WE DO THE MATH......SO YOU DONT HAVE TO

If your a fan of that Stella dress which has been doing the rounds lately, then fear not! Asos.com have the answer - a knock off!!!
Its not exactly the same - but sure, where is the fun in having the arse sued off you????

Sigh...want

I love this.
A beaded cape from Topshop....Think about how sexy this would look slung over something plain and black...sigh...

SHOE PORN

The Topshop Unique booties.....oh god, get in my life right now....I fucking love them

Bloody Irish weather....

As we all know, fashion is sometimes unpredictable and frankly not functional! Especially in Ireland where we get constant rain, freezing winds and other such joys! So I had a thought about what I find the most irritating fashion trends that just wont work with Irish weather...
The 70s floppy hat- A great idea. They look amazing when done properly but then you head off into the wind to not be able to see for the next few hours. Irish weather means that the hat moulds your hair into a weird frizzy bell shape and then blows the brim of the hat into your eyes at every chance. Which is not exactly safe...imagine crossing a busy road with your hat in your eyes...
The Maxi Skirt - Great idea. I personally love them. Until it rains and the hem soaks up at least your body weight in dirty rain water. Nice. Then you have to walk home with it sticking to your legs...very glam

Bare legs - This is because it is bloody cold here. I can't understand how there are girls out and about here with the shortest of skirts and no tights. Surely that can't be comfortable??? Not to mention I would spend the next few hours panicking about the state of my legs. For no good reason. Just because that's what I do...

Can anyone think of anything else?

Werk!

Kristen Dunst going to work on the red carpet - what a frock! the hair! the make-up! Total fan of it...congratulations!

Tom Ford was possibly shit........we may never know....

I hate to start a rumor - which is a lie, I love it - but there have been not one but three bad reviews of the work of Tom Ford. Now, I don't exactly like everything Ford does but some of the reviews were.....horrific to say the least.
Everyone totally got on board with the secret viewing for important people thing last year, but the second time around I think people are starting to get pissed off. The weird thing is, you would think it would be the people NOT invited who would start to get bitchy, but this is coming from the people at his shows - actually attending them!
So this post asks the question, is Ford loosing his touch or are people sick of the hype and the price?
Anyway this is what French fashion critic Virginia Mouzat had to say about it :

After this inventory for Kim Kardashian, Tom Ford appeared on the runway. He walked out. And stayed there, in the middle of the catwalk, wordlessly awaiting his standing ovation. Perhaps people would oblige out of anguish, or sympathy, or because all of this is supposed to be fun, after all. But everyone just looked at their feet. The music kept playing. Ford tried to speak over the noise, but it was impossible to hear. One could see this baby-faced man was seeking desperately to clear the air. He threw himself on his longtime companion, Richard Buckley, and they embraced. (Ralph Lauren always embraces his wife Ricky after his shows, but he goes backstage right after.) But still nobody stood. Then Tom Ford retreated towards Anna Wintour, on whom he inflicted a hug. So this Texas playboy, whose praises reporters sang in the Gucci years, has become the man for whom nobody stands. If not the man one actively flees. But of this whole vignette, as of the actual collection, you’ll see nothing here. Tom Ford refuses to publish photographs of his shows."

Wow.....This followed another dig by Lynn Yaegar......

Speaking of which: Q. What eminent designer puts what seems like 150 looks on the runway — bottom-grabbing pencil skirts; tiny purple Floradora dresses — and forbids photography (apparently to lend an air of exclusivity, but in this case, maybe to protect his reputation) and emerges on the runway at the end of the show, then stands around with a bunny-in-the-headlights look in his eyes, waiting for a standing ovation that never comes?
A. Tom Ford.

- The standing ovation thing must be true if two seperate people mentioned it in one go....hmm...either way, MORTIFIED! And more....

Jess Cartner-Morley, The Guardian: I’m going to come straight out with it. Deep breath: I didn’t think Tom Ford’s show was all that. Not that it was awful, by any means, but despite the beautiful tailoring and the immaculate execution it fell a little flat. It felt too self-referential. Too many frills and too few new ideas. There were gorgeous, curvy, super vamp dresses that I loved, but the flouncy peasant blouses and corset belts seemed like a Guilty Pleasures version of Tom Ford.

- Lord knows what will happen now. Ford is not the type to suffer this sort of abuse!!!

Unless the collection really was that shit....

The Dior saga is going to end soon they tell us...

