i stopped liking burberry plaid on my fourth (or so) sighting of a suburban family who thought dressing their entire brood in it would be a cute idea for their holiday snapshot...no better than chav co-option.
prorsum, however, is another story. i wouldn't refuse it as a gift.
My eyeglasses are Burberry, plaid and everything, and that's about as much plaid as I can imagine myself wearing. I get a lot of comments about how unusual they are, but in 5 years of wearing them maybe 10 people have identified them as Burberry. Maybe the plaid just isn't as recognizable on a smaller scale.
um fuck Burberry. I've gotten several things from there that looked good, fit great, and were ungodly expensive but unless I have the worst luck ever, the percentage of manufacturing defects in their merchandise is wayy too high (faulty zippers, instant unraveling stitching). Although I probably have no business shopping there if my heart breaks when a seam does.
There was a magazine feature about him a while back detailing the death of his boyfriend and how it affected his work... can't remember where... he came off as so human and real. He seems like a wonderful person.
I will not be wearing a garment from a fashion house patronised by the lower orders. The fact I cannot afford to buy an outfit from Burberrys is neither here nor there.As for soap star Daniella Westbrook, she returned to the show that made her famous yesterday. I was watching in the gym (honest guv) and was transfixed by her nose. It had collapsed in the past as a result of cocaine abuse and has since had plastic surgery. However, I was fascinated to see whether the plastic surgery had been a great success as she had previously played the part when her nose had been little more than a gaping hole in her face, clever camera work having concealed the extent of the self inflicted damage.
I live right across the street from the new Burberry HQ. It is beautiful, although they waste a lot of energy with the lights on at all hours and the constant flickering images of Emma Watson et al. The concierge in my building keeps making excuses to go over and talk to the receptionists there, as they are all insanely hot.
@Casquivana: Yes, Aquascutum had been trying to return to form over the past couple seasons -- but the Japanese company that owned the brand, Renown, was unwilling to invest any further after the economic downturn. It looked set to close until Tillman swooped in.
@Jenna: Oh, thank you! I didn't know that. I mean, I remember the efforts to revitalize the brand, when I started seeing it in department stores next to Hugo Boss or something like that, about a year ago, but I had no idea that it was about to close after that.
Also, he's hot. Damn hot. And, their offices in London are beyond amazing.
I won't lie, a Burberry trench is on my ultimate fashion wish list. I don't like anything with the plaid unless it's lining, although I do have this old $10 fake Burberry shawl that someone got me from Canal street years ago and I always take it on planes.
I hope Bailey stays for a very, very long time. His work is beautiful.
@Penny: I wore the gold Burberry trench coat from this season in an editorial last Spring, and damn, if ever there was a time I was tempted to knock the fashion editor out with a stiletto and steal off with the goods, it was then. Somehow, I resisted. (That was before I realised it would cost over $2,000 in stores.)
@Penny: I'm with you. As a handbag fiend, I loathe Burberry and LV in equal measure, but my god are those trenchcoats the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Top of my luxury wish list too.
@Jenna & Penny: I used to live near the Burberry sale shop in London and was frequently asked for directions to it by tourists. 'You cross the road, walk past the Salvation Army shelter, past Tesco's and it's on the right, just past the World's End pub. Ok?'. Tourist *scared nod* 'OK'.
@Plum-Pie: Hah! My mom and I actually attemped to call information from a payphone in London outside the Burberry flagship store to find out where the sale shop was. It was like something out of a bad sitcom.
@Penny: Just FYI, I got mine on clearance in the petite section of Nordstrom. For some reason, they carry petite Burberry and during their semi-annual sale they go on half price. Seriously.
@Penny: I bought a real Burberry trench coat (tan, with the plaid lining) for three dollars in a church basement thrift shop once. I was in high school then and I'm almost 30 now, but I still wear it alllllll the time.
@rah29: In my mind, there's a big difference between those ugly quilted plaid handbags and the trenches. But, agreed, and it kind of breaks my heart a little bit that LV has been a bit ruined by the tacky masses, it's really such a classic.
@Meglantine: And do we know when the semi-annual sale is? Because I wear petite coats and I was brought up to believe that nobody makes a rain coat like Burberry.
I think this is, just FYI, a lower-end line of Burberry. They have a line that is sold at Nordstrom/Bloomies, etc. in Petites, and it is cheaper than their high end line that has the awesome trenches (around 400-500 a coat instead of 1000+) Meglantine would know what she bought better than me, I just think this might be what she is referring too as I have tried on a bunch of their stuff. It's ok, but I really would like the classic, pricier trench.
@Penny: I've picked up about 6 over the years from charity shops here in the UK for under £10 and since I would look like Inspector Gadget in a trench, I sold them on Ebay.
Maybe look on Ebay.co.uk for one? Even with US shipping, still a bargain.
@tigolbitties: I haven't been passed there for a while, but I haven't heard about it closing down either. (It's a permanent outlet): [www.londontown.com] ([maps.google.co.uk]) Lots of buses from Bethnal Green tube station or a 10min walk from Hackney Central train station.
@LaFemme: You know, I'd never heard that and it could totally be true. The one I bought was originally $1,100 and I think they sell the ones that come in the fancy schmancy catalogs for Nordstroms in petite sizes. I have no idea whether they are lower quality but I will says it is the most fucking awesome coat I've ever owned! No trench coats look good on me (lack of a waist, maybe) but it looks smashing and repels the rain. I recommend it!
@Penny: No, the $40 Prada heels are an awesome score too. The funny thing about the coat was, I'd never even heard of Burberry at the time. I just needed a raincoat.
