Viva Italia

Tomorrow I am heading to the continent for a weeks fix of sunshine and relaxation, I cannot wait. I am going to visit my grandparents in Milan and then will head to the lakes for some well-needed relaxation. Therefore I shall not be blogging for a week, but fear not I shall be back in full force next weekend with a Bill Bryson-esque, anecdote ridden, travel write-up – perhaps…

Metallics

I simply love metallics and I’m excited to see that they are making a comeback in a big way this summer. Metallics are a great way to stand out from the crows and look fantastic with minimalist accessories and sun-kissed skin. At the Serpentine Summer Party metallics were leading the way in the style stakes with both Tess Daly and Marissa Montgomery rocking the look. Daly chose a beautiful strapless dress from See by Chloè, and Marissa championed the high-street with a beautiful one-shouldered number from Topshop (another hot trend this summer). This dress is definitely on my shopping list come payday.

Vintage Dazed and Confused

After browsing through the Dazed Digital site I came across a beautiful minimalist photo shoot from their archives entitled ‘So Wot Is Wat?’ from October 1998. No wonder this shoot is so captivating, it was made by fashion royalty: modelled by a fresh-faced Kate Moss, styled by Katie Grand and the feature on designer Junya Watanabe written by Luella Bartley. I love the simplicity of it all.

Must-have handbag items: top ten

There are some things that I simply cannot leave the house without, these are as follows:

1. Vaseline – a must for any beauty dilemma. This versatile product can assist with dry lips, unruly brows, elongating lashes and eye make-up removal



2. Mirror – for applying make-up, preening, checking teeth; the list is endless



3. Lipgloss – for lips to rival Angelina



4. Hair band/kirby grips – for those bad hair days, and rescuing our tresses from the wind and rain



5. Phone – I’m lost without it



6. Purse – for purchasing those much-lusted over shoes/handbag/dress



7. Eye-liner – quick and easy application for smouldering eyes



8. Diary – to schedule those all-important girlie drinks and gossips



9. Sunglasses – for protection against the summer rays, if they ever-arrive…



10. SPF30 – all-year application, particularly on face and neck, to ensure beautiful undamaged skin

What are your essential handbag items?

Paris is burning

So a week on Monday I am off to Paris for three nights with my mum. I have never been before but my mum lived there for a year, as au pair, in her teens and always promised to take me. I cannot wait! For me Paris is synonomous with everything glamorous!

I have been trying to figure out what to pack for my trip. I need a travel outfit, three evening outfits and three day outfits. So this afternoon I searched google for, 'what to wear in Paris'. The search came back with a LOT of options. And from these I have compiled my own list for 'must haves' in gay Paris!

1. Black - slimming, classic, goes with everything. Parisian women wear a lot of black, apparently.

2. Scarves - are the perfect accessory. Wear around your neck, hair, tied to your handbag.

3. Jeans are a no, as are trainers. And leave the sports wear (joggers etc) at home.

4. Smart but comfortable shoes are a must as there'll be a lot of walking!

5. Hair and make up can be as neutral as you want!

Chanel in my mind sums up Parisian style perfectly. Below are pictures from the Spring/Summer 2009 collection.

I love the monocrome 'colour' scheme. I love the second dress in from the left.

Whilst searching for these pics I came across that one below. Now, that would be an incredible gift. Please! Anyone!!

Hope you enjoy the photos.

More soon, love, SG

My current obsession

Emma Watson seems to be EVERYWHERE at the moment. In every magazine there is her face staring back at you from its glossy pages. Even if there isn't an article about fashion's new sweetheart there are the Burberry adverts which might are say are fairly fabulous!

But there is one particular photo of Miss Watson that keeps catching my eye. It is of the actress at the LA premiere of The Tale of Despereaux in a gorgoeus deep blue William Tempest body con cocktail dress (see below). I am actually in love with this dress. Now, will my sister make me one similar...?

I'll write more soon, love, SG

My first trip into town...

Last night I made my first trip into town since the beginning of my shopping ban. Pete needed new shirts for work and wanted some company/a female view! It wasn't as hard as I expected. I was good though and didn't go into Topshop or Zara and because it was raining and I had my umbrella up I hardly noticed as I passed them! When we went into Next and M&S we headed straight for the men's departments.

