30 October 2009: 12:52
Ever since Angelina Jolie walked down the red carpet this summer looking sensational in a Michael Kors leather dress, leather has been the must-wear fabric. Since then, celebrities such as Kate Moss and Kylie Minogue have also gone hell for leather, which means a leather dress is on the top of most fashionista’s wishlist.
However, unlike the A-list, you might not have the cash to splash on super expensive versions, so we’ve scoured the high street to find three of the best leather dresses to buy – which start from £100 and go up to £299.
New Look, £100; Oasis, £120; Hobbs, £299
With leather, it’s best to spend the most you can afford, as you want the best quality fabric to ensure you look like a superstar and not cheap and tacky! Keep accessories to minimum – high heels are essential but don’t overload the jewellery.
Let us know if you decide to purchase. Happy shopping!
28 October 2009: 15:52
In times of recession, it’s been proven that women spend on small luxuries like lipstick and pampering sessions, such as facials or manicures. We may not have as much money as we used to, but we still like to look nice! Not so long ago, it was fairly unusual to go and get your nails done but with the advent of places like Nails Inc, getting your nails manicured is something to fit in around your shopping.
Next time you decide to get the pro treatment however, don’t make do with a regular file and polish. This season, nails are becoming more spectacular. Some of our favourite designs include the infamous double Chanel C, leopard print and crystal-studded, however, the look we’re really hankering after at the moment is a favourite with burlesque beauty Dita Von Teese – the half moon manicure.
This 1920s nail trend invented by a manicurist at MGM Studios has had a revival thanks to the return of burlesque. We love the simplicity of it, yet the cute half moons makes it stand out from the regular polished crowd!
Make like Dita and mix a deep red with gold half moons (we love Maybelline’s Deep Red and Mavala’s Gold Diamond), or copy Dior who sent their models down the catwalk with a striking purple and white combo.
This is one manicure however that is probably best left to the professionals – unless you have a very steady hand of course!
26 October 2009: 14:54
‘Tis the season to be scary with Halloween just around the corner. As a nation, we’re spending more on Halloween than ever before and the shops haven’t been slow to cotton on. From pumpkin outfits for newborn babies to skeleton earrings for the grown ups, Halloween has never been so fashionable. Or has it?
A quick look around some of our favourite high street retailers showed that everyone from M&S to Topshop are providing Halloween related products, whether it’s full on costumes or gothic accessories. Take a look below at some of the fun (or hideous, depending on your view!) products we found on the hight street.
Skull Tee, £10 (New Look for Men); Leopard Ears, £4 (Topshop); Flashing skull brooch, £4 (Accessorize); Pumpkin bag, £3.50 (M&S); Wendy Witch Earrings, £3 (Accessorize)
We think that Halloween is a bit of fun and that it’s the one holiday where being fashionable goes out of the window, however, we’ll be sticking to kitsch skulls and cute ears, after all if rabbit ears were good enough for Louis Vuitton this season, then they’re good enough for us!
If you’re doing a full costume, try to avoid the sexy witch/vampire/werewolf option and go for full on comedy fun. Or you could be like one member of our team who dressed up as The Devil Wears Prada one year – her costume comprised of leopard print horns, a large Prada shirt worn as a dress and huge big sunnies. Stylish and fun – we love!
22 October 2009: 11:51
We always love it when one of our favourite shops branches out into a new line so we were pleased to hear that Monsoon is now launching a gorgeous new lingerie range.
Staying true to it’s love of colour, texture and prints, the new lingerie range embraces the bohemian spirit and feel that sums up Monsoon.
Gorgeous colours, beautiful embroidery, vintage-looking fabric – the new range is a must-have for all lingerie lovers.
The Autumn/Winter collection contains three ranges – Vintage, Falk and Glamour. Our favourite has to be Glamour, pictured above. Sophisticated and sultry, the gorgeous silhouettes and vintage styling mean these beauties are definitely going to make their way onto our shopping list!
Go and see for yourself at Monsoon now. Prices start at £15.
19 October 2009: 16:17
The X Factor may be the UK’s search for the best singing talent, but we can’t wait to see how each popstar-in-the-making is styled each week! This week, our favourite outfit belonged to Dagenham diva, Stacey Solomon. She looked every inch the star when she walked on stage to sing At Last in her pink vintage-looking number. Simon didn’t share our sentiment however and felt her look wasn’t quite right, but then this is a man who wears his trousers under his nipples…
The great news for all you X Factor fans is the dress is from the high street – TopShop no less – and retails at the very non-starry price of £45.
We say snap it up now – it’s the perfect festive party frock! Just add a clutch and a cute hair accessory and while you may not get a recording contract and the popstar lifestyle, you’ll definitely be the belle of the ball!
15 October 2009: 14:50
Back in the decade that style forgot – also known as the ‘80s – there were many strange and unwearable trends. Even though the ‘80s is back with a vengeance, the styles have been given a noughties feel, meaning people look cool rather than foolish! However, we’ve noticed one particular trend that has resurfaced and we’re just not sure how we feel about it.
Wikipedia says a snood is ‘to a tubular neck protector or warmer’ which in theory is fine, however, isn’t that the function a scarf has? It can obviously be used as a hood – snood is after all a mixture of the words scarf and snood – but it can look slightly odd. Nativity plays spring to mind for some reason!
