Hiya! So I've had a very lovely two days off and quite eventful they have been :) So yesterday Ben & I both had a day off together so we headed off into Central London so Ben could finish off some last minute Christmas shopping. The second we got out the house we were aware of how cold it really has become here in London , temperatures plummeting to minus degree weather so its been quite the climate shift (boy and we used to think geelong was cold), so off into town we went. First we stopped off at Selfridges to get a few bits and peices and when we came outside it started to rain. Now my poor old ZU boots , also knows as my favorite boots in the entire world , are starting to fall apart , I refuse to throw them out and have had them re-glued many times over but today came the reality that when water had sunken through my socks and in between my toes that they may have had their last walkabout. In the freezing cold all we wanted was somewhere warm & cosy to go and get some grub , so I had a flashbulb moment and decided to take Ben to the american-style diner I went to in Soho with the twins a few nights previous. We sat in our yellow leather booth (I love the decor of this place its so cool very black and yellow) and placed our orders , this time I thought i'd order a Mexican Chilli Dog (as did Ben)
...it was amazing! Can I just say if anyone is coming to London anytime soon they must eat here , the Diner is called Profile & is in Soho on the main street , so easy to find , its so yum! Next time i'll have to try their burgers I think. So after lunch & some rather intellectual conversation we headed out into the...oh my god is it...yes it is...MORE SNOW! We hopped in the snow giddy as school kids. As we got around the corner and over to Picaddily Circus it was pouring snow!
Once we got off the tube at Brixton it was snow on a whole new level. We couldnt stop smiling , its a new thing also to get used to walking on snowy-mushy pavement , we both kind of giggled at eachother and exlaimed how we felt like dick heads not really knowing how to walk. 
Once we got up to Shakespeare Road (just around the corner from our house) without a word uttered we both began to pick up snow and have snow ball fights. The snow was freezing in our bare hands but it didnt matter and we played this game the whole way home like two five year olds. It was a memory I'll treasure forever! So fun! We got home dumped all our bags in our room and headed around the back of the flats with the girls where we continued to have more snowball fights. We also made a snowman , how cute is he I wonder if he looks like Ben or I hehe
I styled him up in my beanie and McQueen scarf for photographic purposes only hehe and then we did something I think everyone wants to do at some stage in their life - make snow angels :)
It was a very good night :) Today I woke up early to get ready for some vintage-window shopping. I havent been back to 'One of a Kind' in a while and also didnt really get a chance to explore Portobello Road as much as I would have liked to last time around so I rugged up for the cold outside. I got off at Notting Hill gate so that I could begin at the start of Portobello Road. 
I first went into this really cool vintage store that was made up of four mini stores all lined up next to eachother but all the same store (if that makes sense) the first was like an op-shop (or as they call them here charity stores) the second sold jewellery , the third had a small range of designer goods and then the 4th was a much larger store full to the brim of second hand & vintage designer peices. Everything from Alexander McQueen shoes to vintage Hermes.
I carried off further into Portobello Road where I found the colorful flats & stores in the distance extremley cheery on this cold winter's day. Its amazing how a splash of color makes us smile...
There was a gorgeous little store called 'Alice's' and it was very much like you just fell down the key hole - is that what the term is? Either way there was this gorgeous little table of vintage tea cups out the front on a union jack covered table cloth. I found it so cute and very inspiring! 
I walked all the way down Portobello Road passing antique furniture stores , one had some amazing furniture auctioned off from the Savoy Hotel in London , vintage furniture actually used in the hotel. They had a big clock that came from Tower Bridge some truly beautiful peices. There was a jewellery stand of all handmade jewellery from Afghanistan (where I almost bought a ring but refrained from spending any more of my living money) the jewellery was amazing though and the old salesman was so lovely he kept on lowering the price , he clearly needed sales. I then walked pased an underground store that took my eye , it was full of vintage military and 'sergeant pepper' coats and a large array of taxidermy hung from the walls. 
