Birthday Trick or Treats

My birthday was yesterday and I was completely spoilt rotten! I woke up to unwrap this gorgeous Alexander McQueen ring from my family which was such a lovely surprise.

Alexander McQueen

I received quite a few vouchers so obviously I decided to spend the day shopping, I mean is there any other way to spend you birthday? 

Topshop galore!

My boyfriend's parents bought me this lovely polka dot dress which i wore out that evening. I was so pleased to go shopping and use my vouchers on a Dior powder compact and eyeshadow palet to die for.  I also snapped up a bargain with this Topshop headband i've been after for ages, it was £4.50 in the sale so I was pretty chuffed. 

Gel half moon nails

In the afternoon I went to my favourite nail bar called Hula Nails on Old Street, where I was pampered with these gel half moon nails. I think they look amazing! 

Glittered up for Halloween

After a day of pampering and shopping we went to Groucho Club in Soho where we were all glittered up and celeb spotting in the members only establishment, it was definitely a great end to my birthday! 

Rock and Roll All Night - KISS Style

So Halloween this year we decided to get our rock and roll on big time, so what better way than to dress up in leather and outrageous makeup? 

Emily's a great artist who did all our makeup that night and I think she did a pretty great job, the makeup lastet all night and didn't leave us in a patchy mess...which is always nice.

Kiss-Licious

We had the best fun taking loads of pictures, this one is my favorites as we made our own take on one of their album covers. So I think you'll agree we looked pretty cool and it was so funny going out into Camden dressed as KISS, a great night was definitely had by all.

Bunting ahoy!

Autumn is now upon us, so I wanted something to brighten up my room and a weekend activity where I could stay wrapped up in the house and get creative. So there was only one thing for it... bunting!

Me and my bunting buddy Emily went to The Cloth House in Soho to pick up some fabrics, it was like taking two fat kids into a sweet shop as we were so excited for all the gorgeous patterns and textures. We picked 4 key prints which didn't particularly compliment each other, but we figured it was only bunting so let's try something different!

Me and my bunting :)

The finished product in my bedroom

So here it is my gorgeous bunting hung up in my room, I love the autumn colours and the classic floral prints which are perfect for completing that classic vintage look and feel. Love it. I'm thinking of making some more soon (much to my boyfriend's joy) so i'm thinking perhaps of working on something a little different like cosmic prints, what do you think?

Spooky Halloween Style

Halloween's soon approaching which happens to be my birthday, I'll be 22 this year... I feel like I'm getting so old! But anyway I decided to get into the spirit of things by getting a pin up fringe. The hairdresser in Toni and Guy Camden is amazing, I always make sure I go back to him as he gets it just right, here's the finished product.

Pin Up Fringe, H&M Jumper, Topshop necklace

We also went out this weekend and it gave me a good excuse to wear my old skull candy skeleton dress from my favourite boutique in Bristol 'Shrinking Violet'. I took this dress in as it used to be a swing dress, but I made some alterations and have now made it the perfect fitted pencil dress. 

Shrinking Violet dress, Creepers, Topshop Jacket

I wore this combo out on the tiles, with creepers and my trusty green jacket. Overall I'm really getting into the spooky spirit this year and I think this dress fits the bill perfectly. Plus, I bought this dress 4 years ago and it still fits, score!

Turbowolf Time!

Coming from Bristol I'm proud to say the music scene is pretty good down there and once in a while a band gets recognised. Me and my boyfriend have been going to Turbowolf shows for quite a few years now and watching them in small Bristol haunts like The Mothers Ruin used to be pretty special even before they got recognised. So seeing Turbowolf almost selling out a packed out venue at The Garage in London was well deserved for the Bristol boys.

Singer Chris and Drummer Blake

I also managed to squeeze in an interview with the lovely singer Chris and drummer Blake for online website Bring The Noise who I write for a in my spare time. They were such lovely guys and it was good to have a proper chat about weird and wonderful things, if you'd like to read my interview it's here.

Rocking my new TW t-shirt to work the next day

Limited edition screen print

Being the good guy I am it's always good to try and support an up and coming band by buying the merch, so I did just that. The t-shirt is really easy to wear with skinny jeans and converse for a relaxed day in the office and the psychedelic screen-print will look great on our bedroom wall next to our cobra print from their 2011 tour.

21st Century Fox Party

Last week was a media night out and it was none other than 21st Century Fox. The whole evening was rather decedent where we entered into a secret venue with a dark corridor leading into a magical party land. We then walked up a stairway with a huge illuminated FOX logo on the side of the wall.

