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The '90s are Back!


So it looks like its official: the ‘90s are back with vengeance! It has slowly been coming to the surface for a while now with fashion pieces inspired by the decade trickling into our high street stores, but it wasn’t until the queens of the ‘90s, The Spice Girls, took to the stage at the Olympic Closing Ceremony that I was convinced that this ‘90s resurgence was official.  

Take a look around, it’s almost as if we've been transported back twenty years. No Doubt have reformed, double denim and neon denim are acceptable once again, crop tops aren't just for five-year-old's or ladies of the night any more  and who would have thought that the printed leggings that I was rocking in 1997, would one day be relevant again.

Now I am a child of the ‘90s and don’t get me wrong I loved the decade- The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Clueless, Oasis to name just a few of my great loves but one thing I was never sure about was the fashion. I mean come on, wasn't this the decade that taste forgot? But the Autumn/Winter 2012 catwalks were covered in ‘90s memorabilia from grunge to hip hop street wear and Henry Holland carried this through to his Spring/Summer 2013 show Buzz Kill packed with printed dungarees and a punchy ‘90s soundtrack along with it. And the more I saw people in the street, on catwalks or in magazines rocking ‘90s inspired staples the more I realised that it was, in fact, a pretty great time for fashion (probably minus my printed leggings let’s be honest!)

My greatest fashion must have from the ‘90s has to be grunge inspired pieces. I have realised how effortless and cool this look (when done right!) can be. And as much as I hate to admit it, Miley Cyrus has become the poster kid for bringing back ‘90s grunge a la Kurt Cobain to the mainstream.  She has, over the last few months, been rocking some seriously cool outfits and with her sassy attitude, a stylist (or two) and millions in the bank has nailed this look perfectly.

Take this outfit for instance, Miss Cyrus embodies ‘90s grunge down to the last detail – check out that jewellery!



I've been searching on the high street and found some pretty cool stuff too, that I cannot wait to buy and become a slightly better dressed version of my ‘90s self! Zig-a-zig-ahh!
Flannel shirt from ASOS

Bralet top from Topshop



Dungarees from Urban Outfitters

Vintage denim shorts from ASOS

Boots from H&M

My first LFW experience...

So it has been my dream for a while now to be sitting front row at a Burberry show during London Fashion Week, and this season I was determined not to miss out on all the fashion festivities in London. While it wasn't exactly Burberry and I certainly wasn't sat on the FROW, I have to admit I had the best time ever during my one day visit to LFW.

Arriving in London early I had the usual worries - Will I be under dressed? Will I fit in? Well it turns out pretty much everyone else I spoke to on the day felt the same nerves as me. And it turns out I was under-dressed at all.

I was really surprised at how easy it was just to walk around Somerset House. I guess I was expecting big burly security guards to come and tell me I didn't belong there. And thanks to my friend's trusty press pass we even managed to sneak in to J Brand's Ready-to-Wear buying session. I'm pretty sure we weren't meant to be there, but thanks to a lot of photo taking and gushing over how "utterly fabulous" everything was, nobody took any notice of us.

I truly had the best day ever, and I cannot wait till next year!











The Amazing Miss Stone

There's no doubt about it: Emma Stone is officialy the new 'It' girl around town. With The Amazing Spider Man in cinema's now, and already breaking box-office records, Emma has been jet-setting around the globe promoting the new film.

The actress has looked amazing at every photocall and press event and has donned an array of different outfits. The starlet gives major props to her stylist for her style success, and we have to agree: Emma has given new meaning to the term "minimalist cool."

Opting for sleek silhouettes like the pastel beauty from Pucci and low-key Jason Wu LWD she wore in Rome, she's been able to highlight her youthful charm and assert herself as a fashion force to be reckoned with.

From sexy and sophisticated, to vampy and romantic to simple and chic, the girl has proved she can pull off any style. Because of that, it’s too tough to pick just one favorite look, so here are few highlights from the promotional jaunt that I just can't get enough of.

First off we have a  sweet fit-and-flare Chanel number, for the premiere in Los Angeles. Never a one-note-wonder, Emma added intrigue with a pair of studded Louboutins against an otherwise demure dress.





The actress donned a sleek Elie Saab jumpsuit in London. The plunging sparkly top and bright belt added a sexy touch to the wide-leg trousers, while her straight hair and smokey eyes were the perfect finishing touches.



Andrew Garfield‘s girlfriend was almost unrecognizable in the City of Lights - and I mean that in the best way possible. The embroidered black Gucci gown, wine-stained pout and curly faux bob were all such a departure for the star and it totally worked. More gothic-glam Emma, please!



