Boldness

I recently read the following sentences from the book 'Hot Milk' by Deborah Levy.

"......It is a matter of having a purpose, less apathy. Why not steal a fish from the market to make you bolder? Why do I need to be bolder? That is for you to answer.
His tone was reassuring, calm and serious considering he was probably mad."

This got me thinking about boldness and what actions we can carry out to achieve it.
Why be bold? How will being bold effect our lives or the way we live?

We often find ourselves in new or challenging situations when we need to be confident, strong and bold, but this can be easier said than done. These situations can have us doubting ourselves and what we are capable of. Being bold is a great way to approach these challenging situations or just generally a great way to stay focused or make life changes.
I'm not saying steal a fish, but carrying out an act of boldness could change our lives in small ways and help us gain perspective of whats important.
Being bold can be achieved in a whole host of ways, big or small. Asking a question whilst in a large group, sparking up a conversation with someone new, discussing a difficult subject  with family or friends, asking for a deserved pay rise at work or going for a work promotion or lastly wearing that bold item of clothing you haven't yet dared to wear.
Some of the above will take more confidence that others but any act of boldness can only positively effect the way we feel everyday.

I'm not one for new years resolutions, I find them too easily broken but I am going to make a stance to be more bold. Ultimately these smaller or larger acts will make you a stronger, knowledgeable and maybe even kinder individual both inside and out and that's got to be a great thing.

Ph Credit: Zara.com.

Street Style from the London SS19 shows

Each season of shows seems to arrive so quickly, this weekend saw the SS19 shows open in London.  I love scrolling through images of beautiful designer pieces shown on the catwalk but theres nothing I love more than gettng inspiration from those on the streets. Street style is so much more realistic and can easily be re-created - its also brilliant to see how creatively outfits can be styled. Here's some styling that I will be taking inspiration from this season.

Ph Creadit - Vogue

What we should be wearing this autumn - according to Reserved

I feel like I’m late to the party, but this week I discovered the online store Reserved. I can’t believe this brand has been established for two years in the UK and 19 years in Europe without me even knowing it existed. That’s what I love about online retailing, there are always new and exciting brands out there waiting to be discovered.
I love the Reserved brands clean, simplistic yet stylish aesthetic. It mixes simple pieces with more fashion forward items. The online store is also extremely pleasingly to the eye and I adore their new AW18 campaign.

Here’s what Reserved think we should be wearing this autumn and I couldn’t agree more...

Layers of heritage check in both muted and brighter tones, faux fur (something I'm still undecided on but this one is stunning), luxurious fabrics including satin, silk and wool, midi length textured skirts in denim and corduroy, statement boots in a variety of lengths and lastly tobacco shades across all departments including softs, outerwear and knitwear.

 

Ph Credit - Reserved.com

Earrings are back and bolder than ever

A trend we can all get on board with, an accessory that jazz's up even the simplest of outfits and it's back and bolder than ever for the foreseeable. Yes, I'm talking about earrings. No matter where you look at the moment, whether your fashion conscious or not earrings are everywhere - in all matter of colours, shapes and sizes and I myself couldn't be happier. Yes ladies there is no better time to pull out those Pat Butcher esq earrings than now, whether it be for the office or Saturday night drinks its always acceptable. 

Ph Credit - Pinterest

The Fur Debate - Faux vs Real

Whilst I understand using real fur in fashion is often ethically and morally wrong, I do also wonder what effects faux fur is having on our planet. 

We are constantly trying to stop harming our planet. We have implemented numerous new and modern initiatives including recycling plastic, glass and paper, charging for plastic carrier bags in supermarkets and banning plastic straws in bars and restaurants all to try and reduce or slow down our environmental impacts. However, man made fibres in the form of faux fur are everywhere - faux fur coats, faux fur trims, faux fur accessories. 

In fashion and styling terms faux fur looks and sometimes feels great and as the above images show this material can be manipulated, sewn and shaped in diverse, innovative ways but what affect are these man-made fibres having on our planet?

