PFW

I’m in complete denial about the A/W fashion season being over. The runway fashion, the street style; I’ve been watching with awe for the last four weeks as the best Autumn/Winter collections have been showcased in front of our eyes. The last port of call was Paris – the city of love – and the fashion capital made us fall in love with fashion all over again.

After some mixed collections in London and Milan, Paris went back to the more wearable winter colours. Balenciaga – with Alexander Wang at the helm – combined darker and heavier fabrics like wool and leather with bright prints and colours such as purple, orange and blue, all very stylish but sensible. We’re still waiting to evaluate Raf Simons’ performance at Christian Dior but his A/W collection was beautiful. This new Dior is so much simpler than it was under John Galliano with none of the theatrics but this runway collection was clean and desirable – mostly black with splashes of colour: perfect for winter.

The theme of dark colours with splashes of colour was continued throughout other designer showcases such as Stella McCartney. Her collection was a workingwoman’s dream – suits, dresses and knitwear perfect for the office, nights out and pieces that can be worn from day to day. Paris Fashion Week this season was built on the foundation durability and wearable items and most of the designers fit this brief. Saint Laurent had all the makings of a stylish teenage girl’s wardrobe – angsty and unpredictable. With a whopping amount of looks, Slimane’s models donned black eyeliner, frowns and Wednesday Addams-style pinafores and collars. I want pretty much everything in this collection – my wallet is crying at this stage.

In a different move, Karl Lagerfeld created a supermarket at Chanel’s runway collection. Instead of the dark hues in a lot of other catwalk shows, Chanel showcased some bright, colourful patterns and colours. Everyone from Cara Delevingne to Joan Smalls partook in the grocery shopping wearing candy shades and futuristic looking dresses. Valentino went a little more geometric and graphic with their patterns, using lots of bright red, pinks and greens to make a desirable collection for every occasion. A personal favourite are the Peter Pan collared shift dresses – chic yet easy to wear. Sarah Burton added that little bit of drama into the Alexander McQueen show, using splashes of monochrome, navy and purple to make a theatrical but beautiful catwalk collection, paired with some pretty random cornrows.

It’s been a mixed bag of a fashion week season. There has been a clashing combination of colours, cuts and fabric – it seems as though there is confusion between seasons. Nonetheless, our favourite designers came up trumps with some fantastic designs and surprisingly wearable outfits. It’s been a fantastic Fashion Week season for models like Kendall Jenner, who – on her debut Fashion Week season – made friends with Anna Wintour, modelled for brands from Chanel to Giles and got her name out there in the fashion world as fellow model Cara Delevingne did the few seasons before that.

I’m already looking forward to seeing the S/S15 collections – it feels strange to be talking about winter clothes when it hasn’t even hit springtime yet. Until then, check out all the catwalks and the street style and see how you can update your wardrobe for next season! I’ve already started!

This article was first seen on lovetabii.com.

Photos c/o vogue.co.uk, astairwaytofashion.com

Until next time,

Keep styling,

Em

x

The Golden Globes 2014: Fashion Hits and Misses

It’s the start of award season again and one of my favourite times of the year for celebrity fashion (after the Met Gala of course). The Golden Globes are a breath of fresh air fashion-wise; everyone is in their stride getting ready for the SAG awards and the Oscars but it’s still the first award ceremony in the bunch so we’re not getting that celebrity ennui already! Last year was so tedious in terms of real style, the boredom of the colours and same cuts on every celebrity set in very quickly and we cried out for something a little bit different. Finally, we got it. The Golden Globes 2014 were full of daring and bold choices which made fashion lovers everywhere squeal with delight. I had my favourites of course so I’ve written down my favourites and what styles we’ve been seeing on some of the world’s most famous!