Almost a week down, only another 23 to go!!

Today is the official start of the summer at work which means that the heat is off a little, at last! So I am going to try to force myself to the library at uni tomorrow to start in earnest the research of my masters' dissertation which I have been putting off for the last six months! I only have six months until the deadline now so I suppose I had better make use of the time I used to spend shopping and start studying again!

Now I just have to figure out a suitable outfit for the library... It needs to be comfortable and yet a little bit cool at the same time!

I'll keep you posted, love, SG

Shaken, not stired

This was my outfit for cocktails with a girlfriend last night.

I am wearing a white vest by Topshop, harem pants by Topshop (a recent sale bargain), royal blue New Look heels, an H&M leather belt, a corsage I received as a present, a couple of pearl necklaces from Dorothy Perkins, an H&M floral locket and a Topshop watch pendant.

There is hope!

I just just read a couple of articles on the blog, Already Pretty, whose author Sally McGraw has just completed a six month shopping ban with success!

Florence and the Machine

I just can't enough of Florence and the Machine's cover of my favourite song 'You've Got the Love' live at Glasto - check it out!



Florence and the Machine - You’ve Got The Love (2009) Glastonbury, England - AOL Video

Sweepstake

Apparently my work colleagues already think that my self-imposed six month shopping ban is some sort of a joke and have decided to start a sweepstake! Below is a copy of the email which is being circulated!

Emily reckons she's given up shopping for 6 months.

I don't believe her. So let's do a sweepstake on when she'll give in and go shopping:

Pop your name next to when you think:

Week 1 -
Week 2 -
Week 3 -
Week 4 -
Week 5 -
Week 6 -
Week 7 -
Week 8 -
Week 9 -
Week 10 -
Week 11 -
Week 12 -
Week 13 -
Week 14 -
Week 15 -
Week 16 -
Week 17 -
Week 18 -
Week 19 -
Week 20 -
Week 21 -
Week 22 -
Week 23 -
Week 24 -

Well, I will prove them all WRONG!

The perfect work skirt

This is my work look. It's a smart casual cool look!

I'm wearing a Topshop bargain skirt, Primark tee, DP pearls, an H&M floral locket, my thrift store M&S blazer and Topshop pumps.

I'll write more again soon, love, SG

Cigarettes and Alcohol

This weekend I went to see Oasis at Wembley which fulfilled every one of my indie fantasies and more. The set-list was full of classics, including the superb ‘Slide Away’ and 'Rock n Roll Star', which the whole crowd were going wild over. Fans were jumping, dancing and chanting in front of the stage, on their seats and in the aisles; the atmosphere was electric.

The King of indie, Liam Gallagher, was sporting his favourite straight jeans, round necked parka - which btw looked like the one from his range Pretty Green - and mod haircut. Not to be outdone by, Kasabian's Tom wowed the crowd in a fire engine red bomber. The crowd embraced the indie/mod wear too and I have never seen so many plimsolls, buttoned-up polo shirts and shaggy dos in one place before. I decided on gladiators, a black dress, long grey cardigan (belted up) and stacks of jewellery which sadly did not hold up to the torrential downpour that came with the night – I cursed myself for not bringing a trusty waterproof.

As much as I love Blur and their exciting new reform I shall always be an Oasis girl at heart!

Bearing Gifts from Buenos Aires

The boyfriend has returned from his travels in Argentina at last; his long-awaited arrival was made even sweeter by the fact that he came bearing gifts! The gift in question was a beautiful dark brown handbag from Buenos Aires (seen below), with the softest leather imaginable. Needless to say that it is my new favourite item and my current handbag, which has been my faithful companion since my university days, has been made redundant. It is a great size for piling everything in – which I love to do – and is large enough to also act as an over-night bag, perfect!

Day 3 of the Big Shopping Ban

Terrible. I keep wanting to look at Topshop.com or ASOS.com or any other clothing website! But I can't. On Day 3 I must have a little more resolve! (Although at the start of a long week at work that can be difficult).

Has anyone used t-shirt tranfers? And if so, with any success? I have been thinking that I might re-vamp a couple of t-shirts in my wardrobe and go down this route. I also have fabric pens but am not sure how good these will be either. Must ponder some more!

