Asos dress

Hey,

I was looking on the Asos website today as they have a sale and I love their clothes but for me I find it a bit expensive sometimes. I came across a few summer dresses but this one dress in particular caught my eye. It's a very slender gold and black mesh evening dress. But the reason I noticed it was because it reminded me of a dress I'd seen before on Demi Lovato at a film première. I remember when I first saw the photos I thought the dress was amazing and I still do. So I looked up this dress and found out it's an Alexander Wang dress and has also been seen on Paris Hilton and Rihanna.

The differences as you can see below are that the Asos one has straps and the black at the top of the dress is a different shape. Then on the back the Alexander Wang dresses mesh goes back up like on the front but on the Asos dress it stays at hem level. And from what I can see the fabric looks different as well.

Alexander Wang dress

Asos dress

There's no doubt that the real designer dress is the best but if you want that style for cheaper; I'd snatch it up at Asos for £20.

Beth
xoxo                                                

Summer Dress

Hey,

Even know it's summer already I'm still searching for the perfect summer dress. The problem I'm finding is they are often too floral or the wrong colour or too expensive for me.

I love Taylor Swift's style and she wears some really cute summer dresses. This is one of my favourite recent ones. She always looks great and super cute.

Yesterday I found an amazing summer dress on Jane Norman website and in the sale aswell! It reminds me of Taylor Swifts style of dresses so I love it!

Check it out here: http://www.janenorman.co.uk/fcp/product/buy-fashion-look-fabulous/Sale/hook-and-eye-floral-skater-dress/9147?colour=green

Beth
xoxo

Material Girl

Hey,

Just a quick update today. I have written before about the new clothing line from Madonna and her daughter Lola. They have recently released some photo advertisements. This is my first glimpse at the line and it looks really good; very edgy like I'd expected but also has a girly flare seen in a very cute floral skirt. Personally I'm not in love with this clothing line but I would buy and wear some of the items. Taylor Momsen fits perfectly for the edgy look and looks amazing in these photos with a reduced amount of black eye-shadow and liner. My favourite outfit and shot is the one with the leather jacket and trousers. My favourite part of this is the shoes but unfortunately it doesn't seem part of the collection!

Check out the photos here: http://materialgirlcollection.com/

Beth
xoxo

Personal Shopper

Hey,

I've been at more research today this time for my extended personal project in which I am researching "How far should fashion represent age of the wearer and the social reactions to this". I am currently writing out questionnaires and trying to get them filled out. Today I was trying to find the email addresses of many high street shops; this is much harder than I expected.

Anyway as I was searching on the Topshop website I came across a link for a personal shopper and sure enough at Oxford street and Knightsbridge stores you can get a personal shopper; for free as well!  I thought this was a bargain when I first read it but then I put a brain in and thought how much they would make you buy so they wouldn't need to charge for the actual shopping. They do many types of personal shopping ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours or you can phone up and request longer. They do groups up to four and i think it's an excellent idea as a treat. I just don't know how many people know that they do this and therefore they may not get many costumers.

I knew they did personal shopping in big department stores like John Lewis and individual personal shoppers but I never thought of topshop. I always thought it was more for designer stores and the affluent. It's quiet an interesting idea that we'll end up with personal shoppers on the high street stores.

Check out topshop personal shopper here: http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StaticPageDisplay?catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&brdcrmb_trail=&identifier=ts2-personal-shopper

Beth
xoxo

Vintage Clothing

Hey,

I always thought that vintage clothing was just old cast offs from the charity shop. But today while researching vintage clothing for my fashion photography I found many websites that either stocked original vintage or new clothes in vintage styles.

My favourite and the best website I found was LA Vintage it stocks real vintage clothes. Unfortunately it's an American site so it's all in dollars but it does international shipping. The site is great I can search through size, colour, type and best of all for me era. The only problem I found was the prices; they range on average from about $30 to $80 which for what I need it for is too expensive. But it is helpful for me to gain an idea of the different styles in the different eras.

Another thing that surprised me today while researching is that Miss Selfridge actually stocks vintage styled clothes. They all look wonderful but it doesn't tell you what era it is based on so you'd have to make a guess and the same problem with the last website the price range is about £20 to £80 which for me is too much.

