Forever 21 teams up with charity organisation for new Spring line

It seems I'm following the lines of charity here, after my post the other day about the charity fashion event I attended. This time it's not about any horrible diseases, but about bringing fresh and clean water to those in need. 

The high-street fashion store Forever 21 has teamed up with The Samburu Project to help bring clean water to people in Samburu, Kenya, by channeling the tribal feeling in their new clothing line. The tribal pattern is one of this Spring's hottest trends, so why not be fashionable and support a good cause at the same time! 

For every item you buy from their Give to Love, Love to Give clothing line Forever 21 will give 10% of the purchase price to The Samburu Project, all the way until 2013. 

I really think it's amazing when brands give some of their own profit to charities. This is so inspiring, and I hope that more brands will follow!

Image credit: Forever 21

Scarlett Johansson covers Vogue in time for the Avengers premiere

Beautiful Danish-American actress Scarlett Johansson covers Vogue's May issue this year, just in time for the film premiere of Scarlett's new film "The Avengers". I'm actually off to see the film tomorrow, so I thought this would be a perfect reason to get to post some stunning pictures of Scarlett.

27 year old Scarlett Johansson looks absolutely divine in the photos from Vogue's May issue, photographed by Mario Testino. She is rocking several vintage inspired looks to create an illusion of the old style Hollywood glamour, and the outfits are of course designed by some of the biggest designers of our time - Dolce & Gabbana, Nina Ricci, Christian Louboutin... and the list goes on.

Many fashionistas out there think that Scarlett Johansson is boring for always going for the classic 50's look, and they want to see her in something more modern - something more shocking. I disagree! Why should all Hollywood stars look the same?! I think Scarlett has found the look that works best for her, and my opinion is that she should go her own way when it comes to style instead of just being one in the crowd.

Fashion charity event in Leeds

Fashion Infatuation's 100th blogpost - and it's all for charity!

I attended a fashion show at the Leeds Corn Exchange called Catwalk for Life on Thursday night (19th April) and it was organised by Cancer Research UK to raise money for cancer research. There were over 400 guests at the event, and a total of about £4.000 was raised! Oh, how I love it when fashion goes the extra mile for a good cause!

The little boutiques in Corn Exchange all showed off their fabulous spring and summer collections on the catwalk, and some of the models were women who had survived cancer. Very inspirational! The boutiques showing off their collections were Candy Candy (50's inspired rockabilly clothes), Mummy & Little Me (maternity clothes), Little Pink Wardrobe, Moo Designs, RED Tattoo & Piercing, Lou Lou Puchalka and Mad Elizabeth.

Now, I took so many photos that I can't keep track of all of the outfits and what shops they were from, so I've just grouped them together according to style. Here are some of my favourites;

 Alternative clothing from Candy Candy.

 Maternity clothing from Mummy & Little Me.

 A burst of colour for spring!

 Light and creamy pastels.

Odd and beautiful.

Sweet and quirky accessories by Candy Candy

While you’re waiting for me to sort out all my photos from the Catwalk for Life event, I thought I would feature one of the little boutiques in Corn Exchange here on Fashion Infatuation. Candy Candy is a sweet new addition to Leeds Corn Exchange, and it’s an original brand of costume jewellery and hair accessories.

Candy Candy is influenced by a mix of quirky Japanese style and vintage fashion – I would say it’s a bit like 1950’s rockabilly style. I immediately thought of the film Cry Baby when I saw the pictures from the shop. Perhaps it’s because of Candy Candy owner Helena Garcia’s hairstyle.

Helena’s love for accessories started when she was really young and her mum used to cut her hair boyish short. This was not something young Helena liked, so she started making bows and flower accessories to put in her hair, to make her look more feminine. The love for accessories kept growing, and now she is running the successful little signature jewellery and accessories boutique in the heart of Leeds.

I went in there on Thursday after the fashion event, and it’s really pretty. It’s kind of walking into a colourful fairytale filled with treasures. I strongly recommend you to visit this cute little boutique, but if you are unable to do so you can have a look at these gorgeous photos. 

How to dress up a summer dress for colder weather

The lack of posts here on Fashion Infatuation lately is cause of the fact that I took some time off work and my normal life to go on a well-needed holiday. I can now finally say that I've been outside of Europe. Yay! :)
Mexico was absolutely wonderful, and enjoyed every bit of it. I've been soaking up the sun as much as I possibly could.

As you may recall I wrote a post before I left about what I was packing in my suitcase for the trip. A little red summer dress was one of the items. I wore that dress twice during the 10 days I was in Mexico, and this is what it looked like.

Now, I'm going to a fashion event at Corn Exchange in Leeds tonight called "Catwalk for life" (a charity fashion event to raise money for cancer research), and I thought that I wanted to wear this cute little red dress again. Unfortunately, the English spring weather is nothing like the warm and wonderful Central American weather, but today is a very wet, cold and windy April day here in Leeds. Absolutely horrible!
Despite this, I decided to wear my red dress, but I've themed it with some warmer garments; a long sleeved bolero, a pair of black tights, heeled tan brogues from Hush Puppies, a black leather jacket, and the last little accessory is my tan cross-body bag.

