… there was a little girl who loved fashion, just as much as she loved the ballet
and the theatre. She craved the drama, the storytelling, the music, the spectacle
that is often involved in the presentation of a new fashion collection. For her, first
came the drama, then came the clothes. It was the drama that made her want the
clothes in the first place, she wanted to know the story behind the clothes and then
play dress up and be the girl in that story.

She wanted to be the girl who lived under a tree. She wanted to be the human
chess piece who wears an incredible dress and has her movements controlled by
a robotic voice that commands her to move onto the next position. She wanted to
be the Scottish heroine who fought and survived the rape of the highlands, helping
her beloved escape. She wanted to be the punk version of Lady Macbeth, wearing
a fabulous dress inspired in the India dominated by the British empire. She wanted
to be the ghostly vision of a woman who floats away magically, wrapped in hundreds
and hundreds of layers of soft rippling fabric, who fades away into a bullet of light.
She wanted to be the delicate girl who wears a pretty white dress and is viciously
attacked by a pair of robotic creatures who shoot paint at her, splashing it all over
her face and her beautiful white dress. She wanted to be the ghost of Marie Antoinette,
disguised under the layers of beautiful dresses, accompanied by howling wolves that
celebrate her presence with their haunting chants. She wanted to be the girl who
after spending so much time underwater, mutated into this fantastic deep sea goddess,
stealing all the colours and shapes from all the fishes and creatures that lived with her,
down in the depths of the profound and endless ocean.

She craved the drama, the storytelling, the passion, the tears…..she craved to feel.

That girl is you and me and everyone else who loves a good story and that fantastic
element of drama, romanticism, theatricality and storytelling that fashion is also able
to encompass.

Over the past decade, Alexander McQueen had been filling this need in our
hearts and that is why we adored him. Not only did we love and admire his
genius craftsmanship but also, his ability to put on an unforgetable show.
He had the gift of making his clothes speak and his shows always had the
perfect backdrop to allow them to do so. He was not only a fashion designer
or a genius tailor, he was an artist, a great theatre director, a showman,
the ultimate ringmaster of the incredible fashion circus that he brought to us
each season. He filled our lives with his magic, inspiring millions, not only with
his outstanding work but with the way he thought, felt and saw the world…
Shows that we couldn’t wait to see, shows that we wished they’d never end,
shows that are impossible to forget and -hard to swallow but- shows that we
will never see again.

So, come new season time, I found myself completely disoriented, a little depressed
and totally drama-starved and I asked myself: is there any drama left in fashion after
McQueen? and if so, where is it? who is doing it and how? where can I find it?

I decided to embark in a voyage around the world, looking at each and every fashion
week, in a desperate quest to find the drama in fashion. So I hang a huge ‘DO NOT
DISTURB’ sign outside my door and spent the next two nights scrutinizing each fashion
collection, seeking desperately to feel the same way that I felt watching a McQueen
show. It was then when I realized that I shouldn’t even need to try this hard. That an
incredible show should speak for itself right from the beginning, making you fall for it
like a spell, it should mesmerize you like the enchanting song of a siren from which you
can’t nor want to escape; it should slap you hard, right across the face on the first few
seconds that you lay your eyes on it, and continue the same way right through ’til the
end, whilst the only words that you are able to mutter are: God please let this show
never end, I want to live in it forever.

So…after Milan, New York, London and Paris… after Takhoon, Zac Posen, Vera
Wang, Rodarte, Proenza Schouler, Oscar de la Renta, Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs,
Donna Karan, Diane von Fustenberg, Calvin Klein, Anna Sui, Alexander Wang, Lanvin,
Carolina Herrera, Versace, Gucci, Roberto Cavalli, Mani, Armani, Fendi, Dsquared2,
Dolce & Gabanna, Botega Venetta, Gareth Pugh, Balenciaga, Balmain, Nina Ricci,
Rick Owens, Christian Dior, Vivienne Westwood, Christopher Kane, Julien MacDonald,
Missoni, Jil Sander, Stella McCartney, Paul Smith, Burberry, Erdem, Prada, Ziad Ghanem,
Junya Watanabe, Dolce & Gabanna, Issey Miyake, Hussein Chalayan, Comme des
Garcons, Antonio Berardi, Jason Wu, Viktor and Rolph & Ann Valerie Hash…

