Bubble Pop Electric

Have you been watching Channel 4's 'This Old Thing: The Vintage Clothes Show'? If so, has it also been enticing you into vintage shops? It's honestly making me want to get on the train to Brighton and have a good nosey through the shops in the lanes. I blame Dawn O'Porter for that. Her style is amazing. 

This week I made my first charity shop purchase, it's not vintage but I saw the hat in the window and knew it would be a bargain I wouldn't regret. Who could ever regret buying a cute hat that cost less than an M&S sandwich. 

Okay, so some of you may hate me for a throwback to Gwen Stefani circa 2004, but I love a good noughties sing along. This one is one of the best of her album, Love.Angel.Music.Baby and with a few listens, you absolutely will know most the words to the song. Have fun singing along to it on road trips this summer. 

Gwen Stefani – Bubble Pop Electric

Enjoy! 

xoxo

Raise Your Love

Burberry is a brand that is so British you have to love it. It's heritage certainly helps. We all know that Burberry helped design the trench coats used in war, but did you know, that the men who made the first flight from Britain across the Atlantic ocean were suited and booted in good old Burberry. They really do have quite a heritage (if you want to learn some interesting facts about their history have a looksy here). 

Anyway, before you get all excited that I have invested in a Burberry trench coat or something similar, I haven't. Not rich enough for that yet. The reason I'm talking about Burberry is because, as you probably saw, their Autumn/Winter 2014 show was loaded with models wearing scarves that were cinched at the waist with a thin belt. I've stolen their stylists idea and used it for a summer alternative with some denim cut offs and a plain tee. 

Scarf (Stall In Brighton)

The one thing I love about the Burberry fashion shows is that unlike many, they have music played live by British singers, not the average pop singers either. They often choose singer/songwriters that are more up and coming rather than the ones of the moment. At the Autumn/Winter 14 shows they had Ed Harcourt, Rhodes and Paloma Faith performing. 

If you fancy a listen to the live recording (at the Burberry show) of Rhodes song  Raise Your Love, here you are - RHODES – Raise Your Love - Live From Burberry Fashion Show. 

Enjoy!

xoxo

My Ultimate Streetstyle Inspo.

We all need to find inspiration from somewhere and if you can't be at fashion week to discover some, it's time to turn to Pinterest and bloggers. 
I'm not sure about you but I find myself having a scroll down Pinterest a good couple of times a day, hoping to find something that inspires me or purely just to admire the clothes on the back of fashion muses - Anna Dello Russo is the perfect one for fun style. 

Knowing that I am forever looking for more sources to gain inspiration from, I have put together five of my go to sites/people I google when in doubt. 

Miroslava Duma. 
We all know now that the Russian's are rising in the world of fashion, and Miroslava Duma is certainly one of them. An ex editor at Russia's Harper's Bazaar, Duma now runs the website Buro 24/7. Despite her website being so successful, it's her style that I have fallen in love with, she makes things look incredibly chic and high fashion but never seems to look so extremely over dressed that for someone like us it just would be impractical to even dream of styling something up similarly - unlike Russian designer, Ulyana Sergeenko, who looks amazing 24/7 but also wears couture day in day out, which is something most girls can only dream of.  

FaceHunter.

Yvan Rodic. A streetstyle photographer before it became a hyped about thing. This is the man of FaceHunter. He trails the streets of fashion week and from it provides us (through his blog) the most chic, creative, collaborations of style and fashion. You are bound to find many looks to suit your taste regardless of how minimal or uber creative you like to be. It's a blog for all. 

Ring My Bell - Ashley Madekwe

Do you recognise her? If you have indulged in the E4 drama 'Revenge' then you will know her. Born in London, Ashley Madekwe is an actress living in LA (it was this move that inspired her to start up the blog, initially in order to keep in contact with her parents(thanks Company Magazine for that info.)). 

Her blog is a personal favourite of mine, she has a style that I would say could be described as fairly normcore, making it accessable but still loveable thanks to her perfect styling. 

Vanessa Jackman

She, similar to Yvan Rodic is a photographer who's job requires having a good wonder around the streets of fashion weeks spotting out the uber stylish to then share with us through her blog. She is very efficient at keeping up to date too. If you need daily inspiration she is pretty good at providing it. 

