state of sunday

Monochrome stripes - Andreea Bogdan

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:26:00 +0000

This was the only street style shot I took at the Vogue Festival. I just love it when fashion looks effortless and wearable. I have no doubt that Andreea looks like this any other day of the week. There is something so frenchie about her look - the hair, the dress, the shades... it just works!

Monetizing the blogosphere... or who killed Street Style

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 20:08:00 +0000

Last Sunday I went to a talk on "digital media in fashion" which took place during the Vogue Festival. It mainly revolved around fashion brands using social media as a promotion tool. I guess the talk must've achieved its purpose because it definitely got me thinking (which is not an easy task for me on a Sunday morning)....

About 5 years ago when I found myself at fashion week for the very first time, everyone wanted to shoot street style. Scott Schuman was already a celebrity and Susie Bubble would still stop to pose for photographs. London fashion week was full of peacocks (of the east London variety) and Paris was.. well.. its incredible self. 5 years on and everything is still more or less the same except that street style and the digital revolution have been monetized to the nth degree. Instagram followers are bought, every outfit post is tagged and cookied, books have been published and bloggers have moved into the brave new world of agency representation.

Lately I've found myself growing increasingly cold towards street style. The reason being – it stopped being ‘street’ a long time ago. Both personal and street style blogging are now by-products of carefully cultivated marketing strategies. It is normal practice for an A-list blogger to pop into the showroom before the show and choose an outfit. It is not shameful and it is not frowned upon. It has become a norm. Street style photographers fully aware of this, still continue snapping away outside the shows, and those photos are then sold and re-sold to digital and print publications and only a very lazy photog has not yet jumped on this bandwagon.

My ‘light bulb’ moment happened when I was showing my blog to a fashion-conscious but blogless friend of mine for the very first time. She pointed at a photograph of a well-known stylist that I had taken in Paris and asked “do you actually like what she is wearing??” I looked at the photograph and realised that in actual fact I did not like that outfit one little bit. It was not my style, it was not something that I would ever wear or aspire to. Why did I take and post that photograph in the first place? Because that stylist’s name is ‘googled’ a lot and every time I posted a picture of her on my blog, it increased the traffic through search engines. It didnt even occur to me that I was losing the integrity of my blog by posting rubbish that even I wasn’t that interested in. I then decided to give personal style a go and post a few outfits, with all the tags, cookies and bells & whistles. Turns out – not really my thing – I am not really that interested in my mugshot being plastered on the internet in 900x300 resolution and lets face it - I just don't have the commitment required. Instagram is already doing a brilliant job at satisfying my daily narcissistic cravings.

I find it quite interesting how much blogging has evolved in the last decade. These days it is almost like ‘do it as a career or go home!’ People are no longer interested in a half-ass*d visual diary. They want a blog to look like a professional publication. Perhaps rightfully so, perhaps not. I personally used to quite enjoy Tavi’s DIY approach to blogging even when she was already on the cover of POP magazine. I find it fascinating that these days almost every punter you stop and ask to photograph on Brick Lane will ask you in great amount of detail what the photograph is for, when it will be published and if they could have your business card….and all of this is before they even agree to have their photograph taken!

Perhaps if I made money blogging I would have a different view on this matter. Perhaps my opinions stem from ignorance. I simply don’t know…What I do know is that things tend to become boring when they become predictable and I can most definitely tell you that right now the blogosphere is turning pretty darn boooooriiiiiing!

So like with any evolution I guess the big question is…where to from now?! Will babies soon be born with an instagram and a twitter account and a 1,000 followers ‘welcome package’?? xx

Test: Jordan Ebbitt

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 19:49:00 +0000

Model: Jordan Ebbitt (D1 models)
Make-up: Grace Gray
Styling: Tommy Pang

Valentine's....Shmalentine's....

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 00:31:00 +0000

When it comes to Valentine’s Day, I have an amazingly consistent track record of being single. In fact, if I had the same consistency in any other part of my life, I would probably be a big deal by now in one way or another…. When I say I am consistently single on Valentine’s Day, what I really mean is - this is going to be my 29th Valentine’s Day as a single! That statistic is actually quite astonishing considering that it’s not exactly a drought situation or hasn’t really been a drought situation as such for at least the last 4 years (since I moved to London pretty much). So taking that into account it is really quite astounding that year after year, when it comes to matters of heart, I still remain a complete amateur. Year after year I mistime my relationships so that NEVER EVER do i have a date on the day when Hallmark ODs on steroids.

