Follow The Yellow Brick ... Carpet

This month there are three (great and powerful) women’s names on the tip of Tinseltown's tongue –Michelle Williams, Rachel Wiesz and Mila Kunis; the leading ladies of ‘Oz the Great and Powerful.’ 

Above:  At London’s European premiere of the movie, the red carpet was exchanged for yellow bricks with the actresses shining in their beautiful dress choices… Rachel Weisz looked every inch a classic Hollywood star in a champagne laceMichael Kors strapless gown, Mila Kunis wore a slate grey Alexander McQueen SS’13 ruffle tiered dress (my least favourite of the three as it slightly drowned her small frame, but she still managed to look gorgeous and hold her own) and the ever quirky Michelle Williams (a red carpet favourite of mine) in a peacock blue Burberry feathered cocktail dress from their SS’13 collection - cute. 

I must say however, I thought the outfits these actresses conjured up for the Los Angeles premiere of the film were even better - which lady do you think won in the style stakes?

Above:  Rachel Weisz looked HOT in this bright orange, floor-sweeping gown by Victoria Beckham with signature exposed VB zip.  Rachel let the dress do all the talking, opting for zero accessories and scraping her glossy locks into a chic bun.  Bond Girl Perfection! 

Above:  Mila Kunis looked adorable in a Dolce & Gabanna embroidered dress with peep-toe Louboutins, a Bottega clutch bag and STUNNING ruby drop Sutra earrings. 

Above:  Michelle Williams looking oh-so-demure from the front in a pretty, floral Prada gown but not-so-demure from the side, with a waist-high slit revealing her black pants!  Absolutely magical, and as unique as ever.  My cute-as-a-button winner.

'The Great and Powerful Oz' is out in cinemas now...

All I Want For Christmas Is....

All I want for Christmas is you... And this... And maybe a few of these... Oh, and this too...

Above Clockwise (L-R): Brilliant Books from Amazon...  'Kate: The Kate Moss Book' - £50.00 £42.50, Tim Walker's 'Story Teller' - £45.00 £24.30, Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld's 'The Little Black Jacket' - £65.00 £55.25, Mel S.Elliot's 'Colour Me Good Ryan Gosling' - £7.50 £6.00, Camilla Morton's 'Diane Von Furstenberg and the Tale of the Empress's New Clothes' - £12.99 £8.83, 'Grace' by Grace Coddington - £25.00 £21.25.

Above Clockwise (L-R):  Sophia Rogge Silk Scarfs - £190.00 or £270 for personalised, Plates from Anthropologie - £16.00 - £26.00, Anya Hindmarch Studded Leather Cosmetic Case - £225.00. 

Above Clockwise (L-R):  Movies and Music from Amazon... 'Moonrise Kingdom' (DVD) - £11.99, 'Homeland' Season 1 (DVD) - £24.97, 'The Hunger Games' (DVD) - £10.00, Rihanna's 'Unapologetic' (CD) - £8.99, Jake Bugg (CD) - £7.99.

Oh... And World Peace. 

The New Bond Girls

Forget the guns, the gadgets, the martinis and the villains; the most exiting part of any Bond film is undoubtedly always the girls.  In ‘Skyfall’ Berenice Marlohe and Naomie Harris join the super beautiful, iconic ranks of becoming ‘Bond Girls.’  At last night’s glamourous world premiere of the latest Bond, held in London's Leicester Square, the two looked absolutely stunning.  Berenice opted for a sizzlingly glamourous red corseted Vivienne Westwood dress (above) and Naomie glittered in a Marios Schwab mesh dress complete with iridescent sequin bodysuit (below).  Mario Schwab commented this morning, "it is amazing to have Marios Schwab pieces worn to such an iconic Premiere in London."

How do you think these two beauties will match up to their predecessors?...

Emma Stone - In Vogue

Forget ripped denim and peplums, Emma Stone is officially the new Black. 

In the space of a mere month, the 23 year old Spider-Man actress has covered THREE editions of Vogue and quite frankly, I could do with a few more.

Emma Stone covered July’s US Vogue, and August’s Teen Vogue and British Vogue (the latter, naturally, being my favourite where Emma wears a veritable feast of Autumn/Winter’12 trends and is interviewed by the gorgeous Alexa Chung.)

Emma Stone has long been my ‘one to watch’ on the red carpet and I loved seeing her stunning, highly anticipated, premiere choices whilst promoting the new Spider-Man film, which she stars in alongside her real-life British-beau, Andrew Garfield.

Above: Wow. Emma Stone wearing Chanel and spikey Louboutin's at the LA premiere. 

Above: Day Time Demure 
​L-R: Dolce & Gabanna in Spain, Andrew Gn in Berlin, Emilio Pucci in Moscow.

Above: Gothic Nights
L-R: An Ellie Saab jumpsuit in London, Gucci in Paris, Bottega Veneta in Rome.

Gorgeous, talented and dating Spider-Man. This girl rocks.

The Amazing Spider-Man is at cinemas now. 

