R.I.P T.W.A.T.

The decision was made today to change the old The World According To... website. The old shop is being turned into a falafel den as we speak. Completely erased. It was freaky when the hairdressers who used to work in the space came into the old The World According To.../Shop space and tell us where the sinks and mirrors were and now it will be pita and hoummous.

One thing that we are all sad to see get destroyed in the path of change are the incredible murals that James Jarvis - artist, cartoonist, designer for Silas and creator of the Amos Toys range - drew for The World According To... directly onto the plaster walls of in the stairwell. Fortunately Pippa had the foresight to document the day James Jarvis was in with his marker pens on video which I have just uploaded to YouTube [there are a gang of other James Jarvis videos FYI there to check out!] and here it is for you to reminisce:



How FANTASTIC!!


Oh! That reminds me!! Pippa's band All About Eve Babitz have a song in the movie "Love and Other Disasters" Directed by Alek Keshishian [you know - the one who did that Madonna movie!] showing at the BFI 22nd London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival. the cast is only Cast: Brittany Murphy, Matthew Rhys, Catherine Tate, Stephanie Beacham, Jamie Sives, Santiago Cabrera [you get me!]

The song is "Fantastic" which is totally gorgeous and you can hear it on the All About Eve Babitz MySpace page.

Here is a little synopsis about the movie btw from the BFI website:

A star-studded romantic comedy set in London among stylish twenty-something sophisticates. Brittany Murphy plays Emily 'Jacks' Jackson, a fashion assistant who is constantly trying to find a boyfriend for Peter, her hopeless gay flatmate (Matthew Rhys - best known for his role in Brothers and Sisters). Like a sharper, gayer version of Love, Actually crossed with a pinch of The Devil Wears Prada with more than a nod to classic screwball comedy, this is a film that wears its quotations with self-conscious flair.

When Peter seems to fall in love at first sight with an arty-looking, floppy haired young man, the stage is set for a comedy of contemporary manners. Murphy is beautiful and seems to spend half the time naked or getting undressed before pulling on something chic. Their best friend Tallulah, played by Catherine Tate, gives a laugh-out-loud fabulous performance as a posh neurotic poet.

With memorable supporting roles from the likes of Stephanie Beacham, Dawn French and Richard Wilson, this is a wilfully clever, imaginative confection with plenty of beautiful people and some delightfully unexpected star cameos.

Jacks has her own emotional journey but can't recognise the potential for love that is under her nose. For connoisseurs of shoes, contemporary underwear, fashion and old-fashioned plotting with a modern twist, this is something of a departure for the video director who gave us the unforgettable In Bed With Madonna. Nothing in that film could prepare you for the warm-hearted, feel-good effects of this film with its punchy script and gold-plated cast.

Brian Robinson

From Rubbish to Miu Miu...

There's always good things to balance the dreary realities....being creative in some way always leaves me on a high, whether it's rehearsing with the Babitz's, or in the case of yesterday, doing an improvised shoot inspired by APC for our website which I did with Sarah Lee, who's a wonderful photographer but also such fun to be around, and Alex who, if you've seen the blog in any detail is one of my best mates and possessor of the fiercest cheekbones and is a gorgeous all-round looker!! So we were trying to evoke french films, blurring the boundaries between cakes and understated parisien streetwear!!! As Sarah flicked through the pictures she took on the digital screen on the back of her camera - and now as i have the hot little cd burning a hole in my handbag - I realised we'd done something really special, with the best of Maison Bertaux and Shop all in a lovely little vignette...I'm not sure if that's the right word but i'm leaving it in there.... Anyway I took a coupld of snaps while we were at it which are a bit crap but thought i'd share!


We met a few friends while we were hanging out, leaving lipstick stains of coffee-cups and tucking into eclairs photogenically, Jenny from Rubbish was having a meeting with an extraordinary chap called Guy who makes REFLECTIVE tweed plus fours and such, as you can see when i used my flash to full effect! Isn't that a revolutionary idea? If you're a bicycle-riding dandy I strongly recommend you check out dashingtweeds.co.uk as i'm SURE no-ones else is exploiting this field!!