Check out LA vintage website: http://www.lavintage.com/
And Miss Selfridge vintage styles

Beth
xoxo
 

Scents

Hey,

I'm a huge Friends fan and this has resulted in me being Jennifer Aniston fan. She has recently been in England promoting her new perfume which has been released in Harrods. It is simply called Jennifer Aniston and is her first scent. She commented on the scent describing it as "Sexy and clean. Floral, but not too flowery. I want people to go, "what is that? You smell great!" But most of all I wanted it to smell natural." She shot some promotion stills in Mexico, that sees Aniston modelling topless enjoying the fresh ocean air.  

On her fragrance debut she wore a lovely nude Valentino dress which I adore. I think it's sexy, subtle and sophisticated.

I have noticed over the years that celebrities first endeavour away from their career is often a fragrance; I assume this is a small project and can be considered as a one off. This has though resulted in many celebrity fragrances such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguliera, Avril Lavigne and now Jennifer Aniston.    

Beth
xoxo

Knight and Day

Hey,
I often keep an eye out for new films coming out and consequently their premiere and very recently Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz have been premiereing their new film Knight and Day. Cameron Diaz is one of my favourite actresses and I find she always looks stunning. They have had many premieres all over the world for this film and I have found it interesting how Cameron Diaz has managed to do something different at all of them. At least she gets a few dresses out of it.

She has worn lovely dresses at every premiere and looks gorgeous in all of them. My favourite dress would have to be the white Bottega Veneta dress with a black waist belt which she wore to the Germany premiere.

My favourite whole outfit thought would of had to have been what she wore to the British premiere as she looked stunning and the Stella McCartney dress was different as it's more of a jumper dress. I love her Casadei shoes which if i'm honest i've never heard of before but they look gorgeous and her hair looks amazing.

Check out the action comedy film Knight and Day starring Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise.

Beth
xoxo

Victoria Beckham

Hey,

I have spoken briefly about celebrity designers before and I often feel that their collection only sells well as it has the celebrities name attached to it. But there is one celebrity designer that I believe is doing well because of her designs and this is Victoria Beckham.

Of course her dresses are in her style; they're very slim and fitted, smart and in simple colours. But that's why she's popular, she has good style and always looks great.

She hit the music scene as posh spice and I believe she's carried that poshness into her dress designs. Her collection is simply called Victoria Beckham and I have seen many celebrities wear her designs to parties and such like; so the dresses must be as good as any other designer and from what I have seen I wouldn't of guessed less.

Check out her dress collection here: http://www.victoriabeckham.com/dresses/

Beth
xoxo

Branding

Hey,

Just a quick one today sorry!

So I wore my Abercrombie and Fitch T-shirt to school today and I thought how fashion stores and designers use branding and labels to make their clothing more desirable and in turn more expensive. I do feel you pay the extra price for the label but I believe it's worth it just to own that pair of Jimmy Choo shoes or that Louis Vuitton bag or simply that Hollister T-shirt. I would love to research more into branding of fashion stores so I looked into it for university but whether I could do a whole 3 years of a university course on it I don't know so maybe I'll do it as a side project instead. :)

Beth
xoxo

Hair

Hey,

Each season there are new trends in everything this includes hair styles.

The length of hair differs this summer, a grown out shoulder length bob is quite the summer look, but so is a wavy bob taken up by celebrities such as Jessica Alba. If you want to go even shorter the pixie cut is perfect for those hot summer days.

As for parting the middle parting is considered the most summery and is great for the beach waves that always are a favourite in summer but this year a deep side parting is good for the summer nights and can be pinned back for the day do.

Although curly was in last year I would believe that straight is making a comeback although this time with volume no more poker straight. And last of all what I have noticed and found to be the biggest hairstyle trend this summer, a loose side braid. These are relaxed and good for summer days at the beach.

