First Outfit Post!

Finally, I got my camera up and running again and decided to go for an outfit post. I went to the V&A to do some research for my artwork, which is lovely because I think the V&A is amazing, and I managed to find exactly what I needed. Out of all the London Museums, it definitely has the most personality - probably the most eccentrically British museum I know.

Trousers - Zara

Tee Shirt - Topshop

Cardigan - H&M

Blazer - F&F at Tesco

Scarf - John Rocha at Debenhams

Watch & Bracelets - Vintage

I know its not the best put together outfit ever, but I really love the trousers and want to find as many different ways of wearing them as possible. My discovery today is that they only really go with flats, bummer.



The Five Things You Need Right Now, 26/10/10

Basically, its absolutely freezing right now. I'm sitting writing this post with a coat, two pairs of socks and scarf on, but my fingers are still so cold that I'm hitting the wrong key occasionally, so apologies for any inexcusable spelling mistakes. Taking this into account however, I thought I'd theme this post with what I need to keep warm and look half decent at the same time; its basically my winter wish list, cut short to five items.

ONE.

Sheepskin Detail Swing Duffle Coat, £150, Topshop
This just looks so so so warm. I've been looking at all the structured coats and capes that have been floating about recently, but this just grabs my attention a little bit more, maybe because to a certain extent its anti everything thats around right now. Its knee length, and seems to have a lovely cocooning effect, and the sheepskin at the top is just the right amount of fur. Lovelyyyy.

 

TWO.

Thigh High Cable Knit Socks, £25, Unique at Topshop

A double whammy for Topshop today, but mainly because I couldn't really find what I was looking for elsewhere. I was trying to find something similar to the socks that were all over the RTW Fall 2010 Prada collection (http://www.style.com/fashionshows/complete/F2010RTW-PRADA) and these are the closest/most affordable match. Besides, they do look pretty toasty.

 

THREE.

Printed Leggings, £45, Holly Fulton for ASOS

I can't really explain my choice here, other than I love them. With a big, baggy jumper they would be completely lovely, and the fact that they're a bit out there doesn't hurt either. Plus the colours fit with the whole icy/snow winter theme.

 

FOUR.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plum Velvet Shift Dress, £45, Miss Selfridge

This dress just evokes Christmas. The colour, the yellowy lace details, the heaviness of the fabric... I read an article in last month's NYLON magazine about velvet, and its huge return back to mainstream fashion and for the record I love it. I imagine that after a few wears it will begin to soak in a whole personality of its own, a quality very few fabrics can do, but very typical of velvet.

 

FIVE.

Treats by Sleigh Bells, £4.99 Amazon.

Not exactly a winter warmer of a record, but amazing nonetheless, and I'm totally into it right now. Its quite get-up-and-go, and in certain tracks the guitar and vocals clash quite incredibly, but its an invigorating listen that makes you appreciate artists who do something slightly different with their music.

 

Okay...

So I know I haven't posted in over a week, and I can only apologise for that. Schools been pretty crazy, and there simply hasn't been enough time to write an entry! And while we're on the subject of apologies, I was going to do an outfit post today, but my camera has run out of batteries. Everything is just going oh so well at the moment.  But its okay, because I have a fair amount to say now :) And its now half term, so I can spend as long as I like making my blog look more beautiful and lovely and interesting.

Anyway. I was going through a book on Fashion Illusration, and found what I think is possibly my favourite illustrator ever. I've always found fashion illustration interesting, because as photography has kind of taken over in that industry, and I feel that it can represent the clothes in an entirely different way. Drawings can convey character in an entirely seperate manner to photos.

They're by an artist called Laura Laine, and are pretty lovely. I prefer the second of the two, the smaller, skinnier figure, because it exudes so much attitude. Its pictures like these which show why illustration of fashion, not simply photographs of lifeless clothes are so important. 

The Five Things You Need Right Now, 12/10/10

Tadaaa! The second installment of this mildly exciting feature. These are the five things that I am craving in my life right now...

ONE.

NW3 Cut Out Desert Boots, £143, asos.com

Basically, these shoes finely tread the line between brogues (which I want but can't really see lasting that much longer in terms of a trend) and the MEMORY/Woven Ankle Boots that Topshop are putting out at the moment. The cutout makes them infinitely delicate and feminine, but they have a lovely hardiness about them which is a plus point considering the upcoming winter months.

TWO.

Multi Pocket Waistcoat, £10, Warehouse

Agin, this is a nice alternative to a quite sought after item. The gillet, especially the infamous Jack Wills sort, have been dominating the shoulders of girls in my common room this term so far; in my (pretty uninformed) opinion, a layered waistcoat like this would look just slightly nicer and different to everyone else. Oh, and umm, the price is amazing!

