Denim Days

The humble jean; it surely is every woman's wardrobe staple, taking you from winter to summer, and from day to night with ease.

So then, why is it that it's so dam hard to find the perfect pair?

There is so many choices. Do you go skinny or bootcut? Indigo or stonewash? High street or high end?
And then don't even get me started on the size. I can recall many an hour spent hopping around in a claustrophobic changing room, as a desperately tried to squeeze myself into a pair of jeans which to be honest just didn't fit.

With all these choices, and the prospect of spending a few hours trapped in a dressing room, it's little wonder most women dread the thought of having to start the hunt for their perfect denim jeans.

With this in mind, I thought I would put together my top jean picks, to make the search a little easier.

 Topshop
Granted this isn't exactly a ground breaking choice BUT Topshop's MOTO denim delivers a great range of detailed denim pieces at an affordable price of around £40

The majority of jeans I own  hail from good old Topshop, and from my experience they wear extremely well, surviving wash after wash, and for a cheaper pair of jeans manage to escape the hideous knee sag affect.

My personal faves are their vintage wash skinnies.

PRPS

Literally standing for purpose, this Rolls Royce of denim, specialises in the quality and longevity of their jeans.
Priced between £150 and £300, these are definitely at the pricier end of the spectrum - but in my opinion are worth every penny.
Using the softest African cotton and spun on the looms used to create the original Levi's, these jeans will literally last a life time.

These are currently quite hard to find in the UK, however Browns, Start Boutique, and My Theresa all stock them online and have good returns policies.
Just one tip - they fit on the small side, so if, like me you generally fall in between two waist sizes, plump for the bigger one on this occasion


Levi's Curve ID
The iconic denim brand launched their revolutionary Curve ID line last year, and it aims to provide perfectly fitting jeans for all shapes and sizes.

Now I have to be honest and admit that I had failed to pay much attention to the line, until last week that is when I friend told me she was thinking about going to check them out.

Being the great friend I am, I went with, to check out just how easy it is to find your perfect fit.
On entering the store, we were quickly given a run down of all the different categories you could fall into, before my friend, Amy was ushered into the changing rooms to be measured.

The idea of in store measurements normally fill me with horror and a feeling of embarrassment, but to my surprise the whole process took no more than five minutes and consisted of getting a waist, hip and leg  measurement.

Before long Amy had been given a perfectly fitting pair of jeans ( she fell into the demi curve category), and I had a unabashed feeling of jealousy as I wished I could justify spending £80 on a pair of jeans on a whim.

Overall I would completely recommend the Curve ID experience and feel that you would struggle to not find a perfect fitting pair of jeans.

Oscars Fashion: A disappointing night

Despite the greatest of expectations that I held for the Oscar night dresses, I have to admit, as I was sat in the early hours of the morning, all bleary eyed but full of excitement in front of my TV set, I was ever so slightly disappointed in the leading ladies fashion choices.

Ok, so there wasn't too many complete disasters, but there were no WOW moments either, that gave me the the almost irrepressible desire to get up and lick my TV screen.

My least Favourites

The always fashionable Reese Witherspoon played it overly safe in monochrome Armani Prive

Gwyneth Paltrow looked shockingly space age, in a slash neck Calvin Klein gown that resembled molten silver. Beautiful, but dare I say it a little young for Ms Paltrow? The sparkling gown appears harsh against her tanned skin and ice maiden blonde hair.

Another complete disappointment for me was Penelope Cruz. The normally tres chic actress opted for a red L'wren Scott print dress which appeared rather bland and forgettable, almost a little cheap.

In contrast however, Amy Adams wore a L'Wren Scott dress which definitely makes it onto my list of;

Best Dresses of the Night


The midnight blue stunner, clings to Amy Adams' fab post baby figure, and perfectly complements her stunning red locks.
But then why oh why did she have to team it with the Cartier necklace and bracelet?
Both stunning in their own right, but teamed with the head to toe blue sparkles it simply looks too much and ruins the clean silhouette of the gown.
Otherwise this look would without a doubt be my favourite of the night.

Michelle Williams dazzled in Chanel Haute Couture. The short sleeved ivory number melted perfectly into her porcelain skin.

The ceremonies host Anne Hathaway made a total of eight costume changes during the shows three hour duration, and left me completely stunned with her choice of silver beaded Oscar de la Renta dress.

Styled by the one and only Rachel Zoe, this My one and only WOW moment of the night, and it single handedly reminded me why I look forward to the Academy Awards each and every year.

