blogroll special #6: lola is beauty

First Blogroll Special of 2013. Let's start the year with a lady of elegance. 
Claire from Lola is Beauty has kindly accepted to answer my questions with her trademark wordsmithery. Reading her blog is a joyful experience for the mind, she'll take you on her London adventures and beyond. To me, there's something quite "Charles Ryder" about her: the sophistication, the love of culture and the celebration of fine food.
On top of that, she has impeccable style and if you have a bit of cash to splurge, have a gander around her shop. There she sells collected items from her travels and timeless pieces of clothing.
Now, less gushing and more interviewing!

1. What does blogging mean to you? In a world of instagram, twitter, facebook, etc what makes you still hit the button publish today? 

Blogging feels more concrete and less fleeting now that instagram and twitter are there to soak up the daily ephemera of life. (I don't like facebook at all.) Usually when I blog about something, it's something I saw or did that was out of the ordinary. I'll be compelled to post about something in exactly the same way that I'd tell a friend about something interesting.

It's also a good way to remember what I did and where I've been, as I have a terrible memory. 

2. What's the story behind your blog? How did you come to blog?

It was August 2005. I'd just started getting into reading one or two of the few fashion blogs around then and had a strong feeling of I need one of my own, now! So I just set up a blogger account and started posting. I didn't really know what I was doing, or where it would go. The name came from my cat, Lola, who is a real beauty. I toyed with lots less silly, more clever sounding names, but I really didn't think it over too much. My first posts were about Lola, then I was in Paris for fashion week and held off from posting about the shows or taking any photos at them - as I thought I might get into trouble and not be invited the next season! How things have changed...

3. Where do you live and do you feel your city influences your blog? If so, In what way?

I live in London and I was born here, so I suppose it must influence the blog, though I often find myself posting much more about my travels than about here. It might be a 'can't see the wood for the trees' kind of thing: maybe I am so London that I can't objectively see what is London?! I hardly ever post about what I'm doing in London to be honest! 

4. What is your favourite book...

Well I've been obsessed with Diana Vreeland for about 20 years, so I'd have to say her memoirs, D.V. Virginia Woolf's Selected Diaries is always by my bedside as well. 

... and film?

There are so many films I love; I really adore it as a medium. There's no way I could pick just one. Recently I saw the new Jacques Audiard film Rust & Bone (E&PP: the interview was conducted in October) and was blown away by it. Other than that, classic Woody Allen (esp. Annie Hall) and '80s brat pack films (esp. Pretty in Pink) are my go-tos to watch again and again, but I'll get really excited about anything from a random documentary to a Studio Ghibli animation. Films are my happy place. 

5. What are your favourite things to do on a sunday afternoon?

Sleep! Mooch around with friends, get something to eat and a glass of red wine.

Thank you Claire for this lovely read! All pictures belong to Lola is Beauty (collages by me).

Discover some of my other favourite bloggers in the previous blogrolls: La Mignonette, Simple Village Girl, Human Sea, Keitii-Chan and Thrills & Frills.