Trend Tuesday - Summer footwear

For this Trend Tuesday I am actually in Capri, Italy and drawing inspiration from the amazing footwear that they have here. Capri is one of the ultimate summer holiday destinations. And it’s not hard to know why, bright blue water, sunny days, fresh Italian seafood, and winding roads that take you to another place, another time. On almost every shopping street you will find a shoe store, most are offering leather sandals, or jeweled sandals, and also espadrilles, some will let you design the sandals yourself, picking the colour of the leather and the design and then a cobbler will make them right in front of you. There are also loafers for men and women. Although the majority of people on the island are on holiday there is a definite style to the island, especially in the evening, during the day you mostly see women in swimsuits with a coverup, but at night that’s when it all comes out. Women are dressed to impress, and it’s flashy, and they are not afraid to show off their assets, it’s not classy and it’s not trashy, it’s somewhere in the middle. So I think that’s why the jeweled sandals do so well here, they’re flashy, it adds a little bit of something to your beach outfit during the day. And you're after a more casual look for the beach the espadrilles are perfect.

These are my favourite Capri inspired summer shoes outside of Capri. Pick your favourite and La dolce vita! Live the good life!

Sam Edelman | £52.00

Steve Madden | £45.00

Soludus | £72.00

Jcrew | $72.00

Zara | £29.99

Vince Camuto | $98.00

Soludus | £40.00

London Collections Men SS17 - Day 3

Day 3 of LCM was all about working backstage. Through the London College of Style I had the opportunity to dress at 2 shows, Belstaff and KTZ, both I have dressed at before so I knew what to expect. I decided that this was the last time, unless paid, that I was going to help dress backstage. After hearing from people already established as stylists, I should be going to shows and not dressing them, plus going to shows and reporting back is much more fun than dressing.

Belstaff was a presentation and bright and early for a Sunday I was there at 8:30. First we were assigned a model and briefed on our looks. My look was pretty easy and since this was a presentation the model would have plenty of time to get ready and there would be no quick change. The look was basically leather pants and a t-shirt. The shoes were a bit more challenging. They needed to be laced in a specific way and able for the pants to be tucked into them when fastened. After hair and makeup my model needed a quick bathroom and food break, afterall he was going to be standing for the next 2 hours. When he returned he got dressed. There was a run through to decide on placing of the models and then a briefing by the designers/creative director. And it was ready to begin, piece of cake!

The inspiration for the SS17 collection was Steve McQueen in the 1970s. There is a definite western vibe as well as a racing vibe. I really like the leather trousers tucked into thick socks, it feels very rustic to me. I totally see this guy in the dessert with his white, worn, t-shirt and neck scarf. He has a bit of scruf (what you get when you haven’t shaved for a few days) and his hair is unruly from the motorcycle helmut, because afterall the Belstaff guy definitely rides a motorcycle. Racing stripes on the jackets and leather jumpsuits is a nob to the racing industry, which was pulled from the McQueen film This is the first time that Belstaff has combined menswear and womenswear into one show. I’m not so crazy about the ladieswear. I don’t love the racing stripes on the short leather jackets,

Here are some photos I took from the presentation. As you can see the set was amazing! The space was actually just a convention building, but Belstaff really transformed it. Belstaff always does a great job with transporting you to a place and time with how they present their collections. There was also a man outside on a motorcycle doing tricks wearing Belstaff, it just really set the mood as you entered the venue.