Bright Blues/Greens

Caitlin Fitzgerald in Emilia Wickstead, Helen Mirren in Jenny Packham and Reese Witherspoon in Calvin Klein

Bold colours were a very big trend on the red carpet this year at the Golden Globes and these three ladies had some of the best style by far. Caitlin Fitzgerald’s Emilia Wickstead dress has been named by many companies as the dress of the night and she was definitely flying the British flag for fashion. Helen Mirren looked fabulous in Jenny Packham and the colours complemented her without looking too young for her. This seamless Calvin Klein gown looked beautiful on Reese Witherspoon teamed with Harry Winston jewellery and her haircut was extremely flattering.

Reds

Emma Watson in Dior Couture, Lupita Nyong’o in Ralph Lauren and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in Narciso Rodriguez

I do love a vibrant red; anyone that has looked at my lipstick collection could tell you that. However there were some fantastically stunning red outfits at the Golden Globes and these were three of my favourite! Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge Emma Watson fan and her style never fails to disappoint. This Dior Couture ensemble is genius, ensuring she is comfortable and warm in her trousers while still being ahead of trend and daring in the completely backless dress. Lupita Nyong’o caused waves with her Ralph Lauren dress with a futuristic style cape that is very en vogue. The colour of her dress complemented her complexion perfectly and gave her a great glow. Julia Louis-Dreyfus looked stunning in her Narciso Rodriguez gown and those arms, wow! You can tell how much work she’s done to look amazing in that dress and I applaud her for that!

Metallics

Emilia Clarke in Proenza Schouler, Emma Thompson in vintage Lanvin, Kate Mara in J. Mendal, Kate Beckinsale in Zuhair Murad and Michelle Dockery in Oscar de la Renta

Emilia Clarke looked ever the goddess in Proenza Schouler and after watching her in Game of Thrones, I adore her original brunette colour! She accessorised that with Giuseppe Zanotti shoes and a Baird & Baird clutch, not too shabby! Emma Thompson, despite having a dodgy blowout, was fabulous in gold and black metallic vintage Lanvin and her outfit wasn’t too young for her, which can be the trouble sometimes with older actresses at award ceremonies! This blonde is a gorgeous look on Kate Mara and the translucent sheen on her J. Mendal dress makes is look so expensive. Kate Beckinsale has been getting a lot of negative feedback on her dress but personally I think she looks so beautiful and the cut of the Zuhair Murad dress gives her an enviable hourglass figure. One of my favourite Downton Abbey actresses Michelle Dockery always seems to get her fashion choices spot on and this Oscar de la Renta gown is spot on. With simple accessories, this look compliments her figure and places her high on the style stakes.

Multi-Coloured

Julie Bowen in Carolina Herrera, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting in Rani Zakhem and Sandra Bullock in Prabal Gurung

Julie Bowen gets it right almost every time and this dress is no exception. The colour blocking on this Carolina Herrera is so flattering and the colours are a beautiful hue for her skin tone. The newly married Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting looked gorgeous in a vintage-looking floral Rani Zakhem gown with Jimmy Choo accessories. Her love for pink gowns is obvious by now but this gave a little bit of a different twist to her style. Another colour-blocking fashion choice was made by Sandra Bullock in Prabal Gurung. Again, this dress divided critics but Sandra looks beautiful and chose the right hairstyle for this outfit. This looks a sure sign that colour-blocking could be in this season!

Black

Leslie Mann in Dolce & Gabbana, Cate Blanchett in Armani Privé and Emma Roberts in Lanvin

Black is always a good colour, especially for award ceremonies in January. It’s a flattering colour and all these women have chosen hourglass silhouettes to flatter their shapes further. Leslie Mann delighted the critics in her lace Dolce & Gabbana gown, proving that she will never age! Cate Blanchett, winner of ‘Best Actress’ award won our adoration for this Armani Privé dress teamed with some Chopard jewellery. Newly engaged Emma Roberts dazzled in a Lanvin fishtail gown.

