S/S 13 Fashion Trend: Denim

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There was definitely a time when I considered denim to be pretty darn fugly but today, I'd happily commit a fashion crime and wear double denim. Hell, I'll even go for triple denim! I can't seem to get enough of it, it must be the temptations from the high street. With it being one of the biggest fashion trend for this Summer, I've seen some really trendy styling and it makes me want to fill my wardrobe with denim, denim and more denim! 

I've recently had my eye on this peter pan collar dress from Miss Selfridge and a couple of pairs of these shorts from Topshop. My rediscovered love for the traditionally functional material has been combined with my continuous love for lace appliques and embellished collars. The thing with denim is that no matter what type of garment it is, it always feels casual and youthful. Like I can imagine wearing the bodycon dress with a pair of gladiator sandals during Summer, for picnics or a day trip, rather than clubbing. It just seems too casual for a night out ("out OUT!"). Dungarees playsuits and pinafore dresses, on the other hand, I'm really unsure of. I love the look of them on others but I don't like how "young" it makes me. Maybe the key is to layer with the right blouse or t-shirt underneath. I don't know, but I've seen it look great on other girls, Alexa Chung style, but it just doesn't suit me. I don't think I'm cool enough! What do you guys think of the denim trend? Love it or hate it?

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Summer Dresses for Formal Occasions

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After a browse through the shops in town yesterday, I noticed a lot of pretty dresses embellished with beads and layered with chiffon, which can only mean one thing...It's prom season! It actually came as a surprise to me as I always feel unaware of what month it is. You see, generally, I use the Seasons to indicate roughly where abouts we are in the calendar. I don't usually keep track of the date and I rarely have to write it at work or on a daily basis, so I just let time pass me by. Spring is my favourite time of year, but I've pretty much given up on it. What with the long winter we've had, hailstones in March and the continuous miserable grey skies up north, my mind is trapped in a frame of time where I still think it's the back end of the year.

Prom wasn't really a big deal back when I was at school and sadly, I never went to my Year 11 leavers prom, but I heard it was good and that everyone had a jolly good time! I also missed out on A-Level leavers dinner dance too, lets just blame this on a horrible boy who had absolutely no sense of fun. If I could go back in time, I definitely wouldn't let some insecure douche bag ruin my fun! Hell, no! I never went through the process of searching for the perfect dress. Traditionally, girls would opt for glamorous maxi dresses, some would go for extravagant puffy-outy princess dresses. I think I probably would have gone with the crowd and chosen a maxi dress too, perhaps in a shade of pink or purple, but I'm not sure...I like to think that I was brave enough to go for something that I was more comfortable in, a dress that was equally as glam and elegant like the 8 dresses I've picked out here. Is it weird to wear these kind of dresses to prom? These sort of silhouettes flatters my body shape and anything above the knee suits me my height more. Although, that wasn't something I was self-conscious about back then, me and my friends were all the same height! It's just that I seemed to have stunt my grown by spending the majority of my teenage years sitting in front of the computers. I don't actually remember there being so much choice on the high street back then but like I said, it wasn't such a big thing back then and bearing in mind, I left school 12 years ago now! Twelve years!! That's painful to admit! I can't believe it has been so long. A lot of high street retailers now have special or limited edition dresses especially for formal occasions, their price ranges from £60 - £195.

So, there you have it! I'm re-living my teen years with you right here, and picking out my would-be prom dress, telling my 16 year old self that it's ok to be different and that if you wear something you are more comfortable in, then you'll feel more like yourself and therefore, confident. I have my eye on a couple of these dresses for a couple of weddings that I'm invited to this year. What did you wear to your prom? And for those who have got it all to look forward to, have fun and enjoy every minute of it!