I thought i'd check it out until I got halfway down and suddenly all the dead eyes peering over me hanging from the walls became so creepy and I got a chill up my spine and had to rush back onto the road I finally made it down to One of a Kind and rung the door bell. In the window sat a vintage black and white check Salvatore Ferragamo womens day suit - perfection! As I walked in back to Vintage Mecca, Mike the manager wasnt in but little Geoffy was the 20-year old part timer. "Hey my brother long time no see" he greeted me and within seconds I was scouring about the place trying to dig up some treasure. I spotted some vintage Westwood that caught my attention. A short sleeve , slightly almost batwing (the cut of the sleeve was very abstract) v neck knit , with an almost tapestry style print knitted through the fabric. At 550pounds It was well out of my budget but I had to try it on. Now they dont allow pics in store but I sneaked one while I hid downstairs in the shoe room where no one could see me , man I'm good! 
With a grin on my face it was off to Kensington High Street to do some more window shopping and whilst in H&M some impromptu styling-come-photo-shoot. I've created a new album on my facebook displaying photo's of me trying things on in the change rooms. I often love to just walk in a store and say 'Ok Let's style a look' and depending on whats inspiring me at that moment in time I will go for it, choose my peices, head to the change rooms and snap away. I was inspired by a few things today. I've been watching lots of video clips lately mostly by edgy R&B singers such as Rihanna, Cheryl Cole, Ke$ha & Kanye West. I love that 'I dont give a fuck I'm a strong bad ass' attitude they all display in the way they dress. I was also inspired by the taxidermy I saw today and the amount of vintage fur I saw the add a little fur to my look. I personally think with the right amount of confidence a guy can definitley pull of fur! I call my look urban warrior.
It contains a basic v neck white tee paired with these legging style jogging trousers with gold piping on the pockets and down the leg (which is very complimentary to by short legs as they appear longer) I then threw on the fur stole layered with a black hooded scarf to add a masculine edge to it and completed the look with black wool gloves. This would look BANANA's with my black military boots (if they werent dead) so keep that in mind. Can you beleive the whole outfit would only cost just over 30pounds! Amazing. Well that's all for me guys hope you've enjoyed this super long post , I think visually its quite the feast! Till next time xoxo Deni
Apart from the fact that its quite a generous thing to do, I wanted a sticky beak into the wardrobe of the short little gay man who plays the piano hehe i've always had this fetish for being let into peoples wardrobes. I love the idea of seeing the clothes behind the man or woman. The peices we put together on a daily basis to express ourselves to the big world outside. So off it was for me to Covent Garden to rummage through the Queen of all Queens' wardrobe.
To give an example of how big the location was , I imagine it normally reserved for art exhibitions etc but the pure enormity of the space (filled with clothes) was overwhelming. It made me imagine , if this is how much clothes he's giving away , how much more does he have and where did he fit all of this to begin with. I was extremley envious I must say. In the middle of the room, on mannequins, were some of Elton's more outlandish stage peices , the man used to be quite skinny , that all changed. However the contents were quite impressive. His collection of coats were immaculate. There were many a Burberry , my favorites were a soft-as-a-baby's-bum mahogany leather trench coat & a metallic bronze heavy silk trench coat. There was an amazing brown crocodile skin Fendi biker jacket and a beautiful pony (or rabbit) skin Bottega Venetta pea coat. Heavenly! The man also loved Versace from Gianni's 80s reign (the two were famously best of friends). There were some gaudy gold-mesh-metal tank tops but then some really cool peices like for example a black with yellow spray paint print tee that had zippers on either side as the opening for sleeves. My favorite was a black knit that just had one simple stripe of metallic silver at the bottom and on the left hand sleeve - simple with just the right amount of fabulousness to it! There were lots of amazing shoes , too many pairs to count. Some amazing suits , a stand out peice was a very traditional english tweed blazer that was then funked up with a black skull print on the back , not by any particular designer just a cool peice. There were some amazing Alexander McQueen suits and a few cool Prada peices also. The prices were quite reasonable too , most peices ranging from 199pounds to as low as 30pounds. The heavy-ticket items like the previously mentioned trench coats fetched a higher price tag , but still much cheaper then their original retail worth. However no purchases were made for two reasons - most things were too big and also I have rent to pay! See i'm being sensible. All in all it was a very cool expedition and very inspiring as it was like a museum of fashion ranging over 3 decades. Everything from Billionaire Boys Club hoodies to vintage Yohji Yamamoto - Elton's fashion pallette is clearly quite varied. Good on him I say! As I left busy Covent Garden a big reindeer in the middle of the square took my attention - I'm a sucker for fairy lights, too cute!
