Thursday 28 April 2011

Punchy!

I do love lace but I'm a much bigger fan of laser-cut leather, I just feel it has that bit more of an edge? Had a little trawl and came across these beauties:
Designer first...................although why would you pay so much for something which is almost guaranteed to rip and make you weep?
                                                   
Haider-Ackermann laser cut boots and waistcoat

Givenchy tote-beautiful but maybe not one for carrying the pineapple and tin of beans home in!


And from ASOS.............................
ASOS laser cut leather top €91.84 -perfect length and shape for over this season's maxi although not the perfect colour? I HATE yellow! 

ASOS shorts €78.72 -Paper-bag shorts in a paper-bag colour!
 And from the high street! Where I must say there is great value to be found for leather.
Warehouse shopper, down to €25 on http://www.awear.ie/ (not real leather.Ahem)

Awear leather shoe €69

Topshop leather tan belt £16

Gorgeous Topshop jacket which is taken from their Spring lookbook but I cannot find on their website. Aaaaah! Want it!

Mocha vest Topshop £34

And some beautiful handmade jewellery from Etsy!

Kashen Jewellery on Etsy €27

Fable and Fury shop on Etsy €18(Ok this one is steel not leather but still...)

EninaJ shop on Etsy €72
And if you could just bag those all up for me now, I'll be leaving...............................

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Maxis for slinky minxes

Looking through the Spring/Summer lookbooks there are so many beautiful long floaty dresses to drool over.
The problem with most of the maxis out there ( and the reason I haven't yet invested in one) is that the usual empire waist does absolutely nothing for shorter girls (I'm 5 ft3) or any of us who have a normal size top half, and the material-heavy gypsy styles can lead to a tent-like and distinctly unflattering silhouette. But the new 70s vibe feeding into collections is reflected in lower and more flattering waistlines and a more alluring skinky fit which looks fantastic with the average curvier figure.
 
Ellie Saab Spring Summer 2011 -the "if only " option. A simple dress but she looks like a goddess!

  
Halston Heritage €675 on ASOS-the slightly more affordable option. Would actually be less floaty and more flattering with less of or no slit at all. Sew it up!

  
Ellie Saab 2011-gorgeous wispy lace creation. The floaty sleeves are balanced by the belted waist and the absence of detail at the bottom of the skirt gives the illusion of a narrowing there.

Alberta Ferretti Spring 2011-fabric falling in folds onto the feet, simple but sexy.

Alberta Ferretti again, a more billowing skirt but the sheer material means the leaner line of the legs can be seen. I love the whole collection. All of it! Very gypsy-airy-wood-fairy!


Karen Millen-beautiful, black silk with boat neck to make even me seem willowy, just gorgeous. Might be my inner goth coming out?
 I don't like the ankle length maxi, I think it interferes with the long line the dress should be creating of the body to have two big feet sticking out the bottom but I'm sure taller girls could work it.

Monsoon - this very cute, very retro tapered maxi lessens the tent-effect and keeps the silhouette long and lean.
Atelier Versace 2011-if I am reincarnated as a superhero this will be my costume, I love the amazing detail on the bodice and the almost medieval panel leading down the front of the skirt. And this is my all-time favourite colour.
Lots of material here but all kept to the back whle front is tapered inwards.

Atelier Versace 2011 again, Seventies meet Twenties, it looks as though the dress has been poured over the model.

Atelier Versace-slightly tapered silhouette again, would make an amazing wedding dress.


Ports1961 Spring 2011-lots of material here but cut to drape against the legs for a narrower outline. Lots of metallics out there for Spring/Summer 2011. Yippee!

Coast Allure silk maxi €236 on ASOS. Floaty as hell, I acknowledge but am having difficulty finding a metallic maxi ( or indeed a slinky one of any shade) on the high street.
Bronze maxi skirt Roksanda Ilincic on Outnet.com-discounted to €416 

                                                    Crazy beautiful dress of the day!:
Aqua Bolivia €118 on ASOS-this is a showstopper I think! The model's hair is exactly as it should be with this dress. WANT!!!
I tell a lie. I did once own a maxi but there was an unfortunate episode where someone congratulated me on the " bambino" and that maxi was never seen in public again...................

Sunday 24 April 2011

Wooden it be lovely!