Continuing to prove that she’s a style chameleon, the Vogue cover girl was fresh and flirty in a white Jason Wu frock with a black belt and drape detailing while in Rome. She finished off the number with Christian Louboutins and natural-looking makeup.



Stone looked pretty in pastels at the Moscow premiere of The Amazing Spider-Man. Her ensemble included a Grecian Jennifer Behr hairpiece, rose gold Dana Rebecca Designs studs, a sky blue Emilio Pucci cocktail dress, matching box clutch and pointy-toe Louboutins.




YOLO? Definately a NO GO!




If you type "what does" in Google, before you’ve had chance to finish the sentence the first thing the automatic search will give you is "what does YOLO mean?" YOLO is one of those words that, if like me, will make you cringe every time you hear it. It actually stands for "You Only Live Once" and was popularised by celebs like Zac Efron and Drake. People who use it attribute it to everything from stealing a car to going to the shop for a pint of milk in your slippers!

"About to go to the pub on a work night, YOLO" or "Got a hole in my sock, YOLO" are both acceptable uses of the annoying acronym. It is ultimately what "Fuck It" used to stand for. It’s been picked up by teeny boppers and wannabe rappers everywhere and seems to be used mainly on the internet, as a way of showing how reckless an individual is; without them actually being reckless at all.

In 2011 teenage heartthrob Zac Efron had tattooed YOLO on his hand and Drake posted a picture of himself looking out of a window across Las Vegas with the caption: "You only live once… YOLO".

And now it seems everybody is at it and is now one of those "popular terms" that completely lose their meaning after being used by so many people at once. There’s nothing wrong with slang, but this isn’t slang, it’s just stupid. No one actually lives twice, not even James Bond – the saying is redundant. The problem a lot of people have with "YOLO" is the way it’s used so flippantly, like the person who’s saying it is some kind of maverick, and by using an abbreviation that has been used a million times previously, we should all really believe that this person is by large some sort of rebel.

At the end of the day, YOLO is just an annoying abbreviation that can be ignored quite easily, but when it’s gone another one probably more embarrassing will take its place. Eventually we’ll be surrounded by pointless acronyms, made popular by egotistical rap stars and Twitter trends. Despite the fight against YOLO-ists, I guess it’s still only a matter of time before River Island print a t-shirt with the word scrawled across it. Oh wait...

It looks as if the only acceptable way of expressing the word YOLO if you aren't a 14-year-old chav, is if you were to say: "YOLO is quite frankly, very stupid," and even then I would be inclined to slap you just a little. That is unless you're Zac Efron, because then you are too beautiful for it to even matter what you have tattooed on that picture perfect body of yours!

Nailed It!


"I love nail art - I think about it a lot. I get inspired by different things, like beach scenes and 3D bows," Zooey Deschanel, 2012.


Once upon a time the best accessory a girl could opt for was a statement necklace or an amazing pair a heels. But nope not anymore, this season the biggest accessory is arty nails. Leading the posh polish fash pack is Zooey Deschanel who rocked up at this years Golden Globe Awards with a cute tuxedo design, then there was Katy Perry with her 3D floral nails, and now it seems anyone who's anyone seems to be hopping on this cute trend. In fact there has been such a influx of cute nail designs of Instagram they may as well rename it Instanails.

Everything from transfers, stickers to stripes and animal prints are all seen regularly gracing the talons of the fash pack. And now the regular folks, like me, are fast becoming pros at the trend, with the increase of nail art kits.

My personal favourite design has to be the newspaper nails. The instructions actually come from Topshop's Inside Out Blog (
http://insideout.topshop.com/blog/2011/07/newspaper-nails-.html) and I decided to give it a go. Topshop suggests using surgical spirit, but I have found that using water can be just as effective.

My Newspaper Nails


They're dead simple to do and very effective, so here's how:

Step 1: Paint nails in a basecoat colour, and then a light colour such as a white.

Step 2: Cut out ten pieces of newspaper big enough to fit on each nail (magazine's also work just as well)

Step 3: Get a dish a tepid water and place one piece of the newpaper into the water until completely submerged. Wipe off excess water.

Step 4: Hold it down onto the nail for about a minute, and make sure the whole nail is covered. Remove and repeat on every nail.

Step 5: Add a coat of clear nail varnish to make sure the design stays put!










Green with Envy for Chloe


When you say the name Chloe Green several things spring to mind – heiress to the Topshop fortune, occasional reality TV star (she starred in Made in Chelsea as the girlfriend of Ollie Locke) and most importantly, she’s besties with Kate Moss. However, designer is not something you would normally associate with Miss Green – you see she’s usually wearing the designer digs, not designing them. But Sir Phillip Green’s most famous daughter has turned all al a Moss on us and has designed a range of fancy footwear. 