…these are the people who in my opinion delivered a show filled with drama
and entertainment value, not just models wearing pretty clothes. These are
the people who gave me the drama that I was craving, the spectacle, the
romance. These are the people who surprised me with their creativity, the
people who not only made me see but also think and feel…

LONDON
Ziad Ghanem – Fall/Winter 2010

Ziad’s show froze me dead in my tracks. I was not at all prepared to see all that.
The cynical in me was slapped hard, right from the very first outfit that appeared
on the catwalk, I was hooked, non-stop, all the way until the last one. Pure genius.
Literally my words were: “Wow”:

Words had escaped me whilst my brain was taken to another level. To a level
that it had never been before. His collection stroke a chord inside me, I am not
quite sure what chord or where it is, but I can still hear it and I am loving the
sound of it. I found myself totally smitten and utterly seduced by Ziad.

The clothes, the amazing music, the simplicity yet intricate architecture of all the
details of Ziad’s spectacle, is more than worthy of the applause and standing ovation
that the public gave him at the end for bringing us, a magnificent burlesque inspired
show, revealing more layers than we thought it could possibly have.

Immodesty Blaize stripping was just the cherry on top of a delicious show, which I shall
continue to savour and remember for more than just this season. Clap, clap, clap Ziad.

I can’t help but think of him like the next: Alexander McQueen. He reminds me a lot
of Lee. He has the same tailoring and couture exquisiteness, the same sensibility and
poetic romanticism, the same enfant terrible aggressive-sexy edge, fantastic musical
taste and his complete passion for drama and for giving his audience quality time. Ziad
won my heart, to me his is one of the best shows around this season.

NEW YORK
Jason Wu – Fall 2010

As sceptic as I was to even press the play button to start watching Jason Wu’s
show, it hit me right from the beginning. “Wu did what?” – asks Tim Blanks, “Wu did
what? Wu Wowed!” – says a sincerely sounding, astonished, Kerry Washington.

“He picks good teachers” quite rigtly asserts Tim Blanks. The inspiration behind his
collection? The late and beyong great: Irving Penn.

“The daywear was inspired by Irving’s personal style”- a sweet Jason Wu explains with
evident love and admiration for the photographer -“I found some rare pictures of him
shooting in this white collar button downs and slouchy trousers and that resulted in a
very menswear inspired day look. Throwing a big menswear jacket over the top of one
of the biggest dresses in the collection”.

“Irvings platinum prints were so beautiful, they looked like a veil had gone through
them, and I did that through veiling feather with silk tulle, or veiling tafetta with silk
hose, with embroidery”. – Says Jason.

The beautiful prints and detail on the dresses and clothes in Wu’s collection remind
us of the people who Penn took pictures of, artists like the fantastic Cy Twombly,
travellers wearing big plaid coats, Penn’s famous pictures of cigarette ends, which
appear dabbed all over Jason’s dreamy huge dresses. The metallic gold leafing inspired
on the paints of the New Guinea people.

Wearing Wu this season means not only wearing a beautiful piece, but wearing a
work of art, inspired in the beautiful images of one of the most iconic and prolific
photographers of our century. And it is all delivered in the most romantic and
eerie show, which seems to talk about the profound admiration that the designer
feels for the photographer, who this season becomes his muse.

PARIS
Viktor and Rolf – Fall 2010

I always expect to see something of a freak show performance when I tune
into the Viktor and Rolf channel. They are the safety net that I know I can throw
myself blindy at, and I will always bounce back safely onto the ground, remembering
the experience. The Willy Wonka brothers of fashion always know how to put on
an entertaining show.

