Off of t'telly

Remember Wayne from Project Runway? The nasal-sounding one with silver hair and a penchant for fetish boots? No? Oh, me neither. But if you do recall the competition and want to get Wayne's seemingly avant garde-ish designs into your wardrobe (just in case he becomes the new Galliano - in his dreams) his first collection launches in November at Debenhams.

All vague 'edginess' has been drained and the pieces look like generic High Street occasionwear. There are 10 items - mainly dresses, with a pair of wide-leg tuxedo-ish trews thrown in. The colour palette is limited to black, white and a pretty Wedgwood blue shade which, when made up into satin bustier dresses, looks cheap. The scenarios that keep popping into my head are; 'bridesmaid', 'Mother of the Bride' and 'posh Essex cocktail party'.

While Julien, Matthew, John and Betty have a large element of freedom when creating their capsules for the store, and can keep a modicum of their own signature style, Wayne has had to bow to the bosses (I'd imagine) and create a far more commercial collection. The plus side is that it should actually sell quite well. Including lots of little black dresses in trendy shapes (there's a cowl-neck LBD that I swear Mis-teeq would have worn circa 2001) will make it popular with shoppers searching for 'special' Saturday night outfits. However I'm still wondering if he actually likes the pieces he's put out and is proud of his acheivements so far.

Three of the best worst pieces
Monochrome cocktail dress with bow neck £100

I'm sure Victoria Beckham Chanelle would die for this dress


















Monochrome maxi dress with beaded deep V neck £180

Actually quite chic in a Halstonian / Julia Roberts in vintage Valentino way. My fave.



















Wedgwood blue lace-up bodice £70 and pleated pencil skirt £70 (back view)

Let me tell you a story; Danni-Elle was planning her wedding to Carl but found out her best friend, Tianne, was secretly shagging her husband-to-be. Instead of kicking Carl to the kerb (he played for Gillingham FC and had prospects you know) Danni-Elle carried out her revenge in the only way she knew; stylistically. This would be Tianna's bridesmaid outfit. 'Nuff said.

Style it up

As a new book celebrating the work of the stylist is set to launch next month Mrs Fashion presents a peaen to the trade in her own inimitable style. IE bitching and moaning about photographers.













On editorial shoots why do photographers insist on thinking they are the most important person there? In most cases the stylist is the one who came up with the idea for the story, booked them and had the overall vision for the shoot. The photographer, like the hair stylist, make-up artist, model and location are all bought together by the stylist because of their particular look or style of work - and the stylist makes sure that everything gels the way he / she wants it to and in the way that he / she knows the editor will be happy with. If we've booked someone because of their crisp contrasty lighting (and tell our editor that this is the way the story is going to look) we don't want to be confronted with the photographer deciding he'd like to try out a new sludgy-shaded lighting set-up on the day.

Of course on ad or music jobs the stylist is oftentimes relegated to mere wardrobe and running duties which is why stylists that spend their time soley dressing slebs (Hi, Rachel!) are omitted from the tome and Camilla Nickerson, Melanie Ward, Carine Roitfeld, Venetia Scott and Edward Enninful are all in.

As a postscript I'd like to reiterate that not all photographers are bad. There are just a few who have their own agenda and don't want to work as a team - but after xx years in the industry I'm in a position where I can steer clear of them. Luckily I have a great core of people I regularly work with, who just 'get' it, and we can create beautiful music pictures together.

(On that note, girls and boys, please never ever ever ever never never ever get romantically entangled with a photographer. It will drive you to distraction and cause many a tear to fall. No, not even if they shoot for Elle on, like, a regular basis*. Promise? 'Kay. Good).

*Extra points in you can guess the movie I'm (quite possibly mis-) quoting.

Photo by Alan Scrymgeour who has nothing to do with the snappers berated herein.

How to make friends and alienate people

Saucy lingerie label Yes Master has been the victim of a spate of hoax emails announcing that the label is to close. Not true! The brands PR has been working on diversionary tactics to reiterate their undie operation. Founder Igor Pacemski must've picked up some fearsome enemies along the way. Why would anyone would go to the trouble of circulating a false rumour? I have enemies but simply can't be bothered to be that vindictive. I'm intrigued. Do I spy a fash-spat? Image from LadyBarbarella.com