Now on another note , to update you all on my Stella McCartney news - last week I heard from the Gucci Group (the group who owns Stella McCartney) advising me that currently they had nothing to offer but have all my details for future referene. I guess for now its just not meant to be , but either way I have an amazing story to tell out of it and still have the contact of someone inside the Stella camp and I can assure you all I will not give up on my fashion dreams! I will continue knocking on people's doors - Alexander-McQueen-scarf-to-boot -until they have no choice but to let me through into fashion mecca! I have the next two days off so will be sure to continue exploring and deliver more interesting posts. Love you all xoxo Deni
The item du'jour however was a pair of limited edition Diesel Denim Gallery (their most premium line) black jeans with leather panel-detailing. They were just the right amount of biker-style rock - a look i've been trying to get Ben into recently , and thought they'd be the perfect introductory peice and I mean they are just a work of art. Diesel Denim Gallery peices are all crafted by hand in Italy with the utmost precision , at a retail of 485pounds (yes thats almost $1000 aussie) I got them for a mere 12pounds & they were the right size. Perfect.
I picked up a few other peices and was out the door to avoid any more mayhem. I guess it was worth freezing my ass for as in hindsight I had just altogether got 985pounds worth of gear for 44pounds! Ca-ra-zy! It was now off to do some Christmas shopping for Benny. I hopped on the tube to get to Knightsbridge as I needed to go to Harvey Nichols - now before you think I'm totally revealing it all , you'll soon read that later that day Ben gave me an early xmas present so I too then gave him one of his presents early - so off to Harvey Nich's to purchase an Alexander McQueen tee shirt from the new collection that Ben fell in love with last week. Both Ben & I are slightly obsessed with McQueen at the moment , his collections just have us in a frenzy. Suffice to say I managed to get the only Medium they had in this awesome skull print new collection tee
How cool is it! So Alexander McQueen tee all purchased it was off to purchase another couple presents (I cant mention) and then off to meet Ben. I told him I'd wait at his work at 2pm (his finishing time) but he asked me to give him 20minutes as he had a purchase to make...ooh secretive much? He told me to meet him on Bond Street and as I walked up to him there he was crossing the street , looking ever so smart and suave in his london-boy trench coat , grin on his face and Alexander McQueen shopper bang dangling from his hands 'hrmm...what is this' I thought. "You get one of your xmas presents early" , so there I was standing on Bond St , I found a little door way to step into for a bit of privacy. As I opened the oh-so-pretty-packaged little grey box the object of my affection lay inside - an Alexander McQueen scarf in black & red (for those of you who know me well you'll know red is my favorite colour). I was speechless for a moment , I've wanted one of these for nearly 2 years now , before I knew it I was crying and I gave Ben a kiss and said thankyou. I put it on immediatley and did a little happy skip up Bond St
So last night Ben & I started setting up our xmas tree whilst watching the Wizard of Oz - god I love that movie...
styled up in blue and silver lights and disco balls I was confident in our end result very cool hey..
