating and only recently realised how much I was missing writing and sharing the things that inspire my soul. The sheer madness of creating a home is not over yet for myself and Mat. But we will be moving in soon and although nothing beats the buzz that precedes a new beginning, my romantic ardour for July Stars continues unabated. So, despite the tribulations associated with major renovations, I'm back and ready to pursue my Internet experiences...
If you use an iPhone you can now also follow me on Instagram. A mini revolution in my life. I've been obsessed with this app for months and post pictures almost on a daily basis. It is exciting stuff. A sort of photographic Twitter.

I took all the photos in Paris during the Christmas holiday.

Bettina Rheims and the portrait of a cat

It occurs to me sometimes that this blog is, essentially, one long and enjoyable confessional.

I talk about the photographers I love, my fashion sensibilities, art that has impressed me and of course July Stars has also become a platform to introduce my cat, Quincy (Jones). I don't need to remind my readers of my enthusiasm, bordering on obsession, for this little creature. It's somewhat absurd, I know.
Provided that you love fashion and certain (I don't claim to like all of them) cats as much as I do, I won't have to explain why this Bettina Rheims photo is still a favourite of mine. It has all the right ingredients and will linger into your consciousness!

This picture was used to promote a Bettina Rheims exhibition held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography in May 2011. I'm desperate to get my hands on the poster and was wondering if any of my Japanese readers could help! Please email me if you have any ideas on how to acquire one...

Photo courtesy of Bettina Rheims

Graham Little, fashion begins with drawings

It was my husband's birthday and I had just started looking for the perfect present.
Even though Mat ended up with something entirely different (a photograph), I haven't stopped thinking about Graham Little since I first saw his work in July while researching ideas. Although he doesn't seem to be the most widely talked about subject on the Internet, his drawings must have won him a gaggle of disciples. It's impossible not to fall in love with his work. I mean honestly. He is the best contemporary artist I've come across in a long time! I'm still struggling to understand why I wasn't able to find any informative essays about him or interviews. So little information available and yet his images are vertiginously beautiful.
His seems to make frequent references to Balthus, pre-raphaelite aesthetics, fashion magazines and in particular the eighties. His work hasn't been much in evidence in England recently and I would welcome the chance to see the drawings with my own eyes. Slightly mysterious, emotional, poetic and hypnotic, they're skilfully detailed masterpieces showing a great sensitivity to colours, texture and composition.
Nothing could deter me from acquiring one of his pieces... apart from the price!

Image of the Daffodil Shoe Lady courtesy of Graham Little

Wes Lang

America should idolise Wes Lang!
He mixes pictorial elements (drawing, painting, collage) and they conform to a strict formula: clarity of line, careful, harmonious and minutely detailed compositions culminating in meltingly beautiful images.
He pays tribute to the spirit of the United States through his unique talent. The spectre of American Indians, whiskey country, exquisite birds, haunting skulls, skeletons and spectacularly erotic girls are all intimately thrown in together in a rather remarkably balanced way.
A higher plane of aesthetic achievement!
Now, if only I could buy a couple of drawings...

All pictures courtesy of Wes Lang