So often I'm asked....

"Do you have any men's clothes?" And I'm somewhat hesitant to answer in the negative. For this reason...

Who's to say an A.P.C. 'womens' peacoat wouldn't look smashing on a chap?

Or indeed, why wouldn't a confident young man feel like slipping into a cheeky Eley Kishimoto bunny sweat? The answer is never say never, never doubt yourself and go go go for it!

Madame x

A bit of French

Sarah Lee dropped by the shop yesterday...hadn't seen her for an aaaage and we had a catch up, I watched her eat a pizza with a plastic spoon and we shared our ritualistic eclair from upstairs....

Then my eyes fell on her camera bag.....and drifted up to the shiny new Eley Kishimoto on the rails, and we probably did the quickest shoot we've ever done! We went around to The French House which was a great idea of Sarah's because they couldn't have been more welcoming - even gave me a "prop" glass of wine, AND encouraged us to go upstairs into the restaurant to shoot a few outfits! Unbelievably kind....and the photos are unbelievably great! Not that Sarah doesn't always take unbelievable photos, it's just when we don't plan it and just grab a moment we always do the best ones!

See for yourself...







And we got some great new Westwood hairclips and brooches and it was a shame not to crack off a couple....



Thankyou to the folks at the French and thankyou Sarah for being such a damn fine photographer!

Madame x

Mad (Wo)Men

So, Sarah was rather impressed that I looked very Mad Men, that lovely looking series on BBC4 about an ad agency in the 1950's which I really love when I remember to watch it...in fact you can watch it with the sound off and it's pretty great to look at, not least the super handsome Jon Hamm, the lead....

This is definately the decade that works for him though, I've seen some red-carpet-designer-stubble type pictures of him in real life and don't feel a THING.

So....quite thrilled to be told i was giving it Mad Men Realness:

But then something happens to me around Sarah Lee and her camera of truth...before long I'd lost my neck, shattered all illusions of icy repressed housewife cool and was kicking up my heels like Dick van Dyke meets Mrs Overall...

Then Emma got hold of the picture.....I give up!

You will note from the pile of dirt that I was actually working rather hard with my colour co-ordinated broom....

I'm not a doggy person (apart from in the pic above!) but I met Lucy's dog Raisin yesterday and I've fallen in love with him...

He's so gentle, soft and beautiful and you can put your face right in front of his without any fear, also he puts his head in your lap and is so lanky he can't sit up straight, he tries and then his little feet slide down like this...

And just look at them together!

They make each other look even better!...Lucy here in pistachio Tocca sari dress.....
Then her husband David who's a musician arrived, you can find out about him here

And the whole family looked so colour-coordinated! Some people make you sick! Did they decide over breakfast that today was all about caramel and chocolate.....?

I prefer to accessorise on my own, my Eley Kishimoto mary-janes seem to go with EVERYTHING!!!!

Socks back on again today....I predict next week we will see the sun again.....

Madame xx
,

Too little time.....

I'm lookiing forward to a bit of time tomorrow to tell all Maison B news in a less rushed fashion but there's so many reasons to come and pay us a visit!

1. I've just unpacked not only those silver gymslips from A.P.C. you've all been chomping at the bit for....but also some pretty amazing gold ones with a button front which look very Rolling Stones in Marrakesh.....

2. Obey is finally here!!! Don your Andre's and your women of the revolution printed on the softest, most desirable t shirts you can get your hands on anywhere!!! More on Obey tomorrow, I'm djing straight after work so no time for a proper hoo hah!!!

3. Anyone who loves a maryjane shoe will get somewhat excited by the Eley Kishimoto grey/yellow, print/orange combos. I've been wearing mine for 3 days straight since they came in and they are the most comfortable mid-heel, GORGEOUS shoes!

4. Have you seen all the new spring/summer Sonia?! Everyone keeps telling us we've bought stuff they haven't seen anywhere else but you better be quick, the ladies are ready for colour and snapping up those stripes and polka dots!

For a perverse little p.s. here is the film I made when we went to buy Winter A.P.C. it's worth planning your summer buys around maybe what snazzy little A.P.C. jacket or coat you'll be buying this winter to complement it....and it's worth seeing for my Mrs Overall impression alone.....


Madame xxxxx

Not great but an effort...

So, I was bored and Emma said, "why don't you animate some Westwood jewelry?"....which I'm sure i'll get around to doing sometime but I felt I needed a plot for my three second animation. The plot is that the Eley Kishimoto flash kubrick teddy falls in love with a flash converse and they make a baby....

....and it's not very flash at all....

Madame xx

Finished!

Phew! Emma got her video up so quick-smart that I was shamed into finishing mine! Thing is I had so much footage due to my access-all-areas advantage!!! But anyway, here it is....The Eley Kishimoto front-row view of Autumn/Winter 2008:

As you'll know if you've been checking the blog, we've got some beautiful summer Eley Kishimoto already...yes still waiting for A.P.C.....but I reckon today.....

madame xx

ELEY KISHIMOTO VILLIAGE FETE

Another quick-n-eazee video shot in a few minutes in store at Shop at Maison B. Uploading it to YouTube took longer!! Here is Madame wearing the latest pieces to arrive to the shop from the Eley Kishimoto Spring Summer 2008 Village Fête collection.

