2012: Paris, Dragons & Small Stitches

2012: The Year the World Ends, the Year I Move to Paris and the Chinese Year of the Dragon. I was born in the year of the dragon, so I guess this means that 2012 will finally be MY year. It’s also the only mythical creature in the Chinese calendar; the deliverer of good fortune, the master of authority and the one to be respected. I think good fortune is something we can all do with this coming year – whether it be finding a lucky penny, falling in love or finally buying that Vivienne Westwood handbag you’ve been lusting after for the past 20 years of your life. Well, I speak for myself on that last one.

This year I move to Paris for 6 months, see my new travel blog here, and so my New Year’s Resolutions list begins with: LEARN FLUENT FRENCH, and is closely followed by BE MORE CULTURED and FIND A SHOP THAT SELLS ED BANGER T-SHIRTS. That Westwood Summer Tartan Bag is slowly getting pushed further down the line…

Being away from home I won’t have much chance to keep up with my large-scale sewing either – so 2012 is the Year of the Small Stitch: cross stitch, hand stitching, felt toys etc. Anything I can fit into my suitcase! I will, of course, document every stage on here.

I hope you all have a fantastic New Year, and all the best for a happy 2012!

Vivienne Westwood – my Anglomania 2011 picks.

Dame Vivienne Westwood is perhaps (definitely) my favourite fashion designer of all time. And these photos from her latest Anglomania fall/winter 2011 collection perhaps (definitely) show why.

I’ve always wanted a pair of Vivienne’s iconic pirate boots, yet they’ve always been just marginally out of my price range (around £350). These amazing Lady Dragon shoes pictured here are my second choice – in fact, at £120, perhaps they’re worth splashing out on come payday? Of course I will do anything possible to persuade myself otherwise, probably by reminding myself that I’m supposed to be saving my wages for a house deposit… but come on, these Lady Dragon shoes look like they’ve walked, no, STRUTTED straight out of Alice in Wonderland. And they’d match the new dress I bought from ASOS quite nicely too. Perhaps it’s a good thing that the online shop is out of size 5s…

Second in line is this ASTONISHING summer tartan handbag. I’m sorry, but has there ever been, or will there ever be, a moment when I DON’T need this?! I fell in love with a red and green tartan bag a few months ago, but that love is over. The divorce is settled. And now I want to move in with this darling instead. Vivienne Westwood has always been one for dramatic, British prints – and I really do love the draping done here. It looks such a mess, yet such an attractive, organised mess… much like the inside of my mind on any given day. Me and Summer Tartan Bag would make the perfect pair. £325, see you later.

Of course my love for Vivienne Westwood doesn’t end there. These are just my 2 favourites items from her fall/winter 2011 Anglomania collection – if I started on the Gold and Red Label collections you would most likely be here reading all night. I’ll save those for another day, yes?