I came across these first wooden two clutches from French Connection while researching my last post and fell in love. I am definitely getting me one of these beauties (But I am not paying these prices so there's some serious ebay and amazon searching to be done...) There's no colour or pattern of dress that wood won't go with and they will look just so individual and original. And double up as a fairly handy weapon if needs be! 

Frech Connection £112
 
French Connection £124


These beautiful clutches are by Radhana Reddy and come packaged in suede boxes. Available from her website http://www.radhanareddy.com/. As previously stated I'm very scared of the current bright primary colour trend and always looking for a gentle "in" so these pops of bright pinks and blues could work perfectly.
Two of my favourite things in one, walnut wood and laser cut leather. Rafe New York clutch $325


Stella McCartney $995 on net a porter

Tania dark wood clutch Glorinha Parangue $365
Wouldn't these look gorgeous with a wooden wedge? They're not so dressy either that they wouldn't work with jeans and a pretty top on a night out. I can't find one within my budget so far so I may be found in the park tomorrow hacking off tree branches with a bread knife......

Don't take my tweed away...!

I am delighted to have warm days and sun and picnics and all the good things that come with spring. But I find myself wanting to buy more tweedy things and am trying to convince myself that I can get away with tweed in summer? There is definite evidence on the runways of tweed being perfectly acceptable for spring so I think I'll chance it! 
Chanel Resort Collection 2011 tweed dress

Nina Ricci Spring 2011 tweed suit. Love the pink acessories!

Oscar de la Renta Spring 2011

Chanel Resort Spring 2011
I feel sometimes you lose the impact of tweed as a natural material when it's not a grey tweed but the loose frayed edges in the Chanel collection give the garments a lovely rustic look.

Here are some more accessible tweed lovelies from my internet trawls:
Beyond the Valley tweed shorts £140 http://www.asos.com/.

Hobbs Arches pinafore £62 http://www.asos.com/

Karen Millen twisted tweed dress
Teri Jon Spring 2011 $883

JCrew Spring collection tweed jacket. Very Jackie O!

Signorina dress http://www.etsy.com/ $355

Travel cape $30 http://www.etsy.com/. If this was fitted closer to the body I'd definitely buy this in a dark grey, as it is it's a little too Red Riding Hood. But cute!
Vero Moda tweed jacket Spring 2011. There are hundreds of  vintage tweed jackets on Etsy and Ebay. Look how amazingly this goes with the shorts and tights combo.

Back to School!

I've been inspired by this lovely ASOS satchel in a post by http://www.stylesiren.ie/ to go have a look for some nice examples myself, here are some nice quirky ones, maybe more weekend bags than weekday?

ASOS punch-out satchel €38-pretty although a little pricey for faux leather?

Bolivian hand tooled leather satchel €49 http://www.etsy.com/. This is hand crafted by a small community in Bolivia that definitely could be doing with your cash more than Mulberry could, and the bronze leather is gorgeous, so feel saintly and look good!

Cambridge 14" patent satchel €157.44 http://www.asos.com/
The Cambridge satchel company have satchels in every colour under the sun. I'm a little nervous of the bright colour trend at the minute so a bright red or yellow satchel could be a stepping stone for me!

Dr.Martens leather satchels £125 - only 350 of these being sold world-wide, a guaranteed good investment!


Natural scalloped €75 & grey trompe d'oleil style patent €53,  really original and quirky satchels from Frenchenglish on http://www.etsy.com/


Linea €295 http://www.etsy.com/

Vintage Brazilian cut-out leather bag €17 http://www.etsy.com/

If I had unlimited funds I'd buy this beautiful Gucci satchel, a snip at $4250!
And now for some more conventional, practical bags. I really like the Mulberry Alexa although they, or their fake equivalents! are everywhere. And Alexa herself gives me a pain. I think she looks like a cross between a giraffe and a lollipop:

Tan Mulberry Alexa from $940 on net-a-porter, now available in metallic if you're feeling adventurous.


Reiss Dorchester £320

The very similar but much more affordable Warehouse satchel €85

Pretty pretty See by Chloe Poya in a beautiful rose coloured leather €325 on net-a-porter
Personally I'd always go for a classic colour if I was spending a lot rather than risk not "getting the wear out of" my  big investment, tan goes with everything, can't go wrong. But if I'd loads to spend then definitely, I'd go for one in every colour!