the age old debate rages on....

mysterious mask wearing (mega chic) terrorist

vs. wholsome geeky heath ledger look-alike

 guys of the grove, get the look here:

http://www.zegna.com/en/north-america/ermenegildozegna/fashion-show-aw12/looks/656

http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/preppy-clothes-for-men-2012

book release spec-tacular!

the release of J’s follow up book to ‘how to be a successful business woman’, entitled ‘how to be an EVEN more successful business woman’ is looming.  

http://thegrove-w210.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/how-to-become-efficient-business-woman.html

i’ve just had a sneak peak at some shots from a recent promotional photo-shoot and am, quite frankly, inspired.

*spoiler alert* One of J’s tips is to wear glasses as they make you appear more credible and intelligent. naturally i wanted to show my support so i immediately rushed to an optometrist for an eye test. (popular misconception: i am smarter than i look and i think glasses will help) unfortunately my eyes are absolutely fine so i had to settle for a fake pair. my friend/acquaintance (its complicated), ZW told me where to find these, and THAT is why i’ve been spotted around town sporting these babies. i am currently practicing my handshake technique and creating graphs in excel.

dangers of the internet

we are constantly being reminded of the dangers of the internet. this vast dark space engulfs many, and is responsible for the employment of a lot of my friends. i am not certain what working in the internet involves - but they work long hours

although it is beyond the average person to understand how this entity works, it is important to be aware of its threats. as abraham lincon once said – knowledge is power. so it is with this ethos in mind that we bring you the following

everyone knows the top 3 internet dangers include:
1) data theft (that is; stolen passwords, addresses – anything that has a number in it)

2) inappropriate and unprofessional content (that is; content focused on violence or human nakedness)

3) cyberbullying (that is; oppressing, intimidating, tormenting or frightening people from the comfort of your own home)

however, there is a new danger which must no longer be kept a taboo – fashion plagiarism (that is; the wrongful appropriation of another persons’ fashion (which includes hair cuts) and the representation of it as one’s own original work)

a picture from a home video was leaked onto the internet on february 16^th … 3 days later jennifer lopez follows suit

(just like traditional plagiarism, fashion plagiarism is immoral and wrong) 

+ and in case you were wondering, M.E. - formerly known as M.F. (standing between J and T) is still happily married

blog of the month...

suri's burn book:
suri's struggle with holding on to the title of cutest and most fashionable celebrity offspring while having to deal with having tom cruise and katie holmes as highly embaressing parents. her scathing observations are inspired..... a girl after our own hearts

http://surisburnbook.tumblr.com/

lovebox: a retrospective

we headed to victoria park this weekend for the 10th annual lovebox festival. highlights included; grace jones- as mad as a box of frogs and my new hero. and the carousel ride thingy.

A, J, T & KW- acting natural

my only regret is turning down the guy on the tube offering to show us the time of our lives and half a bottle of rose if we let him take us to lovebox (as we discreetly hid our wristbands). In hindsight, him and his friends probably weren’t dodgy drug dealers and were just really excited about seeing mika or something.

because its sometimes confusing leaving the comforts of the W2 area some questions arose:

why are people wearing short shorts during a hurricane?

is he checking me out because he’s straight OR gay and likes my fashion?

is the lead singer of friendly fires having an epileptic fit or is that just how he dances?

how do I really feel about chaka khans denim onesie?

and most importantly why the hell is bip ling wearing my chloe boots?!? (http://www.bipling.com/ )

Special thanks to DW (aka Ms Access All Areas)

trend alert

here at the grove we're always spotting / reporting the latest trends.... most recently a few w210 regulars (including DW our very own michael eavis; Ms BigHair aka accessories extraordinaire; Bob the property tycoon)  have been seen around west london sporting a particular snazzy little unisex hairstyle. i can see this one catching on. Mega Chic.

happy april

....hope none of you fell for any silly april fools jokes....

"Spitting in the old barns Walking with my four arms Living for the hay...."

hmmm where do i recognise lana del rey's boyfriend from...?

(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2099706/Lana-Del-Reys-secret-boyfriend-Singer-dating-rocker-Barrie-James-ONeil-Kassidy.html)

(http://thegrove-w210.blogspot.com/2010/06/rockstars.html)


in other (slightly related) news Llama Del Rey has been seen out and about with a new man too....

here's a snippet from a recent interview with her:


Lucky: How has the Llama community reacted to your rise to fame?

Llama: There will always be llamas in your life that try to regurgitate you (I'm talking to YOU, Libby)

Lucky: Thanks Llama, any parting words of wisdom for our readers?

