Sunday 29 July 2012

I'm a barbie girl...

Miss Selfridge now have a cute little range of Barbie inspired clothes. From patterned tee’s, leggings to bodies, the pretty range has captured Barbie lovers attention. Great for summer with festivals and holidays- or if like me you thought you had to do fancy dress as Barbie.

 


Miss Selfridge’s Barbie body suit only £25 (above and below). Below image courtesy of Miss Selfridge.
 

To see the full collection complete with the childhood princess that captured any little girl’s hearts visit MissSelfridge here.

Sunday 8 July 2012

Patriotic Fashion...

So we are post-Jubilee fever now, but with the Olympics looming pretty close it’s hard to escape the sense of British patrotism.
Anything from Union Jack leggings (which look amazing on the very tall and slim) to printed shorts (I’ve lost count the amount of times I’ve seen a different variation of a Union jack short) and vast amount of blood red, royal blue and pure white.

But up the patrotism a little…

Back in 2010-2011 I made this dress. Ahead of the current trends that are in line with the Jubillee, Olympics and sporting competitions; I made it in line with patrotic themes on the runway, which cave the way for tribal themes or stars and stripes motifs, what about a little red, white and blue for us English folk?

Also note the short front and long back to the skirt- another correct trend prediction a slightly more structured shape of the dipped hems everywhere on the high-street at the moment. (The skirt had to be a more structured style to show the Union Jack print lining).
Using no pattern at all, the dress was completely designed by me and tailored to perfectly fit my model. Possibly one of my proudest achievements; it did pose a big challenge at the time. Queue dozens of photo’s…

 


 




 



 


 


 


Friday 6 July 2012

Miranda Kerr... beautiful playful photography

Miranda Kerr makes her debut inside British Vogue this July looking absolutely fabulous. Well, would you expect anything less from the Victoria’s secret model? Will Davinson photographed her for Vogue in her hometown of Sydney. She posed with the backdrop of famous Sydney landmarks and with her just as gorgeous little son.


Image courtsey of vogue.
A truly amazing photo, I just couldn’t resist the blog about it. I think it has to be one of my favourite photo’s of Miranda and possibly this summer.  She wears an Azzedine Alaïa cropped top and matching skirt.



The photo has a playful edge; it reminds me of the Corinne Day photography of Kate Moss before the heroin chic period where the photo’s where innocent, fun and happy.


Above image of Kate Moss shot by Corinne Day.

Above image taken by Juergen Teller of a happy Kate Moss.

Thursday 5 July 2012

The first bikini... 1946

This day in history is marked in the fashion world for a creation that changed society and is something that is a constant part of summer. According to many sources, the world saw the first ever bikini on July 5 1946; when the French designer Louis Reard introduced the creation at a beauty event.
Due to society's opinions at the time of such garments, he found it difficult to recruit a model willing to wear his new clothes. Stripe dancer from Casino de Paris Micheline Bernardini wore it at the show.

After the American atomic bomb test the week before on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, the name arose for Reard's invention. Another French designer Jacques Heim presented his version of the bikini naming it the 'Atom' after te bomb as well.


I actually really like Reard's bikini, higher bikini bottoms than the current but in a skimpy style. So swimwear has ironically been on quite a journey itself...

Wednesday 4 July 2012

Independence Day

Tribal treats

Dazzling with tassels, River Island stylises the tribal trend. The pink, fringed suede duffle bag has beaded embellishment in tribal tones. Absolutely lovely, can transform a casual outfit or even festival chic keeping your valuables safe in a fashionable way.


Image courtesy of River Island.

Take the tribal trend to your toes with these River Islands beaded sandals. A colour option in black or brown, but I love this tan ones with red, gold, brown and cream beaded embellishment and fringing.
Image courtesy of River Island.

A printed crop top in aztec print; slightly brighter than the more coventional ideas of tribal fashion. A racer back style vest, worn with a cute pair of denim shorts or cut-offs for the perfect casual tribal style.
Image courtesy of Topshop.

