Cocktail time

Is it just me, or are there more parties in general during the autumn and winter? While the summer is all about casual bbq get-togethers in the garden or in the parks, autumn and winter is more about the glamorous and dressy cocktail parties.

The secret behind dressing right for a cocktail party is to think "elegant and sophisticated".
Think classic beauties like the 1950's actresses Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly.
Go for a dress that is classic, timeless and versatile. You can of course choose one with a modern twist or an unusual detail. The thing about cocktail dresses is that you should be able to wear the same dress to more than one party but still pull it off as different styles, as you match it with different accessories. Therefore, choose very carefully when buying a cocktail dress. It should be flattering, confident-boosting and easy to match. Patterns can be tricky, so go for a safe choice and buy a one coloured dress. Dark ones are always a safe choice as they go with pretty much everything. Black, royal blue, dark purple, grey... But lighter ones can be great if you want to lighten up your surroundings. Why not choose a creamy or a beige goldy satin dress to look a bit goddess-like, or a bright red if you are daring enough and want to stand out from the crowd. After all, everyone should have tried the "the lady in red" style at least once in their life.

The perfect match with a classic cocktail dress is a pair of stylish designer shoes. If you've decided to go for a very neutral dress, match it with a pair of sparkly or bold coloured shoes. Every girl should own at least one pair of designer shoes - shoes that she can cherish and treat with great respect. Designer shoes are so well designed that they feel feather light on your feet, and you feel like you're walking on clouds - but only the top designer shoes can make you feel like this, so decide carefully before you invest. Some of the greatest shoe designers there are, are of course Christian Louboutin, Manolo Blahnik and Jimmy Choo.

Here is the recipe to becoming a classic beauty:

• 1*cocktail dress
• 1*pair of designer shoes
• A handful of glamorous jewellery
• Dramatic makeup
• 1*elegant hairstyle

The witch style is not only for Halloween...

Can I just say that I love this time of year, just because you get an excuse to dress a little bit like a witch ;) And not just for Halloween, but the whole autumn and winter! The witch inspired fashion, which in this case really is fashion from the 18th and 19th century, comes back every autumn. Just look at all the lovely lace up boots that come back in all the stores' collections every year, the felt hats, the leather bags, the wool capes, the flowing ruffled skirts (really can't have too many of them!)... these items don't necessarily have to be "witch style" but combining them together... I, personally, am absolutely hooked on this fashion. Sure, I probably wouldn't squeeze in to a corset other than on occasions where it was appropriate, and I might skip the hat (don't want to mess up the hair!) but the rest is added to my list of lovable fashion.
Fashion Infatuation ♥ Witch fashion = true!

Versace for H&M

 I think it's amazing how big designer brands team up and collaborate with normal high-street clothes shops. This time it's Versace who is launching a collection for H&M. H&M has had one or a couple of designer collaborations each year since 2004, when the first one out was Karl Lagerfeld. This collection was extremely popular, and people were queuing outside the shops for hours to get inside and see the wonderful clothes. The year after, in 2005, H&M got together with Stella McCartney, and since then we have seen collections at H&M for Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Lanvin and the big shoe favourite Jimmy Choo.

It's great for H&M to collaborate with big designer brands in order to gain popularity, but I bet the designers are only doing it to get us all hooked on the amazing designs of the brand. We are going to end up being so obsessed with quality tailored-like clothes that we have to buy the real thing once they've stopped selling it in H&M... :P

The Versace collection is available in store for a limited time only from the 17th of November this year.
Here are some sneak peaks on some of the lovely items that you will find in H&M shortly. Get ready to get your hands on them!

 

1920's Autumn Style

If I could have lived in another decade, I would have chosen the 1920's. "Why?", you wonder. Well, just think about it - there was the catchy Charleston music with the lovely jumpy dancing, post war happiness, dramatic looks with lots of eye makeup and short hair with glamorous curls, all the pretty dresses with fringes, feathers in your hair, cute hats, and my favourite; the heeled brogues!
I bought my first brogues a few years ago, and after that I was obsessed! Most of my heels are of brogue style nowadays. I think this style is so utterly flattering for your feet, and the laces make them look super pretty. The rounded toe, the little fringed details - what's not to love?! Here is a little collage of a few pretty hats and brogues perfect to complete an Autumn outfit and to get a bit of a 20's twist :)

♥Ivory hat from Nordstrom
♥Red hat from Joseph M
♥Black hat from Debenhams
♥Black brogues from heels.com
♥Black and cream brogues from Dorothy Perkins
♥Tan brogues from Miss Selfridge

Get the style: Green satin dresses a la Christina's in Burlesque

 I know, I know... Christina Aguilera again?! The thing is, I've had such a good response from my post about the green dress she is wearing in the film Burlesque. (buy the film from Amazon by clicking the link) Remember that post I wrote? So I thought, why not make a "how to get the look"-post. The actual Michael Kaplan dress she is wearing in the film is a one of a kind, and is unfortunately not available on the market. There might be replicas out there, but here are 3 lovely green satin dresses of a similar design that I have found for you guys. I am totally smitten with the one I've used in my second example below. Add a few other bits to the outfit, and you'll pretty much get the exact look of Christina Aguilera when she was singing "Bound to You" in Burlesque. Gorgeous!

As I said, I've used my favourite one of the 3 dresses pictured above. Pair that with matching green satin shoes and a white hair flower. Make your hair curly with the help of a crimping iron (I've got one by obh nordica - the one pictured - and it's great!), draw thick lines of eyeliner above your eyes, and apply bright red lipstick. Finish off with a matching red nail polish, and you've achieved the look of Christina.

All of the 3 dresses are available from PacificPlex, and Amazon.
And great news; PacificPlex ships internationally! 

Lovely Lace Dresses

What can I say... Parisian inspiration and absolutely gorgeous lace dresses.

L'amour ♥

Scottish clan wedding dresses

As you may have seen from my post last week, I visited Scotland for the first time this weekend.

A three-day trip to Edinburgh was just what I needed to cheer myself up now when the summer weather is gone and it's just getting darker and gloomier every day.

My last post was about Scottish inspired fashion (in this case just a few checked items that I picked out) but I am now going to tell you about the genuine Scottish fashion.

The thing is... I was wandering around on the streets in Edinburgh and I passed this wedding shop. Now, I knew that most Scottish men dress in the traditional kilt made out of tartan fabric for their wedding, but what I didn't know is that the bride can choose to dress in tartan fabric as well! I thought the bride just dressed in the classic white dress, but I was very wrong! 

When I passed this wedding shop I saw a very eye-catching wedding dress in the window; a green and purple checked dress! I couldn't believe it! I thought it was really odd at first, but after having thought about it for a while I thought it was quite pretty. The dress was quite medieval looking, which is really the style of all things that are typically Celtic, and it had lots of pretty details like the old-fashioned lace-up tieback. 

Although I got used to looking at this odd Scottish clan dress in the end, I think I would still prefer to go for the classic white for my future wedding...

Images from www.heritageofscotland.com