Printed dresses and playsuits for summer

It’s official - summer is nearly here! And with summer comes my favourite kind of fashion; printed dresses and playsuits. Prints have been witnessed all over the Spring/Summer ’12 catwalks, so whether you’re after something a little bit loud and crazy or subtle and understated there is definitely something on the high street for you this summer. Here’s a breakdown of my favourite prints for summer 2012.

Novelty prints

I first fell in love with novelty prints after seeing Prada’s cartoon Cadillac print, and since then I’ve seen lots of novelty prints online.  My favourite has to be the Boston Dog print dress from Brat & Suzie as it’s fun and a little bit quirky.

However, for something a little less in your face I like the Lipstick playsuit from Vero Moda.

Floral Prints

Florals are a summer time classic. No summer wardrobe would be complete without at least one floral piece. I love this ditzy floral playsuit by Vila Clothes - it would look great paired with subtle girly accessories and a tan!

Animal Prints

Forget about the usual animal prints like leopard and zebra for summer. This season it’s all about the bird print. There are many variations of this trend but for summer I particularly like the vintage inspired pigeon print dress from 18 and East.

So, out of these fantastic prints which one will you be wearing this summer?

Review: Spring clothes from Zalando

I don't often do online shopping, except for on very rare occasions. And when I do, I need to know that the website I'm buying from has good quality clothes, and free returns - just in case the item I ordered doesn't fit! There's just something special about actually walking around in town for a day trying clothes on, but on some days you just can't be bothered! 

One online shop I actually buy from is Zalando. I have done some Zalando online shopping quite a few times before and I know that they have some really nice big brands on their website, and saying that there is a lot to choose from in their range of clothes is an understatement. Many first-time Zalando shoppers actually get a bit overwhelmed by the impressive choice on the website, but it’s actually not difficult at all to find your way through the Zalando jungle. The website has a great filtering system that lets you choose brand, item, size, colour and even price… so you can easily find what you’re looking for!

My choice of Spring fashion from Zalando was a mustardy yellow Anna Field jersey dress (£22), and a green Vero Moda cardigan (£19.95). I’m not usually a very colourful person, except for in the summer, but I decided to go for something different this time instead of my usual style of dark and earthy hues. Don’t you think that yellow and green are very lovely and Springy colours? It’s a bit of a miss-match with green and yellow, but I like it! I think this yellow dress is my new favourite, and I’m sure I’ll be wearing it lots in the future. 

The good thing about the dress is that you can wear it all year around.
For a Spring look; simply add a cardigan and some pretty shoes like in the photos below.
For a Summer look; wear the dress on its own, with some strappy heeled sandals.
For an Autumn look; add a pair of leggings, ankle boots, and a leather jacket.
For a Winter look; go for a pair of really thick tights, a cardigan, a nice scarf, and knee-high boots (and a winter jacket, of course!). 

How would you wear this dress for Spring? 

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.