Matthew Williamson Spring/Summer 2012

Matthew Williamson has always been a favourite designer for me, his designs never fail to impress me, they all seem to be beautiful in their own way. I especially loved this collection that was showcased at London Fashion Week yesterday! The beautiful patterns and colours as bold as they all were worked together so well. Matthew said that for this collection he was imspired by the fushion of nature and technology and was also inspired by the Japanese culture.

In this collection Matthew include a lot of slim fit trousers which seem to really be working, I have become to love slim fitted trousers and Zara have a nice collection of them in at the moment with affordable price tags. Only they are not as colourful as the trousers designed by Matthew.

I instantly fell in love with the one shouldered patterned dress, and I can tell that it will be a big hit! The dress is designed so well and i would say it is totally flawless, the pattern used is subtle but the colours used give it extra life. I will deffinitely be hunting for a dress like this!

Overall I think Matthew Williamson designed a fantastic collection and it was my favourite collection from yesterday!

Paul Costelloe- Spring/Summer 2012.

A gorgeous collection has been created for spring/summer by the superb designer Paul Costelloe, an innocent and fresh set of garments for both men and women have come to life. Inspired by the movie 'whatever happened to baby Jane?', the collection has four main colours and these consist of white, grey, black and baby pink.

The collection is full of clean cut garments but has also been mixed up with loose fitting dresses and blouses, it also has an elegant feel to it. The designs that have been created are put together so well that they don't need bright colours to make it stand out.

The men's collection has also been thought out very well, daring designs have been brought out, bright purple colours have been used. The type of colours we wouldn't normally associate with with male collections. But all the designs and colours work so well together!

Paul Costelloe opened with the first show of London Fashion Week and in my opinion they couldn't have done it any better. A beautiful collection was displayed that would excite any fashion lover, it is a clear sign that we are going to have a brilliant week ahead of us.

Dirty Sexy Things.

For the past few weeks the show, Dirty Sexy Things has become a big hit. The show is based around 8 models, it has a very different theme to many other modelling shows on television. The show was created by fashion photographer Perou, he aim was to take very different models and take 8 different photos of them, so far he has taken 3 different sets of photos.

There is one model for me that has stood out so much! Her name is Charlotte, she is totally stunning and has a beautiful personality. She is totally shameless, and always seems to end up stripping her clothes off in her shoots. Her look is very in, i believe that she should become a more established model and end up worker in higher fashion!

Well I haven't wrote for a long time, I was pretty busy and I have now got a job. So I barely have any free time any more to do the things I love best, being lazy and writing!

Now that it is my summer I have decided that I'm going to write lots more! Plus I miss going through tonnes of clothes just to write about them!

Breaking Traditions

It was the wedding of singer Michael Buble and Argentine model Luisana Lopilato on Saturday, and like many other fashion icons the flawless model invested in more than one dress. Though she did keep it simple, yet in my opinion look gorgeous.

Luisana was spotted wearing a lilac dress for their civil ceremony, the dress was teamed with a pair of silver peep-toe heels. Luisana Lopilato proves that you don't have to splash out on jaw-dropping expensively priced dresses, or have your hair done by the top hair stylists or have flamboyant flowers draping everywhere.

Coast have a dress in season that is similar to Luisana's dress, the dress is priced at a small price of £135. I think from this wedding it is clear that simple is the way of the future.

Image credit: Coast.com and Nowmagazine.

Stealing the Spotlight as Usual!

I am like many others in the UK I am so in love with Cheryl Cole and everything about her. She is totally gorgeous and her fashion sense never disappoints me. And yet again she has pleased me with a beautiful gown by Sass and Bide.

Cheryl has been having a tough time lately but that definitely wasn't showing, presenting her best smile she was a real crowd pleaser at The Prince's Trust Awards. Cheryl wore a peach gown by Sass and Bide, there was little detail on the dress but she definitely did the dress justice. It fell so elegantly on her perfectly toned figure. To accompany her dress she wore a pair of Nicholas Kirkwood heels. To top off her outfit she had a small animal print clutch by her side.

