Blogs to inspire . . .

Part of my job that I really enjoy is working with a mix of interesting bloggers and creatives. I've had the pleasure of working with lots of wonderful people over the (nearly) four years that I've had my job and I wanted to take this opportunity to start introducing them to you.

Some names you might know, some you may not. All are inspiring individuals who are well worth a cheeky follow on instagram, anyway hope you like them as much as I do.

Starting with one of the first bloggers I made contact with the amazing Sophie Hannah Richardson. Now this real life mermaid is amazing, not only does she have amazing style, fab make up tutorials but she's also an apt business woman and launched her own beauty line at the end of last year (Sophie Hannah Beauty). This is a girl who can do a make up tutorial on nose hair extensions and make it look good! Don't believe me check it out!

Check out Sophie blog and instagram here!

Next we go to rainbow queen Natalia Homolova of Natinstablog. This babe is bound to cheer you up on a dull rainy day. Her love of colours and specifically rainbow shades and pizza keeps me going through the week! Natalia is a fun, very creative and awe inspiring blogger and one to keep an eye on.

Check our Natalia's blog and instagram here!

Now moving on to another colourful hair maven, skater chick Heather of Sugarpea. Now this lady has a great look, a great collection of  plant babies and make sure to check in to see updates with cute new addition to the family, Zero the sausage dog!

Check out Heather's blog and instagram here!

A name you may be familiar with Manchester based blogger Megan Ellaby, also another recent sausage dog mother like Heather! Megan is a go to for fun, edgy fashion. She features a range of brands from high street to designer and has fun while she does it. If you have not looked at her before make sure you do now!

Check out Megan's blog and instagram here!

Finally avid explorer and general all around amazing photographer, the lovely Claire Menary. Claire is lots of fun and has a wonderful view of everything she sees, now travelling to places far and wide she shares her amazing vision with everyone via her blog and her instagram story. If you need some wanderlust in your life this is the lady to follow!

Check out Claire's blog and instagram here!

*Images all taken from these lovely ladies instagram accounts*

Might make this a regular Sunday piece, if you have any good bloggers to suggest please let me know!

x

2017 Highlights

Hi Everyone, 

If you have been reading my blog thank you for stopping by, I can't believe it's been a year since I last posted. 🙈

New Year resolution one, make sure to make time to post in 2018.

I know I never share a lot about myself on here but just wanted to write a few things that were highlights this year for me and I feel very grateful to have experienced.

As sad as it seems I spent a lot of time working, I know that is a really lame thing to say but I really love my job. Of course as with anything there are good days and there are bad days but I have been able to meet and stay in touch with an extraordinary group of people in 2017 and although I work more then I probably should and have sometimes let it take over my life the things I have been able to be part of and experience make all the stressful times worth it!

I look after a lovely range of womenswear and unisex brands for the fashion PR company that I work for and this year I have been given some wonderful opportunities like attending the Sony Music Brit Awards Afterparty at The Shard. This once in a lifetime experience was amazing, socialising and seeing people like Liam Gallagher in the flesh and Foo Fighters Dave Grohl were highlights! 

Working on a couple of big celebrity events in London for two of our brands, one of which was hosted by model of the moment Taylor Hill and another with names like Mary Charteris in attendance were also incredible experiences. Lots of hard work and planning from our team but to see everyone having a good time made it even better! We even made it into ES Magazine's party pages which made it extra special.

Working at the Isle of Wight festival with another of our brands and looking after our lovely blogger guests was also a wonderful experience and gave me a chance to meet in person some of the wonderful ladies that I've had the plesure of working with on smaller projects before. 

I hosted and planned my first solo press trip, again this was an incredible honor to take a group of four fabulous ladies to have a fun stay in Margate in the summer. It was such a pleasure to spend time with such inspiring and lovely people, feel like in the short time we were together I learnt so much from you all.

