Fashion Toast for Breakfast, Anyone?

In the same way that some of us like to kick off their day with a slice of toast for brekkie, I like to start mine with a dose of some of my favourite blogs and websites. Many people have a list of sites that they visit ritually each day and one of mine is fashiontoast.com.

Launched in 2007, I found fashiontoast.com in a write-up a couple of years later in an edition of ASOS magazine, visited it and have been hooked ever since. Written and compiled by Rumi Neely with photography taken by her other half and herself, this website is a fashion addict’s nirvana and I love, love, love visiting it!

Rumi herself is a fashion assistant and model and gets to travel around the world doing what she loves and loving what she does. Very jealous! With her embarking on frequent trips to Tokyo, holding random photo shoots in desolate and beautiful places and visits to parties and fashion shows there’s much fashion eye candy to look at and beautiful shots to boot.

Rumi herself has great taste, of course. She has an enviable collection of silver rings and bangles and provides me with a bit of wardrobe inspiration when I’m feeling in need of a booster. She also manages to pose for photos in the middle of streets and public footpaths as natural as standing waiting for a bus – something I haven’t managed to master myself yet...

Take a look for yourselves at www.fashiontoast.com.

As a side note there’s a fair few blogs out there that I’m always discovering and I think are well worth shouting about and sharing with you. So in future I plan to post more about the great people who share, contribute and make the web that bit more fun!

Image of Rumi Neely from fashiontoast.com

Urban Meadow

Items in this set:
Scallop Lace Half Sleeve Body, Topshop £25
Paris Flippy Skirt, Topshop £35

Playing around with outfits online again: I've put together my outfit Plan of Action for the Man's Birthday on Saturday! I can't wait - Design Museum, Borough Market, much meandering in London and then The Diner in Shoreditch. Bliss.

I'm loving the 'underwear-as-outerwear' look at the moment. I now have a lovely lace body which I love to pieces - I'm a huge lover of lace! And I couldn't help but pick up this gorgeous skirt the other week - it doesn't help when people say "Oooh this would look great on you!" They're just helping me fuel a habit I can't kick. Now really... *rolls eyes* : )

I also love flowers in the hair, but anything really feminine, floral and sweet in the hair goes for me. But to avoid the sickly-sweet feeling, a leather jacket toughens up the look along with some cute leather ankle booties : ) Yay!

Speaking of outfits, more fashion-feasting is to follow...

The Urge for Snoods, Satchels & DMs...

Items in this set:
Petite Breton Stripe Crop Tee
Julia Denim Mini
Doc Martens Strap Boot Black
Leather Square Satchel Bag
Cobweb Knitted Snood

I've been playing around with outfit ideas that incorporate some of my threads and my three favourite fashion items at the moment:

Snoods - yes, they're "in trend" at the moment so it's not very original and they're everywhere so getting your hands on one is very easy - too easy. But they're so inviting! I'm in love with the soft knitted ones - ultra pretty against English fair skins like my own!

Satchel = wants badly! I miss having a bag that I can sling over my shoulder and chest without fear of it falling off if I lean over/down/run around a corner etc. Something a handbag just can't offer... Plus I just love the whole leather satchel Parisian geek-chic thing. All you need to complete the look is a warm croissant and a big ol' bicycle with a basket... Oooh, I feel a trip to Paris coming on : D

And finally Doc Martens. Yes, I'm going to come out of the closet and say I've NEVER been taken by them, ever. I never got into them when they were all the rage at school (oooh, way back in 1995) and I hadn't taken to them since either. UNTIL RECENTLY!

I don't know what happened, it's like a Doc Marten bug bit me and I've got the virus. Or maybe I've been contemplating them since I saw this awesome lay-dee in the Sartorialist. I love the contrast of the dress with the boots and that trench, it takes a lotta guts to pull this off - she gets my salute!

What's your favourite items of lust-worthiness at the moment?

Ossie Clark

Today, for no particular reason, other than my love for his work, I just wanted to share inspiration from one of my favourite designers in the world - Ossie Clark.

The peak of his career was during my favourite era- the 60s and 70s. I love everything about the designs - the paisley, the floaty fabrics and bias cuts that were so hugely flattering for women's figures. For me, his work epitomised the 'free' feeling of the swinging 60s! For some romantic reason I've often been drawn to this decade...

Ossie, who's real name was Raymond, was also a 'Northerner', born in Warrington and raised in Oswaldtwistle (where my Mum went to school, haha!) which inspired his nickname "Ossie". He grew up creating dresses for friends and family and his talents were spotted early on by his Art teacher who gave him Vogue magazines to further inspire and indulge his creative flair for fashion.