Cheryl as always looked absolutely stunning. It was nice to see her back in the UK again!

Image Credit: Tony Clark

Night At The Oscars!

The Oscars are known world-wide, and thousands of people tune in every year to watch. They want to know who won the Oscars, who lost and of course what the stars were wearing! And every year it is a worth while watch! We are never disappointed by what we see, gorgeous dresses, millions of diamonds and fabulous shoes! But then there are some bad decisions made in the clothing department!

It seems to be that people have learnt from their mistakes this year! There were no terrible outfits, I can imagine that the tabloids will be annoyed at this, instead of slagging people off they'll have to compliment them this year. Millions of pounds worth of clothes would have gone down the red carpet, so many flawless dresses were shown off. Two woman in particular that stood out for me had to be Mila Kunis and Amy Adams! They both looked beautiful, a bad word could not leave my mouth about them.

Mila wore a lilac dress from the Ellie Saab collection, the dress was a beautiful cut and the dress itself looked very simple but it had lots of detailed frills to it. Amy Adams wore a dress from L'Wren Scott's collection, yet again it was a fantastic dress. Covered with blue sequins and the way the dress fit just showed her figure off perfectly. They both were jaw-dropping.

It was reported that Amy Adams was wearing over £800,000 worth of jewellery, I wish I had that sort of money to spend on diamonds! Ha ha. All the men were dressed very smart in their clean cut suits, Colin Firth looked great! Younger than ever in my opinion, and of course Natalie Portman the heavily pregnant actress was just glowing. Wearing a purple dress just off the shoulders, she showed the world that despite being heavily pregnant you can still look fabulous!

Craving Christopher Kane

Now it's no secret that Christopher Kane's print dresses have become a huge hit, like his previous collections. Over the past two years he has given himself a good name, his brilliant designs and his humble approach to his success have helped him in doing this. His designs have been on top demand and as soon as they reach the shops and the online stores they have been selling out. Celebrities such as Alexa Chung and Rihanna have been spotted wearing his unique designs. Also releasing two ranges at Topshop helped make him a fantastic designer. He knows what we want, and he definitely delivers for us every time!

If you are like me and can't afford the high prices of these designs, well not to worry high street designers are creating new ranges that are influenced by his work! Designers such as Lipsy and Motel are making these print dresses affordable. Sure they're not the real thing and they will never compare to Christopher's designs but still they are brilliant garments in their own rights. I have selected two dresses that I thought are of high quality and are brilliant examples of designs that are influenced by his work.

The key is not to buy garments that have tried to copy his work exactly, they can sometimes come across as tacky looking, so instead of looking classy you may find yourself looking a tad cheap. Instead of buying copies it is better to find designs that have elements of his print in them, that is why I have selected these two dress, they are their own designs but they have a hint of Christopher Kane to them.

So get out there and buy yourself a print dress before they all sell out!

Left Dress: Cosmic Print Cross Bodice Dress by Motel. £42 available at Topshop
Right Dress:Lipsy Stardust Print Pleat One Shoulder Dress. £58 available at ASOS.

Image Credit: Topshop & ASOS.

Dress like a star.

Now we all know that it's not unusual to see the top celebrities promoting the high street brands by wearing their latest collections on the red carpet or whilst running some errand's. But a new celebrity has jumped on this band-wagon.

Natalie Portman was recently spotted wearing a dress from H&M's new range (due out in April) on the red carpet at the Vanity Fair Campaign Hollywood night. She shows us that you don't have to spend thousands of pounds on dresses so that you can make yourself look like a million dollars.

This is good news for many of her fans and fashion lovers everywhere, this makes it easier for us to get our hands on the latest looks that she is wearing. But many shoppers are getting irritated with celebrities promoting high street shops.

