I LOVE DISNEY

..there I said it. I DO. Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin - they and many more are complete classics that formed part of the fabric of my childhood.  In fact scrap childhood, they're part of me now! Twitter went into a frenzy when Beauty and the Beast was screened on a Sunday afternoon on Channel 5 a few weeks ago so this cannot just be me.

I know there's been a LOT of Disney around this year but before you disengage, hear me out. For Christmas, Harrods have commissioned a bunch of world-class designers to do one-off gowns inspired by the original Disney princess crew. There's a silk hooded number for Belle by Valentino, a Versace outfit for Cinderella – her glass slippers are emblazoned with the Medusa stamp – Mulan in Missoni, Snow White in Oscar De La Renta and Ariel in Marchesa. And if that wasn't enough, there's also a pop up on the fourth floor. I couldn't not mention it.

Jasmin by Escada

Rapunzel by Jenny Packham

Oh just one more....

"They could be pretty bitchy, those fashion-mad French girls"

Any regular readers of this blog will know that I ADORE Grace Coddington. My love affair with her started when she stole the limelight off Anna Wintour in The September Issue and I've been mildly obsessed ever since. Her memoir is being released by Random House in November. I'm hoping to grab a copy when I'm in New York at the end of next week. Simply entitled Grace, as well as being full of fabulous anecdotes, stories, gossip and advice, it also shows Coddington’s great talent for illustration (see here and here for previous posts on fashion illustration - I love it!).  

She is well-known for sketching looks as they come down the runway from her front-row perch during fashion week, but her drawings also take on a distinctly personal, and often humorous, tone. From childhood memories to her first day on the job as both a model and fashion editor to her big loves (including, of course, her cats), these remarkable, hand-drawn pictures reveal yet another dimension to an already famously fascinating woman.

Below is a small extract from Grace to give you a taste, Happy Friday!

I was astonished by how fashion could change so fast in a few days. You would go to the South of France one weekend and denim was in. The next weekend when you returned, everything was about little English florals. I used to get so worried that I hadn’t got it right. Catherine Deneuve and her sister Françoise Dorléac were the only ones I ever saw actually wearing the hard-edged space-age clothes of Courrèges and Paco Rabanne and looking completely at ease and relaxed. Except perhaps the evening when Catherine was sitting enjoying herself with Bailey, Albert, and me in the club Régine’s and the waiter spilled an entire bottle of red wine over her new white sculpted Courrèges couture shift that must have cost thousands of francs.

If you went to L’Esquinade wearing the wrong thing, it was critical. You would be laughed at. They could be pretty bitchy, those fashion-mad French girls. I would never dare talk back to them. For me, the French were always so superior in matters of style. England was cool but never chic. 

Think Pink (or Trousersnake is off the market!)

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Mr JT - it's partly his curly hair, partly the fact he was in NSync, his dance moves, his 'dig at Britters' video for Cry Me a River, I could go on.  Anyhoo, that boat has sailed and I will have to resign myself to the fact that he may not asking for my number any time soon.  Still, when I saw the only picture that has been released of JT and Jessica Biel's wedding, I LOVED it! Look at the impish grin and how stunning she looks in that pink dress. The only other pink wedding dress I've ever loved was Gwen Stefani back in 2002 and I'm pretty sure only she could pull that one off. Jessica's is softer, less punky and I'm sure will be inspiring many a bride in the coming months. What are your thoughts?

By the way, if you want the proper goss and details, here's this from Perez Hilton


