In Stores Now: Harvey Nichols Collaborates with a Professor?

I often find myself perusing the Harrods or Harvey Nichols sites, looking out for something new and they never fail at catching my eye with something new.  Harvey Nichols in particular caught my eye with their latest collaboration with a fairly new brand, Weston.  Now before I show you some gorgeous pictures of the collection, I thought I'd share some information on the brand in question, Weston.

Set up by Professor of Architecture, Richard Weston, who is hailed by Vogue.com as "the most unexpected new talent in British Fashion," (just saying) and winner of BBCs 2011 series 'Britain's Next Big Thing'.  So what's so great about his designs, I hear you cry.  Each product is printed with an image of a precious stone.  Richard launched his own range of precious stone printed silk scarves, smart phone covers and silk covered journals.  Already stocked at the likes of Liberty and Net-A-Porter.com, the company joined forces with one of London's savviest department stores, Harvey Nichols, to bring a collection of silk tanks.  

ELESTIAL QUARTZ

OBSIDIAN

SNOWY QUARTZ

OPAL

Each top retails at £110 and they are available now, online and in store.  My favourite has to be 'Opal', which one is your fave? 

Get The Look: Lana Del Rey Vogue Cover

The whole world has gone a little bit Lana Del Rey mad as of recent.  Her album, Born To Die, was released last Monday and went straight to the top of the UK album charts. To celebrate my minor girl crush, I thought I'd do a get the look from her recent Vogue cover debut.

On the cover she wears Louis Vuitton S/S12, but for those of you with a less extravagant budget, here's a high street alternative to the look.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

The dress for this look is from Lipsy, costing £58, whilst the ring (which is the exact one Lana is sporting on the cover) is from Topshop, costing £8.50. It's hard to see on the cover photo, but she's wearing a bow belt in a creamy beige, this one from Topshop is a great alternative, £16.  I'm incredibly envious of Miss Del Rey's locks, to get that swept back look try this Oasis hair comb at £12 from ASOS.  To get the perfect winged liner that Lana sports here, try the MAC Penultimate Liner, £15 online and instore.  

What do you think of Lana Del Rey, love her or loathe her?

Now it wouldn't be right if I didn't leave you with my favourite song off the album, This Is What Makes Us Girls.  

Fall's out.

Whilst painting my nails I decided to surf the web (with great difficulty, may I add) and came across the new Burberry Campaign.  I'm really looking forward to next season, layering and an excuse to shop for some new pieces.  The Burberry Campaign features a leather mix Mac, tassles and that all important signature check.  

The newest face to model in the campaign is Milly Simmonds (above), who I've had the pleasure of working with a few weeks ago on a shoot for jewellery company EC One, thanks to my Internship.  She was incredibly down to earth and nonchalant, something I've never thought of a model to be.  Don't judge a book by it's cover eh?  

This is one of many campaigns that will soon be filtering through our monthly Vogue, Elle and Harpers. Are there any campaigns you're particularly excited to see? 

I Spy! A right royal commoner to style icon.

The Middletons have been centre of attention for the past week and a bit thanks to Kate and Wills Royal knees up, but it wasn't just Kate making headlines.  Pippa, the younger sister to the new Duchess, has certainly been turning heads since the Royal nuptials, even getting a website dedicated to her mighty derriere (if you don't believe me, click here).  Of course I am far more interested to the garment covering her modesty than what is underneath and Vogue seem to think she's fashion worthy, giving her, her very own style file.  

Looking a bit drab.  

Gorgeous in chiffon.

Similar to Kate, Pippa's style has dramatically changed from country bumpkin to princess (Harry wishes) chic.  Although Kate's style is more tailored to be appropriate for Royalty, Pippa seems to keep on trend, opting for a colour block dress the day before her sisters wedding.  

An heir and her not-so-spare.

And of course, I would be a failure of a trainee fashion journalist if I didn't mention Pippa's most iconic look to date.  That gorgeous Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen dress.  

So what do you think of Pippa's style, Yay or Nay? I certainly think it's enviable and screams 'classy' without looking too arrogant.  I give it a yay, also if any of you know the girls brother, please pass my email on...

To check out more of Pippa's style, go to Vogue.com

 

Take a break, have a Kit Kat.

I wish I could have a Kit Kat but we haven't got any in the cupboards.  I'm taking a break from editing my designer profile piece, it's gotten to a point where i'm not sure if it's any better or just a pile of baloney.  At least we have until Monday! 

I was introduced to this fashion photographer just yesterday and I really like his work, so in hope that this might give myself some inspiration, I thought i'd show you some of my favourite photographs.  The photographer is Tim Walker and he uses crazy set designs to convey fairytales and fantasy.  

Oversized carries over to Paris

In one of my earlier Fashion Week blogs, I picked up on the oversized trend coming back and it seems that this will be a big statement with it carrying over to Paris Fashion Week.  