The entrance to the party

The food we eat that evening!

All the food we eat was really beautiful and delicious, as you can see! No Media party would be complete without free alcohol and there was such a variety of cocktails my mouth was watering just looking...I was a little boring that night though and stuck to a few glasses of champagne but my friend's chili cocktail was amazing!

Drinks, drinks, drinks! - Chili Cocktails!

There was also candy floss ladies and a photo booth where we were able to spray paint onto the digital screen. Pretty amazing but of course there were plenty of cocks to go around! 

Candy floss lady

Cocks galore!

The entertainment was great too with Burlesque dancer 'Gwendoline Lamour' performing a sultry fan dance, much to the boys delight! There was also a ska/brass band playing who were a nice change to the commercial music you often get at parties.

Gwendoline Lamour

Brass band getting their puff on

Overall an awesome night which I was lucky enough to go to, I don't think I'll get invited to a party this good again for a long time...but here's hoping! Media Thursdays are the best.

Hula Nails

Last week I was taken to the best nail bar ever! So I thought I should share this treasure trove with my readers as it'd be just greedy to keep it to myself. Located in Farringdon central London, Hula Nails is quite possibly the snazziest nail bar in town!

The staff were tattooed Burlesque babes all dressed the part in hula 1950's pinup clothes and sat us down by the hula interior. The decor and design in this nail bar was so hula chic with bamboo walls and pin up icons everywhere you looked and bizarre vintage bric-a-brac.

Where we had our nails painted

The decor was gorgeous but the nails weren't half bad either! With an array of bright colours to choose from there was plenty of glamour to go around. I chose a classic red varnish, where I was also treated to a hand massage and a cuticle clean (which was well needed). I also spotted one of the girls with a Dita Von Teese-esque nail style with red half moon and nude bottom, which I'm definitely getting next time.

The makeover/pamper corner

This place is also perfect for parties, with a makeover counter and alcohol served on their late opening on a Wednesday.

The finished product, devine!

I'll definitely be back here to treat myself on my birthday at the end of the month with some red half moon nails! The staff were lovely, nails gorgeous and the venue to die for! A vintage lovers dream come true.

The Maine and being a Vegan for the day

Being a London girl now I do miss having my lady friends from home around, so when they came to visit this weekend it felt like a missing gap had been filled. I love spending time with these two ladies and tonight a girly evening was on the agenda, which was having dinner and going giddy at the knees for the rock/pop band The Maine.

Jass, Emily and Me :)

So first off we stopped for food at LovinHut which was a Vegan restaurant. I was a bit apprehensive as I'm not really a fan of the whole Vegan thing, I like to eat meat and I don't think just because you're a vegan it makes you any better as a person as some of them can be a bit preachy sometimes. But I thought I'd give it a go as apparently it's healthy and Em and Jass are into the whole vegan thing. I had an Ocean burger which basically was a vegan chicken burger, I have to say it was really lovely and tasty and filled me up! So my first vegan experience wasn't a bad one :)

Vegan Burger at LovinHut

We then walked down to the Electric Ballroom just in time to catch The Maine. The frontman John O'Callaghan sang the songs from the album Pioneer beautifully, it also helps that he's quite a nice piece of eye candy. They played a really tight set and I was really impressed with how great they sounded live. With songs like Jenny and Heroin making everyone dance, even though it was a Wednesday night, the atmosphere was electric and you can tell they have a tight UK following.

All in all a great night, my Vegan burger was lovely and The Maine rocked my world. 

Lana Del Rey - iTunes Festival

I've been so gutted not to have won any iTunes festival tickets this year (my boyfriend took me to Usher but he won them so it doesn't count) so when I found out I'd missed out on Lana Del Rey tickets I thought i'd cue up in the hope of getting a reserved ticket. I went straight from work and stood on my own in the cold for over 2 hours, only to find out they weren't letting anyone in! I walked regretfully towards the tube but then stopped when I saw someone with an XFM jacket...

We book advertising space on XFM for a couple of clients at work, I had a quick chat with him and he then put me the guest list and let me in! Hallelujah ! I was so over the moon I was finally going to get to watch Lana Del Rey!

Lana Del Ray at the iTunes Festival

I thought Lana looked casual in jeans and jumper, but she still looked gorgeous. She sang all her best hits including Video Games and Blue Jeans beautifully and even came down to the audience to shake peoples hands and take photos whilst she sang. I don't know how I managed to get to the barriers on the right hand side of the stage but I did, I had a perfect view and I realised she looks just as gorgeous in real life as she does on the cover of Vogue.

