Moi, je compte sur Comptoir...

La Voguette est SUPER contente... (et oui, un peu obsédé par la langue Française aujourd'hui - j'en ai parlé toute la journée - avec des autres... avec mes chiens... avec moi-même... si, la folie.)

For months now, I have been pining for this Comptoir des Cotonniers trench.

Sublime non?

We first met in a fashion cupboard, two seasons ago. 

I should have been enjoying the freedom that is out of office hours, a.k.a Saturday morning, but instead, little miss Voguette was working like a fiend. My eyes/those buttons, it was an instant attraction - mutual - I knew we belonged together, but alas like all samples, the clock would strike 12 on Monday morning and the courrier would come to take it away, never to be seen again. 

Sadly, that is what happened.

I searched every boutique, every website, I even tried the PR - No. Such. Luck.

It was gone, forever - a distant dream, a distant memory...

That is, until two weeks ago.

Something within me stirred my curiosity, I just had to know if it was out there. I began searching frantically on Ebay for my long lost trench and several descriptive combinations later, there it was - in all it's perfect khaki glory. Just an English Channel apart, nothing would stop me; I would fight to the bitter end, defying anyone who tried to out-bid me.  

I won.

Et je l'adore.

Mayfair in Miu Miu

This is my favourite look from Autumn/Winter 2011.

So 1940s Hollywood Glamour, so Rita Hayworth.

And today - I got to wear it.

Yes, sometimes I just LOVE my job.

The September Issue of ELLE will reveal all...

Hello from Amsterdam...

Living above Chanel? Why didn't I think of that...

OMG... It's ME.

Yes friends, that is me sporting a fishtail plait and next season's new long silhouette...

The April Issue of ELLE is out tomorrow - GO AND BUY IT. 

This month, the interns not only grace the Style for Less supplement as seen above, but there is also a special feature on the young 'Rising Stars' of the magazine inside the main issue.

(For that you will have to buy the mag - I'll blog about the experience once you've spent your pennies!)

Until then, enjoy my High Street pick for next season - and if anyone from Mango, Reiss or New Look are reading, yes I will accept a free gift for wearing your products so well ;)

♥

What I wore...

Click here to see all the Elle team in their glad rags...

Vintage dress, L.K Bennett shoes, vintage Christian Dior bag

ELLE STYLE AWARDS

Just when I thought life couldn't get any more surreal, Monday night happened. 
Greeted by a red-carpet and a mass of paparazzi, myself and fellow ELLE Girl Grace (Little Miss London Snog) hopped out of our car and turned our celebrity on. (Sadly, there was no need to shout 'No photos please', someone had clearly forgotten to brief the Paps about my past as a child star - best notify them for next time). 

Armed with notebooks, our mission for the night was to find out exactly what the celebs were wearing...
A reason to talk to the stars? This was going to be fun.

Fearne Cotton told me she liked my dress (it was vintage darling), Jameela Jamil asked me where the loos were (can I just say she is STUNNING), Lily Cole and I exchanged words about her denying her ginger roots (she assured me they will be back), oh and David Gandy proposed (ok so that might just be a little white lie, but we still conversed about his suit).

Did I mention Blake Lively, Thandie Newton, Coco Rocha (I ♥ her), Alexa (those eyes), Helena Christensen, Jo Whiley, Ellie Goulding, Laura Bailey, Emma Watson, Stephen Dorff, George Lamb, Geri Halliwell, Sophie Ellis Bextor, Eliza Doolittle, Julien Macdonald, Courtney love, Donna Air, Jamie Winston and Pixie Geldof all spared a few stolen moments to speak to me... 
No, surreal doesn’t quite cover it.

We dined, we drank champagne (lots of champagne), we sat in awe as Tom Ford graced the stage, we laughed nervously as Vivienne Westwood confessed to not knowing who Emma Watson was, minutes before presenting Emma with the Style Icon award, and finally we danced our way into the early hours as Boy George manned the decks.

Oh, what a night.

Thank you ELLE. 
Watch the highlights here.

My favourite look of the night, Alexa in YSL.

Blake Lively in Emilio Pucci 

Cheryl in Alexander McQueen

Coco Rocha in Alexander McQueen

Courtney Love in Givenchy

The love of my life in Lawson Walker

Emma Watson in Hakaan

Thandie Newton in Louis Vuitton

Hopped up out of bed, turned my Chanel on...

 I wish I could say that this was a real Chanel find... sadly, I cannot.

