//Little Girl Lost

A few months ago I shot an editorial style photoshoot for college, but I never got round to posting it on here. I had to choose a theme which took me foreverrr to decide on, but after much deliberation I landed on 'Little Girl Lost'. I really enjoyed creating and styling the shoot, and then the actual taking of the photos was hilarious (cue odd looks from passing dog walkers as my friend changed in the middle of a graveyard), and then afterwards it was really fun to play around with the photos in post-production.

So I did ever so slightly edit these to death, but all I really played around with was the contrast and the lightening/darkening of the photo and the finished look was this gorgeously tacky bleached out effect which I sort of love!

This one I went back and re-edited to look a little more editorial looking and sophisticated - something which I can't say comes naturally to me!//

//Designer Doppelganger

//Time for some new and exciting stuff!! I've been wanting to start a regular feature for some time now, but it's taken me a while to think up something original that hasn't been done a billion times over on countless other blogs. So say hello to 'Designer Doppelgangers'! I think it's pretty self explanatory, but essentially I will be featuring one piece of designer clothing that has been neatly plaster casted by the high street - don't you just love it when that happens? - or one designer catwalk look that I will recreate using high street clothing only.

//Source 1//Source 2//

So our first stylish doppelganger is H&M's tribute to Prada's AW12 geometric print silk trousers. Bar the difference in colour, these casual trousers are doing a pretty good job of a Prada impersonation. Slim-fit leg? Check. All over geometric pattern? Check. Ankle grazing length? Checkity check. I know for a fact that these H&M beauties are already a sell out item as every time I get on the train in Central London there invariably is a 20-something girl sitting at the other end of the carriage wearing them. Well, when they're bearing a £34.99 price tag compared to a £780 one, who can blame them?//

Nuclear Wintour

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She is the most recognised woman in fashion. She is simultaneously respected and feared by everyone. Her ruthless power could make or break you. Anna Wintour is the name that even a lonely recluse living in the Outer Hebrides would have heard uttered at least once in his lifetime.

Her daunting reputation of being the most intimidating woman in fashion makes her so elusively unapproachable – even the thickest of skins who have dared to do so have been reduced to tears within seconds. Even friend of the devil herself, Barbara Amiel, was once quoted saying: "Anna happens to be a friend of mine, a fact which is of absolutely no help in coping with the cold panic that grips me whenever we meet."

So what reduced Anna to deserve the nickname: ’Nuclear Wintour’? If I had to pinpoint I would say her twenty-three years at the helm of American Vogue has turned her into the icon she is today, to put it vaguely. Not only did she turn British Vogue on it’s head and revolutionize it in just a one-year stint, she then returned to the States as Editor-in-Chief to resurrect the slowly deceasing American Vogue also. But she couldn't have done all that and come out the other side with the nickname 'Angel Wintour', or 'Darling Wintour'?

What Wintour says, goes. She famously once said "You either know fashion or you don't," and I don't doubt for a second that she one hundred per cent meant it. There's no question that the woman is our very own devil in Prada. In true homage to Miranda Priestley, I don't imagine Wintour has ever yelled at an employee, she knows that a quietly but precisely executed few words in the style of Mrs Priestley touches more nerves than a rant from a raving lunatic.

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Whether you love her or love to hate her, it's only because she is the fashion-omniscient that gives the industry both it's good and bad name all at once. With a backlog full of editorial successes like hers you can guarantee that she isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

//Keep smiling//

New York Fashion Week SS13 Round Up

I've always been one to get sucked into the excitement of London Fashion Week, but this season I found myself really getting stuck into the New York shows as well. Seeing as it's always the first fashion week of the season New York was actually quite a few weeks ago now, but I still think that a little round up of my favourite shows is in order.

#1

//THEYSKENS' THEORY//

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Recently I've found myself very drawn to soft feminine tailoring, and New York is always sure to have a lot of that on offer. I loved the pared back slouchy feel of this collection - very cool, relaxed and completely wearable. With a predominantly monochrome colour palette infused with inky navy, icy blue and sandy hues, at first the 'natural elements' was brought to the forefront of my mind, which would make sense as the inspiration behind the collection was the deep sea.

#2

//MARC JACOBS//

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There was something of a nod to the sixties in many of the SS13 catwalks - in fact it was more of a head bang than a nod. It's come up as a theme ample times this season and Marc Jacobs followed suit when it came to the era of mods, The Beatles and free spirits. That aside though, his designs were completely contemporary. Models shot down the runway in an abundance of varying stripes that could only remind me of tv static. And bar codes. Combine this with adorable Mickey Mouse motifs and high crop tops paired with low-slung, hip-baring skirts and you've got yourself the sixties all bottled up into one five minute catwalk.