High Street Springs into action

So the winter sale dregs are (finally) being removed from the shop floor, in order to make way for the latest spring drops, and this all led for a very exciting sight indeed as I headed out to partake in a spot of shopping earlier this week.

One of my favourite high street stores has to be Zara, they always deliver good quality garments at a reasonable price and provide wearable day-night pieces. And they don't seem to have disappointed this season as the shop floor was awash with rosy pink and caramel hues, a clear nod to the ballet inspired designs as seen at Chloe and J.Mendal.

For me where Zara excels though is in there bags and shoes, I always seem to walk out with a pair and at least another 3 firmly planted on my wish list; this week was no exception as I selected a pair of tan leather roman, wedge sandals

A new edition to zara's footwear this season is a kind of squishy sole that goes underneath the ball of your foot - I am seriously hoping this goes some way to increasing my poor tolerance to heels so I stop having to lug around spare flats wherever I go.

The other items that caught my eye were a pair of pink ballet flats, and a gorgeous turquoise handled bowling bag. 

I couldn't quite justify buying either of these items just yet though - for now I perfectly executed my powers of restraint; there's always next week though. You can view Zara's full collection online at www.zara.com

In other news I finally got my little paws on the eagerly awaited Whistles Carrie skirt that hit stores this week. A neon pink, midi-length, chiffon piece of heaven that manages to encapsulate the spirit of spring/summer in a single stretch of fabric.

At £95 it's not exactly cheap, but is a snip compared to the £500+ that you would pay for one of the coveted Jill Sander versions.

The skirt provides an easy way to incorporate the neon trend into your daily wardrobe - if like me your not blessed with model standard skin and colourings, than the vibrant shades can appear a little unflattering, the perfect solution is to restrict them to your lower half paired with a universally flattering white tee. 

The skirt and all of Whistle's beautiful collection can be found online at www.whistles.co.uk

Oh an one more thing, if you are tempted by any of Whistles offerings, and are based in the UK, this months Glamour magazine has a 20% off voucher, so go check that out first :)

Gok's Clothes roadshow: a fashion fix too far?

So I would like to preface this post by saying that I LOVE Gok Wan. He has single handedly brought fashion back onto our TV screens, his shows are light hearted, easy viewing, and he never ever says that anyone needs to lose weight in order to look good.

BUT

His new series 'Clothes roadshow' is really starting to annoy me.
The whole premise behind the show (in case anyone hasn't delved into Channel 4 recently) is that he pits the UK high street's clothes up against the worlds biggest designers in order to prove that anyone can look and feel amazing on a shoe string budget. Sounds good right? And it would be, if he actually used cheap high street clothes. Instead he uses heavily customised clothes, that are just as un-obtainable for the average viewer as the designer garments he tells us to shun every week.

Case in point - on tonights episode he fashioned a tartan dress out of two old picnic blankets, and customised an American Apparel top with £300 worth of crystals that took over 40 hours to be painstakingly glued on. If I tried to walk out the house in a blanket fashioned as a couture gown I would look like I was ill, and needed to head straight on back to bed, and I just don't have the time or the funds (an lets be totally honest the skill), to glue thousands of diamonte onto a mesh top.

Now I am not saying his designs don't look beautiful - they do. (The pictures below show how he transformed a plain blue jersey maxi, into a stunning evening gown.) But there is no way I, and I am guessing the majority of viewers, could recreate them at home. Instead of heralding our British high street stores, he seems to be quietly implying that there is no way you could ever look good by just wearing the clothes as you buy them.

Simple jersey dress one minute

£100, and a professional seamstress later is a lust worthy evening gown

So what do you think? Are going to be whipping out the glue gun and picnic blankets to put together your next ensemble, or do you wish Gok would return to attainable clothes that his viewers could actually wear.

The Carrie Diaries

So it has been revealed that Sex and the City maestro Michael Patrick King is planning on giving Carrie yet another outing onto the big screen.

This time however we won’t see her as the whimsical, yet uber fashionable Manhattanite, awash with fabulous friends, an even more fab wardrobe, and an on/off romance with Big. Instead we will be introduced to her teenage self as we witness her first steps into NYC.

Based on the novel of the same name by SATC writer Candace Bushnell, The Carrie Diaries sees Ms Bradshaw finish high school, and leap straight into the big city and a romance with an older man. Sound familiar? Big and Alexander Petrovski anyone?