This time, they play with the idea of layering but not layering in the old boring
way of layering, but a new idea of layering, that of actually constructing their
entire collection by piling all the pieces, one of top of the other, on one single
“older model”, who then teeters into the centre of the stage, wearing three times
her body weight in clothes!

The pair of fashion maverics then appear on the stage and become part of the
performance by proceeding to scientifically remove each piece from the “mother
model” to then dress with it the other “younger models” and so the show takes form.
What a Fabulous idea!

MILAN
Dolce & Gabanna – Fall 2010

Stefano and Domenico are the ones who always seem to make more of an effort
when it comes to showtime in Italy, in my opinion. This time, they take the humble
avenue and they surrender themselves completely to their public. “What sold the
most is black, which means that what our customer wants is black so we give you
black” – say Stefano and Domenico. “What sold the most is tailoring, so we give you
tailoring. What sold the most was leopard print so…” Ok, you get the idea.

I have never seen so many tailored black jackets in the catwalk, in fact the show
ends with a strutting parade of eightysomething models dressed in black tailored jackets…

I like these guys and although I don’t like the collection, I like them for trying
and I like the video that they showed in the background of their show, it was
surprisingly romantic and emotional to see the designers and their team at work,
drawing, cutting and sewing each piece, as the models strutted wearing the finished
piece on the catwalk. That did it for me, the whole: ‘this is us, you can see us,
we are transparent’. Very humbling. Like when you see a chef working on an open
kitchen at a very expensive restaurant, and you get to see how he makes his art
in the open. It makes a great impact in the mind I think, it’s like you trust it blindly
and you don’t even feel the need to question it because it is all right there for you
too see.

This show is Italian romantic drama at its very best:

And then there is another kind of show of its own: Hussein Chalayan.

Interesting choice of music-zapping in his show, where suddenly you find yourself
hardly coping to keep up with all the action that seems to be going on in the catwalk.
Although all you can see all the time are just models strutting and the lights of the
ghost car that keeps re-appearing in the background, his show seems to have another
layer, that of a weird movie of a disturbing journey…

His clothes always seem to be questioning us: “Where the hell is the human
race going and why the hell is it going there so fast?”

I liked his show but he is a category of his own, he is too far beyond fashion,
his verse always talks about something else.

So, there is where I found the drama that I was craving to see in fashion this season.

‘Why shouldn’t – why couldn’t – fashion be emotional?’ – Alexander McQueen.

XO
Nonita

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© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

Want to know who absolutely everyone in London is going totally crazy for?
Two words: Ziad Ghanem.

After being hit by the news of McQueen, I had resigned myself to the thought
that fashion had become a sombre place and that it would never be the same
again.

Just when I thought that it was all lost, that all the magic and drama was gone,
that nothing or no-one after Lee would ever be capable of making my heart skip
a beat… he appeared.

Suddenly, without previous warning, a parade of the most fantastic fashion
creatures was unfolding right in front of my eyes, pouring more fabulousness
and drama than what I was actually prepared to see again. Refraining from
blinking so as to not miss a second of his incredibly sublime spectacle, I felt
compelled to stand up and start clapping vigorously at the end of the show.

I held my breath as each piece that appeared on the catwalk looked like it was going
to be the grand finale, but it was merely the beginning. Here is Part two and Part three (where the official grand finale takes place), standing ovation from the audience included and trust me, that crowd is one very tough crowd to please.

Ever since Ziad Ghanem and the Maiden Britain collective presented their fabulous A/W collection during London Fashion Week last February, press requests at VOGUE are said to be pouring in, in particular for the amazing leopard print ‘Vogue’ outfit that stylists and editors went crazy for.

The piece was exclusively shot for the October issue of British Vogue. ‘A British Style Celebration’ photographed by no other than Mario Testino and the model? This lovely lady called Naomi Campbell.

VOGUE October 2009 - Naomi Campell in Ziad Ghanem shot by Mario Testino

Need I say more?