The excuses are endless - he lives in a different country, he leaves to move to a different country two weeks before THE day, we have a fight (one of many) and that night in a nightclub he manages to meet his next girlfriend (best news EVER!), we decide to take a break (didn’t think that one through very well did i now…), I leave the country the night before to go back to London because Valentine’s day happens to be on a Monday and I have to be at work. Just for the record - all of these scenarios actually happened with different people so it’s not a one big dysfunctional relationship (phew!...that would have been worrying). Oh and btw for those of you who have never been to a nightclub on Valentine’s day… believe me when I tell you that it is the most desperate of the most desperate nights compared to the other 364 days in a year. Don’t do it! Just don’t!

The remainder of my Valentine’s days have been spent either trying to ignore the whole thing or rebelling against it with my other single friends (normally consists of a dinner and one too many drinks, followed by…. you guessed it! a nightclub!).

This year I have come to a conclusion that Valentine’s Day is actually an evil holiday… because no holiday is ever meant to make you feel bad…Thanks for reminding me that I’m single - like Facebook doesn’t already excel at that on daily basis! I mean, we don’t celebrate a Skinny Person Day because that would make people feel bad about themselves, neither do we celebrate Blonde Day because that wouldn’t be very fair either…so whoever that marketing genius was who decided to bring back VDay would definitely be crossed off my Christmas list! Fact.

This year I have decided not to acknowledge the day at all - except I’m pretty sure that my lovely friends think I have gone a bit mental because I have declined all invitations to “singles” anything… no dinners.. no drinks… no rebelling!!

I am expecting a lovely bunch of cupcakes tomorrow though - outcome of tactically negotiating down from a bunch of flowers that my BFF was intending to send along with my one and only VDay card that I get from her every year… without fail! Now THAT ladies and gentlemen is what I believe they call true love :)

Fringe benefits....

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Fri, 07 Feb 2014 21:19:00 +0000

This test was also shot last year. I made the "dress" from two sets of fringe curtains which I ordered from Amazon. The PVC cape is actually a skirt from a vintage shop.

Our model that day was the lovely Bethan from Oxygen and make-up was done by my favourite Maria Papadopoulou

(for some reason blogger decided to change the colour of all my photos post upload....the whole set is meant to be a little bit more magenta-ish... sometimes blogger has a mind of its own i swear)

80's flashback...

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 23:11:00 +0000

A couple of random shots from a workshop I attended last year. The workshop was originally inspired by the work of Helmut Newton, however to me this is more of an 80's flashback and makes me think of Madonna circa Vogue and Robert Palmer's Simply Irresistible.

Ulyana Sergeenko outside Chloe - Paris, September 2013

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 22 Jan 2014 22:05:00 +0000

Testing testing: Rezeda

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Thu, 12 Dec 2013 01:00:00 +0000

I love shooting back in Russia in my home town. It generally means I'm relaxed with plenty of time and nowhere to rush. This time I wanted to do something very informal. In fact I didnt even know I wanted to shoot... until I was trawling randomly through instagram and came across Rezeda's profile (@rezzzy). She is not a model and has no modelling experience whatsoever but loves a good selfie and has a fun personality (see how much you can learn by insta-stalking someone :)) So I got in touch, ordered two random dresses on ASOS and booked a studio - all very last minute. I shot this using only natural light. Boom!

p.s. Guess what?! Im off to Australia this weekend! Cannot wait for some sunshine!

what I wore: the comfiest Ganni dress ever...

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 27 Nov 2013 22:03:00 +0000

This has to be one my comfiest outfits!

Dress - Ganni; Coat - Asos; Shoes - old Viktor & Rolf; bag - Meli Melo

Carine Roitfeld, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Tue, 26 Nov 2013 21:51:00 +0000

On my flight back to London, I finally managed to watch Mademoiselle C – a documentary on Carine Roitfeld or to be more precise- whatever happened to Carine after her somewhat scandalous departure from french Vogue.

I cant really say I ever had an opinion on Carine – obviously very stylish, successful, talented. But I couldn’t say she ever evoked any strong feelings of admiration, obsession or particular interest to her persona. I have seen her at fashion weeks in Paris and have photographed her but that was more because she is Carine Roitfeld, as opposed to because I simply love shooting her.