The shoe collection aptly name CJG (Chloe Jade Green) will go on sale at 7am on Thursday 17th May at Topshop.com as well as hitting the Oxford Circus flagship store in London, and will no doubt be a success and sell out in seconds. The shoes each have a green sole, a nod to celeb fave Christian Louboutin, who also wished Chloe luck!

But don’t count on Miss Moss making an appearance in the sky-scrapers any time soon. According to Chloe, they’re just too high for her (really??? It’s Kate Moss for goodness sake – she can walk on water if she wanted too!) In fact, judging by the line-up at the VIP launch of CJG at Topshop HQ, the only celebs that will be tottering around in Miss Green’s designs are her MIC pals.

But with a much more reasonable price tag than the old Louboutin’s, I see many girls running and grabbing a pair as soon at 7am strikes. In fact, with all my reservations I had about Miss Green’s talents as a shoe designer – they are, dare I say it, really nice. No not nice, they’re hot! And quite frankly if I could fathom the £100+ needed for a pair, I would probably crumble under shoe goodness and buy a pair.

With eight styles going on sale including green glittery platforms, peach studded heels and strappy cr̬me and metallic heeled sandals Рall with the (soon-to-be famous) green sole, there is no shortage of choice on offer. And FYI the green glittery platforms are to die for!





Pretty in Pastel

As I’m sure you know by now, the biggest trend this spring/summer is going to be colour. And one shade in particular: Pastels. It’s everywhere at the moment and I’m sure you’ve seen some sort nod to this style in the shop windows up and down the high street.

Now I have to be honest, I’m not usually one for colour (in fact, I try and stay away from colour as much as possible!) but this trend has really taken my fancy, and the other day I braved the pastel trend and bought this beauty from H&M.

For £7.99, this sleeveless shirt will be my summer staple, and I have a feeling that this won’t be my only candy coloured item in my wardrobe this spring!

I have been lusting over pretty much everything pastel related lately, but these are my absolute faves!











Best Dressed this Awards Season

Ah how I do love awards season! Whether it is the Brits, Bafta’s or the Oscar’s – I just can’t contain my joy at all the wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) gowns that were being thrown on by the hottest ladies around town. Here are my choices of best dressed over the past few months.

These red carpets saw some major star wattage sporting some of this year's biggest fashion trends—plenty of sparkles, lots of neutral cream, white and beige gowns, so many traditional ballgown silhouettes, as well as luxurious solid blues and burgundies in rich, texturized fabrics. 

First up over at The Golden Globes we have the always lovely Reese Witherspoon in a figure-hugging Zac Posen gown. The "Water for Elephants" actress brought her fashion A-game as she worked the red carpet before heading inside for the sure-to-be entertaining festivities.

Next up at the Globes Best Performing Actress in a Dramatic Television Series nominee Claire Danes looked amazing in a custom ecru and black cap sleeve backless gown from the J. Mendel pre-fall 2012 collection.

Also in attendance was newcomer Shailene Woodley, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 'The Descendants’. Looking effortless chic and age-appropriate in this shimmering Marchesa gown. 



At the Screen Actors Guild awards Amber Heard wowed in this Zac Posen gown. A fierce up-do and bold cut-away detailing on her dress made The Rum Diary actress one to watch.

My style crush Emma Stone took my breath away in a black, tea-length Alexander McQueen number with a lace bodice. Accessorised with a box-clutch with horse detailing this was definitely her style moment of the year!

Sadly the BAFTA’S was a bit of a let-down this year in the style stakes with very few dresses that wowed. Kristen Wiig kept her look very simple in this Alberta Ferretti white strapless silk gown, which helped her be one of the best of the night.

The biggest style moments of this awards happened over at The Oscars with the A-list coming out in full-force in all their glorious gowns. Gwyneth Paltrow was just one of the stars to take on the white trend with the Contagion star showing off simple lines in Tom Ford. Paltrow's dress boasted capped sleeves and an elegant cape detail which hung off her shoulders for a statement look.

While Michelle Williams, who is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role stepped out onto the carpet in a Louis Vuitton dress in a bright coral hue, which boasted tiered detail around the skirt. She teamed the feminine dress with a $1 million diamond necklace.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo actress Rooney Mara also stuck to the dazzling white trend and stepped out in a flowing white gown by Givenchy which boasted a plunging neckline as well as dipped back detail. 

And just because I love them – Adele and Lana Del Ray both looked stunning at the Grammy’s and The Brit Awards respectively. Adele looked flawless in her sparkly custom-made Giorgio Armani gown. While Lana looked hot in a red Vivienne Westwood gown.



