HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Photo by Andy Grieve

I will start 2012 with an apology - I have been badly neglecting my blogging duties.
I have been busy, I promise, and you know how Christmas takes over everything (especially for me aka Mrs.Christmas as my friends call me!) from about November.

So now I don't know where to start... or end for that matter!

I want to tell you about the tours, appearences, goodies I've gathered but it will take so much time and I don't want to bore you so instead I'll give you the rest of the 2011 in pictures and the odd video ending with us headlining and curating New Year's Eve at the almighty Royal Festival Hall - what a way to end the year/ start the new one!

OCTOBER
Was the month of my favourite show to date - KOKO
Here's two videos by Fashot TV of the leadup to the gig:

The first half I wore a dress made specially for the event by Sam Cook aka Darkest Star which is so unique. I adore it and am incredibly grateful and honoured for all Sam's hard work.

Photo by A R Harvey

The second dress was fresh from Inbar Spector's latest collection -lucky me!!

Photo by Gem Hall

We had a BIG band that night! Photo by Saul

It was PACKED and the audience blew me away! Photo by Gem Hall

We were joined by dancers, aerialists, brass band, Songlines Choir and Carnival Collective samba band. Photo by Gem Hall

NOVEMBER
For one day only little ole me was a real model...
I did a wonderful fashion shoot for the lovely Kundalini Arts who design stunning scarves that I am a big fan of. The photographer was a real pro and I loved working with her and what she got out of me. Emma Crosby styled the shoot and Jeni Dodson did the hair and makeup- what a great team. I had a lovely day and am so happy with the shots- more coming soon!

PHOTOGRAPHER - ANUSHKA MENON.
SILK SCARF - KUNDALINI ARTS.
JACKET - INBAR SPECTOR.
RING - IMOGEN BELFIELD.
GLASSES - RETRO SUPER FUTURE

PHOTOGRAPHER - ANUSHKA MENON.
SILK SCARF - KUNDALINI ARTS.
JACKET - ALICE PALMER.

To get an idea of what might be coming up here are some behind the scenes pics -

Wig by Annabelles Wigs

Next up was a big show at Royal Festival Hall supporting the mad Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra. I am in a gorgeous dress by Alice Palmer and hair accessories by Now Voyager:

Photos by Gem Hall

Then we went on tour to Holland and Germany... (All photos by the lovely Gem Hall)

GRONINGEN. 'Ruff' by Jane Elliot , Ring as hair accessory by Sweet Trash

UTRECHT. Dress by Beyond Retro, Hair accessories by Now, Voyager!

ROTTERDAM. Dress by Beyond Retro, Wig by Annabelles Wigs, Feathered Headband by Her Curious Nature

RADIO SESSION. Ridiculous sillyness in Annabelles Wigs and my Elizabeth Lau pom pom dress.

AMSTERDAM. Dress - Beyond Retro

Hanging out in MUNICH. Coat & Turban - EBAY

Band picture. EINDHOVEN. I'm in a Kundalini Arts silk scarf and Bolongaro Trevor Jacket

DECEMBER
This was a busy month and I didn't have time to take many pictures but we started the month releasing a Christmas single:

Then it was CHRIIIISSSSSTMAAAAS! I had a lovely family one - lots of food, games, good company, movies and lovely presents!!
My dad blew us away by getting all his daughters a very special first edition book by A.A.Milne (it's been an hard year for him as he had a major health scare and operation but he has come out the other end in amazing form and better than he has been in decades so it was emotional Christmas for him). Mum did an incredible portrait of Hobbes for Stephen and I which she got framed beautifully too.

Judy Young is available for commissions by the way.... ;)

Everyone was very generous this year and Stephen really spoilt me with a sewing machine, wooden stamps, a beautiful silk collar (that I wore on NYE), jewellery and the whole Harry Potter DVD Collection! YES!

Then to top off a brilliant, busy year we finished 2011 at the Royal Festival Hall surrounded by family and friends. The perfect end to a pretty perfect year.

