Returning as an old lady

Well, not quite OLD old, but still. 21 is quite big!

I took the last month off blogging due to a crazy schedule. I've just started back at university for my third (and very scary) year. It's been intense. And stressful. So a week in the sun for my birthday was also very much needed!

I am also extremely excited to share with you all that I am going to be doing some more blog pieces for the lovely Lauren at nakedfashions.com! It's been amazing working with her during fashion month and hopefully it will only get better!

This week sees my return to university and the real world. After catching up with vague and once again, scary briefs it really is time to get cracking and start preparing for my dissertation! I'm very excited to be working a live brief with the wonderful people at L'Oreal and Kiel's! It is a competition as well as a major part of my final year, so I will keep updating my progress!

For now though, I am going to focus this post on fashion. More precisely, the trend of wine, damson and all those lovely oxblood colours. This colour pallet is perfect for autumn winter, and with a massive climate shock like the one I have just had (Tenerife vs a cold and wet UK) looking good needs to be cosy too.

My wine must haves vary from accessories to clothes to makeup, and I want them all. Badly.

1. The essential blazer

This gorgeous burgundy blazer from Ted Baker features stunning branded buttons, a beautiful printed lining and elbow patch detailing. Ted loves hidden elements that make his customers smile; this jacket features a red mustache on the coat loop inside. MODESTA, £249 available at tedbaker.com

2. The wardrobe must have tee

French Connection know exactly what to do when it comes to essential must haves, and their new Polly Plain tops are just that. My favourite is this stunning wine colour, with a silky front and jersey back,  but they are available in different colours. My neighbouring French concession at work sells tons of these, and at only £27, it is clear why. frenchconnection.com

3. The velvet shoe

Labelled the Geek shoe, these velvet wonders from TopShop are far from geeky. Teamed with barefeet or cute ankle socks, these shoes are perfect to brighten the cold cloudy days ahead. £32 topshop.com

4. The lippy

OK. So I know that this lippy is a little redder than the rest of the colours in my burgundy post, but its so badly needed! Named Maneater, this little beauty from Illamasqua, the people who do makeup for your alter ego,  is a perfect compliment to the burgundy tones in your outfit. £16.50 illamasqua.com

5. The bag

Once again I'm in love with the simplicity and beauty of the Cambridge Satchel Company's bags. In stunning oxblood leather, this bag is ideal to complete your outfit. £116 asos.com

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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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My dissertation is going to be one hell of a tasty project

I'm about to enter my third year at university. And I'm scared. Not of the work load or the pressure or the late night InDesign and Photoshop sessions; but of getting fat.

I'm not self-conscious of my body, I'm proud of my curves. I eat healthily, and enjoy desserts and cakes as much as the next person, but I'd never starve myself to live up to the scrawny standard of the industry I will graduate into (the fashion industry that is). Raw celery is far too dull!

This is why one of the reasons I have decided to do a non-fashion based dissertation. Don't get me wrong, I love fashion. I love the excitement, the clothes, the new collections, the bitchiness of the behind the scenes fitting rooms, but food will always trump it.

James Martin's double raspberry bakewell tart is on my list of things to try this year

http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2365637/james-martins-double-raspberry-bakewell-tart

I believe love of food can begin anywhere. I fell in love with baking and cookery as a tiny child, being fed interesting and exciting dishes whilst my friends gorged themselves on Happy Meals and tinned spaghetti. I had my own restaurant in the kitchen, where menus were written in an illegible hand, but adored by my hungry guests. My cookery skills are purely the work of my parents; who discovered a world of exciting flavours and new dishes as teenagers, and passed their skills and natural flair down to me. Also, to my Nanna, a wonderful woman who loves baking, and would put up with silly requests for currantless scones (after they had been baked) just to keep a smile on a child's face.

My love of food is also deeply nestled in the literature I read as a child. Food takes you to another place, where houses are built of gingerbread and rivers run wild with comforting currents of melted milk chocolate. Roald Dahl is my inspiration behind encouraging new and exciting dishes. His words, passion and wonder made each element of his tales come alive. I too travelled on the giant peach with James, and tasted its sweet nectar as it balanced precariously atop the Empire State Building. I also learnt an important lesson from a friendly giant; “The human bean is not a vegetable.”

My project will explore the importance of eating local produce when possible. After the rise of the horsemeat scandal, and the creation of a lab grown burger, knowing what goes into our food is becoming increasingly more important.

I firmly believe that we should support our local butcher, invest in local vegetables, try local cheeses and of course, buy British. Food festivals are a great way of exploring all of the great produce we as a country. They offer tasters, great information about how best to cook your steaks and how to prepare fish, and most of all are fun to go to.

Over the next year I will be posting my usual fashion pieces, along with foodie adventures, new recipes and, as I mentioned earlier, progress of my ever widening waist line....

...a gym membership will be opened when term starts.


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Head Over Heels

* or rather, head over flats.

As you know, I cannot walk in high heels. This has nothing to do with my fashion views or inability to pull off a beautiful pair of killer heels, I simply have back issues. And back issues mean a lifetime in flats.

Now, as much as I love the footwear I have been given for the rest of my days, sometimes finding new and exciting flat shoes can be a nightmare. I have tried the simple chelsea boot (love love love), and have worn the humble black pump with various additions to death in the past few years. So today, when checking my instagram feed, I fell in love. And fell hard.

These little beauties are The Hobes. Launched in early 2010, Hobes founder Georgia Hobart filled a gap in the Australian shoe market that needed filling badly. Her wonderful creations are very simple, very classic, but are an instant hit. And, being crafted by hand shows that little but of extra love for your feet. They aren't just for aussies though; international shipping is offered. (Please come soon student loan)

With the recent craze taking over celebrities and fashion followers wallets alike for a pair of shoes in every colour, you can certainly do that here. My current favourites are the silver sparkler hobe and the original hobe in a stunning royal navy.

Original Hobe in Royal: $159

Sparkler Hobe in Silver:$169

This could well be the start of my very own 'shoe in every colour' collection. I wouldn't regret a single pair.

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