New Lingerie brand - Boux Avenue

The new lingerie brand, Boux Avenue, held their press party tonight at Sketch, Conduit Street London.

Walking in to Sketch's Parlour there were cake stands galore for afternoon tea delights. But instead of tea, champagne was served - much more appealing.

I felt a bit overdressed as the models sat poised on the colourful Louise XV style seats clad only in their undies.  Boux Avenue undies of course, and from their Vintage Garden Party range.  

The colour palette is soft greys, pinks and lilacs with light patterns of floral and polka dots. 

Fabrics are of romantic light tulle, sheer mesh and lace.

Completing the feel of the vintage garden party, violins were played.

Moving down to the Glade lounge room, it was cocktails and fortune telling time . It was quite apt to have a crystal ball here as the walls were also encrusted with crystals – the Swarovski kind. Here the models had the flapper look in black lace and pink polka dots

Then in to the Gallery By Night for the razzle dazzle show – a mix of Cabaret and Moulin Rouge. 

Starting the show a sole ballet dancer brought as much grace and style as was possible dressed only in a satin pink polka dot basque trimmed with black lace.

Dressed in a black teddys and bowler hat,

bright pink baby dolls with long satin gloves 

and matching bra and panties with black hold ups ..

. it was time to Come to the Cabaret, before moving on to..

...the glitz of the showgirl in her Swarovski covered basque only to reveal...

... a Swarovski covered bra underneath ..

As Police's 'Roxanne' played, the sultry black lace lingerie took centre stage,

with the all in one bodies.

Again the violinists came out to play this time in black satin

Whilst a daring young woman did the splits in mid air.

Definitely a sparkling night.

Boux Avenue's website is www.bouxavenue.com and becomes live at 1300 on Fri 1 April, along with their first store in Buchanan Galaries Glasgow.

The next lucky cities are:

Manchester - Trafford Centre at 1100 on 2 April,

Sheffield - Meadowhall at 15.30 on 2 April

Bluewater in Kent at 1300 on 3 April

Cardiff - St David's Centre at 1300 on 6 April

Lakeside in Essex at 1300 on 8 April

Juicy Fruity Perfume Fragrances from The Perfume Shop

 Spring is coming and it’s time to change your heady winter perfume to a lighter fresher scent.

Here’s The Perfume Shop’s guide to your spring /summer scent.

 JUICY FRUITY

They say you should have at least 5 pieces of fruit/veg a day, I wonder if fruit in fragrances count?

  

Ed Hardy’s new Love and Luck.

This fruity scent may look oriental on the package, with the tattoo image a Geisha girl, but she’s only there for the sake drink. Yes the top notes include a red sake accord along with cherry blossom and blood oranges. Apparently red sake smells like honey-laced apples with a dash of cinnamon.  But that’s not the end of the fruitiness, in the heart notes there’s black currant, nectarine and forbidden plum along with pink peppercorn. 

This Geisha girl is a light fruit cocktail with a sake kick.

Another perfume you may think would be oriental is Jimmy Choo, again because of the packaging (a pink snake skin print on the box.) The heart note is the exotic Tiger Orchard, but the top notes are sweet Italian orange and pear nectar. Mixed with a base note of toffee, it sounds good enough to eat, but you’ll either love it or find it a bit too sickly sweet.

And a great fragrance for Wimbledon tennis would be Marc Jacobs Daisy bursting with top notes of wild strawberries. Cream not included. And like at Wimbledon, classic white is her preferred colour, but she likes to glam it up with a touch of gold.

All available through www.theperfumeshop.com

JOANNE HYNES/HELEN STEELE AW11 Collection battling it out at London Fashion Week

This collection titled ‘Les Guerriers’ (or warriors) was the inaugural collaboration of Irish designer Joanne Hynes and artist Helen Steele.

They took their inspiration from the Irish pirate queen, Grace O’Malley, which emulsifies their own mission to create, battle on and forge ahead.

This was an array of colours and textures.

Sparkling crystals embellished leather jackets,

hand knitted Arans

and Irish tweeds

The models wore oversized and heavily embellished neck pieces made from hand woven silk, nappa leather and Waterford crystals in reference to the Irish heritage.

These glammed up the simpler garments often set on faux fur stoles,

softened the look of the leather

and also added extra glam to the prints and already embellished pieces.

Suits were a patchwork of rich colourful fabrics horizontally panelled with Indian brocades, feathers and crystals.

Fabrics ranged from the rough....

to the soft

Aran cardigans were made in to short jumpsuits,

faux fur coats had fun splashes of colours as though dotted on with a paint brush , leather skirts were painted over by Steele using dense layers of multicoloured paint and

Steele’s series of paintings had been digitally printed on to silk jersey tees and leggings,

dresses and scarves..

Print titles were Whispering Eye, Fallopian Tube and Fallopian Nectar inspired by the female anatomy.
Footwear was either high wedged wooden clogs, chunky very high platform wedged boots or the flat Chelsea boot.

The clogs were covered in splashes of paint as though worn by an artist whilst painting; the Chelsea boots were a patchwork of different fabrics and colours,

and the high wedged bovver boots were in bright shiny patent.

Definitely a collection fit for a Warrior Queen.

 Helen and Joanne taking a bow.

The stylist for the catwalk show, Annmarie O'Connor, was recently interviewed by BreakThru Radio's DJ Marie on her program Sew & Tell. Annmarie talks about trends within the irish design community and her experience on the catwalk show.

To listen to the full show click on http://bit.ly/ga95UT

ALICE PALMER AW11 collection at London Fashion Week

Named after the Black Sabbath song ‘In to the Void’,

black and white was the predominant colour palette

with accents of gold,

bronze

and ruby red.

Her 3D knitting technique called ‘polyhedra’ was present in the form of spikes,

soft peaked folds,

peep holes

and gashes by using inside a contrasting colour.

Fabrics used were chunky lambswool

and fine silk with metallic fabrics to add the rock chic glamour.