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!

Weekend Wear: May the Fourth

This weekend is The Boy's birthday which makes it a special one. It was also May the Fourth (also known as Star Wars Day) - which to any sci-fi or movie fans out there is significant as it's also an opportunity for fans of the Star Wars movies to celebrate all things Star Wars. When I asked The Boy what he wanted to do for his birthday this year he told me that he wanted to stay in, eat some of his favourite food with a couple of pals and watch The Empire Strikes Back - his favourite of the Star Wars franchise. The plan was laid back and fun, just like The Boy himself!

Always keen to throw myself headfirst into a theme, I wanted to make sure the evening would be as Star Wars-y as possible so started planning out what food to make, how to decorate and - of course - what to wear!

With a couple of t-shirts to pick from and the fact that we were spending the evening at home watching a movie, a t-shirt and skirt combo sounded like the ideal ensemble. I picked up this Star Tours tee at the re-opening of the Star Tours attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios park in 2011 and paired it with a navy blue and white polka dot skirt from Tommy Hilfiger. Since I'd already started a blue and white theme I wore a pair of blue tights from H&M and didn't bother with shoes since I was hanging out in my own flat.

The Boy wore his Star Tours tee as well, although it was a harder choice for him as he has more Star Wars clothes to choose from (including some pretty awesome Adidas x Star Wars limited edition items).


Hair-wise, it was all about the Princess Leia buns of course! I mean, how could I (k)not? I also jumped at the chance to wear my new DIY Nails R2D2 decals, hurrah! These were a little bit more fiddly than your average nail wraps but looked great on. I will need to invest in a stronger topcoat though, and I'm not ruling out PVA glue, because my usual Sally Hansen just wasn't cutting it! I also made a couple of button badges for us to wear - mine said Ewok Princess because when watching the films as a kid I loved the Ewoks best.

We watched the movie, played Star Wars Trivial Pursuit, laughed all night and ate our body weight in junk food (including some birthday cupcakes that I had just enough time to whip up during the day). A good time was had by all and The Boy said it was his best birthday yet.

What did you wear this weekend? Did you celebrate May the Fourth? Do you know any insanely strong topcoats I could try?

Thanks for reading!

Weekend Wear: Saturday Cinema Date

I meant to post this yesterday after we went to see The Place Beyond the Pines but by the time we got out of the film and had something to eat it was pretty late. I wore my favourite Luella (RIP) slime monster T-shirt for our wee Saturday cinema date - I wish I could wear it every day, I love it.

I wore my tee with a blue denim skater skirt from Primark (STILL loving the skater skirts), black suede creepers from Topshop and my Betsey Johnson blazer. It was 12 degrees yesterday which is the warmest it has been for ages so there was no need to wear loads of layers and wool knits for a change. I didn't go OTT on the accessories (say WHAT? I know) and wore Tatty Devine LOVE and HATE tattooed knuckles brooches (my first ever Tatty Devine pieces that I got many moons ago, talk about opening the floodgates) with a glittery Crown & Glory bow in my hair. 

I matched my nails to my tee by using Illamasqua's Radium polish (the PERFECT slime green, should you ever be looking for one) and wore Louise Gray x Topshop lipstick in Legend.


We managed to avoid the wet weather and popped into a few shops before the film was due to start. Star purchase of the day had to be a pair of flowery cat ears from H&M which are right up my street. I love wearing flowers on my noggin, and I also like to wear cat ears - why hadn't I thought of combining them before? It's so obvious! Anyway, after my beady eye spotted these bright and beautiful babies, there was just no doubt. "They're the best" said The Boy. "You need to get them". I love that he supports my crazy headwear choices.

The film was great, I don't want to give anything away though so I will say no more. Afterwards The Boy suggested that we "go and eat tacos and cheesecake until our insides explode". I couldn't think of a better end to the day.

What did you wear this weekend? Do you miss Luella too? What is your favourite post-cinema meal?

Thanks for reading!

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? 

They did the Monster Mash

Halloween is always a fun time of year for me. I think it's my inner 16-year old goth girl screaming to get out. As the years go on, more and more people start to embrace all the spooky festivities and Halloween gets increasingly popular. I noticed some stores in Glasgow starting to stock their Halloween wares as early as the end of July this year. Decorations, costumes, sweets and yes, even greeting cards - it seems Halloween is big business.

Like Christmas and New Year, Halloween weekend is now cause to go out  - with several themed club nights and events advertised every year. Last night seen Ashton Lane's Creatures of the Night, a full after-hours street party with each pub/ restaurant in Ashton Lane taking on a Halloween persona, proving that Halloween's popularity is not lost on Glasgow's party-goers.

Despite the choice on offer - with the above event in particular being right on my doorstep - I have my own tradition for this wicked weekend and it would need to take something pretty incredible to change that. Halloween movie night in our flat has been how I prefer to spend Halloween weekend for the last few years. Call me boring, but I look forward to it every time and this year has been no exception. With friends,  junk food galore (candy coma, anyone?) and the horror genre's good, bad & ugly on DVD (and if we're feeling flush, blu-ray), I always have a great time. This year we watched Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, which was a bit like Saved By the Bell but with lots of people getting stabbed. There was also a pumpkin that accidentally ended looking like John Waters after we carved it and of course, the endless supply of sweets:

As well as watching films  and eating enough rubbish to horrify my dentist, Halloween also gives me an excuse to wear my more eerie ensembles (I did say I was a goth kid at heart) and enjoy the themed pieces that come out. I've always been a fan of Tatty Devine's Ghost necklace (£27) - simple and very cute, it's remained a classic and makes me smile. I also really like this Werewolf Tee by Urban Outfitters, with it's comic-book style print and hole detailing:

Werewolf Tee, £30 at Urban Outfitters

The other day the Boy pointed out these Rosario shoes by Pretty Ballerinas - in perfect Halloween colours featuring pumpkin and witches hat detailing. Good eye! Although at over a hundred quid they may need to be admired from afar.

A couple of years back I won a dress from the totally awesome and now defunct Lady Luck Rules OK website as part of a Halloween contest. The dress has everything you'd expect from a Halloween print - vampires, skeletons, gravestones and pumpkins. I love wearing it and make sure it gets trotted out at this time of year:

One of my favourite dresses ever - thanks LLROK! 

Finally, a quick word on decorating - it's been a total joy to dress up our new flat for Halloween this year. I really think we outdid ourselves and struck a good balance. I just wish I'd seen this cute Halloween bunting (I love bunting!) by John Lewis sooner:

Ghost & Bat bunting, £4 at John Lewis

Ah well, there's always next year.

Happy Halloween everyone! What's YOUR Halloween style?