Personal highlights from 2017 included taking my boyfriend to finally see Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, as some of you who may have already seen it or have your tickets ready will know you can wait up to a year for it actually to come around! It was amazing, no spoilers I promise but all I can tell you is that you are given the chance to go honestly take it. If like me you are not a huge HP fan you will still be amazed by the production, the stage crew and everyone in this production are incredible. It was magical to say the least!

I went to see a fab exhibition with my cousin in Holland about Audrey Hepburn and Givenchy, it was beautifully done an inspiring exhibition and an inspiring woman.

For my birthday my boyfriend took me to my first ever Secret Cinema to see their incredible Moulin Rouge production. If you have never been I would encourage you to go but to wait until they do a film you love as I promise you it makes it all the more magical when you do. I was transported to Monmatre and to the Moulin Rouge for one night and it was breathtaking. The food, the drinks, the actors, and the guests make it something really special.

I stayed at the Frank 'N' Furter castle! If you have read my blog before you will know I also love the Rocky Horror Picture Show. In all honestly I crashed my parents anniversary, don't judge me too much! My dad worked on the film and my mum and I decided to surprise him by taking him back for their anniversary and it was as amazing as can be. He loved the surprise and we had a really wonderful stay at Oakley Court. If anyone is interested let me know and I can share some more pics and review of the hotel.

I attended the first of my friend weddings and was honored to be asked to be a bridesmaid. It was a joyous day and my friend couldn't have looked more beautiful, thanks for letting me share your special day with you.

I luckily got tickets to see two fiesty females perform the first was the etheial Lana Del Rey and the second was Lorde. Both were wonderful but over too quickly, it was the first time I had seen either of these singers but I have been fans for a long time so was really a treat to get to see them both in one year!

There were more magical moments but these were extra special, I've had a rough few years before so thanks 2017 for being a pretty wonderful year. Lets hope 2018 is even better.

Hope you all had wonderful 2017's and here is to 2018 and all it's possibilities!

🎉🎉🎉🎉

Paris Fashion Week Day 4

Starting off day 4's round up is Chalayan.

Hussein Chalayan known for thinking outside of the box came up with an interesting way to add embellishment and detail to his dresses. Can you guess what it was??? Well I'll put you out of your misery fake nails. Yes you read it right, fake nails addorned and embellished a number of his dresses. I have to admit it is really those dresses that stand out from this collection, I was not so wowed by the rest of the collection, but what did you think about it? The other dresses which did stand out had tears on the front, almost as if they had been in a cat fight with the fake nail dresses.

Next Yohji Yamamoto

Yohji Yamamoto as usual on top form with these oversized puffy creations, I love that they remind me of doodle bears, if you are a 90's kid like me you might remember these. If not have a look at the old advert for them below.

The patterns on the Yohji Yamamoto designs above, especially the black and white look, do very much remind me of the doodle bear and the kinds of things that could be achieved on them back in the day, yes ok feeling old now.

What did you think of Day 4 PFW?

Paris Fashion Week Day 3

Lets catch up with the best catwalk shows from Day 3.

Starting with the Balenciaga show.

 In this show the models were adorned with furry snoods, thick belts, and furry hand muffs. Models were wearing a range of tunics with trousers with metallic zip details forming crosses or running up the centre front of the trousers. Oversized parkas, turtle necked long tops and tuxedo inspired dresses

Unusually for Balenciaga, knitwear was a big feature in this collection, whether it was used just in jumper form or woven with leather to make an interesting statement or had crystal embellishment added for a more evening wear look, it was a new and exciting side of Balenciaga.

Paco Rabanne is up next . . .

and it's all about the geometrics! I love the mess dress over the bold yet simple black and white dress. The muted colour palette with interesting visual points for example the disjointed lines on the coats and jackets. The interesting mix of black sharp tailoring with flashes of white through the white visible zips and white almost popper looking buttons. I love that this collection was also styled with angular brogue shoes, making it a more accessible and wearable collection.

Over to Balmain's show.