World… I have a new favourite fashion designer: Le cult couturier Ziad Ghanem.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-Ziad, where have you been all my life? Kidding. I have just recently discovered your work and I am so excited that I get carried away…
-I am like a cult movie I like the enigma of it. Also I am a one to one person and a fashion whore sometimes too.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-Where are you from originally and how long have you been living in London for?
I am Lebanese and I moved to london in the late 90’s.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-How and when did you start designing?
When I was 5 years old I started making drawings of my mum in different dresses. All my life I designed and made clothes without having a title of a designer. I started my label few years ago and I am still experimenting.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-I see a lot of theatricality, art and drama in your shows, where does your inspiration come from in that sense?
I am inspired from my surroundings. From Life and people. From films Music and reality and the simple matters. I believe we do not need to explore another planet … What men needs to be inspired is a mirror.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-What was your first collection about? What was the inspiration behind it?
My first collection was called ‘Support your local Hooker’ the inspiration was the lack of money and plenty of ambition and determination. My flat mates in Soho at the time helped me make the clothes on their ‘NIGHT’ off.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-And in your latest collection? – which I am so blown away with by the way, so much drama! – what’s the inspiration?
Thank you. The Inspiration is the optimism and the fading world of glamour that emerged from the couture salons of the 1950s and the drama of taking off the jacket in a show. I feel nostalgic about fashion shows where models worked the clothes, pulled collars up and did the Parisian swirls on catwalks.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

With the internet anyone can see the new collections online, and all is so dull. You see one you’ve seen all of them… Where is the show factor? Hello!!!! that is why my shows have theatre and drama I wanna give time value to my audience . Also the collection is about the art of Undressing. I find Burlesque have a certain magic in undressing, that is why I wanted Miss Immodesty Blaize to model in my show.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-I love the idea of dressing those fabulous seemingly transgender models (please correct if that is the wrong term) whom you worked with in your latest show. Your incredible gowns look all the more mind blowing on their bodies. Do you always work with these type of models? where did this fabulous idea came from?
Thank you so much. My clothes are gender free, I refuse to be called a man because I have a penis and a woman needs more than a pair of tits and a vagina to become a woman.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

My models are my inspiration and they are in my show because they love dressing up and love my work. I refuse to force my clothes on any odd model from an agency. My clothes are made on my model sizes, an exaggeration of their character and looks. Without the people in my show there would be no clothes, I am grateful for their inspiration.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-How would you define your style?
Sophisticated underground full of Realistic Drama.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-In your eyes who are the ultimate style icons?
On a rainy day: the lady who is sat next to me on the bus with an immaculate hair.
I find her majesty Queen Elizabeth II fascinating.

© Image courtesy of Annie Leibovitz

-Do you have any muses in mind when you construct those amazing dresses? Who do you see wearing your designs?
My designs are made for people not my ego. My muse changes all the time, my models are my muse. My Mum is my ultimate inspiration.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-If you could dress anyone, (even people from history, from the past or from other eras) who would you like to dress and what would you make for them?
Dead or Alive it does not matter, as long as they pay cash. I love to dress all people but I can only dress few because my team is small and my prices are very high. So anyone is welcome but the waiting list is ’til August 2010.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-Which designers do you admire the work of and does any of them influence you?
Alexander Mcqueen, his work will be missed.

-Would you like to design for a major fashion house or would you rather continue working on your own label, under your own name?
I am open and receptive or all the good things that comes my way.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-How much does your very own Lebanese culture and background inspire you and how does that reflect in your work?
Lebanese culture is very rich, I am a citizen of the world and I am inspired by all cultures. I am a typical Lebanese when it comes to being a snob and the love for Gibran Khalil Gibran. I am proud to be born Lebanese but I am grateful to have the luxury of freedom, to be able to live where I wanna be – London.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-If you could invite 3 people from any era to come and have dinner with you, who would they be and where would you take them?
Eating is very intimate I am very selective with who I dine with. I would like to invite three people who are hungry and can not afford food and I will make them a home made chicken and vegetable soup.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

- If you were a work of art which one would you be and why?
Jeff koons’s‘Dirty Jeff on top’ from ‘Made in Heaven’. there are no hidden meanings and it is straight to the point.