#3

//ELIZABETH AND JAMES//

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Elizabeth and James is Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen's sister line of clothing to their main line, The Row. Inspired by travels around the world, laid back tailoring and beautiful draping are all in hues of terracotta and sherbet pink, making this collection of gorgeous playsuits, jumpsuits and separates bring back memories of summer holidays I wish I was back in.

//Keep smiling x//

London Fashion Week SS13 Round Up

Although to most people the word September instantly brings to mind dark afternoons, umbrellas and hair-ruining winds, to me it can only ever mean one glorious thing - Fashion Week! As last season I got the chance to work backstage at a London catwalk show, I was so sure that this season I'd be able to do the same, swan in and snap up a backstage job just as easily - how wrong I was. But despite not being lucky enough to be a part of the fashion action this time, there is no better way to spend a lazy Sunday morning than by oohing and ahhing over countless runway photos. Although I must say that this time round London didn't wow me quite like it did back in February, however this just meant that the crackers really shone through!

#1

//ASHISH//

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If you are not properly acquainted with Ashish Gupta's work yet, there is only one thing you really need to know - the man loves sequins. For this season he took a spin on what to me is the very tired trend of 'geek chic'. At first I sighed, but then I watched the show and I ate my words. When I thought no more could be done with this trend, Ashish proved me wrong with his signature slogan sweatshirts, denim dungarees of mixed washes styled askew and slouchy one-sleeved evening dresses, all with a heavy dousing of sequins, naturally. And the styling was perfect - mismatching ankle socks, oh-so-uncool reeboks and the return of the scrunchie.

#2

//FELDER FELDER//

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In the past, this twin-designed brand has been full of a youthful rock'n'roll vibe, but this season showed that they can design for the more sophisticated woman too. Sure the leather jacket was still there, but chiffon billowed from underneath it in pastel shades of yellow and pink. And although I wasn't as keen on the sporadic splashings of leopard print, that can always be overlooked when a slouchy butter yellow blazer is thrown on top.

#3

//HOUSE OF HOLLAND//

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Henry Holland has long been a favourite of mine, forever designing for the London girl. At the moment I'm a sucker for the 90's grunge trend and Holland answered my prayers by perfecting it in his SS13 collection. An eclectic mixture of prints: from the typical 90's check and charity shop-esque florals to a rainbow of tie dyed pieces filled the runway, all topped off with a jewel encrusted beanie hat, no less.

#4

//KINDER AGGUGINI//

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Aggugini was actually a designer I had never heard of until that Sunday morning I spent browsing through the shows, but he originally caught my eye for the patterned dungarees. I love a good pair of dungarees. Also in the collection were button down shirts and pinafore dresses that made me very reminiscent of my childhood. Saturating most of the garments were minute detailings of nautical imagery inspired by Hemmingway and trips to Cuba - these too made me reminiscent, but of the time I tried to learn to sail. As a whole I fell in love with the collection, perhaps discounting the evening dresses bearing octopus tentacles though.

Next post will be my review of the stand out collections from New York Fashion Week.

//Keep smiling x//

The V&A: Craig Lawrence and Alexandra Shulman

The V&A is renowned for drawing flocks of people from all over the country to see its outstanding fashion exhibitions and events, so when I saw there was a free catwalk show to attend to and an evening with none other than the British Vogue Editor all in the same day, there was no question about it. Within seconds I was booking my tickets without giving it a second thought.

First up in the afternoon was the catwalk show in the museum’s Raphael Gallery by Craig Lawrence, who was the current subject of the V&A’s Fashion In Motion event. He’s a British knitwear designer who, although maybe being the least well-known designer ever to be chosen for the event, has actually designed six seasons for Gareth Pugh and his ever-growing fanbase includes the likes of Tilda Swinton, Lady Gaga and Bjork.

Lawrence studied at Central Saint Martins where he developed his trademark of using yarns wrapped in metallic foil which appears in nearly every piece he creates. It’s this unconventional use of materials, such as metallic yarns, sweet wrappers and bin bags, that make his collections so distinctive.

