Category Archives: Fashion

Where is spring? I have all these clothes…

Like most people living in the UK, I am eagerly awaiting for the weather to improve.

As a self-confessed mild (!!!) shopaholic, I have already built a base of lovely spring items for my wardrobe. The problem is, this weather is preventing me from realising my full new season potential.

Still, after a few pre-holidays purchases, I came back hungry for new items, and ended up buying a few.

Since the SS12 shows, I was dying to buy a vegetable print dress… I wanted aubergines, but D&G is a bit above my budget, so I found solace in a lovely tomato print skater dress from New Look. Topshop also had a dress with the very same print, which I bought and returned as I found the NL one nicer!!!

I also got some pastels from H&M: a nude lace pencil skirt, a mint green and a nude top and shorts; most are from their Conscious collection, which makes them extra nice, and I am sure (weather permitting) I will wear a lot!!!!

Amongst the purchases are also a couple crop tops from New Look, one with ethnic inspired print, to wear with pencil or long skirts.

However, the star buy here, for me, were the spike bracelets, also from New Look; at £3.99, I couldn’t help but purchase the silver and the gold!!!!

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Spring mood

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The fact that sun has been out (although temperatures are not that high) has put me into a spring mood.

I have hit the shops hard and bought lots of lovely pastels…Got lovely cream shorts and jacket, flowery shorts, a mint green lace  top and a cream lace top, all from H&M. From the spring/summer12 trends, the ones I am into the most are definitely girlie, with the lovely pastels and monochromes – to be honest, I have been a big fan of black and white for a long time! I am also loving shorts at the moment!

These are a few of the items I have bought recently…What about you? What is your favourite spring trend?

p.s – I have been really rubbish lately, have 2 lovely Nails of the week posts to add, and time has been so short… will post them when I get to Brazil, as I have 2 weeks of holidays!

Fashion week beauty – A/W 12-13

Posted in Beauty, Fashion, Make Up by
Meadham Kichhoff a/w 12-13, image from vogue.co.uk

Meadham Kichhoff A/W 12-13, image from vogue.co.uk

Fashion week comes round one more time in London town, and as I work near Somerset House, the home of LFW, I have been spotting of sorts of weird and wonderful fashionistas around. And that put me in the mood to scour for pretty make up and nails amongst the (mostly) beautiful clothes.

Once again, I have been trashing the London and New York editorials and squinting at the zoomed in pictures to spot nails and make up trends, or just things I like.

I noticed many minimalist, bare face looks and clear or nude nails. Have to say, I have no interest on those at all – so move over… Here are my thoughts on the exciting ones:

Before I go into specifics, I must open with Meadham Kirchhoff which once again dazzled with make up and nails – for the talons, a feast of patterned, colourful and mismatched appearances. For the make up, colourful eyes, with geometrical patterns, also mismatched, half coloured lips and towards the end, fully painted faces. And wacky hair. If for any show, I would be begging to watch this one. Absolutely beautiful, and exquisite.  A brilliant case of beauty being an integral part of the outfits.

Black nail polish has been spotted avast: at Antonio Berardi (with beautiful light coloured half moons), L’Wren Scott and Vera Wang. Vivienne Westwood Red Label presented exquisite inscripted hands and nails, but some plain black.  PPQ had lovely gold nails pointy with black tip designed as a triangle, almost like a heart at the end, facing outside. Pretty.

Still on nails, I spotted lavender blue for Erdem, almost electric blue at Antoni & Alison and deep blue at Anna Sui. House of Holland gave us dogstooth pattern nails, with bright blue and pink backgrounds. Transparent shimmery polish, deep burgundy and hands dipped in gold shimmer appeared at Marchesa (which, by the way, had a stunning collection).

Red lips appeared on Emilia Wickstead and PPQ, as well as at Narciso Rodriguez, with some burgundy, and naked eyes.

Orangey reds and coral lips were seen at House of Holland, Rodarte, Michael Kors, Jonathan Saunders and glossy at Antonio Berardi.

Moschino Cheap & Chic gave us beautiful lilac shimmery lips!

