Say Whaaaaa? The Influx Of Slogan S***

If I'm completely honest, for a long, long time I was pretty much repulsed by the influx of slogan s*** that swanned in and dominated the fashion industry (I'm looking at you Moschino). However, as time went on I started to warm to them and, just recently, I decided they're actually pretty cool. For one, they're actually a great way to take something quite causal, like a simple t-shirt or clutch, and turn it in to something a bit more statement worthy. Plus, as the styles themseves are usually quite simple, it means the items have far more potential to transcend the ever changing trends than some of the other more seasonal items.  

If I had to pick an ultimate slogan piece it would be an Edie Parker box clutch (if you're unfamiliar with this designer then I suggest you google her now, she'll change your life... promise). But, as I don't have a spare £2000 lying around (sigh), I'd even settle for the massively iconic, bloggers' favourite, sold out 'Stressed, depressed, but well dressed' clutch bag by Zara. 

As I'm unlikely to get my hands on either items, I've devised a little lust list of my favourite slogan pieces available to buy now. The more tongue-in-cheek they were the more likely they were going to make it in to my wishlist. I know, I know, TOP BANTS. 

Well obviously...
New Look - £9.99

Why? Because YES, that's why.
Ohh Deer - £19.95

Missguided - £12.00

If I were to attempt to organise my life,
this folder would be far too fitting.
Happy Jackson - £6.29

O x

OOTD - Tartan on Tartan on Dogtooth; thoughts please?

Shoes - Next, Socks - New Look, Jeans - ASOS, Scarf - New Look. 

I must admit, I'm not a massive fan of printed items or overly bold textures when it comes to fabrics. Yet, quite to my own surprise, this year I seem to have a massive obsession with dogtooth and tartan. The other day, for example, I decided it would be utterly chic to wear bright red tartan socks with some skinny jeans, a navy blue blouse and my new oversized tartan/dogtooth scarf. Perhaps it was a tad too much, but I didn't really care. In fact, I'm actually thinking about getting these trousers from River Island when pay day next comes around. Thoughts?

River Island - £40

O x

Product Review - Gosh Nail Lacquer in Denim Delight #627

Gosh - £3.99

When it comes to nail polish; I'm pretty much an expert! I've tried almost every brand under the sun and now have a clear hit and miss list. Usually I tend to favour either Essie or Barry M as both brands have great selections of colours, staying power and chip resistance. The only criticism I'd have of Barry M is that they too often bring out a limited edition colour that I fall in love with and then after a few months cannot find anywhere. Sad times. Anyway, I'll get to the point! Wanting to treat myself to a new colour the other day I went on down to Superdug. The store in my town is quite small and doesn't stock all of the brands that the larger Superdrug stores do. It does, however, have a Gosh stand. Admittedly I haven't tried many Gosh products before but fell in love with the colour of this nail paint pretty much instantly. Being someone who knows which nail brands to trust and which not to bother with, I was a bit apprehensive to give this polish a try. However, I decided at the very least I'd get a review out of it so bought it anyway.

On application I was pleasantly surprised at how clear and bright the colour of the polish was. I could've managed with just one coat really but went for two in the end. It was easy to apply and dried extremely quickly. However, despite being initially happy with the product, the real test was yet to come. Too often have I bought in to some ridiculous '7 days long lasting chip resistant' bullshit that for me, even getting a nail polish to last one day is extremely rare. I have to admit this polish held out three days at work before I started to notice any chips. That, my friends, is pretty much incredible considering how often I chip my nail polish at work. These were the results at the end of the three days:

Overall I'd give this polish a 5/5. As someone who hates having shabby looking nails, it's important for me that nail polishes are long lasting, chip resistant, have a bright colour and dry quickly. This polish, for me, ticks all of those boxes! For a cheap price, great colour and no promise of being long lasting, it exceeded my expectations. I'd definitely buy from Gosh again, only trouble is, this colour was also a limited edition shade. FML.

O x

Feeling Shady

Payday has finally arrived and with it comes the battle not to spend all my wages in just one week. To distract me from the fact that there's absolutely no way this money will see me through till next month, I've been focusing all my attention on my new purchases. VICIOUS CIRCLE.

Although many of you will probably believe sunglasses for Winter are more of an accessory than a necessity, I have to disgaree. Eyes need protecting from the sun all year round and it has never and will never be chic to squint. Luckily for me and my new found thriftiness (kind of), I picked up these babies in the ASOS sale. Jealous? DUH.

Until next time,

O x

One To Watch - Awon Golding

When I was at London Fashion Week earlier last month I got to meet some incredible designers at the British Fashion Council's (BFC) showrooms in Somerset House. This season specifically there was a huge selection of hats and head pieces. I think this stems from the fact that earlier this year, in February, the BFC set up their annual Headonism project and the focus was on headpieces. The result of such a renewed interest in headwear has meant that a selection of incredibly talented up-and-coming designers have all released really unique collections of hats and headpieces ready for SS15. One of these designers, who I was fortunate enough to meet, includes award winning London-based Milliner Awon Golding.