But! what I can say is, I LOVE MY COAT.

Merci Maman (yes I got it from my mama).

Click HERE to see what the other Elle Girls wore to work today!

Addicted.

Baker Street Station, 8.45am, every day: 

I sit bolt upright on the bus and peek around to see that as per usual, everyone else has, like me, just awoken, or is still in the midst of what I like to call the "Greenline Coma". No matter how loud you turn up your ipod, stare intently at the words on the page in front of you or even hold your eye-lids in a desperate bid to keep them open, the Greenline will get the better of you - sooner or later you will succumb to the deepest of sleeps.

I scramble around for my belongings, stuffing my book into my Bayswater, while hurriedly checking the seat for a forgotten glove or heaven forbid, my phone. Hitting people by accident with my many bags,
I hobble lethargically down the aisle, croaking a thank you to the driver as I jump down on to the pavement. 

Just one thing is going through my head at this point - must. have. caffeine.

But it's not just any caffeine that I crave, it's Starbucks caffeine.

I've got it bad.

Really, really, BAD.

I wake up with good intentions - every day is a new day...

I say over and over in my head - today Charlene, you will not, I repeat, NOT buy a Starbucks coffee. 

But somehow, before I know it, temptation has won and I am overcome with guilt as I catch myself using the stirring stick to desperately scrape the sides of the cup for those last frothy remains of my soya 'cap'
(yes we're on nickname terms now). 

And the worst part? I've usually given in before 9.30am. 

You see, I pass three Starbucks on my way into work, which is quite simply, temptation personified.
Even if I make it past the first, there are still numbers one and two to beat and after an hour and a half's commute, with let's not forget, the "Greenline Coma", I rarely make it past number two without a coffee in hand. There have been a few occasions where I've made it to stop number three before bowing to pressure, and just the once, I abstained completely, arriving to work empty handed and caffeine depraved.

(That is until the clock struck lunch and Starbucks won once again.)

So I've decided that when Lent hits the calender in 2011 - La Voguette will be caffeine-free
(yes, I could try giving it up as a New Year's resolution - but that's a little too close for comfort right now). Until then, I'm going to savour every last sip of my weakness and just remind myself that it could be worse: 

Two coffees at once Mary Kate? Might be time to sign up to Starbucks Anonymous...

La Voguette is back.

Fashion friends! I'm so sorry I neglected you...

You could say life as an Elle intern has pretty much consumed every aspect of my life, meaning time for blogging has become well and truly sparse!

BUT I'm back and determined to blog to your every need...

To make up for my absence, here's a little sneak peek into some of the work I've been doing over the past month:

http://www.elleuk.com/elletv/(channel)/inside-elle/(playlist)/ELLE-Magazine/(video)/shop-girl-to-stylist-the-final

The final for Elle's Shop Girl to Stylist Competition took place last week and La Voguette was there to fulfill the mammoth task of sourcing and organising all things fashion related on the day. With ten finalists, 150 items of 1970s themed clothing and countless accessories, the race was on for each girl to style the best look from their carefully selected rail...

Who won?

Click the link above to find out!

(And if you're lucky you may spot yours truly in the background)

A little taste of LFW...

So Olivia Palermo is extremely BEAUTIFUL and TINY.

Cat Deeley just looks like the loveliest person ever.

And Sienna Miller has gone up even higher on my list of ultimate style icons.

I can't reveal any more details than that - but let's just say today has been a great day for British Fashion. 

I have seen some amazing and inspirational young designers, had a taste of the front row treatment and found myself singing all the way home on the train (much to the delight of a few oldies) - what can I say fashion has put a hop in my step! 

Here's hoping I find myself opposite a front row of this calibre tomorrow...  

HELLO BOYS

The Time is NOW.

NYFW = Done!

LFW = Well and truly underway!

It's an exciting time in the fashion world Ladies & Gents - the green lights are shining and it's all GO GO GO.

The last 48 hours of final preparations have seen stress levels rise through the roof at Elle HQ; many a Liz Hurley snack bar has been consumed (definitely not through choice but necessity, sorry Liz but they really do taste like cardboard), heels have been kicked off and a few tears have been shed... but now there is no time like the present! Get down to Somerset House, VFS or On/Off to find next season's emerging talent and inspiration. I'll be donning my fashion spectacles all day tomorrow so look out for me!

Today however, I am allowing myself a very much needed day off with my mama.