You are perfect...
A thought for today and every day of your lives...
28/05/2014
24/04/2014
Spring into Summer with Harvey Nichols
It's been a busy old spring and here I am slapping myself for not getting on here regularly again. Note to self: must try harder.
The reasons I've been so busy? Well, mostly work related to be honest. I work in PR and for some very nice clients which I'm either working on some interesting projects for, or I'm attending events as a result of and so on. Certainly can't complain.
It's been a whirlwind of networking dos, fashion shows, lunches and launches, but what I really want to to tell you about is the Harvey Nichols Spring/Summer 2014 fashion show I attended few weeks back.
Scaled back in terms of guest list in comparison to the past few seasons' shows, this time around the list totalled just 150 specially invited guests, clients and VIPs. It was also moved to a new venue - a so far disused space on John Bright Street. Small on the outside, once upstairs the space was large, open and although bare, very cool, creating a suitably spacious, urban setting for the upmarket store's highly anticipated show.
With London brother DJ duo, the Dixon Bros (one half of whom I went to University with), who also host a regular show on Kiss FM, on the decks, models strutted their stuff in the latest designers looks for the guests to peruse.
Six scenes featured within the show, showcasing the biggest trends for the new season:
Prints
Sports Luxe
Sheer and Pleats
Yellow
Tribal and Folklore
Evening
Mixed and clashing prints featured heavily throughout, with the colour schemes mostly brights.
Yellow was a major colour trend, in everything from flowing dresses to more structured shorts and suits.
My favourite items from the show - as always - were the shoes. In particular a fluorescent pair of pointed stilettos and a fab pair of yellow strappy Sophia Webster sandals (below).
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| Skirt - Philip Armstrong, sandals - Sophia Webster |
Shapes in the womenswear collections reflected very much the theme of 'anything goes', as did the hemlines: short shorts, mini skirts and dresses, midi skirts (including a particularly fab electric blue one from the wonderful Philip Armstrong - above) through to long flowing pleated skirts.
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| Kenzo dress, Nicholas Kirkwood sandals, Deepa Gurnami headband |
My favourite, which I unfortunately didn't manage to get a good shot of, was a beautiful long, red dress... well, you can't go wrong in red can you?
See below for a few more looks from the show:
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| Parker jacket, Parker shorts, Alaïa ankle boots |
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| MSGM top, MSGM skirt, Jimmy Choo caged sandals, Jimmy Choo bag |
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| Mary Katrantzou dress, Christian Louboutin shoes, Ray-Ban sunglasses |
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| Markus Lupfer dress, Roland Mouret ankle boots |
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| Proenza Schouler dress, Christian Louboutin shoes, Alexander McQueen clutch |
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| Pinko jacket, Pinko shorts, Kenzo shirt, Christian Louboutin shoes, Gucci bag |
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| Pinko blouse, Christopher Kane skirt, Aquazzura sandals |
03/03/2014
Sunday Brunch is Big in Brum
Picture this: You've been out on Saturday night, you've had a few cocktails, a few wines, then the next morning you wake up and what is on your mind (aside from the dull pain of a mild hangover)? FOOD.
At that moment, all good intentions to eat moderate, healthy portions fly straight out of the window and you want as much tasty, delicious food as you can fit on your plate and, more importantly, in your soon-to-be expanded belly. Besides, it's Sunday right? You can eat what you want.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is exactly what happened to me not long ago (well, most weekends to be honest, I won't lie, but most Sunday's aren't as successful as the one I'm about to tell you about).
This particular Sunday I awoke in anticipation of the feast that was awaiting me in the 'local' Malmaison Brasserie. 'The Biggest Sunday Brunch in Town', they said. Well, OK, I thought - there are lots of places that do giant full English breakfasts, so we'll see how true this claim is.
Off I popped to meet a few lovely blogger friends (see below). Firstly I was greeted with a Bloody Mary - Praise the Lord! Sadly, I have to admit I was in dire need of this to pick me up a little as I arrived amongst lots more much fresher faces than mine was that particular morning.
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| Bloggers at Brunch! |
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| Eggs Royale |
After a little refreshment and placing our order, we were lead through to the chef's table which had on it the most scrumptious looking display of breakfast choices. 'Biggest Brunch in Town' was starting to become clear - you could load up your plate with as much or as little as you wanted from this table. We're talking unlimited hors d'oeuvres, cold meats, cheeses, smoked salmon, hot smoked salmon, pates, terrines, eggs, waffles and pancakes.
The 'piece de resistence' for me - at least aesthetically - was the hand carved Serrano ham. Although I didn't actually try it so I couldn't judge on taste.
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| Hand carved Serrano Ham |
I just about managed to walk home, where I proceeded to have a lazy Sunday afternoon on the sofa allowing my absolute feast of a brunch to go down whilst I attempted to watch the football on a fuzzy online stream. Aside from the fuzzy stream, I'd say that was a pretty successful morning/afternoon!