It takes over 100,000 years for faux fur to biodegrade. Yes, long after we’ve vacated the planet that beloved faux fur coat or key ring will still be polluting and damaging the environment. 

Faux fur is great for getting the real fur look without any animal having to be mistreated but is this the best option? Is there a way real fur could be produced ethically?

Or is it best to refuse to buy either?  Ethically and morally which type of fur is best to buy? 
 

It’s a tough decision, many fashion designers have started to shun real fur in favour of faux fur but this is not always noted by anti fur protesters. At Mary Katrantzou’s AW18 show (above right) a protester stormed the runway to protest about real fur used in her collection when in actual fact all the fur used was faux. In recent news Italian fashion house Gucci have declared there collections will go fur free, stating it as 'no longer modern'. Designers and luxury brands are being forced to move with the times and are now starting to understand the thoughts and opinions of their customer.

Over the last two decades we have become more educated about what environmental impact our habits are having on the environment and we’ve become more interested in what we can do to help. 

Along with other industries the fashion industry has recently started to realise things need to change and sustainable fashion is starting to make waves. Everlane, Reformation, People Tree, Eileen Fisher and Zady have brilliant, stylish and ethical collections. These type of designers and brands are slowly gathering a growing number of followers within the fashion industry and have been discussed in editorial pieces in The Sunday Times Style and at The Copenhagen Fashion Summit which took place last month.
Its brilliant that this positive and modern initiative is making an impact, but I do believe ethical and slow fashion (the opposite to fast fashion) needs to be more accessible. It’s often expensive, therefore pricing your young fashion conscious customer out of the market.
Another obvious alternative to fast and ethical fashion which has less impact on the environment is purchasing second hand clothing. From the likes of eBay and Depop to vintage shops, these all give fashion garments another life and give our planet chance to recuperate. 
That said, as modern humans we love to shop, for either morale, style or social reasons and the majority still place old items in the bin which eventually end up in landfill. 

My rule is to buy less but of better quality and get creative, this includes faux fur too. Ensure that fur faux coat or accessory you buy is a forever piece, that can be worn every winter. This could be the most efficient, ethical and moral way to buy fur right now.

Ph Credit - Vogue

Trend notes - Socks and Sandals

Seen on plenty of catwalks back in February (Erdem, Miu Miu, Mulberry and Isa Arfen) now adding socks and sandals to all outfits has also become my favourite way of adding pizazz to my style. 

Socks and sandals can be done in many ways, Adidas sliders with pulled up white Adidas socks (never tried this one) sheer tight socks and platform sandals (spotted tight socks are the best) and most commonly heeled sandals and sparkly socks as above. 

Investing in a few pairs of pretty socks is an inexpensive way of styling up old items. This gorgeous multi-coloured sparkling pair are from Topshop and we’re a mere £3 or three pairs for £8 (I also got two pairs of spotted ones too.)

Weekend Inspiration #15

I can often flick through multiply magazines and not find an inspirational styling piece. 
Style is personal and you’re not always going to see a piece  that’s suitable for your figure, age or lifestyle. However sometimes you get two for the price of one, beautiful styling inspiration and wonderful home interior inspiration. 

These gorgeous images have come from The Sunday Times Style Magazine. It’s well known by my Husband that the only reason I buy The Sunday Times is for the style supplement and no wonder with features such as these. 

Here’s to spring sartorial and English country houses.

 

 Ph Credit - The Sunday Times Style - 11th February 2018.

Trending - New York Fashion Week

Tibi, Area, Michael Kors, 3.1 Philip Lim and many more have stemmed my fashion appetite at nyfw this past couple of weeks. This season so far seems better than many previously, partly because it’s the AW18 shows - which I love.
Autumn/winter sartorial offers multiply and diverse styling options. Layers, colours, knits, prints and textures all excite me and make fashion fun and eclectic. 

