Make Them Pay - and pay this forward

It's not often I hop onto my political hobby horse on the blog, but I do know that most, not all, of my readers are women and one topic that fires everyone up is how much we get paid.  When I read about Elle's Rebranding Feminism project,I thought it was an incredibly important thing to get behind and encourage others to find out more.  It's already had a huge impact (as you can see if you follow them on Twitter) and hopefully will only grow from here as more people join the conversation.  

Three feminist ad campaigns have been created for the project. One in particular, Mother’s call to action to 'Make Them Pay', addresses pay inequality - according to the Office of National Statistics, women working full-time in Britain earn 17.8% less than their male counterparts.

Mother have created a dedicated website so that you can find out if your pay is fair in comparison to your male counterparts.

The results are astonishing – make sure you visit the site - Make Them Pay - and for the record, I'm paid nearly four thousand a year less than a chap in my job. Grrrrrrrr.

Roll up! Roll up! September issues

It's that time of year again dear readers. As the September issues thump onto your doormat or you struggle home from the newsstands with a pile, it's the time to look forward to Autumn/ Winter whilst still praying for an actual Summer.  Here are a selection of my favourite covers from across the globe.  Obviously September US Vogue is something I always rub my hands in glee over but as Harpers Bazaar US has Gwen Stefani on the cover and I'm seriously excited for No Doubt's first new album in nearly ten years, I've been psyched for this too. The album is called Push and Shove and will be..coincidentally, released in September.  Karlie Kloss scores a double Vogue hit as you shall see and Keira pouts and talks about happiness in probably my least favourite. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts!X

US VOGUE - Gaga shot by Mert Atlas and Marcus Piggot

US HARPERS BAZAAR - Gwen Stefani shot by Terry Richardson

iD - Cara Delevigne shot by Terry Richardson again

TATLER - Cindy Crawford shot by Ruven Afanador

UK GLAMOUR - Victoria Beckham shot by Pamela Hanson

VOGUE JAPAN - Karlie Kloss shot by Mikael Jansson

VOGUE UK - Karlie again, this time shot by Nick Knight

US ELLE - Katy Perry shot by Carter Smith

UK HARPERS BAZAAR - Keira shot by Ellen von Unwerth. Blah.

UK ELLE - Rosie H-W shot Daniel Vasiljevic

VOGUE AUSTRALIA - Bella Heathcote shot by Will Davidson. 

Driving a Wedge

Miranda Kerr and Julianne Moore in the Marant Beekket high-tops

Do you ever have those moments when you feel you've lost the plot ever so slightly? That is the feeling I get when I start thinking about wedge trainers.  Are they fugly or are they fine? How often would I actually wear them? Then what on earth would I wear them with?  I saw a very chic lady wearing the Isabel Marant ones at Paris Art Fair last September..OF COURSE it was in Paris and she was wearing them with skinny jeans and a fitted coat and look effortless and...well.. Parisian...but could I carry them off? (If anyone would like to donate a pair of Marant trainers to me so I can try this out, then do please email.)


Thanks to Marant, the hi-top is back. And this time it's got a wedge.  The high street has jumped head first into the act and the 'ultimate sports luxe shoe' is set to continue in popularity.  The reason I think it's popular is because it appeals to lazy people like me who find proper heels too much of a trial.  I've already embraced the high-top and am a fan of the wedge..so why not the wedge trainer?  Elle tells us that the wedge trainer is "perfect for adding edge to a pair of skinnies or a leather skirt teamed with opaque's right now, they'll be just as covetable with a denim mini-dress come Spring."  Well Elle, I think this is true if you have legs like Bambi for for mere mortals you might end up looking like the lesser known eighth dwarf, Stumpy.  Anything that cuts you off at the ankle can be dangerous. Apparently my black Yarra desert boots can fall into the wedge-trainer category and I've banged on ALOT about how wonderful they are but to me..they ain't trainers.


Here is a selection I've pulled...thoughts?x

Navy leather and rubber from Topshop

Nude leather from See by Chloe

Tan suede from Aldo..I'm kind of leaning towards these..if any

Navy suede from Ash

And finally, a selection from Isabel Marant..I can't deny that I do have a penchant for the black ones. Donations welcome.

Elle-O

The ELLE team / LONDON FASHION WEEK S/S 2011: DAY 1

A birthday for me last weekend and a birthday for this blog! Really this should make me more proactive than usual but instead I have been lazing about admiring my lovely presents and eating quantities of cake!  One of things I particularly like to do when I have oodles of time to myself is to peruse the vast array of blogs out there.  This time, during my travels on the web, I came across something that I'd never seen before.  It's by one of the big players, Ellle (UK magazine).  I am obsessed with magazines be it Elle, Vogue, Wonderland, Dazed, LOVE etc. and having interned at a couple in the Conde Nast stable, I know that not only is The Devil Wears Prada not a million miles from the mark but also that yes, you can't just roll out of bed into the office, you do have to give it a certain amount of thought..and then end up looking like you haven't...obvs.

How super then to be given access to what the bods at Elle are wearing every week. I'm sure the ladies do think a smidge more carefully when they know a camera is going to be on them but I truly don't think that any of them look particularly over-done or try hard.  To me they have provided some sartorial inspiration particularly during this rather wet Fashion Week. Enjoy.

Donna Wallace: ELLE Accessories Editor: Neil Barret jacket, French Connection shirt, Dagmar dress, Cos trousers, APC boots, Laura Lee ring

Emma Sells: ELLEuk.com Fashion/News Editor:All Saints coat, Topshop top, Club Monaco trousers, Russell and Bromley shoes, Jas MB bag, Mawi necklace. Bex Rox bracelet

Alice Watt: ELLEuk.com Fashion Assistant:Alexander Wang jumper, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Burberry belt, Emma Cook boots, New Look rucksack

I LOVE these shorts!

Stacey Duguid: ELLE Executive Fashion Editor: Mui Mui jacket, Vanessa Bruno dress, Prada shoes

Rosa Connell: ELLE Fashion Assistant

Versus boots