FASHION: And the bells were ringing out for christmas day

Hello all

Festivities are well underway, as is the month of December! Even though it's only the 9th of the festive month, I have already been to 3 Christmas parties. These were all work related parties, so it was a nice excuse to dress up & have fun with my colleagues. Two of the three parties were in hired out clubs, thus my outfits reflected that, & the third party was much more formal, however as I work in events I was in charge of running the party, hence why my outfit wasn't as fabulous as last years outfit, which you can read about here.

That being said, my colour scheme has not changed at all since last year as you will see below! Having three parties was really enjoyable, as although I'm not into going 'all out' when getting ready (by this I mean fake tan, false nails, getting my hair done professionally), I did enjoy spending time getting ready!

Here are the 3 outfits I wore:

Topman party

Dress  - H&M | Boots - Lavish Alice | Bag - Vivienne Westwood

 Vivienne Westwood Party

Shirt (under dress) - Primark | Tartan Dress - TKMAXX (old) | Bowler Hat - Topshop | Shoes - Dr. Marten 

Topshop / Arcadia Party

Top - MissSelfridge | Peplum Pencil Skirt - River Island | Bag - Vivienne Westwood | Shoes - Vivienne Westwood

As I mentioned previously, my colour scheme has stayed with black, white & red!

The first outfit was very sixties inspired with the monochrome & the platforms, so I did a mini bouffant, half up half down hair style.

For the VW party, as I was working practicality had to come before glamour, but I threw in some tartan as afterall, it was Vivienne Westwood!

Finally, the Topshop party outfit. Although I really liked all the outfits, but I think I felt most confident in the last outfit, as I had the longest to get ready! I also managed to stay in the heels for a good 2 hours, which is pretty good for me! I also liked the illusion of an LBD, with a top & skirt combo.

Here are some more pictures of the 3 nights, included my makeup, nails & my fabulous friend.

 Me & Damien before the Topman party

 Prepping before the Topshop party. Hair in hot rollers, Kiss eyelashes in 'Flirt' & 'Russian Red' lipstick by M.A.C

Nails for the Topshop party. 'Matte White' & Black nail art pen, both from Barry M

Finished hair & make up. Disclaimer: I am wearing a strapless dress, I am not naked!

Because everyone looks better in Black & White!

So I'm all done with work Christmas parties now, but I do have some festive plans with my friends as many of them are back from uni so I can't wait to be all festive with them. I'm using my events planning skills, & have lots planned for us for the rest of December plus into January!

OOTD: Tartan Tales

Hello All

Having only done one ‘OOTD’ post before that I didn’t even show my face in, which you can read here , I thought another ‘proper’ OOTD post was much needed!

As you all know, tartan is huge this A/W. From High end, to High Street, tartan is taking over many shops, editorials & my earlier wishlist this month, which you can readhere.

I’ve been a fan of tartan for a long time. For my thirteenth birthday I wore a tartan strapless dress with a tutu underneath (may I point out I was going through my gothic phase, that hasn’t quite finished yet, but is a lot less extreme! My fashion role model was Avril Lavgine). For my last day at high school, I wore a tartan kilt, Dr. Martens and fishnets, resulting in a telling off & being told, & I quote ‘Punk Rock died in the 80s’ by my head of year.

This however didn’t deter me! Featured in my aforementioned birthday/ October wishlist, & seen across the bloggersphere, I have been coveting that Primark tartan dress for a long time now. Having looked in my local store, plus in both the Marble Arc & Tottenham Court Road ones, I had little success. That was however, until this Sunday. This ‘quick trip, just to browse’ in Primark resulted in a small haul &the dress, at last!

The below outfit I wore to a wedding, not your typical wedding attire I’d say, however I felt totally comfortable, danced the night away as my feet didn’t hurt & hats are appropriate for weddings!

 Hat - Topshop | Tartan Dress - Primark | Striped Satchel - Primark | Matte White Shoes - Dr. Martens

 Lipstick - Russian Red by M.A.C

Silver Rings - various from H&M & The Great Frog | Nails - Matte White Barry M & Black Nail Art Pen Barry M

This dress, (which is only £15!) is a perfectly flattering shape. With the slightly puffed shoulders, nipped in waist & loose skirt, I found it to be a really great fit. This is not the original dress I set out for. I initially liked the darker red & green tartan version. However seeing it i n person changed my mind. I love this dress, so expect to see more of it in the coming months!

The satchel caught my eye in the queue (clever marketing Primark team!). It;s really striking, & since using it a few times, it's uber practical too!

My shoe collection is getting out of hand, with this being my third pair in a month. But Dr. Marten's are really well made shoes, & are good for the feet too. So far, I haven't even scuffed these matte white ones, & they look perfect still! Let's see how long that lasts, eh?

Having wanted a bowler style hat for a very long time, I finally got one. I love it. I've hardly taken it off since I got it.

The nails were a bit of a pain. They aren't the neatest, hence the slightly far away, unfocused shot! But you can see that I painted them matte white, & used the Barry M black nail art pen to do half moons & tips. Not bad for a first attempt!

I hope you enjoyed my first 'proper' OOTD. Lately I feel I've found my 'signature style' so hope to do more OOTD posts on here!

Wednesday Wish List

Hello All,

Long time no posting I know. I have been so busy with work at London & Paris fashion week (I'll be posting my Paris Fashion Week/ trip post soon so watch this space!)