The New York shows were filled with these delights. Layers of clashing prints at Micheal Kors, blocks of solid colour at Tibi and metallic fabrics and embellishments at Area. Browsing the catwalk section of vogue I’ve noticed many forming fashion trends.  Checks - gingham and tartan, animal prints - mainly leopard, jewel colours - ruby, navy and emerald and lastly solid colours worn from head to toe. Never mind waiting until next AW18 I want to try of these out now.

From Top to bottom -
3.1 Philip Lim
Area
Michael Kors
Tibi

Ph Credit - Vogue UK

New York fashion week - street style trends we can try in real life

 

It’s fashion month! Hooray!  It’s also the AW18 shows which makes it all the more exciting. Autumn/winter dressing is my favourite, I’m guessing this comes down to it being constantly cold here in the north of the UK and the fact I’m very pale and never get a tan and come summer, I struggle to disguise this. 

So far the New York shows have offered up some amazing pieces and I feel like I’ve fallen in love with fashion all over again, but more on that later. 

Today it’s about the street style! Yes, I know fashion week is about the designs coming down the runways but over the last 10 years those entering the shows have offered us similar exciting, inspiring and (sometimes) wearable fashion trends we can try in real life.

I constantly use street style as my source of inspiration and fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan and Paris brings together stylish individuals from all over the globe. Each portray their own personal style using different fashion pieces in creative and beautiful ways. 

Street style doesn’t have to always represent what is trending but what people love and feel comfortable in, which is what fashion is all about. It can often also be a brilliant way to spot emerging future trends too. These are my favourites so far.

Ph credit - Vogue and Harper's Bazaar

Green Corduroy

Each season both new and old trends return to the catwalk, high street and ultimately our wardrobes. At the moment corduroy seems to be having a moment. Yes corduroy, often seen on elderly gentlemen and Steve Braidy in Sex and the City. If you're a fan of the show you'll remember Miranda's yuppy guilt scene when she invites her new boyfriend to a 'fancy' work event and after asking him if he owns a suit he declares 'Its really nice, it's gold, yeah Corduroy'.
My reaction was somewhat different to Miranda's when I spotted this amazing green pair of cropped, flared corduroy trousers in Zara. I'm currently in desperate need of new clothing and this brilliantly fitting pair have been the perfect edition. I find a cropped trouser often creates a difficult styling challenge.They can sometimes sit awkwardly on your lower leg, but these have been a dream. They fit like a glove and look perfect with slim ankle boots, pumps and heels and work for both a day or night look. They come in Green, Navy and Rust but I felt the green colour-way suited my skin tone better and even though a striking colour, they are still safe if wearing for work with an oversized jumper.
Today I've teamed them with this overtly loud candy-striped shirt from Monki, heeled ankle boots and a trench coat because it's the North and obviously its raining.

Zara Cords | Moni Skirt | ASOS Trench | Topshop Boots | Zara Bag

Colour co-ordination trends I'm loving right now

The night I met my now husband I was wearing red shoes, red bag, red tube top (yes a tube top - it was 2006) and a navy skirt. On a girls holiday to Magaluf later that year I wore a white miniskirt, white shoes and white top. Back then colour co-ordination was BIG!
I felt the need to constantly colour co-ordinate all my outfits. I now look back at pictures and cringe, but that's fashion its forever changing.
I actually don't think I've colour co-ordinated my outfit ever since, I constantly mis-match colours trying to create new ways of styling the overly worn items hanging in my closet.
However, as mentioned above fashion is constanting evolving and changing and recently the colour co- ordinating trend has re-emerged but in a relevant and more stylish way. Its left me wanting to match all the colours in my wardrobe even if said wardrobe consists of Navy, Grey and Black pieces - well its definitely a starting point.