This is how close I was (excuse the poor picture quality)

The set was short but sweet, playing only the hits...which was fine by me as only a couple of hours ago I'd have done anything just to get inside the venue. I was so lucky to watch this intimate set and it was very lovely of the people at XFM to let me in. They're putting me on the guest list for Muse on Sunday so I'm ecstatic about that too, they're my favourite band and it'll be my 5th time seeing them! So here's too seeing Lana Del Rey and a bad night turned good, it was well worth the wait.

I like to eat, someone shoot me.

I've lived in London for about 4 months now, I'm ridiculously skint at the end of every month. One of the reasons is all the places to eat and drink here, there's so many restaurants and cool venues it's like a fat boy in a cake shop (which is me).

My sister and her boyfriend came to stay so we took them to a restaurant called Mear Liquor. We had to cue for 40 minutes to get in, but apparently it would all be worth it so we waited and time soon passed and we were let in. OH MY GOD IT WAS SO WORTH WAITING. The restaurant is not somewhere to take a vegetarian as it's all meat and no fucking about meals.

You don't make friends with salad!

This was our food (there was 7 of us may I add), the burgers were phenomenal and the meat was probably the most succulent I'd ever tasted. It wasn't just the food which was incredible, the whole venue was very american with 10minute burrito challenges where women with megaphones would get everyone to cheer along to the fools who had eyes bigger than their belly accepting the challenge. 

Scott, Harry, Kat, Ben, Holly, Gabriella and me - Aka Meat Liquor crew

I would recommend this place to anyone looking for something a little different and a crazy 'rock and roll we don't take no fussy eaters' vibe. Safe to say I didn't eat much for a week but it was so worth it, I'll definitely be saving this place for special occasions or if I'm in a mood to totally pig out. 

Wine at the top of the Tate Modern - Classy birds.

My pal Tom who've I've known since school also came to visit, he is the most lovely guy and when we catch up we always have a proper chinwag and gossip. He's also studying to be a doctor so he appreciates some of the art and clever stuff which others might over look. So we decided to be pretentious douche bags and head to the Tate to pretend we knew loads of stuff about art. 

Wine overlooking London, bliss.

As you can see the art appreciation didn't last long so we went to the top of the Tate which had spectacular views across the Thames. We drank wine and discussed life plans and took pictures with my polaroid. 

I wore my Reformed dress and Evil Twin bracelet.

Me, Tom, Scott and Shareen at Banana Tree in Soho.

Another one of my favourite places to eat at the moment is 'Banana Tree' in Soho. It's a thai place with the most tasty menu. We met up with my boyfriend and my old friend Shareen who happened to be in London that weekend too. 

Might I say we do look like a lovely bunch here, I love this photo as seeing old friends who've moved on and also gone to Uni in different areas of the country really makes the times you do catch up all that more special.

Marie MacSharry at LFW

This year I've been working with designer Marie MacSharry as her PR/Fashion Assistant. I watched her debut at London Fashion Week last year and immediately was drawn to her sharp tailoring and bold block colours. This year she's selling the same collection on ASOS which will be available very soon. 

The collection is already being requested by the most stylish London fashionistas such as Shingai Shoniwa of the Noisettes, so this really will be a range you should get your hands on quickly!

We arrived at 5pm to prep models and get everything set up. It was nice for Tara as she's currently designing her next collection for February fashion week so this show was not about stressing with a new collection but showcasing clothes which are wearable for the ASOS line coming soon. However this was not to say there wasn't a lot of work to be done, there's always work to be done! 

Before the show I chatted outside to some of the stylish people in their seats and finally got to break out my Grazia golden book (I was saving it for a rainy day). It was great to see so many people supporting new up and coming designers and really loving the collections.

Great colourful designs from another collection backstage

Marie MacSharry collection about to walk the runway

One thing I did learn about fashion week is that even though outside on the runway models seem so calm and collected backstage is one hell of a different story! We were helping models change and making sure they were on the runway in the right running order and making the clothes look perfect before they tottered off in huge heels (I honestly don't know how they do it)!

So here's the running order of 12 key strong pieces which went out and will be on sale on ASOS soon. It was a fantastic experience, we're now gearing up for ASOS promotion and planning February fashion week already! So many exciting things coming from this lady, keep your eyes peeled for more future updates.