And who is being lined up to play the young Carrie? If rumors are to be believed the ultimate Park Avenue princess Blake Lively, of Gossip Girl fame, is all set to step into SJP’s inappropriately high Manolos.

Blake Lively 

Sure she has the fashion sense, but to be completely honest, I am not 100% sure how I feel about someone else playing Carrie, and the whole prequel in general.

Exactly how much more mileage (and money) can be squeezed out of the franchise?

Not only would the Carrie Diaries feature the central protagonist without her ever popular co-stars, it would also completely alienate the SATC core audience.

When debuted in the nineties, the show was geared toward the single 20-30 somethings, who have now become 30-40 somethings. To them  the worryings of a teenage Carrie are simply irrelevant..

I wish the film companies would leave the franchise alone for it to be remembered as it was back in the late nineties, early noughties – a ground breaking show that broke boundaries, empowered women and brought fashion to the foreground.

The Cult of Chanel

This past weekend Chanel sparked yet another rush to it's cosmetics counters as the long awaited Black Pearl, Pearl Drop, and Peach Necree nail varnishes were released for Spring Summer.

Chanel's seamless ability to create an instantaneous cult classic was once again showcased as the nail varnishes started to sell out in a matter of hours

Black Pearl, for me at least, is the clear standout of the three. Its mermaid shimmer, a unique mix of deep green, silver and intense black depending on the light,make the nails appear as if they have been dipped into diamonds, a perfect polish for both the current cold snap we are experiencing as well as the summer months ahead.

The other two however are rather same old, same old. Pearl Drop - whilst providing a pretty sheen to the nails, hardly differs from its Chanel cousin Intermezzo, and although Peach Nacree is a pretty spring colour, it  isn't anything special. Similar colours and finishes can easily be found by many a drugstore brand, meaning it really isn't worth its £22 price tag.

When carefully considered however, are Chanel polishes ever really worth the designer price tag? Sure the quality is good (it better be for over £20's a pop), the packaging is chic and adorned with the signature Chanel logo, but, if I am really honest the colours are rarely anything special and dare I say it? A bit copycat.

Case in point. Chanel's Jade green polish caused a frenzy when it was released in September 2009, and is currently being sold on ebay for up to a quite frankly astonishing £80. Yet the almost the exact same colour was released by Mac and OPI six months earlier in the form of Peppermint Patti and Gargantuan Green Grape, respectively.

 Another example of Chanel jumping nail trend bandwagon is the release of Particuliere in April 2010. This dirty taupe colour was hailed as the next big thing when it was seen on Chanel's runways, when in fact the 'taupe nail trend' was already going strong thanks to OPI's release of You Don't Know Jacques a whopping 18 months earlier.

So if Chanel isn't setting nail polish trends, instead merely following them, why do thousands of women rush out to get their hands (and nails) on them?

There really is only one answer to that, and its because they (myself sometimes included), want to have their own little piece of Chanel. £20 is a hell of an expensive nail polish, but its a very reasonably priced piece of a Parisian design icon.

See by Chloe - Poya Satchel

Whilst casually shopping yesterday, I came face to face with my latest summer bag craving, and through pure intuition, mind reading abilities, or the rather unimaginative post title, I reckon all of you will already know just what it is :)

Taken from the See by Chloe line, the Poya Satchel hits that pefect happy medium, where b it looks smart enough to carry whilst wearing a tailored jacket and heels, yet relaxed enough to to wear with jeans, a white tee and sandals on a summers weekend. Ok, I may have got slightly carried away with the summer's weekend knowing our weather's track record, but this satchel manages all that whilst being big enough, and practical enough to carry all your daily essentials.

The understated gold hardware butter soft leather and scalloped edging give the notoriously masculine styled satchel bag, a feminine and cool twist, rendering it perfect for the summertime (again I know, but a bit of optimism never hurt anyone).

Pictured above in butterscotch leather,  the bag from Chloe's diffusion line also comes in black, tan, a beautiful nude pink and my personal fave - coral, and can be purchased on line from net-a-porter or My wardrobe. 
Priced at £355 the Poya satchel comes in at around a third of the price of the famous Mulberry Alexa, which I believe in comparison looks heavy, and perhaps even a little clunky.

The only satchel styled bag that could currently usurp the See by Chloe offering in my eyes is the Proenza Schouler PS1

The envelope flap, squared hardware and crinkly soft leather are (for want of a better word) divine, but with a £1200 price tag I fear Iwill have to dream a little while longer.