-For you, what’s the hardest thing about being a designer?
The self destructive ego of some of the people that make my clothes.
Lack of communication and some nasty fashion trends.

-Favourite film?
A Short Film About Love (Polish: Krótki film o miłości)

-Favourite music?
Scarlett Etienne who compelled the music for my show… And forever I love ‘I just can’t get enough’ by Depeche Mode. To be played at my funeral please.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-Favourite book?
Tintin et Milou.

-Favourite London hangout?
Outside the Job center in Hackney, there is some real hotties.

© Image courtesy of Paula Harrowing

-Thank you so much Ziad and finally please choose the song of the day.
Thank you Nona for your support, I am grateful. The song of the day is ‘I FEEL GOOD’ Live version by James Brown in a blue silver and brocade suit.

To know more about the fabulous Ziad Ghanem and see his amazing previous
collection visit his website: www.ziadghanem.co.uk

You can also see some fab behind the scenes pics at Dazed Digital, stills from his previous S/S 2010 show at VOGUE.com and much more on his Facebook fan page:
ZIAD GHANEM

All Ziad Ghanem’s images courtesy of the fabulous Paula Harrowing: www.paulaharrowing.com

This post was reblogged from: The Blog at ModelManagement.com.

XO
—Nonita

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Gabby Young – Photographed by Leonora Saunders.

I am oh-so-excited to have one of London’s hottest singer/songwriter and showgirls
here at SMV, the incredibly super-mega-fabulous and uber-cool Gabby Young from the band: Gabby Young and other Animals.

Described as: ’something to behold’; ‘an art-school dervish of jazzy excitement’,
‘a bewitching redhead with a mammoth vocal range with the power to melt marble’,
Classically trained Gabby picked up a broad musical taste along the way, which
includes rock, pop, folk, jazz, funk and experimental music. With her pitch-perfect
falsetto vocals, comes a fully fledged band that includes a trombone, a trumpet and
a banjo!

And the music? Well, some say it’s something of a: Jazzy intro and a soulful trill, with
a Moulin Rouge edge, kind of like a story-telling wallow and an A Capella choral section
reminiscent of a Dickens adaptation. A-ha!

With Tracks moving through circus fanfares, to the Egyptian and then onto
the traditional hurdy-gurdy triumphant gestures of Eastern Europe, it’s quite
a challenge to pin down the band’s musical style, a true sign that there is only
one: Gabby Young and Other Animals.

Gabby Young & Other Animals – Snakebite.

I can’t tell you enough how much I love this video… and the cherry on top?
Gabby -like us – adores vintage fashion and is known for performing dressed
in the most fabulous and eerie make up and outfits.

Gabby Young – Photographed by Saul.

We ♥ Gabby Young and Other Animals!

Don’t miss their upcoming gig in London at THE BLOOMSBURY this Thursday 04 March. Click here for ticket info and here for other UK dates.

-Where are you from originally and how did Gabby Young and Other Animals come together?
I’m from Wiltshire, South West England. I grew up surrounded by fields, horses and not much else… until I discovered the piano in the sitting room made a rather lovely noise then my whole life became about music! The other animals were all hidden in branches and street corners around the UK but I caught 7 of them that were rather good at their instruments and formed a band and luckily a lovely dysfunctional family!

-How did the band’s name came up?
I have been through many names – The Gabby Young Collective, Gabby Young has new friends, even Gabby Young has a band but they never stuck… it wasn’t until I went back to my parent’s house and saw a copy of ‘My Family and Other Animals’ that was a childhood favourite of mine that I finally found a band name that I liked and I think it suits us!

-Tell us about the inspiration and influences behind your new album: “We are all in this together”?
What really influences me to write is a compulsion- it’s a feeling that I can’t escape I just have to give in and write a song. It’s indescribable, mainly in the pit of my stomach there is a yearning to produce something and then I sit down with my guitar or at the piano, press record on my Dictaphone and begin to sing. Most of the songs in the album came to me randomly, fully formed in my head- I just had to find a way to get them down on paper/ record.

