LOOM BANDS - A FLASH OF ORANGE AND SHOCKING PINK

Loom Bands, friendship bracelets made from brightly coloured elastic bands woven together, were the latest craze from the playground. Now adults have caught on, especially since Kate, Duchess of Cambridge was seen wearing one given to her during the royal visit to New Zealand.

Penny, aged nine, is busy making them for family and friends in their favourite colours. I chose orange/black and pink/mauve, following the theme of my summer makeup (my post, "Pretty Pink Lips for Summer" 15th June).  In the photograph below, my Loom Bands are teamed with H&M Nail Polish in Summer Sunset (orange) and Pink Shock (shocking pink).

Currently, I am painting my fingernails orange, my toenails shocking pink and I'm wearing my fuschia lipgloss.

"IN OUR PARADISE..." EXHIBITION AT THE SAATCHI GALLERY

Last night I went to the Saatchi Gallery for the launch of "In our paradise...", an exhibition of recent photography from the Ukraine, curated by Galina Skliarenko.  The exhibition takes its name from a line in a poem by Taras Shevchenko, the 19th century Ukrainian poet and celebrates the 200th anniversary of his birth. 

The photographs exhibited are by five Ukrainian artists:

Oleksandr Babak and Anatol Stepanenko

Victor Maruschenko 

Tiberiy Silvashi

Anna Voitenko

and reflect a modern Ukraine and its current challenges.

The photograph by Victor Maruschenko, from the Dream Land series, (below) depicts a traditional Ukrainian landscape.....the fields, the building in the background with the little Russian style onion dome.

by Victor Marushchenko - Dream Land series

I was also struck by his view of Chernobyl (below).

by Victor Marushchenko - Chernobyl

The Soil (Terra/Fundamental) series by Tiberiy Silvashi is a group of photographs of soil from the Ukraine (1 example below).  Looking at them, I thought how symbolic and significant the soil, the earth itself, often is to people who love the land they live in.

   

by Tiberiy Silvashi - (Terra/Fundamental) series

The above are some examples from an interesting and well thought out collection.  The exhibition runs until 3rd August.

PRE-FALL COLLECTIONS FROM CHANEL AND SAINT LAURENT

The Pre-Fall Collections have arrived in the designer stores and there's a Western trend around.

Chanel's amazing Pre-Fall Collection, now displayed in their windows, was presented in Dallas and is very cow-girl inspired.

Chanel Pre-Fall 2014

Other designers have taken a lower key approach to this look but have included some Western inspired pieces in their collections.

My favourite pieces are from Saint Laurent's Pre-Fall collection:

Emmanuelle, a small ochre suede and leather fringed bucket bag

Western Cat Boot, a silver-studded black leather ankle boot with little heels

Western Debbie Boot in black leather with silver studs and high heels

Western Paris Boot in cigar suede with suede appliqué, silver toe tips and high heels

Curtis Jacket, in beige suede with fringes

They are all so beautiful!

Personally, I like the idea of teaming cowboy boots and a couple of pieces of Western style jewellery with jeans or a lace dress or skirt.  I could be very tempted too by a small, suede, fringed bag!!!