A few favourites

I thought it would be cool to share some of my favourite designers and their ad campaigns with you.  I think the photos below show my sense of style pretty accurately, and I hope that you too can draw some inspiration from them.  The great thing about these brands is that they are youthful and trendy, and are generally speaking relatively affordable.  

ISABEL MARANT

I fell in love with Isabel Marant a couple of years ago when I was bought a skirt from Aime in Notting Hill (by my one and only Mummy, of course - I think she even has one of the jackets from the very first collection), and I have continued to worship her designs ever since.  And what better choice than Gisele Bundchen for this season's campaign?!  Isabel Marant has the amazing ability of being able to capture a wide range of looks, from the effortlessly cool and beachy to the glamorous (without being contrived) cocktail style.  She really knows what a girl wants to wear.  

Dress - Isabel Marant

VANESSA BRUNO

The dress that i'm wearing in the shots below is actually meant to be a skirt!  I saw it in the store and thought that it would make a beautiful strapless dress.  I've even brought it into winter with black opaque tights, a Chanel-esque jacket, a simple gold and silver chain necklace, and black ankle boots with a very high and thick heel and a slight wedge at the front.  That's the great thing about Vanessa Bruno - her clothes are so versatile.  

Dress - Vanessa Bruno

JOSEPH

I adore Joseph because although the clothes are very cool and hip, they are also completely timeless and can be worn forever.  A Joseph piece will rarely go out of style.  

ZADIG & VOLTAIRE

As I am sure you gathered from my very first blog entry, Zadig & Voltaire is probably my very favourite brand at the moment (they produced a skirt so beautiful that it forced me to overcome my black and white fear!).  Zadig & Voltaire is great for staple pieces such as T-shirts and jumpers, and every single item just oozes coolness.  I can't walk into one of their shops without wanting to buy at least 5 things.  They also make great bags, and their perfume is currently my signature scent!  I can't say enough good things about Zadig & Voltaire.  

Shirt dress - Zadig & Voltaire

Enjoy!

Until next time xoxo

Absolute babes

Could the FROW at NY Fashion Week get any cooler?  Unlikely.  I love everything about what these girls are wearing, but in particular I adore Erin's Chanel cardigan and Alexa's gorgeous shirt.  As a firm opposer of the flare trend, I was delighted to see that two of my fashion icons are still proudly sporting their skinnies.  I could look at this picture all day long!

How could I forget...

A bag like this needs no introduction.  Enjoy!

Until next time xoxo

Window shopping...it's bags (of fun!)

I always play the same game with myself...when i'm rich, what are the very first things that I will buy?!

I was planning on compiling a complete list today but as soon as I got started on the bags, I realised that I had set myself a near-impossible task for a single post! So here is the first instalment...bags (quite possibly my favourite accessory!  Oh and apologies for the title, I couldn't resist).  These are some of the most iconic and beautiful bags in the world, and in my opinion, Mulberry is pretty much untouchable in this field.  For me, a bag has to be functional as well as special which is why i've gone for relatively large and often neutral satchel-types.

The Mulberry Bayswater - Chestnut Soft Spongy

The Mulberry Bayswater - Champagne Moon Metallic

The Mulberry Oversized Alexa - Oak Soft Buffalo

The Mulberry Oversized Alexa - Petticoat White Soft Buffalo

The Hermes Birkin - Sassy Orange (i'm not totally boring!)

But until then....

My two favourite bags that I carry at the moment...both Urban Outfitters, both gorgeous (and you can definitely see a bit of Bayswater and Alexa in them both!). The first one was bought for me by my mum - one of my absolute fashion heros.  

Until next time xoxo

Namaste bitches

To say that my best friend and I are obsessed with 90210 (the TV show, not the zip code...although one day that will be MY zip code) is to grossly understate the extent of our love for it.  I'm Naomi, she's Silver.  We watch new episodes as soon as they are out in America, we discuss it pretty much everyday, we argue over which guy we want to marry, and we post favourite quotes on each others Facebook walls.  So it was only natural that when I told Silver that I was looking for inspiration for my next blog that she said to me, 'Why don't you write about Naomi?!'.  Why don't I write about Naomi...well for a start, this is a fashion blog, and whilst she does have her moments of genius (THAT Paul and Joe dress that she wore to Ade's christmas party - see below), i'll be the first to admit that she's certainly no Carrie Bradshaw or Serena van der Woodsen.

But Naomi influences my fashion choices every single day.  Naomi is probably the reason that I feel comfortable wearing 5 inch block heels to lectures and why I wouldn't be seen dead in sweatpants in public, despite the fact that i'm an avid long distance runner.  She gets to the very root of my style and thinking, and for me, she embodies one of my fundamental beliefs - if you look good, you'll probably feel good too.  So Naomi, even though I very rarely feel compelled to go out and buy whatever it is you've been sporting in the most recent episode, your influence goes so much further than that, and for that, I thank you.

Namaste bitches!

Until next time xoxo

It don't matter if you're black AND white

It was the morning of my 21st birthday in early May last year and I was getting ready to join my friends for high tea at a hotel in Oxford.  A few weeks prior to this I had bought a short white Zadig et Voltaire skirt and had been itching to wear it ever since.  Being England, it was of course far too cold to go bare-legged, prompting me to ask myself the following question - can I wear this with black tights?!  I wasn't sure why but I felt slightly weird about doing this, and so I typed 'white skirt black tights' into Google and surveyed the first couple of images that came up.  Most of the girls looked great and so I threw on my outfit and left the house.  And as the saying goes, the rest is history...I have worn black tights with that same white skirt countless times since that day without so much as a second thought...until two days ago!  I was flicking through the pages of Grazia and one article in particular caught my eye - 'Eek or Chic? White Dress and Black Tights' - and it got me thinking.  Why, when I was first forced to team my white skirt with black tights, did something feel not quite right?  Where was the niggle coming from?  And why do people in general feel uneasy about this combination?  (You only have to carry out that same Google search that I did on my birthday to see what I mean...)

Maybe we find the idea at odds with our instincts because to us, the harshness and severity of the colour black corrupts the delicacy and purity of our white skirts and dresses.  These are arguably the two most simple and minimalist colours, and yet the fact that they are perceived as being polar opposites leads us to avoid putting them together in this way.  I find this justification completely nonsensical.  This season is all about being bold and making a statement with 'clashing' colours.  If, like me, you are still terrified of block neon, then why not channel the spirit of this in a more subtle way by wearing your white skirt or dress with opaque black tights?  You only have to look at Kate Moss to see just how unfounded our fear of the mix is, and in all honesty, anything that takes one of my favourite Spring/Summer pieces right through into Autumn and Winter is absolutely fine by me!

How to wear it...

• Keep your core outfit simple and monochrome.  My advice would be to wear it with a black cardigan and a single long chain necklace.
• You can be a bit more adventurous when it comes to the coat/jacket...I like to wear my dark green Barbour or a dark/navy blue blazer with it.
• Make sure the tights are as black as you can possibly get them - sheer does not work.