Zalando Fashion Frenzy

For my Zalando competition entry I decided to chose one garment that I really loved and style it in two different ways (one for day and one for night) using only products sold at Zalando …… of course this wasn’t a problem with the shop having so much variety and so many brands.

I decided to base my outfits around this really cute little checked mini skirt:

Only Planet, Smock Skirt. I chose this, as checks are big this A/W and this being quite a light colour means it will take to all the way to S/S as well.

For the day look a paired the skirt with:

Quiksilver the height hodded duffel

Archiduchesse de ville knee socks

Denham trio jewllery brown

ESPRIT de.corp knitted jumper

Jeffrey Campbell K-2 lace up

Lipstick Library satin lipstick

miss sixty peoria hat

Paquetage £55 madrid rucksack

With this look, I went with the Mulberry look of A/W 2011, its was a kind of English heritage feel, with checks, duffle coats, hats and chunky shoes.

For the night look I needed to make this skirt more glamorous. I paired it with :

ESPRIT Collection scarf shawl

Akkesoir envelope clutch

ganni BARNEYS - Long-sleeve Top – black

jeffrey campbell BENCHED - High Heels

koh COLOURS - Nail Polish - golden gleam

lipstick Library liquid lips           

This look is quite different from the day look, I chose a fitted top, instead of a jumper and heeled brogues rather than tough boots. I also had to have the fur shawl, as I loved the fur collars at Gucci A/W 2011, I really think it adds a different dimension to the outfit. The gold clutch is another must with metallic fabrics popping up on many catwalks.

I drew the little sketches to help me picture the outfits as one. I have been sketching like this for as long as I remember , always with long skinny legs and massive feet. I also picked up tips on how to do their faces from a girl who did my sketch at the Britain’s Next Top Model event, sadly I didn’t find out her name, but thank you. I always feel the need to add more detail and you just don't need it !

I hope you liked my entry :) Wish me luck. 

Ashley x

Boohoo

Uni seems crazy at the moment, going out every night then getting up at 8am for lectures and welcome talks that start at 10!

I’ve been so busy I haven’t had any chance to take any new photos, so its quite lucky I took a few before I came, just in case.

This dress was gifted to me buy Boohoo as I was unable to attend their press day. I love the paisley pattern and the blue/green tones of it. I’m wearing it with my JC Lana’s and a snood from Primark from last winter. As the dress is quite busy I decided to team it with simple accessories and let the pattern be the main focus.

Boohoo has some lovely things in their A/W collection. I’ve got my eye on the really large snake print clutch bag. I’ve been seeing extra huge clutches everywhere at the moment (especially in street style shots from LFW) …. I love this one seen on Fashion Squad. 

Anyway back to fresher’s week :) I will try and post when I can! 

Ashley x

Moving In

Necklace : Topshop

I’ve been away from the blogosphere for what seems like ages (in reality I’ve only been gone since Wednesday!).

This is due to the fact that for the past week I have been frantically packing away my life (and shoes) into many many boxes, and travelling to Nottingham.

I am now in my halls in Nottingham (about 3 hours away from where I normally live) and am settling into student life. Freshers week hasn’t officially started yet, but next week I’m sure I will be consuming coffee at all hours to keep me awake for all my introduction lectures after staying up most of the night!

I’m studying Fashion Communication and Promotion and cant wait to start the course, although I feel like I have already started due to the vast amount of holiday work we were set!

I will try and do some outfit posts soon , but need to find a new location for my pictures. I also need to figure out how to use a self timer and tripod ….. PANIC….. but I’m sure I will get the hang of it eventually !

Ashley x

Pleated Shorts

I picked up this ensemble in Cyprus (they have some lovely little boutiques). I actually tried the top on as an extra to see what the pleated shorts looked like on, fell in love with the entire outfit and couldn't will myself to put the top back on the rack.. So here we are, top and shorts safe at home with me J

You can’t actually see the beautiful detail of this top from these pictures..... it’s about 3 times as wide as me, with little pockets on the bottom hem, with contrasting stripes, which gives what might look like a basic striped top a bit of a twist.

I kept the look black and white with my chunky black harness boots, I like the way the boots toughen up the soft girly pleats of the shorts.  

Had to have a close up of my tiny skull ring, the boy bought it for me at Reading Festival, i just love its little face!

Ashley x

DIY Galaxy T, Part 2

I’ve never really been a plain T-shirt and jeans kinda girl, so this is my version of that look. I’m wearing my Galaxy Print DIY T-shirt, bronze jeans from River Island, Red pointy shoes (£7 from a charity shop), fringe jacket from Primark and cross earrings I made myself.

