bloggers

Outfit One:

Cocktails in New York calls for sophistication and glamour. All New York residents seem to be seriously stylish and I borrowed more than a dash of inspiration from our favourite New York resident- Carrie Bradshaw! I chose a pastel colour palette to create a fun, flirty and feminine vibe. I love this mint party dress and what a steal at £15! Mint and lilac seemed to be a lovely combination, and a nice change from an LBD. The lilac Cambridge satchel is the perfect retro and feminine compliment to the outfit, perfect for holding a purse and all those numbers you’ll receive at the bar!

Outfit Two:

When sightseeing in Paris, you need to be comfortable yet utterly chic. After all, it’s the most stylish city in the world, right? I took a leaf from Audrey Hepburn’s book with a simple elegant dress and accessories. Brogues are the perfect shoe to send you sashaying from the Tour de Eiffel to the Sacré-Cœur and this pair from Clarks are beautiful! A blazer and a pair of cat eye sunglasses makes sure you’re protected from whatever the weather throws at you, whilst remaining stylish and sophisticated! I chose a vaguely nautical scheme, because stripes seem so very Paris!

Outfit Three:

As a Brit girl myself, I can identify most with the shopping in London style. Chelsea boots and a cute backpack are the perfect companions to take you on a spree from Oxford Street’s Topshop to Harrods. The skinny black jeans, bow blouse and a tailored blazer give an air of sophistication yet edginess whilst remaining comfortable for hitting the shops. Finally, I topped the outfit off with a bowler hat to give a nod to classic British style!

Inspired to join the competition? It’s so much fun!

I’m nominating 5 other bloggers to take part in the competition!:

This competition closes on 5th June, so don’t wait too long to create your entries!

Have a great evening!

London Fashion Week ended yesterday and we’re seeing the last few show reports drizzle in. There have been innumerable accounts of the shows, surely in their thousands by this point, but few talk about what London Fashion Week is really like.

And really, why should they? London Fashion Week is an exciting time dedicated to reporting on the styles of next season. Generally, it’s attended by fashion veterans who have attended more shows than I’ve attended shoe sales. They know what they’re doing, so to describe what that exactly is what be entirely pointless. Obviously there’s always going to be newbies and I’m sure you’ve all seen the “OMG, #LFW was AMAZE” statuses or tweets, and yes, as one of those Newbies, I can confirm London Fashion Week is a fantastic experience and I have been so incredibly lucky to experience it. I don’t want this to be my last LFW and really hope to attend the Spring Summer show in September! However, I want to make the point that it’s nowhere near as glitzy as it seems – unless you are a celebrity F-ROWer of course!

For example, when bloggers show off about how amazing the shows are, they tend to forget to mention the queues (luckily not too bad in my case – although I can imagine some shows are packed!). You queue in the cold outside, and then once you’re inside, you queue again! The main downside for me was the heat inside the building (I don’t know why but I am just terrible in heat. I go bright red and feel lethargic and dizzy. Attractive!). I wasn’t alone – I spotted a few be-jumpered individuals fanning themselves with their programmes. It made me wish I’d grabbed a frozen yoghurt on the way in from the Snog crew (yes, that’s seriously the company name! It was a little alarming to hear “fancy a snog” from vendors!).

I found that most of my fellow bloggers, despite the large online presences they front, are pretty solitary individuals in reality. I genuinely stood in a queue for 20 minutes where no-one spoke – even though we all had so much in common! I was so full of nervous energy and felt poles apart from the calm expressionless faces around me! Fortunately I met one lovely and interesting blogger, Ashley, who writes at Pink Julep – she’s the nicest blogger I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet and has written some fantastic accounts of LFW!

It amazed me how similar some of the Fashion Week go-ers looked. I managed a quick recce around Somerset House and saw many, many girls dresses in coats, with top knots and killer heeled boots. There’s nothing wrong with any of these things (as long as its faux fur!) and they are all things I wear myself, but it surprised me to see so many people looking similar – especially when bloggers tend to pride themselves on being unique, right?

I saw a few LFW participants walking around in pairs and felt rather envious – I wish I had a blogger best friend to attend all these events with!

The shows themselves are pretty spectacular, I must admit – but at the time it’s hard to appreciate it. Bearing in mind this was my very first show so I’m far from a pro. I was focusing so hard on trying to get good pictures, trying to remember little phrases to describe what I was seeing that I barely saw the catwalk but through my camera! It’s exactly like when you photograph a fireworks show; you’re witnessing something spectacular but you only appreciate it looking back at the pictures.

It was a great day out and I’m thrilled to tell people I went! I hope I’ve given everyone a clearer idea of what going to a fashion show is actually like (and that I don’t sound like I’m complaining – I’m really not!). Maybe next time I could Vlog?

Next season I would give my right arm to see Orla Kiely’s show. After looking at pictures of her AW13 collection I am positively drooling and wish I could have seen it in person!

Images courtesy of Memoir Mode

White tights, Peter Pan collars, high waists, t-bar heels and a retro colour palette? The Orla Kiely AW13 collection is total perfection. It encapsulates everything I love!

I think this collection might provide the inspiration for my outfit tonight at the NME Awards – I’m beyond excited to see Miles Kane perform! He’s one of my favourite artists!