Gabby Young & Other Animals – “We are ll in this together”

-Where do your main musical influences come from?
I was trained as an Opera singer- I wanted to be Maria Callas but I was never content with sticking with the notes on the page so I turned to jazz. Ella Fitzgerald taught me to scat, Louis Prima taught me to keep music playful and honest and Cab Calloway taught me to push boundaries and allow everyone to join in. It wasn’t until I discovered Jeff Buckley –because a friend said ‘I sounded like him’ that I wanted to write my own songs and realised quite how far the voice could go- beyond genres, eras and styles – just soar! I now have a very eclectic taste and a huge collection of female artists- my current favourites being Joni Mitchell, Imogen Heap and Feist.

Gabby Young – Photographed by Leonora Saunders.

-Who do you admire as a composer?
I still can’t get over the musical prodigy’s of classical music- Mozart started composing at 5 years old and Beethoven and Chopin at 7 – that blows me away. But then I hear Elbow, Radiohead and Sigur Ros and to me their compositions are extraordinary – so many layers, unique sounds and beautiful, interesting lyrics/voices. I’m in awe of film composers like Danny Elfman and Nina Rota who bring films to a whole other level and I’m also a huge fan of Bob Dylan and folk singers, especially when it’s all stripped down and simple.

-What inspires you?
I am inspired by many things – some days, all things. Waking up to birdsong, that man smiling to himself on the tube, watching a fire crackle, knitting a scarf for a friend, love, hate, death, life and rifling through my vinyl collection…

-If you were able to reincarnate, who would you come back as and why?
Oooh… I think I would want to see things from a totally different perspective, maybe from up high?! Being a bird and able to fly would be lovely- prefably in a warm climate!!

Gabby Young – Photographed by Saul.

-If you could invite 3 people to dinner (no matter from what age) who would
they be and where would you take them?
I would have to cook something special for a candlelit dinner in my garden (in summer) with:
Stephen Fry – he could interest me with facts and tales for hours and seems so loving and warm.
Billy Connolly – to keep us all on the floor laughing
And…
You, Nonita – would you like to come?!!

Nonita: Who me? Fabulous!!! I am wearing my top hat! ps. Do I get to keep the Scottish man?

-If you were a work of art, which one would you be and why?
Wow, I have never thought of this- how about a Toulouse-Lautrec? Hung in the Louvre in Paris- I would get to see/ meet a lot of people… actually maybe too many it would be exhausting! Aha… I would be a Miss Kiki Salon artist’s silk scarf because then I can be worn and go on adventures. I never can sit still!!

“La Goulue” by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec.

Now let’s talk style, I love your style, you have a style blog too, who is your style icon?
Thankyou. BJORK; she is otherworldly and inspiring in everyway!! – I also love Audrey Hepburn but don’t we all?! I love personal style – people that aren’t afraid to think outside the box like Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen (RIP ) i am inspired by theatrical costume, the Belle Epoque style, victorian dolls houses and antique clocks!

-Favourite designers?
Oops I just answered that… but I am a huge supporter of up and coming designers- especially Beautiful Soul who upcycles vintage kimonos into really edgy garments and Ziad Ghanem for his drama and courage and of course my own couture clothing line, Salon Gabrielle – that I am launching on 4th March at my big gig in London. I will be working closely with Miss Kiki Salon to collaborate with many wonderful designers to create bespoke pieces. The first garment that I will be wearing for my show is a collaboration with a talented designer, Sofia Kalaitzidi and the artists- Kundalini Arts.

-Favourite fashion era and why?
Victorian… high necked collars, lace, trains, bustles and dramatic puffed sleeves- I love it. I also love the 40s- especially for hair and makeup. And- it’s not an era but anything to do with the circus excites me. I like clothes to have a history, a story so any era before this one is a bonus!