According to folk who are 'in the know' we are due to have an announcement about the new face at Dior very very soon.
Thank god, it's been six months, one car crash of a catwalk show, three court hearings, one celebrity wedding dress later and I for one am SICK of waiting to hear if it's going to be Marc Jacobs or not.....roll on the announcement!

Balmain....it's not really that different....

I got all excited about the prospect of a new designer, Olivier Rousteing, at the helm of Balmain, thinking it might mean a real change for the brand - which had started to churn out the same thing every season. But I'm really not sure about this one! A lot of the collection, while gorgeous, looked exactly the same as it always had. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.
As for the cheaper Balmain line that was released....anyone heard anything about that?

It's real folks....

Oh yes.....it's real

Anna Wintour stood at Paris Fashion Week?!?!?!??!!?

Oh jesus the horror of it. Anna Wintour forced to stand at Balenciaga in Paris! The benches broke apparently (before the show not under anyone) and they all had to stand...morto...Also I think hell just froze over...

Retail horror stories part 1

I've worked in retail for a few years and I always enjoy a story about bad customer service!!! Not sure why, but I do...so this one is a doozy!
Apparently Gasp Jeans (no idea either) insulted some woman searching for bridesmaids dresses....The rest below is from Styleite.com - I actually can't believe this :

"…I was unable to discuss the likes or dislikes of the dress with my bridesmaids as the sales assistant kept saying “you should just get it”, when I told him I would think about it, he pulled me aside and whispered “Is it the price your worried about”. By now I was extremely frustrated, and again told him I’d think about it, I walked back into the change room and closed the door behind me, only to have it pushed open with the sales assistant half standing in my change room, again whispering “I think you should just get it”, when I gave him attitude and said rudely, “I already told you I would think about it”, he then replied, “With your figure I really think you should buy it”.

’Neil left the store with “Chris” yelling at her and waited outside for her bridesmaids to join her. After leaving, she was told by one them that “Chris” had said, “‘Have fun finding something at Supre,’ when one of them approached him in regards to his comments, he replied ‘I knew you girls were a joke the minute you walked in’.”

O’Neil sent her complaint in an email, to which GASP area manager Matthew Chidgey responded in kind. We’ve published his entire email below and bolded some of its more asshole-ish moments.

Dear Keara O’Neil,

Having now had the privilege of having both version of events, I am now in a position to respond to your complaint.

From the very outset, one thing that you should be mindful of is; Our product offerings are very, very carefully selected, so to ensure that we do not appeal to a broad customer base. This is something which is always at the forefront of our minds when undertaking buying duties.

The reason for this is to ensure that we only carry products which appeal to a very fashion forward consumer. This by default means that the customer whom is acclimatised to buying from “clothing for the masses” type retailers, is almost frightened by our range, sometimes we have found that this type of customer, almost finds our dresses funny, and on occasion noted comments such as ‘it looks like a dead flamingo’. When we receive comments like this, we like to give ourselves and our buyers, a big pat on the back, because we know we are doing our job right, and modus operandi is being upheld.

Our range is worn by A list celebrities to the likes of Kim Kardashian, Selena Gomez and Katy Perry to name only a few. Now, as one might appreciate, the style counsel for these types of celebrities are not ones to pick “run of the mill” type clothing, and they do so on the basis to ensure that the styles are cutting edge, and only worn by a select few. Similarly these items are priced such that they remain inaccessible to the undesirable.

Insofar as our employee goes; Similar to our product offerings, our employees are selected with a similar approach. Chris whom served you is a qualified stylist whom has a sixth sense for fashion, and Chris’s only problem is that he is too good at what he does, and as I am sure you are aware, people whom are talented, generally do not tolerate having their time wasted, which is the reason you were provoked to leave the store.

Whilst I concede that you work for chain retailer, unfortunately that does not make us like for like. It is probably fair to assume, a lot of what I have said in this email, either doesn’t make sense to you, or you totally disagree with it all, which is what I would expect (unless of course I have you totally wrong – which I doubt).

Let me guess, you would never, ever hire Chris in the course of your duty, would you? This is the very reason, why your comment “from one retailer to another” is so disproportionate, it’s almost as though we are in a totally different industries. Chris is a retail superstar, who possess unparalleled ability, and I am sorry you feel upset by him, but he knew you were not going to buy anything before you even left your house.

So if you would like to do us any favours, please do not waste our retail staff’s time, because as you have already seen, they will not tolerate it. I am sure there are plenty of shops that appease your taste, so I respectfully ask that you side step our store during future window shopping expeditions.