On July 20^th it was no different and a textural explosion was sent down the runway in a colour palette of sugary pinks and luxurious golds, balanced out with neutral blacks and beiges. Lawrence had once again created extremely bold and brash shapes in a very feminine way. ‘Fluffy’ and ‘shiny’ are trademark of Lawrence’s work, which was evident when a dress made entirely of sweetie-pink pom-poms sailed past, followed by a gold foil dress that rustled only like a giant Quality Street wrapper could.

In the evening there was the much anticipated talk in the Lecture Theatre with British Vogue Editor in Chief, Alexandra Shulman, where she appeared in conversation with journalist Francine Stock. The talk was created to celebrate Shulman’s 20 year career at the magazine, and also to promote her new novel, ‘Can We Still Be Friends?’ We were focused on a whirlwind history of pivotal Vogue covers from throughout her career at Vogue, before delving into questions about her new book.

She discussed putting an M&S shirt on Amber Valetta on one cover, Kate Moss in the style of David Bowie on another; catastrophe covers (apparently group cover shots sell the worst) and occasionally we stumbled across covers that she couldn’t even remember doing! Ms Shulman has never shied away from a controversial cover and instead embraces the idea, which is why British Vogue has become the daring, occasionally tongue-in-cheek publication it is today.

Her journalistic career started at GQ, so it’s no surprise that Shulman’s priorities lie in business and breaking journalism first, and fashion second. However it becomes quite clear early on that she has the personality cut just right to be at the helm of a leading fashion magazine - her blunt retorts and straight to the point answers are almost a mandatory trait to be an Editor in Chief, yet apart from that she plays to none of the 'Devil Wears Prada’ stereotypes that were expected.

Alexandra Shulman on the left, and Francine Stock on the right, questioning the idea of putting Bono on a cover
-Bad quality as this one was taken on my phone-

Keep smiling x

Prairie Charms

I recently received this bracelet from the lovely people at Prairie Charms after getting involved with their collaborative venture, 'Project Blogger'. I chose the Laura friendship wrap bracelet as I thought it suited my style best, although there were so many other designs which I may be going back for another time.

Apart from the design I chose, every piece of jewellery has a really cute and inspirational saying for a name, such as 'Tomorrow is going to be the best day ever' and 'Peace comes from within', and their range is growing every day, already they are venturing out into brooches.

On top of that, the greatest aspect of Prairie Charms is that 10% of the profit from every purchase goes to Great Ormand Street Hospital's 'Kiss It Better' campaign, which is truly great for a fairly small brand to be making such a big statement like that. Plus it arrived in the most adorable parcel, wrapped in brown printed tissue paper and all tied up in pink bow, what's not to love about this brand?!

Styled with my Monki T-shirt and Topshop jeans, along with a few of my own bracelets and rings, I've worn it a lot over the past few days as it puts quite a pretty and girly spin on my not-so-girly wardrobe, and it makes just as good a statement stacked with other bracelets as it does on its own.

Pop over to Prairie Charms to check out their beautifully unique range and pick up your own brooch or bracelet before they're all gone!

Keep smiling x

3 days in the 'London College of Fashion' life

I don't think I mentioned it on here (I know I certainly tweeted about it a lot) but this week I spent three days doing a short course on Fashion Journalism at the London College of Fashion. It was such an eye-opening experience and one I won't ever forget. We were taught by a freelance journalist so we knew we were getting first-hand experience of what real life behind the glossy covers of magazines is really like, and that the information we were getting bombarded with was sure to be invaluable.

After arriving forty minutes early at the Lime Grove branch of the university, me and 11 other nervous girls were eventually led upstairs to the room where, over the next three days, we would be promised to be turned into fabulous young journalists. We spent the morning getting to know one another and finding out what the course would entail. I was amazed at how far some people had travelled just to be on this course - from as far as Brighton to Ireland, even Italy and Ukraine. Us Londoners were in the minority! We then spent some time getting to grips with some key knowledge of the fashion and journalism industries.

After our lunch break we were already being sent out on a field trip to Westfield White City shopping centre, which is literally a two minute walk from the uni - it's always a bonus to have Europe's second largest shopping mall a stone's throw away from where you study! Our task was to find a trend either within the stores, the street style, the shop fittings - basically anything goes as long as it was fashion-related and a story could be made out of it. It was a struggle for all of us to be walking around Westfield yet not being allowed to shop, but eventually we decided that our story would be based on the Olympic spirit (or lack of it) around the mall.

