Gorgeous Lindsay Lohan in designer summer collection campaign

I know Lindsay Lohan isn't known to be the classiest of girls, but what we often read about her nowadays is about her alcohol problems and her troubles with the police. It sure can't be easy being a child actor all grown up! Poor girl...
And although no film directors seem to be wanting to work with her at this stage, she has managed to make herself quite a name in the model industry. It all started when Lindsay made a tribute photoshoot for the late Marilyn Monroe. I'm sure the whole world was shocked when they realised how sexy Lindsay Lohan really is.
This season she has been working for the German designer Philipp Plein in a new advertising campaign for his spring and summer collection, and she sure knows how to strike a classy pose! It all looks very luxurious, and Lindsay has been doing a fabulous job! Hopefully, these gorgeous photos of Lindsay will be her first step back towards a comeback in the film industry. 

My latest fashion crush

I've got a new fashion crush. It's nothing fancy, and nothing designer made, but it's a very simple garment - the eternity scarf, or the so called snood.

I've always had a thing for pretty scarves, but when I bought my first snood from the Swedish store Gina Tricot I was completely hooked! I'm never going back to normal scarves again!

 These lovelies are all from Topshop (I'm sorry, but I could only find the prices for them is USD);
Top ones from the left:
Cranberry coloured grunge jersey snood $32
Cluster floral snood $32
Mink zig zag snood $32
Bottom ones from the left:
Grey angora cable snood $56
Navy fine knit cable snood $32
Pumpkin coloured angora cable snood $56

The snood is a fantastic invention - you can wear it in so many different ways. You can wear it as a basic scarf or a double scarf (I prefer the double). If it's cold or rainy outside you can turn it into a hood in one simple step. You can also wear it as a bolero (something I'm a big fan of when sitting in my cold office!), or a simple blanket (perfect when travelling on cold trains etc!).
Feel like doing something different with your snood? Jump into it and put a tight waist belt on, and you've got yourself a knitted dress! Check out all the ways you can wear your snood (or circle scarf, if you prefer to call it that) below. Obsessed yet? ;)

My love for antique jewellery

I first saw the film Titanic when I was 12, and I was completely sold! I got absolutely obsessed with the film, and that is also when I developed my love for antique jewellery. 

Remember the famous Titanic necklace? 

"La coeur de la mer", or in English - "The heart of the ocean", was the necklace that Rose (Kate Winslet) wore when Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) drew her nude portrait, and that she then threw into the dark sea in the end of the film.

My dear grandma gave me my own blue necklace not long after the Titanic film was released. I was the happiest little 12 year old in the world! I used to play that I was Rose from the film, and used to wear the necklace all the time.

 

It wasn't until many years later that I actually realised how valuable this necklace was. 

My grandma got this beautiful silver necklace with a blue stone from a relative when she was very young, and now it was my turn to inherit it. 

I have no idea how old this necklace is, but it must me at least 80 years old. It's my most precious piece of jewellery, and I can't admire it enough. The blue stone is just the right kind of blue, and I especially like the tiny silver swirl details around the sides.

This will definitely be my "something old" and "something blue" when I get married :)

I've got a few pieces of antique silver jewellery, and one of them is this handmade ring that my other grandma once bought in Africa. 

The tiny details are just extraordinary - I just can't imagine the skills you would need to have to be able to make something as beautiful as this by hand. 

From the look of it, it's made by very thin silver threads.

This grandma of mine also gave me this lovely little silver necklace in a round frame with 4 glass beads and a leaf that goes through the middle.

I would believe that this necklace is about 40 years old. The beads look pretty plain in this photo - they look more light blue in real life.

Gemstones and their meanings

Valentine’s Day is less than 3 weeks away, and boyfriends, husbands and admirers all over the world have started thinking about what to get their loved one for this special day. Valentine’s Day is also the most popular day for proposals – not very original, I would say. When thinking about buying an engagement ring, you might want to think about what the different gem stones mean. All women don’t want a sparkling diamond ring, but a coloured gemstone could be a great option. But what does the different gemstones symbolise? 

The emerald is believed to bring love and sensitivity, and it’s also believed to hold healing powers that can enhance memory, mental capacity and eliminate negativity.

The sapphire is a very popular choice for an engagement ring, and historically it has been associated with wisdom, joy, peace and loyalty. It’s supposed to bring the wearer fulfilment of their dreams, and enhance their beauty.

The ruby stands for love, passion, and zest for life. It’s an emotional stone and it is believed that is has healing powers and that it will protect its wearer from distress.

