Fred Butler tells Swatch MTV Playground about her proudest moments in fashion.
Archive | May, 2011
Yo USA, I think we should do swapsies on our leaders
What a class act, MObama in Ralph Lauren. Whatta classy dame!
The Obamas are too damn cool, and everybody loves them. America, you love right wingers. Let’s cut a deal, we’ll swap them for the Camerons, and we’ll even throw in Clegg as a bonus. He might even perk up over in the US of A. Howzat?
Image via: The Cut
I was foolish enough to do this in blistering 40C heat…
At Coachella, myself and my friend Sylvie, thought WHAT THE HEY, LET’S PLAY. I’m not gonna lie, I enjoyed the heat, until I had to move. Or do anything. The great thing about Coachella was all the initiatives they had in place to reduce the impact of the environment. I must have put it to the back of my mind, but an email from Global Inheritance reminded me of all the neat stuff that was going on. (That’s right, I wrote NEAT. NEAT. NEATO!). It was hugely inspiring, and hopefully gave us festival goers food for thought.
The Energy FACTory highlights renewable energy sources while educating people on ways to curb their appetite for fossil fuels. Through installations, workshops and/or demonstrations, the Energy FACTory provides a unquie platform to educate people on wind, solar, kinetic, fossil fuels, biodiesel, Ethanol thermal and other types of energy. 24 DJs had the opportunity to spin Coachella with one catch, they had to recruit festival goers to generate energy to power their set. Last year we broke ground with this new program. Our goal in 2011 was to raise the bar a few notches and see if we could actually make the jump. Thanks all to everyone involved behind the scenes, we crossed the bar with no problems. The crown jewel of the Energy Playground was the Energy Swing supported by the second generation Energy Well, Hamster Wheels, Hand Cranks, See Saws and twice the number of Energy Bikes. The lines weren’t too long to use any of the re-engineered playground equipment so everyone had the opportunity to support the DJ sets.
Thankfully, I’m not in any of these pictures.
Human hamster wheels, the Tour de Energy bikes… we shied away from them. I care, but I don’t think me collapsing from heatstroke helps. So we played on the seesaw and the sexy swing. The sexy swing is best explained here.
But really, it’s a great cause. And it wasn’t as bad as the mental clown swings. At least there was a purpose to the madness.
I really wish my fingers could have been guns then…
Check out Global Inheritance Energy FACTory here along with all their other programs and how to get involved.
‘Industry Collaborations’ – Swatch MTV Playground #MTVPlayground
I like watches, and music. I like to tell the time, and skank out as you would say. What better way to combine the two than to get involved with Swatch MTV Playground?
SMP is focusing exclusively on the relationship between fashion and music, and how they both interact and influence each other. Where to start really? Getting the top bananas in fashion and music to guest edit – starting with Fred Butler and Alex Noble
I could witter on more, but a video speaks more coherently than me. And it’s way more fun.
Get involved at Swatch MTV Playground’s Facebook and follow on Twitter @mtvplayground
Stööki – A New Art & Jewellery Movement That Invites You To Make Your Mark
Streetwear isn’t just hoodies and pure white creps. It’s not just a term, but a movement as such. Lucky for us in London, we have incredibly talented young streetwear designers and brands. Stööki aims to go that step further. Marrying jewellery and t-shirts, Stööki combines two elements into one, and presents it side by side with interactive art installations that complement each piece.
The Craft Makers will be revealing the first collection at the Red Bull HQ in London, on the 20th of May, and yes y’all are invited. Not just a press event, everyone is invited to get involved. You’ll also get a chance to play with the installations, and purchase 1 of 30 limited edition pieces of Stööki jewellery pieces as well as checking out the surprises that are unveiled on the night.
Stööki Launch
20th May 2011
7 ‐ 8pm (Press Preview)
8 ‐ 11pm (Playground open for all)
Follow on Twitter: @_stooki_
Red Bull Studios
155 – 171 Tooley Street, London, SE1 2JP
Nearest station: London Bridge (Northern, Jubilee and National Rail services)
How To Tell The Fella in Your Life That He Dresses Like a Bozo (Indirectly Of Course)
The first version I saw of this was the “Carry On” version – at the Millennium Dome before it was the O2 (don’t ask)
Ladies (and also gentleman). Does the man in your life suffer from a dearth of cargo pants and hiking boots even though he never ventures out of the city? Does he believe that baggy pink polo shirts are de rigeur for the young man about town? Does he (shock, horror!) own not one, but two pairs of mandals?
Enter the Vintage Style Doc. In a perhaps, more gentler fashion than your other half, he will massage your ego (and appetite) with lunch first, then hit you with a one, two punch of a shopping trip and a gently disguised scathing appraisal of your ensemble (I’m just guessing here, I don’t assume everyone is as brutally honest as me.) Give them a yes sandwich and they’ll be eating out of your hands.
My favourite vintage store Rokit and the Vintage Style Doctor are offering a chance to win a styling session and £100 worth of Rokit clobber. How to enter you say, peering over my shoulder. Well…
If you can detect and diagnose an illness in any man close to you, then please send a photograph, diagnosis and description of his affliction to Vintage Style Doctor at TheDoc@VintageStyleDoctor.com
The most serious case will be selected for imminent treatment in the form of an emergency style consultation and shopping trip in London with Vintage Style Doctor. To help with the treatment, Rokit have donated £100 worth of credit to be spent in-store on the day. You will also be invited to join for a routine check-up and any style niggles you have will also be remedied.
