TOMcat from TOPMAN

john-boyfriend narrowly avoided getting this hilarious little number for christmas. i won't be buying him it because:

1. £39 is too much to spend on a 'novelty gift' right now.
2. it would sadden me that he would never ever wear it even if i did hand over the cash.

thanks to ms longmire for that leopard link x x

MARAWA the AMAZING: leotard in a leopard

i went to see the la clique with my grrrlz this week and that hula-hooping, rollerskating blur of aussie hotness MARAWA was definitely the highlight of the show for me. in her all-in-one leopard leotard in the circus ring she turned into a spiral rainbow of springy hoops... MARAWAllous...

a catwoman of the world

images: mine

to make up for the shortage of posts in the past few weeks, here's one that i've wanted to for a while and from which you can infer that i've been on holiday or something glamourous like that to explain my absence.

YES it's a TOPSHOP leopard passport holder from c.2007. i know that i definitely had it in the oh-8 because i used to keep jolly cartoon-foto-machine pictures from TOKYO in the helpful pocket inside. and i went to TKY last year.

travelling in style of course.

that doesn't look like school uniform young lady

rosamund pike [helen] & carey mulligan [jenny] share a divine hat and coat set in the very lovely, very english an education which i saw last week.

I WANT IT ALL.

this ashish giantess wedge belongs in my imaginary museum of faux-animal wonders of the world. back in stock at topshop, poised to sprain many an ankle and tottering on the brink of extinction again i'm sure - will payday come before they sell out?

COVER GIRL: what's her name from gossip girl

leighton meester on the cover of this month's [december] glamour magazine. that coat looks warm.

YES WE CAt: memories of halloween 2009

michelle obama dressed in cheetah print for the white house's spooky bash on saturday night. not sure what mr obama is dressed as? geeky gamekeeper?? leader of the free world in fancy dress is probably not a good look, but maybe he's got a little cheetah print on under that sweater. and here's something that my cubfriend sara-lee made earlier:

hello kitty pumpkin carved with love&care by s-l

haha-lloween

probably the best gift* i've ever received was this divine get-up direct from fancydresswarehouse somewhere in america. if only the top wasn't too short and the bootcut pants so low cut! sigh. no i won't be wearing my sexyleopardlady costume for fright-night fun tomorrow - i'm probably going to be doing tank girl instead... but would tank girl ever wear leopard print?

*yes, it's true - thanks annette x x

getting things done

ig**gle are offering wallpapers by 'up-and-coming young designers' to decorate your homepage. i wouldn't normally be taken in by such gimmicks but thought those little-known newbies d&g might appreciate my support. i'll be sprucin' up my laptop with some trademark cat-spotz from them then.

places to go, people to see

image: fiona

MANY THANKS to the delectable fiona kerr for the first post of the week! she tells me: 'It's actually the cover sleeve from a Cartier book we got sent at work, I thought "A-ha invite holder" and nicked it and left the book coatless - 'I've probably had it about a year and it is so coming with me when I leave!' nifty.

COSMOgirl!

i'd like to present ms helen gurley brown, the legendary editor of cosmopolitan whose biography bad girls go everywhere has to be one of the best books i've read this year. and i'm not just judging this book by its cover.

which is amazing. gurley brown lounges in a cheetah-print polo neck by one of the Great-glam italian fashion houses - cavalli, krizia or versace? the wrap around hardback jacket replicates that pattern, providing an in-your-face look for a serious biography.

gurley brown has always endorsed a pragmatic strand of everyday feminism cultivated by her own life experiences as a working class woman from the southern united states born in 1922. the bought-in bling of her chain belt and the striking animal-print references align with her unapologetic personal philosophies. working one's feminine assets to make money and get ahead.

i'll be reviewing in full soon for the next pamflet...

CLUEMORE

one of mine and phoebe's favourite films - if not actual favourite film - is obviously clueless, that 1990s highschool classic masquerading under the superfluous guise of a jane austen update/adaptation (with a film this good you don't need to namecheck ancient novelists to lend faux credibility or whatever).

watching it again for the nth time last week i thought: YES OF COURSE! LEO-PARD MOMENT! it's cher's BFF dionne wearing a snug textured blazer and PINK pop blouse while the totally betty trio discuss boyz in the buff in a restaurant in the mall. here dionne is 'yes, technically still a virgin', but through her leopard garb we know that she's a knowing, grown-up girl who's making her own decisions. By subverting the traditional view of an animal-skin wearer she reasserts her independence and status: take this teen seriously.

starry-thighed

image: debenhams

image: nick&phoebe

i spent ALL YEAR trying to find something to wear to mel&jon's september nuptials and only found the right dress when both annette an phoebe showed it to me (thanks girls). asymetric (as everything should be), silky and short but with a big statement shoulder, it was great britain's great high street that finally came up with the goods, not any of the vintage boutiques i trawled looking for that special little number.