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Yankee Candle Celebrations

Celebrating with Yankee Candle as they reach well over one million Facebook Fans

I have expressed my obsession for scented candles before, I have so many now that people have said that I can open a candle shop! I light them when people come round so the house smells lovely and welcoming. It's just a really quick and easy to create a certain atmosphere for all kinds of occassions and I think this is what Yankee are best at doing, their fragrances are so authentically close to the real thing. As well as filling the house with yummy and dreamy fragrances, a certain smell can also take you back to a certain memory and that is another reason why I buy candles. I'm a sucker for a trip down memory lane! I particularly love the tropical fruit ones, they always remind me of holidays in Spain when I was younger! I love it! It's always nice to be taken back to a time when things were more simple! For a candle company, they have always been creative. I mean, who else can get away with wonderfully bizarre scents like Bacon, and Movie Night. I have to say, I'm intrigued by the Bacon one, but I don't think it is currently available in the UK.

This weekend, courtesy of Yankee Candle, I was gifted the best one yet. This Vanilla Cupcake candle is a special edition designed to celebrate the brand reaching one million Facebook fans and is a welcome addition to the growing collection I have. Vanilla Cupcake is not a new product but the limited edition repackaging to commemorate the social media milestone. Social Media is important to all of us whether we love it or hate it, everyone's joined some form of network to connect with friends, family and businesses. It has completely changed the way brands communicate with customers. Whilst most of can only dream of reaching the one million milestone, Yankee Candle have done it! For a business to reach a million on any social media channel, it's pretty amazing and I totally understand why they'd want to acknowledge and celebrate it. They are also offering a fan a chance to win a trip to the USA and Golden Ticket to a VIP tour around their factory. You can find out more details and enter the contest on their Facebook Page. If you're mad about candles as I am, it's worth checking out! 

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Newcastle Fashion Weekend

When the events organiser of Newcastle Fashion Week, Sandra, asked me to be one of the Official Bloggers, I was excited but then upon checking my schedule, a lot of things clashed throughout the week and the only event that I could make it to this year was Newcastle Fashion Weekend which was held at my old uni's student union. I was looking forward to step on to the familiar grounds of my student days, and to finally meet Sandra! I'd already missed out on meeting her when we were actually in the same place and the same time during The LOOK Show in London, when she won the Style Search competition and got to style a model for the catwalk.

Prior to my visit, I looked in to what was to be expected. It was described as the North East's own mini Clothes Show Live with panel talks with Ollie Locke as host, stalls to shop at and catwalks to check out. The panel talks I caught were with with university and college tutors which benefited those who were considering of studying fashion courses. There was also presentations from the founder of WIWT.com, Poppy Dinsey, Victoria White who is the editor of Company Magazine and Caryn Franklin.

One of the sponsors of the week long event, Nikki Lissoni, was there with the face of their brand Lauren Pope. Meeting the team behind jewellery brand Nikki Lissoni was great because they were so lovely and full of energy, it made me want to know more about their brand and products. My favourite part of these events isn't the shopping aspect but meeting new people and chatting to them about what they do. They're always so passionate about it, and their enthusiasm rubs off on me. God knows I need a kick up the arse, I've been really uninspired and unmotivated lately. Another person that I was pleased to meet was Melanie Kyles, a talented young girl who's about to complete her studies. Her stall consisted of collar and accessory pieces she has made which promotes and encourages up-cycling. The other stalls I stopped by were the ever popular Mod Dolly who I've been following for ages, and Al's Musique Boutique and Gentlemens Emporium. Even though Al's designs and accessories were for men, his stall was probably my favourite there because of the way it was set up with props and merchandise like vintage trunk cases, photo frames and lots of tweed. I love that seamless cohesiveness with a brand, and you got a real sense of it from the effort he put in his pitch. Primark, Miss Selfridge and Burtons were there but it was the smaller companies that I was most interested in. In the future, I would absolutely love to see more independent retailers involved and maybe more specifically, ones based around the north east. I feel like I have more of a connection with them than the bigger brands, I could've chatted to them all day!