Unfortunately when fashion moved on well into the 80s Ossie lost everything when his line just wasn't appealing anymore. His personal life had also been fraught with difficulties in love having gone through a reported turbulent love affair with David Hockney and divorce from the love of his life Celia Birtwell. His life tragically ended in 1996 at the hands of a former lover.

This year's recession has also affected the rebirth of the Ossie Clark brand and sadly the label has closed after no less than 12 months' trading. I wonder if we'll ever see someone have another attempt at reviving the label when the economy has picked up... Or maybe, like many great creations, it should be left in the past and be remembered and treasured for what it was...

Here are a few pictures and pieces that I really love - I hope you enjoy them as much as I do...

Awesome Vintage Shopping & Cupcakes To Boot!

Sunday afternoon was truly delightful! The sun was shining, and the Autumnal weather was just about mild enough to be pleasant and off we went to the Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair - so much fun in one afternoon.

All the vintage stalls were wonderful, a lot of them had such lovely owners running them. Some of the sellers were really chatty, helpful and informative - one of them even told me that one of my buys was a genuine 60s number - this is the one that I'll be wearing for Halloween as Twiggy ; )

And on top of all the fun with clothes, when you needed a break or a sugar/caffeine boost you could even grab a cupcake and a pot of Fairtrade tea, with a lovely performance of classic songs like Marilyn Monroe's and the by one of the lovely girls at Pop-Up-Shoppe tea shop! What more could you ask for?!

I had such a lovely time and without a doubt I'll be returning to shop there again when the Fair returns next Spring (I think they return in April, but I'll keep you posted).

Here's some snapshots of some of the items I bought - check out a sneak-peek at the 60s dress for my Twiggy outfit and the cute spotty 80s number, so fun. Oh and I couldn't resist -I threw in one of my new ruby red ballet pumps that the courier delivered today, yay!

The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair

I'm very excited - tomorrow afternoon London plays host to the largest vintage fair in the UK: The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair. You'll find 50 stalls of vintage joy offering vintage clothing, accessories and even homeware from the 1920s right through to the 1980s.

The Fair has been going strong for four years now and is so popular because it's an opportunity for anyone to come along and search out for some great quality vintage bits and bobs at really affordable prices - perfect when your wallet's feeling the pinch from the current recession!

Don't worry if you don't live in London though. The Affordable Vintage Fashion Fair tours the UK and sets up its stalls in different towns and cities at different times of the month. The Fair will be visiting the following places in the next remaining months for 2009 - look out for a town near you:

October '09

25th - London

31st - Lincoln

November '09

1st - Cheshire

21st - Cambridge

22nd - York

28th - Durham

29th - Newcastle

December '09

5th - Liverpool

6th - Leeds

12th - Norwich

As for tomorrow's fair it starts at 12pm and goes on till 5pm and takes place at the Sustainable Studios, 65-71 Scrutton Street, London, EC2A 4PJ. Let the scouring for all vintage goodness commence!

For more information visit http://www.vintagefair.co.uk/

Paris Fashion Week S/S 2010 Favourites

Going through some of the shows from Paris Fashion Week I couldn't help but fall in love with two collections most of all, the first being Chanel's collection. This was a really fun and sweet range and the show itself revolved around a barn where Lily Allen sang with her band especially for the show (dressed in Chanel of course)!

The clothing and even the makeup were all really pretty, soft and feminine! And clogs made an appearance as the shoe of choice for the show - I'm not sure about clogs and I wouldn't choose to wear them myself, but they worked on the catwalk nevertheless...

I also really want to get my hands on the new Chanel nail varnish colour for Spring/Summer 2010 - grey. It was all over the catwalks and makes for a really different and classy nail polish colour. Plus you know it'll go with pretty much everything : )

And my other favourite was courtesy of John Galliano. Those dresses... Those hats... That makeup! And squee - how do they make those super awesome gas bubbles that were being showered all over the catwalk?! They were amazing - when the lights shone through them they looked otherwordly (see the video at Vogue.com).

I would have loved to have been there to see the show and better still - to have been backstage to see how everything was crafted together! John Galliano shows always look so much fun both on the catwalk and behind it.

As well as the bubbles being otherwordly, the makeup was fantastic and really magical, not necessarily one to be worn out on your average day, haha, but I found the colours and creations really inspiring nonetheless... Then I found out that Pat McGrath was responsible for providing it - I should have guessed, the lady's a genius!