to avoid looking like a girl-aloud ('but what if i look like i'm in girls aloud?' 'you won't') i accessorised with asos black lace gloves, off-white miss selfridge blazer, an old clutch bag of my mum's and - the classy finishing touch - gold stilettos last seen around new year's eve 2006.

was there something in the STAR[by julien macdonald at debenhams]s? perhaps, because i caught the bouquet. check out the fella on the right, he's really happy for me.

dita von teese: 'fairly glamorous'

image: www.twitter.com/ditavonteese

posted on her twitter account today - the sensational stripper's matching louboutin heels'n'handbag.

phoebe does dress-up

image: fabulous

my pamflet partner phoebe looks hot and sophis for the office in her 'vintage' (heehee) leopard h&m shift in a staff 'what we're wearing this aw/' photoshoot for fabulous last week. see how you can wear a little leopard and still look classy and cool? let this be a lesson for the scardicats!

bad girl in the jungle

image: mine

sunday night, trapped in the undergrowth [otherwise known as the elephant and castle subway system], on a thwarted mission to corsica studios, i spied this creature among a leap of leopards lurking on the walls. it's easy to get lost in the jungle, but one feels safer knowing who's watching you. purrrr.

can i have a leg-up?

image: annabel

image: my-wardrobe

my dear friend annabel (who prefers pandas to leopards, but that's another story) kindly mailed me the pic aboveabove over the weekend. it was snapped at the juan maclean's cargo gig last week, during her epic fortnight-long gig-a-thon around london. we should've sponsored her. anyway, those legs belong to nancy whang, TJM's resident jumpsuit ambassador, singer and all-round good look, and she's wearing what look like EITHER animal print spats or leggings with stirrups. they were probably constructed by one of her brooklyn artist peeps. punkrock.

coincidentially or perhaps not, i've just bought the last pair of these in m/l from my-wardrobe. leopard legs are a cheat-way to jazz up a plain or otherwise leopard-less outfit OR in this case, make a whole outfit themselves.

PS. how amazing are that model's pins?? those heels must be 6inches high.

YOU BETTER LIKE HANKY PANKY

countdown to madonna's next greatest hits album celebration continued (although i don't know exactly when i'm counting down to because nowhere seems to have the uk date!) this morning when my old friend alex sent me a link to a simply fascinating australian blog called ICONOGRAPHY (after her fan club, ICON and the fact that she is one) that's critiquing each of her singles in chronological order to celebrate CELEBRATION.

i've just replaced the ancient madonna pic i had as my desktop background with ICONOGRAPHY's downloadable wallpaper featuring every singlesingle which means that i can't actually see my icons anymore and sadly even the br*tney collaboration is included there BUT also means that i caught a rare glimpse of the queen of pop's ONLY leopard print record cover - the ridiculous showgirl-burlesque riot which waas soundtrack-song HANKY PANKY [1990]. pink n black blurry leopard was an obviously choice of theme for the front of this saucy single and although madonna's the perennial glamour-girl, animal prints very rarely feature in her aesthetic repertoire. so i'm savouring this example and bidding for the 12" on ebay.

shoes on the wall. where they belong

image: mine

classic leopard courts from faith hanging off the picture rail by their heels, pretty.

cat got your tongue?

image: blondes have more fun BACK
image: mine - blondes have more fun FRONT

image: early days u2

i've spent this week getting over the rite-of-passage that was u2 at wembley stadium on friday night. to commemorate the knee-trembling, desert-conjuring, air-punching, teary-eyed experience, i've posted an ancient photograph of u2 (early 80s?) that my colleague thought i might like so emailed to me. adam clayton, the megaband's spanglyfied bass player (he who made with or without you) appears to be wearing leopard-print pants. for real. ignore bono's, erm, weapon - it's during their punk-polik phase - and check out those briefs. i wonder if he had something similar on under his trousers at last week's wembley show...

...so, what did i find in a dusty pile of old records this week? only a dazzling example of late-disco-era leopard lycra (proto-lycra) thanks to wedding-dj-fave rod stewart. see his 1978 LP, the ambiguously-titled BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN...OR DO THEY? which includes tracks that also feature mysterious question marks such as 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' and 'Is That the Thanks I Get?'. by 1978, the second wave of feminism had truly crashed and i bet not many people took much notice of the playful sexism played out on HOT ROD's album covers. of course the blonde he's referring to in the title is himself and not the anonymous women clinging to him on the front and back sleeves - that's why there's a brunette on the front.

his cover-girl swapping antics and riduculous ditties are unforgivable, but those catsuits, which we only ever get to see from behind are superfine. if they could ask 'do ya think i'm sexy?' i would answer 'yes'.

