Peter Ruis of John Lewis. What a guy.

London's calling according to Peter Ruis, who I met yesterday.  I always presumed that the way to crack the fashion industry was through resilience...carry on applying for things and keeping up to date and one day luck will come my way.  Apparently it won't.  If I'm not in London that is...living in the capital brings a whole new set of options.

As I sat in John Lewis' waiting room he rushed past me and out into the street.  The lovely lady at reception looked at me and mouthed "that's him."  My response: "I know but he's going the wrong way."  She laughed, "he probably needs a coffee first."

She was wrong.  He came back and apologised, he hadn't been told I was here, and we went to the coffee shop together.  He had a smoothie, no caffiene insight, whilst I gulped down a mug of steaming tea.  Thank you for that Mr Ruis, it was just what I needed.  We chatted over his lunch (though we met just after 3:30) and you'd never have guessed that I was sat chatting to the fashion buying director of a massive company.  "I like to get out of the office whenever possible," he said.

I fully believe it's hard to know exactly what you want to do without experiencing it.  You can definitely have ideas but when you get there reality is always different so I was honest.  It's a toss up between buying and marketing.  For similar reasons.  A love of fashion, consumer insight and trend...it effects everything not just fashion believe it or not.

So we came to a conclusion.  Or Peter Ruis came to a conclusion.  Living in a sleepy Staffordshire village isn't going to get me anywhere.  I need to move to London.  By February at the latest, as that's when corporations look into recruiting apparently.  His parting words: "I look forward to your email.  I can help get you sorted.  I promise."

It's pretty amazing to think someone so important is so helpful.  And absolutely lovely too.  Scary stuff though, packing my bags to maybe just work in a shop?  I could do that somewhere that it's cheaper to live surely?  It's not about that though is it...it's about being where I need to be if I want to really get anywhere.  Big decision but think it may be time to take  aleap.  I have three months to work it out.  That'll fly by...but ssshh, let's just get Christmas out the way first eh?

A Gothic Winter

With the impending release of both Dorian Gray and Twilight: New Moon, teamed with the Autumn/Winter 2009/10 offerings on the catwalk a gothic twist on street style seems eminent.



Street style is key in leading fashion at the moment, with blogs such as The Sartorialist highlighting the importance of what real people wear. The Victorian literary genius that is Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray still has the power to ring true centuries later, with people more than ever striving to remain young and beautiful. Similarly, Robert Pattinson has got the heart of every teenage girl beating with his striking looks and broody character. Not to mention the amount of adults I have seen clutching copies of the Twilight books.

All Images taken from Vogue Online

From Alexander McQueen's Dickensian mens catwalk, very dark 19th century London, to Bora Asku's womenswear collection, supposedly inspired by "the anonymous muses of many artists in the late 19th Century." A vampiric essence is seeping into our wardrobes...give it a few months and we'll see velvet teamed with ribbed woolen tights and oversized overcoats hanging over mens shoulders. I for one can't wait, everyone loves a bit of drama.