London Fashion Week: Bora Aksu SS13

Elegant playfulness combined with modern opulence was the vibe at Bora Aksu's SS13 show. His signature piece - the cocktail dress was embellished with regal touches from puff sleeves and shoulders to stiff, almost preppy collars. The knitted crowns also added to the Royal feel of the collection which was inspired Queen Victoria's granddaughter- Marie. Marie later became the Queen of Romania and was known by her people as 'The Modern Queen' and subsequently Aksu's collection is named this also. 

The collection is just as fun as it is grown-up and beautiful- which is a tough balance to get right but once again, Aksu's vision of girls in pretty dresses has come up trumps with this collection. Nipped in waists as well as trapeze silhouettes were seen, mostly on knee-length lengths and I'm still in love with multi-layered ruffles and frills that Aksu does so well.

I love the introduction of knitwear into the looks and the lazer-cut clutches are just divine- Bravo Bora!

Sale Picks

It's sale time! Oh I do love a good sale, I seem to spend hours trawling websites, drawing up wish lists and convincing myself that spending too much money is 'ok' because the pieces I am buying are half the original price.

Here are a few of my favourite picks that are up for grabs this season...

   

 

 

1. Yves Saint Laurent at Matches, 2. 3.1 Phillip Lim at Matches, 3.Theory at The Outnet , 

4. Stella McCartney at The Outnet, 5. Topshop, 6. Kurt Geiger

Shimmy Shimmy

As I'm sure you are are aware, it's cold and raining, which means that the desired easy-breezy summer dressing has been put on hold and in it's place (well for me anyhow) is a collection of black jeans, black leather trousers and a stack of knitwear. Fed up of wearing my winter clothes (specifically in June) I have been cursing knitwear for the last week, that is until today when I came across Tim Ryan's latest collection on Avenue 32. 

Expertly crafted by the London-based designer, the collection is one hell of a statement and one that I am well and truly lusting after. As my friends and regular readers will know, I am a bit of a sucker for a statement knit, throw in some rainbow fringing and I am all over it. 

Using luxury fabrics including silk and cashmere combined with beautiful movement and texture, Ryan's pieces leave me yearning to take one out for a little shimmy on the dance floor.

Take a look for yourselves friends...

        

Look Du Jour: Fur & Fringing...

Where is it from?

Hat and bag: sample sale, Sunglasses, Cropped Jumper and Fringed Jacket: H&M, Blouse and Socks: Topshop, Shorts and Tail: vintage, Shoes: Primark

Look De Jour: Big Red...

Look De Jour: Monochrome

What a beautifully sunny Sunday. Crisp air and no rain called for layering.

Where's it from?

Fringed jacket: H&M, chunky cardi: borrowed from The Boy, Suedette leggings and wedged boots: Primark, bag: Osprey, tail (on bag): vintage (a gift from a lovely friend).

ASOS Marketplace...

The talented folk over at ASOS have put their driving force behind a new project, ASOS Marketplace. This idea is brilliant!

Basically, anyone can sell their unwanted pieces from the likes of you and me to small boutiques. All imagery is shot 'streetstyle' which gives it a much more personal feel and feels more like a blog than a corporate site.

Click here to check it out for yourself...

I have completely fallen for these wooly boots by I CAN make shoes, an independent designer who is selling through the site.

Tabio: Hosiery Heaven

The Twitterati have been endlessly tweeting about Tabio this week. Every bloggette in town has been endlessly typing away about the tights and socks of these Japanese based wonders and I can see why.

Perhaps the sudden interest is due to the ridiculous below minus temperatures we have faced in the UK this week, (currently blogging from three knitwear cardigans, a snood and wool tights), perhaps it's due to every fashionsta's love of layering or perhaps it's just simply because their designs are truly wonderful.

Whatever the reason, get to Tabio and fast, I'm hoping The Boy reads this in time for Christmas (hint hint).

Shop online here

Oh Vero, my new wardrobe hero

So folks, as you may have read I have been one lucky bloggette this month as I was fortunate enough to have been sent some clothes from highstreet hero, Vero Moda. They are launching their London flagship store on Thursday at 179 Oxford Street. If you haven't already, book a half day off work to prepare yourself for the occasion. Not only will you most certainly be browsing for some time but you will then face the predicament of choosing between that leather dress or the suede shorts, (or maybe you will treat yourself to both?).

Either way you will certainly need to be there first thing as the first 100 shoppers will win a 'gold bag'. The gold bag entitles you to a free outfit at the store so get an early night on Wednesday and beat those queues!

Below are some lovely pieces from their 'Very' range, which I am in fact, in love with.

The black, tailored jumpsuit - a classic.

The tailored, satin panelled skirt is a fun way to wear tailoring by day. I will be rocking mine with rock band tees and wooly tights.

And...my absolute favourite, the cream, cable knit cardi. I can sense already that this will my staple knit of the season, love those structured shoulders.

Fashion Week Round Up: London

As the end of fashion week is drawing near it would be ludicrous not to document my favourite shows and looks of what is such a magical time in the fashion capitals of the globe. I am however going to shy away from the endless lists of designers, images, descriptions and quotes that are floating around so many blogs after fashion week- no offence to my fellow bloggers I just prefer to get to the point and sum up (or try to) in one so here goes.

Obviously not in order (that would be too easy), I'm starting where my heart is...London.

My absolute favourite of all shows in London this fashion week had to be Ashish. The collection was fresh, young, edgy, sometimes a little crazy (the opening sequin pyjamas got me), yet totally wearable without being boring, (quite a lot of adjectives to be used to describe one thing I think you'll agree?). I adore the effortless, bag-lady esque and genius styling used in this show. Oversized, layer upon layer and heavy knits teamed with bold colour, print and an all important splash of sequin. The fingerless gloves and knitted fisherman hats teamed with flat boots and knit socks were a hot touch along with the bold colour streaks in those 'Wang-like' side plaits.

Check out the full show here. The shorts and cream knit jumper combo shown at around 6 minutes is a look I will be channelling come the end of summer, (how can I be wishing it to be Autumn already?).