Black Tied

I love jewellery. I'm a sucker for anything shiny, with sparkles, and pieces that I can wear everyday. 

I do have my favourite pieces that I wear on a daily basis, like my antique blue stone necklace, but I love it when new favorites appear.

That is exactly what I got from the lovely people at Black Tied.

Their lovely handmade pieces all the way from Ireland arrived at my door last week, and I have been in love ever since.

My favourite pieces have to be the beautiful triangle black stone earrings. They are so light, and go with everything!! I can wear them to work to glam up my Saturday outfit, and with jeans and a top for dinner or shopping. I also love the rings. These sit at the tips of your fingers and look amazing!

I'd really like to thank the lovely Laura at Black Tied for all of her help and advice; and for supporting fashion bloggers like me.

Have a look at their beautiful website, you won't be disappointed. 

Www.blacktied.co.uk

It's all happening this month!

We are now firmly in Fashion Month, and with so many shows, beautiful clothing and people to write about, I am feeling very lucky to have been given the opportunity to contribute articles to www.nakedfashions,com !

This lovely little website ran by the fantastic Lauren Johnstone reports on everything fashion, from high end high-street to luxury goods.

My first report, on Victoria Beckham's NYFW collection is available to read here.

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Big Name Collaborations

We've seen many big name collaborations over the past few years, from Versace and H&M to McQueen and Puma, however this season, it is the turn of the photographer.

Karen Millen, French Connection and Marks and Spencer have all teamed up with world renowned photographers to create stunning advertising campaigns and look books for their autumn winter 2013 collections.

At KM, a beautiful portrait look book was created by David Bailey. In preparation for their global expansion, KM wanted to create something visually stunning and beautiful. Baileys portraits aim to show the brands story of 'creativity and craftsmanship'. The beautiful precision of the images he creates are a perfect reflection on the stunning quality and care that Karen Millen put into every garment.

French Connection took a different route. With their AW13 collection going back to the brands roots as a grungy, shocking and risqué brand, they have certainly ticked all of the boxes with the help of Rankin. His campaign, the first ran by his new agency, The Full Service, offers the customers a chance to see how a garment is created and developed to be a garment for purchase. The cleverly titled From Sketch to Store, features completely naked models, who have had a garment sketched on top of the print by illustrator Jo Bird. The model is then photographed in the actual garment. This campaign has shocked and sent ripples of awe and astonishment through the fashion world, which is just what they wanted to achieve.

Finally, we come to Marks and Spencer, who’s latest TV campaign has been shot by Annie Leibovitz. The campaign, featuring some of the most influential women in the UK including Katie Piper, Monica Ali and Darcey Bussell, embodies the brand perfectly. Their aim is to show intelligent, confident women who have innate personal style. The sheer variety of women featured; from singers, visionaries and campaigners, truly shows these women as pioneers within their field. Annie does a beautiful  job of capturing their beauty, intellectuality and of course, a stunning AW13 collection.  

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Bag To School

...appologies for the cheesy line

But sadly, it is that time of year again. Time to dust off the text books that were 'lost' under the bed all summer. Time to put fresh batteries in the calculator that will see the life of day once or twice, and most important of all, time to ensure your bag is the best damn bag school, uni or college has ever seen. Ever.

My little sister is a lover of individual bags, and got her uber cool Lazy Oaf backpack (below) from the lovely people at ASOS.

So, since this is a studenty type post and ASOS offer a lovely little discount with your NUS card, it only seems fair to post my top 5 must have bags from their website. Afterall, a new bag makes all the difference.

 

1. The new bowler

 

 

 

The asos animal bowling bag is perfect for some of the safari prints that will be creeping into our AW13 wardrobes this season. And what better way to show your individuality than with a bold print next to a dull school uniform. ASOS £75

 

 

2. The designer backpack

 

The gorgeous people at Matt and Nat have created this wonderfully simple, practical yet stylish leather look backpack just to make your new term that little bit nicer. With an eco friendly lining made from recycled plastic bottles too, this back is good for you and the environment. £80

 

3. The colour block tote

 

Totes have long been a symbol of education. They are spacious enough to throw in a plethora of books, pencils and detention notes, and can sometimes even squeeze in some lunch. They have never been as stylish as they are today. A world away from cotton tote shoppers (ideal for PE kits and carting overdue books back to the library), this Warehouse tote brings a bit of colour into our otherwise dull morning registrations and makes going out and learning that little bit easier. And at £38, she's a keeper.

 

4. The faithful satchel

 

As you can see from the HUGE banner below this bag (which I was unable to remove due to lack of Photoshop today), this bold colour block satchel from the Cambridge Satchel Company is an ASOS exclusive. This bag is a little more pricey, but will last a long time. Personally, I really want this bag to make my third and final year at university that little bit less stressful, and with it being my favourite colour, it's bound to brighten even the most horriffic of library all nighters. £115

 

5. Lecture theatre to bar

Every hard working university or college student knows the vital importance of attending those delightful 9am lectures. Usually followed by a highly productive group meeting or tutorial. However, when the end of the day (or lunch time) comes, this juicy wine coloured Dune bag is the ideal thing to take us from lecture to bar. With a spacious inner compartment, fitting a notebook and your makeup bag in will be a breeze. £65

 

All of these lovely bags are available at www.asos.com

 

My sister begins year 10 tomorrow (good luck!), whereas I have another 26 blissful days off (doing work work and third year prep...yey).

 

Have a great first day, you'll do great.

 

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