It was then that our flat mate Shane peeked through the window and exlaimed 'Guys its snowing!' , the three of us jumped to the window and stared outside as snow fell from the sky , the heaviest we've seen so far. We were in our shoes before you could say go , to hop outside...
speckles of snow they may be but snow all the same and for those of us who dont really get snow in the winter (a bit of frost at best) it was pretty exciting :) Snow is all well and good and the forecast promises much more heavier snow in the near future , however the drop in temperature is something i've never experienced before , when you look at your weather forecast and there are minus symbols next to 2 and 3 you cant help but feel a bit scared yet slightly excited to see what this is all about. Welcome to winter peeps xoxo Deni
We arrive into the main room were the lighting was perfect - dark and dim just the way I like it and the wall of book cases framed the room. We sat at our super long 'last-supper style' table and began to nip into our entrees - prawn cocktail salad for me - followed by our mains - Smoked Salmon with red cabbage and baby potatoes for me - followed shortly after by dessert - chocolate log with fresh cream - the food was lovely and the conversation was flowing. In my posse were my peeps Charlotte, Ruth, Mariya, Lisa , Paul & Marco. 
after laughs and food Choushy and I decided it was time to head to the bar for some drinkage. We met these really cool random couple , Craig & Sally , who chatted away merrily and bought us shots - god bless em! We sat at the bar and 4 of us downed shots of vodka,tequila & cranberry
With that said Mariya, Charlotte and I hopped into a black cab to drive us literally around the corner (girls and heels hehe) well the part about the urban grooves couldnt've been more right - my favorite tunage was blaring - Jay Z , Pharrell , old school Snoop Dogg and B.I.G - loved it!
While we were there Louise also interviewed us for her show - looking back at the photo I cringe now coz seriously how gay do my hand mannerisms look , do I always look that way I wonder? Might have to tone it down , either way here are Chou & I with our 5mins of kind-of-fame...
...all in all after the dancing , drinking and interviewage it was a good night had by all. 
Now i've been iceskating before , as a teenager I was quite the roller blader also so I have the jist of what i'm doing. Ben , however , has never been ice skating , never was a rollerblader , so this was officially foreign territory for him. The look of nerves on his face was rather adorable! 
So skates on we were ready to hit the ice. The cold gush of air streaming from the rink were soon gone after a few laps and altough he started off as a baby in the kiddy pool , Ben quite got the swing of things. Like anything you first get the hang of something but then you want to push yourself and go faster , start to learn tricks etc... I tell you what there were some little kids on the ice that were very impressive. After a while Ben had his first fall , it was inevitable!
It was the first of a collective 8 falls he had on the ice but it was a really fun experience and i'm looking forward to get Ben out on the ice again , next time I think we should go outdoors though.
xoxo Deni
Second up was a pea coat-trench coat style coat in a grey mini houndstooth check print fabric. I quite like the cut and the difference in color (however still remaining versatile enough in a grey shade) so this one is definitley an option as I've decided to go for something quite classic , no studs allowed (unfortunatley) I need something that will carry me few a through seasons, or at least 6 months (lets face it im not always about being practical am I) it has black faux-wood style buttons and black piping along the sleeve and other parts of the coat , it also has the option of being belted but I think I prefer it without the belt for my body shape it would just cut me off...
The following is the option I think i'm most likely to go with. Its classic black this I know and may be considered boring but I will practically be able to throw it over ANYTHING and EVERYTHING and can funk it up with perhaps a fun McQueen skull-scarf (which is next on my to-buy-myself list). Its a classic black pea cot (with a slight trench influence) with brown buttons and also a belt option (which I kinda like just hanging there) its a definite classic so we'll see?
...and then just for fun I spotted these electric blue tartan check trousers that I just had to try on. With a simple black tee I think it could defintiley work - different but most definitley daring! 
