Tribal dance

With the influx of photos from Coachella Festival in California, I’ve started thinking of my own summer festival jaunts and, perhaps more importantly, what I’ll be wearing to them. If any of you went to Coachella, I’m insanely jealous, by the way.

Le chap and I booked our tickets to Optimus Primavera Sound festival in Porto in June, so the hunt is on for those perfect festival essentials. I love the tribal/aztec vibe that was everywhere at Coachella, and this gorgeous tribal-style beaded bag from Accessorize gives the perfect nod to it without having to commit your whole outfit to one theme.

I’m thinking it’d look just as good with a bikini on the beach as it would with denim shorts and a fringed vest for the festival itself. Multitasking I can get on board with!

I’ll definitely be blogging live from Optimus Primavera Sound, hopefully with some good snaps of amazing outfits. Will you be going to any festivals this year? What will you be wearing?

April showers

Everyone complains about April showers. I secretly like them, and not just because I know they’re making the grass lush and green, ready to be lounged on all summer in those hazy after work afternoons in the park.

April showers mean rain macs and there are some beautiful ones around. Try these on for size:

Aubin and Wills yellow mac – bring some sunshine into those showers.

Jil Sander for Net a Porter – candy colours are still everywhere at the moment.

Yellow again from Burberry Brit – must be spring in the air!

See, aren’t you positively looking forward to those grey clouds on the horizon now?

New designer crush: Fazane

I recently was lucky enough to be pointed in the direction of hot new fashion talent Fazane Malik.

 

Malik recently re-launched her label Fazane with a winter 11/12 collection, featuring a number of sleek, gorgeous monochrome pieces. Luxury silk and wool feature heavily in the collection, giving it a super-luxe feel.

 

The prices are pretty reasonable  considering the interest that’s already been buzzing around Fazane in the run up to London Fashion Week. What I love about Fazane is that so much passion and determination has gone into creating the label. The designer signs and hand numbers each piece and they’re all limited runs so you know you’re getting an exclusive. I predict big things for Fazane in 2012.

 

Here are a few of my favourite pieces:

 

The Cath silk shirt (£119) is lush, really simple and elegant:

 

I love this Nicola jumpsuit (£109), it channels 90s power dressing perfectly and the crepe fabric gives it a modern edge.

This Rebekah faux coat (£250) is perfect for snow days and is lined with 100% silk, making it feel super-luxe.

The whole Fazane collection is available online now via the Fazane website.

 

Gemma and her techicolour dream coat

I found the perfect coat recently.

It’s from Burberry Prorsum and is an amazing geometric beaded trenchcoat. I love it almost as much as my old red velvet and faux fur coat I had when I was in sixth form, which is the one piece of clothing I have never been able to better.

  

Beautiful.

Unfortunately it costs about £5,000 and I very much doubt that my bank would give me a loan just to buy a really nice coat. Still, a girl can dream…

Pinterest

I’ve been on Pinterest for about a year now but haven’t really used it much. I’ve started using it much more and I’m quickly noticing themes in the kind of things I pin, particularly when it comes to style and fashion. Lots of sequins seems to be a definite theme at the minute.

Are you on Pinterest? Follow me – username GemStGem – and let’s share awesome things.

You and me could write a rad browmance

My new favourite trend is The Scousebrow.

Pioneered by, well, everyone from Madonna to Scousers to Lady Gaga to Bobby Brown… Have a look at the Scousebrow Tumblr and get yourself an eyebrow pencil and some scouse beauty nouse. Currently photoshopping amazing eyebrows into all of my scousebrow-less photos with a marker pen. In a way*.

*In every way.

Tangerine dream

Pantone’s colour of the year for 2012 is 17-1463, or Tangerine Tango.

The Measure in the Guardian remains to be convinced, but I reckon this hue definitely has legs. Not quite subdued enough to be one of spring’s hot pastels yet not bright enough to scream summer holidays, it’s an unassuming, subtle hue that is already finding its way into graphic design, interiors and fashion.

Tangerine Tango reminds me of something that Mailchimp would use on their website (which, for the record, I adore) and a pair of jeans in this colour would be the perfect item to add a bit of lift to my winter wardrobe.

ASOS call these jeans ‘peach red’, but they’ll do for now until I find the pair I want. The ones I love are currently available from Dylan George but just not online.

I’m on board.

New year’s style resolutions – new blog for Madam Rage

I’ve been getting back to work in body, mind, spirit and style. For more, take a look at my latest guest post for the Madam Rage blog.

 

 

This is my second post for Madam Rage with lots more to come. If you like it, leave a comment on the Madam Rage blog!

Lush last-minute party dresses

The party season is in full swing, giving me license to stock up on fabulous dresses at every opportunity. With the office Christmas parties done and dusted and one of my favourite events of the year just days away, I decided it was time to turn up the glamour to maximum for Christmas and the New Year.

