London Fashion Week - Stella McCartney is Back!

I can honestly say I'm really excited for London Fashion Week this season.

Not only will we be gettng an insight into the emerging designers showcasing their works and watching the seasoned veterans in the industry, a special veteran will be returning to our shores for one season only and that is, of course, Stella McCartney!

She will be showing a presentation during London Fashion Week, and there have already been events leading up to the viewing, those of which include the installation in Seflrdiges & Co on Oxford Street and the launch of her new fragrance L.I.L.Y.

Welcome back Stella! And stay home!

New York Fashion Week

So NYFW kicked off the Fashion Week season last week Wednesday and I'm quite impressed with the make up styles and colour palettes being absolutely gorgeous!

There have been a few shows which I've really loved though, Victoria Beckham's being one of them and it really was a beautiful show.
Her design aesthetic is now much more noticeable. Dresses of course were the norm, with a colour palette that included the trusted black, shades of moss green, aubergine and reds. Suited for the slimmest or athletic of silhouettes though, the dresses were quite simple yet striking with enough minimal details to make them stand out and the coats even more so, taking on a military feel.

Victoria has also taken the time to grow her accessories range, naming a bag after her daughter Harper. These too, especially the bags (envelope clutches and fairly decent sized carry holds), were a great accompliment to her simple styles.

Below are a couple of my favourites.

P.S. I want that coat!

Another one of the shows I also really loved was Zac Posen, with supermodel Coco Rocha ending the show in a beautiful blue and black jacquard print gown and of course Coco looked gorgeous as usual.

I'm going to steal some critique from vogue.com though as they describe the collection in much more detail than I ever could right now - 'In an Imperial Japanese theme, gowns were folded like origami. Bodices and corsets were pleated and shaped into peplums and bustles, and skirts were exaggerated fishtails or voluminous parachutes. Sleeves exposed shoulders or folded around them like stiff wings.

The fabrics were heavy – jacquard and duchess satin - and embroidered with peonies and willow blossom, often in a few shades darker than the background or with gold or “Tokyo” red contrasting dramatically against black. Chiffon was occasionally used to act as a contrast to an embroidered sleeve or as a flowing skirt, as wispy as oriental incense. Colours were powerful and intense - opium red, peacock blue and violet - but also showed restrained elegance in fawn, mink, slate, orchid (a smoky pink), and slate grey.'

If you havent seen the collection, check out some images, but I'm sure you will get the idea.

The evening gowns were my favourite pieces, so simple and yet so extravagant at the same time. Figure hugging silhouettes with exaggerated fishtail bottoms as described above, and when the pieces were shown only once, these pieces made an excellent statement on the catwalk.

Again some of my favourite pieces.



Now bring on London Fashion Week!

Hi Again! And Happy Valentines Day!

It has been such a LONG time since I've been on here... Apologies! So Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and finally Happy Valentine's Day! It has been pretty mental at the moment though, with everyone gearing up for Fashion Week, but still, I thought I had to write something.

A lot has been happening in the world of celebrity... The birth of Beyonce and Jay-Z's daughter Blue Ivy, how gorgeous is she with all that lovely hair?!

And of course much more recently, the death of a musical legend, Whitney Houston and just before the Grammy Awards (R.I.P.).

But, the show must go on...

I'll be writing up a couple posts today, so please bare with me.

And again Happy Valentine's Day. I hope you guys are wearing a bit of red today too!

Jenny Schwarz

I went to the Felicities Showroom a couple of weeks ago to visit them for their Christmas Open Day.

Not only was it a great chance to speak to all the Flix Chix and eat Candy Canes, but I also got to take another look at their amazing designers.

One new brand that I hadn't come across before was Jenny Schwarz.

I particularly fell in love with the Mohair jumper in the image below.

I loved her modern take on traditional tailoring and was interested to learn that her tailoring runs in her family, right back to her Great Grandfather who was a successful menswear tailor.

The collection is very wearable, with beautiful fabrics and gorgeous detailing.

Jenny Schwarz is deffinetley a menswear designer that I will be keeping a look out for.