Miss Selfridge's embellished hotpants have embroidery on them, to add a triba theme to them. Being light wash denim they are great for the summer and perfect to go with everything.
Image courtesy of Miss Selfridge.

Cute little printed patterned shorts by City by Windsor. Pocket detailing and a little fabric- they are perfect to achieve both the tribal and the pattern trends over the summer months.

Image courtesy of polyvore.

To do the trend on a more subtle level, this bracelet is ideal. Bright, coloured, beaded and totally cute.

Image courtesy of Wet Seal bracelets.

These tribal style sandals are definitely on my wish-list. With multi-coloured bead embellishment and strappy style they are great. 



Image curtesy of Miso at Republic

Flying the flag... Union Jack lashes

Katy Perry touched down in the UK for her London premiere of Katy Perry: Part of Me at Leicester Square last night, June 3. In true extravagant ways, Katy got patriotic with Union Jack eyelashes. As cool as they look I don’t know how she managed to even keep her eyes open- they must have been so heavy! What do you make of the wacky lashes?


Image courtesy of twitter (@katyperry).

London's Calling... YOU

London's Calling... YOU


Peter Pilotto blue lace dress / Jones + Jones red dress / Paul's Boutique skull t shirt, $39 / Printed legging / High heel sandals, $63 / Ring, $9.40

Tuesday 3 July 2012

Oxfam Initiative... Fashion help

A lot of people ; probably most of which are not in the fashion industry associate it with arrogant, shallow people aka Devil Wears Prada but worse with cruel, bitchy ways. Of course there are people like that, but that's most industries? And there certainly are people who care in the fashion industry. Proof! Well, the latest thing supported by the fashion industry is the Oxfam Initiative.

The United Nations have enlisted the help of fashion icons with the arm to improve the regulation of the international arms trade; preventing weapons from irresponsible owners. According to sources, the letter reads:

"Every year an average of two bullets for every person on this planet are produced... With so few global rules governing the arms trade, no one really knows where all those bullets will end up - or whose lives they will tear apart. Under the current system, there are less global controls on the sales of ammunition and guns than on bananas and bottled water. It's a ridiculous situation."

Keira Knightley, Vivienne Westwood, Jane Birkin, Sophie Dahl, Annie Lenox and Bianca Jagger are some of the celebrities that have signed the letter to go to the UN for a world government meeting today July 2. Whoever said the fashion industry did not back and support good things?

Fashion changes...Paris Haute Couture week: Raf Simons for Christian Dior & Versace returning its couture to the catwalk

Most of the fashion world have been talking about Raf Simons and the latest Dior collection. But what do you think?

The fashion world has moved forward lately, there has been a lot of change over the past few years from sarah Burton taking over as Creative Director of Alexander McQueen over two years ago to Raf Simons becoming the latest Head Creative Direction at Dior just three months ago. Although his final show at Jil Sander was stunning; the fashion industry still waited with baited breath.

Arguably the most famous collection of Dior has to be the New Collection of 1947. The elegant designs signalled a new era in fashion; although there were not neccesarily new concepts (Parisian couturiers had been designing similar garments during the war period). Sound similar? Raf Simons created a collection that striped it back to its most iconic moment. He draw inspiration from the past; demonstrating he understands the brand whilst stating the brand is entering a new era.

The iconic nipped in waist, bar jacket, emphasis on the natural curves of a woman, the elegance and lady appeal were marks on both the New Collection and Raf Simons latest work at Dior. Modernising the classic look of elegance; he styled his models in a way to contrast the elegance- more off-duty sleek hair and sweeping eye-shadow.

To be honest I think the collection is stunning, Raf Simons has done Dior proud and I believe his collection does exactly what he wanted: "I wanted it to be linked to the codes of Dior, but to have more energy." It definitely does that, the range has a clear nod Raf Simons knows where the story of Dior really begun but is ready to move it forward.


