Walking down the street on an average day in London it is very unusual when passing fellow pedestrians to not spot something a little bit special. And by special I mean expensive, designer and fabulous. Be it a beautiful handbag or killer shoes look a little closer and you will find it. But this hasn’t always been the case, let’s go back a few years and it was one very different story.

One does not have to go back very far at all to come up with an expansive blank, a noticeable absence of designer clothing in our lives. Unless you were super rich and an afternoon spending sesh in Chanel was de rigueur then designer clothing was just not for you, Topshop it is then. So what has changed? Are we all now suddenly rolling in wealth that we can splash out on an Alexander Wang Rocco without breaking a sweat? Nope (thank you recession). Instead a very different factor is at play.

Celebrities, love them, hate them whatever your opinion, their effect on society cannot be overlooked. The role played by celebrities in making designer clothing accessible to the masses is absolutely crucial. Think of the last magazine you read or blog you clicked on to; celebrity photos, check, designer ids, check, the urge to possess that same designer item, check. If you need any further evidence I give you two words – ‘it bag.’ And now celebrities have even sold themselves to the brands, in return for hefty pay checks and a fair helping of free stuff, their universally famous face can be found hocking that brand. Thing Emma Watson for Burberry or Lily Allen for Chanel.

So there we have it, celebrity culture has created a society where every one of us, no matter rich or poor can trot down to Selfridges and trade it hefty wads of cash for out little piece of celebrity. Is this necessarily a bad thing? The Mulberry nested happily in the crook of your arm doesnt think so.

It is no coincidence that I write this piece on the morning of the release of the new Sex and the City film. Sex and the City represents so many things to so many different people; an ode to the single girl, a tale of enduring friendship, a love affair with New York and finally a celebration of fashion. Ask a girl what comes to mind when you say ‘Sex and the City,’ ok she may say sex but she is probably more likely to say fashion. Which leads to the crux of this piece, how fashion has become so intrinsically entwined with film they are now inseparable.

You don’t have to think hard to come up with the names of films that in recent years have featured fashion at their forefront, ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ or ‘Coco Before Chanel’ and these are just the films that feature fashion as a theme. There are many more that come to mind whose themes are distinctly non fashion related, think that green dress worn by Keira Knightley in ‘Atonement’ or Julia Robert’s post-makeover outfits in ‘Pretty Woman.’ There is even a special place in my heart for the pastel pink Bob Mackie gown worn by Jennifer Lopez at the ball in ‘Maid in Manhattan.’

Of course film and fashion have always gone hand in hand outside the movie set. With the rise of celebrity came increasingly unrelenting publicity machines eager to advertise their films via red carpet appearances. So with a guarantee of endless column inches/tv features and blog posts designers are queuing up round the block to dress today’s hottest Hollywood starlets. So why has this obsession with what our screen icons are wearing transferred to their on-screen counterparts?

Two options: Firstly the cynical ‘look what has happened to society’ explanation. Commercialisation and the advertising industry have a lot to answer for. Let’s take Sex and the City, whilst the publicity afforded to designers may not have started with commercial purposes (Manolo Blahnik must bless the day Candace Bushnell created Carrie Bradshaw) it has certainly ended up that way. Which designer’s gowns are worn by the main character repeatedly and most prominently throughout the film….Halston Heritage. Who is the new Creative Director at Halston Heritage….Sarah Jessica Parker. Hmmmm Coincidence?

The second option goes to the root of what the film experience means. At its heart films are escapism, they allow us to leave the mundane surroundings of our own lives for a little while and lose ourselves in someone else’s. So what better way to escape then to head over to New York’s Bowery bar, sipping cosmos whilst dressed in next seasons Dior paired with four inch Louboutins. Ten years ago the majority of us probably wouldn’t have even heard of Christian Louboutin but now he is a household name. So as our exposure to all things fabulous has increased so has our expectations and perhaps the film industry is simply responding to demand.

But let’s not forget that this is not a new phenomenon, one of my all time favourite films is 50 year old ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ simply for the chicness that is Holly Golightly and her Givenchy wardrobe. At the end of the day whether the responsibility for the uniting of fashion and film lies with the cold hand of commercialisation or simply the increasingly intricate nature of our imaginations is perhaps irrelevant. What matters is that we enjoy the fashion fabulous ride.

[Photo Credit via Picapp.com]

Sample sale/flash sale/designer sale…..literally any phrase involving the word sale is liable to get the pulse racing in any clothes loving fashionista. I am writing this following a rather exciting morning in which with promises of designer goodies from the outlet site www.theoutnet.com (sister site to designer mecca www.net-a-porter.com) for a mere £1 fashion savvy buyers logged on in their droves.

What inevitably occurred was a disastrous crash of the servers which were unable to handle the crazed demand. So what is it about sales that make us women go slightly crazy? Obviously this mornings’ example is an extreme one, a Marchesa dress for £1 anyone? In general the mentality is the same, ever been to the French Connection sample sale in Camden….there is more elbow shoving and dirty looks than at a Jonas Brothers concert. Really there are two elements that explain this particular type of madness.