Having scoured most of the shops online and in Leeds, I was feeling a bit stuck for inspiration. Lucikly, I had one of those ‘OMG moments’ recently, when I went on a night out and saw my friend wearing one of her gorgeous dresses from Warehouse. So, I thought I’d get my fash-sleuth on and see if I could track down any similar gems for my own wardrobe from the dresses that they had to offer.

Warehouse have got so many amazing party dresses, I was pretty spoilt for choice. The good thing about shopping now is the fact that a lot of parties are done and dusted and so the sales have started, meaning you can grab a bargain to wear on Christmas eve or New Year’s Eve, and spend your savings on cocktails…

The ultimate Christmas Eve outfit

Regular readers of my blog will know that I’ve got more than a small obsession with glitter. If you can’t get the glitz out on Christmas eve, when can you? This stunning gold cutout sequin dress is perfect, with more than its fair share of sparkle to make you really stand out at your Christmas eve party. Bare legs (if you dare brave the December cold) and skyscraper platform heels will let the dress do the talking – keep accessories to a minimum when you’re wearing this many sequins!

My perfect Christmas Day dress

Christmas day is all about family, fun and indulgence. This cute green skater-style dress with its lace bodice would look fab with opaque tights and maybe a string of pearls to give it a bit of a vintage feel. The pleated skirt is bang on trend, too. Plus, the colour is festive without making you look like an extra from Elf…

New Year’s Eve glamour

If Christmas eve is all about sparkle, then New Year’s Eve is about sizzle. It’s the last blast before those new year’s resolutions kick in, so dress for misbehaviour! This 1920s style drop-waist embellished dress from Warehouse is absolutely drenched in luxury. Intricate beading on the top gives way to one of this season’s hottest pieces: the sequin skirt. This item is from the Warehouse Luxe range, and it’s easy to see why. Teamed with a sequin headband and a faux-fur stole, I’ll be rocking 1920s glamour as I see in 2012:

Fash-sleuth success! I’ve got my dresses sorted for the next few parties and they’re sure to stand me in good stead for any soirees that crop up in 2012. With a bit of clever styling I can tone down the festive feel of these dresses, turning them from one-wear party dresses into investment pieces.

I can already imagine wearing the green lace skater dress in January with chunky, shearling-lined boots and a duffle coat for a trip to the outdoor ice rink in Leeds, before hitting the January sales…

The quest for the perfect Christmas jumper

The quest for the perfect Christmas jumper has been one I’ve been meaning to embark upon for a while now and a request via Twitter from my friend Steph alongside the fact that it’s Online Fashion Week prompted me to restart this with earnest. Or Ernest, who saved Christmas, remember?

Anyway, I digress.

The perfect Christmas jumper should tick a few boxes. These are:

• Festive
• Cosy
• Comfortable to wear
• Not ironic.

Of course, there’s a traditional Fair Isle print that you could go for, or full on Christmas motifs, but it depends on:

a.) How much you love Christmas, and

b.) How subtle or loud you want your outfit to be.

It also kind of depends on how you want to wear your knit, too. Skinny jeans, chelsea boots, mittens and earmuffs look awesome with a big oversized jumper whereas a more fitted jumper would work with thick wool tights, brogues and a corduroy skirt. Anyway, to the jumpers…

First port of call, the mighty blighty high street.

This is from good old Topshop, and is pretty bob on as far as Christmas jumpers go. Fairly easy to wear and nicely festive without making you look too much like these dudes.

I also really like this chunky knit from Joy, which is more of a cardigan than a jumper, but the colours are fab and it’d be quite versatile so for those reasons, I’m in.

Next, onto the hipster shops (you know, the Urban Outfitters/American Apparels of this world).

This super cute Cooperative Fox Intarsia cardigan from Urban Outfitters is ace, I know it’s not strictly a jumper (or anything to do with Christmas), but I still love it.

And so onto high end, and where so many shopping trips down the digital yellow brick road of fashion end up, we come to Coggles.

This beautiful Paul and Joe Sister Aspen jumper is my personal favourite, although I was torn for a bit between this and the lovely YMC one. I love those little pom-poms that make up the pattern though, and they swung it for me in terms of making it into my faves. Lush. That said, £175 is a LOT of money to spend on a jumper that you might not even wear next winter.

Vintage/second hand would be great, but due to the Christmas jumper being one of the most worn trends of AW11 for both men and women, you’ll be hard pushed to find anything half decent that isn’t making the seller an 85% margin and seeing you out of pocket for no reason.

Believe me, I’ve looked.

A very different Christmas jumper post will follow this on Friday after the Creative Team Christmas Pub Crawl (TM) on Friday. Watch this space.