And the WTF moments...

Angie's leg

Madonna's dress

And Sacha Baron Cohen chucking ashes on Ryan Seacrest!

The Story of Friendships

Friendships they say are one of the most important relationships you have; only second to the one you have with yourself. And after a somewhat disastrous last year, I realised I have only a handful of true friends to my name. There is Tash, whom I met on my first day of secondary school, and who I call upon in every hour of need; Jodie, who for all intent and purpose I have declared my soul mate on various occasions – we laugh, we cry, we fight but always make-up; Rosie, who I have shared almost every aspect of my life with but who I rarely see and Chess – whom it is safe to say that I’ve had my ups and downs with over the years, but has always been by my side.

It strikes me as weird that there are so few. Is there something wrong with me? But perhaps there is some destructive pattern to my friendships: I compare myself constantly to my female acquaintances and am often too full of self-doubt to allow real friendships to blossom, constantly apologising for the person I am and not the person I feel they want me to be.

During my first term of university, when people were making life-long bonds with one another, I was never quite there. Perhaps because I was in a tense long-distance relationship and every weekend was spent with my boyfriend, rather than the friends I was supposed to making. Even now, almost eighteen months later, my weekends aren’t spent at the pub with people I go to uni with; rather it’s spent at home with the boyfriend or the friends I went to school with.

That’s not to say I don’t have friends at university. I do, and a select few of the girls I share a house with have become some of my closest confidents. When I have boyfriend troubles there are no other people in the world I’d rather share my stories with, or get blindingly drunk with after good coursework results. But for the most part there aren’t endless late-night conversations about the tragedies of last year, or about the person I used to be. 

But then again, this is partially to do with the long periods of time I don’t spend with them. It’s not that I don’t like spending time at the house, I do, it is just that the time I do spend there is usually spent laying around in bed watching TV, doing work or spent in some club somewhere getting drunk and dancing till the wee hours.
And then again it is also partially to do with my clamminess. I don’t know what the technical term is here, but I have always been described as a clam – I clam up and not let people in easily. I don’t give my trust away without difficulty and so therefore I find it hard to talk to people about how I feel.

And this is not a good trait when you live in a house of six. If you want to spend a few days away, and you are not constantly in the midst of the drama – be it watching a film, gossiping, planning a trip somewhere , then you are almost certainly left out. Of course this is not on purpose, and the closer of my uni friends would dismiss this idea as nonsense.

I don’t want sympathy for this – my friends both at uni and at home are marvellous and I am very lucky to have met such a diverse group of people. But I guess my unwillingness to talk about anything deeper than boy trouble has scathed my friendships in some way.

So maybe it’s my own fault that my close circle of friends is so small, and so far away? Maybe my own apprehensions and concerns about the friendships I have have made me the way I am. And maybe I should learn not to care about that one person who makes it obvious not to care and just learn to allow the good relationships to form at their own pace. And if not? Then it’s time to move on, and move out of that house.

Best dressed in Paris

Fashion’s elite descended on Paris in their masses this past week to catch the hottest couture shows to kick off fashion week.
Among them were fashion power players Cameron Diaz, Diane Kruger and the always stylish Clemency Posey, who all made the rounds at Dior, Chanel and Versace.
First up we have Cam Diaz who dazzled in a 50’s-print style dress over at the Versace Houte Couture show, then glammed it up in a figure hugging white dress and oversized coat fit for King Karl at the Chanel show. Even her new ‘do is now back on track after that Golden Globes catastrophe.




Park Avenue princess Olivia Palermo opted for a more casual look over at Dior, slipping on a cream tunic and leather leggings and topping it off with a 60’s style coiffure. She accessorised with chunky jewelry and a velvet navy clutch.


Over at Chanel, style chameleon Diane Kruger looked picture-perfect as she sat front row in a black and white dress and thigh-high leather boots. With the classic quilted Chanel bag and minimal hair and make-up she looked divine.


Joining her at Chanel was the oh-so-cool Clemence Posey, who looked ever so chic in a Chanel jacket, skinny jeans and biker boots. (Who knew that jeans were allowed on the front row?) I think this is called taking smart-casual to a whole new level!


Also in front row attendance at the Chanel show was girl-about-town and all round wonderfulness (oh how I wish to be her) Poppy Delevigne who looked lovely in a girly maxi and Chanel quilted leather jacket.


And likewise new IT-girl Elizabeth Olsen flew in especially to catch Lagerfeld’s bazaar plane-themed show. Proving there’s more to her than just her famous sister’s, Lizzie looked uber-chic in black trousers and an over-sized coat to keep out the Parisian chill.


Were these the best dressed in Paris? I think so.