Boxpark Shoreditch

For those of you that don't know Boxpark is a pop up mall constructed entirely of shipping containers, based right next to Shoreditch High Street Station. After reading that they want to 'provide a challenging and exciting alternative to the stagnant 'High Street' concept' I was keen to check it out.

After taking a look around I felt let down that Boxpark hadn't achieved the 'creative village' feel that they originally sold the idea on.

Lots of the stores that were originally advertised as going to be in Boxpark didn't appear to be there and I was disappointed to discover that there were predominantly menswear street brands. I also found the aesthetic to be very industrial, uninspiring and unwelcoming.

I was happy to discover two stores, Cyber Candy and OnePiece, both of which I will be visiting again.

Although the original concept was fantastic, I don’t feel as though they have delivered and I think it needs a more creative input.

A Night Out at 123 Bethnal Green Road

Disappearing Dining Club’s latest private dining adventure is Too Much is Never Enough, a five-week residency at 123 Bethnal Green Road. Dinner is a four course exploration of a beautiful, Grade II listed, Victorian corner terrace, its rich and colourful history, and the beautiful gift and fashion concept store, championing young British designers, artists and makers of very nice things, now housed within this extensively restored, landmark East London building.

Each floor delivers a course of your dinner. First up it’s a Grey Goose Le Fizz, then it’s up to the 2nd floor for Menswear, a darkly lit East London boys club, with walls filled with photos and memorabilia of Moderne Buckles, Leading Makers of Air Rifles, Replicas, Buckles, Leather Goods & Accessories, the previous occupiers of 123 Bethnal Green Road and a front for the largest network of illegal gun suppliers ever uncovered by the Metropolitan Police. First course canapés will include miniature Hot Winter Vegetable Soups, Potted Meats on St John’s Sourdough, and Montgomery Cheese Pasties. To drink there’ll be gin & rum punches served in giant cut glass bowls and bone china cups.

The main course is served on the first floor. Simply and delicately dressed, Ladieswear is part dressing room and part boudoir, with linen curtains, antique nudes, vintage erotica, candlelight and the scent of powder and perfume. Dinner is big, warm and wintery with slow cooked classics like Coq au Vin with Braised Orpington Chicken, Red Wine, Smoked Pork Belly and Button Mushrooms, hearty vegetable stews like Roast Pumpkin, Puy Lentil & Chestnuts, all served in giant, cast iron, hot pots, and help-yourself winter salads.

Dessert is in the Bunker Café with Hot Doughnuts with Chocolate & Toffee Sauce, ice-cold shots of Spiced Rum & Warm Mince Pies, Rum Truffles and British Cheeses. After dinner everyone can stay until 12am for late night drinks and cocktails, with music and dancing from Ollie Russian (My Band’s Better Than Your Band), Dirty Omar (Latitude) and Dinner Dance resident, Chris Coco (Melodica).

Shopping is optional and can take place at any time during your visit and there are lots of amazing things to buy. Alongside the dining a London Feshion PR company Felicities is running a designer sample sale with bargains from cool London based labels such as Ada Zanditon, Alice Palmer and Dr Noki. New labels such as BasharatyanV, XO fashion Studio, Danny Tang and Funlayo Deri can also be found on the rails. All diners get 10% off all purchases on the night and a 10% discount card valid from December until the end of February. Staff are on hand throughout to serve, advise, assist and ensure pleasure is had by all and also offer a free gift wrapping service for any Christmas purchases. 123 Bethnal Green Road’s fantastic collections can be viewed at 123bethnalgreenroad.tumblr.com.

Forever 21 press evening

I love Forever 21, so I was really excited to go to their press evening on Kingly Street. It was a great opportunity to see the new pieces and I loved the layout.

They had designed four different booths with four different themes. The four themes were Japanese Garden, Retro Riviera, Pop & Block and 60's doll.

My favorite was Japanese Garden.

When leaving the event I was given a £30 Forever 21 gift card - I can't wait to go shopping!

Thinking about getting this lovely wool jumper...