JW Anderson Topshop Collection

So this week was not an easy week on the bank balance. The reason being was because of the long awaited JW Anderson collection, which made it's Topshop debut on Friday 14th September. Since being tipped as one of the hottest new designers around and having celeb fans such as Alexa Chung (who I adore) I knew this was going to be a great new collection.

I was a little upset I couldn't make it down to the 9am opening as I had work all day but after a few glasses of wine after work I hoped on down to Oxford Street and was giddy with excitement when I walked through those Topshop doors (probably down to the wine). I could have easily spent a small fortune however I had to put back a few items and decided to invest in some key statement pieces which would last me through the wintery seasons. 

Left: Tartan T-shirt, Pinafore Dress
Top Right: Bat Jumper, Beret & JW Badge
Botton Right: JW Anderson Look Book

See above all the beauties which I bought! In my opinion the items give the feeling of gothic geek chic, so I'll be teaming all mine with brogues or creepers with minimal makeup and my glasses. I'm hoping these pieces will work well through AW12 and through fashion week you're sure to spot some celebs wearing these items too. 

Tartan T-shirt, Pinafore Dress, H&M necklace, Russel and Bromley Shoes

I wore this to London Fashion week on Saturday where I spotted a few nods of approval from the fashion pack frow which is always nice. I was rushing around backstage all day so this roomy dress was good for a long days work.

Bat jumper, leather Topshop skirt, Marc Jacobs ring

I wore this the day after helping out at fashion week as I just needed to put a big knit on and get cosy. So that's exactly what I did. I would really recommend JW's stuff though, there's some great statement pieces which are worth investing in. I can definitely see this bat jumper being my key staple throughout the colder winter months.

Aveda Hair Salon

I went back home to Bristol last weekend for some much needed family catch ups and celebrations...because I've just started a new job! Yipeee!! I'm working at a media agency called Universal McCann where my clients include Nickelodeon, Jack Daniels, H&M and Burberry to name a few. So I was majorly happy to visit home and share the good news!

We took our dog Maisie for a walk where I definitely underestimated the sunny weather and wore my new Topshop jumper and black skinny jeans in the scorching sun...not by best judged fashion moment. I really miss my dog though so it was really nice to take her for walks and see her happy in the sun.

As you can see I was also getting a bit snap happy with my polaroid camera which arrived just before my trip home, which was perfect to capture those family memories.

My last day was spent in the Bristol Aveda salon where my sister styled and coloured my hair for her competition. She did such a great job and it was nice to catch up, have a natter and be pampered too! The salon is just gorgeous and the products made my hair so soft and shiny and really feeling like it wasn't in too bad a condition after all the dip-dying. 

Here's the finished outcome! I also wore my comfy Monki dress for the long bus journey back to London and my lovely new Russell and Bromley loafers which are a little piece of shoe heaven! 

Here's me and my sister, it was so nice catching up and it's definitely a benefit having a hairdresser in the family! Lovely weekend back in Bristol indeed.

Matalan AW Collection 2012

This year Matalan’s Christmas collections show reveals that it’s never too early to prepare for the festive season. Walking past a Christmas tree in July would make some people feel slightly queasy with the thought of planning for the festive season. However even the biggest scrooge would have to admit the previews of the Autumn Winter collections are glamorous and very affordable.

The home section is decked out with cutesy decorations that would add a touch of cheap and cheerful British class to any room. Ranging from ice globes to jewel-toned tableware you could easily transform any room into a winter wonderland.

Menswear is surprisingly dashing where the formal shirts have a range of colours and patterns to suit many a taste. There are also knitted Xmas knits, which any girlfriend would feel proud to snuggle up against.

The Womenswear collection is truly the icing on the Matalan Christmas cake with the clothes and accessories speaking volumes with their sparkle and stand out pieces. There is a gorgeous colour palette of rose gold, champagne, deep purple, navy and soft pink throughout the womenswear collection. The ‘Decadence’ range predicts that gothic glam will continue into the winter season with a touch of vintage sass. There seems to be no lacking of glitter or sequins either, definitely a winner for standing out at this years Christmas party.

We know every lady loves to own a new pair of shoes to match their Christmas party dress and there’s plenty of choice. There are studded pumps at only £12 that would rival any Topshop sell out, glitzy-jeweled heels or stilettos to add a bit of vava-voom to any drab office party.

So this Christmas if you’re looking for a touch of sparkle and stand out party pieces which don’t break the bank then look no further than the Matalan Collection.

Pictures by Tori Clarkson