Do You Believe in Magic?

I do! I know that it sounds a bit naive but I truly do believe in magic and love the idea of skilled illusionists being able to perform breathtaking feats before our eyes. After attending a preview screening of new crime thriller Now You See Me - about a gang of magicians that pull off a series of bank heists - earlier this week, I left the cinema with a head full of inspiration. The way I dress is less influenced by trends and more inspired by things that interest me like films, music and art. So it was no surprise that after watching a film about magicians, I was dreaming up outfits using suave magicians, their glamorous assistants and the tricks up their sleeves as a guide. Here are my favourites...

Every dapper magician worth his salt needs a bow tie, and this Tatty Devine perspex bow tie necklace will look the part whether you are taking to the stage or just the sidewalk. Card tricks are what I'm guessing are the first lesson at Magic School (please tell me such a place exists?!) and I love these playing card printed tights from Etsy and themed nail art decals from Love Culture. 

Making a fluffy bunny disappear is one of my favourite tricks (I like to imagine they are whisked away to a huge rabbit warren in another dimension) and this Etsy bunny ring is adorable - much too cute to let it vanish! Also, never one to shy away from something to wear on my head, I love these ASOS leopard bunny ears. A cheeky nod to one of the oldest tricks in the book. 

A magician is nothing without his beautiful, sparkling assistant. Always ready to be sawn in half with a smile and sequins, I think this Topshop dress is perfect for her - glittering but with a modern twist. Finally, my favourite Oh My! eyelashes by Katy Perry for Eylure will add the right amount of drama. Perfect for that wide-eyed look!

Now You See Me is released in cinemas July 3rd. I really enjoyed it. As well as having a great cast, it was an interesting story and very well shot. Even if you don't believe in magic, it's still worth watching. 

What do you think of magicians? Will you be going to see Now You See Me? Would you ever let someone saw you in half?! 

Thanks for reading!

Think Pink

"Pink. It's my new obsession", Steve Tyler once sang. That may be true in his case, but for me the colour pink has been a favourite for some time. And when combined with black (or, more recently, teal) it makes up most of my favourite ensembles. And it's not just me and Steve - whether on high end or high street looks, hubba-bubba hues of pink are set to be huge this summer. Here are a few of my pink picks for those looking to rock the look...

You can still wear pink and be a tough chick. Fact. Just look at the Pink Ladies. If wearing pink seems like a good idea but you don't want to lose your rocker credentials, no sweat - these baby pink panelled creepers by Underground (£89) are sure to tick all the right boxes:

Pink Underground Wulfrun creepers, £89 at ASOS

As I said before, pink and black is my most-worn colour combo and one of my favourite ways to do so  is by layering a pretty pink dress under a black jacket (blazer or biker style) or cardigan. Bertie Bassett, eat your heart out. This dress (£20) by Sodamix at House of Fraser even comes with a contrasting black belt:

Sodamix Structured Monroe dress, now £20 (was £28)  at House of Fraser

A designer that always caters for my passion for pink and black is Sonia Rykiel. Her previous H&M collaboration truly left me spoiled for choice when picking between pink and black striped pieces. One of my favourites was this crop-sleeved bow cardigan:

Cropped bow cardigan by Sonia Rykiel for H&M

Released back in 2010, this remains my favourite H&M collaboration to date. It crept up on the Glasgow store, with no wristband organisation system required as about a dozen of us turned up to quietly shop. If the frenzies of Jimmy Choo, Lanvin and most recently, Marni are anything to go by - those fuss-free release collaboration dates are long gone!

With Summer fast approaching (fingers crossed), I have noticed many stores defying the miserable weather and urging shoppers to snap up their colourful collections in anticipation of the sunny weather that is to come. Topshop's Hot Pink Hot Pants campaign has been the feature of shop windows and magazine ads, and it can't be denied that the high street giants offer quite a selection of pink denim shorts - from high waisted, to candy striped, to tie-dyed, to metallic. An insider tells me that these neon pink denim hotpants (£22) are set to be a best seller. Wear them if you dare!

Although I am a red lipstick girl at heart, recently I have been known to try some pink shades, particularly for during the day at work. My top picks for pink lipstick are are Revlon Colourburst Lip Butter in Cupcake (£7.99), MAC  lipsticks in Lovelorn & Saint Germain (£13.60 each) and Dior Addict Extreme lipstick in Plaza (£24). The new 'stick on the block (and my wishlist) is MAC's Viva Glam Nicki lipstick (£13.60 with proceeds going to the MAC AIDS Fund), a shade inspired by Nicki Minaj, who is herself no stranger to pink. MAC also released Pink Friday last year, a lipstick named after Minaj's album and a best-selling shade (with some going on eBay for as much as £50). Viva Glam Nicki's colour is described as a bright pink with yellow undertones. I'm looking forward to trying it!

