Outfit Challenge

I have been useless at posting recently, I have millions (slight exaggeration) of things to show you and tell you about but I've been distracted by the whole graduating/getting a job/being a grown up malarkey.

Anyways, a while ago the lovely people at So Feminine set me the challenge of creating an outfit with £50 pocket money. I had been on a clothes buying ban (bar a lovely skirt from Topshop that accidentally made it's way into my wardrobe...) since Christmas, but I can never turn down a challenge or an excuse to shopping!

The outfit I got is quite simple it consists of a reddy/orange sleeveless shirt from H&M which was £7.99, a gorgeous suede skirt from Warehouse (which is actually a size six and is supposed to be worn at the hips...) which was £20 in the sale and the most gorgeous tan, leather boots from Urban Outfitters for a wonderful £10! I also picked up the classic staple of 120 denier tights from Topshop which I think were £8, so that makes nearly £50 plus a little bit extra which I spent on cake and wine, a good choice I think you'll agree. By the way, my nail varnish is Me Me Me.

What do you think of my outfit? What's your favourite piece?

Photo Friday: Riki Tinoza

The second installment of Photo Friday shows off the work of Riki Tinoza as well as the design skills of hair stylist Florian Dovillez.

My favourite image by far is the first one, I love the composition, the hairy elegance and the different textures playing on one another. I thought I'd get bored of the hair design pretty quickly but it's still going strong in my books!

Candy Bright

I'm not usually a fan of those websites full of little things you don't need but when find-me-a-gift.co.uk got in touch with me to see if I wanted to review some of the fashion and beauty products, I couldn't turn down the deliciously bright colours of the Me Me Me Summer Brights Collection after being stuck in a mink Nails Inc rut for so long.

I started at with the pink as it looked the yummiest but when I put it on I was quite disappointed as it was really thin, but after a couple of coats it was looking top notch and matches my new MAC lipstick beautifully! I was far more impressed with the other colours though, they came out in Love Heart-esque tones with a matte finish with just one coat. At £14.99 for four, the price isn't bad either!

I wanted to do a nail tutorial but alas I have no time so unfortunately there's just a couple of photos of me looking silly.

What's your favourite colour of nail varnish?

Ooh, also, I've just put loads of things up on Ebay for mere pennies so have a look and help me get down to just one wardrobe so my boyfriend doesn't disown me...

Akif Hakan

I love these images by Akif Hakan, he is a photographer based in Hong Kong and the inspiration is clearly filtering through into his photographs. The styling, direction and movement within these images capture a certain moment and make an amazing photograph.

For more images and info, visit his Deviant Art profile, his official website seems to have turned into an Architecture website...

p.s. I start my new job today, wish me luck!

Photo Friday: I love Jenny Lewis

I love Jenny Lewis. I have ever since I heard Science VS Romance by Rilo Kiley the first time, I'm a big fan of Rilo Kiley (RIP), Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Jenny Lewis and Jenny and Johnny.

These images by Tierney Gearon for Fader magazine just confirmed it even more. Plus, I want her hair so I can drape it over hedges... More Jenny please!

p.s. I might start doing Photo Friday every Friday as an excuse to look at pretty pictures, what do you think?

p.p.s. I got a proper grown up job yesterday, I'm so excited!

Sca Ulven

Draped jersey, muted colours and friggin' awesome shoes are pretty much the key things you need in a collection to get my beady eyes roaming over every stitch, button and epic wooden platform.

These images are from the S/S 2012 collection by Sca Ulven, a Norwegian design duo made up of Sara C Andersson and Marte Ulven, and I love every one. Each piece has a timeless and effortless beauty to it with a clearly Scandinavian aesthetic.

Make sure you have a look at their website and their blog for all the latest news.

Hello Real World

I'm a grown up! Well, that short sentence probably tells you that I'm definitely not a grown up... But I have a degree and I've donned the mortar board, now it's time for the real World. Just a few photos from the day with me in the trusty Wonder Woman pose, the lovely boy, my lovely Momma and my beloved partner in crime Ashleigh.

I'm excited to move to Manchester, get a proper job, get back into blogging properly and begin a new chapter as Mat said. Now I just need to put all of that into practice...

