I have a confession. I’ve always had a huge crush on Pete Doherty. What can I say? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder – and, as anyone who truly knows me can say, I have off-kilter tastes. You might see skin, bones and stress, but I see sex. I’ve always salivated over the pale, skinny, starving rocker boys. Of course, Pete has another perk – he’s a musician.
Photo: MODELS
These Balmain suede buckled ankle boots scream sex and sensation. From the thrilling shade of red to the contrast of the soft calf-like suede, schizophrenic buckles and exposed zippers crawling up the back, I could die right now. I want them. I need them.
What can I say? I have a shoe fetish. I wear my favorites until I'm tired of them and then find fresh ones to abuse all over again. I'll commit to these for the next few months - in between my favorite black suede bootie-style pumps and gray leather peep-toe buckled stilettos. I'll slip these on for work with winter-weight black leggings and a silk t-shirt, and pair them with my sexy black bandage dress from H&M for a night out. I might even shimmy them over black skinny jeans and a tank, stomp into the campus bar and cause a scene.
Reowr. Stop looking at them. Don't even think about it. They're mine.
Photo: NET-A-PORTER.COM
There's something about nonchalant coolness that intrigues me. I blame Kate Moss for beginning the trend - or, is it even a trend? Kate's always been such a casual-chic, thrown-together, utterly unbelievably gorgeous supermodel-cum-style icon. My first glimpse of her in the glossies was when she was a teenager, vamping it up in Calvin Klein's ads for Obsession, looking like the heroin-chic waif she personified.
And yet I wonder what she looked like before she exploded on to the modeling scene in the U.S. - back in London, was she always a trendsetter? Was she just born with the innate ability to pull on hotpants, a tank sans bra, several lacy granny cardigans, motorcycle boots and look like a million bucks?
Photo: New York Daily News
If Kate was the predecessor, then Sienna and Mary-Kate followed suit. Each stomped into our style-hungry lives with their disheveled, bohemian-chic appearances, mussed hair and day-old make-up and gave us something to stare at - and long for.
So what is it about that "nonchalant coolness" that I'm waxing on about? Is it innate? Or learned?
I'd like to believe I was born with just as much coolness in every bone of my body as Kate, but unfortunately, I wasn't. While I think I was born with a certain panache and flair for dressing like the chic little fashionista I know I am, I'm not able to roll out of bed, hungover and bleary-eyed from a night out, ready for the cameras and an ensemble inspection from the entire world. I was born cool, but not that cool. I just need a little eyeliner and hair product.
What about you? Can you slum it tout comme Kate and look like a sexy thing? Or do you need a bit more help?
I died when I saw these Brian Atwood "Lola" suede leather pumps on my favorite site. You already know my sense of style is a bit off-kilter, and I would never wear these with a dress. Instead, I would pair them with my silky black romper I recently found at H&M or black leggings and a loose black jersey shirt from American Apparel.
I suppose that's just my style - throwing on cheap and chic clothes from the chains and then pairing them with an insanely sexy pair of stilettos. At $680, I'm hoping to find a less expensive pair elsewhere. I really do think this is love, though. Purple is my absolute favorite color, suede makes me smile and I can already picture myself stomping around in these in the fall.
I want them now. And I have the perfect black leather foldover clutch for them. I could even wear them with my favorite black skinny jeans and a white t-shirt. Oh, the options...
Photo: NET-A-PORTER.COM
Patricia Fortunato is the creator and editor of FASHION FROLIC, an interactive online editorial concerning style, trends and culture. A reflection of her personality and stance on fashion and style, the site is swathed in innovative and often unusual musings, covers avant-garde trends and features provocative imagery. FASHION FROLIC is intelligent, insightful, inventive and always a bit vampy (and campy). Patricia is creative, crafty, cultured and fascinated by bizarre design concepts and fashion and lifestyle editorial. Possessing avid interest and experience in print, web, production and digital media, she admires both forms of high-end magazines.
"I'm obviously hugely inspired by how my mum wore clothes, and my dad…. But for me, it was more their attitudes. The way he would wear a bespoke suit and beard. The way she would wear a little YSL jacket with a straw vintage dress underneath. It was the attitude behind it, that I'm-going-to-do-it-my-way, I'm-allowed-to-do-this, f___-it mentality." - Stella McCartney in Time Magazine
I love Stella. Her clothes are sweet and chic with just a touch of edginess. Her shoes are beautiful - just look at the wedges on Mary-Kate Olsen's feet on this ELLE UK cover from September 2008.
Photo: The Insider