-If you were only allowed to wear one piece of clothing from your wardrobe which one would it be?
My beautiful bespoke dress that was made for me and sent from Ireland by my favourite Etsy retailers- Bonzie. It came complete with fascinator and corsage, the beads were hand sewn on and the netting was dyed specially to give it a vintage feel.

-What are you secretly addicted to or can’t live without?
Etsy and Ebay! I am definitely addicted to the internet- twitter has its moments
of sucking up hours but it’s so much fun!!

-Which are your favourite must have beauty products?
I have just discovered MAC makeup, which I avoided before because of the cost but now I can see why it is more expensive- it’s amazing! Especially the eyeliner brush to perfect my 50s style flicks!! Oh and red hairdye!!

-Who/What makes you laugh out loud?
My dog- Hobbes. He can be a right little rascal sometimes but not a day goes by that he doesn’t make me laugh like a lunatic!

-If you were a city which one would you be and why?
NEW YORK BABY! I will move there one day!! To me its like London, which I also love- everything is available but with this wonderful creative feel to it – everyone seems passionate about what they do and I’d like to be a part of that world where anything is possible.

-What was your childhood dream?
To be a singer!!

-Best movie?
Just the one?! Ok off the top of my head… Amelie!

-Best read?
The Goddess Guide by Gisele Scanlon – its my bible!

-Best place to hang out in London?
Blacks- a private members club in soho with open fires and big comfy chairs in every room!

-Which are your favourite SMV pieces?
In the vintage section – definitely the Gatsby Fringe Dress

And the new – the PEEPS Shoulder Spats
Ooh… don’t tempt me!!

Thank you so much Gabby and finally, please choose the song of the day…
I chose to introduce my favourite band – ‘Revere’ with song The Escape Artist- that I happen to guest on too!!

www.myspace.com/reverelondon

To know more about Gabby Young and Other Animals visit their website, don’t forget to check out Gabby’s style blog, Gabby’s couture clothing label ‘Salon Gabrielle’ and get yourself a copy of the fabulous “We are all in this together”.

Online at:
Cargo
Amazon.com (USA)
Amazon.co.uk (UK)
CD Universe

In stores at:
HMV (Selected stores internationally – please ask your local store for them to be stocked too!!)
FNAC (France)

Download digital MP3s at:
itunes
emusic
amazon.com (USA)
amazon.co.uk (GB)
napster
7digital
orange music store

Or if like me, you love, love, love Gabby Young & Other Animals then ‘Become an animal’ and get an album and much more! Here is how:

http://www.gabbyyoungandotheranimals.com/signup/

XO
Nona

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Yet each man kills the thing he loves,

By each let this be heard.

Some do it with a bitter look,

Some with a flattering word.

The coward does it with a kiss,

The brave man with a sword!

The Ballad of Reading Gaol poem by Oscar Wilde.
Images by Ruven Afanador.

I am busy with the lovely task of cleaning my desktop files… I wish I’d stop being
so bloody messy! I mean seriously: Folder called “to be sorted out” inside a folder
called “I must tidy this up” inside a folder called “Needs a little sort out” inside a folder
called “To tidy up”, inside a folder called “Nona this is growing too much” inside a folder
called “laters”… and inside a zillion files, poems, writing, random pictures, all inside even
MORE freakin folders with names that maybe once used to make sense to me
but now…??

Is everyone else like this or is it just me? The good thing is, I am unearthing
the most interesting stuff that I even forgot I had, such as this ‘thing’ which
I wrote a while ago just messing around.

Never like Oscar Wilde’s of course but hey! You gotta start somewhere.

see?
you did it again
you came out of nowhere
when I least expected you to
and showered me with your madness
with your passion
and your desire to love
and cherish a woman
to the extremes
of vacuum machine talk.

