max stars

MAX STARS*

Say hello to the coolest new addition to my shoe collection - these platform converses by Max Star. They're so comfortable & honestly I can't stop staring at them; they're amazing! I was so torn between getting these and the white ones, but opted for black as I already have some white flatforms. They look great worn true 80's-style with some light wash skinny jeans, but are also fab at dressing down disco pants or a skirt - so versatile. I can't wait to post some outfits of me wearing these beauties! To get a 10% discount on a pair of Max Stars, enter 'AMYMACE' at the checkout - the code will expire on the 15th Jan.

P.S Apologies for the gross baggy-at-the-knee jeans. They're the Topshop Leigh's and for for some reason stretched completely out of shape after only a few wears! I took them back and exchanged them for a different wash, which are so much better and are ACTUALLY skinny. So watch out for the blue ones people - it could just have been mine that were dodgy, but be warned!

Until next time!

xoxo

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purple velvet

SHIRT - VINTAGE/JEANS - TOPSHOP/'ABBI' BOOTS - ASOS/NECKLACE - TOPSHOP/BRACELET - EBAY/WATCH - CASIO (via AMAZON)

Hello again everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are as excited for the start of 2013 as I am! I wore this outfit for a family meal on Christmas Eve Eve - I wore pretty much the same outfit on Christmas Day, but swapped the jeans for a black skater skirt and tights! I absolutely love this shirt and it was perfect for over Christmas - warm, cosy, comfortable, capable of hiding a food baby, and a little bit festive. 
I'm planning on hitting the sales up in town tomorrow with my mum - what shops would you recommend? Where should we avoid? Hopefully I'll get some good bargains to share with you over the next few days!

xoxo

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merry christmas!

 

Just a quick post to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I can't believe the day has finally arrived; I hope you all have a lovely time over the next few days, and I'll see you once I've recovered from all the festivities! Comment below if you fancy sharing the best present that you've received today - I'd love to hear them!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

xoxo

festive glitter

JACKET - OASAP*/JEANS - MISS SELFRIDGE/TOP - TOPSHOP/BELT - DOROTHY PERKINS/BRACELETS - EBAY/WATCH - CASIO (via AMAZON)/CLUTCH BAG - PRIMARK/BOOTS - CHOCKERS/SOCKS - TOPSHOP

I wore this outfit to my work Christmas party last weekend - I'm not usually one for heels but recently I've been trying to wear them more often when I have the occasion to. I love the way they look but always tend to feel self conscious about my height! I also love these Miss Selfridge jeans because they are great to wear when you're trying to look smart/casual, mainly due to the dark wash and flattering high waist. If you can't afford the AA Easy Jeans I would definitely recommend opting for these instead. Lastly, the glittery socks top it all off with a festive twist - I need to get another pair because I seriously find myself wanting to wear them all the time!

Happy Christmas Eve-Eve everyone!

xoxo

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black & gold

JUMPER - GLAMOROUS*/SKIRT - RIVER ISLAND/BELT - DOROTHY PERKINS/CREEPERS - OFFICE

This is a pretty darn plain and boring ensemble, but I wanted to show you this fab studded jumper I was sent from Glamorous a little while ago & have only just got around to posting, despite having worn it numerous times. It's warm and comfy, & certainly jazzes up the simple monochrome look I've got going on! 
I haven't really got much to say today, other than I'm so unbelievably excited for Christmas (a week today YES). But I'm also so gutted that one of my main presents (Jeffrey Campbell Litas) won't be here on time because the company I've ordered them off have majorly messed up my order and somehow managed to damage them in transit. Numerous angry emails later and they're still refusing to dispatch a new pair until the damaged ones are back in their hands, so it looks like I won't even be wearing them to the New Years Eve festivities... how totally crap. I know it's not the worst thing in the world that could happen but I would prefer to have my Christmas presents on the actual day rather than the following year! So I'm feeling pretty disgruntled right now!

