The Bling Ring

So I have recently had to check myself, as I have been spending all kinds of crazy cash, my final treat to myself was this epic Alexander McQueen skull ring. I was lucky to snag the beautiful ring at Bicester Village, which is well worth a visit if you haven't already been. They hold brands including Anya Hindmarch, Mulberry and Dolce and Gabbana.

I have no words...my bargain ring, is soo BLING

Bloggers Love Event at the Penthouse

Myself and Fashion Somebody headed to the Bloggers Love Fashion Event on Thursday night at the Penthouse in Leicester Square. The night was to showcase new brands within the fashion industry, and what's more everything was reasonably priced with discounts on the night.

In between the celebrity sightings, the fashion show and the cute cupcakes, I discovered two new brands that I can't wait to make a purchase from. First up is Kenza Accessories, if you are looking for statement jewellery look no further. With super-sized jewels and mega diamontes - the accessories will fix up any outfit. Here are a couple of my fav pieces.

The second brand is Major London, which is super cool and totes on trend. Think nineties rave/ club kids - I love the denim on denim mixed with patch work embellishments. The two designers are super young and totally on point, I can't wait to see how this brand develops.

Check these guys out...

The devine is Tatty

Tatty Devine first popped onto my radar back in 2004, maybe earlier,  the brand was really on trend with it candy coloured accessories that summed up the fashion of the day. They did a collaboration with New Look and were copied fervently by Topshop. Fast forward to now-ish and the company has become timeless, above fashion and fads. Tatty's collections are bright, quirky, tongue in cheek and contemporary. They have done great collabs with Eley Kishimoto, Rob Ryan, Louise Gray and the Tate Modern. I kind've feel like the brand is constantly surprising us and I can't wait to see what they do next!

Here are some of my favourite pieces currently on their website:

 

 



























And not to be forgotten...

Nail Art

I think that nails have had a real renaissance; partly due to the economic situation and party tue to social networking where people can share their designs. I have a massive tin full of nail varnishes, from nails inc, through to Barry M and love trialing new designs on a regular basis. It costs a lot less than a new outfit and can update any look.

My nails don't tend to last more than a day or two so I can't recommend a best brand but my friends swear by OPI and Essie. I do think that a good topcoat can prolong your nails though, I recommend Seche which can be brought from Liberty in London. My general process is 1) a base coat (Sally Hansen does a good on), 2) one thin coat 3) a second thicker coat 4) any design work would be next 5) Top coat.

Here are some of my best design work:

This design was achieved with two coats of Barry M Mint nail varnish, and one coat of 314 colour nail effect by Barry M!

Two coats of Potion by No. 17 nail varnish and one coat of 311 colour nail effect by Barry M!

Two coats of Peach Melba by Barry M and the design was created by using one coat of Red Nail by H&M nail varnish as an outline.

I can not remember the name of this nail varnish but it is by OPI, two coats.

Two coats of hopscotch nail varnish by Top Shop, check design was created using black and white nail art pens from Primark!

Black Leather (PU) Trousers

I try to be experimental with my fashion choices and style; but I am always hesitate when it comes to major statement pices. Case in point the leather trousers; they have been a big hitter for the last couple of seasons for the winter months.

What I like about this this year's version is that it has a looser, more sportier fit which is perfect for me as I have quite chunky thighs. Rather than clinging the new style of PU trousers skim!!! There are loads of different types out there at varying price points. I took the plunge and decided to buy a PU pair from H&M for £34.99, I had to take the waist in a bit but they are a good fit and slightly tailored. I decided not to go for real leather mainly because I wasn't sure how many wears I would actually get out of the trousers or how long they would be cool for. Let's not forget after all once upon a time leather trews were for the Bette Lynchs and Liz Mcdonalds (see. Cornation Street) of the world.

I couldn't find the exact pair of trousers that I have on the web, but here are some of my style ideas for the leather trousers which can be worn for work or play!!! The trousers below have a similar fit to my ones but are actually from Whistles priced at £350.

I hope you give them a go as well, you will be suprised at how versatile they are. Remember to soften them with something less harsh on top like a knit or cotton tee!

House of Holland

So New Year, new fashion season. While checking out the various sales this month, I also started to notice the new season pieces arriving in my favourite stores. Urban outfitter is a great place to find diffusion lines/ designer labels that won't bankrupt you.

I have found myself lusting over pretty much everything from Henry Holland's pre SS13 collection. I love the fact that everyone seems to do some sort of cruise/transition collection to get people delving further into their pockets.

The main theme for Holland's collection is these weird little Pom Pom creatures which I adore. As per usual his collection is surreal and fun and the little critters are featured on dresses, skirts and jumpers. Check out the video below that Henry did with the Pom Pom peeps...

 

Here are some of my favourite looks from the House of Holland's latest collection.

 

The shirts are definitely the first on my hit list!!! I also hope that the shoes in these Look Book pics are for sale because they are so damn cute!!!

