what of soul was left, i wonder, when the kissing had to stop


Robert Browning 1812-1889

fresh start

So here I am, a mere two months since my last post. I have resolved to blaming my lack of camera for my inconsistency with brightstar and not my lack of fervour since that is infact true and something soon to be rectified what with Christmas and my 21st looming (according to a nice 22 year old gentleman at le pub last week, it's all downhill from here, a sentiment which naturally did not sit too well with my Friday cocktail, aka a glass of whateverischeapestplease.) So now in the midst of winter, a season which for me means rading my drawers excitably for all those things I'd forgotten about and using them to layer up to the extreme, German beer and of course, Christmas jumpers and already next seasons lines are dominating the catwalks (wahey) Though a great lover of winter, its trends and general, well, cosiness, I must say it felt refreshing to see so many fresh, pastel colours gracing the catwalks and the pages of VOGUE. A self-confessed 'girlie-girl' (ick) a cynic might think this the only reason for my excitability but it really is so much more than that. Christopher Kane's line, for one is so well-formed; both angelic & alluring all at once. I admit, pink can be dangerous in the wrong hands and particuarly with the darker shades, it's not difficult to look like you're wearing curtains from your local Indian restaurant but in my (obviously expert) opinion, it has been done so well. The pale pink which dominates not only fits in to your winter wardrobe perfectly but slots equally well in to next seasons. Goodgirlgonebad when teamed with black lace and prettyinpink with fresh subtle make-up and the perfect pink blush. Christopher Kane mixed this trend with old faithful: gingham, and definitely accomplished the latter prettyinpink.
Not quite within my student (non-existent) price range, I'm settling for long lost secrets delving deep in the bottom of my wardrobe and maybe, just maybe the pink suede Topshop Unique jacket, with which I have had a deep love affair for almost a whole week now. It's really okay, I'm only a BA, an MA in Fashion Journalism and what I expect will be many, many years of being a dogs body, oh and not to mention £35,000 owed to student finance away from affording my very own Christopher Kane dress after sadly, his range for Topshop only served to disappoint.

Au Revoir
xx

have a heart

would you check out those beards? like kings of leon, before the bandwagon.

smokey angle shades, je vous aime!

I almost wish we were butterflies and lived but three summer days

I would love to be a director of photography. At the age of fifteen whilst watching Sofia Coppola's film adaption of Jeffrey Eugenides' The Virgin Suicides, I was so encapsulated by one particular shot of the Lisbon house; the light was captured so magnificently and since that point I have always sort of thought of it as a dream job, it is something I could really see myself being inspired by. Greig Fraser, director of photography on Bright Star seems to have done an amazing job, above are some of the shots he took throughout filming. Kudos Greig! (I'm sure my approval means a great deal) Quite paradoxically, in addition to war photography for which I expressed my ardour in an earlier post, I too adore and have been moved by photos of idyllic topography and so I love these shots by Greig even more on those grounds. We are now in the midst of autumn, undoubtedly my favourite season and also the best time for capturing some really good topographical photos. (Note to self, buy a decent camera!)

Ps. I should probably say at this point that I named my blog Bright Star after the Keats sonnet and not the film based on the relationship between Keats and Fanny Brawne. However, you can imagine my excitement at a film about Keats, starring Ben Whishaw who is without a doubt, my favourite actor. Infact, I think my first post may have been about Mr Whishaw himself. Anyway, enjoy the pictures and the film! Due for release November 11th I do believe. You can see le trailer at http://www.apple.com/trailers/independent/brightstar/

Love Charlotte

x

still saving!

ooh la la, laub.

ick!

I must admit, I'm not an Agyness Deyn devotee at the best of times but her new hair has me even less enthused. Standing next to Alexa Chung with that hair. Really?

Liebe Kruger!

The September issue of interview is seemingly even more savvy than per. Natalie Portman graces the cover in all of her quirky magnificence. I must admit that I have been quite the Portman admirer since 2005, the year in which she shaved off her hair for her role in V for Vendetta (I admire a woman who can carry off bald!) and so naturally, I was thrilled. In my excitement however, I didn't notice that there was also a Diane Kruger editorial so when I opened the magazine at home in anticipation of learning a few life lessons from Ms. Portman, I shrieked a little upon noticing that Kruger was too gracing the pages of Interview. Similarly, I have always admired Kruger's indubitable, comely beauty and the fact that she always appears so refined and classy. She comments to Blanks that she definitely wants to appear as someone who "has a certain class" and she more than succeeds in her endeavour. What shocked me was how bolshy she appeared. Her demure beauty is deceptive and her intolerance throughout the piece with Blanks' supposition that simply put, beautiful actresses must "play against their outer aspect" in order to be successful actresses, made for intriguing and intellingent repartee. Even the most zealous of feminists may have relished Kruger's comments. She has certainly defied one New York Times critic who remarked that Kruger was "too beautiful to play a role of any substance." In her latest project, Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds her character Bridget Von Hammersmark is portrayed with intelligence and intrigue whilst Kruger's "outer aspect" is undeterred, naturally.