For the eyes, I like the smokey black at L’Wren Scott and eyeliner flicks at Erdem (a high on the lid floating version), Aquascutum (very thick) and Antoni & Alison (smokey), but  Anna Sui delivered my favourite: gorgeous electric blue flicks with a pretty dot at the centre of the lower lash line. Narciso Rodriguez also gave us coral and lime eyeshadow with nude lips and Marchesa presented beautifully gold shimmer lined eyes.

I also enjoyed looking at the coral flushed cheeks at Mulberry. The models looked so fresh and radiant.

Although Meadham Kirchhoff’s colourful extravaganza is my favourite feast-for-the-eyes show, I probably won’t go painting my face blue (unless I dress up as Neytiri), but I see plenty of wearable trends, and I am sure we can all find a few favourites and give them our individual twists to suit our styles!

I highly recommend you take a look at the picture galleries at Vogue for great photos!

Vogue Beauty

Vogue Fashion

Thinking about what trends are hot for Spring/Summer 12? Check my previous posts!

Aldo Rise shoe collection

Posted in Fashion, Shoes by

A JW Anderson, my favourite so far

The designer/high street collaboration is something that excites me in concept: designer goods at affordable prices, blah blah blah. However, from all the amazing H&M collaborations, I only managed to get hold of a pair of Jimmy Choos (and from eBay). It’s so maniac that no matter how much I love an item, I just don’t have the disposition to queue the whole night to get my hands on it.

Yesterday I came across the Aldo Rise line with its motto “Fashion is no longer a commandment, it’s a collaboration”, and was very impressed by the designers taking part. Of course this would grab my attention immediately, as they are shoes, but seeing names like JW Anderson, Preen, Mark Fast, Christian Cota, Cushnie et Ochs and Libertine really excites me, not only for the designs themselves but also for the prices of around £135. You can see some at this Vogue picture gallery.

Now, I absolutely loved Cushnie et Ochs Spring/Summer 2012 collection, it was among my picks at NY Fashion week, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the shoes they will come up with for Aldo!

Clothes swap party

Posted in Dresses, Fashion, Shoes by

One of the items I bagged - love it!

I am very excited to say that, for the very first time, I did something I had wanted to do for ages: attend a clothes swap party. It was organised by a friend who, after having so much fun at one in the past, decided to host her own.

For me it was the perfect excuse to perform my biannual wardrobe season change – this is when, for pure lack of space (or as my boyfriend seems to suggest, too many items – crazy – you can’t have too many, right?!), I put all the bygone season clothes in suitcases and shove them in the loft. They then come out around six months later, and the cycle is complete! I often use the opportunity to review my collection and get rid of clothes that made in and out of the loft a couple of times and haven’t been worn. Usually, they end up in the charity shop, but this time they had a different destination.

Armed with some nibbles, I pulled a small suitcase packed with a mix of  clothes (some I really liked and had worn a fair bit, others a bought and didn’t sit well or were simply not my style) all the way to my friend’s house, where I was met by around eight other girls holding glasses of bubbly. Promising!

The format was pretty straight forward: you went in the middle of the room, opened your case, showed each item and the ladies interested asked to try them on. If there were no takers, the garment would join a pile on the floor, for later perusal or disposal. If two or more parts were interested, they would all try the disputed item and sometimes this alone would solve it, otherwise, negotiations would commence – all very friendly, flattering but honestly on how the other part looked to decide who the item was better suited for, with all the girls giving opinions! I pretty much got everything I wanted, and I have the feeling everyone was satisfied with their new acquisitions. I certainly took more items with me to the party than I brought home, and this was my intention from the offset!

The vast majority of my items were tried on by more than one girl (it feels nice when other people like your taste!), and two lovely dresses went to a good home – they were sexy numbers, and I am sure she will do them justice!

I ended up with a flower print full skirt dress, which I wore to work the day after, a pair of high heel grey boots, a wool wrap mini skirt, a pencil skirt with leather panels on the side, a skirt suit, a bright pink lipstick, a hair volumising spray and the best of all, three MAC brushes (227,212 and 275)!!!

A great experience altogether, I would certainly do it again. It worked very well and I loved it, plus,  it makes so much sense –  I cannot see a better way of recycling and exploring styles that you might not necessarily go for, as well as making new friends and most of all, having a LOT of fun. And the clothes which ended up unclaimed, were gathered by the hosts to be taken to the nearest charity shop. Nice!