Neither could I say that I had any particular expectations for this film. I guess I expected it to be Carine’s version of The September Issue built on the same [successful but simple] formula. And that it was – similar structure, layout and story telling. However, to my surprise, what made this film an absolute pleasure to watch (and subsequently re-watch) was the human element. The Carine element – who came across as a wonderful human being who, albeit obsessed with fashion, has a life beyond fashion. I loved watching her obsess over Julia and the birth of her first grandchild, her vulnerability, her pride to be a Russian although has left the country many many years ago, her shameless embrace of the world of Kanyes, Beyonces and Jay-Zs. I loved that she opened up and showed herself not as an editor, for whom fashion is everything, but as a woman, a friend, a lover and a mother. I know it sounds really cheesy but to me that’s what has made the film so extremely relatable.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I strongly recommend watching the film – it will leave you feeling inspired! xx

Elisa Baudoin, Grand Palais

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 17:12:00 +0000

Christine Centenera, Paris

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:29:00 +0000

Christine Centenera - Vogue Australia. I love the cut and the detail of this amazing black jacket - look at the shoulders, the trim, the gold buttons and that belt. Immaculate!

Elisa Nalin, Paris - September 2013

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Mon, 18 Nov 2013 21:08:00 +0000

I'm usually not a huge fan of denim jackets - in fact I dont even own one - but Elisa here pulled off the look so well. I think its the simple white dress that makes the look softer and saves the jacket from looking trivial (which is how I believe denim jackets normally look)

Dasha Selyanova ZDDZ

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 20:11:00 +0000

(click on the arrows)

My last couple of weeks have been absolutely crazy - I was in New York for a holiday (which conveniently clashed with Halloween - any excuse to dress up), then was back in London for a few days and now I am in Russia.

During my couple of days back home in London I had the absolute pleasure of shooting Dasha Selyanova who is a Russian designer living in London and who is one of the four masterminds behind an urban-wear brand ZDDZ. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon so we decided to head outdoors for some of the shots - Dasha leaves on the canal in Angel which made for a great backdrop to the photos.

Check out the full story (in Russian) on Wonderzine

Sienna Somers, Somerset House

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 06 Nov 2013 19:46:00 +0000

How cool is Sienna's hat?! I believe it's by Pachacuti

On the subject of ink...

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 21:34:00 +0000

I first considered getting a tattoo when I was about 14 years old. I was going through my rebellious stage and was an avid fan of L’Oreal’s blue hair highlighters and faux-snakeskin trousers (I cringe just thinking about it). I thought about it long and hard and decided that it wasn’t even a matter of wanting a tattoo, it was a matter of needing a tattoo (especially given my sister had some serious tattoo artistry done a few years earlier). At the time I had decided that out of the entire flora and fauna catalogue I would choose a spider which was to be placed on my right ankle. Decision made. I was prepared to put up a good fight when I went to my dad to ask for funding for this important project. To my amazement, surprise and disappointment dad didn’t seem at all shocked or bothered by my idea and said he didn’t mind as long as the aforementioned or any other tattoo would not somehow find its way to either of my shoulders (“because that would be a bit vulgar”). That was a bit of anti-climax because how is that cool and rebellious when your parents are not shocked by it?! In hindsight it was probably a case of my parents using reverse psychology but I didn’t end up getting the tattoo in the end and shortly after I was shipped off to the Land Down Under so it was probably a good thing given my new school (read: prison) didn’t even feel comfortable with lip gloss let alone tattoos.

My memory fades at my old age but I think I may have had a relapse around the age of 18 after graduating from school but my tattoo ponderings were categorically quashed by my BFF who claimed that she would basically defriend me (in real life that is… since these were pre-Facebook days) had I gone ahead with the tattoo. At the time we were both living on the Gold Coast which is basically Australia’s miniature version of LA… except at times quite trashy. So majority of tattoos that we were exposed to were the ones of Southern Cross or Dolphins or Butterflies – sometimes all three… that lived on the backs, shoulders, boobs and hips of jolly girls who liked dancing on tables at Shooters /The Drink/Melbas bar (I was up on those tables right next to them, sans the ink).