I teamed some leather-look trousers I got from H&M earlier in my trip, with a trusty waistcoat, Ben's studded belt, fingerless leather gloves, a few chains and a fetish mask I purchased of ebay! I must admit Lady GaGa & Rihanna's bondage-balmain style were huge inspirations for this look. My london-bestie Charlotte went for a very Lady GaGa styled look in sequined knickers , cut out bustier top and sequinned bow tie , lashes pumped to the max & red lippy-a-go-go.
My friend Fernanda & her friend Agata looked equally cool , Fe Fe going for a cool 'feline' inspired look with a mask she bought in Venice and some tassled up bra and knickers combvined with a bondage inspired brace-waistcoat from Diesel Black Gold's new collection , she looked awesome and Agata had this amazing latex skirt on with a 'peekaboo' bum type insert paired with a black 'peek-a-boo' bra and loads of black costume jewellery around her neck. 
My manager Michelle stole the show in her feirce red corset and black knickers she just oozed Moulin Rouge sex appeal! Her fiery hair and pursed red lips made her the belle of the ball!
Our supervisor Christian rocked out in a leather mini skirt , red leather belt and navy-police-esque style hat and assistant manager Bonnie looked fab in an all black ensemble of black satin corset, black tights , thigh high PVC boots and some leather and chain choker bling! We all partied down in Michelle's living room gettin messy on the VOD and dancing our hearts out to Lady GaGa something chronic! We were all very much in the mood for a serious night out!
it was soon time for these bitches to get to their ball , no horse drawn carraige for us however just a couple of taxi's. With copious amounts of alcohol in our system I think Charlotte, Christian, Bonnie and I might have frightened our taxi-driver with our taxi ride conversation consistently mainly of sex , fantasies and then some more sex-chat , it reminded me of that scene in Sex & the City where the four girls are in the cab having the 'up-the-bum' chat - very funny! So once we got to Brixton Mass the location of this event we were ready to get down and dirty. 
I find it quite contradictory how once a place of godly worship was now the location for a modern day 'Sodom & Gomora' what is it with turning old churches into nightclubs (to all my geelong people - remember the Lyric - I rest my case). So anyway we get to the ticket collection office where our two attendants hand over our tickets. One girl is dressed is full PVC Nurse-fetish outfit and the other was in black leather fetish-gear - well this is interesting. I wish I could go into more detail about my surroundings but due to the fact that my mother and auntie will most likely read this I will be as G rated as possible. Basically its very much like a normal nightclub atmosphere only that everyone is in fancy dress , fetish style. Some of the costumes truly are amazing. No camera's are allowed in the premises to protect everyones privacy and to ensure everything is discreet but there is a proffesional photographer and i've got some pics of the last ball that was on (as the xmas ball pics still arent up) just to give you an idea of what people wear.
while others go for downright sex factor...
There were truly some amazing costumes I was extremley inspired from a designer's perspective. Apart from the costumes it helped that there was a few cages and poles to allow for many a dirty dance display. At one point Michelle & I hopped into a cage and were quite the spectacle with our dancing in and out of the cage , caressing the poles with our swift moves! The most eye-opening area of the club was safe to say whats called 'the dungeon'. Im sure the name itself conjures up many a thought and many an image involving whips , masks , leather and bondage - so I will let your imagination run wild but it was quite the spectacle I assure you and an experience I wont soon forget. The highlights for me was the latex fashion show , the burlesque dance performer and , are you ready for it...THE POLE DANCER! Never in my life have I been so in awe of what a girl can do with her body and a pole. I have never seen a pole dancer before and this girl was just amazing. She literally took my breath away , It kinda made me wanna sign up for pole dancing classes.
I have a new found respect for pole dancers and the art form they perform. Truly amazing! By 3.30 am I was truly ready for bed , it was an amazing experience and one Im sure I'll never forget, however I was really looking forward to going home to the man in my bed. No amount of flesh or exaggerated displays of sexual fantasies can compare to falling asleep next to the one you love and maybe thats my fetish - true love! On that note xoxo Deni