Our second day saw us present and write up the trend story we had found the day before to our tutor, and may I add, I think she loved our idea! Then for the afternoon another trip, this time to Coppernob design studios, situated just behind Urban Outfitters on Oxford Street. We got to have a snoop around the showroom and design studio before interviewing the design director on subjects like her work process and sustainability. By chance the CEO and owner or Coppernob was in the building whilst we were visiting so we also got to have an extremely intriguing interview with him, a man who can only be described as a 'typical fashion character', in other words, a very eccentric and passionate man indeed!

After all our trips out (which did involve some light shopping, of course!), the third and final day was a lot more educational based. A day spent in the classroom having discussions about everything and anything, from our favourite item of fashion to what makes for an unforgettable style icon. 

I was absolutely nerve-wracked before I started the course, what with knowing about the intimidating yet prestigious reputation LCF hold, however it was all for no reason as the tutor was unbelievably nice, and I met some fabulously interesting girls from all over the place who I sincerely hope to stay friends with as we would never have had the chance to meet each other without this course bringing us together. With the course spanning from writing styles to branding and advertising, fashion icons to interview techniques, I'm certain we have all taken something different away from the course, and I hope an improvement in my writing will be somewhat noticeable!

My next few posts will probably be quite article-based as I will be writing up some of the stories we concocted over the past week, but I hope these will still be of interest to everyone as they will generally be quite short and light-hearted pieces. On another COMING SOON note, I have a review of a Prairie Charms bracelet about to hit your screens soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that within the next few days as it's a real beauty.

Keep smiling x

Topshop Unique AW12 drop

To me it always feels too early to start seeing heavy coats and wooly jumpers back on the shelves again, but this year the high street has been rolling the autumn/winter stock out particularly early due to the miraculous disappearance of our UK summer, and let's face it, jumpers and cardigans can sell for way more than strappy camisoles can. So today Topshop dropped their autumn/winter Unique collection which I have been desperately anticipating since watching the show online back in February - yes, sadly I am one of those people who spends the majority of every London Fashion Week glued to my laptop, live streaming all the shows. 

http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CatalogNavigationSearchResultCmd?catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&langId=-1&viewAllFlag=false&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208522&parent_categoryId=459528&beginIndex=1&pageSize=20

What's amazing is that between this morning when the collection went live on the website and when I went to screengrab a few pictures for this post this afternoon, half the clothes I had 'oohed' and 'ahhed' over hours before had already sold out and disappeared from the site! It's priced extortionately high yet it is still flying off the virtual shelf! Who is buying it all?!

Here's how Topshop sum up the collection: 

For AW12 the Topshop girl has grown up. But leave all notions of prim at the door, because this is grown-up dressing like you've never seen it before! Our in-house design team started their journey months ago, taking inspiration from uniform in all its guises. So military came to the fore, but also urban uniform dressing, like peaked caps, exposed zips and boots made for stomping. They dreamt the collection up as a stream of pieces to be seen on the runway and worn on the street.

As I mentioned in my previous post, funds for summer are running worryingly low so I guess for now I will stick to gazing at the £295 jumper from afar. Sob.

Oh and I almost forgot! I have some pretty exciting news, I recently became a contributing fashion writer for shakeupthesky.com, so from now on I may occasionally be subtly urging you to check out what I've been writing over there, too! Or if you follow me on twitter @Georgia_NGreen you can get instant updates on when my articles go up.

Keep smiling x

Ibiza, baby!

I am being driven positively insane at the moment - partially due to the miserable London weather, but mostly due to the fact that my mother will not shut up about said dreary weather. It's amazing the amount of times one person can call me in a day purely to fill me in what the weather is doing! It's insane behaviour, and I can only blame those ghastly grey, looming clouds for the whole of Britain's ridiculous OCD on this topic, and for the sorry lack of vitamin D in all our bodies. BAD BRITISH CLOUDS. All I can say is, "Bring on Ibiza, baby!" In three weeks I will be blissfully sunning myself on the gorgeous island of Ibiza, and I'm sorry if this sounds like I'm bragging, but it's probably because I am! I don't even care, I can't contain my excitement!

So to get me in the holiday mood I've been whiling away the hours by pouring over summery clothes on the internet, and I thought I'd put together another little wishlist, Ibiza style! Big emphasis on the 'wish' though, I seem to be burning through my 'summer funds' awfully quickly and it's barely mid-July, oops...