Now what an ambush of colour and military style. I feel like I've been hit with one part urban jungle, one part geometry lesson and last part military tailoring. A definite stand out collection. Pocketed cargo style trousers paired with tight panelled jackets, I love the mix of fabrics and style leather and rope seemed to be a major player with leather jackets and dresses constructed out of tight ropes pulling at the models curves. My, my are we made aware of the models thin waists, in every true Balmain style.

Finally Manish Arora.

I absolutely love this modern take on what appears to me to be Tibetan and oriental folk dress. This folk dress inspired idea is really modernised with mixes of digital prints, in your face florals, versus bold traditional coloured weave fabric. I think these designs were suitably paired with trainers to give it a more laid back, edgy look. It's a vision! I can not look away I'm spellbound!

Who was your favourite designer today?

x

Let's Talk Lingerie . . .

Underwear, a basic necessity for all ladies regardless of size and shape. Now making sure you are wearing the right size lingerie is of the utmost importance, wearing the wrong size lingerie can either make you look much bigger, and not in a good way ladies I'm talking about popping out, or it can make you appear to have saggy boobs, which is something no girl wants! Most shops that stock bras will have someone who can size you for example M&S, Debenhams and other department stores, but I would recommend going to a specific lingerie shop, for example LaSenza, AnnSummer's (remember they do proper lingerie too), figleaves or more high end with Rigby&Peller and AgentProvocateur. Of course there are a lot of other brands out there to look at but those are just the few I would recommend in my experience.

While every bra looks pretty and dainty in small sizes, its hard once you hit the +DD size to find bra's that you can feel really sexy in as most look like something your grandma would wear. How do I know this, I have that problem, I'm a size 10 who lets just say is very well endowed and growing up my boobs were always bigger than my friends, so there they would be in lovely pretty bras and there would be me feeling unsexy and almost ashamed in a horrible nude granny bra.

 I chose to settle till I was a little bit older and moving further up senior school before I decided that I would make it my mission to find nice girly bras for a girl my age, I mean who wants to go to a school dance, yes I feel old saying that, in a amazing bodycon dress or LBD with a granny bra underneath. I'm lucky that my mother was able to take me to Rigby & Peller, where I was able to get my first really stunning black lace bra, and boy did I feel good in it, it fitted perfectly, put my boobs up where they should be and you could notice my confidence levels just went up. As I've gotten older more brands designing for sizes +DD have opened and now there is so much more variety for girls like me. Lingerie is something that we have to wear everyday, we might as well look stunning and feel sexy and confident in it.

Once you know your size there are of course tonnes of wonderful online lingerie boutiques to look at for example the wonderful BouxAvenue, ChantelleLingerie, and LonelyHeartsLabel. I would advise really knowing your size before buying online though as it just saves so much time.

Now I've done some searching and have compiled my top 4 from four different brands, and also price points for sizes +DD, also clicking each brand I've mentioned above will direct you to their websites and or lingerie pages so you can see their full stock regardless of cup size.

For prices click here

Starting with good old Debenhams, who stock a variety of boutique lingerie lines for sizes +DD. The four above are my top picks. All different price points too. They do have a much varied range, but these are just my top four.

Next we have online retailer Boux Avenue, who I do love, I've bought several pieces from them since they launched. Feminine luxury at affordable prices, they normally always have a deal for buying the bra and getting the matching bottoms for free so definitely worth a look if you like to match.

Figleaves also stock a nice variety of +DD ranges as well as all other sizes of course. They also do good bikinis and swimwear for +DD so have a look before they all go this summer, get in early because trust me they will all be gone!

Lastly Rigby & Peller my favourite, ok yes they are expensive and I cannot afford them myself, I'm lucky in that my mother gives me tokens for this store once a year. The quality is outstanding in this store, in all honesty no other bra I have bought has ever been as good as my ones from here. They last pretty much a whole year if you look after them properly, longer then any of my other bras from more high street brands. So yes they are expensive but they are an investment piece.

Where do you shop for your lingerie? Any tips I haven't thought of?

x

The Shoe Thing continued . . .