Emma Watson - Fashion Designer To Be??

A couple of days ago after seeing Emma Watson in a Burberry print advert (looking gorgeous and very sultry may I add) I thought to myself I wouldn't be surprised to see her become a fashion designer once her Harry Potter days are done and dusted after the final film eventually hits the Box Office.


I guess if you've got a bit of spare cash, some fashion savvy and a few useful contacts, why not?! I would, haha!

But apparently her PR people say it's just not gonna happen and have quashed any suspicions among us that she will ever do such a thing. But you know what they say... No smoke without fire. And besides if it buys her more time to educate herself before going for it too soon then so be it. I still reckon we'll see her with her own line one day - even if it's in 10, 20 or even 30 years time!

The more I see of her the more I realise she just looks the part. People everywhere have noticed the stir she's causing in the fashion scene and I (plus pretty much the rest of the world!) finally realised she's become the true lady when she rocked up to the latest Harry Potter premiere this summer in a GORGEOUS frock... Only to find out it was an Ossie Clark number. Me - jealous? Pfft, no!

Also check her out in this snap from her latest Teen Vogue shoot - she's truly stunning!

Kate Moss Style - A Review

Just under a month ago you may remember me saying I'd bought this book and was relishing reading through it! Well I finished it the other day and the verdict?...

I LOVED it! I didn't want to put the book down, so much so it was a little sad when it came to the end, haha! Here's a bit of a rundown of some of the topics covered in the book that I enjoyed learning... *If you really don't want to know because you want to read it first then please look away now...*

From Angela's meticulous research, one thing's for certain - you really do learn a lot about Kate Moss' history, her background, where she grew up, how she was discovered and how she discovered the world of fashion and the fun and creativity behind dressing up, dressing down and behind the lens!

As you read through you find out more and more about the influential figures that she has met, lived with, grown up with and is still friends with to this day - from her everlasting friendship with hairdresser James Brown to even her famous relationships with Johnny Depp and Pete Doherty...

It's unbelievable to think her career began at the sweet age of 14! Kate's face even then caught many an eye and since then the fashion industry, photographers and designers alike haven't looked back...

My favourite thing about this read is that you get a real insight into Kate's very own flair, passion for fashion and eye for a bargain/special and rare pieces. Shopping and looking around for the right outfit seem to come to her like a sixth sense which I find both enviable and admirable!

I certainly have realised that she has a very strong sense of style, no matter how many labels she could or supposedly should wear, she certainly has no fear of standing out of the crowd and damn straight - she's a reason for us ladies to be proud to be British!

As a result she's become the ultimate style icon of our time, she has set numerous trends and I highly suspect she will do for years to come, despite her career nearly spanning 20 years, she shows no sign of fading, tiring or even really ageing!

And equally she's became a muse for many a photographer, fashion designer and label, and of course someone we all look to when dressing ourselves - her influence is everywhere even if you don't realise it. She wore leggings just before they hit the catwalk, now you can seem them everywhere all over the highstreet, on every celeb around and in many different styles.

Do you remember slouchy suede boots? Yup, she began that trend since she wore them on a night out and got snapped in them. I remember having a pair myself a few years ago and I had no idea it was Kate who propelled them to the popularity that they gained!

Angela's book has certainly opened my eyes to how amazing Kate is, I really admire her panache and sense of adventure when it comes to getting dressed. I've certainly always shared her belief that getting dressed is half the fun (if not all the fun!) - I enjoy the getting-ready part to any night out as much as the night out itself!!

If you're at all intimidated that Kate Moss Style might be full of fashion terminology and scary levels of detail that you won't be able to keep up with - don't be! Angela takes you through very gently, naturally and in fact this book has given me a thirst for more fashion books like it! It's really educational without being overwhelming or patronising.

Of course whilst I could talk and wax lyrical about this book in far more detail, I won't because if you haven't read it and want to I'd be spoiling your fun. If you're even slightly tempted to pick this up then I encourage you to give it a go, it's a must for any coffee/bedside table : )

In terms of new reads to get my teeth into, the books I now have my eye on are "What I Wore Today" and "Model As Muse" and well all many others in between because each time I go into Foyles I can't help myself haha!

The Clothes Show Live, London

So finally the latest low-down on the Clothes Show Live, London...

We rocked up at the ExCeL Centre in London's Docklands and hit the show with plenty of the day ahead for shopping, chatting, pampering and indulging and it certainly lived up to expectations. There were all sorts of brands there - from stalls selling gorgeous chunky leather wrist cuffs to organic fashion stores, right through to some of my fashion favourites such as Yumi and Fig Leaves.

