Bestival

Bestival was bloody amazing- what a mini little Glastonbury it is!

So many things to see, music, sunshine, friends. Lovely.

What a perfect way to end summer.

My New Love

I'm aware that i have a new love every week but i have a feeling this one is going to stick with me all fall. One of the must-haves for the autumn/winter 10/11 season is the aviator jacket. Designers first introduced the trend on the runway earlier this year, with particular reference to Burberry's collection Burberry Cadet Girls. High streets have now got on board and shops such as ASOS & Oasis have their own collection of flight jackets.

but THIS is the one i want/need.

The burberry leather aviator jacket with a shearling lining and oversized collar. it's so beautiful, but alas, its almost £2000.

Beauty Beneath

I think the best portfolio and collection I saw exhibited in Earls Court today was 'Beauty Beneath' by Karina Lucy Jones for Northumbria University. 

Beauty Beneath is a conceptual lingerie collection that incorporates the primary function of lingerie, but that also has the ability to be attached to outerwear pieces, creating new garments, thus "redefining lingerie from underwear to outerwear."

The garments on display are beautiful, and were created with an inspiration from the beauty beneath the ocean. The materials used range from heavy cotton denim to light weight cotton denim, mixed with a luxury silk, giving it that sexy feminine look and touch. the colours include deep blues, greens, corals and golds and incorporate patterns and shapes found beneath the ocean from both animals and plant life. 

A lot of embellishment and embroidery can be seen on the garments including crystals, beads, sequins and lace. These are some of the garments exhibited today.

I Want These Shoes

Eliza Doolittle perfomed today at GFW and she looked so good! After her performance she thanked River Island for the outfit she was wearing which included fringed brown shorts and a yellow top with sequined trim. 

Both of which i love, especially when put together, but what i really want is her glittery Nike high tops. They looked so cool on her skinny bare legs, I'm not quite sure I could pull them off. This is what they look like.

After her performance I went and spoke to her and got a photo with her. Haha, so geeky, but I couldn't resist, she's lovely!

Graduate Fashion Week - Day One

So Graduate Fashion Week kicked off today at Earl's Court and there's so much talent! Really impressed with both University of Central Lancashire and Edinburgh College of Art's runway shows. Between both of them, only one graduate desgined a menswear collection, with the rest being womenswear and knitwear. One piece I really liked was this amazing gold jacket which was worn with the sleeves pushed up and laced at the front. Designed by Daniele Reed for University of Central Lancashire. Another was a really cute patterned jumpsuit with a sequin bra, by Rebecca Purvis for the same show. 

For Edinburgh, I saw the cutest white dress, sleeveless, with embroidery down the front. Would look so cute with bare legs and either gladiator sandles or Chanel clogs, Alexa Chung style. 
These are a few others I loved...

The photographer working with Anna at GFW is Nina Miljus, who is also a designer and studied Fashion Marketing at Northumbria University. Nina's work is incredible, her garments are beautiful and her photography and styling has almost an Alice in Wonderland feel about it, using cute hats and bunny ears. Check it out...

Sherlock Holmes... Style Icon?!

Capes are everywhere this season, from the AW/10 runway shows of Galliano & Paul Smith to the high street stores ASOS & Zara, you can't escape them.

Modern re-workings of the Victorian classics made famous by Sherlock Holmes can be seen with checks & tweeds and extra long tailored capes.

And the must have colour of the season?!... camel.

This one from Zara's a perfect example...

All Saints Leather

I fell head over heels in love this weekend. Not with a boy, but a biker jacket. All Saint's owain jacket is made from two-tone skin and has a heavily studded collar & lapel. Each jacket has a vintage indian panel at the back which is hand embroidered- making each jacket unique. I am adamant that I will buy one this season, but at £395, i may have to wait til next month. But like my friend's mum says,

"it's an investment piece...

Say It With A Cupcake

My lovely boss at work bought me these beautiful cupcakes for my birthday, they were sat on my desk with a card when i got in this morning.

how sweet.

They look too good to eat!

Photobooth Fun

Yeah we all took it in turns to have a go on photobooth. So nice to have so many photo memories of my birthday

Birthday Evening

Happy Birthday To Me

I had the most perfect twenty-first birthday yesterday. The whole day was beautiful and I am very lucky to have such wonderful friends & family. I am so thankful to everyone that came, especially those that travelled hundreds of miles to get here. They all made it such a memorable day & I got spoilt rotten! 

Girl Crush

Okay so I'm a little ashamed to admit this but I really think Taylor Momsen is hot!

As Jenny in Gossip Girl I thought she was a little, in fact a lot, irritating. She definitely played the annoying little sister well! But since that started she's grown up a bit- although she's still only 17- and turned into a mega hot wannabe rock chick, and i think she kinda pulls it off. 

She now sports mega long platinum blonde locks & ultra smoky eye makeup and fronts the band The Pretty Reckless. Their first single make me wanna die came out in May this year & I kinda rate it. Their second single miss nothing was released last monday and their debut album light me up is out this Monday. 