Lots of shops are selling the new look snood, including Dorothy Perkins, which have come up with this vibrant pink version for £15. While it looks quite cute, it does look like a scarf, which begs the question, why don’t you just buy a scarf? However, the most disturbing new snood on the block has to be the men’s version! While wearing it as a scarf (as this New Look one is), it’s fine, but really will any man ever use the hood facility.
So is this another trend flash in the pan resigned to the bargain bin in three months or are snoods here to stay? We hope not – but what do you think? Post your comments below now!
12 October 2009: 13:06
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and thanks to lots of limited edition pink products available on the high street, it’s never been easier to support this fabulous initiative.
From blinged up iPod covers to pink beauty products, retailers will be donating a set figure from these fabulous products to various charities helping to fund the fight against breast cancer.
We’ve picked out some of our favourites available to buy. They include the fabulous M&S Graffiti dress, which we’ll be wearing with some fierce shoe boots; and the bright pink lingerie set from Ultimo (available to buy at Debenhams). It’s so good that it shouldn’t be hidden away!
Dorothy Perkins has teamed up with some of our favourite stylish celebs including Lisa Snowdon and Davina McCall to produce some limited edition T-shirts. Costing £16-£20, Dorothy Perkins will donate £5 to Breast Cancer Awareness. We particularly like Alexander Burke’s ‘80s inspired T-shirt, inspired by her favourite words Peace and Love!
(Left to Right) Tassle Scarf, £19.50 M&S; Alexander Burke T-shirt, £18 Dorothy Perkins; Graffiti dress, £39.50 M&S; iPod cover and headphones, £15 Debenhams; Lingerie set, £28 Ultimo.
If beauty is more your thing, there are also lots of great limited edition Pink Ribbon products to buy including Estee Lauder’s Liz Hurley lip glosses and Bobbi Brown’s Pink Ribbon Collection, which includes a lovely glitter lip balm.
(Left to Right) Sunglasses, £109 Oakley; Pink Ribbon make-up set, £28 Bobbi Brown; Pink money box, Debenhams; Lip gloss collection, £27 Estee Lauder; Lingerie set, from £16 La Senza.
You can also support this great cause by coming on down to Westfield London from 15th October to enjoy a cup of tea and a cupcake at the Samsung Pink Ribbon pop-up café.
9 October 2009: 11:05
You’ve probably read about Samantha Cameron’s penchant for the high street in all of today’s newspapers. You’ve got to love a girl who can take a £55 M&S dress and make it look so high end. Carla Bruni may wear YSL and Dior, but we actually admire Sam’s budget style – after all, we don’t all have thousands to spend on clothes but we still all want to look like we do!
Sam’s version of her fabulous frock sold out due to its amazing popularity, but we’ve heard through the grapevine that an updated version will be available in store on 22nd October.
The dress is part of the M&S 125th Anniversary collection, with the second drop coming into stores in 2 weeks. As well as this gorgeous dress, there are lots of other fabulous frocks, beautiful blouses and vintage inspired lingerie. We wonder what item Samantha will snap up next?
6 October 2009: 16:37
While the big fashion trends are well documented in magazines each year, it’s the micro trends that are often the most interesting.
The one that we’ve spotted subtly creeping up the trend charts is feathers! They may seem an odd choice for winter styling, yet they’re a simple way to add drama to your wardrobe. Queen of the Dramatic, Lady Gaga knows this only too well and was been spotted wearing feathers to dramatic effect at the recent VMAs. The equally outgoing rock chick, Juliet Lewis, has also incorporated a few feathers into her stage outfits, proving that you can’t beat feathers for high impact.
For us civilians however, feathers can still be a fabulous addition to your wardrobe and much more wearable as our pick of the best feathered beauties (below) shows.
The easiest way to rock this trend is with accessories. Kate Moss is a big fan of the feathered earring and these pastel coloured beauties (bottom left) from Accessorize will look as good with an evening dress as they will with jeans and a T-shirt. With the ’40s so in vogue this season, why not try a feathered hair accessory? We like this Carrie Statement band from Accessorize, who appear to have feathers sorted for the season!
Feathered bags are also a great way to incorporate this trend. You can either go for the real feathers as seen on the bright clutch from M&S (top right) or the faux feather look from Fiorelli (top left).
For a really stand out look though, think feathers on your clothes. We love the feather print dressed by Orion from Oliver Bonas – a great party frock which will do all the work for you. However, our favourite feather piece has to be the gorgeous Ostrich skirt from TopShop. At £65, it’s not cheap but it will look fabulous amidst a sea of Little Black Dresses on a night out – keep the rest of your outfit simple and you’ll be the most beautiful bird around! Just avoid red wine – we’re not sure you can dry clean feathers…
5 October 2009: 17:01
Gant is celebrating 60 successful years in fashion this autumn and to celebrate this landmark birthday, the label has designed an exclusive range of luxury shirting for men and women.
Revisiting its West Coast heritage, the limited edition capsule range is made up of four women’s shirts and six men’s shirts, with a representative style from each decade the brand has been around. The shirts retail from between £99-£189.
Aside from each shirt being made from a gorgeous blend of cashmere and Sea Island cotton, these shirts are uber-wearable, with classic patterns being given an oh-so-chic vintage spin.
Boys, if you’re planning on snapping up one of these beauties, be careful that your girlfriend doesn’t steal it for herself – after all boyfriend shirts are all the rage, especially when they look as good as this. We just hope we’re as stylish as this when we’re 60!