Off to torture myself some more!

Will write again soon, love, SG (or should that be non-SG?!)

Wine tasting masterclass

This is me after a day in sun and an hour's wine tasting masterclass at lunchtime!

The boyf and I went for a wander into the Bay (in Cardiff!) to check out the International Food and Drink Festival that has taken up camp for the weekend. It is called the International Food and Drink Festival, however I saw little evidence of produce from outside of Wales! But there was much to try and buy. We sampled the delights of Welsh Organic Beef and Lamb burgers (the boyf on the beef and me on the lamb - mine was universally declared the better choice!). We then went for an hour's wine tasting masterclass, where we learnt about grape varieties, fermenting processes, bodies and much much more! We tasted five different wines, two reds, two whites and rose. My preferred wine from the five was a Sauvignon Blanc and the boyf's a Carbenet Sauvignon.

Then we spent some time listening to the band playing in the bandstand - and bopping along a bit whilst enjoying a beer (the boyf) and Pimms (me) and ice cream (also me).

And the whole time the sun shone down on us! Lovely.

I am wearing: a promo tee from H&M for the Matthew Williamson range launch, a pendant necklace I got in my GFW goodie bag, an H&M belt my dad bought me years ago and a pair of Topshop jeans (from my recent shopping frenzy which induced the ban!).

Hope you've had a good weekend,

I'll write again soon, love, SG

No more shopping...??

After much thought I have decided that the idea of a six month self-imposed shopping ban might not actually be such a bad idea. There are a few reasons for coming to this decision to punish myself in this insane manner;

1. to save money - the boyf and I have discussed saving for a deposit for a house and I still need to finish learning to drive before I'm 30!!

2. I am fed up with being told that I "have too many clothes"!!

3. I am intrigued as to what is actually in my wardrobe - the stats say that most women only wear about 10% of what they own, so maybe I can start wearing some of the remaining 90% of mine!!

There will, of course, be a couple of exceptions to the rule;

1. tights/socks/knickers - essentials!

2. maybe also, plain tees, but only when the ones I currently own are beyond use!

3. I may also beg/borrow/steal items when necessary and customise too - or rather get my little sister to customise or make me new things!! (Please!)

So there it is, I really am going to attempt to do this - eek! :S

I'll write again soon, love, SG

What Katie Wore

I am completely addicted to the blog, What Katie Wore. I love the whole idea behind the blog - basically, Katie told her boyfriend, Joe, that he wasn't romantic enough so he decided to start a blog charting Katie's style for a whole year! And Katie's style is awesome!! I go back every day now to get my fix of Katie fabulous-ness!!

I did suggest to the boyf that he do something romantic (in a similar vain) but no! Apparently he hasn't a romantic bone in this body!!

Whilst I carry on trying to pursuade the boyf that he could be more romantic, check out Katie's style!

I'll write more soon, love, SG

My First Ever Comment!!

So yesterday I had my first ever comment!! How exciting?! I didn't think anyone would actually read my blog, let alone think it was any good! So, thank you, Kirstie! :) xx

Dedicated follower of fashion, 1930s-style

My grandma sent me this cutting - apparently she thinks it could be me! But it does have a serious point to make... By shopping I am merely keeping all those shop assistants in work! How could I live with myself if I was to give up shopping?!

Six months without shopping...??!!

I have just read an interesting blog, Dream Time Tea, about giving up clothes shopping for six months! I think that this is something which my boyfriend and my mother would both agree I need to do as I am constantly hearing that I have "too many clothes"!!! And after my shopping splurge over the past 10 days, they are probably right. But as noble an idea it is I know that I would quickly cave and end up inTopshop buying up half of the shop! Do you remember that scene at the end of Chocolat when the priest breaks in to the chocolate shop and gorges on the window display? It would be as desperate and grotesque as that!

But I will give a moments thought to maybe not buying anymore clothes/shoes/bags/jewellery for the next month.... But then even that makes me want to dash to the shops immediately!!

Oh dear, I have a problem!!