Beth
xoxo

Vogue covers

  

Hey,

I've recently been researching for my next photography project which is based on fashion magazine photography, taking influence from Vogue and Elle photoshoots. I found a good site today that has many editorial photography and many other fashion elements such as designers and trends. I found it a good site for research. If you want to check it out it's: http://trendland.net/category/photography/fashion-editorial-spread/

Another good research was on vogue's site as it has the cover archive and you can search through photographers, models, editors and year. I found this really interesting as you could see how photography has developed and how the magazine has changed. It goes all the way back to 1916 which I would recommend looking at as the cover has drawings opposed to photo's and it really interesting me. A link to the archive: http://www.vogue.co.uk/magazine/archive/ 

This is the first ever issue of vogue! On sale in September 1916 for one shilling. The introduction read: "'The time has come,' designers say, 'to talk of many things, - of shoes and furs and lingerie, and if one flares or clings, and where the waist-line ought to be, and whether hats have wings.'

Very different from the 21st century Vogue that we are so used to.

Beth
xoxo

Burberry Beauty Collection

Hey,

Burberry is releasing a make-up line available at Nordstorm. the make-up is made up of neutral colours, eye-shadow ranges into blues and purples and the satin lipsticks and lip glosses vary through reds to pinks.

One of the best parts of this beauty range is how the Burberry print has been included. It is on the packaging and even on the products it's self, the lipstick's have the print indented in them.



Burberry hosted a British tea party in LA to celebrate the new collection. 70 guests showed up including the likes of Kate Bosworth and Glee's Jayma May. Check the photo's out here: http://www.vogue.co.uk/celebrity-photos/100715-burberry-beauty-tea-party-la/gallery.aspx

Beth
xoxo

Madonna

Hey,

I saw today that Dolce and Gabbana has shot for the Fall/Winter 2010/11 line and they have used Madonna as the model for these photos. They are all black and white photos and they all look stunning. The idea around the photo's are that Madonna is the centre of the family and you follow her story, this represents a sense of warmth for the winter.

Check out the photo's: http://justjared.buzznet.com/photo-gallery/2465842/madonna-dolce-and-gabbana-fall-winter-2011-steven-klein-01/

Other news on Madonna is from her clothing line that she is launching with her daughter Lourdes Leon. The line is called "Material Girl" and is being launched in the American store Macy's. It has recently been revealed that Gossip Girl's Taylor Momsen is going to be the new face of the line this already gives me the idea of a rocky, edgy look to the line and from the looks of things I was right with leather jackets, studs, biker boots and the lot check out a preview clip at the Macy's site: http://www.macys.com/campaign/social?campaign_id=154&channel_id=1&keyword=material%20girl

Beth
xoxo

I'm back

Hey,

I'm back from my holiday it was really fun and I had a great time!

We walked into the town centre and I shopped in New Look. This used to be my favourite high street store but recently I haven't been buying much from it, as I haven't found anything nice in there. I don't feel much of the clothing is designed very well and I'm not sure of the trends also you have to pay quite a bit for just a summer t-shirt.

But what I will stick by is that New Look have great shoes and I brought the pair of shoes that I've talked about already in this blog. I tried on the purple one's which were really cute but ended up buying black. As the shoes say my feet do look gorgeous in them and it was a good price £10 on sale down from £20 and being black they go with most of my dresses :)

Beth
xoxo

Holiday Packing

Hey,

I'm off on holiday tomorrow so I had to pack tonight. I find this is the worst part of going on holiday I never know what to pack. I always find that I end up packing two outfits for each day just in case the weather is sunny or rainy. As I had to pack light this time I've only packed summery clothes and one hoodie so I'm hoping for sun!

I always try to put in t-shirts that will go with every skirt or trouser because I like to choose what I wear on the day depending on my mood because sometimes I may not feel like wearing a short skirt. I bet I'll end up wishing I had taken a different top to go with one of my bottoms.

I won't be blogging over the weekend so until then.

Beth
xoxo



 

Gossip Girl

Hey, 

I noticed the next series of Gossip Girl is being filmed this summer in Paris and this reminded me about the Gossip Girl collection at Miss Selfridge. I've always thought that the clothing on Gossip Girl is gorgeous due to the high culture of the characters. I thought it was an excellent idea to start this clothing line as it would attract a large audience. 