The shoes are a great statement piece, but frick are they strange to walk in. I’ve never owned pointy shoes before and it definitely takes a different set of skills to walk normally!

I actually squealed when I saw this jacket in Primark, then realised people were giving me strange looks and thought I better stop :$  I have been looking at fringe jackets for a while now and have found the gorgeous vintage ones where just too expensive L so I was very pleased with this one at just £25.  

Anyway on more exciting news .... I won an H and M styling competition and was given two tickets to the Look Magazine Show on Saturday. It was an amazing experience; I got to meet the other competition winners Clare from Rainbows and Fairydust and Jess from Jess-Hope, who were both lovely! And I sat opposite Lllymlrs, GemFatale, Jen from Little bird Fashion  and Katy from Primark to Prada , although I was too shy to go and talk to them :P silly me!

The show was great but the crowds were insane!! It was as busy as any festival I have been too! There are a few snaps from the day on my facebook J

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

Ashley x

Little Pieces Of Art

This is my beloved collection of JC’s..... I have hunted and found these on EBay, bought them second hand, found them on sale at Office, been gifted them by Zalando, bought them from the Nasty Gal Sale, lusted after them on SoleStruck and purchased them from Sandra from 5 Inch and Up.

These JC’s have found me... or that’s my excuse J but who can resist when they are brilliant catwalk adaptations and so comfy!

All I need is one more pair then I could make a calendar :P

And a special mention to Miss 10 and Nelly ... I hope you enjoy J

Ashley x

Galaxy Print DIY

After lusting after everything Christopher Kane galaxy print, I decided to take it into my own hands and make my own by looking up a “how to” on the internet (you can literally find out how to do anything nowadays) .

This one was the most simple yet effective ... it didn’t require buying anything fancy or new, it could be done with things I already had in my house... BRILLIANT!

Ok so for this DIY you will need: a garment (I picked a simple black T-shirt), Hairdryer, Bleach, Water, spray bottle and a paint brush.

First mix up a bleach solution of 1 part bleach, 3 parts water and fill your spray bottle with it.

Next I laid out the T-shirt (with nothing around to avoid damage from bleach splatters). I also placed a plastic bag inside the T-shirt so the bleach didn’t seep through to the back of the garment, but you can pick whether you want to do this or not... the choice is yours J

Let the spraying commence... I did a few light sprays then used the hair dryer to accelerate the bleaching process, so I could see my pattern emerging.  Drying in between your sprays allows you to see where to spray next to create an effective pattern.  

To really create the galaxy/cosmic effect I then twisted the fabric in the middle of the t-shirt to form a swirl/spiral. I then sprayed more heavily in the middle to produce the lighter centre. Then use the hairdryer it really helps!

As you can see after the t-shirt is flattened the constellation effect is more obvious.

I then continued spraying to achieve the look I wanted.

For a final touch I then used the paint brush to slowly drip and stronger bleach solution (1 part water,1 part bleach- you only need a tiny amount for this) to give the effect of individual brighter stars (these i dripped close to the centre -as seen on the final picture).

Hope you liked the DIY J 
and thanks to Amanda at One Of Each  for sharing this awesome tutorial 

Ashley x

Love

Photo overload today but i couldnt help it! You couldn’t imagine my excitement when I received a little black parcel through the post tied up with a pink ribbon J  

Inside was the dress of the moment in “blog world” the Asymmetrical Maxi Dress from In Love With Fashion. When they said they would be sending me a dress I knew immediately that I wanted the Aubergine version, with the rich colour and the silky material it perfectly fits in to the A/W jewel trend (colour, glamour and effortless chic). These beautiful jewel tones were all seen on the A/W 2011 catwalks of: Gucci , Proenza Schouler , Michael Van Der Ham, Ralph Lauren and Dior.

My shoes match so perfectly with the colour of the dress, I’m not normally a fan of matchy matchy but in this case I think it works J

The kimono is from Topshop, I love the mix of the aubergine with the cream of the Kimono... it could have looked a little Santa Clause but luckily I don’t think it does!  

The necklace I made myself (see it closer here) , the hand chain is from Ebay and the red ring is Swarovski .

Love has so many temptingly amazing pieces, and they come in so many colours and patterns. Looking through their website you could easily find you get repetitive strain injury from clicking the “add to basket” button! Happy hunting J find their site here J

Ashley x