Wishlist Item(s)...festival edition

So I'm not heading to a festival this year, but since we're right in the thick of the season at the moment I thought I'd compile a wishlist dedicated to the items I'd love to take!

ThreadScene pullover: Being practical and fashionable at a festival is essential to me, so this Aztec print jumper would look great on those cold British nights.

TopShop wellies: The humble wellington boot has become a welcome festival essential and with so many print wellies on the high-street fashionable festival goers are spoilt for choice.   

Rock-it Ship romper: I recently acquired two playsuits(rompersuits) and they're perfect for the summer. Plus lightweight enough to pack into a camping bag. One thing a playsuit needs to be at a festival is practical. You don't want to be caught in those porta-loos fiddling with buttons and zips, so the ModCloth one I've chosen is perfect to pull on and off quickly with no fuss.  

Cat eye sunglasses: I've been on the hunt for a perfect pair of cat-eye sunglasses this summer to no avail :( so I'll lust over these Ray Bans for now. 

Dianne Von Furstenburg shorts: Though denim shorts are pretty much a staple for a music festival, these print Diane Von Furstenburg shorts are a refreshingly different. 

Black Tassel Sandals: Just in case the sun does peep out of the rain clouds, I thought I'd pay tribute to the tribal trend with these tassel sandals from River Island.  

MTV tank top & Zoe Karssen tank top: Nothing says rock chic than a logo tank top! 

This Week...

anti-clockwise from top left

- Had to buy a new pair of boots while out with a friend last Wednesday because I was wearing ballet flats, the heavens opened and my feet got soaked ¬_¬ (tan ankle boots, £19.99 New Look)

- Been trying to be healthy and so tried out frozen grapes. Strange consistency but they are lush. Give them a go!
- Started on some new chick lit and bought some novels from a charity shop (l-r: The Secret Lives of dresses by Erin McKean, A Place of Secrets by Rachel Hore and An Offer You Can't Refuse by Jill Marsell) 
- Cherry tree in our back garden is in full bloom ^_^ 
- It was lovely and sunny yesterday (Sunday) so me and the family decided to take advantage of the sunshine with BBQ and Pimms in the garden. 
- A sneaky peak at what I wore: DIY-ed shorts, bird print t-shirt & flip flops: New Look

Inspired by....Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

I thought I'd come up with a new feature on my blog which brings together two things I love - reading and fashion - and take style inspiration from the pages of novels. I'm hoping it'll get me reading more in my first long Summer break from Uni.


The first novel I'll look at is Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. I literally finished the book a few days ago and would definitely recommend it. It's a beautiful novel and felt almost intentionally slow paced as you follow the characters through their lives.
[Disclaimer! there may be a few spoilers in this post in the form of pictures from the film]

"In one of the most acclaimed and strange novels of recent years, Kazuo Ishiguro imagines the lives of a group of students growing up in a darkly skewered version of contemporary England. Narrated by Kathy, now 31, "Never Let Me Go" hauntingly dramatises her attempts to come to terms with her childhood at the seemingly idyllic Hailsham School, and with the fate that has always awaited her and her closest friends in the wider world. A story of love, friendship and memory, "Never Let Me Go" is charged throughout with a sense of the fragility of life." - Waterstones.com

The book infers a timeless setting and the film (starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightly and Andrew Garfield) backs this up, though clearly takes inspiration from Britain in the late 70's and 80's/early 90's. 
I thought I'd focus on the style of lead character of Kathy (Carey Mulligan in the film). 

White Blouse, Knitted sweater, Beige Pleated Skirt, Midi Skirt, Green Quilted Jacket, Knitted Footless Tights, Knitted Scarf, Tan Loafers

Young adult Kathy's look in a nutshell can be described as quintessentially English country girl. The character dresses for comfort with knitted sweaters, scarves and knitted hosiery. Although never coming across as much of a girly-girl, Kathy was always subtly feminine using blouses, the very on trend midi-skirt and preppy flats such as loafers or brogues to keep from looking like a tomboy. Other pieces are country girl essentials such as the quilted coat and wellington boots - currently perfect for the erratic British weather this Summer.

The colour palette is also very simple; lots of neutral colours such as beige and cream, mixed with darker shades of green and brown. 

Peter Pan Collar Top, Vintage Style Shirt Dress, Loose Floral Blouse, Classic Trench Coat, Brogues, Pendant Necklace

As Kathy grows up into a woman, her style progresses the same way. She still retains her typical English country girl look but gets in touch with her feminine side with floral blouses, shirt dresses and fitted trench coats. All the while keeping practical and sensible due to the nature of her job later in the book. The colour palette veers towards feminine pastels, with more pale pinks appearing in her wardrobe.  