as seen on stacey's stall

image: mine
image: criminal damage

i used to always watch eastenders in the olden days - why? because of one woman: kathleen slater [and more on her when i have an hour or two]. i did catch it a few weeks ago, however, and observed a scene where bianca was taking tea in her kitchen, resplendent in a luridly hot pink shell suit jacket - a 00s take on that shiny ol' 90s puffa that she used to go to the queen vic/fight ricky/get drunk with tiffany in. watching the eastenders omnibus with sara-lee several rainy sundays ago we admired this delightful garment and on friday last week i spotted a look-a-like in the window of a whitechapel wholesaler (above) and then the internet told me where to buy the bianca original.

i don't know where i'm going, only god knows where i've been

images: mine

even though i have a phone that can supposedly locate me wherever i am, no matter what any tech-type says, i'll always need a decent london map in my handbag just in case. this is a philip's street atlas of london, that comes with a small black silken ribbon bookmark (tail), its covers pulled together with a stretch elastic band. It is available in leopardskin.

'not your little old lady top'

asos, my-wardrobe and net-a-porter are currently stocking this leopard-collar-necked tee for autumn from sonia rykiel's new collection. obviously it looked a no-brainer shopping choice to chuck into my payday shopping basket with some excuse like 'hmm fresh back to school fashions' going through my head when i hit *PAY*. as soon as it arrived on monday, however, i was wondering what on earth i was thinking... sonia's new stock is leopard-heavy, but in that older lady way - like the only kind of leopard print that's acceptable is the big, blurry beige kind, and that's really not for me. and older ladies can afford to waste £70 (including NAP's ludicrous shipping fee) or £63.95 (asos) on a fruit of the loom-quality printed cotton t-shirt that isn't even cut for a woman. it took me about 3 seconds to realise that i had made a very bad decision. and that i shouldn't pay £70 for a t-shirt, even if madonna's sweat into it. am now impatiently awaiting a refund.

KATY PURRY CLAWS

[image: katy perry]

LIAL icon kittypurry has just tweeted her new claws. RARRRR. get yours did here.

WHEN LEOPARDS GO WRONG

image: mine

so far, my cataloguing cats project has been dedicated soley to the examination of specimens of the highest order... but how can one know how good one has it until one encounters what she most fears of all creatures in the jungle? BAD EXAMPLES OF ANIMAL PRINT!

see above: a raggedy one-shoulder synthetic bodysuit in the 'just arrived' section at peacocks (SHUDDER) but looking as if it had never seen better days. the print looks like a scary close-up photograph of the simmering cells of some deadly disease in a petri dish under a microscope. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

TRINKETS N TRASH: face facts

[image: mine]

unlike leopards, earrings come in pairs apparently - apart from at the start of this century, when it was a bit trendy to only wear an adornment on a single earlobe. why? possibly because hipsters had wonky hair or possibly because they kept losing things and further down the line this became a topshop trend. the high street selling mismatched pairs on purpose or even single oversized earrings to make a style statement. saying what, i don't know... you are carefree and punkrock so you dont need to match, man.

sadly this pair of earrings are currently out of action because i can't bring myself to wear only one of them without the other and i haven't got around to replacing that missing clasp. soon though.

SPOTTED: this morning

image: johncat

superdrug are currently selling this leopard make-up bag gift set in allgoodhighstreetstores. usually i buy anything acceptable of theirs in leopard-print, because a girl always needs a spare make-up bag or three, but haven't got these ones yet.

this morning at king's cross station an in-the-know 8 year old holding hands with her mum on the escalator was carrying the biggest bag from this pack as her handbag. now that's a good idea. if you're 8.

RING-A-DINGDING

i don't often wear hand-jewels for various reasons, but mainly because i always end up absent-mindedly leaving them next to the sinks in pub lavatories which is not the best way to look after precious pieces! this dainty knuckleduster was a gift from nick and phoebe, purchased from the always delightful shop at the v&a.

of course, the day after this photo was taken, i left it in the ladies' loos of an east end pub then had to go back there THE NEXT DAY [luckily] to get it after a short phone chat with one of the barstaff 'i left a leopard ring... oh that's yours? it's amazing!...thanks'

here, in a close-up taken in the lock tavern's biergarten, john is wearing his TIGER tee in the background for multi-cat impact.

LEO IN LEOPARD

madonna dining out in a slinky, silvery grey dress by the glam-leopard maestros themselves, dolce&gabbana last week. they know that leopard sells season after season and that italians do it better.