This is just proof that you can dress up a summer dress for colder weather. What do you think of the outfit I put together? How do you match your summer dresses when it's too cold to wear them on their own?

For this event I will of course rock my style up a little bit extra (as the rock chick that I am) and put on some bright red lipstick, and some smoky eyemakeup. Keep an eye out for the upcoming review on the event later this week.

Packing for my Central American holiday!

This evening consisted of me running around in the house, trying to remember everything I needed to pack for my holiday. Passport, money, tickets, adapters... and some nice clothes of course! Very important ;)
Here are a few of the things I'm taking with me to Mexico...

1 A simple but cute, strapless red dress.
2 Comfy walking saldals - very important for when going out to explore the area. These were my best friends in Rome last year.
3 Travel adapters. I don't know what sort of plugs they have in Central America, so I'm bringing them all!
4 Book; "Stolen" by Lesley Pearse - something to entertain myself with when lying in the sunchair
5 My favourite perfume - Ralph Lauren (the blue one). Smells just lovely! :)
6 Bikini. Essential!!! I was given this cute bikini by fellow blogger Top Style Advice. Thank you!
7 My trusty ghd straighteners. My hair has a tendency to turn into a birds nest when on holiday, with the salty water and sand and all, so my ghd is my savior.
8 Comfy linen shorts - I went a bit crazy and bought these shorts in 3 different colours!
9 Strappy going out sandals with a wedge heel.
10 Another (hopefully) great book. I absolutely love reading when I'm on holiday :) This one is "The other hand" by Chris Cleave

Things I WISH I could pack in my suitcase for this holiday...
A girl is never happy when it comes to holiday clothes, is that not right? You can never have enough, and even if you've bought everything essential for your trip, you always find more things you want.
I recently discovered the online/airport shop Holiday Wardrobe, and they've got some lovely items in store. Why, why, why did I not know about this shop a month or so ago?! I've spotted a few items I would love to have had packed in my suitcase...

Beaded Aztek kaftan - £14.99 (Sale! Was £24.99)

 I've never been much for kaftans before, but this beaded Aztek kaftan is just gorgeous! It would have been very suitable for this trip as well, since I'm going to the country of lots of indian tribes. I would have fitted right in ;)

Golden bikini with animal tooth detail - £21.99

When I was on the hunt for bikinis a couple of weeks ago, there weren't many shops that actually had the swimwear collections in store yet. If I had gotten the chance I would so have bought this golden bikini with an animal tooth detail in the front.

Cowboy inspired straw hat - £11.99

I've been looking for a beach hat! One that I can wear while lying in my sunchair, and that would stop me from being blinded by the sun while reading. This cowboy inspired straw hat would have been perfect! I love a bit of a western style. Hopefully they'll have a Holiday Wardrobe store in Gatwick :)

The Hunger Games film premiere

I just went to see The Hunger Games on Saturday. Such a good film! I didn't really know what to expect of the film since I hadn't watched the trailer before, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was a very long film - almost 2,5 hours - but it sure didn't feel like it. The film was extremely exciting all the way through, and I highly recommend you all to go and see it.
Check out these fabulous photos from the Hunger Games premiere.

Actress Jennifer Lawrence, known as "The girl on fire" in the film, matched her character with a stunning golden gown by Prabal Gurung. She matched it with black diamond earrings from Jacob & Co, and Jimmy Choo shoes.

Here she is again together with fellow actor Josh Hutcherson, who looked very handsome in his sleek suit.

The Hunger Games actor Liam Hemsworth looked pretty damn hot in his suit - here together with girlfriend Miley Cyrus, who wore an outfit from Pucci's spring 2012 collection. 

Elizabeth Banks, who also stars in the film, wore a hot-off-the-runway look from the spring 2012 Versace couture collection. Nude pumps and a simple metallic clutch kept the attention on the dress.

The new face for Swedish clothing giant Lindex

Have you ever heard about the clothing store Lindex? I didn't think so...
Lindex is a Swedish clothing store chain which has been around for as long as I can remember. My mum used to drag me there when I was little to buy clothes, and the store focuses very much on children's clothes and clothes for "mature" women. I'm not saying old! Just women who doesn't really care about all the latest fashion trends, but who would rather go for a quite casual, comfortable style. Women who are over the highstreet craze, and who are happy to dress their age instead of pretending they're younger than they really are.

For their Spring/Summer campaign, Lindex has chosen to use a Hollywood star as the face of the brand. Clever move! Last season they did a collaboration with Reese Witherspoon, but this season it's Gwyneth Paltrow's turn to shine. I would say that the 39 year old American actress is an excellent choice for this campaign, which by the way is called "modern preppy".

The Spring/Summer collection includes all this season's wardrobe essentials; the coloured jeans/chinos, stripy tops and dresses (stripy is the big thing this season!) and colourful blazers.