London - fashion week - when is a Ford not a Ford?

We're back, great trip, suitcase still lurking moodily in the hall, and I thought I'd make a start on some travel posts.
(from the ipad, jottings and thoughts while the travelling blog apps were misbehaving)
We worried that we'd have difficulty booking restaurants while Fashion Week was on, or worse, when the shows were done but paperwork for orders, delivery promises, exclusives was still being wrapped up. No need. Fashion folk, entourages and wannabes don't eat, and in today's economy there's a certain corporate reluctance to pick up corporate bills without, um, discussion. So while one does see a few guys muttering about taking the relationship to another level, they could as easily be planning a ceremony as negotiating a contract or merging preparatory to an offering.
That said, the people at Tom Ford didn't waste any time getting an interview into this morning's (19 September) Telegraph. Mr Ford spoke warmly about the benefits of owning and designing for a small company. For instance, if he had designed a lot of lace, and then learned that other houses were showing lace, he could pull his lace items from the show and show something else.
Meanwhile the KAPOW dress - one of the hits of his Spring show - graced a window of his Sloane Street store. We passed it this morning.
I also noticed (note polite Brit-speak for "these hit me in the face") --
now this is what to do with sequins - although as my mom would say, you can only wear it once.


another dash-by glimpse of Tom Ford's windows, I think that skirt may be knocked off very soon, but in lesser fabrics.
Back to Mr Ford's KAPOW dress, it caught my eye - well, how could it not? because minutes before leaving New York I had decided that this:


really has no place in my life. After seeing the Ford interview and the Ford windows, I took another look at the current Target collab on my iPhone, and, gee, while I really don't want to be invisible, I can't imagine anywhere I'd wear either the poor girl's or the rich girl's homage to Roy Lichtenstein. It would have been cute though if the Telegraph had made the connection while Ford was waffling on about pulling over-seen items from the collection...

ok, now for some more coffee, I had lots of good food this trip and will spend the next few days on very oversized tees and loose shorts while I wait for nature to tell me how much of the ghastly new poundage is from salt and airplane bloat, and how much will need work. But you will get to hear about the food.




17 comments:

  1. Glad the trip was a success, and goody, we get to hear about the food.

    We'd have to wonder about your life if that dress did fit.

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    1. I take it you don't think I've discovered a good wear-everywhere basic?

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  2. Welcome home Fred. Can't wait to hear about the food in London as I'm never impressed with the restaurants I patronize there. BTW, I am sending the link for this post to my sister, who is a psychiatrist. She will have a field day with those dresses.

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    1. hi, xoxo! please feel free to share your sister's thoughts!

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  3. Welcome back, WFF! Thanks for the photos of the Tom Ford store. I don't understand why one would want to have a giant 'boom' or 'kapow' splashed over one's body - I guess I am getting older. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip and seeing more photos.

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    1. hi, Louise, food and exploring are in the pipeline.

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  4. Welcome Home Fred! I can't wait to hear more. Those dresses are crazy.

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    1. hi, Dani! I insisted we get off a bus so I could get a closer look, and I must say, even though I'd had a white night waiting for the Target stuff to come online, I was actually relieved that I didn't want anything. Although I might have gone for an all-cotton KAPOW sweatshirt. You know, for chasing deer out of the yard.

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  5. I don't know what Tom Ford is going through. Those boom dresses just don't seem him. I think he should make another movie to change gears...And yes where did you eat? :)

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    1. Spoiler alert: well, one thing we did was have dinner at Gordon Ramsay, on Royal Hospital Road, and when we complained that there were still many things that looked wonderful going by that we hadn't tried, staff very sympathetically suggested we come back the next day. So we did. Not exactly the next day, a day or two later.

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  6. Glad you are back safely. Can't wait to read about the food!

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  7. Welcome home Fred!! I can't wait for the details either! That dress is nt for me...

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    1. hi, Wendy, not what Mom would have called a Ford, that's for sure.

      hmm, to explain, "Ford" is an old expression meaning a dress or other garment that everyone will want because it's so flattering and wearable and it's also easy to produce, good lines and minimal notions and trimmings. Think of H.Ford's factory producing thousands of little black autos and then thousands of not-all-that-well-off families lining up to buy the little black autos.

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  8. I didn't know the other meaning of Ford. But I agree those dresses don't have the usual Tom Ford appeal, while fabulous in some ways.

    I'm looking forward to reading about your trip! I love reading about London as a holiday destination ... it cheers me up see it through new glasses, and often introduces all kinds of places I hadn't heard of!

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  9. I always thought Tom Ford had a level of restraint (the Gucci/ 70's sexy period was done in a tasteful way). But cartoons? What grown up woman wants to dress like that? Not elegant at all.
    Welcome back, looking forward to hearing more of your travels. xx

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  10. Glad you're safely back, Fred. What on earth was tom thinking? I don't mind the skirt, but having a cartoon on your front in a post dress? Non merci!

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