THREE.

Cheap Monday Coloured Jeans, £31, asos.com

I'm looking for some coloured jeans and these do more than tick the box. They're subtly coloured and completely inoffensive, but they are still just that little bit out there. The basically nude colour also means that they will go with nearly everything as well :)


FOUR.

Morelly Lightweight Knit, £170, Diesel

This cardi fits like a mans cardi, which is something I really love in knitwear - it lends to a more laidback, simple sort of style. The hood was the detail that secured it for me however, because its a twist on a classic item. How many hoods do you usually see on a cardi?! Ahh, knitwear. It really is the thing I love most about winter.

FIVE.

Rita Knit, £179, Desigual

Oh, my god. Not that I would necessarily wear this item, I do think its amazing. The colours, the texture, the patterns, the buttons, everything! Probably best worn undone, as the neck isn't my favourite thing ever, but as an item in its own right this jumper is amazing. Completely amazing.

I'm crap at coming up with post titles.

This is top of my wishlist at the moment. I love it when people wear the animal hats at school, especially in the art rooms because its so fricking cooollld in there. I like this one best though, because its kind of different and you wouldn't get quite so much hat hair from it. JS.
Oh and also on the winter wishlist is a massive spree around all the local charity shops looking for that perfect huge baggy jumper, because on the budget of a sixth form student, I can't really afford the ones that I want from the highstreet. And aside from this, I have found real gems in charity shops clothing wise before, as well as my grandparent's amazing wardrobes.

Elie Saab

Here is the promised (pretty picture heavy, sorry) Elie Saab post. I haven't really looked into this designer much in the past, but seeing her LFW Ready To Wear S/S '11 collection, I realised that these clothes are truly wonderul, and deserve a full post. They are elegant, beautiful, sophisticated and the palette is just divine; exotic green and corals contrasted with barely there pastels. The collection is laden with glitter, decadent gold jewellery and towering matching heels, as well as the skinny belt which makes a welcome return from last season. The overall look is refined but extravagant, and a true masterpiece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All images taken from Vogue.com, I really hope thats not illegal.

A small rant...

I really want to start photographing the people whose style I find completely amazing, who even if they don't dress brilliantly seem to ooze a sort of style that makes them seem like they do. Off the top of my head I can think of about 5 people that I know personally to whom this applies; however, I don't really think just going up to them and being like, 'hey, you dress well! let me photograph it for my blog!' its the done thing right now. Maybe in the future. Or maybe just people that I don't know at all would be easier. What I do know is that there are millions and millions of people who don't trapse around London during fashion week looking fabulous, but rather they scuttle down the high street and they don't even realise how amazing they look. These are the people that I want on this blog.

If you're reading this and you think that you are one of these people, please please please tell me. I want this to become an interactive blog, however much hard work it takes to get there. And I promise to definitely feature the first person, unless I deem them exceedingly creepy or wierd :)

 So after this blog I'm going to start uploading my own pictures to this blog...I've got a couple of events coming up, and of course there is firework night and Hallow'een, which are of course amazing events for clothes. I'm excited.

Sorry for how rambling and word heavy this post was, I apologise. And thankyou for reading it if you did stick with it. Have some inspirational pictures to finish with! (I'm going to do a whole post on Elie Saab, but for now, this dress was the standout piece for me and it is BEAUTIFUL)

(from Vogue.co.uk)

 

Simply The Best

Before I start this post, I just want to say that Disc-Overy by Tinie Tempah is probably the best album I've heard in 2010. I thought it was important to get that out, Just Sayin'.

So, yesterday I was discussing with a few friends who the 'best' celebrity is. The prettiest, the most stylish, the most charitable, the most talented, the most lovely, the best. A few names were thrown up, including Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Cheryl Tweedy, and in fact even Taylor Momsen was in the mix... think what you will. But upon careful consideration, I came up a more refined shortlist of my own. These people I possibly admire more for how they look and dress than anything else, but nevertheless each of the people are talented in their own way.

FEARNE COTTON


She is probably one of the hardest working women in the media today; she returned back from a breat cancer trek in Peru and was back at work on Radio1 just 12 hours later. She's charitable, talented, pretty, and oh so fashionable. She ALWAYYYSSS looks completely amazing in a kind of scruffy, carefree way.

MILEY CYRUS

I know I mentioned her before, but Miley is pretty amazing. She looks absolutely stunning here presenting an Academy Award; she's not as wholesome as Disney would like to make out and I think thats one of the reasons why I love her so much. She's a normal teenager, she's not clean cut, but she is beautiful. And a talented actress. And a wonderful singer.