Hope you enjoyed that ^_^ cos I did. Let me know what you think about this. 

Should I do more books??

Wishlist Item...

Versace 

Polka-dot cotton-blend micro shorts

$357 from Net A Porter

A wishlist item in honour of the announcement that Versace and H&M will be collaborating this Fall. The Versace brand name is synonymous with sexy, glamorous clothing; but I thought I'd use these shorts to partially predict how accessible this collaboration could be to the normal shopping public. Plus they the bright orange is a welcome splash of colour to my eyes on this gloomy Summer evening and the polka dots are so cute. 

This Week...

-- Outfit #1 Catching up/pizza/tumblr session with my friend last Monday -- Outfit #2 one of my oldest friend's leaving BBQ (complete with oh so British rain lol) -- re-did my nails and taking a break from using the Barry M Shatter effect polish for retro polka dots: basecoat [Ciate Paint Pots in Mistress 039], polka dots [Boots Natural Collection white nail tipper] -- re-watching and crying along to the new Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 trailer D: -- obsessing over the new shots of Emma Watson in US Vogue --

Wishlist Item...

Mini Cross Body Alexa Bag

Mulberry 

£525 from Harrods

Just a quick wishlist item before I head off to work. 

Considering the miserable weather lately I thought you'd all appreciate this lovely burst of colour courtesy of Mulberry. I have to say I love Mulberry bags. There's something so classic about them and owning an Alexa is definitely high on my list of fashion wants. This turquoise colour is hot right now and certainly brightens my mood under these horrible rain clouds. Fabulous!!

This Week...

- Outfit post - This week's jam: Katy Perry 'Last Friday Night (T.G.I.F)' - new owl necklace (Dorothy Perkins) - new pink top (£10 offer from River Island) - repainted my nails and still obsessed with the shatter nail polish - Summer read 'Never Let Me Go' - new patterned playsuit (H&M) - 

The petite girl's fashion dilemma....Maxi dresses

It's become the Summer staple. They come printed and plain, bright or muted and they're perfect for rocking  hippie chic. 

The humble maxi dress has earned a place in wardrobes across the world. Except mine. 

Standing at 5' is pretty tough at times, especially when I want a piece of the Summer's hottest trend, the print maxi. But alot of high street stores here in the UK just don't seem to realise not every girl is the normal 5'5"-ish or taller height. I know people say "Just wander over to Miss Selfridge or Dorothy Perkins, they do sizes for the vertically challenged". Yes they do, and for the record this is fab for jeans, but maxis still don't sit right on me. Maybe it's my own fault (too little Vitamin D my mum always says) and maybe I should accept that maxi dresses are gonna be the one thing that doesn't suit a 'smaller frame'. 

But I can't help but get fashion envy when I see people floating around in their gorgeous print maxi dresses and sigh a woeful sigh.

So my solution?? Improvise. 

I recently bought this maxi skirt at New Look - stick with me on this ok?

New Look floral maxi skirt £29.99

Hanging inocently in the store it looked like a midi-dress, but holding it up against me it was pretty much maxi length. Now, I don't know about you, but it looked alot like a dress to me and it wasn't until later my work-mate pointed out that it said maxi skirt on the label that I actually saw it for what is was. 

So I bought it. Tried it on at home and voila! Yes it's a skirt. but hitching it up, wearing the waist toggles as a halter and belt it right...well see for yourself...

Sorry about the blurry pic quality!!

I'll be honest this isn't the first time I've tried this. I had an old gypsy skirt that I wore as a mini dress before it got worn out and ripped, so using the same base I think it works. 


Here are some more skirts that could be used as a DIY maxi dress. 

from L-R: River Island also comes in brown, Delias, Shop Ruche 'Library Afternoons' maxi skirt, H&M skirts 1 and 2, Very 'South crinkle maxi skirt' also comes in 7 other colours 

I think the trick is to either find skirts with a ruched waistband that you can use as a top half like a normal maxi dress, or find a plain maxi skirt and use a wide waist belt to cinch in the waist and give it some shape. 

So there we go, a perfect solution for us tiny creatures. We can finally join the maxi dress wearing fashion throng with our heads held...well kinda high. 

Just don't let anyone see the label ;)

MTV Movie Awards 2011 - fashion round up part 2

Part 2 and we carry on the red carpet round up of the best and worst looks of the MTV Movie Awards 2011...

There seems to be a theme to these two looks lol. Both Lily Collins and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley with two very different Leopard D&G looks. Lily channels her inner rock chick in a mini dress with ankle booties while Rosie brings merges classy and sexy, while making tiger stripes look cool. 