Of course you don't have to follow a big night out with a Sunday Brunch of such epic proportions. In fact, next time I'd be inclined to eat soup and salad the day before and then go for a long run in the morning just to make way for those extra calories I tried my hardest to resist last time.
If you fancy a treat of a Sunday morning, I'd recommend it!
More info here.
21/01/2014
Lisa Shepherd launches new Express Color Bar
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I'm a little late saying this, but hell, who cares - Happy New Year everybody! I don't know about anyone else, but I'm thrilled to get rid of 2013. I know,I know, you should try and be positive but quite frankly mine was filled with useless men, silly phone companies, more lost and broken heels than I care to remember (and for a high heel obsessed girl like me, believe me, that's painful), a realisation that on turning 31 I'm older than Bridget Jones and STILL my Mr Darcy hasn't popped up and told me he likes me just the way I am... the only good things I think I discovered were to do with my hair. (Maybe that's a slight exaggeration.)
As shallow as it sounds, your hair is something that always makes you feel a million dollars if it's looking good - even if you don't genuinely feel great at that particular moment.
My first hair related discovery was at Lisa Shepherd Birmingham - located by 'Pigeon Park' and Colmore Row in the centre of Birmingham.
Having identified a gap in the market for swift colour treatments for ladies-on-the-go; be that busy businesswomen, busy mums or otherwise, and realising the popularity of the express styling and colour bars in the US, Lisa Shepherd embarked on creating a version for the UK market.
The Lisa Shepherd Express Color Bar was born. (NB - no that spelling of 'Color' is not a typo).
Now, anyone who knows me well enough should know that I've always been very into changing my hair colour. Frustratingly, yet wisely, my mother always forbid me to permanently dye my hair as a young'un, which meant that as a naturally very dark brunette, most hair colours would make very little difference when applied. Cue several cans of Wella Colour Mousse and a brightly dyed pillow, rather than hair, when I was 13 years old, as I desperately tried to prove my better knowledge wrong.
However, when I hit my twenties, I'd finished university and was earning proper money for the first time in my life, I decided to go blonde. Not just slightly, but fully. This was great until my hair started breaking off. So then I chopped my hair into a fab short bob, and dyed my hair bright red. I kept getting brighter and brighter until I started heading towards 30 years old - the age my mother started to go grey (incidentally this was after having me... hmmm) and I decided to dye my hair back to normal, let it grow out and restore my hair's condition.
Fast forward to now and I'm 31, still no grey hairs (well, I found one the other day, but that's the grand total, and it no longer resides on my head since I plucked it out instantly in protest to its presence), and I'm getting itchy feet - or rather follicles - again.
Being introduced to the Lisa Shepherd Color Bar - launched only in the latter end of 2013 - was fantastic. I still don't want to stray too far from my natural colour whilst it's an actual colour and not grey, so one of their express colour treatments - Glossy Locks - is perfect. For dark hair such as mine, the colour treatment adds a subtle hint of colour, but not only that. it acts as a super conditioning treatment too (hence the name of it) making your hair fantastically smooth and glossy.
I decided to try it out just before my birthday at the end of November and whilst the red colour gave my hair a warmer, richer tone, the glossiness was amazing, as was the feel.
The concept of the colour bar is that it is quick and you can style your hair how you like in the shortest time possible so that you can easily fit it into your day. I had an hour to spare, and that's exactly the time I was in there. A far cry from the 3 hours I previously spent in the hairdressers getting my hair coloured and over-styled!
For lighter hair, especially blonde, this is fantastic for an easy change of colour without committing to something too in-your-face!
Another option on the Express Color Bar is Fast Track. I have yet to try this, but never fear, there is no doubt I will be trying this out. This option works as ready made temporary brightly coloured extensions to add a striking flash of colour to your locks. Available in a selection of vivid colours, this is one sure-fire way to jazz up your look for that big night out, or simply for a bit of a change!
The added benefit of the new Lisa Shepherd Express Color Bar is the price. We all know that in general, getting your hair dyed professionally can cost an arm of a leg. Because these options are relatively quick-fix, despite delivering fantastic results all treatments are under or around the £30 mark. Conveniently quick, conveniently priced... there's lots of talk about your day to night outfit and fast face fixes for that office to evening glam look, well now there's an option to switch your hair in your lunch break ready for the night ahead!
Go and try it out ladies. We live in a world where everything is available 'now'. Well, now that applies to your hair.
For details about Lisa Shepherd salons and the new Express Color Bar, visit http://www.lisashepherd.co.uk/
14/11/2013
Skeletons on the catwalk
Just scrolling through my Instagram stream before I went to bed this evening (as I do - what on earth I did in the times mobile phones could only make calls or text I don't know), I came across a couple of images posted by a US based fashion editor, of a couple of outfits from an Yves Saint Laurent catwalk show. Except I couldn't tell you what those outfits were because my attention was demanded instead by the frighteningly skeletal frames of the models wearing the clothes.