Many argue the point that high street shops are for people who love fashion but cant afford the huge price tags and with celebrities wearing these affordable clothes means that they become more valuable to customers meaning that prices go up automatically. Many fear that this is what will happen to H&M, one high street fan said "oh great it means H&M will get ridiculously over priced like top shop now cus all the stars are wearing it!!!" You have to agree with the woman on one point, Topshop prices did rise steeply as soon as celebrities starting promoting their clothes.

We will just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that H&M don't follow in the same steps as Topshop. I'm sure they won't! The H&M dress will be available from the 14Th of April, if you are interested in the dress I would prepare yourself as I'm sure many others will be too so it may sell out very fast!

NME Awards: Red Carpet Glory

So the 2011 NME awards were held Wednesday night, and just by looking at the guest list you knew that some querky outfits would have been worn. And we wasn't proven wrong!

Alexa Chung looked flawless yet again in her Christopher Kane dress. She is one of the few women out there that can pull off any outfit. All she needs to wear is a dress and a pair of heels and she looks absolutely stunning! Her outfit was a personal favourite of mine.

Two other personal favourites had to be Marina from Marina and the Diamonds and of course Juliette Lewis. Her daring fashion never fails to shock or impress me! Marina looked very querky in her plain white dress, but spiced it up by adding some finger-less gloves, a cross pendant and a hot pink clutch bag, then to top her look off she wore a multi-colour bow. She put Glam and Street together and pulled it off so well!

Juliette Lewis wowed us with her sparkling sequin skinnies and a biker jacket. She was definitely keeping her grunge look up. Her Rock 'n' Roll look was topped off with a red scarf. Maybe the outfit doesn't sound like the usual thing we see on the red carpet but she did a good job with pulling her outfit off! She was looking sexier than ever.

All of the women looked flawless, your fans will be proud!

I think this is a very cute outfit which is just dying to be worn on those sun shining summer days. It's was such an easy conbination to think of, and the great thing about this outfit is that it's one that could suit all. Also it's a outfit that is all in our price range. I got all the product of H&M.

Floral Dress: £9.99
Charm Bracelet: £5.99
Sandals: £7.99
Belt: £6.99
Total: £30.96 Bargin!

I made this combination within 10 minutes, I absolutely love it! Haha. If only i could afford it! I think its such a simple outfit, but I think on the right person they would look beautiful. They would make the outfit look complex.

Michael Michael Kors Dress- £120
Marc by Marc Jacobs Belt- £155
Miu Miu Muliti-Strap Sandals- £355
Marni Ribbon tie Brass Mesh Cuff- £370
Total Outfit price: £1000

Image Credit: Net-a-porter

House of Holland Fall/Winter 2011 Collection.

House of Holland brilliantly demonstrated this week that socks and heels are a match made in heaven! Also along with many other designers they showed us that bright clashing colours do work together!

Checked tweed, A-line skirts and bobble embroidered garments have arrived in style this week! House of Holland showcased a beautiful collection. Unusual combinations were put together showing us that we should be daring when it comes to fashion. After all our clothes are the shell of our personality.

Daring prints were used often throughout this collection. Many of the patterns used reminded me of patch work quilts and my Granny's knitted blankets. A few years ago we may have looked at these patterns in horror but as fashion has become more daring we certainly wouldn't think that now. I can say in confidence that each outfit is totally flawless.

The vibrant colours used in each garment worked so well. Tailored outfits looked so young and were perfect figure hugging clothes. The collection would certainly flatter all women of all shapes and sizes. That is one of the most brilliant things about these collections. It is hard to find collections that have a little bit of something for everybody.

Not one black outfit was shown. So remember ladies in these up coming seasons you need to ditch the black and stock up on all the new daring colours!

Image Credit: London Fashion Week

Sass & Bide's Fall/Winter Collection: Eek!

I have always been a fan of Sass & Bide, their collections every season never fail to impress me and they have done it again!

Tribal prints, pink and orange combinations and layers are all key features to their collection. About two years ago pink and orange were the two popular colours of the summer, we also saw the colour back in the late 1980's. A very popular colour choice that is virtually being used by every designer this year.