You can view the whole collection here

Next up was KTZ! I was really looking forward to this show, it is generally one of the more over the top shows as oppose to ready to wear in regards to the clothes and I was exciting to see what they had put together, what the theme would be, would there be lots of womenswear mixed in? Okay so the Belstaff presentation ended around 1:45 and we were meant to be at KTZ for 2:00, but they knew we were going to be a bit late, there were about 9 of us from LCS that were dressing at both shows so we all went over together. After rushing to get there, we arrived around 2:15. When we arrived, and I’m going to be quite candied with my experience dressing this show, no one knew what was going on, or maybe they did, but they didn’t tell us. We were told to put our belongs, including our mobile phones, in a separate room, the room was towards the back and it was literally a small room with everyone's bags thrown in, no security, nothing. We were not allowed to take pictures as they were afraid that the collection would leak before the show, which I totally get, but I also heard that if they saw you with your mobile phone even out, regardless of what you were doing on it, then you would have to leave. I took my phone with me, along with my license and cards. After we had put everything away, we came back to the dressing area and were just standing around waiting to be told what to do. We were told that we were in the way a few times and not very nicely, and then we were asked to move to another area, which we all did. After sitting in this other area for 15 minutes we were asked to go and sit outside. On this particular day in London it had been down pour raining speratically and was quite cold for June. So I was not too excited about having to sit outside, there was also a bit of hesitation when asked if we could get our coats from the other room where they asked us to put them, with a response of ‘really, is it so cold outside’. It was now around 3:45 and we were meant to have the models dressed and ready for a dress rehearsal at 4:00, the show would start at 5:00. After sitting outside for about a half hour, we were told to come back in and we were told to take a look from the rail and line up according to the number of that look and then, in order, find a spot in the room to get the model ready. There were 3 people per model, which is insane, 1 person is generally enough, 2 people, maybe, if the look complicated, but 3 people? It was too crowded, and then that makes it difficult to get dressed and for any changes. They did end up doing a run through, but it was right before the show and then the show started late, I think around 5:15.

The outfit my model wore was basically track pants and sweatshirt. There was a lot of silhouette details that you can’t really see with just looking at the clothes, so it is nice to be able to really look at the clothes and see the movement. KTZ definitely pays attention the details. Which is one of the reason that I love dressing their shows. But for SS17 I was not super impressed, I don’t particularly like the logo printed stuff. I loved the sheer constilation pieces, they were amazing, and I thought the structure of the outwear was really nice, but the rest was just okay. I would never dress a KTZ show again. The production team was rude and disorganized, we are free, skilled labour and there was no thank you at the end of the show, no appreciation. We were not allowed to eat the food that they provided, or allowed to have bottled water in the dressing space. It was just not pleasant and I gained nothing from the experience. It's really unfortunate because the clothes are beautiful.

I don't have any photos to show you because we were not allowed to take photos, below though I have put some of my favourite looks. To view more images from the collection you can go here.

London Collections Men SS17 - Day 2

And I'm back! Just a long weekend in Iceland, amazing place!

But I still have 3 more days of LCM fun to share with you, so here goes with day 2! And how perfect because today in the UK is the vote whether the UK should stay or leave the EU, and on my 2nd day of LCM I had the pleasure of seeing new designer Daniel Fletcher whose collection definitely took a stance on staying in the EU. As many of the designers at LCM, I have never heard of Daniel Fletcher. He graduated in 2015 from Central Saint Martin, one of the schools churning out amazing designers, and has held internships at Louis Vuitton and Lanvin. For his SS17 collection he hoped to communicate how he felt about the Brexit issue through his clothes. Obviously Fletcher wants to stay, saying that without the relationship with the EU he would not have had the opportunity to perfect his skills outside of the UK. And has said that the current relationship with the EU allows for freedom of movement of all creatives providing a diverse cultural exchange across the whole of the EU.


The presentation was held outside the main show space and almost looked like a protest. It worked so well to have this outside. I love it when the clothes have a meaning or a story and I think that is why I love this collection so much, it's more than just clothes on the body, the designer has really thought about it! The collection is influenced by European souvenir tees and staples in a Brits holiday wardrobe like printed rain jackets and shorts. I love that the collection is casual including track suits, sweatshirts, and baseball caps. I am so curious now to see what Daniel Fletched will do next season!


Photos I took during the presentation.

Next up was the Matthew Miller show!

The Matthew Miller collection was a bit darker with lots of edge and a bit of a soft side in the form of clouds and butterflies. His collection was inspired by the dying skinhead movement and you could see this come through, especially in the models. I love all of the details from the large patches on the back of jackets to the butterfly buttons. There were lots of loose fitting suits and pajama inspired tops and bottoms.

Photos I took during the show.