Dries Van Noten showed their Ready-To-Wear collection today, consisting of contrasting prints, fur and some oversized numbers.  Here are some of my favourite looks straight from the catwalk.  Pictures courtesy of our beloved Vogue.com

Monochrome jumper which appears baggy on arms and body, cuffs in at the neck and wrists.  This is quite a warm, wearable look.  The skirt looks to be leather, another trend that seems to be on a lot of catwalks for next season.  

This is more of an understated, oversized look.  The sleeves are fairly baggy against the models arm, perfect for someone who isn't very comfortable with their arms. I love the slight hint of colour here with the camel ankle boots.  

Extremely similar to the first look, except the colours are different.  I also think the styling for this is a lot better, the jumper flows nicely onto the skirt and from there down to the shoes.  Again, another hint of colour brought by the shoes.  

An easy oversized piece would be palazzo pants.  I love the dirty orange colour, it contrasts nicely with the busy print which looks to have a fur lining - brilliant for keeping warm!

So those are the looks I liked, but what do you think of this oversized trend? Like it or loathe it? It's definitely more extreme to the last time we went oversized.  I for one, am looking forward to being able to bundle a few layers on underneath a baggy garment.  

Also, there seems to be an heir of seventies about the catwalks for next season, the extreme prints, the palazzo pants taking over from the flares - what do you guys recon? Should I invest in an afro wig?

An evening with Zandra Rhodes

I was lucky enough to be able to go along to a guest lecture at my university today, given by none other than Zandra Rhodes.  

She was introduced to us as "instantly recognisable by her pink hair", which could only be pulled off by the chicest of gals.  Zandra told us that her hair was an expression of who she was creatively and said, "I did dye my hair brown once, it was bloody boring".  

The lecture took us through her career, the struggles and the breakthroughs.  Diana Vreeland helped her out by putting her designs in Vogue before creating costumes for popular operas, The Magical Flute and Aida. Zandra is highly influenced by different cultures shown through her Egyptian, Indian and African inspired collections.  

Whilst talking us through a slide show of her work, one slide made the whole room sigh.  Sarah Jessica Parker on set of Sex and the City wearing one of Zandra's designs.  Incase you were wondering, it was season 6, episode titled "Carrie and the Russian" (see below clip). 

With an incredible career behind her, Zandra has no intention of quitting now.  She's still designing for the operas that move all over America as well as enjoying watching her creations appear on the likes of Paris Hilton or the Olsen Twins. "I don't know these twin girls, but one of them always has something of mine on." 

Only 363 days to go...

So Christmas has been and gone.  You're probably, like me, thinking that eating fresh air for the next few days is a good idea.  I was a spoilt little girl this Christmas:

- Hitachi 19" LCD TV/DVD

- Chole by Chloe Perfume

- Boot Slippers

- Clinique Make-Up and Skin Care

- £30 Boots Voucher

- £30 Cash (Cheers, Nan!)

- 90210 Season 1

- One Tree Hill Season 7


- The Saturdays - Our Story

- Sex and the City 2 Blu-Ray 

- Chanel Nail Colour in Particuliere

- Chanel Exclusive Books from Harvey Nichols

And many more...

But Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without those special presents which have tags reading 'to myself, with love, me x'

Thanks to the sales, Thursday 30th December will see my postman bringing me many a parcel from Amazon.  I treated myself to:

- The Vampire Diaries Season 1

- Skins Seasons 1-4

- Ted Polhemus Street Style

- Lauren Conrad; L.A. Candy - Sugar and Spice

- Coco Before Chanel DVD

I also purchased a Vogue UK subscription.  Wednesday will see me and my best friend hitting the shops and sales on Oxford Street, I can't wait.  

What did you get for Christmas? 

And, What finds did you get in the sales? 

Lanvin for H&M Proves to be a Smash Hit

Today saw the universal launch of H&M's latest collaboration collection with Lanvin. Flagship stores all over the world had queues for miles formed of fashion lovers desperate to get their hands on the new collection.  Alber Elbaz said he wanted to bring luxury to the high street in a press release for H&M and that he did.


The collection is now completely sold out and proves once again that H&M high end fashion collaborations are a smash hit.


Picture above taken from the British Vogue website.

Vogue to Host 'Fashion Night In'

Vogue is answering ebuyers dreams with Fashion Night In on November 1st from 5pm-midnight.  After the success of the recent Fashion Night Out, Vogue.com plans to host the biggest and most stylish online retail experience.  With popular etailers Asos.com, matchesfashion.com, SpaceNK.com and many more being added as we speak, it is sure to be a night which truly celebrates fashion.

It wont all be maxing out those credit cards though although Donna Ida is making the spend a little less with free shipping over £200 and if that wasn't enough, they are chucking in a Splendid layered tank worth £60 for free!  Liberty, a London department store, also plan to arrange a series of events all night long to keep you entertained if you are watching the pennies.

With Christmas looming it's a great way to get some goodies for friends and family.  I'll be there, will you?

Check Vogue.com regularly for updates on this upcoming event.