Book Club: Luella's Guide To English Style

In the first of what I hope might be a number of style-related book reviews, I'm looking at a wonderful book I received as a present from my most stylish friend, 'Luella's Guide to English Style'.
Written by Luella Bartley, of the sadly now-defunct eponymous fashion label Luella, and crammed with well-chosen photos and truly beautiful coloured-pencil illustrations by Zoë Taylor which have a feel as if they were taken from a particularly artistically-inclined (and super-cool) teenager's scrapbook.  
We may have been taught very young that old adage 'never judge a book by it's cover', but to hell with that - this one's a complete beauty! It's probably worth the price alone to have this utterly charming, faux-vintage, faded dusty-rose hardback with gilded lettering (and a quote from that British icon Mr. Bowie, no less) sat on your bookshelf.

Essential for any beautiful British bookshelf...

Appearances aside, this was a really delightful and, in a strange way, life-affirming read. Althought it's title may suggest that it's a guide book on how to achieve that perfect, insouciant British brand of chic, Luella stresses that it most certainly isn't. Instead, it's a compendium of style icons ('top British birds' - from Siouxsie Sioux to the Duchess of Devonshire), style tribes (Sloane Rangers, New Romantics, Mods) and classic pieces that make up the British wardrobe (band t-shirts, tea dresses, Doc Martens and twinsets). All this is delivered in Luella's warm, knowing and often charmingly self-deprecating tone, with lots of relateable style anecdotes, from the schoolyard to motherhood.

Some of Zoë Taylor's fantastic illustrations

First Lady of Britpop, Ms. Frischmann

Luella's Guide... is a rare treasure of a book, which recaptures that teenage enthusiasm and originality for raiding the dressing-up box and creating that mish-mash of granny-chic and punk rock that makes Brit girls so enviably cool. And besides, any guide that can hold up Justine Frischmann and Vita Sackville-West alongside Kate Moss amongst it's top ten most stylish Brit girls is certainly on to a winner in my books.

h x

"The Difficult Second Blog Post..." a.k.a. A New Fashion Democracy

It's hard to know exactly what to write in your first 'real' blog post, after your exposition that is. One thing I've been thinking a lot about is what I see as the 'new fashion democracy'.
Primarily under the influence the internet, fashion has gone from being exclusive and elitist to an entity which feeds, and is fed by passionate individuals around the world.
It's hard to think of a time before street style photoblogs, style forums and online fashion communities, but today these things have become part of our lexicon, visited and referenced in the same way people read the daily newspaper. However, the most important thing is that this is open to anyone.
Blogs have opened the door for passionate and ambitious amateurs to voice their opinions, express their style and provide commentary on current trends. Bloggers like Garance Doré, Sasha Wilkins (Liberty London Girl) and Susie Lau (Style Bubble) have gone from fashion lovers to front-row regulars, and now hold as much (or perhaps more) sway than journalists and fashion buyers in determining what we wear. These writers have become big business for companies who want their endorsement, are keen for product placement or even just a mere mention of their brand.
On a less grand scale, we have sites like Polyvore and Lookbook, which give everyone the opportunity to be a stylist for the day and share their ideas with the world.... Where once we might have collaged pictures of our favourite bands, models and idols on our bedroom walls and sketchbooks, now we can build mood-boards and play around with (and even start) trends. This is a valuable resource for the clothing industry, with brands having their products featured and recommended at no cost.

Polyvore 'Alexa Chung' Look Collage

 eBay and etsy have given the chance for people to set up their own boutiques, selling niche vintage treasures or handmade pieces, and a site I found recently, Garmz,takes the idea of fashion democracy literally, where contributors can submit their original designs and others vote for which design gets made and available for purchase.

Garmz: From the sketchpad...

...to the model

These are just a few of the more prominent examples of the exciting ways people online are shaping fashion, but it seems highly unlikely that things could go back to the way they were before. The input from individuals around the world has provided such a boost to brands and creatives that there could be no imaginable benefit of things going back to an exclusive way.
The laptop-wielding style revolutionaries have reclaimed fashion - there's no giving it back now...

h x

"fashion fades, only style remains the same"

I think it's important that I begin with a bit of a disclaimer: Smarten Up is not a 'fashion' blog per se- I'm not a fashion student, nor a fashion industry insider, and I certainly don't consider myself the very first to unearth the edgiest of new designers/global street style/trends etc. 
I am, however, a lover of clothes, of style history and of the power of a carefully crafted ensemble to reflect one's mood, persona and/or subcultural identity. Whether it's haute couture of the 1970s, the new collection from Topshop, the typical garb of early 80s new wave girl bands, treasures found in a grandmother's wardrobe or relics from a costume museum, I love to wax lyrical about the wonder and relevance of style.
I especially enjoy reading about and researching clothing and style, from lush coffee table fashion books to more academic texts on theories of style and culture, and of course, I love to share what I find inspiring with likeminded souls!
So in essence, what I hope to begin with this blog is to create a space where I can (somewhat coherently...) put down some of my thoughts, opinions and passions about style, identity and life in general... and perhaps even generate a little conversation...

Optimistically... h x