BY THE SEASIDE

The one thing I love about living by the seaside is that when summer hits, I only have to step out of my front door and I'm by the beach. It doesn't matter how chaotic life gets, looking out to sea always gives this sense of calmness. With the weather being warm, I was able to just throw on a shirt dress and added heels to dress it up. The shirt dress that I am wearing in this post is from In The Style, a website that I'm officially addicted to right now. They have many great celebrity collaborations including Charlotte Crosby, Binky, Billie Faiers and most recently fashion blogger Sarah Ashcroft. This shirt dress is part of Charlotte Crosby's collection. I love her style as it is girly with a little bit of edginess to it.

This outfit is simple, so is great if you're ever in a rush to go out. Shirt dress, heels and go! Having dark brown hair, I very into camouflage type colours such as khaki, grey and camel. I feel these tones compliment my hair colour quite well. This dress has a baggy fit to it, which is handy when we are feeling a bit bloated. I added a pair of grey boots as I always like to be dressed up for every occasion. I've always been told "It's better to be over-dressed than under-dressed." I think this dress would look great in a pair of sandles or to put on while on holiday. It can go from day to night so easily.

DRESS - In The Style / BOOTS - Quiz / BAG - Primark / BAG ACCESSORIES - Dash

LONDON FASHION WEEKEND SEPT 16

So it's that time of year again, London Fashion Week, Unfortunately I wasn't quite invited to the frows of shows like Julian MacDonald and Sophia Webster (maybe next February), but at least I got to see a piece of the action at London Fashion Weekend. It was held at the beautiful Saatchi Gallery in the Chelsea area unlike previous years at Somerset House. I was rubbing shoulders with many big names from world famous designers like Jimmy Choo to reality stars such as Paisley Billings of Tattoo Fixers. You could tell it was a star studded event from the stunning architecture of the building to the many rooms fulled with designer clothes.

I must admit, most of the clothes were slightly out of my price range as they reached hundreds of pounds but hey, who doesn't like window shopping?! Being the last day of London Fashion Weekend, most of the clothes in my size had gone during the previous days. Being 5 foot 1, size 4 on top and 6 on the bottom, XS is the only size I can really fit into. It was a blessing in disguise though as I wasn't tempted to blow a weeks wages on an item of clothing.

It was time for the catwalk and it was focused on the latest trends for A/W16. We sat on the second row so we had a great view. On top of this, three gorgeous male models sat in front of us on the frow so I had two great views. The three major trends for this season include lace, velvet and winter florals. The models wore items of clothing that can be purchased on Avenue 32 which means we can get our hands on the latest trends right now! You can already see essences of these trends in high street shops with many garments now featuring embroidered florals and lace inserts. I'm so excited for these trends and I can't wait to see what items the high street stores will bring out over the next coming weeks.

After a full day of window shopping and catwalk watching, we made a quick dash to Zara across the road. So in the end, I didn't leave Chelsea empty handed after all! 

DRESS - Quiz / BOOTS - Quiz / BAG - New Look / BAG ACCESSORY - Dash

THE BIG SMOKE

Photos by Laura Howell

For this outfit, we decided to shoot at the top of the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral. These steps are iconic and have been used as a set in many famous films including Disney's Mary Poppins. St. Paul's Cathedral is located near the River Thames and is a walkable distance from other well-known London landmarks such as Big Ben and the London Eye. By the time we started shooting it was heading towards sunset. This was handy for us as there wasn't many people around for us to be distracted by.

This style of shirt is very popular among many celebrities. It has been spotted on the likes of Harry Styles, Victoria Beckham and Pixie Lott to name a few. The version worn by the famous was designed by Burberry, costing a wopping £360. Luckily for us non-celebrities the high street are selling their own version, costing us over 20 times less at under £20. Mixing prints can either go very right or very wrong. Here I feel that these prints go well together as the lace effect on the trousers is very discreet. This means it doesn't take the attention away from the heart pattern seen on the shirt. The gold zip subtly adds a pop of colour to the black and white outfit. Finish the look with a simple pair of heels as this outfit already contains a large amount of detail. 

SHIRT - New Look / TROUSERS - New Look / HEELS - New Look

STYLE INSPIRATION

I gather most of my style inspiration from celebritys' wardrobes. I draw ideas from looking through magazines and their social media accounts. Even though celebrities are spending the same amount of money I spend on two years worth of food on one pair of shoes, high street fashion usually copies designer clothes. This means we can look as good as they do for a fraction of the price.

When I'm not blogging, I work along side celebrities in their music videos and films. This means I get styled by their stylists on a regular occassion and I can see their entire wardrobes. I'll let you into a little secret, most of their clothes used on shoots are high street! I'm talking about shops like Primark, and sometimes we have to keep our labels in so they can take it back the next day! Sneaky. 

So below are pictures of a few celebrities I find most of my inspiration from. If you also do this, you need to take into account a few considerations. These include; hair colour, skin tone and body shape. This means even though it looks great on them, I might not look the same on you. But it's great fun to experiment, and even though we might not always get it correct (I certainly don't) just look as it as a learning curve. You never know you might discover something that you thought didn't looked good totally works (hello trendsetter).