The collection consists of 8 dresses all in the style of the four main female characters. This is something new and different and I think it will really catch on. 

My favourite is the two Serena styled dresses that are classic little black dresses. They are nicely fitted and really stylish I think they'd work on anyone. The best bit is that you could see the characters actually wearing these dresses as they'd fit into the show perfectly, this is due to the fact that the costume designer for the TV series actually helped with this collection. 

Check it out here: http://www.missselfridge.com/gossip-girl-home/

Beth 

xoxo

Louis Vuitton

Hey,

It's festival season and the latest one is the "Wireless" festival from London's Hyde Park. This saw the likes of Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, The Ting Tings, Daisy Dares You and Pink take to the stage for incredible performances.

Lily Allen wore a white jumpsuit; this summer's must have, joined with a Louis Vuitton scarf. I adore Louis Vuitton bags as his signature style is really classic and fun. People will recognise the style and yet it doesn't flaunt the name. Although he does many bags and all of them are lovely I personally like the Monogram bag's as it's a standard bag yet it's stylish and efficient.

I was lucky enough to go to Rome last summer and while I was there I visited the Via Condotti, this is the fashionable street opposite the Spanish steps which holds the home of many designer stores. The one I was most impressed with was Louis Vuttion it was very grand and posh. The best bit was the stairs in the window as they all made up a big picture that moved and changed. This really intrigued me and pulled me into the shop, which just goes to show how a shop's appearance can influence buyers. Unfortunately everything in the shop was way to expensive for me but I really enjoyed the experience.

Check out Louis Vuitton's official site: http://www.louisvuitton.com/

Beth
xoxo

Alexander McQueen

Hey,

I was wondering what to post today when I realised it was the start of the Paris fashion week! I don't have much time today so I'll post about this later in the week.

But everyone knows about the tragic loss for fashion in fashion designer Alexander McQueen who committed suicide February this year. His last ever collection was shown at a Paris fashion week, it wasn't on the main catwalk, it took place in a grand Paris drawing room, which suited the clothing perfectly as they were beautiful and regal and breathtaking. 16 pieces of the collection were 80% finished when he died and they were finished off by his design team. Everyone knew Alexander McQueen would not be forgotten but it was nice to see that his spirit lived on in his designs.

Check out some of the designs and a video on the telegraph website: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/paris-fashion-week/7408932/The-last-Alexander-McQueen-collection-Paris-Fashion-Week.html

Beth
xoxo

T4 on the Beach

Hey,

Today I went to T4 on the beach, for people who are not familiar with this, it's a sort of mini festival it's just one day and many acts perform. The downside is due to it just being a day and all the acts they have to get through the performers only get to do between 2 and 4 songs which is a bit disappointing. But it was really good and I saw some great acts.

My favourite was Pixie Lott she was really good and it reminded me how I like her style. She always seems to look good with an edgey sort of bohemian look. Today she wore a black playsuit with a long key necklace which looked cute and sassy.

Pixie Lott has recently released a clothing collection with Lipsy which is known for it's party dresses. The collection is really nice and contains festival and party styles. I like all of the collection as it has a young and fashionable feel to it but i particular like these two dresses. One is a party dress with frills down the skirt from the waist, I like it in white but you can now get it in pink, it has a nice black pattern on the chest which makes it a bit different and more for a party. The other dress is a babydoll dress which is super cute it's a peachy colour with an adorable pleated skirt and ruched bust, the straps are diagonal on the back making it seem backless which I think adds to the style nicely.

The only problem I found is you have to be happy to spend £75 on these dresses, but they do look worth it :)

Beth
xoxo  

Nail Colours

Hey,

I thought I'd branch out a bit in this post away from clothing as fashion is not all about the clothes it's the latest trends and what goes with the clothes.

I have recently been trying out different nail colours, I have some how accumulated a lot of nail vanishes and I only ever do white tips so I thought I'd use them. I started of by wearing the bright neon pink that was in last summer and I'm pretty sad I missed that trend as I really liked how striking it was, I paired it with a pink shirt but I found that as it was so bright and different it looked better not being paired with anything.

