Countdown to a new year

The year is almost up and looking back 2012 for me has been an eventful year its had its ups and downs, dramas, excitements, achievements, along with tears of sadness and tears of joy. This is a time for reflection, looking back on the year and asking yourself are you happy?

Each of us will remember this year in different ways, we all have our individual stories and how we dealt with things at the time. The important part now is how we use these going forward and what we learnt from them.

“Our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones we miss”F.Scott Fitzgerald

Those times you wish you’d done things differently or not done things at all have you where you are now. I’m a strong believer in things happening for a reason and speaking from experience there is no lesson better learnt than those you’ve dealt with first hand.

 

A new year is upon us, a fresh start. The time to focus on yourself and the things you wish to achieve over the next 12 months whether it be in your career, love life, health/fitness, kicking those bad habits, travelling somewhere exotic, buying a house, saving money or spending more time with the people you love and doing things that make you happy.

What are your aspirations for 2013?

♥

Hello Hollywood

The V & A Hollywood Costume Exhibition

If you are a fan of cinema you are in for a treat! Imagine two of your favourite desserts rolled into one amazing concoction. This is what it felt like when i visited the V&A Hollywood Costume Exhibition. Not only did it showcase favourite films of mine but also the iconic costumes from each one.

It was absolutely fascinating how costume design has become more and more significant in films and how it has developed alongside technology itself, where TV transformed from black and white to colour, the emphasis on costumes accelerated. These carefully chosen outfits highlight key elements of the script, the era and the personality of the characters by bringing the characters to life. Especially when viewing costumes from Oceans 11 and Fight Club.

I love a good chick flick. We all have those favourites where we will know the film from start to finish and word for word. One of mine is How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days. You can imagine just how excited I was to see THE yellow dress and the Isadora diamonds from Harry Winston showcased at this exhibition!!

Unfortunately you are not allowed to touch or take photos inside, which is a real shame. I did manage to take a sneaky photo of Dorothy’s sparkly red shoes though!! This was one of the final pieces of the exhibition, positioned next to the one and only Marilyn Monroe and her signature white dress. Whenever i see a photo or a a quote or any other memorabilia of Marilyn Monroe it always makes me smile :)

One of my other favourite sections of this exhibition was the tudor dresses from the films Mary Antoinette, Elizabeth and Shakespeare in love. The costumes were jewelled head to toe, corsets cinching in waists and exaggerated shapes in thick luxurious fabrics. They were simply breathtaking. I just wanted to feel the weight of these dresses and the heavy embellishment on them. In addition to this they have costumes of super heroes which i would say is one for the boys but I’m a bit of a comic book geek myself!

Amongst these, there are so many more costumes from some truly timeless classic films, old and new. For those who live in London do not miss this exhibition and even those of you who are able to visit regularly i would really recommend you take the time to experience this for yourselves.

Hope you’re all well and enjoying the Christmas festivities <3

The boots that were forgotten…

I recently had a clear out of my wardrobe, as you do and came across a pair of knee high military boots i totally forgot i owned. I’ve always heard people say this and often thought to myself  ‘how can you forget something like that’ but apparently it happens!

These leather boots are from Dune, they are so comfortable and i loved them at the time but gradually must have neglected these or bought new ones – which is a more likely scenario, we are all guilty of it I’m sure. I considered selling these on eBay but couldn’t bring myself to do it and I’m glad i didn’t as military has once again swept the high street. Brass button detailing, epaulettes, parka jackets with contrast sleeves, camouflage and of course the signature colour khaki.

So having found these boots, i have decided to introduce them back into my wardrobe and took them out to play today. I wore them with some super thick leggings, an over-sized jumper, leather jacket and a faux fur stole. I had my classic top knot hair do with natural makeup, lightly bronzed cheeks and nude lips.

See what you can find at the back of your wardrobe…

Happy hunting <3

Cosy Kid

I’m a massive fan of scarves, snoods and fur stoles and until this year  i have considered these my must have accessory. Although this winter i have been tempted by hats, not only does it do wonders for a bad hair day but keeps your head and ears nice and toastie too. Adding a hat to your outfit is so effortlessly chic, it can transform your look in seconds. Here’s a few of my celebrity favourites…

The pictures below really capture how differently each celebrity wears a beanie hat, they look  totally different from each other yet still fabulous in their own way. I love how cute Blake Lively looks in her orange knitted hat however, also love Rihannas casual look in her bobble hat and Ray-bans. Which one is your favourite?

The high street is filled with some lovely woolen beanie hats ranging from £4.00-£18.00.  These two are from Warehouse, both at £18.00 (the one on the left is now reduced to £13.00!) *Bargain Buy*

Or alternatively you can customize a simple beanie hat you already have with some brightly coloured jewels, this would certainly brighten up any dull winters day! :)

Happy accessorising…

<3

Bridget Jones Style

After having an uber productive day, i decided to spend my evening on the sofa with the ultimate British chick flick, Bridget Jones’ Diary. I cannot watch this movie enough especially as it’s so close to Christmas!In fact one of the first scenes with Colin Firth and his reindeer jumpers inspired me to write this post…

For me, Christmas day is all about the Christmas jumper. Lets be honest the majority of us will either be hungover or ready to spend the day eating and drinking – or both! Comfort is key.

Simple leggings and a festive jumper is all you need for that extra ‘give’ around the waist line. (Diet will continue after New Years). This year i have gone for an urban outfitters Disney jumper. I’m not going to lie, I LOVE IT. I see myself potentially wearing it all year round. I was in the store for a good hour trawling through their piles of Christmas themed jumpers! For those of you who are yet to buy yours, check out Urban Outfitters, the prices vary but on average you’re looking at £30.00.

Primark have a great collection of knitted statement jumpers for £12.oo and i’ve spotted some cute ones from ASOS too. I’ve picked photos of some of my favourites…

  

I’ve included a sneak preview of my Disney jumper on to the end, isn’t it adorable?

<3

What will you be wearing this Christmas?

Nails, nails and more nails.

It has to be mentioned, i have a huge obsession with nail varnishes, one of my favourite brands is Barry M. I think it is great value and they always have a great range of colours.
I have included a few images below, let me know what you think.

I was recently introduced to Ciate Cavier nails, one of the girls in the office had gold nails with one finger nail covered in gold cavier beads!!!  They looked amazing, i had to find out immediately what and where and how soon i could my hands on these. I did my research and stumbled across the Ciate Mini Mani advent calendar. I was instantly excited and went to purchase myself a pre-xmas present. However, it was out of stock everywhere, after searching high and low, i put my name on the waiting list, crossed my fingers and waited for that email to say they were back in stock. (Obsessed to say the least!)
I finally got my calender and i have to say and my countdown to Christmas  has never been so exciting – i obviously have a chocolate advent calender on the side too.

The mini mani advent calender is £38.00 and you get 20 mini pots of colour and 4 pots of beads. As we are now in December £38.00 for an advent calender may seem a little unnecessary. However, if you wish to explore cavier beads they do a mini nail bar at £20.00 which is great value and a perfect little starter kit.

I haven’t yet experimented with the Ciate beads yet, but i will keep you posted when i do.

You can view the collection for yourself at www.ciate.co.uk