Welcome To Bristol

I haven't been shopping at The Mall in Bristol since it opened all that time ago, but it was one of the best shopping experiences ever. Aside from the Westfeild, London, The Mall is the biggest shopping venue I have ever been to. There are over 130 leading stores, tones of cafes (including Starbucks, Coffee Republic, Bost Bar,Costa and the SOHOCOFFEE.CO), restaurants (including Carluccios, Cafe Rouge and YO Sushi) and lots of open space and fantastic scenery views.  The main building is emblazed with John Lewis signs, and this is where I headed first. My aunt got her first iPod (classic, 160GB, black) and I got a voice recorder for uni! It's going to be well used so we got Phillips 1GB Digital Voice Tracker in black. A great buy!

So in John Lewis I went a bit mad in the kitchens, and eventually got told off for taking too many photos. Okay, I have never seen a purple kitchen! So I was so happy with it that I just had to take photos!! There was also this really cool red one. both around £50,000.

But anyway! You guys don't wanna see kitchens you want to see fashion! I had literally no money, so although they had a shoe sale, and although I could have used my discount card, I was unable to actually purchase the shoes below! But I did try them on and take photos, so here they are..

Cream Satin Heels, with diamante bow by Dune

Suede Boots by Carvella

Nuetral Heels by Nine West

Boots by NW3- whatever that label is!

And of course no trip to John Lewis would be complete without visiting the bag section for these beauties!!

Mulberry Tamara Tote Handbag, Alabaster £395

Mulberry Bayswater Shoulder Bag, Black £595

Ah! I want that damn Baywater so much! It's such a classic, just picking it up felt amazing! And I love the Tamara. It was huge and just felt summery with its white and red fabrics.

I also tried on these amazing shoes in Marks and Spencers. Just a little off point I feel so old shopping in these department stores! I'm used to fast fashion of younger high street brands, but I didn't even wander into Warehouse or Oasis! Oh well, I enjoyed myself! The shoes- I adore these in the white colour, criss crossing fabric that reminds me of the Cage Boot (YSL) and they are so comfy! Despite that platform and them being super high, I felt like I could wear them all day long! I can't remember how much they were, but I think it was around the £50 mark.

And here's little old me trying to look all fashiony at the viewing window. It was just gigantic! There was a H-U-G-E television in front of it showing the football (not cool) but you can get behind it, and so I did for this photo. I like the lighting although you can't really see me!

Scarf from Matalan

Cardigan from New Look

Tee from Reiss

Bag from New Look

Trousers from French Zara

I also wore my gladiator wedges from New Look but you can't see them. Look at that view, isn't it just amazing. Because the Mall is on the outskirts of Bristol there is still alot of countryside about, which is nice to look at.

That's all for now guys. I will do a separate post on the things I did buy, and some gifts I got, because this post is getting to be a little long!

E XOXO

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My Dress Arrived!!

My ball dress for the Summer Ball, and my final ball of secondary school, arrived this morning while I was at work. I am so so happy and excited because it is so so so gorgeous. It is from ASOS and have a white satin sweetheart 'top' and a black tulle style 'skirt'. This is the photo from ASOS:

I'm not going to show you it on until the actual ball date (which is the 5th of July) show I can show you it in the dresses full glory. I am going to wear it with my suede black heels because I can't really afford a new pair of shoes, and probably some sweet silver jewelry. I know this dress would look amazing with my Chanel pearl, gold and diamond necklace but it is just too precious to wear- and we are hitting the clubs after so its a big NONO.  Watch this space!

E XOXO

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Gucci Resort 2011

Frida Giannin is possibly one of fashion's best creative designers. She understands what women want and need, and combines these to create amazing collections. Her Resort collection for 2011 is no exception. Frida explores the utility look hugely, dipping into safari, neutrals and a Gucci kick of ingenuity. Frida also explored the heritage of the Gucci brand, which originally began making leather goods and travel pieces. The collection explores what style.com call "Stylish Travel", showing an appreciation of the brands creation and giving it a modern twist. Here is my favourites from the key trends;

Animal Prints

Scarves, dresses and jumpsuits- the animal print in unavoidable. A big hint towards the safari trend that Gucci owned last season, suggesting an exotic holiday, and perhaps a celebration of Gucci's success.

Shift Dresses

Although this wasn't a huge trend, simple cuts and easy to wear pieces were really the running theme in this collection. These shift dresses could easily be dressed up or down, and so are really multi-use pieces.

Denim

Again a small trend, but a nod to super comfort. Denim is one of the most popular materials in high street fashion, and is creeping into youth aiming designers. Gucci dresses the denim shirt up in a work wear situation, and wears the jeans in style with a polo and heels. 

Signature Print

I love this print that Gucci have used. It reminds me slightly of zebra print, enforcing the safari trend, but Gucci has put their own stamp on it. For me this creates a signature print. In the collection this has been used on tops and dresses, but I can see it on scarves and accesories.

Look of the Collection

This dress is beautiful. There just isn't another word for it. Ella pulls the grecian look of it off so well, with draped material and a gold sheen tone to it. The leg slit offers an element of sexuality to this piece, but for me it just screams elegance. 

