Welcome to La Clique, where the fashionistas and 'nistos go for their fashion fix. We provide you with reviews of fashion events and collections as well as spotting trends and letting you know what's hot and what's not.
Once again, welcome to La Clique!
During August 2011 Breast Cancer took the life of the beautiful Lydia but her star continues to shine brightly. Lydia was an incredibly kind, generous and giving person who had a natural gift of bringing people together. She also liked to party too! Therefore, it is Lydia’s family and friends’ wish for you to join them at this very special tribute party in aid of Breast Cancer Care. We believe this is a fantastic way to help raise much needed awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Carewww.breastcancercare.org.uk
Lydia’s friends come from all walks of life, so the the world of TV, music, media, fashion, arts, entertainment, corporate, charity and so much more will join together to pay homage and help raise much needed funds and awareness for this remarkable charity.
As you all know Mode Parties know how to throw a seriously good party and we have lined up an evening that will keep you entertained long in to the following morning.
The event kicks off at 6pm with a fabulous Canapé reception laid on by the fabulous team at Beautiful Events and 24 London, you will also receive a complimentary drink, be entertained by our ridiculously talented DJs and be entered into our raffle where you can win the likes of a Sony Bravia TV, a Playstation 3 + games, Rihanna Tickets, Wicked tickets and more!
Entry to the event is £15 on the door and proceeds will be going to Breast Cancer Care.
One raffle ticket per guest will be given on entry at the party. Additional raffle tickets can be purchased at the party at a cost of £10. The raffle will be drawn on the evening of 4 November 2011
We do hope that you can join us. This will be a terrific event, which we know you will have a spectacular time at and will be all in aid of a good cause.
You may RSVP by using the form below or send an email to guestlist@modeparties.com, please arrive early as we are anticipating a busy night.
Times: 6pm – 10:00pm – After Party will go on till 3am!! Entry: £15. On which you will receive a raffle ticket, complimentary drink and all proceeds will go to Breast Cancer Care. Music: The very best in R&B, Funkyhouse and Party Beats Dress: Something sexy, crazy or cool with a hint of pink! Address: Bond, 24 Kingly Street, London, W1B 5QP
So, I thought I would pay tribute to the
lady herself this week. This isn’t the first time PJs been awarded with one of the most
prestigious awards in music. She won back in 2001 with ‘Stories From The City,
Stories From The Sea’, having being nominated twice before that (1993 and
1995). She is the only artist to have ever won the Mercury Prize twice, and
that’s saying something!
Like with one of my favourite bands of all
time, Arcade Fire, I got scared. I got scared of this totally innovative never
before heard sound. I used to have a very strange and strong aversion to
classical instruments used in popular music, I thought it to be something very
self-indulgent and unnecessary (excluding ballads and when used subtly just to thicken a songs texture). Arcade Fire have two key
members of their huge clan who are violinists and because of that, along with
the way these instruments were used in such a prominent way, I just dismissed
the band altogether (this was during the time of their debut album ‘Funeral’
released in 2005). And boy do I feel like an utter imbecile now! Through all
their commercial success, winning a Grammy and Brit etc. these past two years,
I thought to myself, I’m gonna give this lot another try, see what all the fuss
is about (this is about five years later bare in mind). Result- I fell in love
with the album that had brought them all this mainstream success- ‘The Suburbs’.
I fell in love with them. Bought all their albums and spent a bomb on going to
see them live in Hyde Park.
Cut a long story short, it’s not about
following the crowd (well not for me anyway). We all do this thing where we
dismiss something that’s different or an anomaly before we’ve actually given it
a chance (not just with music may I add!). And I did this with ‘Let England
Shake’. I first heard extracts from the album on 'Later with Jools Holland' earlier this
year and thought PJ Harvey had totally changed her signature 90s spaced-out rock
sound to this crazy medieval influenced crap. I didn’t really know what to make
of the new sound, having been a massive fan of all her previous stuff. The
change had subconsciously freaked me out. It was only the title track single that grew on
me. I then heard that she had won the Mercury Prize the other
day and was disappointed that Anna Calvi didn’t.
