Wedding Fever

Paula Yates marries Bob Geldof in 1986. Spot the rockers in the wedding party!

My sister, Banana meet-Cute is staying with me from Melbourne and is quite the royalist, so we are preparing for the royal wedding on Friday night. When I say prepare, I mean fully stocked with bubbly (I'm thinking Prosecco) and have requested wedding themed cup-cakes, as she is quite the baker. I'm not really into the royal family, was never interested in Diana (although did watch her wedding in 1982 - only because I was promised Charles & Di chocolates) - but lately I've been caught up in the "Who will Kate wear?" hoopla. My personal fave would be Alexander McQueen, but I'm thinking McQueen may be too edgy. Stella? I have a feeling Kate will accentuate those shoulders and go strapless, bias cut or drop waist in a fairly tailored design - mind you Bruce Oldfield has said that you can't go sleeveless in Westminster Abbey? "'It will have sleeves, it has to have sleeves. You can't walk down Westminster Abbey in a strapless dress. It just wouldn't happen. It has to suit the grandeur of that aisle, it's enormous." Oh well - time will tell! More importantly - who will KATE MOSS be wearing next month? Now that Galliano is vetoed....In the meantime, here are a few of my favourite wedding dresses of all time.

Unmarried Helena Bonham Carter & Tim Burton in a fantasy wedding shot,

from Vivienne Westwood's book 'Vivienne Westwood Opus'



Dita Von Teese marries Marilyn Manson Goth-style in electric violet Vivienne Westwood, 2005 (Milliner Stephen Jones is holding her train).



A classic. Bianca Jagger marries Mick Jagger in a YSL suit. The jacket (and lack of a shirt caused quite the stir back in 1971



Gwen Stefani in Avant Garde, pink dip-dyed Galliano. This dress blew me away, it is so Gwen, and I love the structure and the colour.

Rock star wedding! The inimitable Paula Yates marries Bob Geldof at 26 in a blo0d-red satin dress, a gift from Jasper Conran. I met her when I was working at Harrods - she seemed very shy, very sweet.

Carolyn Besette Kennedy marries JFK Jnr in Narcisco Rodriguez in 1996- a classic in bias cut cool. This was one of my favourites and captured the zeitgeist of 90's minimalism and fitted tailoring.

Carrie Bradshaw in Westwood for the long awaited wedding to Big. If only the makeup and hair was softer though. the red lips & scraped back hair look too harsh.



Another rock star wedding. I love Pearl Lowe. Here she is marrying Danny Goffey with gorgeous Daisy Lowe. look at that cake! Dark chocolate strewn with rose petals, mmm.



Pammy and Tommy get hitched in Cancun in 1995 within days of meeting, after Tommy stalked Pam and followed her to Cancun where she was working on a shoot. I'm sorry but I love that she got hitched in a white bikini - Rock & roll!

Whip it!

I recently watched this movie again. The main things I love about it is the rockabilly/punk/rock chick fashion, the absolutely brilliant Juliette Lewis (who stars as 36 yr old Iron Maven), and the music.



The great Soundtrack was put together by Drew Barrymore who directed and appears in the film, and includes The Breeders, Peaches, The Ramones, Har Mar Superstar and - Dolly Parton! The movie is a great feel good down & dirty, rock & roll chick flick also starring the fabulous Kiwi actress (& stuntwoman) Zoe Ball, singer Eve and Juno's Ellen Page.

Ellen Von Unwerth 'Hot Skates' editorial, Vs Magazine 2009

Juliette Lewis has long been a favourite actress/personality of mine, from blowing away audiences in Cape Fear, showing up at the Oscars with braided hair & Bard Pitt on her arm to her visceral, crazy-ass performances in Kalifornia and Natural Born Killers. She's just a cool chick, with cool style. She also fronted her own rock-band, The Licks, for about 3 years after she and her buddy from Courtney Love's band Hole attended a Blondie gig and though "We need more rock chicks!". Juliette appears to be the hybrid love child of Iggy Pop, Courtney Love, Peaches, PJ Harvey and Debbie Harry. Love it

Iggy & Debbie - Red Hot

I've been listening to the RED HOT + BLUE album a lot lately, resurrected by my friend's iPod! I had forgotten all about it and shall buy it asap! This was one of the first ever for-charity compilation albums, put together by the Red Hot non-profit charity organization that was established in 1989 by a group of New York artists in response to the Aids crisis, particularly as the disease was running rampant within the creative community of artists and musicians. Red Hot founder John Carlin had "an improbable dream: to create an AIDS charity album with pop stars singing Cole Porter songs." Red Hot + Blue was released in 1990. John said "That CD was inspired by naivete and sheer will."
The album features amazing tracks by musical powerhouses such as Sinead O'Connor, David Byrne, Bono, Annie Lennox, Lisa Stansfied, Neneh Cherry, The Thompson Twins, Kd Lang, Tom Waits, Erasure and The Jungle Brothers and spawned music videos by esteemed Directors such as Johnathan Demme, Jim Jarmusch and Wim Wenders. The album went on to sold 1 Million worldwide and becoming the template for future charity projects. And since then, Red Hot have created 20 more compilation albums, raising over $10 Million for HIV and Aids.
The album is unfeasibly good! Buddies Debbie Harry & Iggy Pop's 'Well, did you evah!' is a particular favourite. I adore the video of Iggy and Debbie toomfooling around New York, particularly the opening scenes of them cruising purposefully through Soho like the King & Queen of New York - fabulous!
Behold the coolness that is Debbie Harry and Iggy Pop.

Like a Rolling Stone

I love these new (old) shots from a new book, The Lost Rolling Stones Photographs: The Bob Bonis Archive, 1964-1966. While my sister Banana Meet-cute is Beatles, I am Stones! Interestingly, Bob Bonis also captured some rather cool pictures of the Fab Four as well. These muso types do get around!



"The Lost Rolling Stones Photographs. captures the seminal period when the Rolling Stones made their transformation into the world's greatest rock n' roll band. And during that time, few were closer to the Stones than Bob Bonis, the tour manager for their U.S. tours between 1964 and 1966. While on the road with the Stones, Bonis, a passionate amateur photographer with a keen eye, an innate sense of composition, and a deep love for his subjects, snapped some 2,700 photographs of the band – a remarkable collection that until now has only been known to family and friends."

It's amazing how not only the music but the sartorial style of the Stones resonates today! Fab Kiwi band The Checks remind me of the Stones. If you ever get a chance to see them live - do it! Check it out. Oops - no pun intended!