T&C’s can all be found over here. Remember, you’re only intervening out of love.
Black Cat Balloon Company’s Muppet Project
If you don’t know who these two are, you need to be chastised severely.
The Black Cat Balloon Company’s bio says of its sole owner, Susanne Ritchie – “What do you do with a B.A. in English? You make balloon animals.”
Damn straight. What did I do with a BSc in Psychology? According to my father, nothing. According to my mother, very low paid jobs with shitty employers. And according to everyone else, I’m living my dream.
But I digress. Susanne with her wonderful balloon twistin’ skillz, is putting them to good use by making balloon Muppets. You can see all her balloons on her Flickr and blawg too.
SUPER GROVER!
Sparkly Hankerings: nOir x DC Wonder Woman Ring
I stopped wearing jewellery a while ago, except for special occasions. I kept losing it, or wearing one earring (which is fashionable, but not when I did it, up yours haters). I’ve developed a penchant for wearing jewellery again – at times, because I’ve gotten some nice gemmed gifts of late. I’ve also started wearing rings of late, considering when I was younger, I was NEVER ALLOWED TO HAVE THEM. What gives ma? I caroused until all hours of the day and night, but no rings. Harsh.
Aren’t I lucky that huge rings look great on me, because I have huge hands? Yay me!
Moseying about looking for new pieces for upcoming shoots, I happened across this Wonder Woman ring by NYC based jewellers nOir which have a lot of kitsch, but not cutesy therefore vom-inducing, sparkly and rather fun pieces. And it’s rather reasonably priced too.
And I love Wonder Woman. But harking back to my childhood, I loved stars like no other. If something had stars on it, I would get it. I thought I grew out of that, but apparently not, and it has all the colours of the flags of both my homes (collective aaaw.)
Now to find a spare $165 lying about….
via: nOir Jewelry
Nailin’ It: A Guest Post by Three Small Apples
Yvonne and I spend a lot of time discussing our mutual love for applying enough nail polish to paint a room on a regular basis. I thought why don’t we guest post on each other’s blogs – she suggested our top 5 polishes. Great minds eh? I’m still not on her blogroll however…*cough*
L-R: Nails Inc Shoreditch; Nails Inc Tate; Essie Merino Cool; Barry M White; and Chanel Vendetta.
‘To Do’ lists. Eurgh. Mine is huge and filled with such impossible tasks that the mere thought of the list makes me want to kill myself. Who can bear the sight of a list that contains both “Gym – go” and “Start novel”? Crumbs… maybe I should aim slightly lower? Although if the list was actually achievable, then I’d have to find another excuse for procrastinating all day and achieving none of it.
My current excuse (and it’s been my excuse since discovering Avon at the age of 13) is that “I’m painting my nails”. Don’t want to wash the dishes? “I’m painting my nails”. Not really up for making 4 cups of tea while boyf and his mates watch football? “I’m painting my nails”. Haven’t actually found the time to watch Peep Show, read the weekend papers, learn French, or find my glasses? It’s because I was painting my nails. In fact when I think about the amount of money and time that I’ve spent on my nails in the past 10 years… phew… deep breath… stop thinking about it… try not to be sick…
In an attempt to think positive nail varnish thoughts instead, I might just remind myself of a few of my nail favourites:
Nails Inc – Shoreditch
I love Nails Inc. I love the shape of their bottles, I love their champagne nail bars and I really love that they’ve named all of their varnishes after streets, landmarks and areas in London. I’ve lived in London for 10 years now = officially a Londoner (despite my accent)! Shoreditch by Nails Inc is awesome. An eye-popping hot pink which would suit most skin tones. And it’s my hood too. Wicked.
Essie – Merino Cool
Essie is another favourite brand and one of the things (after ridiculous amounts of Magnolia Bakery banana pudding) that I spend most of my money on when in NY. You need two to three coats to get streak free coverage, but the polish dries quickly, so it doesn’t take too long to layer up. Merino Cool is one of the colours from their AW 2010 collection. A pale mink-y tone which looks as neutral as a nude, but without the nail-less look that a nude shade can give you.
Chanel – Vendetta
I’m a bit obsessed with very dark nail varnish as it makes my hands appear paler. I’m fixated with avoiding a tan and the only person I know who wears factor 50 sun cream while still in the UK. Actually, my sister is slightly worse than me and carries an umbrella (it’s not even a parasol! It’s her Kuromi umbrella!) in the summer to hide from sunrays. I don’t go quite so far… Anyway, Vendetta is an almost black purple, with a subtle blue shimmer. Two coats are all you need for a completely opaque finish.
Barry M – White
Although I’ve moved on a bit from my Avon days (I left it behind when I got rid of my wet perm…) I am still a sucker for an impulse beauty buy when in Superdrug. Barry M is perfect as it’s so cheap that badly thought out purchases don’t break the bank, and therefore stops you from ever learning your lesson. Although white varnish does bring back tipex manicure (and wet perm) memories, I love how striking a colour it is. It’s surprisingly flattering too.
Nails Inc – Tate
And lastly, who doesn’t love a bold red?! End of conversation.
Guest post written by Three Small Apples, fellow fashion blogger, apparently a crap dancer (I’ve yet to see proof of this), fast talker (faster than me?), cupcake baking, cocktail swilling, biscuit munching backcomber and nail painter and with more elegant hands than I. *jealous* Keep an eye out for my guest post over on her blog soon!
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