This month things should calm down more so I'm hoping to post more regularly and launch my new monthly feature, which I'm very excited for!

October also sees two of my favoutire things; my Birthday & Halloween! I'll be 20 soon, which is kind of scary as it feel like I have to actually grow up & be an adult! As my birthday falls so close to Halloween, it's always been my favourite holiday, so expect to see some Halloween inspired make-up, outfit & event ideas.

But for today's post, I thought I would do a 'Wednesday Wish List' as it's my birthday coming up!

  Clockwise from top left: Black Skort- Amazon | Tartan Dress - Primark | Feline top - eBay | 'Nouveau Grunge' - Zara | Monochrome 'Smile' tote bag - eBay | White Dr. Marten's - Dr. Martens | White Skort - Amazon

 So, as usual, it's very monochrome heavy! I tried on a skort in Zara in Paris (I'm not going to stop talking about Paris for at least a month so sorry in advance!) & they are so flattering, so black & white made it onto my wish list. 

This tartan dress I first saw on Millie of She Hearts The High Street in this post. I love red tartan, and this peter pan collar and black bow combined with the flattering shape really appealed to me. Funnily enough, it also appealed to my Nan, who dresses really well! Watch out for a cute Nan & Granddaughter matching dress shot soon ;)

Next, two slogan tops. I really like white tops, with black & white imagery/ slogans on them as they can be easily dressed up or down. The 'Feline' one is perfect for a cat lover & a nice play on the very popular on the bloggersphere 'Celine' top. Similarly, the 'Nouveau Grunge' tee is really nice. I don't usually wear white t-shirts, I don't know why. I think they make me look somewhat un-feminine. However having tried this on (again in le gay paris) it is actually a really nice cut and fabric, meaning it hangs nicely. 

Another 'Celine' inspired item here. Although I do love my Mulberry bag, this monochrome tote bag caught my eye on eBay. They also do a monochrome skull embossed one, but perhaps I should leave my goth girl at home sometimes!

Last, but by no means least, my number one item on my birthday wish list is a pair of matte white Dr. Marten shoes. I have really disproportionate-to-my-height small feet, a size 4 and I'm 5 foot 6, which is equally good & bad in ways. Bad, because I believe it's the reason I am so clumsy. But good, because it means I can get away with big clumpy shoes yet my dainty little feet don't look monstrously big! I already have a few pairs of Doc's, but these white pair look so cool, I hope I can pull them off!

These are all my realistic birthday wish list items, of course on my 'dream' birthday wish list there is a lot of McQueen. A girl can dream eh? I've been really lusting after a McQueen skull scarf for a while now, maybe one day I'll save up and treat myself. I also really like the enamel skull bangle from McQueen too, but both items are very expensive for a scarf & a bracelet, I can't justify it at the moment.

As promised, I really will try and post more regularly! Hope you all have a fabulous week...

Film Fashion Inspiration: Clueless

Hello all

Welcome to the second 'Film Fashion Inspiration'. For this feature I thought I would connect it to my previous post on Vamps, which you can read here, and feature another film directed by Amy Heckerling, with costuming again by Mona May. This week, nineties iconic film 'Clueless' is my source of 'Film Fashion Inspiration'.

 My Mum introduced me to this film when I was quite young & I have ever since wanted Cher's, played by Alicia Silverstone, interactive wardrobe! The costuming, especially Cher's, is so iconic & a continual inspiration for designers and fashionistas alike. I particularly love the tartan accents, which is going to be huge this AW, backing up my previous point about 'Clueless' being a source of inspiration always & the fashion being relevant, & also ahead of it's time. 

I feel that Cher nails how to channel grunge in a classy way! Her wealth & status is made obvious in her fashion choices, yet it is always fashion forward & often daring, or incredibly unique. She takes the edginess of grunge, yet puts a high fashion twist on it.

 

Below I have created some 'Clueless' inspired outfits, I hope you enjoy!

left look: knee high socks-Topshop | tartan dress with built in top- Miss Selfridge | Mary Jane shoes- New Look

right look: white shirt-Topshop | black mesh skirt- Topshop | tartan crop top- Miss Selfridge

 left to right: sheer black peplum shirt- Miss Selfridge | grey tartan skirt- Miss Selfridge | cross necklace - Topshop | white vest - Topshop

Although I do love a bit of tartan, to channel my inner punk / grunge kid, I prefer the more grunge Cher as seen in the bottom collage. This is definitely something that I would wear, in fact I am tempted to buy the sheer shirt & I think the grey, black & white tartan is a nice way to incorporate the trend if the red, green and yellow 'traditional' tartan is too garish for you.

As I mentioned, tartan is going to be huge over the next few months. We are in that awkward, transitional period in shops at the moment. It's still SS13 (for a little bit at least!), yet stores are beginning to put AW13 stock online & on the shop floors. I went into Dorothy Perkins recently, a shop that admittedly I had never really paid too much attention too, feeling that it was the mothers equivalent to Topshop. However , I could have spent a fortune in there! I think I liked almost every item of the new collection. With tartan, studs and leather accents, it was definitely my style! Similarly, all high street shops are embracing AW13, so expect to see tartan aplenty! I know I will certainly be investing in some tartan soon!

I hope you liked this edition of 'Film Fashion Inspiration', let me know what films inspires your fashion choices, or any that you think I should check out!