London Fashion Week – my picks

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A gown by Julien Macdonald

A gown by Julien Macdonald

London is where my heart is, and it was  so exciting to see the British S/S 12 lines,  set in the beautiful Somerset House and other amazing venues around the capital.

I really like what I saw in London, and under the absolutely stunning category I am going to put Julien Macdonald‘s collection. The short dresses were so fierce and wearable – I would happily don most of the designs presented. The long, flowing gowns were dreamy: the embroidery married with transparency was delicate and sexy at the same time.  The metallics are muted, elegant and in details, which gives all the pieces a very noble, glamorous feel.

Vivienne Westwood‘s Red Label collection dresses at the end of the show really  appealed to me, but what really caught my attention was the metallic hair, exquisite MAC make up with amazing eyes and multicoloured nails in shades of greens and blues.  Love it.

I very much like Henry Holland, and when looking at his collection, fresh was the word that sprung to mind, with the pastels and playful pieces.  And then, all of a sudden, it got fierce, with leathers, animal print and netting.

Meadham Kirchhoff

Meadham Kirchhoff

The textures on Holly Fulton‘s collection was superb – the embroidery mixed with zebra(!!!) print, patterns with feathers and jewelled collars , the sea theme – I like it all, quite a few pieces I would wear.

Jaeger comes very ladylike – the hats were fabulous (even though I don’t really wear hats, I don’t think they suit me!) and I really enjoyed seeing Sass & Bide‘s vibrant colours and sheen details at the Royal Opera House, the venue I consider to be the most stunning.

A feast for the eyes was Meadham Kirchhoff‘s collection. Dazzling the senses with an explosion of colours, the designs and the styling were pure fun – think circus meets pantomime in a fantasy world. Mary Kantrazou also showcased a colourful and exquisite collection, a delightful prints galore.

I also like the fringed, flapper-ish and the feathered dresses from Issa, the vinyl and structured, almost futuristic pieces from Richard Nicoll (some of them reminded me of The Jetsons), the colours and textures in Matthew Williamson‘s collection and the metallics and feathers on Giles‘ “Black Swan inspired” line.

I can bet on metallics for next summer, as well as prints and patterns (I love ALL animal prints – last season’s leopard was king, now giving way to snake for A/W11-12, maybe it is zebra time for s/s12?) and  pastel colours.

Overall, in my opinion,  New York faded in comparison to the flamboyance of London. Even though I fell in love with quite a few stunning collections showcased in NY, everything seemed more edgy, daring and innovative in the British version, and perhaps easier and more fun to translate from the catwalk to the streets.

Happy birthday Shoe Galleries!

Posted in Fashion, Shoes by

Selfridge's Shoe Galleries

Last night I attended one of the events celebrating the first anniversary of the biggest shoe department in the world, the  Selfridges  Shoe Galleries. Situated on the second floor of the London store, the gallery is home to 55,000 shoes at any one time and 4,000 shoes on display, from over 150 brands. It is a fantastic place, on one hand, my dream, for obvious reasons, but also my nightmare, because I want to buy them all!

Upon arrival, I was lured to the area surrounding a small catwalk by the music of a live band.  Not long after I found a seat, extremely good looking waiters brought little bottles of Pommery POP champagne for the dozens of ladies waiting, and Grazia’s fashion editor, Sophie Ferguson Jones, opened the event by talking about shoes and handbags trends for this season. Soon enough, the more than F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S Miss J Alexander, from America’s Next Top Model, started running the show and picked girls from the audience to strut their stuff on the catwalk, giving them tips on how to improve their walk.

Beautiful ballerinas also made an appearance and there were other activities going on around the whole floor, such as foot mapping (like palm reading, but for the feet!), several prize draws and customisation.

I really love this type of event, overall it was a like a big party with lovely atmosphere, Miss J provided endless laughter and the champagne flowed enough to keep me happy – all surrounded by the most amazing shoes in the world!

For more on events at Selfridges, visit their What’s on page.

London Fashion week beauty

Posted in Beauty, Fashion, hair, Make Up by
Vivienne Westwood Red Label eyes, Topshop unique hair

MAC eyes for Vivienne Westwood; hair for Topshop Unique

Of course I love the clothes, but what really caught my eyes were the accompanying nails, hair and make up during LFW.