Another reappearing fashion that Sass & Bide have used is tribal print, beautiful mixes of colours and patterns have been put together. Patterns that clash have been put together, but in a very smart and creative way. The patterns work so well together!

Also small accessories have been added to most of the outfits. Especially thin coloured belts being added to layered outfits. This gives the impression that the loose garment has a structured fit to it. Also these small accessories are really giving these designs a complete look that they need.

These designs prove that pattern is reinventing itself every year. Getting brighter and bolder each time, I wonder if pattern will ever go out of fashion, because at the moment it certainly doesn't look that way!

Image Credit to London Fashion Week. Edited by myself.

James Long Fall/Winter 2011 Collection: WOW!

I read an article in Grazia this week, it mentioned how men are beginning to dominate the fashion industry. I doubted it at first, sure there are many men in the fashion industry who are at the top of the food chain but surely they won’t over come the female power that dominates the fashion industry today.

But my opinion was pushed aside today when I watched James Long’s collection go down the catwalk. His collection screamed out male domination to me, also I thought that the selected models did the clothes justice. Confidence, power and sex appeal oozed from each and every one of them.

I fell in love with the collection as soon as I saw it. I found that each piece was similar to one another but each outfit was worn in a different way, giving the outfit its own unique twist. It was casual but at the same time so smart!

Personally I thought that the collection had a slight feminine touch to it, but when on the models the outfits looked flawless. I say this because in the past Granddads were the only men who wore cardigans, but in this collection long cardigans are a key feature. Until now only a few brave and fashion men have dared to wear cardigans. With this collection I can tell more and more men will be purchasing their own cardigans.

Chunky cardigans, slim fit trousers and ankle boots are a must have for every man’s wardrobe in the up coming seasons.

Image Credit: London Fashion Week

The Key to Vintage Clothing.

I absolutely love vintage clothing! I think it is probably the best aspect of fashion, it shows how fashion is just one big cycle and we are going to continue visiting the past trends. In the past a lot of us have turned our noses up at vintage clothes, but over the fast few years it has become a big hit with celebrities to teenage girls.

If you're like me and don't have any vintage stores in your area, it's not a problem. Charity shops are probably the best source for this type of clothing! Plus it is so cheap! A lot of the clothes that are top buys in the high street stores can be found in charity shops. Most of the time charity shops can be filled with junk that would appeal to nobody, this is common I have experienced that many times!

Then I thought where is the biggest place that I can find clothes from all different eras, Ebay of course! You may be searching for hours trying to find the perfect pair of shorts or your dream dress, but the fact is your are more than likely going to find it! With thousands of products listed each day you are guaranteed to find an item that will suit you. You may find that the prices on Ebay will be higher than charity shop prices but at the end of the day nobody you know will be wearing the same outfit from you.

Ebay is an excellent way to save your money on top designers too. For example the other day i bought a Miu Miu floral pattern shirt for £5. If nobody had told me that it was second hand I wouldn't have known. It was in fantastic condition! Plus it can make up so many different outfits! It's buys like that, that make me think how much money we waste each year in top high street stores when really if we just shop around a bit more we could find the same products for half the price.

2011 is the year for no shame! You shouldn't care what other people think about where you got your clothes from, so what if your top is from a charity shop. I can guarantee that some of the best dressed people on this planet get their clothes from second hand stores! I hope that you will go search for your perfect vintage clothes now!

Image belonging to: Catwalkqueen.tv

Hunters!

These photos of Ed Westwick and Leighton Meester were only taken a couple of days ago of the two of them on set film the new series of gossip girl. They were both spotted wearing these red Hunter wellies as they tried to avoid the snow. Blake Lively was also spotted wearing a blue pair of Hunters. Prices of hunters usually vary from £50-£60. This is a very reasonable price range considering the fact that they last for years. I found an identical pair at http://www.garden4less.co.uk/hunter-genuine-adjustable-wellies-red.asp, they're a bargin!