The looks she shoots vary from the model off duty to the fashionista on a mission. 

P.S. I couldn't resist not including a style shot of Leandra Medine from The Man Repeller. I love the blog too much. 

Syvende

When will I find a Pinterest board this amazing for it's style inspiration.

This tumblr is full of streetstyle shots that in the real world (not fashion week) are actually practical! As well as this it also contains many shots of celebrities; Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Vanessa Hudgens and Cara Delevingne to say a few, rocking some great outfits. 

               

Hope you enjoy these style inspo. looks as much as I do. 

xoxo

In/Out

Zara. A store that every time I enter, I feel like I should then walk out into a hot, humid street in Cyprus. This, I'm sure, was the place that I first I went into a Zara store. I'm a little worried as to how or why I even remember my first Zara experience - not that I bought anything in there at 11 years old, but in the last couple of years it has been raising higher and higher on my top high street stores list. At 13 it was New Look, 16, Topshop, and now at 18, I think Zara is reigning. 

So as you can imagine, a Zara sale certainly excites me. And when I snatched up these couple of items for £24 in total (rather than a whopping £90) I was beyond happy. So proud of my bargain, I think I have told most the people I work with, regardless if they find interest in it.

This leather skirt was definitely worth picking up. It has leather and sheer pleats on the sides which gives a unique, modern take on the average leather mini (please ignore the fact I wore the pleats at the front in the following shots, I was tired and didn't even realise I had put it on wrong. Oops.) 

I kinda fancy replicating how they've styled this skirt on the website and rocking it with a chunky, orange knit this autumn.  

And these shoes. Would you say they are mules? I thought they were. Well, six months ago I was dissing them, absolutely rejecting this trend. And look who has now gone and got a pair. Which she loves! Even if I am the only one in my household that does. 

Skirt - Zara (SALE)

Shoes - Zara (SALE)

You may think that you aren't sure who Dan Croll is but I bet you've heard this song - From Nowhere. If you have and love it, or if you haven't and are intrigued to listen to him, here is another song from his album Sweet Disarray -  In / Out. It's a good one! 

Enjoy! 

xoxo

Goddess - Music Post

One mention in Company magazine (they are brilliant for music suggestions- I also discovered George Ezra here) and this woman quickly became one of my fave artists of the moment. Categorised under the genres; R&B, alternative and trip-pop, Banks creates this insanely addictive music that is catchy but unlike many, not in a sickly pop way. Trust me, you’ll soon want to be buying her album - Goddess.  You’ll find yourself singing around in your room to it by the end of the day – I’m doing just that whilst writing this post. Before you get put off by this ‘sing along’ comment I would definitely say that the music Banks creates isn’t One Direction sing-a-long music. Her music has an electronic sound which, as a sound is starting to grow on me a lot more, but personally, her husky vocals is what I like about her music.  

Banks, similar to many music artists has been recognised and snatched up by the fashion industry. As I mentioned, I discovered her in Company magazine and since then she appeared in the May 2014 issue of Vogue and named Artist Of The Week by them in August 2013 (see their review here)and was also interviewed by Elle Magazine. On top of this, her song London was featured in a Victoria’s Secret advert shot in Paris – if her music is good enough for Victoria’s secret is must be great.

I understand I’m no music guru and I don’t exactly provide a complex description of music, but music, like fashion doesn’t always require in depth description, but instead, matter of opinion. So I thought sharing music with you would be a nice change to a style post.

If you fancy a listen, which obviously I would recommend, here’s a link to one of her singles on Spotify: Banks – Goddess. 

Enjoy!

P.S. If she becomes one of your fave music artists – she is doing a small UK tour in November!

xoxo

Sol.

Is that an army truck? Yep, it's an army truck. This, for some reason that is beyond me is the new addition to our back garden so I've taken the opportunity to use it as a background for my monochromatic outfit post. I'm liking the vintage look it has going. 

This outfit may be simple but I still love it - I think simplicity is kinda my style and this jacket I snatched up in Topshop a month ago is a perfect addition to my wardrobe. It is a little on the big side but an over sized fit paired with the frayed denim effect adds to the androgynous style. Although, an androgynous fit means I have to search for a top that counteracts that slightly, at times limiting choices to style it with. I wouldn't say I have the frame or personality to pull off tomboy. 
But wait. With a jacket like this one - which I totally bought because it reminded me of the Chanel jacket has many images to inspire thanks to The Little Black Jacket exhibition that was created by Mr Lagerfeld himself and the former editor in chief of Vogue Paris, Carine Roitfeld. 
Here's my personal fave - Clemence Poesy and other images from the exhibition. 

