CarrieMe London: Ralph Lauren

Thursday, 22 November 2012

All I want for Christmas...or even earlier!

As Christmas is under five weeks away, my Christmas wish list is in full swing here at CarrieMe HQ.

Anya Hindmarch has really understood the many different reasons we may fall in love with handbags and created her own formulae that results in true love.

At the top of the list is therefore naturally the Anya Hindmarch Tinsel Carter Clutch, beautifully elegant with a strong seasonal feeling - perfect for standing out at the office Christmas party whilst allowing the bag fill up with memories of cheer. With tinsel, bells and glitter this bag is truly reminiscent of childhood and Christmas trees, all the joy that comes with decorating the tree in a more sophisticated and adult form, not to mention its easier to carry!

Tinsel Carter Clutch, Anya Hindmarch

As the Christmas list is increasingly growing I have decided to categorise.....

Clutch bags are now a sub category in the handbags section (have I told you how much I love handbags...) and the Lauren by Ralph Lauren Shenandoah Luxe Clutch is high on the list competing with Anya's Tinsel, its classic elegance in gold suede, still allows you to be the main attraction, rather than your bag taking all the glory.

Shenandoah Luxe clutch, Lauren by Ralph Lauren

Finally in the top three contenders for the clutch to open on that special day, is another love of mine from the Anya Hindmarch collection - the Melchoir Clutch. Shaped like a bauble that looks encrusted with gold, two shades of colour to excite your magpie side, and like the star that is followed in the traditional story, all eyes will be following you around the room with fascination and envy that is dripping with luxury.

Melchoir Clutch, Anya Hindmarch

Now you have seen some important competitors for my Christmas list, its time for you to finish writing yours....remember leave it lying around surreptitiously under something, easy to spy, as everyone appreciates some well meaning hints, rather than rush around last minute or risk disappointment with something dreary, that your fabulous partner in all other ways might buy!

Tuesday, 3 July 2012

Ralph Lauren stays on top til 2017 and wow is CarrieMe glad

Who else is a fan of Ralph Lauren?

Ralph Lauren takes a spin in the designer's circa-1948 Willys jeep
on the Double RL Ranch Colorado 2007. www.vanityfair.com

The good news for us is that he'll be staying on as CEO of his own label until 2017.... with an increase in his salary by 40% in these straightened times, to £1.1m, still paltry compared to some overpaid bankers!

So despite already being worth more than $4.3bn, he's still motivated to make accessible the luxury fashion and culture that he definitely didn't inherit: ensuring you all can look and feel rich, however much money you have. Pretty good showing considering he was born in 1939 with Lifshitz as his surname and grew up in the Bronx.

We're told that "replicating preppy fashions, Art Deco sophistication, and Adirondack ease isn't motivated by skepticism, and, no, he isn't driven by nostalgia either. Lauren isn't trying to live in the past. He's trying to get the past to live in the present, which takes a lot more chutzpah, because to make it work you have to get other people to sign on to your fantasies." (Vanity Fair)

So a modern day Walt Disney then?

"When people describe things as "very Ralph Lauren," they have in mind a world of old money and relaxed style that impresses not just because it is so beautiful but because it seems at once so familiar and so effortless." (Vanity Fair)

Not being preppy or of WASP inclination, its not that I'm out buying his clothes for me or my father much, but there is an undeniable elegance and luxury associated with the brand, from the simple dresses to the casual polo shirts that everyone in China is trying to copy.

Here are some of my favourite looks over the years, all sophisticated and sexy!