Musical Moment - Slow Moving Millie ('Beasts')

Having played the piano, making up little stories to the music, from a very early age, beautiful actress Amelia Warner, 29, star of the movies ‘Quills’ and ‘Stoned,’ is now writing and singing under the name ‘Slow Moving Millie.’

Living in London and currently working on an album of British 80's covers and composing several film scores, you may have heard her ethereal, mischievous sounding, debut single, ‘Beasts,’ on the Virgin Media advert last year (shown below.)

The quirky lyrics of this song came to her whilst walking through Highgate Cemetery - she saw a gravestone that read 'Where Sleeping Beasts Lie...'

"This could be our fairytale,
We'll make them all disappear.
I could be the rabbit,
to your magic hat..."

Best Of London - Kelly Hoppen

Kelly Hoppen; MBE, Interior designer extraordinaire and the undisputed Queen of Taupe.

When not designing celebrities homes (or the interiors of their private jets... yachts...) or busy writing her 8th design book, Kelly also runs her own design school, has her own collection of home accessories, designs ranges of organic clothing for Earth Couture, has a super successful QVC range, oh – and has a new TV show helping five families create stylish interiors in their own homes starting next month.

Phew! This is one busy lady.

Surely Kelly, based in West London, has no time left to go out and about and enjoy London?! Wrong. This lady is nothing if not a serious multi-tasker!

Kelly shares with us some of her London favourites;

My Transport – Black Cab or I drive my Jaguar.

My Cocktail – A Caipirinha with agave at E&O - they have the best barman.

My Date Night – With my man - Big A, at J.Sheekey – Love, love, love! 

My Sunday Brunch – At Raoul's in Notting Hill Gate – Great food and happy, Spanish staff. 

My Boutique – The Cross, its small and full of unusual one offs.

My High Street Store – All Saints, I love their t-shirt clothes. 

London’s Best Kept Secret – The Idle Hour in Barnes; its cute, has great food and is tucked away. 

My London Icon (Past or Present) – Vidal Sassoon. A good friend, he is an extraordinary man and pioneer in his field – he was also so inspired by architecture – his new film is a must!

www.kellyhoppenretail.com

'Super Interiors with Kelly Hoppen' starts on Sept 21st at 8pm on Channel 5.

X Factor Fashion

Its back! The 8th series of X Factor launched this weekend and 12.6 million of us tuned in to boo and to cheer this year’s hearty concoction of desperate, deluded bellowers and genuinely talented songbirds.

They have a brand new, super shiny line up of judges… and Louis (who I’m sure will still be telling contestants they “have the full package” on X Factor 2070, having outlived us all.)

But what of the newbie’s? Handsome, stubbly, no-nonsense Gary Barlow, will surely have become the nation’s biggest crush overnight, but as with every X-Factor series, it’s really all about the gals...

Kelly Rowland is awesome.

With 15 years experience in the industry, a flirtatious Southern drawl and a swaggersome, super slick style (outfits for the audition stages have included this figure hugging Versace dress and lots... and lots… of bare midriff (hey, if we could, we would!) She’s also promised to wear more Brit designers for the live shows – Top contenders include Stella McCartney, Victoria Beckham, McQueen and Bass & Brooks.

I also love that her responses always include the liberal scattering of words such as ‘boo,’ and ‘mama’ – terms of endearment I feel, having obviously tried them out immediately, only Kelly Rowland can pull off.

N-Dubz feisty singer Tulisa totally held her own on the panel and also won the audience’s sympathy when a gobby auditionee verbally attacked her.

After seeing the above promo shots of her looking all a bit too reminiscent of Our Cheryl (tight Hervé Leger and glossy biiiiiiiig hair) Tulisa’s outfits for the auditions have been a relief - I especially loved her DKNY jumpsuit covered in little lips (available at Selfridges) which along with red lips and a retro hairstyle, she is definitely set to make her own fashion stamp on the proceedings.

The best audition of the night? 16 year old Janet Deviln (watch audition here.) A little bit Ellie Goulding, a little bit cupcake – this shy, ethereal girl from Northern Ireland was adorable and definitely one to watch.

Credit Buy - Melissa Lo Cosmo Bangles

I really like these Melissa Lo Four Stone Cosmo Bangles.

Available at Austique, you can choose between four colours of semi-precious stones to adorn your gold vermeil bangle; Amethyst, Blue Topaz, Chrysophase or Smokey Quartz.

These would look great on everyone - and they are perfect for the summer, worn alone or stacked.

£120.00

Repetto Toes

Madame Rose Repetto made her first ballet shoes in 1947 and prima ballerinas from all over the world were soon flocking to her shop. In 1956, inspired by these ballet shoes she created her famous ballet flats – hugely popular at the time with Bridgette Bardot, they continue to be just as popular today and regularly adorn the feet of Kate Moss, Sofia Coppola – and MEEEEE.

These are my favourite pair – how could you not smile with these precious sparkles on ya tootsies?

Repetto flats are now available from Selfridges.

www.repetto.com

Betty Draperlicious

At her recent birthday party, Petrina Khashoggi, writer, channeled Mad Men's Betty Draper, wearing this sensational 1950’s silk and satin, aqua couture dress by Harvey Berin, accessorised with pearls.

The exquisite vintage dress was a birthday gift to Petrina from her great friend William Banks-Blaney (right) who was once dubbed by Vogue as ‘The Vintage King.’ His shop, ‘William Vintage,' can be found at 2 Marylebone Street and is filled with stunning haute couture and vintage clothing.

Oh so charmingly, this dress has little folds around the bust line, which typically in the 1950’s were referred to as ‘crumb catchers!’

Betty Draperlicious.

Petrina is currently working on a ‘top-secret’ biography – Watch this space!

Musical Moment - Lana Del Rey ('Video Games')

I have fallen in love with this 24-year-old former jazz singer (real name Lizzie Grant) from New York. She is a self-styled "gangster Nancy Sinatra" and has the most memorising face (those lips!) and haunting voice. Her old-school glamour reminds me of a 1960’s Priscilla Presley. I can’t wait for her album.

"It's you, it's you, it's all for you
Everything I do
I tell you all the time
Heaven is a place on earth with you
Tell me all the things you want to do
I heard that you like the bad girls
Honey, is that true?
It's better than I ever even knew
They say that the world was built for two
Only worth living if somebody is loving you
Baby now you do"