Travel Diaries: Covent Garden

Breakers in Patisserie Valerie

Candy store

Bead Shop

Mint - Vintage Clothing

The Dover Book Shop

Mymagma store- made out of cardboard

Inside the Studio - Giles Deacon and BOF

I was invited to go review an exciting event on Thursday. The Business of Fashion launched the beginning of a new series titled "Inside the Studio" which will feature in depth interviews with fashion creatives such as renowned fashion designer Giles Deacon. Supported by Swarovski and held in their new sparkly quarters off Oxford street I had the luxury of sipping ice cool beverages by waiters clad in white as I attended the private screening and cocktail party of Giles Deacon's Inside the Studio which was done in parts and will be released in parts. I don't want to reveal too much as I am covering this event for T5M.com and am excited about supplying them with all the goodies. But I will say that Chapter 1 - Foundation "Unstructured Exploration..." will be out on the BOF website on the 3rd of Feb, Chapter 2 - Creative Process "A Designer Who Has Always Drawn..." will be out Feb 9th, and the final chapter Business "The surprise of Collaboration" will be out on the 16th of Feb. I will be linking my feature for this event with T5M so watch this space! Until then here are some pics of the event! The business of fashion website will launch this interview online sometime next week. I will be posting news here.

The Logo of the event was specifically by Giles for the release of the series
New Sparkly Swarovski Quarters

Giles Chatting Away

The Business of Fashion Team - Khaleed Juma who is Managing Director and Imran Amed Founder and Editor of the Business of Fashion

Blogger Style Bubble

Designer Rebecca Cella

Goodbye My Alef - You shall be missed.

It pains me to know that Alef magazine, my favorite publication will ease to create more exquisite designs of their glossy magazine. For as long as I discovered the first issue a few years back I fell completely in love with Alef, their mission statement, the design of the magazine, and the editorial and content. There are not many professional, creative, unique fashion magazines created for the Middle East which is why Alef is so special to me. Alef to me marks a change, an act of progress in the Middle East and with each issue the magazine has been getting better and edgier and closer to their target and aims. Their content is a collect of Middle East tidbits. Designers, artists, events, boutique openings and news of a pack of creatives are documented and presented in a clean and busy manner, much like a bazaar. But what Alef really does to me is introduce me to my own culture and makes me very proud to be Arab. I can relate to the stories, to the fonts, to the title, and the writers. I can relate to the news and to the familiar faces in the pages. The pages are so thick and glossy I wait patiently to get home in my jams and make me a cup of tea before I start scouring each page one by one.
Alef magazine have a written a short apology and excuse on their web page claiming they have some issues with the publishers in the Middle East and they will stop making the magazine for now. I am not satisfied with that answer and am pestering the staff for an interview to talk about the legacy that Alef is leaving behind if they ease to end printing and making my beloved Alef. Since Alef's quarters are based off Ladbroke Grove where I have been visiting frequently due to my work with Boutique 1 magazine I am hoping also to pop by if I nail the interview to snag me the last copy of Alef. Seeing as I hardly can find it in the UK I see it as some sort of loyal fee. Anyways all shall come together shortly.


FASHION, LUXURY & LIFESTYLE- Alef's Mission Statement
Just as Alef translates into the letter A in Arabic, Alef represents the first magazine of its kind in the Middle East. A fashion, lifestyle and luxury title, it aims to inform, inspire and entertain readers through a commitment to the highest levels of content and design . Alef’s editorial mission is to bring together emerging and established artists in an exploration of fashion, luxury and lifestyle; to showcase the cultural contributions of the region ;and to create an aesthetic that challenges both Western and Middle Eastern presumptions . Although developed with the support of Vila Moda, one of the Middle East ’s most eminent retail emporiums , Alef is not a “magalogue”—it is a completely independent title that will feature editorial coverage and advertising from the world’s most prestigious luxury brands .We are united by a passionate belief in Alef’s tremendous potential as a vehicle for cultural innovation .We hope that you will join us.

Back into action. A new design for a new me

Now that I'm finally getting my life in order it seemed a perfect time to re-adjust my blog design. And though it may be not such a big deal for others it is a mega deal for me as I felt I needed a new clean white template to symbolize my a new clean slate of my life. After Christmas break I have to admit it was harder for me to adjust back into London life. This is super bewildering because for the first time in five years I was very homesick. But after a few adventures and lounge explorings I think I am back into my old self. I have many many updates for my loyal readers.

In the past week I have been:
1. Writing for Borderline magazine and in the process had to spend a night with Katja from Glam Canyon as she hosted her event at 145 Shoreditch High Street (pics and notes to follow)
2. Handed in my feature for the future issue of Boutique 1 Magazine ( have been working on it for over a month)
3. Found out that my favorite magazine Alef is going to cease to exist. RIP my beautiful magazine. I am trying to score an interview with the editorial team to scope out the situation and see maybe just maybe they might reprint for the future
4. Attended Susie Bubble's conversation at London College of Fashion. A talk on internet and fashion that was mega useful

I also am vowing to get back into the swing of things aka blogging more frequently. My life has been a turbulent express train since I have graduated and I think am finally settling into London life.

Geeking OUT !

Geek Attack! As if I haven't geeked out on Sussie Bubble before I keep geeking again and again and again. After reading on her site that she'll be at the London College of Fashion in Oxford Circus at say 5.30 I just happened to be around the corner finishing up from a press event and lunch at Busaba to then merrily walk in and sit next to fellow bloggers and peers to listen to the fashion blogger phenomenon who has about 14,000-16,000 hits a day.