And here I am
on the other end
surprised
amused
smitten to a degree
and most strangely of all
without being able to fight
knowing for sure that
If you carry on like this
you will not only open my eyes
but you will own them
you will not just heal
my wounds by licking them
but you will leave your stamp on them
and you will not only be the last words that I say
before going to bed
but the first ones that I say early in the morning
when I wake up next to you
and I smile
just like I did today
feeling your strong arms all around me
whilst you are still asleep
holding onto me
just like a lion clutches onto
the left overs of his prey
after feasting on it
only to have some more when he
wakes up
never satisfied
always hungry again
and with the security that
he will never go without
because he
is the king.

“You never walk away from your prey after you have entrapped it, A wounded animal
is always a smarter and wiser one and harder to catch once you have sunk your teeth
into it!” – S. Malsbury

I was feeling inspired today, so I wrote a little short story. You can read it HERE.

Now here is the song of the day:

XO
Nona

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I just finished reading “The Diary of Anne Frank” for the second
time after having read it for the first time when I was 13. I love
Anne. So I got to thinking about books. Once you are done reading
a book, is that all there is to it?

Surely not.

Here are some funny ideas that I found on the internet
of what you can do with your unwanted books:

-Use a particularly heavy tome to prop open a sash window.

-Create a mini zoo filled with origami animals.

-Prop open books against each other to make a maze for hamsters.

-Nail books of various sizes to the walls and ceiling to make a decorative acoustic diffuser/absorber for a sound proofed home recording studio/vocal booth/podcast room/reading room.

- Create lots of paper aeroplanes and have a race in the office loser makes tea.

-Cut out the middle of the book and use it to store sweets, cigarettes, pliers to help prisoners escape.

- Be VERY organised and make origami Christmas decorations.

-Stack books to create table legs.

-Glue volumes together to make bookends.

- Make the pages into a Chinese Lantern.

- Join ReaditSwapit.

-Throw a book-swap party – good company, glass of wine, new book, who could ask for more?

– Use it as a photo album for all your holiday snaps.

- Get yourself a crafty boyfriend who can make you a bag out
of a recycled book, like this dude here:

-Stack books, spine-out, and use as a canvas.

- Leave them on a bus seat or a train seat, so that the next
person that comes along can read it.

I once found a copy of a novel next to my seat on the top of a double
decker bus in London and it made my journey, as I had nothing to read
that day. And yup, I left it in the same place once I finished reading it,
after inscribing the last page with: “People who read this book: Nona,
with the hope that whoever that finds it next and reads it, will continue
the chain and who knows, maybe I’ll find it again one day and it will have
lots and lost of names.

Needless to say, none of the crafties above apply to special books,
those are to be kept forever.

“Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don’t know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!”
- Anne Frank.

If you haven’t read the book or watched the film, I highly
recommend that you do. You can watch the complete films
(there are 2 of them) on Youtube and find a copy of the
book in your local library (yes, one of those awesome places
that lend you books for free)

xo
Nona

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~George Carlin, Brain Droppings, 1997

xo
Nona

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To Noelia ♥.

Images via Google image search.

XO
Nona

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IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And – which is more – you’ll be a Man, my son!

Poem by Rudyard Kipling
Images by Eugenio Recuenco

XO
Nona

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LOL. I never get tired of this. ♥ Catherine Tate and ♥ David Tennant!

XO
Nona

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PLAY!

Stupid Cupid you’re a real mean guy
I’d like to clip your wings so you can’t fly

I’m in love and it’s a crying shame
And I know that you’re the one to blame

Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

I can’t do my homework and I can’t think straight

I meet him every morning ’bout half past eight
I’m acting like a lovesick fool
You’ve even got me carrying his books to school

Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

You mixed me up for good right from the very start
Hey, go play Robin Hood with somebody else’s heart

You got me jumping like a crazy clown
And I don’t feature what you’re putting down

Since I kissed his loving lips of wine
The thing that bothers me is that I like it fine

Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

You got me jumping like a crazy clown
And I don’t feature what you’re putting down

Since I kissed his loving lips of wine
The thing that bothers me is that I like it fine

Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

Hey hey, set me free
Stupid Cupid stop picking on me

XO
Nona

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