MAC's latest Viva Glam advertising Campaign, featuring Nicki Minaj, Ricki Martin and a whole lot of lipstick 

Will you be feeling pretty in pink this Summer?

Getting the look: The Artist

This week I went to see The Artist at the cinema after having it on my to-do list since I read about it a few months ago. I loved it from the opening scene, the film was full of humour, tragedy and triumph (and one hilarious dog). Being set in Hollywood's heyday of the roaring 1920's & 30's it was also a goldmine of vintage style. The outfits, created for The Artist, by seasoned movie costume designer Mark Bridges, were the icing on the cake.  Mr Bridges really managed to nail the decadent glamour of Hollywoodland. As a fan of all (well, most) things retro, I took a look at how to recreate the style depicted in The Artist for this blog post.

Let's start from the top and work our way down - beginning with hair. In the movie, leading lady Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) - along with several other females in the film - sports a short bob with tight marcel waves. Learn how to recreate retro waves at home with Belinda Hay's easy to follow hairstyle guide Style Me Vintage.

Cute flapper girl dresses with shimmying tassells and embellishment are a must for any vintage vamp and French Connection have a great selection. This Fringed Freya dress is a good starting point AND currently in the FC sale:

Fringed Freya dress, £37 (was £150) by French Connection

 Antik Batik's Embellished dress (£172 at ASOS) mixes sparkling retro glamour with light fabric - perfect for dancing (Lindy Hop, anyone?), and would look great teamed with some vintage-style stockings.

When it comes to footwear, modest heels are key to this look so leave the YSL Tribute platforms at home. Give your feet a rest in lower-heeled mary-jane styles or peeptoes while still rocking this glam look. Remember, the Hollywood vixens in films like The Artist were spending their days running around town going to auditions, and they wouldn't have got very far in teetering six-inch heels. Metallic shades or black compliment the dresses well, and Schuh have an excellent range of sweet lower-heeled shoes. My pick are these silver Forest Side Bow low  heels would go great with a flapper style dress:

Silver Forest Side Bow low  heels, £60 at Schuh

 Finally, no darling of the silver screen would be caught dead without her 'face on'. The finishing touch to really getting this look right is some retro style make-up. I looked to vintage style guru Dita Von Teese for her take on how to create a 1920's look. In her book Burlesque and the Art of the Teese, Dita explains that skin should be very pale ivory, eyes should be dark with smokey greys & blacks, lips should be rouged with wine or plum shades and nails should be worn short and painted deep crimson or deep burgundy.

To help achieve this look, I would firstly recommend a good foundation that suits your (natural) skin tone. Put down the bronzer - after all, they never had Fake Bake back in those days. A smokey eyes eyeshadow palate will give you a selection of greys and blacks - my favourites are Benefit's Smokin' Eyes (which although priced a little steeper at £28.50, will give you everything you need to create a dark, smouldering eye look, including extras like instructions, eyeliner and tweezers), and Soap & Glory's Lid Stuff palate in Smokey Dokey (a reasonably priced eyeshadow kit with 4 rich colours to play with). For lips, we are truly spoiled for choice with the vast range of dark reds available to suit all budgets - I would suggest going to department stores and high street beauty retailers and playing around with different shades/ brands until you find one that you like (for me, MAC are my go-to guys for red lippy).

Finally, I always break out my OPI nail polish in We'll Always Have Paris - a deep, dark crimson shade - when I want to unleash my inner vamp. Its rich colour is the perfect finishing touch to a vintage style look:

 

OPI nail polish in We'll Always Have Paris, RRP £10.50 at salons & selected stockists

Will you be trying out 'The Artist' look? 

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Oh, I wish it could be Christmas everyday... It's true. I do love a bit of Christmas (or, as The Boy would argue, a whole lot of Christmas). This year has been no exception, Christmas has been brilliant and spent gleefully in the company of friends and family. Am I the only one that still considers it to be Christmas (or at least 'the festive period') until they go back to work in the New Year? Probably not, I suspect there are more people that like to stretch out the season a bit longer too.

I didn't want to do a blog just about what I got for Christmas - that would be a bit OTT for me, but I still want to give some of my presents a mention as they were really thoughtful and incredibly generous. I love giving people presents, wrapping them up and watching people open them (this is why I am always the last person to open theirs on Christmas day, I'm too busy watching everyone else). I even like giving people cards, and I was quite disappointed at the amount of people this year that simply said "oh, I'm not doing cards this year" with a wave of their hand. Er, OK then Scrooge.