Me and the family watching the fireworks from RFH! I'm wearing the silk collar I got for Christmas and Annabelles Wigs.

My brother and I. I'm 'in disguise' in a dress from Vintage Secret and another of Annabelles Wigs.

PS. The theme was Hollywood Glamour!

I might add some pictures of our gigs that night when they come through so check back in a few days too!

So... 2012... it will be another busy year and a lot of change for me - new team, new album coming, new songs to perform, new designers to wear and support and hopefully lots of lovely new people to meet along the way.

I hope you all had a lovely holidays and are ready and excited for the new year.
Oodles of love and fireworks,
Gabble012
Xox

London Fashion Week!

Hello everyone,I'm back!I finished touring the States last week, got home for a couple of days of jetlagged rest, then headed off to Barcelona and Switzerland before making it back in time to catch the last couple of days of LFW. Somehow my touring schedule has always clashed with the last few seasons, so I haven't managed to attend any shows for ages.But all the lovely folk at Vauxhall Fashion Scout still remembered me, even Bob, working on security!They always look after me so well an get me front row seats-thankyou! It was so nice to finally catch up with some of the designers who I support and who've lent me their wonderful clothes for gigs and photoshoots. There were so many wonderful people I got to touch base with, I can't possibly mention them all, but here are a few. First up, lovely Nicola Woods of Beautiful Soul , whose kimono pieces I loved wearing on tour in Tokyo.She did a quick interview with me which you can see here, by Oliver Prout.

Next, the amazingly talented Jeffrey Michael who creates fabulous light-up costumes and set pieces-look out for something very special from him for our big gig at Koko in October!

Monday night I got to see Jasper Garvida's show and meet the designer himself and his partner Neil afterwards.I've been a fan of Jasper's for years and hope to wear some of his pieces soon. Ziad Ghanem's show was amazing-so theatrical, like a piece of performance art, featuring incredible corseted dresses.

The highlight of LFW for me though was Inbar Spector's incredible show.I've worked with Inbar for a long time now and have been lucky enough to wear her dresses for a number of shows- (there's a picture of me on stage in Holland in one of her creations below). This show was full of Inbar's signature volume and textures, masses of tulle and gold leather, I can't wait to wear some of it!Everything about the show-from the music to the make-up- was brilliantly theatrical, creative and totally original;just how fashion should be in my opinion!I was sitting with my stylist Katie and we really felt that we were witnessing a star being born, it was quite emotional!For the last few dresses,we kept thinking every one must be the finale piece as they just kept getting more and more spectacular-see for yourself!

me wearing Inbar Spector in Holland-photo by Thijmen Sietsma

I'll leave you with the new collection from one of my favourite day-wear designers, Elizabeth Lau. Her videos always reflect perfectly the playful,cheeky and timelessly stylish quality of both her clothes and her personality- the songs and the model's dancing are ridiculously catchy!

Photos from the USA!

Here's a quick peak at a couple of my stage outfits from the first few US gigs-both dresses from the vintage haven Beyond Retro.This is a shoot from The Hotel Cafe in Hollywood! Photos by Brian C. Janes for Buzzine, see the full gallery here, and a few bonus shots on the photographer's website here.

And below are some shots by Iancinerate of our gig at Amoeba records in Hollywood, another great dress from Beyond Retro!

As always, thanks to all the photographers who capture our performances on the road- if you have pics of any shows please do share them with us on facebook or twitter!

Now we're in Milwaukee about to do another show then we have a few days off  before hitting the road again for some east coast tours I will be enjoying spending the next few days in my pajamas!! ;)
Take care kiddlywinks
xox

Beautiful frocks from Juno Says Hello

Hello animals!Just a quick post while I'm on the road in America to show you some of the gorgeous vintage frocks I borrowed from Juno Says Hello for my recent performances in Europe.

The sequin details on this blue dress are stunning!

