I am intrigued by a hair product. This doesn’t happen that often and especially not over a hairspray. Nylon magazine first sparked my interest. They posted about the new Bumble and Bumble Spray de Mode and the involvement in its creation of milliner du jour, Stephen Jones. The spray will be easy to manipulate, while still strong enough to hold any style firmly, even beneath one of Stephen’s coveted designs. It was conceived and tested back stage at runway shows, in which it apparently performed brilliantly every time. I have read that it is comparable to “hairspray with memory” and will always bounce back to its original style. If it does what it says on the tin, then we really are entering a hairspray revolution. Bumble and Bumble had a launch party last week and have even created a website dedicated to the commercial distribution in March, exaggerating the hype even further. So excuse my excitement, it has been encouraged by the slick media machine and lets all wait with baited breath and see if Spray de Mode lives up to its promises.

While I perused Erin Fetherston’s collections, I stumbled across a piece of styling genius, that escaped my attention during the spring/summer ’08 shows – the use of white mascara. The “tipex eye” look is very achievable, especially for anyone in the possession of double ended, lash extending mascara. I did try it this weekend. For a night out, I think it would create a very stand-out look; I soon realised that for daytime, it’s a little too scary! I am very pale and my lashes seemed to disappear into my skin! Alternatively, for anyone blessed with very thick eyelashes and non-alabaster skin-tone, this would be effective look.

I know that I am late posting on this one but the Dior Couture Show epitomised everything couture should be. It was extravagant, exaggerated, flamboyant and visually, slightly chaotic. Some of the other couture shows were classy, understated almost…but couture isn’t ready-to-wear, it’s offers complete carte blanche to the designer. John Galliano definitely ran riot with his designs. Everything from the vibrant use of colour, textiles and caricatural make-up (very Pushing Daisies), summed up the melodramatic side of couture that I love.

Erin Fetherston was quite an unknown entity to me, until I began the thus far, fruitless task of finding an informal/vintage/laid-back wedding dress. Erin’s name was mentioned in relation to the effortless cool of her garments but it was her Special Projects that captured my imagination. Those of you that are regular readers of my blog will know of the wedding dress search and my style adoration of Zooey Deschanel; in Erin’s Special Projects, both are combined. Zooey is one of Erin’s muses in a series of stunning photographs entitled Urban Flowers, set to a backdrop of inner-city scenes. Such a unique and enticing way to showcase a wonderful collection, that now seems far more appealing. (If any of you do have suggestions for the aforementioned wedding dress hunt, please…help! It must be floor-length and have a vintage feel, oh and not too expensive. With such specific parameters, you can see why I’ve been having problems!)

Last night I went to see a Nouvelle Vague gig; a truly visual and acoustic delight. For those of you unfamiliar with the French fancy that is Nouvelle Vague, they are essentially a covers band but with a truly unique twist. The idea is to never forget the initial punk or new wave background of each song, keeping the simple fundamental chords, while working with young singers who have never heard the orginal versions. This allows the quality of original songwriting to happen in a completely different/organic way. There is an original, 60’s jazz feel to each song with a giant soupçon (excuse my poor juxtaposed qualifier!) of bossa nova thrown in. Their album artwork is equally inspirational, epitomising the French cinema movement of Nouvelle Vague. Last night, the performers, who vary with each album/track/gig, were a style explosion on stage. They writhed and shimmied across the stage, synchronising their artful dance moves. Take a look at my Flickr photos here (excuse the blurring!) and indulge your ears with some Nouvelle Vague.

Topshop have published their style bible, the spring/summer lookbook. I would prefer to call it a clothing combination guide. As individual items, some of the garments can look cheap (maybe a little harsh), perhaps I should say uneventful. The lookbook shows you how to marry these pieces together to create a trend, each of which is interestingly entitled, Maggie, Iris, Boho Tech and Modern Romance. I wouldn’t call the lookbook inspirational but it’s definitely directional.

The toast of the 2008 couture shows, angular hair seemed to be everywhere (crap rhyme unintentional…sorry!). The angles varied from boldly dramatic at Dior, to wavy subtlety at Armani Privé. The thing that impressed me most about these recent couture collections, has to be the onus on “the look” as an entirety, rather than just the garment. The dramaticism behind the make-up and hair, were as inspirational as the clothing. See the complete collections at Style.com.

So, after much preparation and nervous testing, my fledgling 1 year old blog has graduated from Blogger! I hope you love the new look and posts – remember your feedback is very much appreciated, so let me know what you think. I will endeavour to answer all emails as soon as life will let me. I need to say a huuuuge thank you to Things of Random Coolness, who helped me create this new wonder. Of course, if you feel a sense of nostalgia, the old blog is still available in the archives. If you get a chance take a peek at the Random Flickr Coolness section on the right. It showcases my loves and inspirations…just a little insight into what makes me, me (click on each photo for more detail). I feel excited and nervous, so I truly hope you enjoy the new Random Fashion Coolness.