Fig Leaves.com even had a Beach Catwalk that featured every half an hour, showcasing a whole host of their gorgeous beach wear for both men and women. I couldn't decide which of them I liked more, I've been ogling their range of beautiful bikinis online ever since (now I just need a holiday somewhere warm so they can be put to good use)!

On the Expert Stage, various fashion gurus were on-hand giving people the latest in news and interviewing those in the know including George Lamb, Nicky Hambleton Jones and Karen Franklin (one of the original Clothes Show crew I remember seeing every Sunday when I was little!).

My friend and I were also lucky enough to catch an interview with Angela Buttolph, the author of Kate Moss: Style - a wardrobe diary of the world's most famous modern fashion icon. It's out now and I've had a leaf through it the other day. It's on the Wants List that's for sure - Angela takes you right through the years of Kate's ever-changing and up-to-the-minute style all alongside beautiful full-page photos and glimpses of her fashion to date. It's been put together so well and lovingly researched down to the very last button : )

The Tigi stall had masses of giveaways - I pretty much walked away with a year's supply of hair products ranging from Control Freak Serum and Control Freak Extra Extra Straight hairspray (bought together for £10!) to Curls Rock Amplifier and S Factor Flat Iron Shine Spray - I was in hairstyling heaven! In total I think it came to just £40 - a giant tick on the bargain front!

On top of all that there were celebrity hairstylists showing off their talents and the latest trends - if you were lucky you could be picked out of the crowd and have your hair taken care of by one of the experts themselves, so long as you're not shy : ) There were masseuses on hand to soothe away your shopping aches and pains, the Jessica Nail Bar with champers, the ever lovely Benefit counter, and Fake Bake even had their tanning booths onsite if you were feeling in the mood for a quick bronze before you head out!

Bench were offering a mahoosive 75% discount all day (no prizes for guesssing why we couldn't even make it in without an hour's queue!) and of course, women present means there's a need for chocolate - the KitKat Senses Bar had all that covered with hot beverages and sweet yum yums to please all, including plenty of chocolate fountains dotted around the place - paradise!!

But the highlight for me was the Fashion Theatre at the very end - this was the first real-deal catwalk show I've ever seen and A LOT of effort went into it. The theme was 'On the Pier' and showcased S/S 09 clothes from partywear to casual, to punk to nautical. And not only did they have models showing off the latest onstage - they had dancers who performed their own routines throughout the show also wearing the clothes being showcased. There was also a giant mirrorball at one point, and even a rotating stage! It was so much fun, I loved every minute and I'm definitely coming back next year!!

You can find more photos from the Fashion Theatre on the Clothes Show London website, plus you'll be pleased to see that the clothes showcased are all those in the high street and online stores : ) Yay! x

Image Source

All images courtesy of Clothes Show London

The Clothes Show Live Returns to London!

Hiya!

I'm very much looking forward to this weekend (again!) It's going to a bit of a mental one - I've lots planned and have been recently suffering a cold, so I hope that I don't end up burning myself out all over again and making myself ill once more! :-P

On top of all the party plans, this Sunday my friend and I are going to the Clothes Show Live at the ExCeL in the London Docklands! I remember watching the Clothes Show, the TV series, when I was very little. Every Sunday evening I religiously watched wide-eyed at all the very pretty, crazy and wild outfits. I was too young to follow fashion myself of course, but I still loved to pore over the prettiness and dream! :-D

A decade and a bit later and I'm actually going to be at the Clothes Show event that's held annually. It's been missing in action in the recent years but this year it makes a very happy return with some big celebs and experts there, such as Erin O'Connor (the model!), Andrew Collinge (hair expert!) and many more!

Jessica Nails will be in attendance with their luxurious Nail & Champagne Bar, something tells me my friend and I will most definitely be stumbling into this - pretty nails and champers - could a girl ask for more?! And of course there will be a catwalk for everyone to see and say "Ooooh" and "Ahhh"... :-P

It's an event not to be missed, especially as the word on the street is that on Sunday there's gonna be lots of discounts here, there and everywhere :-D So if you haven't got your tickets yet HURRY!

Are you gonna be there? If so, what are you most looking forward to and why?

I'll be back next week with a big scoop on what went down at the event and what goodies I picked up. Oh and maybe a piccie of my beautiful nails (why not?!)

Bon weekend! x

More info at http://www.clothesshowlondon.com/