Here lies one whose name was writ in water

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art-
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
No-yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender taken breath,
And so live ever-or else swoon to death

he would make a lovely corpse

In an attempt at being more organised, dare I say it I purchased my 09/10 academic diary the other day. A relatively significant event on my calendar, followed by a less than significant lunch alone, in Worcester. Quite the thrill seeker, I'm sure you can tell. So yes, my diary is full of quotes which since my uneventful lunch have voided many a quarter of an hour. I thought I would share a few with you here, those which I thought were particuarly poignant to me anyway. I shall scatter them about, depending on what seems particuarly pertinent on any given day. Emerson is without a shadow of a doubt one of my all time favourite philosophers, his words are constant pearls of wisdom. Everything he says seems so resonant in my life somehow

"I like the silent church before the service begins, better than any preaching."

"you're the boss, apple sauce"

Ohhh my. What a neglectful blogger I have been, it's pretty disgusting actually. I have had so many ideas over the past couple of months which currently reside on orange post its all over my bedroom furniture. I must admit though, the appauling state of my blog is not a by product of my laziness (though an undoubtedly detrimental attribute in every other area of my life) but rather I haven't had the time to sit down and actually do what I want to do with it. Lets face it, my current picture/text/picture/text scenario is more than slightly monotonous. So between packing my stuff in to bags and boxes in anticipation of moving house this week and exercising any creativity on less than attractive post it notes, I will try my utmost to make something decent out of this here 'bright star'...the irony, i know. Having been zealous with my reading over summer (as a literature student I am permitted 3 months per year to read those texts I actually want to read, shh) I am not short on material/ideas. I managed to visit a robert capa exhibit whilst in barcelona which was both really insightful and exhilirating. I have always had a particular fervour for war photography, I'm a rather morbid soul, I think; the sort of child who wanted to see the dead bodies on television. Only yesterday my friends were telling me about the 'grizzly man' documentary which I missed, (naturally) and my first response was "so, what did it sound like when he was being killed?" to which my friend my aptly responded "you're sick." Perfect Sunday lunch material, I am sure.


Au revoir (pour le moment.)
xxx

Oh my,

And so, my fétiche de chaussure continues (please excuse my french which is beyond bad, audrey tautou films aren't proving a reliable source) but yes, i'm in the midst of a great love affair with about 8 different pairs of boots, made worst by the fact that I am still saving for my holiday (17 days and counting) after which a spree will ensue. I'm so over excitable come july about autumn/winter lines and must admit that my fervour for fashion is much more motivated by winter fashions in general than spring/summer pieces.

Ps. love, love, loving the new Marianne range at Topshop.

Au Revoir

Blake,

tiger, tiger, burning bright,

in the forests of the night:

what immortal hand or eye

could frame thy fearful symmetry

je désire

This WHYSL tee and PRISM glasses by journalist Anna Laub make it to the top of my "I need" list, no questions asked.

model du jour

I loved this editorial from the June edition of American Vogue, the chemistry between morgan freeman and lara stone is magnificent, they are both so unique and charasmatic in their fields; it just really works. Not only is morgan freeman one of the most established and talented actors of this epoch and lara stone the current 'model to watch' but the gap in her teeth fills me great hope that my decision not to close mine was a good decision, though I undoubtedly fail to carry if off as well as miss stone herself, naturally.

beauté française

I am completely in love with this woman

Hope comes in Hopelessness

I have had great intentions of writing something worthwhile on this blog for days but to no avail. Alas, Saturday night has arrived and here I am with Vogue and several half read novels as my closest compantions, even my cat Darcy has opted for solitude under my bed. I have been feeling rather pensive and in need of a drastic change; I need to get out of this city. I keep getting great urges to escape to the seaside or, well anywhere really other than here. Barcelona in 3 weeks and counting, though I must admit I am sort of beginning to resent this holiday and the saving of money that it calls for, particuarly as I peruse the new A/W lines so out of my reach, made worst by the fact that I allow myself to enter shoe stores without the intention of buying for at least another month or so. Massachism? Hmm. I have been thinking and reflecting on my interiors a lot lately, I look around my room and think that perhaps it is a much greater reflection of my real self than the clothes I am wearing currently. Days at work are spent daydreaming about my future home. Today we drove past the most beautiful and quaint town house that I think I have ever seen. Its bright yellow front door reminds me of the house I lived in as a child. Habitually, I favor florals et vintage styles but lately I have been admiring the work of David Collins, best showcased in the blue bar of the berkeley hotel.

bonne nuit, wuthering heights calls.

you're a part time lover and a full time friend, the monkey on your back is the latest trend, i don't see what anyone can see in anyone else but you.

fétiche de chaussure

yes please.

Whirling Dervish

Ben Whishaw, indubitably our most accomplished contemporary actor. His raw nervous energy and ability to articulate and encompass such a range of diverse and disparate characters to include Sebastian Flyte, Hamlet and in the film 'Bright Star' scheduled for release in the UK in November 2009, the poet John Keats, has led him to critical acclaim. In short, I love him. He is, My Whirling Dervish.