Llama: If we were Born To Die, we should experience life to the fullest. Have fun, laugh a lot, and be spontaneous. So, the next time your friend asks, "Do you Guanaco on a trip?" all you have to say is, "Sure, Alpaca bag!"


follow her on twitter @LlamaDelRey and check out her new album

London Fashion Week Roundup- all the trends Here!

so london fashion week is over today (today is menswear day so doesn’t count…although this time last year that’s where we were obvs: http://thegrove-w210.blogspot.com/2010/09/youve-got-male.html )


so the question you're all asking is what’s hot for autumn/winter 12/13? ?


i’ve made various lists/been working on mood boards but I think the below correspondence (bottom to top) pretty much sums it up.

So there you have it fashionistas and normal people alike. its leaves.

Leaves Hastag Chic To The Next Lev

is there a hate button?

i was innocently scrolling through my facebook newsfeed and was left shocked and apalled after happening upon the following status update:

"Shania Twain- Come on Over! What an awesome collection of songs! just chilling listening to her :-)"

what the...? time to de-friend?

it got me thinking about about the things people do on FB that i hate the most;

vague status’s for attention… “my cat is the only one who understands me”. ..”want to drive my car into a brick wall”.

overuse of acronyms and smiley/sad/general faces and punctuation, which also goes alongside lazy grammar and spelling mistakes (especially on purpose)

those who feel the need to share their mundane life with everyone else…”going grocery shopping”…”stuck in traffic”.. WE. DON’T. CARE.

oversharing

confusing facebook with real life

time for a "friends" cull i think...

we interrupt regular programming...

hashtag totes amaze!

J & T's Hero ('s) of the Month

Enid and Rebecca from Ghost world: The totally brilliant 2001 movie based on the cult comic by the same name. we can totally relate. In fact rumour has it the characters were actually loosely based on J & T’s suburban adventures a long time ago.

[coming out of their high school graduation ceremony]

Enid: God, what a bunch of retards...

Rebecca: I thought Chipmunk-face was never going to shut up.

Enid: I know, I liked her better when she was an alcoholic crack addict! She gets in one car wreck and all of a sudden she's Little Miss Perfect and everybody loves her.

Rebecca: It's totally sickening."



Melorra: Oh my god, you guys. We actually made it!

Enid: [Deadpan] Yeah. We graduated high school. How... totally... amazing."

coke scandal rocks w2

you may remember A from the diet coke ads. (as well as being a frequent W210 character). http://thegrove-w210.blogspot.com/2010/09/i-think-im-engaged.html . you won’t be wrong if you noticed her missing from the latest campaign.

where's A?

this is due to an incriminating photo of her which has recently surfaced online. Her agent insists it was taken years ago.

however all is not lost, A, the 'kate moss of the beverage world' has scored herself another lucrative campaign and her career is back on track and set to be better than ever despite the scandal.

you can never be too skinny....

...but you can be too boring.

thank goodness it's february! hopefully all the healthkicks are out the window along with january. champers anyone?

wanted: dog sitter

KW’s adorable pup poppy needs dog sitting in march. we’re all off to the snow for a gnarly ‘boned out’ ( http://www.abc-of-snowboarding.com/snowboarddictionary.asp ) boarding holiday. although J infamously likes to play hard and work hard she won’t be making it due to ‘business’ commitments. hence she is the obvious choice for this task…. i use the word obvious loosely because based on previous babysitting/being responsible experiences J had to prove herself worthy first. she decided a day of dogsitting the neighbours’ pooch would be good experience and may boost KW’s confidence in her abilities.

I returned to the flat to find this scene and J nowhere in sight.

I later found out that our neighbour was frantically roaming the streets trying to find their 'missing' dog.

Poppy will now be staying at a pet hotel (5 star obvs)

confessions of a caffeine addict

in january many people think it’s a good time to make new goals and even give up certain things. for example KW has given up sugar (this includes alcohol!!)

i was left mortified when after (several) calculations i realised i spend a MINIMUM of £500 on a morning coffee annually (large skinny cappuccino, aka three shots of heaven). i decided to give this habit up. i have now been making my own coffee. “but that’s like your signature thing!” exclaimed J in shock.

but just think what I could buy with the £500 i save. so far all I’ve come up with is ONE chloe susan boot (see below post) or breast reduction surgery.

this act has inspired J to give up something to. she informed me that her good looks are her signature thing but she couldn’t give that up (for any monetary gain anyway) so unoriginally has also given up buying coffee. with the money she saves J hopes to sponsor an underprivileged goat in lebanon.

what small changes have you made to save money?

welcome to 2012...

highlights from december holidays include:

J returned from her world book tour (with presents)

i was offered free spanish lessons (i politely declined)

i held a pair of chloe susan boots in my hand…which until now where simply a fashion myth to me (the bad news was i did not have £1000 to purchase them)


i spent a lot of time at KW and PW’s…almost resulting in my own set of keys. which is a good thing because PW makes the best french martinis and they have sky+.

image courtesy of w210 new years special

now in january I am back to my old routine and have to be weened off my staple diet of champagne and cheese. apparently this does not constitute a balanced diet. i can’t think of anything worse… well besides stone washed jeans and a matching jacket. everything’s relative.



(the good news is take me out is back on tv)