E XOXO

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Vera Wang: Layers, Structure and POP Colours

Vera Wang is one of the best wedding dress designers in the world. Not that I would know.. Although many people would then deem her a wedding designer only, her resort 2011 collection is just amazing! I am truely inspired by it. The clothes are really wearable, original and yet relaxed. Even though I've never worn anything by her..The key themes in this collection were Layering and alot of ruffles, Structure and interesting shapes, and POP colours!


Structure

The interesting shapes, and folds of fabric create really structured pieces. This gives these look a wearable office look- professional, yet elegant. The minimalist colour scheme also works great for this trend.

Layers

Despite the gorgeous sunshine making it near impossible to wear anything multi layer at the moment, Ms Wang is one step ahead of the crowd creating layered pieces that remain elegant and modern. I love the sleeveless and shoulderless leather jacket over a shirt. A new twist on the shirt and jacket mix!

POP Colours

These POP colours give a younger and more playful feel to each look. They create stand out pieces that are cleverly teamed with black, or worn alone. Again, these pieces are totally wearable, and forever beautiful.

Flowers

For me these flower pieces just scream Spring and Summer! The huge but muted poppy shapes are just incredible, and the range of colours remind me of a seventies living room! Not always a good thing- but Vera makes them look really modern and appropriate at any party- yatch or otherwise. 

Piece of the Collection

This has been put in size extra large just to show you a total close up of this stunning dress. The chiffon material is just to die for. The exposed zip makes it more edgy. The colour is minimal, and so classic and elegant. It works so well with Shu Pei Qin's face and the hair makes it just beautiful. Although the majority of the collection is aimed at evening wear, all the pieces could easily be applied to work situations, important meeting and just looking god-damn amazing. Especially this dress. 

E XOXO

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Anna Sui Resort Collection

And I was only going to Tesco :). Another LOTD post as I am enjoying the glorious sunshine we have at the moment before it all goes away. I finally finished my book "Fashion Babylon" by Imogen Edwards-Jones, whilst drinking a glass of wine in the garden. I would really recommend this to anyone into fashion, its a funny, sexy and exhilarating read. Anyway!

Denim Dress from Primark

Heeled Boots from Dorothy Perkins

Belt from French Zara

Cardigan from Topshop

Turn's out there was no real need for the cardigan, but for me it just tied the look together giving it a fluid outline. Today's main event however is my review of Anna Sui's resort collection. As many of you know it is uncommon for resort collections to be put down the catwalk, except by massive fashion houses like Chanel, or Dior. Photographs of Anna's latest collection, availiable from style.com, are modelled soley by the beautiful Chanel Iman, who I personally think fits the clothes like a glove. The style, shapes and prints all suit her- so fastastic choice of model Anna. 

Anyway, my favourite look is the white lace dress. When it comes to summer for me dresses should be simple, airy and in light colours. Although blacks work for super skinny models in the summer, I think we should be wearing more whites, creams and pastles. (Also rocking the ice-cream colours trend!).

The  dress is so beautiful and so summery! The lace gives it a really young and pretty edge, but also rocks the vintage look. Style down with sandals or brogues, or up with heels!

A second key look for me is Anna's patchwork quilt style prints. These appear of most of her dresses, whether they are in the kimono, maxi or ankle length style. I think this print is really good for summer as you can accentuate your personality, while remaining on trend.

Lastly, I love love love the cocktail dresses shown in the middle of the collection. The length isn't super short, but the fabric is sheer and relaxed. You would stay cool, boho and happy in these little numbers!

Stunning flowers! They don't appeal to all people, but florals really work for me! Enjoy the sunshine guys!

E XOXO

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I'm Back!

Hey guys!! Exams are over and I am back! I have so so much to update you on and I will try to even the posts out and begin doing more fashion reviews. I have an offers day on the 10th of July for LCF and so things seem to be moving the in the right direction. I've got my four pink boxes to fill with stuff so if you have any suggestions as to where to get some cheap but cute stuff for my new home! Right, so updates in terms of fashion..

Dress £13.50 from Primark

Boots £35 from Dorothy Perkins

I adore these boots. I bought some really similar back in winter 2009, but I misplaced them somewhere (?) so I searched the world for some more and found these in the "Back In Stock" section of Dorothy Perkins online. I absolutely adore their electric blue colour, and it will either compliment black or dark blue dresses, or contrast pinks, whites and other colours. If you have these, or shoes in any electric colour, avoid teaming them with their complimentary colour. For these boots I would avoid yellow, green and oranges. The dress is made of denim, but is reinforced with elastic, meaning it has a really on trend texture (Dolce and Gabanna S/S 2010 influence) but it will stretch over my bigger bust and pokey bum!!

Socks £1.50 from Primark

I love these cute little socks as they really play on the "pretty trend" (Chanel S/S 2010). The colour, 'tread' and lace tops remind me of the socks I wore to primary school, and the combination of a bow and lace gives this a tiny bit of sexual repression. I would wear these probably rolled down a bit as they are over the knee, with ballet flats or my black sued heels.

