Profound thought to boost my Friday feeling

Karl who?

Interviews with Karl Lagerfeld are always a treat. His latest, with Vice Magazine, does not disappoint. Firstly, I just love the accompanying portrait of Lagerfeld, in his private library, standing in front of (part of) his legendary book collection. Wow. Secondly, his answers are brilliant. Here are a few choice extracts from the man himself:

[On his omnipresent sunglasses] “They’re my burka… A burka for a man. I’m a little short sighted, and people, when they’re short sighted, they remove their glasses and then they look like cute little dogs who want to be adopted.”

[On being asked to remove his sunglasses by an interviewer] “I had an interview once with some German journalist—some horrible, ugly woman. It was in the early days after the communists—maybe a week after—and she wore a yellow sweater that was kind of see-through. She had huge tits and a huge black bra, and she said to me, “It’s impolite; remove your glasses.” I said, “Do I ask you to remove your bra?””

[On charity] “Do it, be charitable, but don’t make a subject of conversation out of it because then you bore the world to death. It’s very unpleasant. But I don’t go out a lot so I’m not so exposed to people.”

[On homosexuality] “When I was a child I asked my mother what homosexuality was about and she said—and this was 100 years ago in Germany and she was very open-minded—“It’s like hair color. It’s nothing. Some people are blond and some people have dark hair. It’s not a subject.” This was a very healthy attitude.”

[On meat-eating] “I don’t like that people butcher animals, but I don’t like them to butcher humans either, which is apparently very popular in the world.”

[On Andy Warhol] “I shouldn’t say this, but physically he was quite repulsive.”

It’s hard to know how much of what La Lagerfeld says is part of a carefully cultivated public image and how much is natural, but either way he really is funny, and clearly is a genius in a number of different ways, not least of all expressing himself. An entirely fashionable guru, some might say.

Ring my bell, Ring my bell

Loving this image from Diesels new campaign. Perhaps not the safest way to take your sweetheart roadtripping but for those lovers who can't bear to be apart, it could be an option...

I have a whole other smart/stupid, head/heart dichotmoy. For those of you lucky enough to witness me on my newly purchased bike, you'll notice I'll be donning a fabulous helmut to protect my head (smart), while taking every opportunity to ring my pink Disney Princess bell (a teenie bit stupid). But oh so very necessary.

Pretty practical

Ahhhhh.Brogues. My current shoe of choice.

For a while now I’ve admired Peaches’ traditional battered, brown leather pair and Emma Watson’s two-tone blush and black shoes that add just a hint of feminine charm to these borrowed-from-the-boys shoes. And now I have a very lovely pair all of my own. In a soft cream tone, my cutwork detail brogues are my new season alternative to ballet pumps. I’ll be pairing my beloved pair of dapper but downright dainty brogues (from River Island, as pictured above) with everything from pretty summer dresses to rolled-hem baggy jeans and a simple tee. An easy transition.

Because fashion doesn't exist in a vacuum...

Love nakedness

The next issue of Love to hit newstands will have three different covers, featuring full-frontal shots of three different models in the same pose with equally little coverage. The issue is Love's third, and I can't help but notice that it is the third to boast naked cover subjects. The first issue featured a naked Beth Ditto, who later said the magazine photoshopped her to make her look fatter than she really is. The second featured two covers, one of which had an unknown bass player appear shirtless, his trousers resting just below his hips. I love Love, but as a fashion magazine, after all, surely the focus should be on the many ways one might attire oneself?

Words from Dame Viv

"The nearest I have come to it [homelessness] is going home and finding I don't have my door key," she said. "I mean, what a disaster that is, dying to get in your house and you can't. And what if it wasn't there any more?"

Insightful words from Vivienne Westwood there on her homeless-inspired menswear collection which made its debut last week at Milan fashion Week. The press release for Westwood’s menswear collection declared: “Perhaps the oddest of heroes to emerge this season, Vivienne Westwood found inspiration in the roving vagrant whose daily get-up is a battle gear for the harsh weather conditions . . . Quilted bombers and snug hoodies also work well in keeping the vagrant warm.”

Let's all take a moment, now, to reflect on that glorious 2001 film Zoolander, Ben Stiller's parody of the fashion world. In it, a character called Mugatu markets a new fragrance: “Let me show you Derelicte,” says Mugatu. “It is a fashion, a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique.” Doesn't this bear more than a smack of similarity to Dame Westwood's new collection (which, by the way, actually has some great individual pieces when you look past such de rigeur accessories as shopping trolleys and sleeping bags)?

Some might feel it's a little too close to the bone in our frosty economic climate. Some might call it tasteless. But surely any year that starts with the suggestion that Zoolander was no exaggeration is a year with definite promise.

One thing's for sure, Vivienne Westwood is a lady never fails to shock.