You can check out the whole collection here

Trend Tuesday - Menswear - PJs as daywear

I know Trend Tuesday is a day late!
Pajamas have become a huge trend for women, I'm not talking thermal underwear and baggy logo
t-shirts, but the pajama sets in silk and fun prints or classic stripes worn together or as separates.  Well the trend has trickled over into menswear and this past weekend at the menswear shows I definitely saw this trend.
The easiest way to incorporate this trend into your wardrobe is to start with the shirt.  Short sleeve or long sleeve look for the piping and a straight cut to the shirt.  My recommendation is to pair the shirt with a pair of loose fitting trousers, or cropped trousers.  Don't be afraid to mix and match prints for top and bottom, as long as there is a common colour.

Top finds for Pajama shirts

Dolce & Gabbana | £675

Marvy Jamoke | £150

Marc Jacobs | £355

Ami | £185

Zara | £29.99

London Collection Mens SS17 - Day 1

This week the blog is going to be all about menswear!  I actually really like menswear and the more I read menswear magazines, put together menswear themed moodboards and shoots, and see menswear shows I grow to love it more.  I have actually been invited to quite a few shows for LCM SS17 so Im excited to share with you trends I see emerging and designers that you may not have heard of.

First for day 1 I attended the Barbour presentation located at the Royal Institute of British Architects.  I had never been to this space before, but it is quite amazing.  The presentation was held in room with tons of floor to ceiling windows and a large outdoor space.  The weather was quite good, so it was nice to have the outside space.  And the crowd was quite trendy, with a few reality TV celebrities, JP from Made in Chelsea, bloggers, and then you had the fish loving, khaki wearing set. I never felt  Barbour as a brand was ever super exciting, it's composed of mostly basics, outdoor feeling, great coats.  But this season they really stepped it up offering great accessories, hats, comfy socks, boots, and bags.  I definitely felt a festival theme going on, for spring festival wear was really big for women and I think that is seeping over into menswear as I have actually seen it come through from a few other designers.  They had some great distressed jackets that will be exclusively at Selfridges, a collaboration that I don't think they have had in the past. 

Check out the full collection at deFUZE Magazine here .  Here are some photos that I took during the presentation.

Next was a presentation by Phoebe English.  I had known her to design womenswear but not menswear, and I had actually heard a lot of buzz around her SS17 menswear collection, so I was really excited for this presentation.  Per the press release that the PR puts together for each designer's collection, the focus for this collection was around fabric, form, and silhouette.  All the garments were made of natural fibers and were all made in the UK.  From this collection I loved the shape and the fit of the clothing, I particularly liked the way the backpack was constructed and laid on the back of the model.  It was a modern take on an old style, using really young models and hand sewing, which is such an "old" thing to do, no one was hand sews like this.  I could see these boys by cliffs, running on the seashore in Scotland.  There was no fuss with the clothing, but really great details in the form of ties, pockets, and closures.

Check out the full collection at deFUZE Magazine here.  Here are some photos that I took during the presentation.

Designer Spotlight - Anya Hindmarch

Yesterday I had the pleasure of seeing the wonderful handbag designer Anya Hindmarch speak at the China Exchange.  
Firstly, let me just say the China Exchange is amazing, they host speakers from all different types of disciplines with the Prudential Speaker series.  Tickets are as cheap as 6.00 pounds if you get them early enough.  The space is quite intimate holding about 100 people.  I'm so sad that I have only discovered this now.
I had never heard of Anya Hindmarch prior to moving to London and I don't think I had ever seen a handbag of hers in the US.  She has actually been designing handbags for 30 years and is quite popular in the UK and in the Asian markets.  A couple of things that I took away for the discussion

• Her logo is a bow, it is a nod to her mother who always gave beautifully wrapped gifts with a bow
• She received a lovely handbag when she was 15 years old and knew then that she wanted to be a handbag designer, she loved the craftsmanship
• She doesn't like logos or poorly made bags and believes that a handbag can be an investment
• There is a bespoke portion of the business that she loves, and loves being able to personalize items for people
• Her handbags are meant to be fun
• Anya believes that determination is the key to her success and also visualizing success
• So I didn't know this, but apparently when Solange Knowles and Jay Z had that fight in the elevator it was an Anya Hindmarch bag that she threw at him.  After the incident Anya and her team were inundated with calls from press for her reaction, but they handed it well, posting a photo of the bag on social media with the caption "Crisp Packet Clutch worth fighting for"

A genuinely nice woman, she deserves all of her success.

Her bags are quite expensive.

These are some my favourites!

All images taken from Anya Hindmarch's website