Tuesday, 28 May 2013

Red Carpet: Cannes Film Festival 2013

The Cannes Film Festival has got to be the most spectacular of red carpet events. For just a few days, cinema's most successful and prominent actors and actresses are brought together under the glorious sun of the French Riviera, not only to promote their work but also to showcase stunning creations, designed by the most sought-after couturiers in the world. Here just three of my personal best-dressed celebrities - take a look! Who were your best-dressed?

Prada red ballgown with pink accents on final night of festival
Lanvin tiered prom dress with black sandals and jewellery by Chaumet
Audrey Tautou looked so understated and chic. The combination of her trademark elegance with that quality of lavish glamour so befitting for Cannes was just beautiful.

Dior pre-autumn/winter 2013-14 white silk crepe gown with Chopard jewellery
Dior dress from pre-spring/summer 2014 collection, jewellery by Chopard
Vivienne Westwood Couture pink and ivory striped dress and Jimmy Choo nude sandals
Marion Cotillard looked just as gorgeous in Westwood and Dior in soft frills, asymmetrical hemlines and art deco inspired designs.
   
Giorgio Armani bespoke gown with Swarovski bow detailing, Harry Winston jewellery
Ivory gown from the Valentino Couture spring/summer 2013 collection
Dior Couture strapless embroidered dress with pink heels
Nicole Kidman's outfits were soft and feminine, interjecting the red carpet with that all-important dose of over-the-top decadence for which Cannes is so renowned.

Sunday, 19 May 2013

Inspire Me: The Asymmetrical Skirt

I've always been one for the classics - the essential items that we own that neither we nor our wardrobe could live without; that LBD, the crisp white shirt, that pair of faithful black trousers or the Parker jacket. You all know what I mean.

But as ever in the world of fashion, even our dear beloved essentials every now and again have to take a back seat, while their reworked eccentric counterparts find themselves the new darlings of the glossies. While fashionistas get snapped, posing in and adoring the latest craze, I usually find it difficult to show any affinity for these trends so openly, still unable to detach myself from the classic staples that haunt my wardrobe, the same "staples" that everyone else seems to have forgotten and discarded in the corner.

This all changed however when the asymmetrical (or hi/lo, as it is known) skirt hit the runway this spring and since then has become one of this year's hottest trends. Maxi or mini, multicolour or monochrome, the asymmetrical skirt is this season's creation where anything really does go. There's something refreshing in it's flamboyance and the way it throws convention and uniformity to the wind. And most importantly, it's fun!!...And isn't that what fashion is all about!?

Don't get me wrong. I haven't forgotten the classic pencil skirt - far from it. I just think it's time to give it a well-deserved break...at least for the summer!

Sunday, 12 May 2013

Juicy Couture Catalogue: Summer 2013

If your looking to update your summer wardrobe look no further than the new Juicy Couture Summer 2013 Catalogue, featuring the gorgeous Edita Vilkeviciute and Magdalena Frackowiak.

In-keeping with this season's latest trend of Riviera Chic beach-inspired look, the catagloue features floral printed swimsuits, party dresses, casual T-shirts, white jeans, coloured shirts to denim shorts, crisp shirts, the brand's signature vibrant palette along with infusions of black and white. Offering outfits for almost every occasion from day wear to party to beach apparel, you will be left lacking for little this coming season. Casual-glam is perhaps the best way to describe the collection, which offers comfy, eye-catching outfits and bold combinations which create that fun, playful style for which Juicy Couture is so renowned.

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Hot New Trend: Dungarees

Dungarees. They have got to be the most controversial item of clothing ever invented. Like Marmite, you either loved them or hated them forty odd years ago and not much seems to have changed since. Funny, really, since they were first invented in the 1800s as labourer's overalls. But as ever with fashion, the banal becomes beautiful and the monstrous, magnificent once the fashion houses of Paris and Milan are finished with them.