CHER LLOYD                                     

I feel I've gone out ona bit of a limb with this choice, because to be fair although what we've ssen from her has been phenominal so far, its whether or not she can keep this level up that will determine her as 'talented.' However, I picked her mainy because she's so different. Cher is a refreshing change to the X Factor who I am a huge fan of, and will be voting for every week.

The thing that links these three together, in my opinion, is the way they hold themselves; they are poised, elegant, and their posture shows that they are proud of who they are and what they're doing. And the greatest aid to poise is an amazing pair of shoes, to force you to stand up tall and proud. My favourite are below...

KG By Kurt Geiger, Estrella 2 Heeled Shoe, £140 at asos.com

Everyone Should Know About This.

F&F COUTURE AT TESCO
Even to me this sounds fairly ridiculous, but after discovering it earlier this year I feel that its important to give some sort of recognition to what the good people of Tesco have come up with this time. And what is it that they have come up with? A quite pricey, bold collection of which certain pieces I just cannot get my head around. I was happy to see the power shoulders trend wither and die at the beginning of this season, and I feel personally offended to see F&F Couture celebrate them in nearly every piece. However, ignoring this there were indeed several pieces which I do quite like - the more restrained, minimalist ones seem to have been the ones to catch my eye.

Wool Blend Skirt, £75

Equestrian Trousers, £75

Vest Top, £40

Despite this, my favourite piece Tesco sell is from there completely normal, day to day collection F&F; maybe because at the moment all I want to do is buy hoards and hoards of jumpers, but I think this one has a certain standout quality in stitching.



Mixed Stitch Two Tone Jumper, £16.

The Five Things You Need Right Now, 01/09/10

The majority of the blogs I read at the moment are fashion blogs. Sometimes I agree with them, sometimes I don't, but I always know that I have an opinion on it. Because fashion is so much about opinion, what you think looks good and what the next person thinks is completely odd, I felt I'd add my small and probably pretty unworthy view subject to my blog. Some of this stuff I'll own, some of it will be way out of my league price wise, and some of it I would never wear will think is completely amazing. Either way, I will try and update 'The Five Things You Need Right Now' at least every fortnight, and even more if I can :)

But now, lets get on to the meatier stuff; the five things that your wardrobe needs in it at this current moment.

ONE.


Pleated Baby Corduroy Trousers, £35.99, Zara.
 -I need these in my life. I love how laid back and slouchy they are, I love the sandy camel colour, I love the way your ankles just peep out, and mostly I love that they're NOT JEANS. I feel quite restricted right now by the fact that there is quite a lack of wanting to break away from the decidedly teen trend of Jeans and/or Leggings as what to wear for trousers; I myself have yet to properly break out of this but as soon as I get my hands on these I am most definitely going to try.


TWO.

 

Antler Headband by Unique, £80, Topshop

-A slightly more obscure choice, but I mean, look at them. Overpriced, quite gaudy and actually a little plain; these antlers are phenominal. I haven't seen anything quite like this before, except for maybe a fancy dress shop. In my head, I can envision endless Halloween and Christmas parties sorted due to this fantastical headband which, if nothing else, should certainly be a talking point.

THREE.

Contrast House Tights, £12, House of Holland

-I couldn't love the whole Henry Holland brand a lot more. I think the clothes are amazing, I think the H! line for Debenhams is faultless and I think all the companies blogging and twittering is a completely brilliant way to keep people like me knowing whats going on. These tights are my favourite that the company does, worn by the likes of Agnes Deyn and Fearne Cotton, they are pretty affordable and absolutely lovely.

FOUR.

 Fairisle Patchwork Cardi, £45, Warehouse

-I'm not fully sure what makes me love this so much. In all honesty, its something that I should detest; shapeless, patchwork, and a mixture of dull greys and beiges. However, I think its the combination of these things that make it absolutely perfect. It will go over the majority of things, as long as they're not ludicrously bright colours, and it just looks wonderfully comfy and a lovely slouchy winter piece.Oh, and I'm a sucker for knitwear. I love it!

FIVE.

Nude Diamond Dress, £85, Miss Selfridge 

 - This dress is a good mix of luxurious detailing and laid back, simple style. The pearls and beads change this from being a summer day dress into a heavier, more Christmassy affair, whilst the string at the back would look incredibly classy as the rest of the back is open, so it is revealing without being too tarty. It might me a tiny bit too long for my liking but considering the aforementioned open back, I think that rather than looking frumpy, this would just look effortlessly beautiful and endlessly sophisticated. Probably the best winter dress I've seen so far.