I remember seeing this at LFW this year and
yes; it is as incredible in real life.

What I love about her work is that each piece is, in its own right, really unique and stand-out. Yet, the collection still comes together to create something united and fluid. The fluidity comes from the inspiration for the collection; having spent an eclectic youth in India, Hong Kong and England, Golding drew inspiration for her collection from her Tangkhul Naga heritage. The collection combines bold colours, feather headpieces, intricate beading and the weaving of geometric patterns which are all inspired by the artifacts of the North-East Indian Naga tribes.

Before she became a designer Golding wrote for various Hong-Kong based publications as a fashion writer and editor. However she soon realised that she wanted to pursue something more creative and moved to London to accept an apprenticeship with Edwina Ibbotson, a renowned London milliner. It was around this time that she was awarded a Distinction in Millinery from the Kensington and Chelsea College. Following this she went on to design hats for the likes of high-street brands River Island and Topshop.

I'm a huge fan of geometric shapes and the only
hats I'll wear are floppy ones so this one is
a double whammy for me! 

When she eventually decided to set up her own label her creative flair and natural talent were recognised by The Honourable Feltmaker’s Guild and she was awarded first prize at their annual millinery competition in 2010. Furthermore, she was selected by Stephen Jones (renowned milliner) to feature in the BFC's exclusive Headonism project at Somerset House earlier this February.

A cheeky snap I took of the Headonism Project in Feb earlier
this year.

Now a well established designer Golding spends the majority of her time hand-crafting the pieces for her collection in her London studio. As well as releasing two seasonal collections per year, her hats are available to purchase at London's Liberty store and she also does private commissions for a wide range of customers.

For more information on the designer please contact Awon at info@awongolding.com, or go to: @AwonGolding or  www.facebook.com/awongoldingmillinery.

Thanks for reading my post and a big shout out to Awon for sending me the images of her amazing collection!

O x

The Sweetest Ad Campaign Ever?

Aussie born jewellery designer Lucy Folk is renowned for her playful and creative relationship with food and highly sought after jewellery line. It's hardly suprising then that in her latest campaign, entitled Sugar, Folk combined her sweet tooth with her passion for jewellery design. The results? HEAVEN.

It's not very often that a jewellery campaign impresses me this much as, in my opinion, jewellery campaigns can often be a little boring and simplistic. That said, Lucy Folk proved she's not one to follow the crowd when she pulled this sugar coated bad boy out of the bag.

What I love about Lucy Folk is that she's definitely a designer who caters to a wide variety of tastes (literally). On the one hand she has her playful, girly and fun pieces which are aimed at younger buyers. On the other she has her more sophisticated, edgy and fine pieces. Personally, I'm more of a fan of her fine jewellery as she has some to-die-for cuffs, gorgeous bangles and her selection of rose gold pieces are dreamyyyy.

Not only does the campaign make we want to binge-eat all the sugary goodies in sight, it also makes me want to throw all of my next wage packet at the designer. It's creative, memorable and a little tongue-in-cheek, which I love! Here are the pieces I'm now coveting from her Sugar collection.

O x

Product Review - Trevor Sorbie Straight Protect and Shine

My sister is a hairdresser and has been at at me for ages to get a heat defense spray for my hair. Well, as someone who doesn't particularly like to be told what to do, especially from a younger sibling, I've put off buying one for ages. Well, that was until recently when I thought my hair was looking a little dry and I realised how desperate I was for it to grow a bit longer for the upcoming party season. So, after work the other day I headed on down to Boots to see what I could find. As someone with little to no knowledge of heat defense sprays I actually felt a bit lost when I saw the range available to buy. Not wanting to spend too much money on something I could potentially loathe after one use I thought it might be best to buy a trial/travel sized bottle and see how I got on with that. Plus, as someone who likes to test out products regularly I often spend the majority of my free time in the trail size section of Boots. #sadfactoftheday

I chose this one by Trevor Sorbie because I quite like their hair products anyway and, admittedly, the bottle looked pretty cool. It retails at £5.70 for a 200ml sized bottle, but I bought my trial size, 50ml one for £1.99. It is salon approved (apparently?) and the label implies that it prevents damage, reduces kinks and add shine. These are all major hair concerns of mine as, without the wonders of modern hair tools/technology I would look like that actress from the weird TV programme, Cavegirl, NOT EVEN JOKING.

So how does it rate? Well, firstly I'm not massively keen on the smell, but I've come to notice that a lot of the decent hair styling products don't actually have the best of scents to them and I think this means that they're less perfumed? Which is a good thing. After a couple of uses I have definitely noticed that my hair feels a little softer and I have noticed a little extra shine. I wouldn't say the difference is huge, but I've definitely seen an improvement. 

