Tuesday 29 June 2010

Amanda Holden, Shrek the Musical, Drury Lane?

Rumour has it that Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden is to open in Shrek the Musical at the Drury Lane Theatre in London when the Broadway transfer opens in 2011.

(Remember you heard it here first!)

Thursday 24 June 2010

Thursday 10 June 2010

Summer Trends: Jack Ups?

Jack ups, ankle draggers, ankle clingers, tramp pants, ankle swingers, whatever you call them, trousers that are too short for you will get you bullied. But is that the case this summer? Summer 2010 will see ankles being flashed by stylish men and women alike. Does this mean that this summer it's time to dig out old trousers too short for us? Well, not strictly, it's more about the "turn up" than the "jack up"; there's a fine line between looking trendy or trampy.

Fashionable brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Topman and Armani Exchange have all had models sporting a classic white trouser (or jean) with the bottoms turned up... It's all about showing a bit of ankle (NO SOCKS) and then a nice clean cut shoe, (it's all about the clean white plimsolls or deck shoes).

How to wear it:

For the white dress / linen trousers, it's all about wearing a white plimsoll with minimal detail, turn up the ankles of the trousers a few times creating a textured ruffle, about 2cm should do the trick but it all depends on individual height. A clean, tanned ankle looks best against the bright white background. For the more fashionable and daring look, use blue and white as the main colours and wear classic blue deck shoes (Office and Schuh are the best places to find these).

Top Picks:
Armani Exchange Linen Pant

Tommy Hilfiger Madison Pant

For the jean turn ups it's important to remember that this should only be done in casual situations. A slim leg raw look works best, but it all depends on individual shape. Inspired from the DKNY Jeans' urban feel, this trend is very "now" and very "young".

Diesel (at House of Fraser) has got the trend right with these Krooley Slim Leg Jeans
. Larger trainers make the image more urban and add a city vibe to the overall style. Wear the jeans witha turn up, showing no ankle, but a nice clean (and chunky) turn.

There we have it, the fashionable way to wear jack ups... Just be careful not to wear your childhood ankle swingers.


Sunday 6 June 2010

Get the look: Simple Summer

Summer is all about looking stylish but making sure you feel comfortable. What's worse than spending a relaxing evening with a chilled beer and starting to feel the sweat cling to your clothes? Eurgh. No thanks. That's why I've compiled some great summer clothes to create the Simple Summer Look.

The Bottom
It's summer, which means it's shorts. This season sees the carry on from the spring with the denim shorts however, it's important to keep the "turn up" style of the summer. Thankfully Topman have come to the rescue and have brought us these lovely garments:


Topman's Denim Shorts.


For a small sum of £30, you can be rocking the look.

The Top:
For the top, polo's are always in style. But we want to stay away from those cotton / polyester mixes. For one, they're terrible quality and for two, do you want sun cream and sweat to be seeping out of it and sticking to your body? No? Neither do I. Thankfully, SoulCal (at Republic) have this lovely Grandad Tee, perfect at a price of £5.99 and it comes in their "2 for £10" offer.




Now, we've kept the main body simple and stylish so we need to accessorize accordingly.

For shoes, stick to some simple plain white plimsolls.
And for when you start to feel a bit chilled, throw on this Crafted scarf to add some texture to the outfit.

(Crafted Scarf at Republic.)


And there we have it. A Simple Summer look, nice on the wallet and nice on the eye.

Wednesday 2 June 2010

Noises Off - A Classic Farce

I sat at the Birmingham Rep flicking through my programme and I immediately knew I'd be laughing hysterically for the next two and a half hours... Inside the programme for "Noises Off" was a programme from the play within the play entitled "Nothing On". My prediction was correct; the rest of the evening I laughed my socks off at the slick slapstick, outragious acting and the rib tingling dialogue.

The play features a bunch of - erm amazing - actors getting ready to put on a farce. But as the play progresses, there's more drama backstage than in front of the scenery. Complete with a million entrances and exits of misconfusion, missing sardines and stage managers that have to understudy for alcoholic actors the script is a perfect recipe for disaster (in the play within the play... Not the actual play.)

There were some stand out performances, especially from the half naked Djalenga Scott who acts as the diva "Brooke" and spends half of her time half naked on the stage. Her energetic, charming and cute performance had the audience in fits of laughter as she pranced about the stage during her "Nothing On" performance and strutted and tutted during the "Noises Off" section... If that makes sense?



The set is clever, the play in the play takes place in a nice country home and with high walls, many doors and a grand staircase the set helps to keep the slapstick giggles flowing. Then, in Act Two, we see the play from backstage, at this point the audience gets a true feeling for what it feels like to be backstage at a theatre: swinging doors create much humour, rattling staircases create energy and fake walls that actors must "duck" behind in order for them to get from one side of the pretend stage to other creates much laughter, especially when the "duck" joke is carried on into the rest of the play (and the play within the play).



Overall, it was a wonderful night out: with a wonderful script, fabulous acting and an amazing feel good vibe, "Noises Off" makes for a perfect evening for anybody of any age and any interest.