Miu Miu Dreams

So this shoot for Miu Miu by Bruce Weber is basically a dream... I'm quite jealous of the lovely Hailee Steinfeld who got to play dress up with all of these gorgeous Miu Miu A/W 2011 clothes, shoes and accessories. I love the mixture of her youthful features with the positively grown up clothes, it matches the playful nature of Miu Miu perfectly. It has a very (dare I say it) Alice in Wonderland feel to it, which I'm also a little bit in love with.

To be honest, I just want to lie in a pile of gorgeous glittery shoes...

For more info and to look at the collection, visit the Miu Miu website. Prepare to fall in love if you haven't already.

Power Dressing Wishlist

Ok so it's not actually power dressing, I'm just taking a little time out from applying for jobs and sending my CV to everyone I know to concentrate on the most important thing; what will I wear?? I'm used to dressing however I want to, with legs out, wedges on and leather making more than one appearance. Though now I'm a grown up (I graduate on Friday, exciting!) I've started looking for something a little more suitable, but still totally me, think shift dresses and day dresses but with a colourful twist or a touch of the dominatrix all with a rather low price tag... These are what have tickled my fancy so far...

1. Black Belted Full Skirt Dress from Freemans.com £49 - The perfect dress for changing between Summer and Winter, plus it can be changed to whatever style you feel like by changing the belt!

2. Lilac Full Skirt Dress from Closet £40 - I love a dress that hides all my lumps and bumps so with sleeves and a full skirt, it's perfect for my fat days.

3. Black Tailored Bodycon Dress from Great Plains £33 - This one lives up to the Power Dressing title a bit more but it looks stretchy and comfortable as well which is always nice. 

4. Pleated Cream Dress from Vero Moda £49 - A super cute yet still professional dress that I'm a little bit in love with...

5. Two in One Pencil Dress from Vero Moda £40 - More of a classic 'work' outfit without the fear of your shirt popping out of your skirt...

6. Black V Neck Cross Over Dress from Freemans.com £49 - Classic shape, colour and always flattering!

If you have any other suggestions for dressing for the real World without losing your own style, let me know. This week is full of meetings, interviews and Graduation so I'm seeing it as the first week of being a 'proper' grown up, wish me luck!

Parsha Gerayesh

The lovely Mary Benson introduced me to the work of Westminster Uni Graduate Parsha Gerayesh, who not only has an incredible Graduate collection which you can see above but also won the Fashion Innovation Awards at Graduate Fashion Week.

I love the structure and shapes to his collection as well as the fusion of clothing and furniture construction. The unfinished edges and wooden structures remind me of embroidery hoops whereas the linear patterns hark back to optical illusions.

See his incredible online portfolio here.

p.s. I'm in London for a couple of days next week so if anyone wants to meet up, get in touch!

Excuse me, did you just say Fiat by Gucci?

There all manner of odd collaborations in the World (I'm still waiting for Henry Holland Henry Hoovers to be honest...) but I'm always a little wary of when car companies team up with fashion brands, however the recent collaboration between Gucci and Fiat caught my eye. To celebrate the 90th Anniversary of Gucci and the 150th Anniversary of Italy's unification, Gucci creative director Frida Giannini customised her very own car.

The Fiat 500 by Gucci is the ultimate Italian car sporting the Gucci colours, leathers, two tone alloys and the classc Gucci cursive.

Fiat are no strangers to the fashion World, at the star studded launch event for this little slice of fashiony motor goodness The Telegraph caught up with French Vogue editor-in-chief Emmanuelle Alt to see her feelings on the car, Gucci and driving in general, see the video interview here. Fiat also sponsored designer Allegra Hicks' fashion show back in 2006 as well as giving her her very own little customised car covered in blue flowers, which you can see here.

To compliment the car, you obviously need to be looking pretty damn hot so I picked out some looks from the Gucci A/W 2011 collection that (if you have a spare £10,000 or so...) you can recreate for both colour ways of the car.

Firstly the white one...

This gorgeous blue belted jumpsuit would suit the white version of the car perfectly, the soft blue tones would match the white, green and red featured within the car whilst the pure silk fabric would mean little to no creasing when you're driving around the streets of Italy! Pair it with the beautiful bamboo handled handbag and you've got yourself the perfect outfit.

The black version...

Pair this stunning wool dress with leather collar with the black version of the Fiat 500 by Gucci team it with a stand out studded belt, climb in and drive off in style.

(This is a Sponsored Post by the way! Just trying out something a bit different...)

Viral video by ebuzzing