Anyway, I hope you're all having a lovely week!

xoxo

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victoria & albert museum fashion festival 2012

EMMA ZENTNER FROM BOOM NAILS SPOKE ABOUT BEING A NAIL ARTIST

WILL (PR) AND ANNA (DIGITAL MARKETING) SPOKE ABOUT CAREERS IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY

TASTER WORKSHOPS - JEWELLERY MAKING AND FASHION DESIGN

A TALK BY HYWEL DAVIES ON FASHION JOURNALISM

DESIGNER MARY KATRANTZOU IN CONVERSATION WITH SARAH MOWER FROM THE BFC

TASTER WORKSHOP - FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY

A TALK ON SETTING UP A FASHION LABEL BY IAN KETTLE

A TALK ON BECOMING A FASHION STYLIST BY ZEBA LOWE - FASHION STYLIST FOR ASOS

KRISTOFJ VON STRASS AND KELLY MARIE BURDEKIN ON VISUAL MERCHANDISING AT BEYOND RETRO

As I'm sure many of you are aware (due to my regular plugs at the end of posts & excitable tweets), I attended the Victoria and Albert Museum's annual Fashion Festival in association with the British Fashion Council last Saturday for the third year in a row. The event is always organised by the lovely girls on the Create! Voice team, who run many events at the V&A throughout the year for young people. 
The Fashion Festival is a free event geared up specifically for 16-24 year old's, and this year there was an array of amazing speakers - the names get bigger every year! You could hear industry insiders speak about careers in nail art, visual merchandising, putting on a fashion show, fashion journalism and fashion photography, as well as trying your hand at bag design, jewellery making and fashion illustration to name but a few. There was also the opportunity to chat with fashion industry moguls informally (I had a lovely natter with Alex Butt - acting Fashion Features Editor for ASOS) and get advice from Careers Advisors from the University of Kent. As you can tell there was a packed schedule; I haven't even mentioned everything!
One of my favourite talks was by Emma Zentner - founder of Boom Nails - who spoke about the new pop up Boom Nails shed in Urban Outfitters (Westfield White City), her collaboration with UO and Nail Rock, what inspires her nail art, and how her whole career whirlwind began with a modest nail art blog. 
Fashion Journalist Hywel Davies was also great, and had lots to say about the prestigious publications he has written for as a freelance journalist (Vogue.com and VogueUK, Sleazenation, Fashion Inc, ElleUK, The Independent, The Telegraph, Grazia and Nylon to name a few), how he went about publishing his four books, and the qualities he believes are necessary if you're to succeed as a fashion journalist (I was hastily taking note)!
Other highlights included seeing Mary Katrantzou in the flesh, meeting ASOS stylist Zeba Lowe (and cheekily slipping her my business card...), and listening to total kook Kristofj von Strass - Head of Visual Merchandising at Beyond Retro - talk about his work and his inspiration; I totally loved him and his vintage attire! 

So that's that - a quick round up of my day at the Fashion Fest. I really hope this post has given you all a little insight into the event, and that it has inspired some of you to attend next year. I'll definitely keep you all posted on the details when the date swings around! 

Which talks would you have loved to attend?

xoxo

P.S Sorry about the quality of some of the photos - my camera isn't great in electric lighting!

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double trouble

COAT - MANGO (via ASOS)/DENIM JACKET - VINTAGE/DRESS* - MATALAN/BLOUSE - NEW LOOK/BAG - EBAY/TRAINERS - RIVER ISLAND/WATCH - CASIO (via AMAZON)

I love me a bit of sparkle, and this dress from the Matalan teen range fits the brief like no other (I wore it in the Matalan video here). It's perfect for nights out, but is equally as easy to dress down with a big coat, a splash of denim and some flatform trainers. I quite like layering different jackets underneath my big wool coat - it adds warmth as well as a little bit of style!
Also, how amazing is this rucksack?! I'd been on the hunt for one for absolutely ages, and finally bought this bad boy from vintage seller Violet's Attic for £15 - a total bargain in my view seeing as it's genuine leather and just so damn perfect. 