I would recommend this product as it has worked for me, however I'm not completely overwhelmed with the results so I think I'll test a few more heat defense sprays before I settle on the one for me.

O x

Thanks to London Fashion Week I am now coveting...

Twice a year I head on down to London for fashion week. As well as running around for shows, queueing for what feels like the best part of the day and surviving solely off of weird vitamin drinks, I also get to go have a nosy through Somerset House at all of next season's collections. This year I was accompanied by one of my bestest buddies and the collections we saw were arguably the best yet.

For those of you who didn't get a chance to go, here's a little round-up of all the things I'm now coveting and a teaser look at next season's collections:

These statement necklaces by Nocturne are to die for!

I can't even put in to words how badly I want a Hemsley London bag.
 #wishlistproblems 

Zoe Sherwood and her amazing flying bird themed head wear. 

Shout out to these dreamy things for making me realise the potential in
 accessorising my shoulders. 

As a big tea drinker I feel this tea-cosy is more a necessity than an accessory
(ahem). 

Little wings and arrows came together to create the dreamiest of jewels
by Phoebe Coleman. 

HEMSLEY HEMSLEY HEMSLEY

O x

Edeline LEE SS15

I was lucky enough to attend London Fashion Week for the second time this September and got to see some really amazing shows. One of these included the Edeline Lee SS15 presentation which I reviewed for styleldn.com. After a hectic four days (I didn't stay for the full five) and after viewing and reviewing countless fashion shows, I can honestly say that this one was one of my favourite collections! Admittedly this was partly because one of my best gal pals got to come see it with me, but it was also one of the most interesting, unique and creative shows I'd seen that week. For one, she didn't use too much floral print or pastel colours and thus her show didn't look like every other Spring/Summer line I'd seen that week. Plus Edeline Lee really pushed the boundaries with her demonstration this year and, for me, seeing her devotion and hard work in such a literal way was really something special. It's collections like hers that make all the hustle and bustle of fashion week worth it for me. Snaps for Edeline Lee!

Here are some of the snaps I got of her gorgeous,upcoming Spring line:

If you fancy having a read of my  full review then head on over to http://styleldn.com/edeline-lee-ss15/.

O x

Do it better in Helene Berman.

The good thing about turning our back on Summer is that we get to say hello to an entire new season and, if we're all being honest, AW fashion is waaaaaaay better than summer fashion anyway. Personally, I LOVE everything about AW. I love the ankle boots and array of faux fur, the influx of burgundy, wine red shades and grey, grey and more grey. Yet, above all of that, the thing I love most about AW fashion is getting to pick out a statement coat to see me through the season. This year I've gone with designer Helene Berman. Don't know her? Well you should. She's only an utterly fabulous up-and-coming British designer with a passion for everything heritage! It gets better; I bagged this fabulous piece from the ASOS sale for only £41! Jammy b**** you say? Hell yes. In case my enthusiasm for my latest buy isn't demonstrated accurately in this post, see the following images for an inkling:

#OOTD I'm wearing Jeans by ASOS, coat - Helene Bernam at ASOS, crop top by Topshop, faux fur snood -unbranded, shoes - H&M.

O x

Sunday, Bloody Sunday.

So how have I spent my week? Well, unfortunately following my return from London Fashion Week my life has been incredibly hectic. Realising just how much work I have to do and how much I need to sort out has just left me feeling incredibly hopeless and unmotivated. Wanting to pursue a career in fashion journalism and living in a small town really DON'T go hand-in-hand and the realisation that the closer I get towards reaching my goal the further away it feels has hit me sideways like a speeding lorry. Needless to say, I'm seriously lacking in motivation and teetering on the edge of depression.

(insert grey cloudy overcast here)

However, there are some positive to draw from this week including the fact that I've gone down a jeans size and landed a new job working within retail. So, to celebrate I bought myself a new pair of black skinny jeans from ASOS and some super chic loafers from Matalan. Plus last night was date night and I got to go to the cinema AND eat McDonald's at midnight in the passenger seat of a car, (a very nice car I might add).

Here's a little snap of me standing on the driveway with my 
newly purchased goodies earlier today.

I'm hoping this new job will open up some doors for me and, at the very least, help me save up enough money so that I can go and do an internship in London sometime after the new year. If that doesn't work out though at the very least I can now afford some new clothes. And after all, retail therapy is the best therapy there is, am I right?

After reading this I imagine you're probably think I'm a complete and utter tragic twenty something with the most embarrassing life. Well, you're right. But, Monday brings with it a new week and I'm going to do what I do best; throw myself back in to work and quit my bitching. This week WILL be better and hopefully by next Sunday I'll have something better to blog about, (she says).

O x