The amethyst is the ultimate healing stone. If you are looking at amethyst rings for your loved one you should know that the amethyst is believed to have powers that can affect the human body. Sleep with an amethyst under your pillow and it will reduce your stress through its peaceful vibrations, and it will promote positive dreams. It’s also supposed to enhance wisdom, psychic abilities and intuition, and bring inner peace.

If you are wearing a citrine you will feel protected. It will increase your creativity and physical energy, and you will experience complete mental awakening. It is also believed to bring the wearer comfort and wealth. 

If you are thinking of something smaller, not quite so dramatic and life changing for Valentine’s day, there is always the safe choice of earrings, perfume, sexy (but comfortable!) underwear, luxury spa treatments, chocolate and flowers, and of course a sweet Valentine’s card. I’m hoping that my dear boyfriend will get me my favourite perfume ;) As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, they have stopped making it! Although, I have found an online shop called Forget Flowers that still have it in stock. YAY! Hurry honey, and get me my Ralph Lauren HOT! (he has hinted about it already) They also stock classic fragrances such as Dolce & Gabbana, Estee Lauder, Gucci, Armani and Chanel perfume.

My hair colours throughout the years

I've never been one to experiment a lot with my hairstyle. I've kept to long hair all my life, except for one time when I was 10 and I cut my hair in a super short bob like the Swedish pop singer Robyn - she made it a big trend amongst us girls back in the mid 90's. I'm just saying one thing - never again!
On the other hand - I've not been afraid of experimenting with my hair colour. Ever since I was 14 I've coloured my hair, and during my college years I made sure to try as many colours as possible. I coloured my hair into a new colour every month! It went from blonde to brown, to red, to black and then back again. As you can imagine I've had all sorts of weird "in between"-colours. It sure isn't easy going from dark to lighter, and I usually ended up with lots of odd coloured highlights in my hair. Back when I was a rock chic teenager my favourite colour was my very dark brown hair that had a purple shine to it.

 

These photos are all of me from the age of 16 until now (25). The most recent one is the last one of the blonde ones, which was taken a few months ago. This medium ashy blonde colour is pretty much my natural colour. Yes, I've finally gotten tired of colouring my hair, and nowadays I stick to a colour that is as close to my natural colour as possible. Call it laziness ;)

How to walk in high heels...

...something I need to learn myself!

Shoes are such an important part of an outfit. They are what completes a look!

But why does it have to be so bloody difficult to walk in shoes with high heels?

Recently I went in to a shoe shop to get some normal black heels for a staff party, and my friend who was with me got me to try on skyscraper high stilettos. AS IF I COULD WALK IN SHOES LIKE THAT! I was staggering around in the shop with these horribly uncomfortable shoes on my feet, and my friend got herself a right laugh!

So, here are some tips that will hopefully help you, and myself to walk like a runway model in high heels... eventually.

1 Don't aim too high. 

Start off with low heels that are a bit chunkier, and work yourself up. Choosing a model with straps is also good, to make sure that the shoes sit properly on your feet and won't fall off. Be patient - you won't get there in a day.

2 Practise at home. 

Wearing your shoes in your house while doing household jobs is a great way of wearing them in.

3 Walk heel to toe. 

Never ever just balance on your toes while walking in high heels (unless you're standing on sand or grass). This is a classic mistake, that most women make.

4 Go for quality.

Don't buy cheap shopes with rubbish or non-existing soles. Investing in high quality shoes with spongy soles will definitely be worth it.

5 Be prepared. 

You don't want to end up with blisters on your feet after a few hours, so keep some gel pads such as Party Feet in your bag, along with some compeed plasters. Little tricks like this can really save the day.

Follow these steps, and you will soon be a pro at walking in high heels, and you won't feel as if you're walking on nails.

Golden Globes 2012 - red carpet beauties

My pick of best dressed stars on the red carpet of this year's Golden Globes.

No particular order - I think all these 9 actresses are absolutely stunning!

Jessica Alba in an embroidered Gucci dress in a kind of a lavender colour. A safe choice of dress, I would say. Very prom-like.
Mila Kunis is hot, hot, hot in black one shoulder-strap Dior dress.
Beautiful Sofia Vergara shows off her fit figure in a midnight blue mermaid-style dress by noone else than Vera Wang. I'm loving it!

Nicole Kidman wore a light patterned dress by Versace.

Charlize Theron was wearing a pale pink gown - short in the front and long in the back -by Dior. Isn't she one of the most beutiful women you've ever seen?

Emma Stone in a low cut, layered Lanvin dress in a deep fuchsia colour.

Kate Beckinsale, the stunning Underworld actress, was curvalicious in a Roberto Cavalli dress.

Glee star Lea Michele wore the coolest dress of the evening. Very daring choice, and the dress was a Marchesa.
Debra Messing arrived in a brown (although it looks black in the photo) Monique Lhuillier dress, with twisted layered details.