Thanks to the creative brainchild of Margaret Howell and Kinder Aggugini, dungarees are back in the limelight for 2013, yet still haven't stopped dividing opinion on whether they should or should not be worn.
Margaret Howell RTW 2013
Kinder Aggugini RTW 2013

Admittedly, I am quite a fan of them myself. I find something attractive in their course, denim masculinity which, ironically, gives them an even more feminine quality. I especially like their 'slouchiness' (whoever said only diamonds and pearls can define beauty?). Alexa Chung and Pixie Lott seem to think so too, who have been recently papped sporting a pair.
Pixie Lott
Alexa Chung
I fell in love with them ten years ago, and desperately wanted a pair after watching an episode of Friends where Rachel looks indescribably adorable in them. Paired with a simple tee and sneakers, she creates the ultimate girl-next-door look. Don't you agree? Take a look at some street style below if you're in need of a little more inspiration...

Sunday, 28 April 2013

What's so great about the Blazer?

Spring time. It has always been my favourite season. It's the time of year we witness the first bursts of colour within the boughs of trees and the buds of plants and everything seems to be reborn and rejuvenated after months of hapless hibernation.

It is also the time of year we begin to realise that we have nothing in our wardrobe except woolly jumpers and cardigans. With that all-too-familiar feeling we find ourselves suppressing the desire to raid Primark and Zara, grappling for the nearest T-shirt within our reach because we just have to have it, even though, if truth be told, we don't really need anything at all. It's just that nothing we own seems to look any good twelve months later.

But if there's one item of clothing that I'm always glad to dust off come the spring, it has got to be my over-sized blue blazer that I bought from Primark already three years ago. Comfortable and versatile, it can be worn with anything. For an every day look, pair it with jeans. For a bit more glam, roll up the sleeves and wear it over a dress for the evening. Can be worn to work and on interviews as well.

I honestly never thought the blazer of all items of clothing would be one of my wardrobe's most prized possessions. It revives awful memories of a dreary school uniform that I, along with some fifteen hundred others were unhappily compelled to wear for seven years full of lessons, recs and detentions. Back then I abhorred the very sight of it yet now the same garment (albeit with a few nips and tucks, I admit!) has risen to something of a warbrobe classic, a staple that no female should ever find herself without.

And to that I have to agree. It is one of the few items of clothing that has the power to render sublime even the dullest of outfits. There is no limit to the clothes you can match it with and with the medley of colours, deigns and cuts available, this should never be a problem anyway. Buy one and you will be making an investment...not bundling it off to the charity shop the following spring.

Saturday, 27 April 2013

Style Icon: The Ballerina

I have always found ballet mesmerising. It's just so inspiring that whenever I watch it I become drawn in. Nothing is more romantic than the slender graceful figure of the ballerina, who for centuries has been the embodiment of femininity and beauty through her costume and her dance. This, combined with the imagination of story and the fantasticality of production, creates the perfect source from which to seek inspiration. It's no wonder that the ballerina has found herself the focal point of numerous works of art, photography and fashion phenomenons.

Unseen Beauty by Dina Johnsen
Unseen Beauty by Dina Johnsen
Photography by Laura Zalenga
Photography by Marc Olic
Photography by Marc Olic
Photography by Marc Olic
Photography by Marc Olic
The Ballerina Project by Dane Shitagi
The Ballerina Project by Dane Shitagi
The Ballerina Project by Dane Shitagi
The Ballerina Project by Dane Shitagi

Wednesday, 24 April 2013

Stella Jean Lookbook: Spring 2013

I have just stumbled upon a designer, that, up to a few hours ago was completely unknown to me. Stella Jean, the product of an Italian father and Haitian mother, visibly blends the two profoundly diverse cultures through her creations, contrasting yet linking the refined elegance of Europe against the tropical fantasy of the Caribbean as a way to express her dual cultural identity.

This union is not difficult to notice in her Spring 2013 collection, which explodes with multicoloured prints, ethnic golden jewellery, Caribbean silk headscarves, flowing skirts and straw hats, all on which Stella Jean firmly stamps her unique seal. Into the exotica she blends a somewhat 50's vibe through the elegant below-the-knee hemlines, raincoats and denim shirts all of which make to create a rich melting-pot of eras and influences by pitting the old against the new, the East against the West. The two veins of culture that intertwine throughout give the collection a refreshing vitality through style and colour.

I'll finish by saying that I'm glad I've found her and I cannot wait to see what she will come up with next. What about you?