The next few years after that the tattoos didn’t cross my mind as I was too busy graduating from uni, finding a job, hating the job, moving to London, changing the job, having the time of my life until this year I started getting dangerously close to a particular age milestone and started compiling (as you do) my ‘bucket list’ for the next 10 years. So the ink crept back into the list of things to do. But now that I’m older and wiser – I decided that it is not something to be taken lightly.

I decided to ask around and see what people think about tattoos these days (especially given that every man and his dog’s friend has one). The responses varied but the underlying message was ‘don’t do it!’

Here is a random sampler of opinions:

· Don’t do it – you are not a rockstar (from anonymous friend – btw thanks for clarifying that because I had totally forgotten that I wasn’t a rockstar…duh)

· Don’t do it – you will regret it one day… probably on your 50^th birthday

· Don’t do it – we will not be friends if you do (from my photographer/blogger friend! Wtf! Aren’t creatives meant to be the open minded ones?!)

· Don’t do it – you are having an identity crisis, it will pass (from a drunk friend who arguably is also having some kind of a crisis)

· Do it!!! – girls with tattoos are sexy, how soon do you think you can get it done?! (from a former romantic interest)

· Do it… – I have 6, its not big deal – shall I come with? I’ve been thinking about a 7^th (from a friend who is an associate director at an investment bank…go figure...)

· Do it… – I will pay for it if the tattoo has a reference to Miley Cyrus in written or pictorial format (my ex-boss who thinks he is hilarious)

· Errmm – haven’t we been through the tattoo stage already? Oh wait…that was me… (from my sister)

I must say the only comment that really made me question was the one about my 50^th birthday… I mean at the moment it’s not even a hypothetical possibility that I will ever be 50 years old… but then again a few years ago 30 years old wasn’t really an option but now its becoming unsettlingly (did I just make up a word?!) real.

So basically to wrap this up… I still haven’t made up my mind about the whole thing… mostly because I’ve been thinking a lot about what it may be (it will be writing I know that much) and I have not been able to come up with any sentence, word combination or picture that I would be comfortable carrying on my skin for the rest of my life. Just thinking back to my ‘spider’ days – I thank my lucky stars for not having to spend the money to get that insect removed from my ankle… It all seems like a great idea at the time but can you carry it proudly when you are of the elegant age???

p.s. here is a little picture of the gorgeous Pernille who’s Nordic style I absolutely adore – she has a sneaky ink bracelet on her wrists which comfortably blends in with the rest of her jewellery (snapped by me at PFW outside Grand Palais in September this year)

Garance Dore, Outside Chloe

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 22:15:00 +0000

The one and only Garance with her new chop and a gorgeous pink Phillip Lim coat. Garance started off being and still is one of my favourite bloggers to follow. I have been following her for about 5 years now and I still enjoy her posts today just as much as I did back then. If I get really busy and dont have time to catch up on blogs for a couple of weeks, one of my favourite Friday night pastimes (yes, I'm a bit of a sad case - I love a good friday night in with lots of 'me' time) is to crawl into bed with my I-pad and head straight for Garance's blog.

What I wore: Blue coat

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Sun, 27 Oct 2013 22:03:00 +0000

Catching the rare sun rays in the afternoon... I'm refusing to give up on bare feet! So until they turn the same colour as my coat I will not be wearing boots :)

Coat - Topshop; Top, trousers, shoes - Zara; Sunglasses - Asos

Photos: David Nyanzi

Vika Gazinskaya, Jardins des Tuileries, September 2013

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 21:37:00 +0000

I love Vika in this baby pink colour - it makes her look so soft and fresh! The colour softens the masculine cut of the suit and the absence of shirt (or any type of layering for that matter) adds a bit of a sexy streak. LOVE! (you can totally tell because I am posting not one but three photos :))

The social media bubble or how I became addicted to Instagram...

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 20:58:00 +0000

Last Saturday at a friend’s birthday dinner I was sat next to a very interesting young man who makes a living by assisting one of the top photographers in the fashion universe. We got chatting about this that and the other… and then he said the most incredible thing – “why would one strive to get published in print? people outside the fashion industry hardly even buy magazines anymore – it’s all online these days”. At first I was outraged… I mean what nonsense is this man talking?! Of course people still love magazines! And then I thought about the last time I read a magazine…

I stopped buying hardcopies sometime ago but I do subscribe to a few glossies through their I-pad editions – I tend to flick through them on my way to work (whilst being squashed on the tube somewhere between Bond Street station and some smelly man’s armpit). But I must say, the last couple of issues I found somewhat irritating – I remember thinking that I really wasn’t getting anything out of this issue because the only clothes staring at me from the pages were the ones which ended up there by virtue of fashion houses spending a lot of money on advertising and hence they were all established brands fighting for the limelight and none of the fresh/up-and-coming/interesting designers would ever have a chance at making an appearance. Of course this is a huge generalisation and there are magazines that are smaller-cooler-etc-etc but here I am referring to the powerhouses of fashion glossies.