 

 



Sale Items

So I tried to do a Vlog on the sale items that I brought but it was way to large to upload in the end. I am mainly disappointed with this year's sale as it didn't really seem to have much in it, and the discounts where not at a high percentage on the highstreet. The really good sales came from places like Selfridges and Libertys and even then the products were out of my budget.

I did manage to pick up three things in the sale that I was really proud of, see below. I am also eyeing up a couple of other items which I may buy...the Prade Mary Janes that I was also looking at were reduced to £315 just outside of my price range!

Sale Buys:
Mint Knitted Jumper, Monki £40 reduced to £18. This will keep me warm through to March! I love the volumn and the bell shape.

Marl Grey T-Shirt, Monki £15 reduced to £3. It is a great causal piece which I can layer with bits and pieces. It's a nice slouchy shape as well so it sits just off my shoulder. I wore the t-shirt on New Year's eve with the skirt below.

Floral Pencil Skirt, River Island £28 reduced to £10. Florals are going to be another big trend for SS13 so this is a great piece to carry me through next season. The background is really dark so it works well throughout the seasons. The pencil skirt is a key item in my wardrobe mixed with smart or casual pieces.

My Christmas Wish List

So Christmas has sort of careered out of nowhere, like a snowball growing larger as it heads down hill. I am currently watching Love Actually one of my favourite Christmas films (other than Bridget Jones and The Holiday) and getting into the festive mood. I have decided to put together my hypothetic Christmas list; these are items that I know will definitely not be under my tree come the 25th December but I would still love to own one day! Or maybe, Santa if you're listening I would like...

A burgundy lizard effect Alexander Wang bag! No need to elaborate it's just a classic.

 A bejewelled bettle ring by Roberto Cavalli, so pretty

 

Blue velvet kitten heels, quite literally! The cat face makes the shoes a bit quirky.

Silver leather necklace from E.A. Burns

Red glitter Miu Miu sunglasses

 

Green leather Philip Lim bag, another classic but edgy bags

Black and White Prada mary janes

 

So there you have it, my christmas wish list its all about the fashion accessories and jewellery!!! Now i'm going back to Love Actually...it's the bit where Hugh Grant (the Priminister) dances to Girls Aloud's version of Jump (For my Love).











My Weekend; Somerset House

I had a great weekend and am feeling more & more Christmassy. I meet up with some of my gal pals and went for a walk along the South Bank and stopped off for a bit of lunch (including Christmas Pimms)!!! After lunch we headed to Somerset House as some of my friends are out of towners and haven't visited the museum-cum-gallery which happens to be one of my favourite places.

While there we had a look around the Cartier-Bresson: A Question of Colour exhibition, which I knew nothing about. It was really interesting to walk around and look at all of the bold imagery; the photographers featured in the collection captured some beautiful places.

After our bit of culture we went to see what else Somerset had to offer and it turned out they had a Pop up Christmas Shop. I headed straight for the fashiony bits (of course) and came across the Bengt's shop. Now I had heard of Bengt and knew it was an online blog and shop but haven't really explored the site. They mission statement is to bring an alternative perspective of fashion and cover new emerging design talent.

I love online shopping but it is always great to see the product in front of you! I was particularly taken by the jewellery designers and three in particular; Kirsty Ward, Moxham and E.A Burns. Each of the designers had there own signature styles but I loved the fact that their pieces were really bold and quite futuristic. I really want to buy some pieces in the new year, and start doing the whole all in black with bright jewellery look.

Below are some of my favourite pieces:

E.A. BURN - I mixture of leather and metal geometric shapes...soo dynamic and fashion forward.

 Aparently Alesha Dixon wore the necklace below, this is just over £100.

Moxham - Robotic glamour, by itself these pieces are quite ugly but together they are beautiful!!!

KIRSTY WARD - leather and metal strong statement jewellery. Yes please...

So unfortunately I have already got my Christmas present or else I would be adding these to my Christmas list!!

Finally me & my friend had our names down at MW nails in Spitalfield Market today...look how pretty!!!

River Island and Ri Ri

Today I had a very frustrating Christmas shopping session in Oxford Street, nightmare is the only way to describe it and my pre-christmas cheer was severely tried. Luckily I was wearing my extremely warm faux fur jacket and Ugg boots to keep me warm. Attempting to seek some small refuge from the heaving crowds I popped into River Island and was extremely confused because I felt like I had entered Rhianna's walk in wardrobe complete with  Rude Girl slogan belts, bedazzled/ leather base ball caps and cut out leather dresses like the one below.

I thought this was the look awaited collaboration which people have been talking about since July but I could see anything in store talking about it. Having done a bit of googling I found out the collaboration is actually happening in Spring 2013, and that Rihanna had been seen wearing a denim hooded onesie/jumpsuit from the collection. Genius, I love it!!! I need to know prices and what time in the morning I can start queueing up to get my hands on it...

Photos from the photoshoot for the campaign have recently been released as well, and it looks like brit model Jourdan Dunn is one of three models also in the campaign (and the rest: Bambi Northwood-Blyth on the left and the right is Ataui Deng). Check out the girls posing in the image below. I can't wait, really...can't wait!!!