Shoes - Zara

Top - Zara SALE

Sunglasses - Accessorize

Jeans - Topshop

Lipstick - Mac (All Fired Up)

Jacket - Topshop

And for the song of the post. 

It may not be all sun and fun outside right now but I have found one great summer song. I came across this band, Mausi at a Foxes gig in Brighton in March, and honestly I had never heard their songs before but I seriously enjoyed their music, they had great stage presence and their music is just so easy to get in to. 

Mausi – Sol. 

I would recommend having a looksy at their YouTube channel for a little more of their stuff too - MausiVEVO. 

Enjoy! 

xoxo

Come A Little Closer

Joggers are the comfiest thing ever, right. The go to loungewear when it is for some reason unacceptable to wear the good ol' PJ bottams that we snatch from our drawer as soon as we get home. Well, how happy were you when you discovered the luxe jogger? And how happy was I when I found them for half price in the Topshop sale. 
The great thing about them is that although they are a relaxed style, the fabric used imitates silk and with the addition of the satin side panels gives them just the right amount of chic they need.  
Admittedly they aren't the most versatile product when you're not a 6ft model - the proportions aren't quite the same. But so what, they're still super cute and comfy. The perfect dinner trousers. 

Trousers - Topshop SALE

Necklace - Topshop SALE

Shoes - Stradivarious

Vest top - H&M

Now for the song of the post. Have you heard the brilliant Ain't No Rest for the Wicked by Cage The Elephant? If you have and you love it, here's a brilliant song I recommend from their most recent album Melophobia. As well as this, I also recommend if you are heading out to any festivals this summer, look out for them, I've briefly seen them live (My train was crazily delayed so missed most their set - gutted) and they were amazing. 

Cage The Elephant – Come A Little Closer

Enjoy. 

xoxo

Blame It On Me

You know, I reckon hairstyles, like a new lipstick, can make you feel automatically put together yet somehow we tend to invest so much more time considering what lipstick or shoes to wear over what hairstyle we're gonna rock that day. 
I am certainly not someone that invests time in my hair, I tend to keep it simple. The less effort, the better. I mean come on, I haven't had my hair dyed for a year and a half. My highlights have grown out to create an ombre effect - that ones a hair trend I hope lasts a while. 
I do think though that hair (most the time) needs to look effortless - Blake Lively is someone that has that one sorted to perfection. Every girl at some point has been envious of that woman's hair. (Fancy some inspiration from her hairstyle history? Have a looksy by clicking on this link.)
So. Moving on from my lengthy introduction, here's a few of my go to summer hairstyles I rely on when low on time. 

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Have you heard of George Ezra? His name is starting to hover about recently. I initially read about him in Company Magazine  and ever since I've fallen in love with this mans voice - its now a close call between him and Paolo Nutini on the drive home from work on a rainy day. This is a song from his new album Wanted On Voyage that is certainly worth a listen. 

George Ezra – Blame It on Me

Enjoy!

xoxo

What Took You So Long?

It's been a while now that I've fancied myself a nice pair of leather shorts, and the current Topshop sale brought them to me. Ever since I saw the following photo of Miranda Kerr effortlessly rockin' a pair, I was bought. Don't you think they are the perfect alternative to a pair of black denim cut off's? A perfect alternative that not every girl on the high street owns either. They are a basic worth investing in, unless of course you snatch them up in a sale and then you're all the more happier.
I reckon regardless of how you style them, paired with a breton top or denim shirt or even just a simple plain white tee jazzed up with some red lipstick like Miranda Kerr, they somehow, I think, still make you look like you've put in some effort - even if you did rush out the house after waking half hour late. 

Necklace - Topshop (SALE) 

Top - River Island

Leather Shorts - Topshop (SALE)

Bag - Zara

I found this Courteeners song recently, and thought the title totally fitted. It's catchy aswell, making it all the bit better for summer drives to the beach. The Courteeners – What Took You So Long?

xoxo