Again another celebrity to release a show collection. This time it is signer Gwen Stefani who has branched out into accessories specifically footwear and handbags. This collection is going to be a budget line, that promised to deliver on comfort as well as style apparently anyway. This collection is to be sold through ShoeDazzle.com

Gwen Stefani has said that she watched to design shoes that you can wear all day long without feeling any pain. Her collection is said to be priced between $69.95 and $110.95 The collection named gx is said to include 7 handbags and 24 footwear styles, that are said to encompass elements of 'pop, punk, tribal and street' style.

Gwen Stefani has already launched her own clothing company called L.A.M.B in 2004 which does stock shoes and bags but at a much higher price point.

Some images have been released to give us a bit of a taster. What do you think?

x

Paris Fashion Week Day 2

Day two of Paris Fashion Week, did you wow us?

Starting with Sonia by Sonia Rykiel.

Read between the lines, comes to nice when looking at this collection filled with colourful stripes in all kinds of styles and varieties. Very strong sixties feel to this collection, I love the inserts of the bright colours, either through a statement piece in the outfit or details on pieces in the look. I love that the styling for this collection is a perfect match for the looks, especially the lines being continued through the boots.

Moving on the the Dries Van Noten, whose lines reminded me of those by artist George Tjungurrayi. The almost optical illusion created by these lines adds interest to these pieces. This designer chose to clash colours and paired really bright, almost acidic tones with each other to create an unavoidable burst of colour. Floral prints in bright colour on trousers or in silver on black made a statement. A very exotic inspired collection, nice to see the floral prints done in this way, even showing them as 3D details on garments. Dries Van Noten also chose to add visible metallic zip details to add interest to the back of simpler pieces.

Floating, flared, and feminine pieces were all that was to be seen at the Alexis Mabille. Again another designer who chose to show a more slouchy feminine collection, with garments cut in silky fabrics to show off the wearers body as they walk. Mabille choosing to use also more revealing sheer fabric encrusted with clusters of embellishment, covering up just enough to protect the wearers modesty. Another fashion week, yet more designers showing capes in their collection, I love the thin leather trim around the edges. The introduction of the tartan was also a nice edgy twist to the collection. I love the twisted detail on the front of the tartan dress it just updates the style of the dress.

Oh Rochas, I love your finishing details. The stunning heavy embellishment on some of the pieces, the shoes and the amazing gloves. I have to say honestly I prefer the finishing and close up details of this collection over the overall collection pieces. I love the finishing details of the embroidery on the jackets as seen above and the stitch detail and carefully placed embellishment as seen on the green dress above.

Now Gareth Pugh, I have to say I'm a little disappointed. I am a fan but I feel this collection is just a bad imitation of Alexander McQueen. I like some pieces from the collection like the second one in the above picture I love the metallic toned silver effect. It does look a bit like vinyl carpet though.

What did you think of Gareth Pugh's collection?

Undercover, wow the the Indonesian theme, the oriental china patterns, Scottish tartan, and extreme and elaborate florals. This collection has everything and somehow it manages to pull it all together. I think this is my favourite so far from Paris, I love that it is just so out there and in your face. Excited to see what comes next!!!

x

Paris Fashion Week Day 1

Bonjour Paris, lets see what you had for us on day one of Paris Fashion Week.

Starting with the designer Devastee.

This one such a great show to start of Paris Fashion Week it just oozes Parisian laid back chic at its finest. I love the black and white monochrome look that carries through the entire collection. Blazers over shift dresses in black and white digital prints, Smock dresses in mixed prints, sixties inspired coats and slouchy jackets in load black and white prints. Extremely wearable collection, I love that it is even styled with plimsolls trainers, Parisian chic that everybody can wear.

Next we have Jacquemus whose oversized shapes caught our attention. With interesting mix of fabrics, and styles all in extremely oversized patterns, or with oversized details. Geometrics were also carried through into this collection either through the shapes or the fabric choice. An interesting designer I have not seen before, I will be looking out to see what they come up with next though.