Marc Jacobs autumn 2012 menswear collection

What would a mix between 90’s skateboard culture and Turkish market style from Istanbul look like if it was mixed together in today’s fashion?

The American designer Marc Jacobs has been inspired by these two elements when creating his 2012 autumn and winter collection of men’s clothes. He calls it “weird luxury”. A very weird combination indeed, but I’m guessing that was the point.

Here are a few examples of the collection.

Some interesting facts about Marc Jacobs:

Marc Jacobs designed his first collection in his own name in 1986. Already the year after, he received an award from The Council of Fashion Designers of America for Best New Fashion Talent. He received a reward for Women’s Designer of the Year in 1989 for his Grunge collection.

In 1997, the first free standing Marc Jacobs store opened up in New York.

Marc Jabobs second clothing line, called Marc by Marc Jacobs, was introduced in 2001 with a spring runway show. 6 years later, in 2007, Marc launched a full collection of children’s clothes called Little Marc Jacobs. The same year Marc decided to take a step further in his designs, and produced his first collection of eyewear as well as his first perfume, called Daisy.

Today, the company has expanded massively, and there are over 100 Marc Jacobs stores in the world. No wonder Marc Jacobs is one of our time’s greatest designers!

Fabulous celebrity weddings of 2011

I know 2012 has just started, but let's have a look back at 2011, and some of the fabulous celebrity weddings that took place throughout the year.

First out was singer Shania Twain, who in January married her business man Frederic Thiebaud on a beach in Puerto Rico. 

A small and simple wedding - beautiful!

Reese Witherspoon married her agent Jim Toth on her luxury ranch in March. 

It was a traditional ceremony, and Reese walked down the aisle in a custom made Monique Lhuillier gown.

The biggest 2011 celebrity wedding in the UK belonged to Prince William and Kate Middleton, and this special occasion occurred in April. The day even became a bank holiday for us people in England! Beautiful Kate was wearing a stunning, royal looking gown by Sarah Burton for Alexander McQueen.

A pregnant Lily Allen married Sam Cooper in June. The bride showed off a tiny bump under her lace wedding dress, which was designed by Delphine Manivet. When it came to the choice of wedding headpieces, I think Lily went a bit over the top with these extremely big flowers on each side of her head. It looked like teddy bear ears!

Ugly Betty-actress America Ferrera finally married her longtime boyfriend Ryan Piers in June, in a dress by Amsale's Christos label.

Super famous model Kate Moss and musician-boyfriend Jamie Hince tied the knot on the 1st of July in a picturesque little village. The dress was designed by John Galliano, who apparently is a close friend to Kate.

Reality TV star Kim Kardashian got hitched with basketball player Kris Humphries in August, wearing a gorgeous custom made Vera Wang gown. Her engagement ring was worth $2 million dollars, and just like her bling was over-the-top - so was the wedding. Many call this the wedding of the year with lots of a-list Hollywood celebs on the guest list. Too bad the marriage didn't last for more than 72 days... 

The old Beatles-member Paul McCartney married American heiress Nancy Shevell in October. It was a simple ceremony that took place at a register office in London, and the bride was wearing a knee-length dress designed by Paul's designer daughter Stella McCartney.

I know it's not a real wedding, but it's only fictional - but the wedding of Twilight characters Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) and Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) is one of the most talked about weddings of 2011. Bella was wearing a dress by wedding dress designer veteran Carolina Herrera, with a gorgeous lace and tulle back in an oval shape. Very classy and sophisticated. I especially liked Bella's bridal hair accessories, which consisted of a small veil and an antique looking sparkly comb to hold it in place.

Fair trade fashion

Don't you think that buying fashion for a good cause makes you feel super good about yourself?
I do! I can't say I've tried it numbers of times, but every time I do I feel great. Remember, buying for a good cause doesn't mean you have to buy second hand clothes from some local charity shop. Nowadays there are so many companies out there that sell fair trade clothing, and this really inspires me. Knowing that my money goes to help countries in poverty really motivates me to buy these kind of clothes.

The countries involved in fair trading are usually in Africa, South America and Asia, and as we all know those continents are known for their tribal patterns and vibrant colours. Although I love colourful clothing and patterns I think it's more for wearing in the summer, as they can be quite extreme.

Below are some pictures of the beautiful Beyoncé from her video "Put it in a love song", wearing some really awesome tribal patterned clothes. The video was filmed in Brazil, so I can imagine that the patterns of her outfit are inspired by one of the very many Indian tribes in Brazil, such as Tupi, Tapirapé or Terena.

I've found a fair trade shop online called Traidcraft and I was amazed by their collection of handmade accessories - especially the bags and scarves.