 

 


Change will again be seen. For the first time since 2004, Versace announced its return to the runways to presenting its couture line (in previous years it was intimate presentations or bespoke red carpet outfits) and if that wasn't enough it will launch it new Atelier Versace Jewellery collection. And they haven't failed to please, I am in love with this:



All images courtesy of vogue.co.uk.

Monday 2 July 2012

Lily Donaldson wearing Nina Rucci

Lily Donaldson attended Glamour’s 10th anniversary party in Madrid on June 26 looking well… very glamorous.  The English Rose wore the long black Grecian style gown by Nina Ricci. The dress had soft pleats and gathers to drape well; giving the dress simplistic beauty. The detailed shoulders continued to the back, embellished black lace- making black very pretty. Lily completed the minimalist look with red lips and minimal jewellery - only a small ring.



Gucci and Blake Lively


Image courtesy of graziadaily.co.uk

Having blogged about this summer’s colour: yellow I then saw more gorgeous pictures of Blake Lively in you’ve guessed it… yellow. Having been confirmed as the face of Gucci’s Premiere fragrance, she wore a bespoke Gucci gown in the first time to wear Gucci since this announcement to the premiere of her new film ‘Savages’. The pleated silk dress of pale lemon yellow with a gathered waist and halter-neck flaunted her stunning figure. She accessorised the yellow dress with turquoise earrings for a cool contrast and a beautiful fish plait. See yellow is this season’s colour…

Emma Stone in Chanel Pre- Spring/ Summer 2013

Los Angeles; the home of red carpets and celebrity fashion, but over the last few days fashion has delighted even more than usual. Take Blake Lively’s stunning Zuhair Murad gown to the LA premiere of ‘Savages’ and Emma Stone stole the show at the LA premiere of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ on June 28.

Wearing a Chanel pre-Spring/Summer 2013 dress and Christian Louboutin stilettos; she looked amazing.  The preview of the 2013 collection makes me so excited- looks like it is going to be another spectacular collection. With structured cap sleeves and velvet embellished detail contrasting the white of the dress, the dress still had a prom, girly feel with the net petticoat under the skirt that structured at the waist to give more of a tailored, volume.

 


Chanel never fails to impress what a cute dress (the rest of the collection is amazing too, take a look from the link above.) Image courtesy of eoline.com/

Yellow... Brighten your wardrobe

The summer months are about abandoning the wintery colours; so to dazzle in colour and make use of the sunglasses because the colour for this summer is definitely yellow.

Pale sorbet shades to bright canary yellow, you cannot go wrong. And surprisingly the cheerful colour makes you look tanned too- a win-win really. The sun colour makes me feel happy even writing about it and to be honest it’s not particularly a colour I would normally wear.

Take inspiration from designers who brightened their catwalks up for their Spring/ Summer 2012 collections.

Above: Yellow in the Just Cavalli collection.

Above: Nanette Lepore puts 'summer' into summer dress with this classic shape and cheerful colour.


Above: Mulberry makes socks and sandals the pastel shade of lemon look amazing.


Above: Lanvin takes on the playful colour in the menswear collection for Spring/Summer 2012.

Above: Showcased in the winter months as the fashion designers work ahead; this colour definitely brightened up the day- yellow once again on the Amare Sinh catwalk.

Above: the playfulness and fun colour colour captured the mood of Fendi's Spring/Summer 2012 collection as exactly that in their advertisment campaigns.
Make sure you inject a little sunshine into your wardrobe, afterall it is July now we should be in the heat of summer (notice the should there).
This gorgeous little borderie dress from Karen Millen has a sixties feel to it.

Or if you are on a tight budget- like me, you could always go for this bargain from H&M at only £7.99. As its plain you can style it how you want to and the skater style is fashionable at the moment but utlimately a classic shape and therefore not a fashion throw-away trend (although at that price it's not breaking the bank balance). Worn below with converse for a very casual daytime look.