Nora Ephron RIP

How would you like to be remembered?
  "As the greatest nightclub singer ever..."

This week Nora Ephron, the Hollywood screenwriter and director of some of the most well loved Rom Com's ever made, lost her battle with leukemia at the age of 71.

I've watched ‘When Harry Met Sally’ around 1000 times (it’s my father’s favourite film!) and I can easily find myself, on a rainy afternoon, immersed in the romance and humour of her other films (which include, ‘Sleepless In Seattle,’ ‘You’ve Got Mail’ and ‘Bewitched.’)  Among those to pay tribute to the writer, Billy Crystal said, "being her Harry to Meg's Sally will always have a special place in my heart, I was very lucky to get to say her words."

Meryl Streep, who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Julia Child in Ephron's 'Julie & Julia' was also one of the writer’s dearest friends.  Speaking to the New York Times, Streep remembered her friend's effervescent outlook on life, "Nora just looked at every situation and cocked her head and thought, 'Hmmmm, how can I make this more fun?'"

Below:  From 'When Harry Met Sally,' the most perfectly romantic scene of all time? 

In her 2010 book, ‘I Remember Nothing,’ Nora wrote a list of the things she would and wouldn’t miss... Simple and humourous, this now makes an extremely touching read...

What I Won't Miss


Dry skin

Bad dinners like the one we went to last night
E-mail
Technology in general
My closet
Washing my hair
Bras
Funerals
Illness everywhere
Polls that show that 32 percent of the American people believe in creationism
Polls
Fox TV
The collapse of the dollar
Bar mitzvahs
Mammograms
Dead flowers
The sound of the vacuum cleaner
Bills
E-mail. I know I already said it, but I want to emphasize it.
Small print
Panels on Women in Film
Taking off makeup every night


What I Will Miss


My kids

Nick
Spring
Fall
Waffles
The concept of waffles
Bacon
A walk in the park
The idea of a walk in the park
The park
Shakespeare in the Park
The bed
Reading in bed
Fireworks
Laughs
The view out the window
Twinkle lights
Butter
Dinner at home just the two of us
Dinner with friends
Dinner with friends in cities where none of us lives
Paris
Next year in Istanbul
Pride and Prejudice
The Christmas tree
Thanksgiving dinner
One for the table
The dogwood
Taking a bath
Coming over the bridge to Manhattan
Pie

Thank you for your stories Nora.

The Great Gatsby - Dapper and Flapper

Like pondering over which came first between the chicken or the egg (I'm still undecided) it is also pretty tricky to pinpoint which came first when discussing the current trend for 1920s fashion and the announcement of Baz Luhrmann’s re-make of The Great Gatsby.

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1920s novel, The Great Gatsby's most recent film adaptation stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Toby Maguire and Carey Mulligan.  With several film stills recently released of Leo looking dapper and Carey looking flapper, I am craving all things fringed and flirty.  Luckily London's high streets are filled with drop-waisted flapper dresses, beaded chiffon gowns, glittery headbands and long, lustrous strings of pearls.  

(Below) Apparently I am not the only one embracing this deliciously decadent style...  Georgia May Jagger, Fearne Cotton, Kate Bosworth, Marion Cotillard, Drew Barrymore and Elizabeth Olsen have all stepped out looking flappalicious.

Tiffany & Co have created sparkling, one-of-a-kind diamond jewellery for Carey Mulligan (left) to wear in the film, and it has been revealed that fashionista Ashley Olsen has generously loaned some of her own dresses to the movie’s wardrobe department from her vintage archive.

Baz Luhrmann's 'The Great Gatsby' is released at cinemas this December

L'Odyssée de Cartier

Celebrating its 165th Anniversary, Cartier has released a visually spectacular (and super sparkly) commercial, 'L'Odyssée de Cartier,' which follows the epic, international adventure of an emerald-eyed panther – the iconic muse of the House of Cartier.

Directed by Bruno Aveillan, the no expenses spared, 3.5 minute film took over 2 years to complete and was shot on location in Czechoslovakia, Spain, the Dolomites, and France.

Striking supermodel Shalom Harlow (left) is filmed wearing a show stopping, custom-made, Cartier-red dress created by Chinese fashion designer Yiqing Yinwith.

Cartier’s UK’s executive Chairman Arnaud M.Bamberger explained, "this project has been treated like a real movie… we wanted the best special effects, a big director, an incredible model and props to intertwine with our incredible history… We wanted a movie we would be proud to show to Steven Spielberg.” A real gem.

Musical Moment: John Farnham ('You're The Voice')

It was at the after party of my best friend Beatrice's 2009 wedding to her husband Alvaro in Formentera where I first heard this song with all its beats and its bagpipes - the 1980's cult classic, 'You're The Voice,' by Australian singer John Farnham.

This song was loudly played on a loop for hours and we never got bored of it for a moment; dancing just as passionately on its tenth triumphant play, as we had done on its first.

Happy Birthday My Darling Beaty. xxxx