BRODY DALLE: fierce in fishnets

on thursday night i went to see spinnerette headline camden's electric ballroom and got all teenage-crush over frontlady brody dalle again.

i was a massive distillers fan (their final album coral fang was released in 2003) and was mesmerised by their ferocious-voiced, bloody-mouthed singer/guitarist. she was so punk rock that she dyed her naturally blonde hair black and ran away to LA from Melbourne before she was 18. now she's back with a new album under the arachno-moniker spinnette (and i'll be writing about them more over at pamflet soon) and 6 years after the distillers, has stuck to her distinctive scene-style: leathers, spray-on jeans and torn tees.

leopard is not one of her wardrobe staples (everything black is), but when she does wear it (see old band pic above), it's with all the insouciant confidence of a woman who knows she's an icon: for all the kids who've bought a leopard tie in claire's accessories with their pocket money or shoplifted animal-print tights from market stalls everywhere from camden high street to harajuku.

EDIT 27/7! BRODY IN X2 LEOPARD EARLIER THIS YEAR

LEOPARD LAIR: the case of the footstool

phoebe took me to a ramshackle junk shop on bethnal green road a few months ago to look at retro crockery, but i could take or leave the cups and saucers after spying the footstool/vanity case in the corner. silky scarlet inside and leatherette outside, it belonged in betty page's boudoir, NOT collecting dust on bric-a-brac lane.

we left, but i couldn't stop thinking about it. so a week later i went back, bought it and carried it all the way home.

i've got nothing to wear

what's with all those crummy articles mags n blogs roll out year after year around this time on what to wear to weddings this summer as if you want to dress like everyone else who's flicked through the mail on sunday. i don't see why one has to conform to a boring wedding 'look' when weddings should another forum for experimenting with extravagant party frocks.

like the one above. THIS just cavalli dress is what i want to wear to the summer nuptials i attend this season. thick, exotically patterned satin, knee-length for a polite nod to modesty and one-shouldered to reveal just a temptation of bare flesh. hmm, shame it's sold out.

"I LOVE TO WEAR YOUR SHOES" [tiga, 2009]

image: me at bus stop

image: profile pic of nike air max leopards

am i a lucky girl or what? my darling friend annette got me this natty pair of pumped up sneakers for my birthday [which was in may, but the shoes only arrived in the post from the internetworld last month]. the top shot shows me admiring them while sat at the bus stop while the second pic shows a similar pair with fur rather than a smooth print that annette found while browsing for leopard gifts. i might not be able to run in them, but i can jump.

NO YOU SHAN'T GO TO THE BALL

image: mine

i was meant to go the last tuesday society fairytale ball on saturday night after madonna, but instead got stranded in the 'north greenwich' type area. if i hadn't got stuck and had made it along, i would've worn this, a silver-edged snow-leopard-patterned mask [the cheapest thing i could find on ebay] with my fake red bridesmaid dress from phoebe and nick's wedding and some leopard courts. whenever will i use it now?

ON THE SILVER SCREEN: ghost world (2001)

a little treat for a drizzly wednesday morning: enid in her leopard mini with black shirt with white collar from classic outsider-indie-girl flick (and one of my all-time-top 12), GHOST WORLD. i believe that this look can also be accessorised with a catwoman mask.

j'adore dior: yesterday's fall '09 couture show

image: www.style.com

yesterday, in the salon rooms of christian dior paris, this took place. i've just finished reading the delightful 1950s novel 'flowers for mrs harris' (a divine, aged hardback edition was a present from phoebe for my birthday - thank you phoebe!) in which a humble london cleaning lady becomes obsessed with owning a dior couture gown, saves up for a few years and then heads to the shop/rooms to get herself one. it renders the desire to have, to own something utterly beautiful and unique and expensive that would live in your wardrobe like nothing i've ever read before.

on seeing the image above, i imagined myself as mrs 'arris at the show yesterday, gasping when this dress was walked down the carpet and scribbling in my notebook 'look number 12, TEMPTYTION!!'

TAKE A BOW

this fancy little number just arrived from asos.com. thankfully i waited for the sale before buying it because who knows when i'll ever get around to using it. could maybe wear it as a bowtie too. versatile. i know that big bows are ultra'08, worn til untied by long-healthy-flippy-haired skins-teens, but i do think that because we neglected headgear for so long, some of these hat-ish trends (which have come from the streets and not the catwalk) will stick. like leggings (praise be!).

STOP PRESS: lily on safari

truth be told kittens, i'm not a lily fan... well certainly not of her west ldn pop-lite anyway, but i had to post these pics up as soon as i saw them [i was looking up something for work!and didn't scroll as far as the comments because i knew they'd offend me].

this is lilz on stage at werchter in beligium yesterday - i don't know why she chose the purple loungesuit for glasto and saved this for the lowlands, maybe because she would've looked like she was trying to be GAGA? with the blunt fringe-wig look and poppin' red lippie she's so pin-up and i'm sure this brasserie is dolce&gabbana. it can't have been that hot if she's wearing leggings, so she's making a style statement that i absolutely MUST acknowledge. fur real.