My God had I totally f****d up on my
judgment. I am now absolutely obsessed with this album. Why do we as humans do this…wait for the approval from the approved to
approve?
You know a great record when you feel
genuine sadness that it is coming to an end. When I finished the 12 track album
I felt empowered, I just wanted to start it all over again…and I did! There is
not a track that I would skip. HOWEVER! You need to give it a chance, don’t
expect to be blown away on first listen…It’s the type of rarity that just gets
better every time. What I like to call ‘A Grower’. There are little hidden
treasures to unlock and discover each new time of listening. Listen out for PJs
lyrical comments on war and current affairs; the album is full of it. Not in an
ultra-rebellious judgmental way but in a depiction of the current situation
sort of way…
My
personal favourites are:
“The Glorious Land” (track 3) – Such clever songwriting and production in this one. The
almost archaic choice of phrases in the lyrics and use of the classic battle
horn combined with the totally modern sounding bass line and synth sounds makes
for such a cool, contrasting yet united sound. I just can’t quite put my finger
on it. You’ll get this a lot with the album.
“The Words That Maketh Murder” (track 4) – This was the track that Polly Jean (hence PJ) performed
at the Mercury Prize. I love the vibe of travelling and movement in this track.
Great descending chords in the verse. And that lyric- ‘What if I take my problem to the United Nations?’
– no justification needed.
“All & Everyone” (track 5) – One word…Intense.
“In Dark Places” (track 8) – Love it, even from the very first line ‘We got up
early, washed our faces’.
“Written on the forehand” (track 11) – I love the Reggae feel in this song, which is totally
random to the collective sound, yet totally relevant. And I love this factor of
the album. Also, her voice is just enchanting.
Before
you go…
If you decide that you just really don’t
like the album at all, still listen to all her old stuff. I urge you. She is
one of the great living musicians and songwriters of our time, and a Brit! As a
female musician myself, I find her work to be really important and liberating,
especially from a Rock n Roll point of view. There’s nobody like her I don’t
think, she changed the game for female artists in the UK. If you like 90s rock,
she’s an essential.
There’s no wonder Josh Homme (front man and
core songwriter of Queens Of The Stoneage) collaborated with her with his
project band Desert Sessions. Listen to the song “Crawl Home” as a taster of
the collaboration. The pair are a perfect combination of musicians for this
genre, in my opinion. She’s also ‘collabed’ with Thom Yorke (Radiohead)!
Just one last thing, check out PJ Harvey’s
duet withBjörk at the 1994 Brit
Awards, where they covered the Stones’ “Satisfaction”. Wow. What a performance.
It just keeps building up, and then boom!
The Universal Player, model turned mogul,Patrick Ribbsaeter
Many of you know him as the Universal Player or more commonly "the hot Amazonian guy" when you google Swedish male model but what you don't know is that Patrick Ribbsaeter is making quite the name for himself on the London scene. (Gosh, saying "scene" makes me seem even older than I am!) If you've read my previous posts, you'll recognise his name from the Orgazma launch night. Yes, Orgazma is one of his many business ventures and quite aptly named as, ladies, you're in for a treat meeting him.
You'll remember that the night was successful and I remarked that Patrick was the warmest host! Well, here's another thing you don't know. Patrick's company, Maximize Promotions, will be hosting a birthday party for the feisty third of Diddy Dirty Money - Kalenna. The event will not only be hosted by his company but held in a venue that he has recently acquired - The Queensberry (Q Club), South Kensington. I have no doubt that the night will be a success! Think about it, a gorgeous host, beautiful people (not to mention a star-studded venue), drinks flowing, Orgazmas going and oh yes, an exclusive live performance from Kalenna herself! Who could want more?
I'm not going to go into a 'glossy' magazine-style listing of the guests but I will tell you how you can get a piece of the action (see, I never leave you out). The event will take place on the 13th of August at The Queensberry (11 Queensberry Place, South Kensington, SW7 2DL). Tables and reservations are recommended so call 0207 5818 372 or e-mail audrey@maximizepromotions.com. Quote La Clique when buying and let our friend Patrick know you're one of us!