Headscarf £2.50 from Matalan

I haven't shopped in Matalan since I was about twelve, as my mum used to buy all our school uniforms from there. However, recently they have had several smaller designers running diffusion lines within the store, and so the quality of the ready-to-wear collections has dramatically improved. This headscarf reminds me of the Global Traveler trend, employed by Etro, Kenzo and Erdem S/S 2010. I love the blend of colours with a black and white lining. I have worn this with the rest of the scarf loose down the side of my hair, and also tied into a bun with the rest of my hair. This creates a really chic yet young look.

Jeans £8 from Primark

Jeans are often the hardest thing to buy, in terms of gaining the correct length width, colour, fabric feel and shape. For me, skinny jeans have always been difficult to shop for as my dress size has changed so much. I was a size 12 for skinny fit jeans last year, and this summer I am a size eight. Although I wear alot of jeggings, which are the slimmest fitting 'jean' available, I wanted a skinny fit but with a bit of movement and looser fit around the thighs and knees. These are a dark blue, with one browny gold stitch and a creamy gold stitch, and the the buttons and 'studs' are a deep brown. I have teemed these in three different ways since I bought them; above with black heels and a white vest tee, with the blue booties (above) and a black boob tube, and with gladiator heels and a nautical striped tee. 

Fashion Wants

Whilst out shopping, I have stumbled across several pieces of apparel that I am going to save my pennies for. First; crop tops. Although I bought one crop top from Topshop last year, it was really a crop top and was in a boring beige colour. This season shops are making crop tops very cropped! So this way they are more of an exclusive piece for smaller sizes- some may say this isn't fair on bigger sizes, but some pieces look better on bigger sizes compared to smaller. Anyway, these tops are from the local New Look. There are two crop tops, and one longer tee that follows the massive floral prints that has infiltrated the high street this season. Please excuse the quality of these- they are taken on my BlackBerry.

Crop top £16 from New Look

I love this cop top. The ruffle layers add volume, and so balances my hips out with the rest of my body. I adore the print and it mixes the three primary colours, but with a modern and brighter twist. As the flowers are really  tiny, there are no massive blocks of colours and so the body isn't distorted. I may wear this with a white bikini on the beach, or as I have done here with jeans, or mini shorts, with gladiator flats- a really summery look. 

Crop Top £14 from New Look

This crop top is quite simply beautiful. It is made from a crepe material, and hence has a completely new texture to the top. It is a crop top, and has a cute little tie in the middle, created by combining  two thin strips of the tops material.  The buttons are actually tiny little pearl love hearts and this really adds to the cutesy affect! This would defiantly be a beach wear piece as the material is very see through!

Vest top £16 from New Look

I really like this little vest top. The print is really cute and vintage looking, and combines pinks, greens and whites, colours which really compliment my skin tone and hair colour. The white lining creates a bodice affect on the top, giving it more structure, and perhaps showing off a smaller- or even a shapely figure. However, this tee doesn't really work for me. The bottom of it is in a skirt shape, and hence widens the hip area, which is one of my biggest points, so throws my body a little out of proportion. 

Shoe-boots £18 from Matalan

Again another fantastic find at Matalan. Sadly mummy said no to buying these for me, so when I get paid these are the first thing I am going to buy! They are very similar to my grey army boots, but these have a really cute twist. They are in a nude pink, with gold eyelets. The heel in this photo is a bit deceptive as the heel is actually around 5 inches high! The boots remind me strongly of the YSL caged boot. These would look brilliant with darks and lights, dressed up with a body-con dress or dressed down with dark jeans and a floral tee. 

Beauty Buys

There is no point having fantastic new clothes if you don't have some fantastic new make up and face products to go with them. Here is my new beauty buys for this week! 

Powder Brush £15 from Tesco, Eyeshadow Brushes £10 from Tesco, and Foundation Sponges from Cosmopolitan. 

I love this new set of brushes. I knew that I desperately needed a powder brush that I could use for my new powder foundation (see below) and for blushers. The sponges are also great for applying liquid foundations.

Face Fixing Powder, £4 from Tesco

Pore Minimizer from Clinique. This is only a small sample that my mum got when purchasing some Clinique spa products but it has become a true staple in my make-up bag. As I have dry skin, I have to drown my face in E45 lotion before applying anything to it. I often find that both liquid and power foundations sink into the skin and disappear. I have found by applying this cream after my E45, the foundations sit perfectly on the skin, and infact last longer. 

Givenchy Blusher Quatro- Gift

When my mum was going through all her skin care stuff, she found this Givenchy blusher quatro and decided I would get more use out of it, and I sure have. The lighter tones compliment my skin really well, and using a blend of them allows me to create a totally personal look. I use the darker blusher under my cheek bones to bring them out, similar to how you would use a bronzer. 

I think that's all for now guys, you are well and truely updated on the new bits in my life! School life is officially over for me now and I look forward to blogging more regularly. Also, as my preparation for LCF continues, I will take you with my on the journey and from September will be blogging from London!! Speak soon guys!

E XOXO

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