1.
A lightweight, pretty black cami is what I've been searching for for what feels like ages now, and this one from Yayer seems to be a perfect fit to what I've been looking for, plus it's reduced, score!
(picture from: http://www.yayer.co.uk/product/just-black-drape-top)
2.
I've always been one to go for brightly patterned bikini's because holidays seem to be the only time that I properly splash out on the colour, but I thought it was time I went for a more pared down design, just to add that sophisticated edge to my extensive collection of swimwear. To me, a simple black bikini seems to have that same air of class and sexiness as a little black dress does, and I can do with all the help I can get in these areas! This one's from Topshop.
(Picture from: http://www.topshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?beginIndex=0&viewAllFlag=&catalogId=33057&storeId=12556&productId=5331048&langId=-1&sort_field=Relevance&categoryId=208534&parent_categoryId=203984&pageSize=20&refinements=Colour{1}~[black]^category~[209809|208534]&noOfRefinements=2)
3.
Another Yayer item! Their newly dropped vintage 90's range had me going weak at the knees, and I think this dress needs to be in my life. I don't even have a reasonable explanation as to why, other than it rocks, just like the rest of the collection.
(Picture from: http://www.yayer.co.uk/product/neon-sours-dress)
4.
I recently chopped my hair and returned it back to it's natural state of a middle parting (growing out the shaved side I had!), and although it's shameful to say, one of the main reasons I did this was so I could wear a headchain. I hang my head in shame at being so drastic as to cut and totally restyle my hair just so I can cash in on a trend, but my god I love these headchains so much! I'm not too sure if this is the one I'll definitely get, but it's from BizArtGallery via Etsy.
(Picture from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/99040655/double-chain-headband-head-piece)
5.
Another Etsy beauty, this time in the form of a crop top reworked from vintage fabrics. Sunclassix do some amazing pieces of clothing in crazy awesome fabrics, to be honest it was a pretty tough decision to make when I was deciding which one to use on the wishlist, if I could have them all I would do so in a heartbeat.
(Picture from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/102741910/70s-horses-running-on-waves-pink-crop)

Oh and I can proudly say that despite them being discontinued and completely sold out online, I managed to nab myself a pair of the Topshop denim shorts from my previous wishlist post. I did have to buy them one size up from what I usually get, but it's nothing a belt can't fix!

Keep smiling x

P.s Is anyone saying the title 'Ibiza, baby!' how Joey from Friends says "London, baby!"?

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

Better late than never eh?! As promised, just a few outfit shots from the weekend in Brighton, and also as promised, this will be the last Brighton-related post. The weather, of course, kept to the true British style of being completely unpredictable so we hadn't a clue what to pack for, which resulted in each of us cramming half our wardrobes in to our suitcases to prepare us for whatever weather should come our way. I guess this kind of worked in our favour as at least we had an extensive range of outfit possibilities!

Even though these first pictures make it look deceivingly like we were somewhere positively tropical, we were still on the British coast so the gale force winds were at full throttle - cue utterly windswept hairstyles.

I'm wearing: Jacket - The Ragged Priest, Top - H&M, Jeans - Primark, Flatforms - Urban Outfitters, Sunglasses - Primark.

Karolina (right) is wearing: Jumper - New Look, Top - H&M, Jeans - Primark, Shoes - Topshop, Sunglasses - H&M.

Anya (left) is wearing: Jumper - Pretty Snake (via Etsy), Dress - Laura Ashley (charity shop), Shoes - Topshop.

Friday evening turned a little chillier to say the least, but nevertheless we dolled ourselves up to go out for a meal. It bothers me that I still look a wee bit awkward in front of a camera, however both my friends seem to be much more at home in front of the lens than I am!

Karolina (left) is wearing: Denim shirt - Vintage Wholesale, Top - H&M, Jeans - Primark, Shoes - Topshop, Necklace - H&M, Sunglasses - Primark.

Anya (right) is wearing: Jacket - Levi's, Shirt - Absolute Vintage, Skirt - M&S, Shoes - Doc Marten, Earrings - Primark.

I'm wearing: Cardigan - Charity shop, Top - Charity shop, Jeans - Topshop, Shoes - Urban Outfitters, Necklace - Topshop, Headband - Urban Outfitters, Sunglasses - H&M.

Saturday saw yet more shopping (surprise surprise!). Despite that there wasn't actually any rain, Karolina was determined to wear her new raincoat, purchased the day before, so lo and behold she did just that! And I'm not quite sure why I look so rough here, but in hindsight I'm thinking maybe I should have donned some big sunglasses too. Friday's late night had clearly caught up with me...

I'm wearing: Cardigan - Charity shop, Dungarees - Brick Lane Vintage Market.

Karolina is wearing: Raincoat - Topshop, Sunglasses - H&M.

Keep smiling x