When will these designers stop doing this? Not only do these poor girls look like they're swamped by the clothes and about to keel over through starvation, but the clothes just look shapeless and no better than they would look if simply presented on a shop hanger. Hardly the way you'd want to present something you've worked so hard on for womanly, curved bodies to wear, surely?
And just for the record, yes, I do mean poor - I don't believe for a second that any of these skeletal, sinewy looking models are naturally so thin if they're maintaining a remotely healthy lifestyle. And I think it's absolutely disgusting that any model agent, designer or otherwise should be allowed to put pressure on any of them to reach such a weight.
This just cheapens any attempt the fashion industry makes to convince us - usually with a token "plus size" model here and there - that they're trying to change the way things are. Here, one of the world's most prestigious designers, turns all those efforts right on their head.
What happened to the beautiful, slim and healthy look of the original supermodels such as Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, Linda Evangelista et al? They'd still look far better on the catwalk showing off designer creations at circa 40 years of age than these super SKINNY models nowadays do.
I've said my piece. It probably won't make a morsel of difference, but one person continuing to harp on about it is better than none.
12/11/2013
Birmingham Town Hall Turns Purple for Pancreatic Cancer
This evening - Tuesday November 12th - Birmingham Town hall will be lit up in purple as part of a campaign by a small new Midlands support group to raise awareness of Pancreatic Cancer - a disease that has the lowest survival rate of almost every other form of cancer.
Currently the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the UK, the disease receives less than 1% of all research funding, which is what prompted the Midlands support group's three founder members to set up in September this year - to work with all those who are touched by the disease in some way.
Laura Wilks, one of three founder members of the newly formed support group, said: “The five year survival
rate is less than 4% and shockingly most cases are diagnosed too late for
surgery. We all feel that awareness is absolutely key to making a difference
and wanted to do something that would make people sit up and take notice."
You may be wondering why I am writing about this on my style blog. The reason is that I know how quickly and viciously pancreatic cancer can take hold of even the fittest of us. A neighbour from my childhood, and then in more recent years my former dentist were both diagnosed with the disease and in what seemed like mere months, both sadly lost their battle. These are the cases of all people I've known who have suffered from a form of cancer that have most shocked me.
They were both very fit, very healthy men - my neighbour was a policeman who pounded the streets on a regular basis and my dentist was a regular on the tennis courts at the David Lloyd gym I once worked at.
I never saw the effects of the disease taking hold of my neighbour - perhaps thankfully, as I can always remember him as I knew him - fit and healthy.
Unfortunately, when it came to my dentist (the only one I ever really liked and trusted, too) the disease took hold of him in the period of time between my six monthly check-up. I only found out because I'd raved so much about him to my dad that he'd switched his dentist to mine and then shortly after came his diagnosis.
Months later, shortly before my check-up was due, I'd been to my dad's local pub for dinner and, just as we were leaving, there was a little commotion at the doors. In walked my dentist, held up by his two friends; skeletal, weak... I'm not sure I have ever been so shocked by anything in my life. At that point, you could tell there wasn't much time left. It was almost like his last chance to spend with his friends, at his local, as he would have done regularly for so long. He died a week or two later.
No form of cancer is pleasant for anyone - those who are going through it and those whose friends or loved ones are going through it. If by raising awareness of the types of disease and the support groups we can help, in however small a way, contribute to helping save or support just one life, any effort will be worth it.
The Town Hall will be lit up at circa 5.30pm. If you're in the area, do go along to show your support.
The support group in the Midlands is new, having only just set up in September. If you want to contact them or would like more information about what they do, email lauracwilks@gmail.com or visit the
group’s website at http://www.pancreatic-cancer-support.weebly.com/.
For more information about Pancreatic Cancer visit www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk.
28/10/2013
An Evening With Nicky Clarke
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| Luxx Mint, Nicky Clarke, myself and Alev from What's On |
A few weeks back, I went along to check out the salon and take part in an exclusive Q&A session with the man that started it all off in the first place, Mr Nicky Clarke himself.
The legendary (in my eyes at least) Nicky Clarke was the one hairdresser 'to the stars' that always stood out to me from a young age. The styles he created were the epitome of style and glamour and I could only dream that one day I might have the opportunity to meet the man, let alone have him work his magic on my own hair. And well, the latter is still to be achieved, although he did do a couple of quick demonstrations on how to make the best out of my naturally curly hair (see photos via the link below).
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| Nicky and one of the hair stylists from his Birmingham salon doing a demonstration during the evening. |
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| A snapshot of the Glossy magazine covers for which Nicky Clarke has done the styling, displayed in the new Birmingham salon in the Mailbox. |
To see a few photos of the salon, Nicky and the guests during the evening, go HERE.
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