Thank you for your enquiry.

WTF!!!!
In case you’re wondering if the above email is, in fact, real (because what kind of manager in their right mind would send something like that to a customer?), Chidgey confirmed its authenticity to The Herald Sun. Gasp Jeans later released the following statement:

“We respect that not all consumers strive for a glamorous appearance; some prefer to simply blend in.

“We respect and welcome all customers whom wish to visit our store, even though the intention to buy may not exist. But we ask that their opinions be expressed through blogs, social media or around a warm latte, but certainly not inside our stores.”

- WOW.

fashanimals on tumblr!

So there is a tumblr that turns fashion people into animals...because its such a great way to waste an afternoon....see if you can guess who is meant to be who?

VERSACE FOR H&M - FIRST PICTURES!

Vogue Russia wouldn't be a regular read for me. Given that my handle on the Russian language and culture extends to a liking for vodka and not much more! But they really coughed up the goods today! A sneak peek at the new Versace for H&M collection!

Oh yes.....Not sure why Russian Vogue were the first to get the pics, but it's happened and we have to live with it. Annoying that the print is too small to read. (or get translated in my case)

If your like me and counting down the days, there is still a while to go - the collection is not out until the 19th of November!!! SOB! I am going to make sure I am camped outside H&M in Dublin for this one!!!! Must find out if they are going to be stocking it!

There are a few images from British Vogue too. Either way it's getting exciting! This is THE collaboration of the year so far.....

THE BEAUTY SPOT: I've done some weird things in my time!

I've done a lot of crazy things in the past for this blog. I've worn, bought, tried, tested and ate the strangest of things in order to bring you proper reviews. I do believe up until now the Spermine infused (google it if you don't believe me!) face cream was the strangest thing I have ever done - until now!

Introducing Hask Placenta conditioner!

Oh no, it's real but it's not human. It's placenta from a sheep. Apparently its for those of us with completely damaged hair, so if your like me and bleach, style or over-product your hair, then try this!

I will say that I haven't tried it yet - but I will be. I noticed it yesterday in a pharmacy in Rosscarbery and I am going back for a vial of it before I leave.....

SHOE PORN

Grazia suggested I checked out Bally as a brand. While there are some nice but totally unrealistic pieces on there. (wait until you see the prices) There was no sign of the boots I was looking for. So I settled for these.....Which are nearly €700

Wow....thats all I'm saying!!!

Fashionista.com unearthed this amazing picture of Daphne Guinness in the 80s. I love it.

WHEN BAD CLOTHES HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE : Gwyneth Paltrow

I felt for her. The dress is stunning. It's from Pucci's SS12 collection (see the model above) and she tried her best. But quite frankly, it's cutting off her circulation. She normally has the body to die for but this is just ill fitting on her. Gwyneth is actually bulging over the waist - and not because she's got an ounce of fat on her. No, the dress is just ill fitting....

Grazia make their biggest issue yet! but is it any good?

Jaysus, I got a massive surprise when I lifted up Grazia this week - the thing was HUGE! Grazia have produced a collectors edition which is, quite simply, large!

It's full of the usual Grazia stories, photoshoots, etc but it's nice to see the magazine being worth €3.50+ for a change. I had stopped buying as I got sick of reading about Pippa Middleton all the time. But then thats Grazia for you! It could be a fantastic magazine if it stopped giving a damn about the same celebrities over and over again.

True to form they managed to sneak in a bit about Jennifer Aniston and her supposed wedding. Grazia are obsessed with marrying her off. They harp on about women and our right to choose the single life or married life. Whatever we want really - but then they carry on talking about older single women like its the kiss of death.

So what if Aniston is dating someone - doesn't mean she has one foot up the aisle or planning to have a child on her own! (which Grazia are also obsessed with) Some of us don't suit marriage or pregnancy but suit large gin based cocktails! Either way, she hasn't had a baby or gotten engaged and I have lost count of the amount of times Grazia have predicted that she is on the verge of it....yawn!

Hello Kitty joins Forever 21 - do we really care though?

I find it hard to believe that anyone can still be a fan of Hello Kitty. The reason for this being that the brand is so totally over rated and managed to destroy its self by over exposing that damn cat logo.

When you can find your logo (the cat) on everything from hockey pucks to toasters, it's time to seriously have a think about things. I tend to avoid it like Juicy Couture tracksuits, it's cheap and tacky as a brand.