Ph Credit - lacooletchic, gudrunolof, alisonpeebles and manrepeller

An ode to my ASOS Bridal dress

As soon as I walked into an official "bridal" shop I knew I wasn't going to find a dress for me. The very lovely sales woman walked towards me with the biggest, voluptuous, netted dress I'd ever seen and I instantly shouted NO in my head. Whilst the dresses she showed me were beautiful and had sleeves (something I knew I wanted and needed for an October wedding), I knew these dresses were going to look ridiculous on me. 

In the shop I was advised that I may change my mind when I tried a few 'bridal' dresses on. I'm sure that can be true but to be very honest I didn't want that type of wedding dress. So I never tried any on, even after looking around a few dress shops. I don't regret it, I needed to feel like me. 

I've never been very Bridey and up until the point my boyfriend of 10 years proposed I'd never envisioned myself getting married, let alone in a huge white dress. 

At the beginning I thought about a coloured dress, I've always loved emerald green, that could

Work - but I knew I didn't want an extremely traditional wedding and a white/cream/ivory dress could add some tradition to the day. 

Many brides would not even think the highstreet/online highstreet was an option. Most brides want their dress to be original, a one of a kind and I get that but the latter comes at a price but the highstreet offers a whole array of gorgeous dresses at a fraction of the cost. 

I work in fashion and know what our Great British (online) high street has to offer. First I looked at designer white dresses that could pass for a wedding dress at Harvey Nichols then I searched John Lewis, Liberty, Monsoon and House of Fraser. Whilst theses outlets all had some beautiful dresses I didn't find that something unique that suited my style. 

ASOS BRIDAL 

ASOS is the brand I go too for my usual sartorial so why not for my wedding dress? I scrolled for many hours over many weeks before I found what those in the wedding business call 'the dress'. 

Yes searching for a dress online is time consuming. These dresses are not made to measure so you need to ensure it's a style that will suit your figure and in a fabric that looks expensive without actually being expensive. A plus side - around early spring new styles debut regularly giving lots of choice to choose from, finding the right dress was inevitable. It happened one Friday night, as soon as I saw it I loved it. But there was still the possibility that it wouldn't fit, we all know high-street fashion is not always true to size. When the DPD man knocked on my door some days later I was pleasantly surprised with how my purchase was packaged. No usual plastic ASOS packaging - instead a huge ASOS bridal box and garment bag containing my soon to be wedding dress.

I was very very lucky, the dress fit perfectly. I instantly knew I had picked the right dress. Yes, it's a high street dress so their are a few quality issues including some tucks around the bum area but overall this is a beautiful dress. The fabric quality and weight feel much more expensive than the £95 price tag.

On the day it received so many complements and I loved how unique this dress felt. I managed to portray my own personal style and most importantly without having to spend a fortune.  

Ph Credit - Eve Hopkinson Photography

Party Train

A couple of Friday's ago I joined the office girls and headed in to Manchester for Christmas cocktails and dinner in the Northern Quarter. The night was a blast but living outside the city becomes a drag when your evening comes to an abrupt end because you have to get the last train back to your semi rural abode. I love seeing trees and fields outside of my bedroom window but on nights like that it would be so convenient to live in the city. 

As I headed for the 10:29 train, one could have been fooled into thinking that the night was over, when in actual fact many similar individuals were continuing the party on the last Northern Rail Manchester to Leeds service. 

Yes, that festive time of year is upon us when the last train home on a Friday night becomes the party train - filled with post Christmas party goers ready to get an affordable ride home. Let's just say I didn't get the party train memo. I turned up with my bottle of M&S lemonade ready to avoid the wine hangover before I arrived at my destination in 50 minutes time. It seemed everyone else had turned up with something stronger. 

The journey home consisted of cider quaffing office workers singing Oasis anthems whilst banging the tune on the windows. I was actually enjoying the sing along until the girl sat on the floor next to me almost puked on my favourite gold heels. But we all get a little giddy during the festive season so possible puking is more than forgivable. 

It was my official office Christmas party last Friday and I was somewhat sad that I wasn't a member of the party train again. But a drunk ride home in a warm car with my sober Husband and Christmas music on full was just as entertaining.