Firstly it is the promise of perfectly good items at a sizeable discount. We all know it is hard to resist shopping at the best of times but when there is the added incentive of money off whether it’s a whopping Outnet style discount or a mere 10%. We all feel slightly better about our purchase knowing we didn’t pay full price and of course it helps that we can justify the purchase to ourselves/partner/parents on this basis. Who hasn’t sulked home guiltily from a shopping trip and found themselves reciting the fashionista mantra “but it was on sale.”

The second essential part of the sale shopping phenomenon is a type of hysteria that overtakes when we glimpse those four letters put together. Our bodies go into some sort of hyper alert state, a new hostile demeanour overtakes us and we are unwilling to let anyone or anything get in the way of our purchase. There is a type of adrenaline rush one experiences when purchasing any fabulous fashion item, this is only increased when the said item comes with a sizeable discount.

So imagine the combined level of hysteria and adrenaline that must have been coming from residences around the country at 7.30am this morning when the eponymous outlet email went out. Those with successful purchases will surely be high for days and those without disappointed for even longer.

It is that age old issue usually only really brought up when you are about to step out in a particularly sexy little outfit and your partner decides to give his two cents along the lines of “why are you dressed like that, you have a boyfriend!” The underlying accusation here is that in your pursuit to look great you some how had it in your mind that you will infact be looking to snare a new partner. Heaven forbid you are actually dressed in a way that is pleasing to yourself. That brings us on to the wider issue here – who do women dress for? There are usually three categories that one can mix and match as they please.

Firstly there are those women who dress for men. This is the outfit we all have in our wardrobes, that little number that when we are wearing we know we look good and our intended targets will know that too. Of course there is nothing wrong with this type of dressing except when it is pursued on a round the clock basis. You know the women I mean (think Liz Hurley) short skirts and ample cleavage are de rigueur and that’s just daywear.

The second type of dresser is the person who dresses for themselves. Irrespective of what the opposite sex will think. In that outfit you feel great about yourself. Of course it is always a bonus that with self confidence comes a natural allure to the opposite sexy. This is perhaps where the boyfriend gets confused.

Finally there is the women who dress for other women. No I’m not talking Lindsay and Samantha rather those women who seek what is the greatest compliment; another women thinking you look good. We all of course know how bitchy girls can be so perhaps this is the ultimate fashion approval. It is also important to remember that a vast majority of men just don’t get fashion. This is where you are wearing harem pants with a bra top and military coat and your boyfriend looks at you like your mad but walking down the street that knowing fashionista gives you a little smile (or perhaps a bitchy glare).

There is never a right person to dress for. It is ok to be Liz Hurley once a while just as it is also cool to channel your inner Alexa/Agyness just as long as you are having fun doing it!

[Photo Credit Prphotos.com]

This week sees the launch of the all new Lady Glamourazzi ‘Fashion Matters’ column. Every Friday Lady Glamourazzi will be offering up opinions on a matter of fashionable and topical interest. This week Politics, Fashion and the Role of the Wives:

There has been something of a revolution in politics, no I’m not talking policy (pah!) rather politicians wives. Gone are those days when a politician’s wife would stand meekly to the side dressed in a Stepford wife getup (minus the Nicole Kidman glamour of course). These new breeds are fiercely dressed women ready to not only step into the spotlight, but to own it.

All revolutions have a starting point but where to attribute this one? It certainly wasn’t with Cherie Blair, poor Cherie continually blasted in the press for her appearance when she really was no better or worse than her predecessors. Along came Sarah Brown, younger yes, more stylish – not yet! One further fundamental catalyst was about to be thrown into the mix in the shape of the French president’s new wife.

Carla Bruni, the Italian ex supermodel, singer, girlfriend of rock stars and general glamazon, she brought into the political sphere a much needed dose of fashion fabulous. Let’s take the state visit to London as an example, Mrs Sarkozy stepped off the plane dressed head to toe in Dior. Her wardrobe for the trip must have looked like a design studio worthy of John Galliano himself. Now imagine yourself as Sarah Brown an ordinarily dressed, everyday women standing next to Carla super stylish Bruni for pictures that would be broadcast worldwide.

The story doesn’t end there because next came Barack Obama with his lovely wife Michelle. Not since the days of Jackie O has so much attention been paid to what the first lady would be wearing. But intriguingly Michelle did something unexpected, where surely the worlds most well known and covetable designers were clamouring over themselves to dress her, instead she went with very small, relatively unknown American talents. Thus designers such as Thakoon and Rachel Roy got publicity on a world wide scale that money simply could not buy and Michelle became the ultra cool dressed wife of the President.

With the French and American examples firmly set British politics could only follow. When Sarah Brown attended the Labour party conference to introduce her husband to the podium it wasn’t the speech that got people talking it was her fabulous Erdem dress. Thus a new stylish Sarah, who counts Naomi Campbell among her friends (Sarah is patron to Naomi’s charity the white ribbon alliance) has emerged. And not forgetting Samantha Cameron wife of the opposition leader but also creative director at Smythson. She is already a fixture at fashion week and well known to the industry.

With the sun rising on a general election there is sure to be an epic fash-off. No Stepford wives in sight this is a battle to be the most fashionable, chic and ultimately the coolest. May the best dressed win, just be sure not to outshine your husbands…..

[Photo Credit Prphotos.com]