A little fairy told me!

Now you all know Miss Mannequin loves nothing more than a luxury shop at this time of year. Mincing (pardon the seasonal pie pun) around Mayfair after a particularly gruelling session yesterday, I popped into Claridges for a thimble of sherry.



Propping my base plate discreetly against the edge of my armchair and slipping off my Louboutins for a moment, I spied, to my great delight, the most glorious and glamorous tree in all fashiondom! Four metres in height and bedecked by more baubles and ribbons than a Tiffany photo-shoot, this magnificent specimen has been designed by Lanvin supremo Alber Elbaz.

Beautifully executed, Alber’s tree includes mannequins caricatured as hotel staff, (chambermaids and a concierge) nonchalantly socialising with the hotels guests amid the splendour of the hotel’s luxurious lobby

To top it all (and I do mean to top it all!)

with typical humour, the fairy perched

at the pinnacle of the tree

is none other than the fashion mogul himself. Well done Alber,

they don’t get much more haute couture than that I thought as I raised my glass.

......... and a toast to you my dear readers … it has been a positive pleasure to ramble on to such a discerning bunch of webettes!

If you are passing – I urge you to stop for a gawp at the Claridges tree, which will be on display until January 2nd

All i want for Xmas

Santa Baby......Miss Mannequin is penning her Christmas list to Santa and top spot goes to a years subscription to the online archive for Vogue Magazine.

For £970 (come on Santa, you know i'm worth it!), this fantastic depository boasts 400,000 digitised pages including covers, articles and advertisements of American Vogue (sadly not the UK version yet), reaching back to 1892.

A refined search engine can instantly pull out information on a brand, designer, photographer or even a single colour, material or clothing. Fashionistas everywhere will soon be selecting from this rich library of textual and visual annals.

Miss Mannequin had better be extra good until Christmas if she wants to make sure of this gift. Be good too kids, and get that letter written soon!

Link to video demonstration of Vogue Magazine archive

Box clever: BOXPARK

Always keen to bring you newnesss in retail - Miss Mannequin popped down to her new local mall to bring you some hot off the press news from the delightfully funky and original BOXPARK: situated in London's Shoreditch. The antithesis of East London's other new mall experience (Westfield Stratford City), BOXPARK is whipping up a retail revolution as the World's first pop up retail mall. Sixty streetwear related brands are housed on shipping containers, strapped together and stacked high at the corner of one of London's most happening intersections. The Shoreditch area is known world-wide for its artistic leanings and original "out of the box" ideas. BOXPARK is no exception.

Down at street level skater, surf and nerdie-chic types, shopped the containers (which inside were perfectly fitted with all mod cons and just as a small store should be), mingling and merging as they darted into each door for a mini fix of brands like Levis, PUMA, Calvin, Kangol, Farah and Lacoste.

click to see proportion>london Vintage Style articulated figures

  

Upstairs on the rugged wooden boardwalk - cafes and chill areas overlooked the busy street - a perfect place to pose, repose and generally check out all things cool as the world wandered by.

You will all know by now that Miss Mannequin would NEVER wear trainers (perish the thought!), but she does know an original retail concept when she sees one.

Get down with the kidz and shop this pop-up - whilst you can!

http://www.boxpark.co.uk/