The Eley Kishimoto look book poster says about the collection:

Chains and chevrons, organization for recreation.
D.I.Y. hyper reality of balloons and bunting superimposed on the field of green.
Shelters of stripes roof over the pride of grit and fluff.
Rosettes on pumpkins, Ribbons on old junks,
Lurid colours on automated horses, A beauty queen in a paper crown.
Thrill for frills make perfect sense till the hired generators are turned off.

And yep. The Eley Kishimoto Spring Summer 2008 Village Fête collection looks about as crazy as that sounds!

You will also spot in there the Eley Kishimoto Be@rbrick covered in the Flash Print. You can't buy these from the shop but if you want to come in, give him a kiss or get your picture taken with the bear you are more than welcome! Other designers who have decorated the Be@rbrick are Comme des Garcons, Vivienne Westwood and Karl Lagerfeld. There have also been loads of graffiti artists who have done it too.


And speaking of the Eley Kishimoto Flash Print, the Converse sneakers from Japan are back in stock! There are navy blue and white or red and white to choose from. I personally went a bit nuts when I saw the navy and white ones - but I had to restrain - I'm so poor at the moment.

Oh - and I forgot to say, the music for the video is Chanson D'A by Stereo Total.

xx Emma

And P.S. Ima Doll whispered that there is an Agent Provocateur sale basket in the Berwick St shop with samples in it for bargain prices all sized 34B. She got the Eleanor Bra for less than half price! Jealous!

Ima LOVING the new Eley Kishimoto!!

The spring stuff has started to trickle in....starting with Eley Kishimoto! Then Ima Doll happened to drop by and I persuaded her to give it a whirl! Hope you like this little effort I quickly cobbled together, she looks super-cute I think you'll agree and she definately lifted me out of my black mood....the strawberry cheesecake icecream helped too!!!!!


madame xx

Bigger and Better

I'm writing this lying on my bed eating a slice of my mum's christmas cake, a hulking great wodge of which I brought back to London....As I fold back the tin foil and the characteristic christmas smell comes wafting out I feel sad the whole festive hoo ha is over but also optimistic about the year ahead.

Here's Max sweeping up the last of the needles after taking down the christmas tree at the shop...he actually managed, with Superduck's help, to force it into a garment bag, quite impressive when you saw the size of the tree, and then take it to be recycled.....

One of my favourite christmas memories is the boys' faces when they opened the costumes Stevie and I made for them( I say I, what my role was was making tea and snacks and sewing the odd oversized wool stitch). There's always the danger with children that you can think you've got the perfect present then their face falls and they look at you as if you're insane for thinking they'd want THAT! There's no sugaring the pill when you're five, no siree, "don't like it!" and on to the next present....but we however, got it spot on with Duke's Jedi and Joe's cat"person" (he's actually obsessed with Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns but we drew the line at a snap-fastening pvc leotard and instead made an androgynous-ish tunic, which looks quite Edward Scissorhands and cat-mask!).

Duke the Jedi took up his perfect position under the tree so as to get access to his presents with minimum legwork:

They're now obsessed with Stevie's studio, we were in there on Saturday and they were sticking glitter on denim with the promise they can come back and make them into jeans next time....they were trembling at the thought of course and now harbour aspirations in fashion design....

The best thing about starting work is when your mates pop by to say hello again. We had one of those brilliant coffe-morning type gatherings the first day back which was so lovely with Sarah, Superduck and Lucy and I all vying for attention with Sarah snapping away with her brand new camera...


So pleased she gave me the soft-focus treatment...I should always insist on it!!

One of my low points over christmas was eating a promotional item as I was SO hungry! Beth very kindly sent me a YMC biscuit of a coat and I hadn't brought my packed lunch that day so....


Well I was tired and hungry and very cold by the look of me in the picture! That reminds me, Michael Murphy sent me a funny thing the other day, a timesaving device that I'm sure we could all do with slipping in our handbags!

Ha ha ha ha ha!!!! I don't know how I haven't lived without one frankly!

So, this is the year I get things done, and to prove it, I'm being very regular with my blog as you can see and also exploring other creative outlets....witness if you will the little movie I made during a shoot with Constantine last week....Only last Thursday and already edited and blogged! That's the new me!!!

Three of my most beautiful,statuesque blonde girlfriends agreed to me exploiting them in a shoot Constantine asked me to style....we had so much fun loping about in the basement, dressing up and allowing bonnetising without so much as a murmer! Can't wait to see the pictures but here's an idea......

So big thanks to Alex, Gwen and Johanna, I'm so lucky to have such beautiful friends! And enormous thanks to Stevie who let me pillage the Bodymap archive AND rifle her costume store! Steve and Claire at Rellik for pulling out all the stops and letting me run off with their Laura Ashley stock at Christmas! Nathaniel thanks for being my silent assistant in a hood, and you will notice a smattering of Spring/Summer Eley Kishimoto in there too!!!!