Have a great time and remember, The Clique is only a click away!
Ciao Belissimi!
X
P.S.
We would like to see pictures of you from the event and feature them on 'Les Images'. Details of this are on the facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/bienvenuealaclique) so go there, like the page and keep in the loop!
It's a Thursday night and there's an electricity in the air. The night bears a similar feel to a Friday night and everywhere you look, there are people rushing off somewhere. Girls dressed to kill in sky-high heels and guys looking like something out of a Jack Wills editorial shoot. Though they are rushing, there's a casual feeling to their movement. Laughing as they go along and as I make my way down to Kingly Street, ready to party with the young and in-vogue I see where they're all heading. Bond.
One would think that a student night means a lot of rowdy boys and scantily clad girls cramming themselves into and tearing down a venue as they "party" (I use inverted commas as this, to me, sounds more like an apocalypse!) Well, I needn't have worried because in the fashion of the club, the people attending were well-mannered and well-groomed!
I have never felt so welcomed to a venue as I did when I arrived at Bond. I was seen in with little fuss and shown to my table but something took me by surprise when I entered. There wasn't that heat generated by hundreds of people dancing and talking. Matter of fact, there weren't many people at all! At 11:30pm the last time I was at Bond, the place was full to the brim and there were still people trying to get inside! This, I feel was no fault of the venue but more the fault of the students. I understand the idea of being "fashionably late" but these students took it unfashionably too far!
Nevertheless, the music was great and the people who were in the venue were very pleasant with students from Birmingham coming down as they were told by their friends that this was the place to be! I cannot stress just how amazing the DJ was! Playing songs that went from the hit "This is how we do it" to a favourite of my guilty pleasures, Gwen Stefani's "Rich Girl"!
Despite the slow start, the night kicked off at around 12:45am with people flooding in and instantly filling the dancefloor! The mixes were great and the DJ merged songs that I thought would have been like chalk and cheese with the greatest of ease! Enough about what I thought though, the students loved it too! Not only because they were out with their friends who had gone off to different universities but because of the beautiful space in which they were in. A space that can only be described as Bond.
Congratulations to Bond on a successful night and shame on the students who decided to be (un)cool and arrive at 2:00am!
I hope to see many more successful nights from my new favourite hang-out!
For as long as the socialite has lived, there has been the question of what to do on a Friday night. Shall we stay in andhave chats over a glass of wine and a cheeseboard? Or do we go out and party like "it's 1999" as we said before the new millennium? This Friday's dilemma was answered with the latter and the venue of choice was Club BOND on Kingly Street.
Getting ready was not a task to me at all as, in true fashionista sense, I had planned in advance so I got ready and made my way out to meet my good friend, fellow stylist and fashion blogger, Charles Ampadu for a little relaxation before we danced the night away! In meeting Charles, I was introduced to possibly the most "Vogue" person I've ever met! Camilla was a pleasure and such a breath of fresh air when all seemed to be a little grey.
We arrived at BOND around 11:00pm and were seen in with little fuss. As soon as I entered, I knew that this was the place that the young, sexy things came out to play! Everyone was drop-dead gorgeous and their beauty only amplified by the great ambiance of the venue (BOND is definitely a new favourite of mine). Unlike a lot of clubs that are enjoying success at the moment, the music was very good and the DJ had us dancing from the word go! There were no "corny" loops played in order to hide the fact that the DJ couldn't find a song to play and I don't remember hearing the same song twice!
Bravo to BOND and bravissimo to my friend Kareem Cheriton-Francis on arranging such a successful night out! To all of you who read this and wonder when you can go there next - especially you students, BOND is hosting its first student party of the year on Thursday! £7 entry and £5 double vodka! You might just run into The Clique at a table so come along and be"Vogue" with us!
Hope you had a great weekend and remember, The Clique is only a click away!