We put the tree up in early December and that action, along with the Coca-cola advert (you know the one, 'holidays are coming') signifies to me that it is officially Christmas and I have the green light to put on VH1's Christmas countdowns (the same 50 songs, just in slightly different orders depending on who is presenting..."you only learn that by having it on constantly", The Boy will testify with a groan) and get in the festive mood. Decorating our lovely new flat for Christmas was great, and the place was soon looking the part with decorations old and new.

I also managed to watch lots of Christmas films over the last few weeks - some well-known and watched several times (Elf, The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Christmas with the Kranks, Fred Claus & Four Christmasses. Still to watch Scrooged), others not so well-known (Santa Baby 2, The Dog Who Saved Christmas and anything else that Christmas 24 were showing) and my all-time favourite, Home Alone 2. You know it's Christmas when Macaulay Culkin is on the loose in The Big Apple.

On Christmas morning*, I was surprised with lots of awesome presents - firstly from The Boy (I mean, Santa) and then our families. Highlights included gorgeous goodies from Disney Couture, Hello Kitty, Vivienne Westwood, ASOS and Skull Candy, chocolate (chocolate, and more chocolate), perfume, the coveted New Look bird dress (thanks, Santa) and more Lush / Soap & Glory delights than you could shake a loofah at:

My Christmas Bath & Beauty haul - I'm well-stocked for toiletries & make-up now. Me: "people know me so well", The Boy: "people must think you reek". I like to think it's the first statement!!

The last thing I opened was in a small parcel, but inside was a beautiful pair of Tarina Tarintino skull earrings (again, thanks Santa!):

I was feeling well and truly spoiled at this point and the following two days spent with our families were spent in a giddy, happy blur. Copious amounts of food were consumed until I felt like I would pop (Pringles, shortbread & After Eights were the main culprits) but it's nothing a few sessions on the Wii won't sort out (I hope). We didn't get a White Christmas this year but we did get it last year and it wouldn't be a magical as it happened all of the time.

New Year came and went as it normally does, I had a lovely time with The Boy and enjoyed having the time together. So here we are, now at 2012. I hope everyone had a wonderful & stylish Christmas and New Year. 2011 was a blast, I really don't know how I will top it, but I'm willing to give it a good go!

 How did you spend the festive season?

*Christmas Morning was technically Christmas Eve, or as I like to think of it, Christmas Day Part 1. We had to start Christmas early in order to see both the families. Start Christmas early? I, of course, was only too happy to oblige.

The Look of Love

It's Valentine's weekend and love is in the air! Time for people to make bold declarations of their undying passion to each other while the folk at Clintons et al rake in the dough. Actually I'm not quite as cynical as that. Yes, many stores jump at the chance to hawk tacky and overpriced goods at this time of year in a bid to convince shoppers that said goods will validate their devotion to their significant other but I have found there are still lots of affordable, worthwhile and style savvy ways to get the message across. And besides, even if it's not considered 'cool' I like the cheesiness of Valentine's Day, I suppose in the same sort of way I like Christmas and Halloween (but on a smaller scale). Valentine's Day can be silly and fun if you don't take it too seriously.

I considered writing a Valentine's Day gift guide as I really feel sorry for all the nervous and perspiring gentlemen hanging around outside La Senza and Ann Summers, plucking up the courage to eventually go inside (you know the ones I mean, and if any of them are reading this, you know who you are). But, I am not best placed to give advice on gifts for people I haven't met so the only thing I will say on the matter is: buy them something they will like, and if it is to wear make sure it is the right size!

Instead, as I tend to enjoy a good theme, I wanted to share my top picks for Valentine's Day themed clothes and accessories. And if they happen to inspire anyone that still hasn't bought a present along the way, that's fine by me too. First up, I noticed a trio of cute and purse-friendly goodies at H&M. This peppermint coloured cardigan with a sweet kissing love birds design is perfect for Spring:

Cardigan, £14.99 at H&M

Also spotted was this bold 'Be My Valentine' slogan tank top, which at £6.99 is an affordable and confident way to get the message across if you aren't the secret admirer type:

Tank Top, £6.99 at H&M

And I couldn't resist this Lulu Guinness inspired lips shaped coin purse:

Lips purse, £3.99 at H&M

ASOS also have their share of loved-up accessories, my favourite being their Heart Shaped Ring with Cat Portrait (£8.00) very cute! A close second was these amazing Gipsy Back Seam Hearts tights (£7.00) and a special mention goes to this Wall Street-esque Two Tone Metal Bracelet watch, as wearing it will no doubt ensure it' always love o' clock (sorry, couldn't resist). ASOS (who at the moment are offering free delivery on all offers) have an extensive collection of heart-print clothing ranging from their own brand to garments by designers such as Sonia by Sonia Rykiel, all of which are worth a browse if you're in the mood for love.

