Friday 1 June 2012

Blow by Blow

Blow by Blow, a present from my friend Sarah, an autobiography written by Isabella Blow's husband Detmar. I haven't managed to finish the book yet despite my efforts of frantically reading as much as I can before I have to get of the tube each morning, however it took the first paragraph to realise that Isabella was a completely unique kind with a true appreciation of fashion, more than most as in it wasn't just a job or a love on the side it consumed her whole life I suppose there are just a select few who take their love of fashion to such an extent it reminded me of Coco's saying, 'Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with idea, the way we live, what is happening.'
I'm not saying you have to be as eccentric as Isabella to show your love of fashion by any means but that is one of the things I found so fascinating about her, her fearless attitude to wear whatever you love without a moments thought of what others think.....My personal taste lately is much more simple but I can appreciate Isabella's vision of her own personal appearance.
From knowing briefly about Isabella it was fascinating to find out about how her life actually panned out, it seems that for all the help she gave people, her most famous findings being Alexander Mcqueen, Phillip Tracey and Sophie Dahl, she received nothing in return, that's what I was refering to as fashion being her life rather than her job, Detmar explains how much they financially struggled however looking as an outsider at the intriging couple they seem to live such an extraordinary life, partly from both coming from families high up in society and mostly from Isabella surrounding herself with such artistic people, not allowing money to get in her way from mixing in these circles and as such just from being there she became a great source of inspiration to these people she would forcefully surround herself with.
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It just got me thinking of all the things you love in terms of clothes but automatically stop yourself from doing so with the usual, 'I could never get away with that' or 'Imagine what that would look like on me?' Isabella didn't once question herself it seems, and yes you do have to expect people to talk about her extravagant choices but standing out by wearing something you love is not always a bad thing, I imagined her being my age living today, she would be the girl that you would be excited to see what she has on, the girl who would never ever look like anyone else, the girl that didn't care if people wanted to talk about what she had on.... If your wearing things you truly love it makes you 'you' I think, I love it when someone else sees something and they describe it as 'you'
Here are a few girls I think stick to their style where ever they are...