Generally what tends to happen if I am unhappy with the content of a magazine is that I would try to compensate by going online and sifting through what the numerous people that I follow on Instagram/Pinterest/Bloglovin are wearing and raving about. I know that the bloggers these days are not entirely independent either but at least their content comes with a healthy dose of creativity in mixing and matching the pieces. So may be it is “all online” after all or at least moving in that general direction…. Which brings me to my next point – the direction in which the social media is moving.

I have recently discovered that (potentially due to the never-ending boredom and all-consuming lack of motivation at my day job) I have been checking my Instagram/Pinterest/Bloglovin more frequently than would be deemed healthy by your average person.

I don’t know if it’s my stalking tendencies or what but I more and more find myself following people for the sake of knowing what they are up to rather than just what they are wearing. I guess there is no point in denying the obvious – I belong to the “reality TV” generation. For some reason this generation is just so damn nosy and interested in other random people’s lives! I mean try explaining to your mother why you are following a 100 random people who you’ve never met before on Instagram and catching up on their daily happenings with an almost hourly frequency… But wait it gets worse! I’m not talking celebrities… I’m talking random people, bloggers, unknown models and of course friends of these random people – to put it bluntly “mere mortals”. But somehow by virtue of human curiosity, I add more and more of these random people to the list of my Followed. Sometimes I catch myself thinking when scrolling through the Instagram “ah haven’t seen anything from [Mary Smith] for a while – I wonder what she’s been up to”. Are you normal??? I mean if I could give myself a piece of advice it would be GET A LIFE!!!! But for some strange reason I keep coming back for more… addiction? Call it whatever you want! The reason why the social media bubble will not burst for quite sometime is because it caters to one basic human element – CURIOSITY. Remember when you were little and you used to have imaginary friends? Well nothing’s changed really except that now your imaginary friends live online :)

Sunday on Brick Lane

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 21:02:00 +0000

I hardly ever venture out to Brick Lane on Sundays and if I do I like to relax instead of hassling people for photos. But on this particular occasion I just happened to have my camera with me and this lovely lady just happened to be walking past in this really cool skirt. Ta-da!

PS I wore it: bra over a white shirt...

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 21:01:00 +0000

I first saw the "bra over shirt" thing on Yasmin Sewell at AW13 shows earlier this year. I loved the idea but it never felt quite right. Until I found this asymmetrical white shirt at Urban Outfitters and thought it would be perfect for the "bra situation" because it doesnt look as formal as a normal white shirt would - it actually almost looks like a dress because its quite a bit longer in the back.

Shirt - Urban Outfitters (similar here), matte (faux) leather trousers -Warehouse, bag - Asos, leather bralet - Manning Cartell (bought it yonkers years ago back in Australia but somewhat similar here), shoes - Jimmy Choo

photo: David Nyanzi

Happy Friday xx

Angelica Lorenz, London

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 19:56:00 +0000

I love the way Angelica paired this tartan suit with a biker jacket to toughen up the look a bit. It's just the right amount of masculine.

Angelica is wearing a Topshop suit (similar here), Acne Jacket (similar here), Balenciaga shoes (similar here), Phillip Lim bag (similar here).

Nayoung Keem, Place Vendome

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:44:00 +0000

One would think bright orange would be enough of a statement when it comes to suits but I think the quirky cut in this case puts a modern spin on a classic shape. Wouldn't have any other way to be honest!

PS I wore it: red crop top...

noreply@blogger.com (*sunday*) — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 20:32:00 +0000

Asos skirt, Daisy Street crop top, Christian Louboutin heels, DvF clutch (similar here), Asos sunglasses

I generally hate crop tops...I think perhaps I overdid them in the 90's when I was going through my Spice Girls stage. In any case, I finally found a way to make this trend work for me by wearing it with a skirt that's high on the waist and hence the amount of flesh showing is somewhat reduced :)

photos: David Nyanzi