The nails, hair and especially make up at Vivienne Westwood’s Reb Label show were simply amazing – MAC delivered exotic peacock eyes and burgundy defined cheeks and nails were painted each in a different shade of green/blue. I adore bold eyes and will try to replicate at home soon! Also growing fonder of the mismatched nail colours, quite daring for me as to this day I have always painted all my nails one colour at a time!

Topshop unique, House of Holland and Vivienne Westwood nails

Nails for Topshop Unique, House of Holland and Vivienne Westwood

Topshop Unique delighted us with sensational, “gold-plated” locks (applying gold leaves on hair) and blue, gold and pink painted nails with hieroglyphics – pure “Queen of the Nile” lush.

House of Holland gave us “ombre” nails – colour at the bottom, no colour at the top of the talons. Elle has even published a “how to“, if you’d like to try – I don’t think I will myself, as the final aspect doesn’t seem very tidy, but I might try the technique with two colours!

Meadham Kirchhoff's model hair and make up

Hair and make up for Meadham Kirchhoff's show

Mary Kantrazou‘s models brought bold coloured lips to the catwalk, including blue, green and grey! Quite enjoyed seeing it.

I feasted my eyes with the styling at Meadham Kirchhoff show – a circus-like bonanza, with  bouffant wigs, neon and pastel lips and eyes, colourful nails with the cutest motifs (mainly, there was a vagina one!) and plenty of glitter.

I can definitely spot some trends here, such as  each nail painted on a different colour, patterns and bold eyes, as well as pastel colours on make up for the summer. The fresh-faced, natural look with barely there make up also graced a lot of shows.

As far as make up, nails and hair on the catwalk go, London outdoes New York by a mile, and even though light beige nails and a more natural make up, which were predominant in NY, have been spotted here, the opposing variety in London was far greater, and in my opinion, better and more fun!

NY Fashion Week – my picks

Posted in Beauty, Dresses, Fashion by
Zac Posen evening gown

Zac Posen evening gown

Fashion Week season is on, and New York offers us the first glimpse of the Spring/Summer 12 collections on its catwalks.

For me,  so far, sharing the  “absolutely stunning” category is Zac Posen‘s collection, with some edgy yet feminine pieces, a great colour palette and fabulous evening gowns and Marchesa displaying fairytale dresses that sparkled and flowed across the Plaza Hotel. Absolutely beautiful.

Also amongst my favourites are Vera Wang‘s colourful Wonderland inspired pieces, Cushnie Et Ochs‘ white and black dresses and Monique Lhuillier‘ curve gripping ensembles. In common, these three have dramatic, geometric neck lines, sharp edges,  and structured pieces oozing with femininity  – all presented in a way I could actually see myself wearing. L’Wren Scott‘s line also had some fabulous dresses.

Some of Victoria Beckham‘s pieces also caught my eyes – the shades of blue in the collection were amazing, and I love the fact the models were styled wearing Louboutins.

Cushnie Et Ochs dress

Cushnie Et Ochs

Some of her pieces for this collection were less body skimming – apparently inspired by her recent pregnancy: loser pieces, to go with a fuller figure. I really like seeing designs on the catwalk that embrace  more realistic body shapes. I also heard she was looking fabulous back stage, wearing towering Louboutins and one of her handbags in tow.

I also enjoying looking at some tribal printed Donna Karan and some of Betsey Johnson exquisite pieces – I love the flowery prints and that goth vibe.

Zooming on the nails, I noticed a light beige shade, quite recurrent across different designers. It is for Spring/Summer 12, after all, so I have some time to tackle my lighter- shades-on- nails phobia!

McQueen’s Savage Beauty in London

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McQueen red feathered dressThe news that the Alexander McQueen’s Savage Beauty might be coming to London excites me hugely – and fulfils a void created when I first found out that the  late British designer’s exhibition was going to take place in New York.

I wasn’t at all surprised by its success at the Met and was quite disappointed I couldn’t see it  – I wrote about it before it opened, and had to content myself by looking at their stunning pictures on a Vogue gallery.

At the moment, the design house is investigating venues in London –  I do hope they find one soon. I am certainly willing to queue,  and quite likely to do  so, seeing that it attracted 661, 509 people during its duration in the Met.

I simply cannot wait!