So incase anyone still cares about that cat, Forever 21 are producing a collection with them. It should be out soon. This will more then likely be found in the only Forever 21 store in Jervis Street Shopping center.

MILAN FASHION WEEK : Dolce and Gabbana SS12

Dolce and Gabbana brought the sex in Milan! I am not normally one for D&G, I find their collections a little too.....sexy for my tastes! Too structured and hard to get into! (literally in some cases!!!) But I really loved this collection. It was playful without being unwearable, it was vintage inspired without looking tired and, it had vegetables on it!!! What more do you want????

Basically the inspiration was a small Italian town in the 1950s which is clearly evident in the shapes of skirts and the cute little belly tops which paraded down the catwalk. Minus the belly tops, it does make you think of Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn, but a modern tweaked version. This is another designer to display the midriff in their collection although this is a softer approach then Prada who literally covered the essentials and let you work away with the rest!

Fashion is all about reaction. Reaction to the season that went before. It's what drives it and its what makes each collection different and ensures we don't get the same old stuff season in and season out. Last summer it was fruits (think Stella McCartney's large fruit prints) and this summer, it's all about the vegetables! I'm really not sure if this is a trend I'm going to be on board with. I think it rocks, but the fruit prints dated very quickly. Still, one does like to be trend for the season ahead! Prehaps Primark will release their famous lemon dress with a pepper print instead???? Heres hoping since I missed out on the lemon dress!

The second half of the show revealed a sexier side to the 1950s Italian woman. The collection moved from day to nightwear flawlessly revealing an embellishment trend and the usual array of D&G sexy little black numbers.

TRENDS TO WATCH

Pepper prints (honestly)

vegetables

1950s

full skirts

embellishments

belly tops (oh dear lord no)

lace

Let he who is without couture cast the first stone.....

So Lindsey Wixon fell over again !!! This time for Versace in Milan though! But before you dismiss her as a dumb model who can't put one foot in front of the other - look at what the poor child had to walk in....skyscraper platforms and a tight maxi! Lets be honest - in those conditions most of us would have a tumble.

Although for most of us our tumbles happen outside the Lost Society on South William Street, not in front of the assorted world media! But these things happen! I love that Wixon always gets up and smiles or in this case gives the thumbs up!

She does seem a little catwalk cursed though! This is her second fall (the first being at Fashion for Relief) and she got sent home from New York Fashion Week after she had an allergic reaction to the red make-up at Viktor and Rolf back at the A/W shows! Poor love!

My bad!

You've been really good about waiting for me! I haven't been able to post for the past few days due to the massive amounts of work I have to do. The work being moving to a new gaff! It's hard to get everything organised and ready but it's getting there!

Thank you for your patience with the blog and I promise it will be updated today!!!! With all the gossip and reviews as normal!!!!

WE DO THE MATH......SO YOU DONT HAVE TO

If you liked the burberry show for SS12, then have a look at the look below from asos. It's a bit bang on isn't it? It's a great way of doing the trends now instead of later! At a fraction of the cost too. Fantaaaaastic darlink!
The skirt is Vera Moda and rather annoyingly the site doesn't list where the jumper is from!!!!

coat lust

If you are a fan of the amazing leather sleeved trench coat from Topshop, this is the newer version of it. A car coat, slightly cocooned with a leather collar...swoon!

the Kanye rumors strike again!!!

Someone was gunning for Kanye at London Fashion Week!! They gave Grazia the low down on the collection - and it wasn't good!!!! According to this person and Grazia, the collection is completely confused and all over the place and possibly not ready for Paris Fashion Week....Here are the best bits from the report on it.......

'Our source, who requested anonymity, in order to avoid being battered to death with a Louis Vuitton steamer trunk, gave us the full, unedited low-down, explaining that the collection was put together in Turnmills, an enormous now-defunct nightclub in London, by a crack team of Central Saint Martin’s fashion graduates under the direction of designers Louise Goldin, and Dean Quinn (both ex-CSM students themselves), and with the likely consultation of Louise Wilson, head of MA Fashion at Central Saint Martin's.'