Momsen has a very courtney love-esque grungy style and sound to her voice, and the overall influence of 90s grunge band Nirvana is apparent in the music she is producing. With the album covering controversial issues such as heavy drug abuse & sex, as well as the suspender belts & stockings she is renowned for wearing it's hard to believe Momsen is still only 17. 

I would love one of her vintage slip dresses.

The Good Old Days

So last night one of the greatest moments happened- the libertines played their first official gig together since their split in 2004. I'm literally gutted I couldn't get tickets. We've been waiting for this for years and it finally happened! Amy Winehouse was among fans watching the band at the HMV Forum as well as Ryan Jarman from The Cribs.

They played an amazing set including 'the good old days' 'music when the lights go out' 'time for heroes' and 'what katie did' The gig was a warm up show before their appearance at Reading & Leeds festival this weekend. 

I hope this means there will be many more to come....

International Style

The international graduate fashion show took off this afternoon in earls court and showcased students from Munich, Singapore, Saint Petersburg, Basel and Amsterdam. Stand out designers included Wolfgang Jarnack for his black & white collection and Vicole Lang for her black & gold womenswear collection which included an amazing strapless, high cut leotard. 

The one which really impressed me was Lidya Chrisfen's shipwrecked/beach themed collection which included a lot of crochet, rope and netting with clusters of shells. The music fit the theme, with water and sea-like sounds, creating a cool and calm ambience.

Double Denim

Denim is bigger than ever this summer, seen on both the runway and in retail stores with celebrities showing all the must-have denim pieces. Surprisingly though, is the re-emergence of double denim. Until recently, denim on denim was deemed a fashion disaster, a definite no for our wardrobes, but this summer see’s the return of the double denim both on the runways and in retail.

Designers that have taken on the trend in their Spring/Summer 2010 collection include House of Holland who teamed two denims with florals to create a more feminine take on the trend. Another designer to get in on the action is Ralph Lauren who got the inspiration for his Spring /Summer 2010 ready-to-wear collection from American spirit, mixing ripped jeans with cowboy hats and over-sized blouses.

Matthew Williamson also showed a dosage of double denim on his runway show this year pairing jean shorts with a denim shirt, as did Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel.

The Cobrasnake

So Anna showed me this really cool photoblog The Cobrasnake- both the blog title and pseudonym for American photographer Mark Hunter. Based in LA, The Cobrasnake takes snaps of the cool kids in the city and LA's underground party scene as well as documenting the parties of mainstream celebrities. Being a massive fan of Michael Cera, I particularly like his Youth in Revolt album- also a brilliant film.

But the one you must check out is the birthday party for Katy Perry. She only went and had a Willy Wonka themed bash, with real life Oompa Loompa's and all! Check out these sweet snaps!

Graduate Fashion Week

Okay so my best friend Anna won a competition with More magazine to blog for them at graduate fashion week in London next week, and stay in a hotel with a friend and she asked me to go with her. Excited is an understatement. Anna's always been so streetwise which shows in her own blog. Each post is such a cute read, informative with her own added humour, you really should check it out. Most of the stuff I hear about first comes from Anna's blog, I just love the way she writes. 

Summer Plans

These are my summer plans so far...

Isle of Wight festival

Ascot

Summer Solstice

Glastonbury

New York

My 21st in Vegas

Bestival

Graduation

It doesn't get much better than that.

All Is Love

Where The Wild Things Are is an adaptation of Maurice Sendak's 1963 children's book of the same name. Directed by Spike Jonze, the film sees a nine year old boy run away from home to an island that's home to a group of huge furry creatures. Beautiful scenery and imaginative, almost trippy visuals make up the film, and what's best about it all is the soundtrack composed and sung entirely by Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Listed on the soundtrack as Karen O and the Kids, she was nominated for a 2010 Grammy for the song All Is Love. The film shows a fantasy, almost fairytale-like other world that Karen O reflects flawlessly. I can't stop listening to it.

Battling Breast Cancer

I absolutely adore this advert found in an old issue of Vogue magazine featuring Sasha, Daria Werbowy, Lily Donaldson, Lily Cole and Du Juan. Advertising Fashion Targets Breast Cancer and net-a-porter.com's contribution to the battle against breast cancer, each model wears a limited edition polo designed by Ralph Lauren which was available exclusively at http://www.net-a-porter.com/.

Fashion Targets Breast Cancer is a worldwide charitable initiative of the Council of Fashion Designers of America and has raised over $40 million for breast cancer charities in 13 countries since its launch in 1994. Over here in the UK, it was launched in 1996 by Breakthrough Breast Cancer and is now the UK's leading charity fashion campaign which has raised over £9.5 million for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

The advert means so much more than just five beautiful girls modelling in a shirt and knickers. Instead, it is helping to raise money for something that destroys so many people's lives and with the help of fashion designers like Ralph Lauren, it has already managed to raise millions.

Why not buy a famous logo tshirt and help in the battle against breast cancer.

For more information visit http://www.fashiontargetsbreastcancer.org/