I then found out that this summer, sorbet colours are in such as pale candyfloss pinks and also mint green; it's all about pastel colours. I recently brought a delightful marshmallow pink from 17 range it's called Fairy Cake and is my favourite colour of all time. I'm currently wearing a Baby Blue nail vanish from Barry M number 122 I found Barry M have some good sorbet colours aswell as last years neon colours but the only thing I've had a problem with is that they don't apply very easily but that could just be me.

Anyway sorbet colours for the nails and no need to coordinate for a eye attracting look.

Beth
xoxo

Wimbledon

Hey, 

I'm currently cheering on Andy Murray in Wimbledon tennis against Nadal it doesn't look good but he could turn it around. 

Anyway I noticed while watching that the ball girls had the Ralph Lauren logo on their shirts; I then noticed it on all the officials. I checked Ralph Lauren's UK site and I found out that Ralph Lauren is the official outfitters of Wimbledon. To start with I thought this was quite odd as the designer is linked to polo but then I thought how polo is quite a high class, posh and traditional sport much the same as Wimbledon with it's traditions. 

On the Ralph Lauren website I had a look at the Wimbledon collection and it's very traditional tennis clothing so it's nice to see that being designer hasn't changed it much, I do quite like the v-neck tennis jumper with blue outline on the collar. But the best thing I found in the collection was the tennis balls with the Ralph Lauren pony on them in pink for $5!

Here's a link to the Ralph Lauren site: http://www.ralphlauren.co.uk/global/V2/default.asp?cid=12&langid=1

Update on the tennis; Murray lost so he's out of Wimbledon :(

Beth 

xoxo

Converse prom shoes

Hey,

So I came across an advert for "converse prom collection" today and I was very intrigued as I wouldn't exactly think of converse as prom shoes. The only problem I had was the link took me to the converse website and I couldn't for the life of my find "prom collection" on this site. So I googled it of course, I found pictures of very sequinned converses. Now these aren't my idea of prom shoes but I'm sure with the right dress and style you could pull it off; at least you'd be comfy :) 

So this sparked me to write about my favourite shoes at the moment.

My favourite UK high street shop to buy shoes in would be New Look I love their shoes; at the moment they have great design and gorgeous colours. I adore a particular pair which are very pale pink, a sort of shiny patent material, very high heel and two thin buckle straps around the top of the foot. The only problem is I have no where to wear these shoes except for prom which isn't for a while yet. 

While trying to find a link to the New Look site I found that the shoes I like were on sale at £10! Unfortunately they don't have the pink colour but after a second glance they do have my size. 

The more relaxed and comfy shoes that I'd go for is converse as they are a good brand and they have a wide range of colours and patterns to choose from only problem is the style is the same but that's what converse is known for anyway. Otherwise I like skate shoes such as DC or Etnies which again are branded and have good colours and patterns in a relaxed and comfy shoe which you could wear almost anywhere and with almost anything. The problem I find with these is the price often seems a tad too expensive for a trainer but that's what you pay for the brand.

As for designer shoes my favourite of all time are Christian Louboutin shoes, I love their signature red sole which makes them desirable as you're not necessarily flaunting the name of the designer but for people who know shoes they will recognise your Louboutin shoes and the money you have invested in them! The styles of all the shoes are just wonderful they look really smart and cute. Almost all the celebrities will own a pair of Louboutin shoes to name a few Emma Bunton, Cheryl Cole, Lauren Conrad, Kylie Minogue, Jennifer Lopez have been photographed wearing Louboutin shoes. These are my favourite in the photo opposite, the classic, smart, black Louboutin shoes you can't see the red sole very well but the black and red is a great contrast. 

Obviously due to the sunny weather I should be talking about sandals. I know gladiator sandals are in fashion again this summer. I'm not too keen on these but I think if you get the right style they look really nice and I'm sure they're much comfier than flip flops :)

The trend I like this summer for shoes is the caged or gladiator high heels, I think they look really cute but I'm pretty sure they're not very practical again I found great examples of these in New Look and Christian Louboutin also do gorgeous styles. 

Check out the:

summer Louboutin collection

Converse site

and New Look shoes

Beth 

xoxo