London Fashion Week Favourites

London Fashion Week has been going on for a few days now so I thought I'd do a post of my favourites to far. Now, I know this sounds bias, me being from London and everything, but in my opinion London Fashion Week is the best of all the fashion weeks. I just find that many of the London collections are so much more youthful and experimental. The looks are edgier, yet I think they appeal to younger audiences. Of course there are the very old designers such as Burberry which give us the classic looks that London is often known for, however, in this post I will be showing the side of London Fashion Week that I love...

TOPSHOP UNIQUE

This collection was based on two very different inspirations: Ancient Egypt and 90's hiphop culture. When you think about these two things together they seem so random but they actually have a lot in common. Metallic gold and graphic symbols are both key themes in these cultures. The mix of the two inspirations worked so well - sporty shapes in metallics with half graffiti, half hieroglyphic symbols. The hiphop vibe stayed throughout the collection, even when the shape of the garments became more elegant and drifted more towards the Egyptian inspiration there was still always an undertone of urban style. The contrast between the opulence and elegance of the Ancient Egyptians and the much more sporty and slouchy look of the 90's hiphop style.

HOUSE OF HOLLAND

This collection was a perfect balance of punk inspired pieces in feminine pastels. The bleached splattered jeans are so fun and look amazing paired with the pale coloured tops. I love the quirkiness of the shirts, the half-haf colour shirts and the snake print collars. The mesh knit dress is beautifully draped and has a great grunge feel to it. The collection is a perfect example of how to wear springs pretty colours without looking too childish or girly. 

ASHISH

This collection uses florals in a playful and modern way. They are given texture with sequins and the mixed prints gives the looks a quirky edge. I love how sequins have been applied to a very everyday, grey jumper turning something so boring into a beautifully detailed and textured piece. Black lips and heavy duty work boots balance it all perfectly, and the flowers threaded through the boots are a cute detail to top it all off.

TAKING THE LOOK FROM THE RUNWAY:

Topshop Unique Style

JEFFREY CAMPBELL

LAZY OAF

AMERICAN APPAREL

AMERICAN APPAREL

AQUA

Henry Holland

AMERICAN APPAREL

SIMONE ROCHA

NASTY GAL

NOBODY

ASOS

Ashish

TOPSHOP

TOPSHOP

ROKIT

ROKIT

DR MARTENS

URBAN OUTFITTERS

In Love with Richard Chai Love

I was planning on doing a post of New York fashion week so far, but, while looking through the many photos of all the shows, I kind of fell in love with the Richard Chai Love collection. I ended up not being able to choose only a few looks from the collection so I decided to just dedicate this whole post to it.

This collection includes everything a Spring Summer collection should have, pretty florals, utilitarian jackets, bright lipstick, floaty dresses, pastel colours, and androgynous shoes and blazers. The whole lot jumbled together gives a perfect outcome of feminine looks with a slight edge, exactly the style I love for the Spring and Summer months. Layering is used very well in this collection with a sheer, studded t-shirt over a girly, floral dress, giving it the added kick that it needs. The collection also shows us what can be achieved my mis-matching prints by pairing a monochrome, striped blazer and a floaty, floral maxi skirt. The contrast between the harsh stripes and the soft shapes of the flowers and the material they are printed on is beautiful. When looking at a collection it isn't always the things that you notice first that are the best. When taking a closer look at the photos I noticed that cut out shoulders were used often. Details such as this give a collection an extra interesting twist, that makes the clothes just a tiny bit more amazing.

VINTAGE IN CALIFORNIA

If you're a regular reader of my blog then you will know how obsessed I am with vintage shopping, there's something that is just so exciting about it, knowing that someone before you enjoyed the clothes and that they had a whole other life before you came along and bought them. The fact that most of the stuff I buy was made before I was born is a pretty weird thought too. So obviously, while here in California, I have done a ridiculous about of vintage shopping. The first shop on my long list is probably my favourite vintage shop I've ever been to, and trust me that is a very big statement considering the huge number that I've shopped at. The shop is called Hidden Treasures and is in Topanga which is a small village in the Santa Monica Mountains. The village has this amazing rustic vibe with markets and thrift stores and cute little hut-like houses. The shop was incredible, with an amazing range of vintage items, from faded t-shirts to suede fringed ponchos to frilly petticoats. Scattered on shelves and tables among all the clothes were loads of random antiques such as a child sized motorbike, china dolls and a stuffed chicken. Some of the clothes were kept on rails out the back in a very overgrown garden area and the whole effect was quirky and exciting.

After a few days spent on the beaches of California I went to Los Angeles and had a whole new vintage shopping experience. In LA there is a road called Melrose Avenue and it is literally lined with vintage shops. My favourite by far was one called Jet Rag which was on a road just off of Melrose. It was very different to hidden treasures, a bit less quirky and more like a regular vintage shop just about ten times the size of any normal store. The stock was amazing, rail upon rail of perfectly faded vintage t-shirts arranged in colour order, racks of dresses for every decade and too many checked shirts to count. I actually ended up buying two items from the boys section and only one from the girls while I was there because the boys selection was a bit better and, luckily for me, the androgynous look is in fashion right now.

CALIFORNIA - SANTA MONICA

Just want to start this post by apologising for not posting is so long! I've been away at camp so I had no internet (not sure how I survived) but now I'm finally back and ready to blog. My holiday to California, which I think I've mentioned a few times, began on Thursday when I landed in LA. First stop of the trip was Santa Monica which is a city on the beach in Los Angeles County. I spent most of my time there cycling along the seafront to Venice Beach and swimming in the sea in Santa Monica. One of my favourite places I've been to so far in California is the Venice Boardwalk which a pedestrianised street on the beach lined with market stalls, street performers and quirky shops. It's hard to describe the amazing mix of the people to see and the things to buy so instead I'll show you some of the photos I took there...

Sorry about how short this post is but I'll be back soon with more Californian stuff.