Oh yes, this is the year to get things DONE!!!

If you haven't visited the sale yet, it's all 50% off!!!! See you soon.

Madame xxxx

One more for 07...

When I don't write in this diary now I feel like there's something missing or I'm neglecting someone, you know that wierd feeling when you haven't called a mate for ages....

This is the first time in weeks that me and my computer have been properly alone, grandfather lady and I have spent a wonderful evening with Duke and Joe, letting them open their presents early from him while I cooked an AMAZING chicken bok choi over thai rice with just enough chilli, which made me able to breathe properly through my nose for the first time in a few days....is EVERYBODY stricken with this tedious fluey crap? As I write Nathaniel is groaning in bed in quarantine at the gallery, i've been rifling through the medicine cabinet and found some Benylin sachets I got for free and which seem to be doing the trick, and most people I know are suffering to varying degrees.....

There's been loads of highlights the last few weeks, I've just felt too lousy or been too dog tired to elaborate, so I'll do a quick rounding up to finish up the year in a tidy fashion, I couldn't bear to enter the new year with untold adventures floating in my tiny mind....like the undead.....

Speaking of dead, on the occasion of my birthday, Sarah thought a portrait would be appropriate, except that it'd be best if I looked dead! And she was right goddamnit! Look at this, with Nathaniel's role disturbingly ambiguous...I wonder is he the murderer? A witness? A spy?

Much more original than cheeks puffed out blowing out your candles...I thoroughly recommend a bit of role play, drama etc..
This is Sarah, doing her best teenage Patsy Kensit impression:

...and immediately shattering the illusion...

And Paul Nathaniel and Caz trying to keep warm outside the Coach, actually, Nathaniel is utterly impervious to the cold in that sheepskin and hat - cool as a cucumber, or cosy as a hotdog in a bun or something, Sarah took this one too;

Liza and Ima showed up looking exceptionally fresh-faced and we settled ourselves in the tearoom and cackled into the night..

Etienne showed up which was a treat as I hadn't seen him in an age...

Superduck looked cross but wasn't really...

Alex showed up the next day with her hair a beautiful shade of what I'd like to call "bugger's mauve", like a bombshell tribute to Quentin Crisp it was!

I didn't even get a chance to tell you about Nahid and I at the Duke of Edinburgh Awards christmas party! Champagne reception, quick chat to Prince Edward and a slap up veggie christmas dinner for me!

The meat option was much ruder...

Nahid was queen of course...

Thank god for my Eley Kishimoto ruffle shoulder dress is all I can say! When looking for something to wear, both Nahid and I had a problem finding something "appropriate"....she's got that dress too, could've been a sticky moment there....

We had so much fun, drank quite lots of wine then back to real life and I got the tube home.

The boys did their nativity which I bleeding well loved...

Hattie brought Clemency up west for the first time....

Duke escorted me to the Eley Kishimoto Christmas drinks do which was supposed to mean that I only stayed for one....but didn't...


Duke had his first crush...on Fiona, he took off with my camera and when I got it back there were a couple of other people and LOADS of her, then he kept doing swashbuckling type things to win her honour...

He took some great ones of the other girls too, Thida:

and Chloe:

Did I mention The Look Christmas bash? That was a corker, with the Priscillas, Kevin Rowlands and of course Paul Gorman, Max and I mixing and mismatching on the turntables...well, I say mixing....

The next one is for Valentines.......I'll keep you posted!

I'm running out of steam, I'm watching a CSI (one i've seen before) with one eye and typing this with the other and tomorrow is Christmas Eve and I've STILL got presents to get....Nanny Van's due at 7.30am so I'd better get a bit of shut eye...I'll try to do another post before the end of the year, I've got high hopes for the the one ahead.....hope you all have the BEST Christmas!!!

Madame x

Fashion and Food

I have to say that my photos of night-time shenanigans are getting pretty good, ever since Sarah showed me that slow syncro trick on my camera! These photos from the Eley Kishimoto fashion week party where Max and I were djing wouldn't look out of place gracing a Steven Saban article on hot night-life and beautiful people! I used to love his column in Details, my favourite was one illustrated by a fantastic picture of Halston with a disco light glinting in his sunglasses....oooh or the one with Margaux and Mariel Hemingway leaving a club, Margaux baring one breast as her spaghetti-strap fell down....




It was so great to have Katrina back in London...gotta catch up with her properly this week...

Me Emma, Jasmine and Sarah went out for amazing Tapas in Mornington Crescent on Saturday night and laughed and laughed and laughed.....and laughed!!


Until my nose caught on fire...

The restaurant is called El Parador and doesn't look anything special from the outside but the food is diviiiiiiiiine!!! The vegetable dishes were my favourites, artichokes, spicey patates, aubergine and potato patties and the hot bean and garlic mush to start was delicious!!!

Anyway, if you've had a rough week, tapas with the girls is the best antidote to the blues....I recommend!!

Yes, I'm wearing the new APC polka dot dress in these pics, have you seen the new delivery yet? No? Where have you been???

madame x