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Head To Toe in Tesco F&F Clothing

Blouse, Watch, Bag and Shoes from F&F Clothing* / Sunglasses RayBan via Pretavoir / Jeans Miss Selfridge

Ok, so I'm not exactly wearing head-to-toe as stated in my blog post title, but I thought it sounded better than "The majority of the clothes I'm wearing here are from F&F Clothing, apart from my jeans and my sunglasses!". When I told my friends where I got my outfit from, they were surprised because in our minds, F&F clothing can be a bit "mumsy", and actually, this is the first time I've bought any clothing from this brand because my local store doesn't stock a huge range of women's clothing, there isn't that much choice. Anyway, I love a good style challenge so when I was given a voucher to buy an outfit, this polka dot blouse was the first thing I put in the shopping cart, it's only £14.00! I have a love-hate relationship with polka dots, but in this particular instance, I love it. If you've clicked the link to the polka dot blouse product listing, you'll have noticed that it doesn't come with the black ribbon tie, this is something I got off an old shirt I already had. I like to add it to most of my shirts! 

I already knew which pair of jeans I wanted to wear with it, so with that in mind, all I needed now was some accessories! It is usually the small details of accessorising that make the outfit look more expensive than it really is. I got these shoes for £10.00 and they're the sweetest black shoes with a small wedge but they nip my feet a lot. It's probably fine when you're going somewhere that doesn't involve much walking, like if you're going for a meal or if you work in an office, for example. But I trekked all around town in these shoes and I had to stop at Superdrug to buy a pack of plasters and cover my feet in them on my way home, hence why there are no close ups of the shoes. I have read the customer reviews for these shoes and most people have given them the thumbs up! The small wedge heel makes the world of difference to your posture and the way you feet and legs look. It's just a shame that they're not comfy on me, but in all my life, I have yet to find a pair of shoes that fit comfortably! I don't think it's anything to do with the shoes, it's my feet, they're just stupid stupid feet! The white handbag goes nicely with my new monochrome outfit, I love bags and a girl can never have enough of them! I almost went for for this pink one as I had the desire of having a focal piece. I'm glad I didn't because the shirt itself is what makes this outfit, anything else would've been too much. The watch is not most stylish but I love love LOVE it. I'm not one for flashy expensive watches so this black strap watch, which was a bargain at £8.00, suits me just fine! 

For the past seven days, F&F have been hosting a Summer campaign by asking people to dress in a different trend each day for a full week. So far, they've had floral, stripes, sixties, accessories, embellishment and today is all about prints! As you can see, I've gone for a classic polka dot print which also fits in nicely with the monochrome trend. There are lots of way to get involved and a winner is selected from three social media channels for each of the seven trends. If you'd like to take part in the F&F 7 Days of Summer challenge and be in with a chance of winning a £75 voucher each day, head to their blog to find our more about how you can enter. Today is the last day so if you are wearing anything with a print on it, click here to find out more! Hope you like how I've styled my F&F  outfit!

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Lace Dress from China Doll Boutique

Dress* Chinadoll Boutique / Coat Miss Selfridge / Bag* Zalando / Sunglasses RayBan via Pretavoir

Newcastle is 100% more pleasant when the sun is shining. You may think that this probably rings true for most places in the world. But I tell you, in the town I currently live in (sadly, not Newcastle), it is miserable 24/7, 365 days a year regardless to whether it's hot or not. It's a lost cause! The Toon, however, is truly loveable when it's sunny. It really really is a whole different place when the weather is warm and the Quayside is busy with those who are relaxing with a glass of wine after work. It's a happier place and I thoroughly enjoy being there. We found a spot in front of The Sage which is situated on top of a hill so you can see over the Quayside (my favourite part of the city) and you get a great scenic view of the iconic Tyne Bridge, which provide a nice backdrop for these outfit photos. I've been waiting to wear this lace dress from China Doll Boutique for ages, it's a really sweet and elegant dress which is made a little bit edgier with a thick black collar and triangular studded gold collar tips. China Doll Boutique is an independent fashion retailer with an eclectic mix of wearable pieces. It sounds like an exciting time for the brand as they're relaunching as Sugar + Spice, I'm excited to see what they have in store!

On the subject of Newcastle, there is a fashion event going on in the city which last until 18th May. Newcastle Fashion Week is back for their third year and a lot of local businesses, such as fashion stores and trendy bars are proudly getting involved so if you're local, get in on the action! It's all such good fun! I've been hearing how amazing it's going and it's fantastic to have this happening in the North East - but I'll tell you more about that in a blog post this week!

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