Some of the bags are made by recycled materials, and I think this is fantastic! You can see the whole collection of handmade accessories from Traidcraft here.

Trendy, manly knitwear

As I wrote in my last post, I've got the most wonderful man in the world, and therefore I've decided to write a post on his favourite fashion item - the fine knit cardigan. If you look into hos wardrobe all you see is cardigans! It's mostly quite plain ones in neutral colours such as grey, black, navy blue and white, but sometimes he'll surpise you by wearing a patterned one (stripes) or a bright purple one. I decided to treat my man and bought him a couple of cardigans from Next, and rather than going for the typical style I chose a couple with unusual details. The colours were still neutral (white, and navy blue) since I know he wouldn't wear anything too colourful, but the collars had cool details. Oh my, does he look handsome in these cardigans :)

What fashion item would you buy for your man?

 Black Denim and Supply shawl neck cardigan from Ralph Lauren

Dark grey G-Star chunky knitwear with shawl neck from House of Fraser

Light grey cardigan with button details and pockets from Repertoire Fashion

White v-neck cardigan with t-shirt insert from Next 

A woman's right to pampering

Can I just say, my man is amazing ;) He proper spoilt me rotten for Christmas! He got me some really amazing Christmas presents that any girl would kill for. I kid you not! Unfortunately for you guys, I'm not gonna tell you the number 1 fantastic present he got me - if I do, then you're gonna try to steal him off me! ;)

Other than this number 1 fantastic present (which might or might not be a trip somewhere) he got me some lovely pampering products. Every woman has the right to some full on luxury pampering, and what better way to do it than with some gorgeously scented bath and body products from Sanctuary.

This 5 piece set of bath, shower and body products is my new favourite. I absolutely love the smell of these products, and could easily stay in the shower or bath all day just to inhale the scents. The body scrub is great. Compared to other body scrubs which often have either too big seeds in them, not enough or way too much, this scrub has just enough scrubby bits.

I've never been a big fan of lotions and body butters, but seriously - the smells of these body butters in the Sanctuary Skin Quenching Collection are mesmerising! The Sensuous Body Souffle is definitely my favourite.

I also got a very weird looking fresh face mask from Lush, which was pure green and pepperminty. I couldn't find that exact one on the Lush website, but this image is of the most similar looking one. I read the ingredients and it's stuff like Absolute vanilla vodka in it. Eeh.. odd! How can that be good for your skin? I tried the mask on one night last week and it does feel bloody good though! ;)

My sister, who's a hair dresser, got me some great professional salon products from Redken. No more pulling my tangled hair when trying to brush it after a shower!

As well as this, I also got my favourite perfume by Ralph Lauren. This one has a really fresh and floral scent and is perfect as a "day perfume". Apparently this perfume is the result of mixing green apple leaves, orange mandarin, pink magnolia and purple freesia. No wonder it smells so wonderfully! I used to have the purple Ralph Lauren perfume before as well - "HOT" - which is more spicy, and suits a night out. Unfortunately they've stopped making it. Gutted!

I hope you all got spoilt rotten for Christmas as well :)

Sherlock Holmes premiere and film fashion

I just went to see "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" at the cinema the other day. Brilliant film! I really recommend that you go and see it.
I was quite smitten with the fantastic 1800's fashion in the film, and decided to do a post on the fashion of two of the female roles. But first, some photos from the premiere of "A Game of Shadows" that was held at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, California on Tuesday the 6th of December.

33 year old actress Rachel McAdams is looking stunning in her Marchesa dress on the red carpet. I would have preferred to see her in her brown locks though. I love her brown hair in the film, and think it suits her a lot better than this ashy blond colour.

Swedish actress Noomi Rapace (31) is sparkling just as much as co-actress Rachel. Did they decide to match each other for this particular event?

The women have two completely different styles in the film. Upper class Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) is always seen in massive multi-layered dresses with puffy skirts and tight corset tops, paired with suit jackets and hats with flowery details. Her hair is tied back in complicated hairdos with tight curls.

Rebellious gypsy woman Simza (Noomi Rapace) takes people by storm with her wild looks. She's wearing long flowing skirts, layer on layer clothes, lace detailed tops, scarves, manly hats and tons of chunky jewellery. I think her motto is that you can never have too much jewellery - she's wearing some amazing earrings, necklaces, bracelets and rings. Her hair is let down in tangled waves, with some sun bleached highlights. Noomi should definitely consider going for this hairstyle outside of the screen as well.

The film was very much like the first one - full of witty comments, clever solutions to problems, and lots of action. Comedy, mystery and excitement in one. Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law are both brilliant actors, and they are definitely the right men for this film.