I'll write again soon, love, SG

The Verdict Is Out on Jelly Sandals

Jelly sandals were last seen on six-year-olds feet on pebble beaches and paddling pools, however this season marks their return to the main stream. I want to hate jelly sandals as they are everything that I despise: cheap looking, tacky and part of the ever-growing mountain of disposable fashion. However despite all of this I just can't help but love them! Jelly sandals are bright, bold and most of all great fun for the summer. I saw a girl wearing a pair this weekend and couldn't help but smile; it adds a quirky edge to an outfit and can be worn with just about anything, clashes and contradictions are readily encouraged. The fashion world has jumped at the jelly revolution with big names such as Marni, Tods and Topshop (see below) producing their own take on the nostalgic original.

Any given Sunday...

This is me chilling out at the weekend, after a night of ceilidh dancing, sangria drinking and hog roast eating at my friend's parents' house the night before!

I am on the balcony which is in our bedroom and am wearing a Topshop Target Breast Cancer tee, Topshop leggings, pink satin Topshop pumps and M&S sunnies!

I'll write again soon, love, SG

Date night!

Here is what I wore for 2-4-1 cocktails and tapas with the boyf tonight at Pica Pica!

In this pic I am wearing, a Topshop tunic (£28), M&S thrift store blazer with an earring from Graduate Fashion Week added as a brooch, Primark leggings and Topshop pink satin pumps (£15).

Hope you have all had a lovely evening - I certainly have!

I'll write again soon, love, SG

Fashion Magazines

Even though I know that it is a fact of life that during the summer issues fashion magazines has as many pages as a shamed MPs Christmas card list, however I still can't help feeling cheated. This month, my subscribed issue of Elle, with cover girl Emma Watson (yawn), fell on my doormat barely reaching a centimetre in width. The adverts quite easily outnumbered the content, and what content was there was bulked up by images from old shoots, already featured in several back copies, and mere page filler pieces; what happened to articles? I long for the A/W when I can get a lovely chunky magazine, with proper content, to gorge over with a pencil and paper in hand. I will make a plea to all fashion magazines to bring back the missing summer pages, as fashion occurs in the summer too y'know.

Topshop Style

I am officially a Topshop girl!! Everything I am wearing today is from Topshop and has been bought in the last week! Eek!

I had my Style Advisor session last week and it was a lot of fun! Loved the whole set up with the separate changing rooms and till and the free champagne (and water) on offer. It was also nice to let my Style Advisor to go off and do the shopping!! But that's as far as it was a good service. I think for someone who knows their style and is pretty confident at dressing it maybe does not provide much guidance on that point. It was fun though and I certainly got a few cute outfits out of it. Next time though I think I will make sure to take a friend with me! I was also lucky that the sale started on Thursday and as a result I got some very good bargains!

So here is what I bought (and I promise there will be photos on here VERY soon!):

A striped flower-patterned short lantern skirt (£18 from £32!)

A grey jersey origami skirt with a black waistband (£12 from £20)

A pair of washed black smart harem pants (£7 from £35)

A pair of pink satin pumps (£15 from £25)

A pair of black fringed ankle boots (£15 from £30)

A LUSH over-sized target breast cancer tee (£10 from £22)

A cropped navy and white striped (nautical themed) tee (£16)

A pale grey tunic for summer evenings out (£28)

Set of 4 bangles - 1 large and 3 thin (£6 from £12)

A long pendant with a hinged fish (£5 from £10)

Oh dear! That is a pretty long list there!! But it consists of a few outfits which are very cute so all good! :)

I'm off out for 2-4-1 cocktails with the boyf tonight but will do my best to upload photos tomorrow!

I'll write again soon, love, SG

Guilty Pleasure: Street Style

I could spend hours trawling through the street style archives on fashion websites such as Elle, Vogue et al, being inspired by the chosen accessories, the pulling together of an outfit and the accompanying hair and make-up.



The appeal has got to be that there are no celebrities included just mere mortals. This means that the clothes are usually high-street or vintage therefore replicas or the real thing are easily accessible, and there are no stylist involved (unless the person in question is a stylist - which half of them seem to be along with models, fashion PRs, designers and fashion students). If ever I have one of those days where I just don't know what to wear, this is my first point of call. What are your thoughts on street style features?