@greengrey: I know what you mean. It screams "new money". Once everybody and their momma starts wearing it and then comes the knock-offs is becomes cheapened. And some people wear the matching outfits and purses, it just looks so tacky.
@greengrey: Yeah, I used to work at a Dairy Queen and about the time you see your seventh white LV bag with the multicolored logos all over it in the arms of a teenage girl, it is officially done.
@Lana Leigh loves Meryl Streep: To me it usually screams fake. Burberry (and LV) make (nice) bags that don't have logos on them. If people luuurved the brand so much, they'd carry those.
But those aren't really knocked off. Plaid/monogram = knockoff. Not always, but I'll always think that.
@greengrey: Same. I wouldn't dream of spending thousands of dollars (or whatever) on a coat or bag just to have people think I'm some low class wannabe.
I don't know who chavs think they're fooling. Or the folks who wear knock-off designer bags but you can tell they are not well off. When everything else about you screams "I consider Applebee's a fancy restaurant!" your bag ain't foolin' anyone.
@Lana Leigh loves Meryl Streep: I have a Burberry kilt I found at a thrift shop years ago. It gets in the rotation at least once a winter. I don't care if it's deemed tacky; I still love it. The LV logo, however...even the Epi leather is knocked off now.
The brand revamp that bothers me the most is Coach. (That is, beside the idiotic A&F revamp; it's not even the same kind of store and the only thing the brand shares with its former incarnation is tis name) You used to be able to get solid, albeit boxy and staid, leather goods there and now all you get is that elongated C on canvas and leather goods in various horrifying and garish colors.
@greengrey: Exactly. My comment comes off as though I am saying I'd drop a couple thou if I could be certain people would read me as rich & classy. I would not. Doing so is the opposite of classy. It's tacky and reminds me of the RHONY women.
@foodandshoes: ITA about Coach. I pick up vintage pieces on eBay, and they're wonderful. Already broken-in, too. The non-logo pieces I've bought have been very nice for the money. I have a green suede tote that usually gets some face time in the autumn, before the weather gets messy.
Carine Roitfeld is the nastiest creature I have ever had the occasion to meet, and that beats out Anna and Nancy Reagan--who are both simply demanding and rightly so. Roitfeld's style has been the same for two decades--Tom Ford was marketing it in 1995--and what is interesting about being dressed completely in black, unless its Yohji or Issey circa 1983? Skinny trousers and high heels and a big overcoat is style? Then streetwalkers have it in spades.
I love both Carine and Anna. However, it bugs me that Anna gets so much flack for her less-than-charitable comments (e.g., many people in the Midwest are like "little houses") when Carine also regularly says things like "jeans are for assistants," "all the girl who work at French Vogue are very skinny and beautiful," and "You think this [trip] will be so glamorous ... and then you get there and the people in the hotel … There were lots of people who were so fat."
I also dislike when journalists pit these two women against each other by suggesting
Anna is old. Wintour is 60. Roitfeld is 55.
In any case, as much as I agree that American Vogue has been repetitive of late, I really don't want to see it become French Vogue. Anna's days at the helm may be dwindling, but I do think the woman deserves respect.
And for the record, I like the designer "whole looks" editorials that are Anna's signature.
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prorsum, however, is another story. i wouldn't refuse it as a gift.
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I thought the effort to "revive" Aquascutum had been in place for some years now, I have the idea that I read about it some time ago. I have some Aquascutum coats I inherited from my great-aunt and I can assure you that every winter, somebody will ask what I'm wearing and where can they buy it. And the damn things are like 60-years-old.
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I won't lie, a Burberry trench is on my ultimate fashion wish list. I don't like anything with the plaid unless it's lining, although I do have this old $10 fake Burberry shawl that someone got me from Canal street years ago and I always take it on planes.
I hope Bailey stays for a very, very long time. His work is beautiful.
On a final note, damn, Emma, overkill much?
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Ah well, someday when we come into our fortunes...
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I think this is, just FYI, a lower-end line of Burberry. They have a line that is sold at Nordstrom/Bloomies, etc. in Petites, and it is cheaper than their high end line that has the awesome trenches (around 400-500 a coat instead of 1000+) Meglantine would know what she bought better than me, I just think this might be what she is referring too as I have tried on a bunch of their stuff. It's ok, but I really would like the classic, pricier trench.
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Maybe look on Ebay.co.uk for one? Even with US shipping, still a bargain.
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Sort of like Louis Vuitton. It's RUINED. Heh.
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But those aren't really knocked off. Plaid/monogram = knockoff. Not always, but I'll always think that.
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I don't know who chavs think they're fooling. Or the folks who wear knock-off designer bags but you can tell they are not well off. When everything else about you screams "I consider Applebee's a fancy restaurant!" your bag ain't foolin' anyone.
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The brand revamp that bothers me the most is Coach. (That is, beside the idiotic A&F revamp; it's not even the same kind of store and the only thing the brand shares with its former incarnation is tis name) You used to be able to get solid, albeit boxy and staid, leather goods there and now all you get is that elongated C on canvas and leather goods in various horrifying and garish colors.
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I also dislike when journalists pit these two women against each other by suggesting
Anna is old. Wintour is 60. Roitfeld is 55.
In any case, as much as I agree that American Vogue has been repetitive of late, I really don't want to see it become French Vogue. Anna's days at the helm may be dwindling, but I do think the woman deserves respect.
And for the record, I like the designer "whole looks" editorials that are Anna's signature.