As a stylist myself, its talent like Rydberg’s that make me want to push my creativity to the next level. To really focus on what my message is. What do I have to offer the creative world? What do I have to contribute?

Robert Rydberg – I salute you!

images via Models.com and TFS

image via notcot.org

Last night I surprised myself and did something I almost never do… I read my usual daily blogs, saw a pair of trainers that I instantly fell in love with but were enormously out of budget, searched around for something equally as cool, literally stumbled upon the NikeiD website, spent an hour having a blast customizing some trainers, proceeded to check out and am now awaiting the arrival of some shit-hot high-tops.

There are many unusual behaviors in my above sentence. Firstly, since when was my craving for trainers enough to cause me to impulse buy? IN JANUARY? And secondly… Who do I think I am? Nicki Minaj?

That aside, I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun buying something for myself. I felt a bit like Alicia Silverstone in that scene in Clueless with her instantly customizable electric wardrobe. If you’re a trainer girl like me, I cannot recommend the experience enough.

The best part? My feet are going to look cool AND comfortable during London Fashion Week…

In case you’re interested, I went for the charcoal denim twill base with black and purple leather finishes… ;)

images: Marios Schwab SS12, Givenchy SS12, Christopher Kane Resort 12, Theysken’s Theory SS12 via Fashion Toast, Martin Margiela boots, Paillette skirt via Jak&Jil, Image with green bag ingeniously styled by Marie Chaix for Vogue Paris & Sasha Pivovarova in glasses is also from Vogue Paris…

In the grand scheme of things, two years is nothing which makes me excited because I feel that Layers&Swathes has already achieved much more than I had anticipated.

At the risk of sounding like Halle Berry on Oscar night – I would like to extend a huge thank you and a Happy New Year hug to all of my readers. You really are a bunch of cool cats… (I’m guessing that by referring to you all as “cool cats” this has reduced my level of cool-ness.)

On a final note, here is a quote from Daniel Pinchbeck’s (evolver.net) 2012 Survival Guide for Dazed & Confused:

“As change accelerates, the worst thing we can do is panic; the best thing we can do is breathe deep. It is certainly conceivable that we are going to see our world erupt in to violent civil wars and hyper-militarised responses as resources get scarce and nerves become frayed. However it is also possible that we are on the verge of transmuting collective responsibility and solidarity that the 1960s pointed towards or perhaps foreshadowed. As the visionary design scientist Buckminster Fuller put it a generation ago: “”So I’ll say to you that man on earth is clearly faced with the choice of Utopia or Oblivion. If he chooses the latter he can go right on leaving his fate to his political leaders. If, however, he chooses Utopia, he must get busy very fast.”" The beautiful, astonishing, scary, yet deeply empowering truth is that this choice belongs to us now . If we can meet the upheavals ahead with wit, cunning and equanimity of mind, a far better world beckons – one in which instead of surviving, the human family as a whole with flourish and thrive.”

I hope you all make 2012 a good one – I have a feeling it will be just that…

image via iiiinspired  – Ben Toms for Dazed & Confused Oct 2011

For those of you who celebrate Christmas – I hope you had a wonderful day filled with love, laughter and all your favourite people.

For those of you who celebrate Chanukah – I hope you experienced the above plus jam-filled doughnuts and maybe a couple of those classic chocolate coins?

Lots of love to all,

Layers&Swathes xo

]]> http://layersandswathes.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/here-are-a-selection-of-the-google-search-terms-i-received-on-christmas-day/feed/ 0 layersandswathes Xmas http://layersandswathes.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/rooney_mara-one-dress-and-a-decent-stylist-can-change-a-career/ http://layersandswathes.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/rooney_mara-one-dress-and-a-decent-stylist-can-change-a-career/#comments Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:57:35 +0000 layersandswathes http://layersandswathes.com/?p=6264 ]]> I read Stieg Larsson’s The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and watched the original Swedish film adaptation. Do I care about the new Daniel Craig/Rooney Mara version? Not so much. But what I do find fascinating is how one girl (Rooney Mara) and one dress (Givenchy) can conjure up such an exciting press storm in a matter of days.

I’ve probably stumbled across the below image four times today amongst my daily reads and am still finding myself stopping to stare at it. Through the power of a decent actress, a great designer and a brilliant stylist (does anyone know who it is?) – a new “badass” star is born (perhaps because we needed someone to replace Angelina Jolie?):

via T Magazine

Let us not forget what Ms Mara looked like before the Hollywood & fashion zeitgeist took a hold of her:

An organic change in style? No way in hell…

via iiiinspired

As for Bing’s speech in episode 2 – well, it rendered me speechless. I can assure you that its well worth the 8 minute viewing. It left me feeling like a dirty human…