Don't ask, don't tell

It would be about time to lift this ban. Someone coming out as "gay" would minimize cohesion. Firstly, wasn't this said of black people, women and all other "different" people out there?

But what I find even more outrageous is the way in which this leaves people no choice to slip through the either/or: you are either gay or you are not. What if you are something else? Then, can you serve? That shows the absurdity of such a policy and way of thinking and conceiving the world.

And of course, when there is a war, and more men are needed to kill and be killed, then the sexuality issue can be overlooked... it all makes sense.

Turning a new page

I think it is time to get real.

If this sounds like I have disappeared for a few months and come back another person, it is pretty much true. Saying I have been through a few revelations is kind of true too.

Fashion is a strange world. I have been attracted and repelled by it for a long time. What I have recently discovered is that it is also a dangerous world. And I don't want to be part of it anymore.

Which does not mean I believe it to be inferior or have limited power. On the contrary, I think fashion is probably stronger than politics in some respects, if only in that people will buy organic clothes because it is "trendy to go green" instead of actually caring about nature. And I am not a ecological freak, I am quite the sarcastic, but if it's about the thought.

Anyways, I want to start over, and maybe make this blog less fashion newsy but probably give it more soul. After all, I am a writer, not a journalist.

Barbie - still looking good at 50

There way a lot of pushing, shouting and giggles at Hamleys in Regent Street, Central London yesterday as Barbie celebrated her 50th birthday.

The world’s most popular doll was at the store in the flesh to greet children and nostalgic adults and pose with them for a souvenir photograph.

On my part I have to say I was simply excited to get a T-shirt. I always loved Barbie - even though I have to admit I did mine a little bit of damage when I was young ... but surely everyone has tried their hairdressing skills on her at least once ...

Anyhow, I was lucky to own so many.

“It’s amazing to think she is fifty already. I remember when I finally got my first Barbie. You see, my mother would not buy me one because she disapproved. She was shocked at the fact a doll had breasts” recalls Christel.

Needless to say the live doll did not have the 36-18-38 measurements that stirred controversy over unrealistic body expectations for women in the 1960s. But she did not disappoint with long blond hair and a Barbie-pink dress.

I did think the style was a little bit Playboy Mansion for a toy shop but with measurements such as hers it would have been hard to expect otherwise.

Barbie first went on display at the American Toy Fair in March 1959. She was the first mass-produced doll to mimic adult women and caused notorious debate.

However, regardless of the various critiques, the 11½ inches tall doll-woman sells at three a second worldly, according to NDP research Group.

Having a doll that did not represent a baby, but a fully-grown, sexual woman was unheard of. But Barbie also embodies freedom at a time when woman were though of primarily as housewives.

The doll has had over 100 different job titles and tried myriads of activities over the years.

Now, at 50, she is further from retiring than ever - is it the botox or what?!

Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir ... ?

In Paris and in Gaultier? Surely!



The collection is XXXXX, "completely X rated" according to the master. It is all extremely sexy and alluring with graphic dark cuts, fishnets, see-through, fur, velvet and masquerade masks.

It is all about strength and playing with textures and naked flesh.

Of course it's Paris and the setting only makes it glamorous. But I think it s incredible the way in which Gaultier sets the mood and the atmosphere, but also how the skin is used with the clothes.

The body is looked at, used and adorned, but there is a dynamic of used and being used by the clothes.

Now I wish i was a pleasure girl if I can wear that.

Boys boys boys on the shows ... literaly

Jean Paul Gaultier always puts on a show, and this time he decided to dig back to childhood.

Whether it was a family affair, dressed up for Sunday school with Afro/clownish hair, or a methaphore of growing up, the whole catwalk was a criss-cross reference to older days and sober values.

Paper-thin trench coats, Chelsea boots, twig-thin ties, lacquered shoes and pinstripe suits; all in blacks, greys and whites with a splash of block red - declined from child to adolescent to man (with the odd young mother-figure in a retro boyish trench).

A refreshing uptake on old times with pehaps a little too many classic cuts that Gaultier could have twisted around a little more unconventionally.

All in all a suprising show with a few good pieces, although I doubt all this nostalgia will start a new modern trend. Much of it has been seen before.

Sex appeal

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is the new face of sexy.

According to Agent Provocateur - and her boyfriend in her latest lapdance video for the underwear brand.



To be honest who could blame him? The collection immaculately sends sex signals, and the bondage, dominatrix hint is a well known male and female fantasy - in theory anyways.

Vivienne Westwood's son, Joseph Corre, the founder of the company has always been an advocate for making faux bondage acceptable and sexually forward women the essence of a post-feminism century.

Rosie is supposed to represent the new beauties of this season, although, I believe she lacks some edge to her features.

Maybe it is all about choosing a model who will not make the whole campaign appear like a sex-ad...

The calf dilemma

Today, after a stressful day at work I decided to treat myself to a Top Shop spree. (Working in Victoria street does indeed not help my wallet.)

I found a really nice skirt, very much in the sexy/smart tones of the season: black, under-the-knee, high-waisted, tight, with ruffles at the back. Oh and a sales price tag of £15.

All perfectly cut - Victoria Beckham style.

This is the definition of my dream skirt - or one of them at least: so what went through my erratic head to prevent me from running out of the changing rooms, buying it in all haste, smiling to an unimpressed and exasperated rush-hour crowd all the way home?

In a few words: I had a calf attack.

No nothing to do with my muscles melting following intense stiletto-wear. The dress made my calves look the size of my thighs.

I never really worried about my calves: they are toned, and usually barely noticeable. To be honest, I usually have a thunder-thigh panic instead of a thunder-calves panic. How ever even heard of that?

I am not the only one to worry about unusual parts of my body: there are more and more slim-lotions and creams to tone your arms, calves, back, neck and a myriad other places.

I am sure we are slowly sliding towards an LA beauty aesthetic: soon we are going to have to look like a movie star with bleached teeth, on a daily basis.

It is true, the Victoria Beckham cut - just below the knee - can be very unflattering if you have large-ish hips or short legs.

The waist looks fabulous (and so does the buttocks), but it is what I call a profile shape: it enhances you from a side point of view but often not from a front view.

It all depends on the shape you want to achieve.