Finally, one of my favourite jewellery brands Tatty Devine have top marks this year with their 'For your Valentine' selection at their online shop. Featuring earrings, necklaces, brooches and rings in heart-shaped and other sweet designs, Tatty Devine also sell a selection of cards by artists such as Lisa Jones and Rob Ryan (who also collaborates with Tatty Devine on a wonderful and whimsical jewellery collection inspired by romance and adventure) in their Valentine's section. Prices start at £2.50 for a card and can range up to £230 for a special edition necklace.

That concludes my top choices of love-themed items just in time for Valentine's Day. How are you spending this weekend of grand amour, and who are you going to spend it with? Also - what will you be wearning?

Caped Crusaders

Autumn is now in full swing, and it's time to start wrapping up to fend off the chill. This season, it appears we are spoiled for choice in the outerwear department. Military coats, aviator jackets, faux-fur and camel coats are all big news this season. But for those who like to push the style envelope towards the theatric I bring you good news - the cape is back.

Grey Wool Cape (£59.99), River Island

Capes have been in and out of fashion in various forms since the late 19th Century. They have also been a dramatic style staple of superheroes and supervillains alike in comics, films and books. Sherlock Holmes, Batman and Wonderwoman are just a few examples of characters for whom the humble cape contributes significantly to their famous iconography:



But what about its recent incarnation? The cape most certainly still makes an impact whether on the recent runway shows or as new additions to our favourite high street stores. Depending on the cut and fabric, they can be chic and even sexy (see Givenchy, Jaeger London and Yves Saint Laurent) or comforting and cosy but still stylish (as Rag & Bone, Matthew Williamson and Missoni's designs will testify).

Capes are wonderfully practical and impractical all at once. They can protect its wearer from the elements, and essentially feel like you are wearing a blanket (without veering too much into 'poncho' territory) which, in the next few months will be much appreciated when the temperature continues to drop. Topshop's Ultimate Heavy Jersey Cape (£85) looks especially snug, and won't break the bank with it's price tag.

While being cosy and easy to throw on is a huge plus point, capes have a few minor disadvantages - the main one being how restrictive some capes can be. Hailing a taxi? Want something off of that top shelf? With a cape on sometimes the most simple of tasks can be tricky. But a lot of designers have thought ahead and produced clever capes for the new season with little sleeves or slits for the arms to slip through. This Hooded Military Cape (£70) from ASOS does just that.

It's difficult to say why exactly the cape is having it's fashion moment again this time around - some say it's partly down to the vampire-mania inspired by Twilight, True Blood et al (few can picture Count Dracula without his trusty cape). And while I agree that Givenchy's caped vamps give a chic nod to the gothic trend, I also believe the cape's recent popularity can also be attributed to the grown-up, ladylike looks of the season - as seen on the sophisticated ladies of Yves Saint Laurent:


Whatever the reason, choosing a cape to stay warm under this Autumn/ Winter will make a statement that is striking, stylish and invites its wearers to channel their inner superheroine.

Will you be wrapping up warm in a cape this season?

Into the Wilderness...

With the last few sunny summer days being squeezed out in the last few weeks, it's pretty safe to assume that Autumn has arrived. In preparation for the new season, most stores have started to carry their Autumn/ Winter lines since August.

I love this time of year. Let's layer up and go on an adventure.


A recurring theme for this Autumn/ Winter has been that of the Great Outdoors - layering outerwear with rich heritage fabrics. Knitwear, thick tweeds, chunky socks and - yes - hiking books. Male and female explorers seeking outdoor excitement can brave the woods, moors or even the local high streets mixing earthy tones with a flash of brighter checks. Take for example, this green parka, courtesy of Topshop:


This item mixed with a muddy brown sweater and layered over a lumberjack-style checked shirt would prepare you for any adventure, rural or urban. At D&G, their cosy Nordic knits will guarantee that you are protected from the elements

Boys - a pair of boots, whether hiking boots, army boots or wellingtons will ensure that you are well-equipped for stomping though the crisp brown leaves, puddles and (eventually) snow, and will see you through the season. The same goes for us girls:


In particular for les femmes, stack-heeled hiking boots are sure to be a key staple this season. Good thing there is a range available to suit all budgets, from ASOS' suede pair (£55) to Chloe's wedge-heeled beauties (£575). Don't forget to pair with long, thick socks, a la Rag & Bone and Michael Kors' recent Autumn/ Winter shows.

While roaming in the wilderness, carrying one's essentials is well, essential. A satchel bag (below, left) or shearling backpack is practical and bang on trend.


A chunky scarf or snood will keep the cold wind at bay and a tweed baker boy hat (as seen at DKNY) will help you to embrace the countryside in style.

Now that the outfits are sorted, all that's left to do is get out there and explore. I leave you with a few snaps from one of my last outdoor adventures...