Cream/White

Laura Carmichael in Viktor & Rolf, Zooey Deschanel in Oscar de la Renta and Margot Robbie in Gucci

Cream and white is always a big trend coming into the Spring/Summer season but it’s surprising that these colours were worn so much in the cold weather. However these three ladies killed the pale trend and they were bold choices. Downton Abbey‘s Laura Carmichael looked gorgeous in a Viktor & Rolf column dress and that little monochrome detail gave it a bit of an edge. Zooey Deschanel’s Oscar de la Renta gown suited her like a dream and the New Girl star’s nude shoes and daisy manicure were gorgeous. Margot Robbie of nominated film The Wolf of Wall Street looked beautiful in her white Gucci gown with emerald detailing; it’s just a shame her hair was so manicured, looser would have been better!

Men

Idris Elba, Chris Pine in Ermenegildo Zegna Couture, Usher in Calvin Klein and Bradley Cooper in Tom Ford

These gentlemen were definitely the pick of the bunch when it come to looking sophisticated and dapper on the red carpet. With the lack of options for men for a black tie event, these actors stood out from the crowd and made their own bolder fashion titles. Hats off to Usher who’s plum Calvin Klein suit really stood out and nominee Idris Elba who went for a more casual look with no tie.

Pregnancy Fashion

Drew Barrymore in Monique Lhuillier, Olivia Wilde in Gucci and Kerry Washington in Balenciaga

Pregnancy is big in Hollywood at the moment (I’m not joking) and we’re constantly watching to see what style these pregnant ladies are sporting. I’m not a huge fan of Barrymore’s dress in general but as a maternity outfit, this works. It’s vaguely reminiscent of Kim Kardashian’s Givenchy dress at the Met Gala but much more flattering! Olivia Wilde looks phenomenal in this green sparkly Gucci dress and it’s a dress that can be worn again when she has had her baby. Win win! Kerry Washington’s Balenciaga dress is extremely beautiful and the colour looks great on her. The pregnancy fashion has been in the public eye a lot more thanks to Kim Kardashian and Kate Middleton and these ladies haven’t let the side down. Looking forward to seeing them at the SAG awards!

Fashion Misses

Amy Adams in Valentino, Heidi Klum in Marchesa, Lena Dunham in Zac Posen and Jennifer Lawrence in Christian Dior

Sometimes there are some fashion misses at these events and these are my picks. I know that it’s everyone’s opinion and a lot of people will love these dresses but I just can’t like them. I’m not a fan of Amy Adams at all but I find this Valentino dress really washes her out. The colour for me is all wrong and this wouldn’t be the first choice for a redhead; blue or green would be better. Heidi Klum’s Marchesa dress is alright but the choker and the frumpy haircut are just too much. This outfit makes her look much older than she is which is a real shame. Lena Dunham’s Zac Posen outfit has definitely divided people but I think it’s just that little bit too clingy and that little bit too yellow for my liking. Jennifer Lawrence can usually do no wrong in my eyes but this dress just looks like a cotton wool bud. She’s a slave for Dior but this particular gown does nothing for her.

Anyone else looking forward to the SAG awards? I can’t wait to watch all the glamour!

Until then,

All photos c/o popsugar.com, guardian.com, nytimes.com, gotceleb.com, she knows.com, fabsugar.com, eonline.com, reveal.co.uk, celebmafia.com, mydaily.co.uk, hollywoodreporter.com, popcrush.com

The Issues With Celebrity Advertising

ONCE upon a time, the copy of Vogue or Elle on your coffee table was full of unknown and unbelievably beautiful women that no one had ever heard of. Unless you were a supermodel who created her own brand like Elle MacPherson or Naomi Campbell, you were a nameless entity who was just employed to make the clothes look incredible and was paid handsomely for the privilege.

Credit: http://www.damelesego.blogspot.com

These days, every model worth their salt is a household name, from Arizona Muse to Freja Beha Erichsen and even the old familiars like Kate Moss are dabbling not only in fashion but other areas too. But in the last few years, designers have become tired of the same old supermodel faces and have started using people they think the public will relate to: celebrities.

