A Few Laugh Out Loud Things I'd Like To Share

Hi, today's post is going to be slightly miscellaneous and unstructured, because there are a couple of unrelated little gems I saw on my wanderings around London yesterday...

Firstly, there's this little import from Africa who's somehow strolled into Liverpool St. Station...

Yep, this is what you think it is. It's a gorilla advertising Norwich tourism. My fantastical brain instinctively conjurs up a real gorilla captured from the Ugandan jungle, orphaned and employed by the Norwich Tourist Board, and painted in such cruel fashions, designs including the Norwich coat of arms, Stephen Fry (not visible here – his photo was on the side) and some blue skies that frankly belong anywhere but East Anglia. And then nailed to a podium in a bustling London station, never to escape or see the lights of day again.

Other than the shameless exploitation of wild animals, there's another obvious problem with this nonsensical mess of an ad campaign: what exactly do gorillas have to do with Norwich?  Not exactly a city icon. The last time I saw them there was in a safari park, but please do correct me, Norwicheans (?), if you've seen some lounging in Thetford Forest trees.


The second hilarious thing I have to entertain you on this fine Saturday evening came about when some unsuspecting tourists, a boy about thirteenish and his mum, talked just too loud on a bus approaching this...

*this image isn't mine

 
So we were coming up to Trafalgar Square and, I being a skilled eavesdropper, overheard this priceless conversation. You couldn't make it up.

Mum: Look ahead at that pillar.

Boy: Who's that on top?

Mum: Napoleon.

Boy: But wasn't he French?

Mum: Yes. He was defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Boy: But we're in England? Why do they have a statue of a French leader?

Mum: Because he was the loser. He lost to the English.

Boy: But if he lost, why put him on a big pillar like that?

Mum: Because he was defeated, so they hoisted him up so the world could know he failed. To show him up.

I like the idea of making a big, famous statue of the loser in a battle. When the media write features on celebrities doing embarrassing or mean things, it's sort of like hoisting the failure onto a column, and if the former's convention, why can't the latter? Perhaps if my blog ever goes viral, the people who manage Trafalgar Square and Nelson's Column could rebuild it with Napoleon on, and then the tourists on the bus (and probably me as well) would go down in history for changing one of London's key monuments with a single conversation.

I'm joking, of course. Nelson up there is just fine. However, I'm seriously starting to wonder what guidebooks the tourists read before visiting our city to not know that he's the one on the column. What London guidebooks don't mention Trafalgar Square? And which guidebook that does mention it, doesn't mention Nelson's Column?? And even if you have a ridiculously "concise" guide, you might still know the main opponents in the Battle of Trafalgar. And then it's just logic to work out which one's on the column. To me, with the fame the statue has, the guidebooks and history to go by, it seems a hard fact not to know.


Anyway, so my Friday was spent collecting little nuggets of laughter like these! But of course there were other purposes to the day, but they went rather unfulfilled: the Pompeii exhibit at the British Museum (tickets were still available, but we had to wait two hours so eventually bailed out), the latest Saatchi gallery art exhibition (we got in, but it only had a couple of rooms so didn't exactly take the time expected) and shopping at John Lewis and the nearby charity shops (didn't buy a single thing).

However, the purpose of finding blogworthy items was easily fulfilled, and I hope I've made you laugh and brightened up your weekend!
-DP :)

 

Living Colour Fully In NYC

Hello everyone, I'm back! And I was glad to leave in some ways, to get back to my home, my friends and a proper computer for blogging, but Texas and New York were a welcome break and I really enjoyed the trip. But I am not going to ramble on forever about the sentimental values of holidays, I am going to talk about the advert above. I found this Kate Spade perfume ad on a wall in the arty Chelsea district of NYC, and it really caught my eye with its neon colours, and the checkerboard design between the hashtags (they look a bit too much like Keep Calm And Carry On posters, but hey, they're neon!!!) and the neon-dressed models. 

However, it was the hashtag slogan that really got me hooked and made me make my latest fashion post, "Live Colour Fully". Too many people wear just grey, black and white these days and claim they look "minimalist", but the real stars of the fashion of the streets are those who go all out and really attract positive attention from passersby. The ones who wear a bright-coloured gem among regular, "minimalist" clothes. The ones who "Live Colour Fully". And here is my photo collection of the LCF population of New York City (good, bad and ugly!). (N.B. These are discreet photos of actual people on the street. If you happen to see this and you don't want your picture here, please comment and I'll take it down).

This is one of the more subtle takes on LCF. Not sure about the matchy-matchy theme going on here, but the blacks and navies of their trousers are a good, tasteful contrast to the lemon yellow t-shirt/camisole.

Another yellow (it seems to be a popular LCF colour!) piece, and this woman has chosen well. The yellow jeans are engulfed in the beige of her cardigan and shoes in an eye-catching way, and they bring a good sort of attention to an otherwise boring outfit.

I like mint green, but only when it's worn with the right accompaniments. Which I think it is here. Mint green works not with black and other dark colours (ugh!), but with pastels and paler colours, like these floral trousers. They balance with the light green colour to make a milky, airy feel.

Blue and yellow requires guts, but sometimes it can work. Like red and blue, it's a clash that isn't shocking but a pleasant surprise, the clash you're starting to see more and more often. I also like the sleeveless-jacket-over-hoodie look, which is a versatile one that can be worn by anyone with pretty much any style. Oh, and like everyone else in the "good" section of this post, this guy has paired his look brilliantly with plain trousers and jacket-matching hi-tops.

Ah, now for the first of the bads. I don't know what it is, but pink doesn't work with greys and browns like yellow and blue do. There is a repulsive clash here, and I say, if you wear neon pink, either wear all pink if you're brave enough, or pair it with a fitting colour such as white. Just not grey. Or brown.

This woman went all out on colourful patterns, and I don't think she pulled it off. She's the first on the list to wear entirely LCF, and she has every neon colour under the sun on that dress (plus the fluorescent backpack). And it's a bit too much. If there was a dress with just one of those patterns on it would be fine (my favourite is the red optical illusion on her top), but all of them in one? With enough clashes to fill a catwalk? You look like a clown with an unqualified stylist. 

Thank you for reading, and take inspiration from the photos (maybe not the bad ones :))!

-DP :)

PS Last day of Easter holidays today :(. Had three school friends round today, made a short movie which is still in the editing process, but I hope to post it soon!