No you're not seeing things. It's Kristen Stewart. Smiling. On the red carpet. And it's lovely. Yes she sticks to her comfort zone in a short mini dress and heels, the difference this time is the mini dress is Balmain. I actually really love the little safety pins scattered all over the dress. Rockin it Kristen.

I think you can tell why I've picked these two out. Nicki Minaj is known for her eccentric style, just as much as Lady Gaga is gonna turn up in some twisted version of a couture gown and Kim Kardashian in a form fitting dress that shows off her boobs, but I have to say I'm actually liking this toned down version of Nicki alot. Her hair's looking pretty chic and yes her boobs are out but it's Nicki and it's the MTV Movie Awards I'll give her a pass on this event. 

I wish I could say the same for Amanda Bynes. I swear to god she's been wearing the same Herve Leger bandage dress for the past 2 years on the red carpet and don't even get me started on those shoes. Nil points for you Miss Bynes, must do better!

 

Proving you can look good no matter what your age are these lovely ladies. Cameron Diaz in a Philip Lim playsuit, Selena Gomez in Giambastti Valli, Nina Dobrev in a red Georges Chakra and a glowing, pregnant Bryce Dallas Howard in a J.Crew maxi. 

 And finally the recipient of the Generation Award at the ceremony in a Zac Posen mini dress, Miss Reese Witherspoon.

MTV Movie Awards 2011 - fashion round up part 1

I've been missing these red carpet events. After a long gap since the January awards season the MTV Movie Awards the past Sunday night provided me with some much need glitz and glamour. Here's some of the best (and worst) looks from the night. 

It was a tale of two Emmas when it came to the my two favourite looks at the event. Emma Watson in a white Marchesa mini dress and Emma Stone in gorgeous f/w11 Botegga Veneta. It's almost like two sides to the same coin. Watson looks very angelic in white, subtley matching the silver shoes with the embellishment on the dress and earrings. Then Stone in deep fall colours with her newly re-dyed red hair looks just as sophisticated. Bravo ladies!

One girl who I was a little dissappointed with was Hailee Steinfeld. After wowing me at the January awards and events since then, she really didn't hit the right notes with this look. The MTV Movie Awards are such a fun and youthful event, but Hailee looks like shes aged about 30 years.

Now this is how to do the MTV Movie Awards. 13 year old Elle Fanning looks fierce in a D&G playsuit and floral wedges, a perfect Summery look for this event and totally age appropriate!

The Gossip Girls were out in full force too. With Blake Lively in Micheal Kors, Jessica Szohr in an Alice + Olivia jumpsuit, Leighton Meester in Balmain and Katie Cassidy in Catherine Malandrino. The more I see these girls on the red carpet, the more I can't help but think that they're morphing into their fictional characters, especially Blake and Jessica. 

Part 1 over, stay tuned for more in a bit...

This Week...100 Posts and a blog revamp!

I can't quite believe I've reached this but, yes 100 posts!
It may not seem that big of an achievement to many but you've got to understand I get bored of things really easily and slip in and out of social networking sites all the time. So to say I've been written 100 posts for this blog is quite something for me. I've learnt so much since my first post and definitely gotten more confident.


I'm celebrating this fact, and that I've finished exams for the Summer (fingers crossed no re-takes), by deciding to take a good look at my blog and see what I want to get out of it.


The first thing on the list is the layout and design. I hope you like it! I wanted to be a bit simpler and sleeker so yeah, very happy with it. I'm still learning and I'm by no means a wiz when it comes to HTML so I want to constantly improve it.


The second is content. I've realised I've been a bit wishy washing when it comes to what I actually blog about, mainly to find what I'm actually good at. So I want to really focus on giving out good content rather than posting for posting's sake. 
I will, of course, still be posting out my wishlist items. It's why I started the blog so I'm gonna keep that at it's heart. Plus really get back to blogging about fashion, I realised that while I got more confident posting outfit posts I wanted at least a little separation between my life and my blog. I mean this is a fashion blog and it almost felt like a chore to update - and maybe bore - some of you about my life, plus I think I got caught up in the whole "Look at me! Look at me!" stage when I thought that the way to get 'popular' was to post outfit posts every other day (or in my case every week). I still wanna do a 'This Week' post but I'll keep it on topic, fashion centric. 
But if you're interested, outfit posts my outlet will now be LookBook and more personal/non fashion-y stuff will now be directed towards my Tumblr so you can follow me there. 


Finally, now my summer's hopefully starting I'm considering the serious business of blogging. I want to get better at networking and perhaps attract advertisers. And it's this part of blogging I haven't a clue about. Any tips?


So, here we go! 100 posts! And here's to 100 more ^_^