Credit: http://www.dressme-models.blogspot.com

In today’s climate, you’re not a celebrity unless you endorse something, and everyone is getting on the action. Jennifer Lawrence from the Hunger Games, after having a spectacular few months of Hollywood fame, has landed herself one of the biggest endorsement deals on the planet: becoming the face of Dior, following in the footsteps of big names Mila Kunis, Natalie Portman and Marion Cotillard.

Credit: http://www.elle.com

Kristen Stewart, despite all the bad press she’s been receiving, has landed on her feet on the advertising front. The Twilight Saga star is the face of Florabotanica, a fragrance from Balenciaga and receives a huge paycheck for standing in her usual sullen way in a floral dress. Not my idea of good advertising but apparently it works!

Credit: http://www.designscene.net

Newlywed Blake Lively has had her fair share of endorsement deals but her adverts for Gucci Première has made her infamous. Wearing a gown that looks like she has been dipped in gold, girls in any way impressionable have tripped over themselves to buy the new perfume. Whether it smells good or not, the idea is every time they spray themselves, they’ll smell like Blake Lively. Who wouldn’t want that?

Credit: http://www.shoppingblog.com

Even the men are getting in on the action Andre 3000 from Outkast is now strutting his manicured facial hair around for Gillette and I’m sure you’ve all seen the new adverts for Chanel No. 5 with Brad Pitt talking absolute muck to the camera about anything but the actual fragrance. The point of these celebrity advertisements is that it doesn’t matter what they say or do, as long as you’re famous, that’s all that matters.

Credit: http://www.fashionista.com

But can this invasion of celebrity advertising be good for our pockets or minds? I, for one, would buy a product if it was Jennifer Lawrence or an unknown name modelling but this isn’t a case for many others. In a society as impressionable as ours is today and in a time when money means a lot more when you finally have some, is it fair for brands to tease us with this advertising, with the promise that once you buy it, you’ll be able to smell or look or strut like that celebrity on the pages of your magazine?

I say not! Bring back the days when the unknown wore the clothes we coveted or had the hair we wanted because at least then, we’ll be buying it for ourselves and not to look like an impossibly airbrushed movie star!

Scrumptious Sunday Seven July 22

I can’t believe its time for another Scrumptious Sunday Seven already, feels like I’m in a European time warp! Again, apologies for not putting a post up last week but we’ve come across so much bad wi-fi the last couple of weeks, I’ve barely been able to talk to Brian, let alone put up a blog post! But I promise since I’ll be living in Galway for a couple of weeks, all my attentions will be focused on you all, although I may take a small break to work together some ideas for the first issue of An Focal in my new role as Life&Style editor and also plan my birthday/wardrobe for my holidays to Milan! So much happening in August as well, its mad but I will be near computers every Sunday at least, I’ve checked! I’ll be able to update you on my exciting new internship at CMPR as well as the first issue of An Focal and hopefully rope Brian into taking some Lookbook photos for me in Milan! Anyway, back to the Scrumptious Sunday Seven for this week!

1. Brogues. My poor wee brogues fell apart from all the rain we had on Paris and Berlin and I’m lost without them! We’ve bought new ones but they’re not the same as my old babies! They are the most practical and comfortable shoes ever without being the dreaded crocs and I’ll miss them dreadfully!

2. My ‘English Rose’ Lookbook photos. I know I’ve already done a post on this but I really enjoyed doing this particular shoot and enjoyed the theme so much, as you can imagine! My article is now sent off to Linger and I can’t wait for it to be published! We had some great fun with the pictures and I hope everyone enjoyed them!

3. I’m officially a Vogue collector! On my travels I’ve picked up Vogue Italia, Beauty in Vogue (Italy) The Fashion Illustrated newspaper (Italy), The Little Book of Retail (Italy), Vogue Paris, GQ Paris and the Vogue Paris Collections! My backpack is so freakin’ heavy but i cannot wait to get home and open them and have a good look through and write up my first Runway Report in about a year! I’m in love!