Today, while the drains were working my nerves and barclaycard started my day off on the wrong side, I realised there's nothing like a bit of good female banter to lift your spirits. First my good friend Pokkers made me laugh a lot and then two

lovely ladies Bev 'n' Stef made the day brighter still with scurrilous talk on all sorts of people, a mutual love of "gofugyourself.com" which is HILARIOUS and Bev happened to have on those incredible pewter/silver miu miu space age stilettos and looked incredibly space-secretary which is a look to go for for spring i think.

Stef was rocking a Silas '98 smock top which i have to say is very APC this season, it was the collection that Max and I christened "skateboarding princesses", because they had all these pretty pleated, smocked dresses and shirts in masculine shirting fabrics and ripstop...those were the days. Good to see it on an outing and proof that Silas will never date....R.I.P. boo hoo!!!
madame x
p.s. one more for the shooooeeees!!!!!

The World According To...

Just before Christmas we had a mini re-decoration at The World According To... and the walls in the stairway were wallpapered with newsprints of Wak's Eley Kishimoto designs. Her drawings of the collections are so beautiful and they make great wallpaper!!



And here is some of what we got in our mega super Silas super sale

Snow White bag and Boo bag!

Some real goodies.
We even have some Vivienne Westwood Bags on sale!

Belts between £5 and £20... Cool!!

Pieces from the Silas archives and one offs!



And all kinds of accessories, bags, belts and ties.

Bounce down the stairs to check out the sale and say hello!

xx Emma

HOLIDAY INFORMATION

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Shop at Maison Bertaux will be closed until January 2nd, 2007. Madame is taking some time to get the seams of her stockings straight again while sipping a couple of sherries over the festive period. When Shop at Maison Bertaux reopens the store will be in sale on selected items - Pippa give us the details in the New Year once her hangover clears from the Champagne cocktails...

The World According To... re-opens on the 27th December 2006 with regular opening hours. The World According To... continues it's Silas and Birdie sample sale and come January, we will have Silas menswear in stock!! Woo-Hoo!! Prices start for the men's and women's wear at £5 so come and check it out!!!

xx Emma

BIRTHDAY BURLESQUE

I rushed down to The World According To... to help out with the super sample sale after work at my other job. Between Max, Pippa and I we polished off two bottles of wine as a prelude to my birthday celebrations tomorrow. Regular readers of this blog will know however Pippa and I need little excuse to reach for the cork screw! Later all the girls from my other job met at The World According To... cause we planned to go for dinner at the Vietnamese on Wardour Street before they went off to the Lady Luck Club.







Here is Jo, Alex and Jess all raring to go to the party PLUS a shot of my birthday cake made by Pattacake herself Jane "Baps" Lewis. YUM.

Anyway I am sure there will be more ridiculous pictures after this weekend!. In the meantime come down to The World According To... we have Birdy and Silas t's ranging from £5 to £10 HOT! Jeans for £15 and £20! MENTAL and all our AW 06 is already on sale in a pre Christmas clear out. Pick up a Sonia sweater even though you probably shouldn't be spending your Christmas money yet Hahaha.

xx Emma

XMAS SALE SHOP

WHOO HOO!! You ain't gonna believe what we got for YOU!!!

EXACTLY what it says on the tin. Come December 1st, The World According To... will become a Christmas Grotto Sale Shop full of Sparkling Silas Mens and Womens, Kooky Katharine E Hamnett one offs and archive pieces for Men and Women and pieces like garlands from the bottom of Birdie's nest. Great for Christmas pressies or guilty shopping splurges while out shopping for everyone else.
Cash and Cheque only.
If you come down to either store and pick up a flyer, we will add you to the our Friends and Family list. People on our list are automatically invited to the secret sale on the evening of 30 November where friends and family to get first pickings over the one offs and specialty items we have available.
Our regular The World According To... stock is NOT going into the Christmas Grotto Sale Shop but will live over at Shop At Maison Bertaux come December 1st.