‘Kanye was in fairly often; for all the fittings. [He] was very nice and polite and talked knowledgably about shape etc., but was prone to changing his mind a lot - in fact the whole process was slightly excruciating as there were SO many opinions that it took forever to get anything done'. Our source went on to say they would be 'amazed' if the collection is ready in time for Paris Fashion Week, 'and that's quite likely the reason it wasn't shown last week at New York Fashion Week after all'

‘Christine Centenera [of Harper's Bazaar Australia] was around a fair bit too when Kanye was...[which was] ANOTHER opinion’ to take on board. Due to the aforementioned mind-changing, our insider tentatively described the theme of the collection as being;

‘Seemingly based on Samurai, with lots of sporty garments, but in luxury fabrics, with embellishment, embroidery - Japanese stuff - gold chainmail, that sort of sports-luxe thang, and unsurprisingly, lots of hoods, baseball/biker jacket shapes...'

'It’ll be ‘all womenswear', and 'will be extraordinarily expensive; some of it is virtually unproduceable.'

'Kanye had many specific inspirations: ’He spent a fortune on designer clothes and retro stuff that he brought into the studio - Balenciaga, [Azzedine] Alaia etc'.

His colours included; ‘lots of ivory and gold, although the colours kept changing - probably peach too.'

Una Burke piece working it on the cover of a magazine!

I just caught this! I'm a big supporter of Irish design and designers, including the talent that is Una Burke. She created this piece which has graced the cover of Ozon magazine. Not sure where the magazine is based but that's good right!!!
Burke has gone from strength to strength in recent years, its great to see an Irish designer really making something different and out there! A lot of Irish designers fall into knitwear and 'safe' garments, but Burke is not afraid to push boundries and challenge with her work. You always know her work instantly!

Advanced Style

There are many interesting blogs out there which all seem to report on the same thing. Fashion, but fashion for the young twenty something girl. I was happy to find this advancedstyle.blogspot.com which captures the fashionable adventures of older people who like to dress brilliantly. Seriously, check it out!

Oh no....

Good lord. Someone has bought the rights to Tyra Bank's book, model land and its going to be made into a film....what have we done to deserve this???

THE BEAUTY SPOT : Rimmel eyeliner

THE BEAUTY SPOT : Rimmel liquid eyeliner
So with Boots doing their usual 3 for 2 on all make-up, I thought it would be rude not to indulge! I picked up a liquid eyeliner as well. I'm normally a big fan of their liquid eyeliner. It got me through the awkward goth years and has been a constant companion in my travelling kit for years now. I did replace it with one from H&M and this is my first time buying it again having taken a few months off.
I'm quite surprised. I don't really like it anymore! I find the brush too hard which makes it hard to get the perfect line and also it drys to a horrible awkward black color too. I'm a little bit fed up of trying to find a liquid liner that actually stays the perfect shade of black! it never works! I came close with a liner from MAC's heatherette line but after a few weeks it dried out! It also peeled off but was worth it for that amazing wet-look finish.

THE BEAUTY SPOT : Rimmel eyebrow pencil - what a winner!

THE BEAUTY SPOT : Rimmel Eyebrow pencil
A terrible thing happened to me last week. My eyebrow shader fell on the floor, broke and then split into a thousand pieces! I was distraught and poor - I would rather die then leave my house without my eyebrows done! (okay that is a slightly exaggeration) So I popped into Rimmel to see if they had any product which could match it.
They didn't.
They had a pencil. I used pencils before and once I switched to a brush and powder I thought I would never go back. But I did and now I think I wont go back again!!!
The brush on the side of the lid is bollocks but apart from that the pencil is easy to use, easy to control and gets a much smoother finish then the powder. It even allows me to do the 1940s extended eyebrow shape that I love so much. The pencil is reasonably priced as well! Under a fiver? Result!!!

MILAN FASHION WEEK : Prada SS12

Each season there is one collection that stands out. That defines the mood of the moment - last summer it was Jil Sander and Prada with their bold bright colors and in the case of Prada, insane prints. They are right on the money again with their new collection though! 50s prints and grease inspired jackets with car prints - brilliance!
I'm going to try and post some close ups of the Prada collection, especially the accessories as you can't see all the fantastic details like the car prints. Last summer it was monkeys and bananas - this season its cars and flames! Loving the grease-feel to the collection!





Prada are really pushing the boob tube for this season as well. It takes a brave person to attempt that! Not only a brave person but you have to have the perfect boobs. If your large, then it just looks wrong but if your small, it falls down. Bloody women - we want what we can't have!!! All the time! Either way - I think this might be a trend I am going to sit out of! I'm a little too.....frightened of flashing people to attempt it!!!




TRENDS TO WATCH
Unusual prints
sorbet colors
pleated skirts
cars
50s
clutch bags