4. Zebra Print. The print of the season and a million times classier than leopard print. The celebrities have been doing zebra print in a big way the last few months and its on everything at the moment, including heels which I love. To create a zebra print look that’s a bit different, how about doing it in different colours, not just black and white?

5. Burgundy lipstick. I recently bought a tube of burgundy lipstick as a wee bit of an experiment cos I’d seen it so much recently. Its alright but I haven’t worn it yet, for fear I’ll look ridiculous but I’ll pluck up the courage at some stage!

6. Celebrities in recent ad campaigns. There are some fantastic ad campaigns being released this season using that celebrity edge, I’m especially loving Burberry’s new shoot pictures, what are your favourites?

Kristen Stewart for Balenciaga

Mario Testino’s shots of Gabriella Wilde & Roo Panes

Iggy Pop and Daisy Lowe for Eleven Paris

Lara Stone for Calvin Klein collection

Mila Kunis for Miss Dior

7. Last but certainly not least, some life affirming, fun and beautiful photos to get us all through the hectic busy week ahead!

I hope everyone has a really great week! I’ll be writing next Sunday from London, we’re going to Amsterdam tomorrow and taking the Eurostar to London Thursday! So I’ll be in London till Tuesday to see my family and then back to Ireland to spend some quality time with my lovely boyfriend before a very hectic few weeks all before uni starts again. I hope to update during the week but if not it’ll be next Sunday, promise there will be a routine then! Until then….

Keep styling, Em x

Cannes Film Festival 2012: The Lowdown

Cannes is now over 😦 I’ve been following it throughout the week and some of you know I’ve already done a couple of posts during the week about the Cannes red-carpet style but its time to finish what I started and express my opinions on the best and worst dresses on the red-carpet the last week. There are some fabulous fashionable people like Jessica Chastain who can seem to do no wrong and then there are people like Freida Pinto who have people across the globe divided on their wardrobe choice. I’ve encouraged people to say their bit when it comes to the dresses at Cannes, I love to hear everyone’s opinions, just because I like it, doesn’t mean you will! There are some good, some bad and some baffling this year at the Film Festival and we can only wonder what some of these ladies (and maybe gentlemen!) are thinking!

Diane Kruger in Dior couture. I can’t seem to think straight when I see this dress so I don’t know if I have an opinion other than…’its very..lumpy’! She’s had a great week style-wise this year though so Kruger has to be commended for that!

Kylie Minogue looking spectacular in Roberto Cavalli. Say what you want about Minogue but she is an extremely strong and formidable woman and this dress suits her down to the ground!

Well, she could have smiled but this Marchesa gown is still stunning on Camilla Alves!

Reese Witherspoon looking absolutely adorable with her baby bump in Atelier Versace that makes her look radiant!

Two words: I want! Well done Lily Donaldson, you look breathtaking in this beautiful emerald gown

This Reem Acra dress is amazing, shame Kristen Stewart refuses to smile and maybe the hair should have been looser!

Nicole Kidman looks STUNNING in custom-made Lanvin, look at that detail at the back, truly amazing!

Natasha Poly had a bit of a hit and miss year in Cannes this year but she wins major points for this Emilio Pucci gown

For once I have no way to criticise Stewart, great outfit, hair brushed. Bravo, Kristen!

Yes, its Kruger again in a lovely custom-made Nina Ricci gown

Irina Shayk in Roberto Cavalli and a truckload of de Grisogono jewels

I cannot believe I’m about to criticise a supermodel but really, Karolina Kurkova, what are you thinking?!

My god, Berenice Marlohe, you have got the androgynous look down to a fine art!

Kelly Brook was someone I was not impressed with this year. Thought all her dresses looked cheap and for someone who has such an enviable figure, she didn’t dress to her full potential!

That’s about all the talent we’ve found in Cannes this year. Chastain and Kruger did a spectacular job whereas others didn’t do quite as good, and of course, Eva Longoria’s Marchesa dress will go down in history! What do you all think?

Keep styling, Em x