Who did you like in day one of Paris Fashion Week?

x

Global Traveller

A trend for Spring / Summer 2014, the global traveller has arrived. This season it's all about colourful head wear, embroidered tunics, shorts, kimono's, weave backpacks, crochet and raffeta bags, homemade or d.i.y all the better. African and Aztec prints, scenery from across the world thrown on all types and styles of garments. Pile on the prints, as many as you dare! Customization is key too in this trend, the easiest way to do so is of course through your accessories. Rings and bracelets pile them high, stack them up, the more the better.

I've searched around and found the best pieces from three shops. Starting with River Island.

For prices click here

The pieces above range from shirt dresses, maxi dresses, play-suits, skirts and jumpers and some floral head wear. River island has the most varied range I've seen so far for this trend so would be a good place for you to start shopping for this trend.

The next shop I've searched through is ASOS, which can be seen below.

For prices click here

ASOS has provided us with a source of smaller brands as well as asos own named brand to search for trend pieces in. What an interesting range, its difficult to pick a favourite from the above picture, but I have to admit I rather love the ring, the metallic sheen on it just catches my eye. ASOS provides us with more accessory choices compared to River Island but also provides us with more African like prints, which really boosts the idea of this trend with more exotic range of prints and colour.

Topshop is the last brand I explored for the globe trotter trend and my findings can be seen below.

For prices click here

Topshop, of course as always have a number of on-trend pieces stocked in their stores and online. This trend really is no difference. Over all there are pieces that I really love in all of these stores, and with such a good range around where will you be going to get your global on ?

x

Icon - John Galliano

Ok before I go into this icon I just want to say, I do not condone his behaviour a few years ago or his actions, but as a designer myself I find his fashion designs and catalogue of work visionary and it is in that light that I find him an icon.

John Galliano was one of the designers who really inspired me to go into fashion and specifically into specialising in design. His visions and catwalk shows for Dior were sensational to say the least, every detail imagined and placed with careful thought.

Galliano was born in Gibraltar but moved to London with his family in 1966. Moved from the beautiful Mediterranean wonderland to London. Galliano studied at Central Saint Martins, his final collection called 'Les Incroyables' received acclaim, and was even instantly snapped up and put in the windows of Browns boutique.

Starting his own label in 1984, he continued to receive critical acclaim with his specific visions of romanticism, shown through delicate yet superiorly tailed garments. He went on to win the 1987 'British Designer of the Year Award' unfortunately he lost backers and left London for Paris after not showing collections at several seasons. Luckily he had friends in high places models like Kate Moss and fashion editors came to his aim to try and find him work during this period.

In 1995 he became the first Englishman to head a French couture house and that was Givenchy, again he received adulation and praise for his design genius. In less than two years he was moved to Dior as the head designer.

He shared designer of the year with McQueen back in 1997, McQueen went on to replace him as head designer of Givenchy.

In 2001 he was awarded a CBE from the queen.

His visionary designs have inspired decades of designers, and his work continues to inspire new designers. Also dare I mention his outfits for his walk down the catwalk?? You can't say he doesn't have fun with fashion.

x

Wednesday Want

I am in love with this New Look backpack, love that it comes in white or green. Unusually for me I'm going for the white one, green's one of my favourite colours. I just love the structure and shape of this backpack, modern, stylish and edgy, and yes practical. Might have to go to my nearest New Look.

What do you think ?

x

Alice + Olivia . . .

As a designer there are always brands that I feel inspire me to push myself and my designs. While studying at university I spotted the designer Stacey Bendet who is the designer behind the brand Alice + Olivia. This is a designer that I am always in a rush to see at fashion week, and this season was no exception, and my god did she deliver. This is the kind of designer that I find extremely difficult to even pick my top three looks, I adore each and everyone and maybe you will too.

Opulent, desirable, stunning, so many words come to mind when looking at this collection. I think this collection is awe inspiring to say the least, and the designer a visionary. This designer continues to inspire my design juices and makes me want to be a better designer. British eccentricity at its finest. 

To see the entire collection click here

What do you think about this collection?

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