I love this pink 1950s dress.Worn with some of the lovely hair pieces NowVoyager sent me. Many thanks to Rebecca at Juno Says Hello, Felicity at Now Voyager and Gemma Hall who took these photographs.

Larmer Tree Festival

Here's a lovely little video of Stephen and me performing 'Whose House are you in'(or 'Whose Tent are you in' as it became!), at Larmer Tree Festival this weekend. We drove down for the day which took a while as we kept getting lost, but Katie and her boyfriend came along for the ride, armed with plenty of Percy Pigs, so it was a fun road trip!Here are some pics Katie took of the set too.

Vintage finds & goodies galore...

Hello!
I've actually got some time off- for the first time this year... I'm not gigging, recording etc etc for a week so I got my first chance to go shopping- vintage shopping to be exact (my favourite)! Since losing all my luggage on American Airlines (thousands of pounds of vintage, one offs and bespoke items) I have been not only gutted but in despair of what's left in my wardrobe so I have been de-cluttering bigtime. I am selling off 50% of my clothes and other random belongings that were gathering dust on the shelves. I'll keep you posted on where the sale will be but it's looking likely that Battersea Car Boot is about to be Gabby-fied!

ANYWAY

The clearout did clear some space for some new treasures and Katie Antoniou of London Plinth advised me to visit the £20 sale at 123 Vintage where you cram all you can into a large bag for £20, or £10 for a smaller bag. Katie went on the first day and very kindly picked up 3 dresses for me- all of which are GORGEOUS!

Stunning pink ballgown.

Floor length blue cocktail dress.

This needs work and a iron but great potential!

So of course I travelled through the rain to get there on my first day off- I needed retail therapy and £20 couldn't be better spent!
I found lots of great things - my favourites are:

Gorgeous 50s swing skirt

Purple tailored trousers

 (that you can't really see - but they're great!)

Great destructured wool top and black cotton breeches

A bad pic of blue checked skirt and white shirt

I bought home a kids dress...

Cut it in half...

Voila!

How very 80s of me!

 I also got a black velvet prom dress, a white and black netted hat, silk white shirt with birds on it, white braces for my man and a black and white velvet dress!

That's Tigger my mum's dog!

There were a few items that have now added to my 'for sale' pile but I think I did very well for £20!

 Another thing I have missed a lot from the luggage disappearance is my makeup- all my products from Illamasqua that I blogged about here were in that bag.... :(
However they have now replaced all lost items and more- I am so excited by my new kit and have already had 2 gigs for trying out the new colours and pieces and love them... THANKYOU ILLAMASQUA!

 Also as I blogged about before- I got some other amazing goodies...
Hairpieces from Annabelles Wigs who have named a wig after little ole me!

Which you can get now (just click on the picture). I am so excited to be the first to have this and I wore it at Festival Mundial in Holland last week for the show and for meeting fans and eating cupcakes made by the famous and charming Dutch chef Rudolph Van Veen . Huge thanks to Annabelles Wigs- I can't believe how perfect the match to my hair is! And now I don't have to hide under a hat when my roots get bad and I have no money/ time to sort them- yey!

Photo by Gem Hall

This picture might just end up in Rudolph's new cookbook!! Which reminds me our lovely Gem Hall (my official photographer and tour manager) was in The Telegraph this week with her amazing picture of Nell from Gifford's Circus:

GO GEM!!

ALSO Now Voyager sent me a whole load more gorgeous, colourful things for my hair... I love them all! Butterflys, birds and flowers (which I wore at Mundial Festival to lots of great comments!)

Here's a fan video of me wearing all three -Illamasqua makeup, Annabelles Wigs' 'Gabby' headpiece and Now Voyager flower fascinators!

Woh! I haven't done a long blog in a while... and now I'm doing two- come see what I'm up to in my new interiors blog Living On A Shoestring too...

Take care ladies and gents (I know there is at least one man who reads this! ;) )

Adieu!
Xox
Gabs