It's a love story, baby just say she said YES!
Hollywood power couple Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel finally tied the knot last week in southern Italy after a five-year, on-again of-again courtship!
Afraid you missed some of the heart-swelling tales from the Jessica-Justin wedding ?! Don't fret, we've got allll the juicy, sugar-iced details for your romantic heart to much on!
Check out what went down at Jessica and Justin's fairytale wedding…
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel get MARRIED!
Justin debuts wedding ring while out and about in Fasano, Italy!
The wedding details sounds like a dream, AND it was held at the sprawling, Borgo Egnazia resort that looks like an ancient castle!
Jessica Biel's HUGE diamond wedding ring: FIRST sighting.
Justin serenaded Jessica with NEW, unreleased song during reception!
Now the wedding's over, Jessica wants a baby… like now?!
Justin and Jessica sell wedding pictures to People magazine for $300,000!
Jessica is quite the untraditional bride! Wears pink, haute couture princess wedding dress designed by Giambattista Valli!
First picture of Jessica and Justin as a man and wife! Spotted at Italian airport!
Did ANYONE from *NSYNC attend the wedding?! One member made it!
Justin was ill during the wedding… almost didn't make it down the isle?!
First official wedding portrait of Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake REVEALED!
Justin didn't invite former *NSYNC bandmates Joey Fatone and Lance Bass to the wedding?!
Wedding guest makes "joke" video making fun of homeless people! Presents it at the wedding as a surprise for Justin and Jessica!

Brad and a famous bottle - Part Deux

Voila mes enfants, here he is....

Brad and a famous bottle

You  might remember that it was revealed back in May that a certain Brad Pitt had been signed up as the first male spokesperson of Chanel's iconic No.5 scent, and now there's only 10 days or so left to wait until the fruits of his labour are finally revealed. You may have heard of Brad?  He has really lovely leonine hair and quite a foxy wife.

WWD have posted the black and white image above featuring Brad with Joe Wright looking suitably wistful. I'm not convinced by that goatee but I do SO love his hair (see Tristan in Legends of the Fall for true Brad hair glory)... The image was shot by Sam Taylor Wood Johnson (quite a mouthful) who's also lensing the Maison Martin Margiela for H&M campaign, but I wouldn't be at all shocked if Kaiser Karl takes the Brad x Chanel honours.

This commercial will break on October 15, and see the Killing Them Softly/ Thelma and Louise/ Meet Joe Black/ Legends of the Fall/ Oceans 11 etc star fill the shoes of former Chanel No.5 ambassadors Nicole Kidman, Vanessa Paradis and Catherine Deneuve.

It's the first time in the fragrance's 91-year history that a man will front the scent's campaign and while little is known about the theme of the commercial, Pitt apparently will talk in a way that makes the viewer assume he is talking to a woman (BLUSHING already, schoolgirl giggle), but it is then revealed he is addressing the scent. Ah.

"To keep a legend fresh, you always have to change its point of view," Chanel Fragrance & Beauty president Andrea d'Avack has said .

"We think very much that the perfume is a seduction between a man, a woman and the perfume" explained d'Avack. "No.5 is our leading fragrance, and we are willing to make the investment to keep it on that level."
This 'investment' is thought to include a pay check of around $7 million for the 48-year-old's services. 48! Gosh how time does fly.

The print ads are due to break in the forthcoming November issues of the glossies but I'll be staying glued to our screens for Pitt's Chanel TV debut: Wright is the man responsible for the 'mini blockbuster' Coco Mademoiselle ads in which Keira Knightley zips around the streets of Paris on a motorbike. I HATE that advert, but I admit that is largely because I have a problem with Knightley in general and I cannot see past her annoying pout. I promise I've tried. My favourite Chanel advert is a tie between the Nicole Kidman/ Baz Luhrman collaboration back in 2004 and the lovely Audrey Tatou on the overnight train with that gorgeous Billie Holiday song playing in the background but I look forward with anticipation to Mr Pitt's contribution to the Chanel legend...Happy Friday y'all.

The Little Black Jacket

What originally began as a men's jacket has transcended boundaries and trends, becoming a symbol of feminine elegance: Chanel's LBJ. In conjunction with the release of their book The Little Black Jacket: Chanel's classic revisited by Karl Lagerfeld and Carine Roitfeld, fashion's most inimitable duo have curated a photography exhibition around the piece, coming to the Saatchi Gallery after stints in Tokyo, New York and Hong Kong. 113 friends of the fashion house – including Sarah Jessica Parker, Stella Tenant and Georgia May Jagger – have all been snapped with the iconic jacket. I have to say the website is really superb, I particularly love the 'making of the jacket' video with suitably stylish strings as a musical accompaniment.  Unfortunately, I don't own one yet - but I'm open to gifts/ donations.

October 12 – 28, free 

Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York's HQ, 

King's Road, SW3 4RY