The One and Only Coco

Now we all know that there are a whole heap of fashion blogs out there which cover anything from fashion shows to the latest trends and what celebrities are wearing. However not all of them possess the passion and knowledge that you will find in Coco's Tea Party. Set up 2006, the blog looks at the parallels between fashion and celebrities and the popular hit and miss feature scrutinises the wardrobes of the rich and famous. I caught up with Coco to find out the real deal about Coco's Tea Party.

What made you start blogging?

I don't really remember why I started and to be honest I never planned to. I was just bored one day, and I get through magazines so quickly I thought it would be something constructive to do while waiting for the new issues to come out. But over time I really got into it and now it is much more than just filling time.

Describe the concept behind Coco's Tea Party.

Well my ideas change all the time. When I first started Coco's Tea Party was probably 80% celebrity fashion and it's probably more 50/50 between celebrity and designer now.

You always have an interesting image on the header, how do you go about choosing it?

Well since I came up with the 'We'd rather go naked' quote I always choose images of naked celebrities. It is slightly odd when googling to look for a new one. The first naked star I had was Chloe Sevigny and I loved that header. I changed it to Lindsay Lohan once and there was outrage, so that one only last about 24 hours - it will never be her again. At the moment it is Madonna and I don't think I'll change it for a while.

How do you think bloggers have made an impact on the media?

I think the speed you can get a story out and the fact it is free to read has probably impacted it the most. I often see stories in weekly magazines (which I won't name) where they claim to have just discovered something and it has normally been on some one's blog weeks before. I think it's nice to have the option to read both blogs and magazines - I wouldn't pick one over the other, they each have their strong points.

What do you do when you are not working on your blog?

If I'm not working on my blog I am probably doing work for my degree in Fashion Journalism. I don't think a day goes by where I don't write about fashion at some point. But outside of writing at the moment I am seriously obsessed with watching Brothers & Sisters, I could do that all day.

Describe a typical day.

The first thing I do when I wake up is go online. I don't think I have a 'typical' day as such but there will normally be blogging involved. Haha.

Name your top fashion icons.

This is hard; I love Diane Kruger, Nicole Richie, Mary-Kate Olsen, Carine Roitfeld and Chloe Sevigny. There are so many women. I love Rachel Zoe's look too, the 1970s is one of my favourite decades for fashion so I love how she references it so strongly in her style. I always go back to Ashley Olsen and Sarah Jessica Parker when I need inspiration though.

Name five blogs that you read religiously.

Fashionista, Fashionologie, Just Jared, Lainey Gossip and Discotheque Confusion as me and Stevie started blogging around the same time and I always love to see what she's doing.

How do you see Coco's Tea Party evolving over the next two years?

I don't really have a plan with Coco's Tea Party, and I never had which odd for me as I'm so OCD. It's the only thing that I've ever just let float along. I would like some magazines to give the blog a mention, which I know isn't really that important but it would be quite flattering, especially as I've been writing for almost three years now.

Influence - Ashley Olsen & Mary-Kate Olsen

Mary-Kate Olsen describes her twin sister Ashley Olsen as someone who is passionate, driven and with great integrity while she is feisty with a maverick demeanor. This is highlighted immensely in their new book in which they share their historic influences. The mammoth coffee table book is aptly titled, Influence and shows these two ladies of style celebrating their icons. We all know the story of the Olsen twins; famous before they could even breathe they landed a slot on the TV show, Full House before they were even a year old. Before the show ended in 1993 they began to build their brand and lent their name to clothes, perfumes, books and magazines - you name it and chances are Mary-Kate and Ashley were on the cover of it. Over the last few years as they have become young women, The Olsens have become style icons with Mary-Kate leading the way with her waify boho-chic look which some people refer to as ashcan. Last year the twins launched a hip and contemporary clothing line called Elizabeth and James, so I suppose the release of this book was inevitable. 

The Olsens undertook all the interviews themselves in cities such as New York, Paris and LA and spoke to fashion's finest such as Karl Lagerfeld, Diane Von Furstenburg, Lauren Hutton, John Galliano, Margherita Missoni, Christian Laboutin and many many more. Each interview is accompanied by wonderful and vivid images taken by uber photographer, Rankin.  However, it is not just the images that make this book tick; the typography which is used abundantly is just beautiful to look at. 

While Mary-Kate plays her part this is very much Ashley's book in the fact that she has done most of the interviews and has written the introduction although Mary-Kate gets the last word with the conclusion. The scrap book like pages of the twins when they were younger and more recently in various on trend poses are very cute. I also really dig the the fact that they have used different textures for their pages; Mary-Kate's is a glossy matte while Ashley's has a much rougher texture. Even the images are a world apart - the ones on Ashley's pages are slightly off beat and quite grungy while Mary-Kate's reek of pure high end glamour. I just adore the Polaroid images in the book particularly the ones on the inside front and back. Gorgeous, gorgeous book that any fashion or photography lover would be proud to have in their collection. I am not an Olsen fan but this book might just convert me. 

NB: It has just come to light that Influence has two version, one for Ashley and the other for Mary-Kate hence the different covers and slants.