The Apple chat was more chilled out with Susie doing most of the talking about what she does and why she does it. This time around people skipped the formalities and went straight into deep cut questions. The conference room became so full that someone actually had to me almost leaded out when she tried to sneak in to find her saved seat. Akwaaard! People were lining the back of the room with a-many crowding the front of the theatre. Many students and bloggers were recording the conversation which was super insightful. I am excited to share my notes with my fellow readers so indulge yourself below:

Ramblings& Notes from my personal diary:

• Susie had a dull job in media, only blog a few hours a day, last March she was asked by the editor of Dazed and Confused to be the commissioning editor of Dazed Digital. She recently got her own domain, .co.uk , and she has roughly 14,000-16,000 hits a day.
• AT one point she was obsessed with google analytics, the majority of her fan base is from the States the second is the UK. She thinks the States has more of a blogging routine.
• Teen Vogue mentioned her in an issue back in September 06 and she had a massive spike in traffic and US readership since then.
• Talking about blogs is a hot topic, The Observer pulled in a new audience. She keeps in mind that she chooses to be positive about everything and that allows her to be free and open. Her writing style has not changed, but now she more variety of content for her blog.
  
• Dazed has its own style and she has her own.
  
• Susie can write up a post in 5 minutes, and doesn't need to think about it.
• She laughs that she doesn't sleep much , she has 400 blogs on her daily blog roll, and logs on to 30 websites a day, she also reads magazines and tries to widen her media scape.
• Magazines are more well thought.
• She has outfit experimentations with her own style. Likes to link with what is happening in fashion which offers a personal connection.
• "I am worried about what people who think they know me and that worries me."
  
• "I used to go on Fashion spot forums. I like the interaction on the internet. People around me don't necessarily love fashion the way I do. So the internet to me is a release and space for me to geek out in fashion."
• "I started about 10 websites with Geocities on random topics which had no correlation before I discovered typepead."
• People tend to use Sussie Bubble pages as trend research and forecasting.
• "In 2007 Chanel and Gucci organized trips for bloggers to tailor made for bloggers, and you can tell they were trying to deal with bloggers in a different manner. It is a certain thing if I feel I could get content off of it that would interest readers then I would go and do it. But I try to show an account of my own experiences. This is what I saw. I don't have to write about them unless its of interest to me."
• How did you start getting traffic? It all happened in an organic manner, I just asked 3 of my favority bloggers to link to me. But I have already established myself on forums and commentating on other blogs. Style.com also linked to me and it evolved as a natural thing.
• Buys the Guardian the newspaper because she loves the writing style. Likes thier content and the way they write.
  
• Blogs make fashion more accesible and democratic.
• The relationship between brand and blog is very tricky but again its the way one handles it.
• It has been a struggle in the last 9 months juggling work and the blog and maintaining it and keeping it updated.
  
• I have limited knowledge with HTML and javascript aesthetics. But if I could go back and do it all over again I might have had customized skin for my page. Am not too fussed about pictures but its more about content.
  
• Where do you find the motivation to get up at 6 am and cover events like the Angel sale? I have a natural enthusiasm , I would be there anyways, queing and taking photos.
  
• I spend 1-2 hours a day blogging nowadays, but I constantly have 20-30 ideas for posts.
• I try to write openly and freely and not dispute a bitter tone when I feel like I am being attacked, but I do feel like I have a resposibility to fashion bloggers and my readers.
• The blog is a self reflection of me and a post is done in a state of mind so I don't regret anything I have posted about.
  
• I relate to fashion in a different way , I consume it through my blog.
  

Katja Power.

Taking me out of my London gloom purely went down to attending the Glam Canyon Event in 145 Shoreditch and meeting Katja the wonderful photographer who was hosting the event. Now to all credit to Borderline magazine, I writing a feature for the ubra-cool online magazine and was supposed to cover an event with Katja it just so happened she was hosting this one, so along cam Fashion Ambition. Now I don't want to delve into the copyright issue so I am linking her here so you may visit her site and view her photographs from that night on her own site. She lays them out in cubic squares that are so delightfully spread out on her page. Anyways Katja I loved, she was everything one dreams of a photographer. Funny, super friendly, smiley, and fabulous. This is sounding like one of my many (oohh I love Susie Bubble posts) but me no care as I walked out of the club scene in pure smittenens. If there is such a word. The event was a mixture of close friends and friends of friends with many people looking relaxed and dolled up. There were vamps, there was lace, there was leather and black lipstick. It was an eclectic mix of London's cool and slightly dangerous. Watch this space as I link to my feature with Borderline!

Next Glam Canyon event will be on the 24th of Feb and be sure to come.

Katja- the photographer

Bodyworlds for my Grey Soul

I left Bahrain for cold showery windy gloomy grey London. I am so cold and down-in-the dumps right now. You should see me. I am wearing a massive knit sweater, black pashmina wrapped around my neck, thick wooly socks, fake uggs, and am wrapped in my purple blanket having hot tea after tea. I am considering wearing gloves just to write this post. Coming from lazy Bah this is such a shock and after 5 years you'd think I'd be used to this by now, but so am not.

So anyways for those who have a weak heart look away as I reveal some pics I snapped at the Bodyworld Exhibit in London at the 02 center. I am lucky enough to have coolio friends who call me the second they have tickets to openings like these. This groundbreaking anatomical exhibitions is by trailblazing scientist, Dr. Gunther von Hagens, and it features a presentation of the human life cycle and ageing. The exhibit showed the complexity, resilience, and vulnerability of the human body through anatomical studies of the body in distress, disease, and optimal health.It was completely graphic and bewildering.