What accessories are you loving this A/W?

xoxo

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nintendo's new style boutique

 

 

NINTENDO 3DS XL/NINTENDO'S NEW STYLE BOUTIQUE

When the amazing and lovely Laura from Nintendo got in touch a few weeks ago asking if I'd be interested in trialing and reviewing a new game for the Nintendo 3DS, I was absolutely over the moon. I used to play on my Nintendo DS 24/7 (before I sold it to pay for my Reading ticket... boo) and couldn't wait to rekindle my love for all things Nintendo. 

New Style Boutique puts you in charge of your very own boutique; you handle everything from serving customers and selecting stock, to interior decoration and dressing the window display. As your reputation as store manager grows and your boutique moves from strength to strength, you are able to introduce new brands, expand to menswear, and even take part in styling competitions as well as open a web shop where you can interact with fellow boutique managers from all over the world. 
I must be honest - despite my willingness to give the game a go, my initial expectations weren't too high due to previous experiences I've had with fashion-related video games (anyone remember 'Imagine...Fashion Designer'?). However I can now confess that in spite of myself, I did get well and truly hooked on New Style Boutique. It was a little bit of a slow starter (boy do the characters love to talk), but once you get into it, you REALLY get into it. It was fun meeting customer's demands (even if the pieces they wanted you to pick out for them were totally hideous), and I was so chuffed when I progressed far enough to unlock the hair salon and worked out how to get dip-dyed hair for my avatar - she actually started to look scarily like me (yeah I know I'm sad). The graphics were good and there was a great selection of items to dress your avatar and your customers in (over 12,000 according to the box!). I'm not sure how realistic the game is to running a real life boutique, but it's certainly a very entertaining (and probably significantly more relaxing) way of getting a taster for it! You get to dabble in styling, visual merchandising, buying, customer service.. you name it, you'll do it in New Style Boutique ladies. Now can you see why I loved it so much?

All in all, I would say that this is a fun, light-hearted way to spend time and play at being a stylist/boutique manager, no matter what your age (I've certainly proved that it can be fun and addictive however old you are)! Having said that, I reckon New Style Boutique would be particularly popular with slightly younger girls, and would therefore make a fab stocking filler/Christmas gift for any little ladies who love a bit of fashion. It's totally inoffensive and such a great way to wile away the hours - I played it mostly in front of the telly! 
I was also super duper impressed with the Nintendo 3DS XL console - the 3D effect was bang on and the huge, bright screen made gaming a whole lot more enjoyable (and added a great new dimension to that dip dyed hair)...

Will any of you be channeling your inner child and trying out New Style Boutique? Will you be purchasing it for any little relatives this Christmas?

xoxo

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pleather & velvet

TOP - TOPSHOP/SKIRT - RIVER ISLAND/JACKET - VINTAGE/WATCH - CASIO (via AMAZON)/CREEPERS - OFFICE/NECKLACE -ACCESSORIZE

I absolutely adore this 'pleather' skirt from River Island and it's fast becoming one of my wardrobe staples - if you haven't yet bought one I suggest that you do (there's one on offer from pretty much every brand under the sun so no excuses)! It's such an easy piece to wear day to day, yet seems to jazz up even the most basic of outfits - such a winner in my book.

Also, just another little reminder about the Fashion Festival going on tomorrow at the Victoria and Albert Museum. I will be milling around along with Jazmine and a whole host of incredible guest speakers - all the talks are completely free, you don't need to sign up or be invited, and it's always an amazing event and the perfect time to learn about working in the industry from the people who know best (trust me, I've been for the last two years), so if you live in/around London you should definitely consider popping in. It would be great to see some of you there - send me a tweet if you're planning on going because it would be lovely to meet some readers!

Happy Friday!
xoxo

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