Now I know some of you Shop At Maison Bertaux customers still haven't checked out our original The World According To... shop. There are a lot of cool reasons why you should have come to say hello:

The amazing James Jarvis murals on the walls of our stairwell. AWESOME.

The weird stuff you can pick up for yourself or someone else like these Eley Kishimoto and Marjan Pejoski socks and tights

And more spots and stripes than you can poke a stick at.

Looking forward to seeing you all down to pick up your flyer for the Friends and Family sale!!

xx Emma

I <3 SOHO

Today was super busy at work. It started off a really sucky day cause Paul had crashed my computer in the night and didn't bother to fix it so I spent my first waking hour restarting everything :( then realising he had my laptop case at his studio so I hate to take my laptop to work wrapped in a towel in my bag :(( - we've ALL been there! technology huh?!

By the end of my day, I was all cheery again. After work I went over to Maison B and had a couple of bottles of Blush Rose with Pippa, Nathaniel and Paul. I got a sneak preview of the next season Eley Kishimoto collection cause Fiona had set it up in Maison B for a buying appointment. I tell you already I'm going SICK for some of the prints! They are the BEST YET!! Anyway P, N and P had a good gossip and a laugh about nothing and everything.

Paul and I went and had dinner at Aldo's. One of the guys in there has the coolest slogan tshirt "Trattoria da Aldo" printed black on white in the most gangsta rubbish clip art font. I spend the whole evening in there eating and wonder how I could get his tshirt.

Then on the way home I was thinking about the best things about Soho. And I figured you know you are in Soho when:
1] You are out for dinner and you need to pee and the toilets are down two flights of stairs in a basement where your head hits the ceiling and the walls have rising damp three quarters of the way up.
2] You spy a tranny handing out flyers to G-A-Y on Old Compton Street wearing a gold lurex dress hobbling either from her platforms, or her knackers as big as a horse strapped between her legs.
3] Three nutty New Zealanders / Melbournians make you a flat white and a vegemite bagel for breakfast talking about John Farnham and Dave Dobbin at Flat White on Berwick St.
4] Some tramp tries to sell you his "last copy" of what looks to be the Big Issue but is actually ES magazine or something he found in the trash for 2 quid while you drink outside the Coach and Horses with your mates.
5] To get the tube home after work, you have to crowd surf to actually get in the station [Leicester Square in a Friday] or step over a gaggle of pierced teenagers dressed in neon pink and black queuing to see Trivium or Sugarbabes [or both] at the Astoria [Tottenham Court Road]
6] A cute Japanese couple stop you and ask for directions to Bond/Slam City Skates/The World According To... cause the want to buy Silas and Maria
7] You see Pete Burns in Ballans whooping it up
8] Quite a smartly dressed man scurries out of a nearby alley way with his plain plastic shop bag [opaque!] too flushed to make eye contact with you and he smells a bit boozy. It is only 11am.
9] It is the weekend and you have found THE PIECE OF CAKE covered with THE MOST PERFECT STRAWBERRIES and THE BEST CUP OF TEA FOR TWO on Greek Street but you can could actually kid yourself you are in Paris from Maison Bertaux, then pop downstairs and buy and A.P.C. smock.
10] There are no chicken bones on the street. The only "Chicken Cottage" is the kind that goes on in the men's toilet on Broadwick Street.

I <3>

The Good Ol' Dayz!

So as I said, this afternoon I had to spend in the office filling in VAT forms with Nikesh. *YAWN* but CHECK OUT WHAT I FOUND UNDER A PILE OF PAPERS!!!:

Here is Max and Pippa back in 2001 in Somerset visiting the Babycham fawn when we produced a range of licensed underwear and sneakers.

How the hell Pippa climbed to the top of this giant fawn in those moon boots with a Babycham in her hand? I bet she didn't spill a drop! If I remember correctly, that is an old Silas sweater.

And here is a cheeky and giggly Pippa and Max saying cheers to their new deal with Babycham. Check out all those CUTE CUTE CUTE fawns all over the table!!

xx Emma