Christmas day & Gifts!

I can't believe Christmas has come and gone already! I love Christmas! I do love presents but I more so just love the time spent with family, watching films, playing board games and of course eating the food.

The day started with me waking up like a big kid and waking both of my sisters up and blasting Chris Brown's version of 'This Christmas. After a breakfast which was Akey and Saltfish with Hardo bread, it was gift time!

I wasn't planning on doing gifts this year but I thought why not. I bought a few items of clothes for my mom and dad, but I also bought a few quirky gifts, such as this little book of encouraging quotes from 'Urban Outfitters' called 'Don't let the B*stards get you down!', which is great for a laugh but also great if you're having a bad day and just want to read something uplifting.

I wasn't to bothered about receiving any presents, but nonetheless my mom got me this beautiful vanity case to put all of my beauty cosmetics in (not that I have very many lol). I love this case! I've been wanting one for a while so I was very happy with this. It has various compartments for everything.

Inside compartments of vanity case.

My next present was festive footsies, these little cutesy things are good for just keeping the feet warm as your'e walking around your house.

I also decided to get some presents from me to me this year. I believe I've worked extreamley hard this year and so decided to treat my self to these gorgeous nude shoes from Zara. I wasn't even supposed to buy them, and then I tried them on and that was it. The straps are beautiful and for £30 a steal.

Lastly I bought myself this beautiful mohair like jumper from H&M that I'd been eyeing up for a while, I'm a fiend for bright colours so this will slot in perfectly amongst the other madness in my wardrobe.

After presents it was food time! My mom God bless her, she literally prepared a Caribbean Christmas feast. Curry Goat, rice and peas, Salmon, bbq pork, fried chicken, stuffed chicken, macaroni cheese, greens, roast potatoes, parsnips, sweet corn (and more). My mom's Christmas dinner was tun up!it was soooooo nice.

Overall I had a lovely day, good vibes and the best family ever - I couldn't ask for more.

The Party Look - Biker Jacket, Heels & Bralet

Over the weekend one of my very good friends Zara aka my twin celebrated her 24th birthday. So what did we do? We went to a Dance Hall rave and danced away wooooiiiiii *slow wine*. So this weeks post is the party outfit!

I wanted to have a sassy party look this week, but still wanted to dress practical for the weather. I usually wear a dress when I go out partying but I decided to switch it up a bit and go with these skin tight £25 high waist treggings from Top Shop. They are warm, very comfortable and are great just for wearing casually as well. They look similar to my disco pants from Ebay, however these ones do not have a shine and are a lot more comfortable.

I paired them with a wine coloured bralet from Top Shop that accentuates the curves. I particularly like the V neck on this top, it shows a little clevage but not to much which keeps the outfit classy.

I wore my H&M biker jacket to combat the weather and to add some edge to the outfit. I particularly like all the metal zips and stitch detailing. The jacket can be removed or kept on and the outfit looks equally great.

I wore this simple H&M gold necklace (£3.99) and large earrings for a bit of bling.

The accessories tied in well with my wine coloured Roxy Sandals from Top Shop which I absoloutely love! I did a wish list blog post a few weeks ago about these, and then I randomly went into Top Shop and they had gone down to £25 from £55 eek! I was so excited when I bought them lol, They are comfortable to walk in due to the block heel, and the multiple straps and gold eyelets are great design details

I believe that a nice clutch is essential to a party outfit, but its almost impossible to find a clutch that is big enough to fit your essentials in without paying an arm and a leg for it. When I came across this lovely limited edition clutch from Primark at £10 I had to get it. This clutch is perfect for blinging up an outfit and great for the current season of Christmas and New Years Eve parties.

Multi - Coloured Jumper & Disco Pants

Feeling festive in the Christmas spirit was the inspiration behind this outfit today. I can't wait till Christmas! It is my favourite time of year (even more so than my birthday), everyone is happy and in a good mood for most of the season so I thought why not spread the good cheer with this upbeat bright jumper.

My disco pants have been so faithful to me, I've had these for two years and they are still going strong. I love how skin tight they are which emphasises the shape of my legs. I bought these disco pants from Ebay for £16.99 which cost a lot less American Apparell ones at £60. The fit on these are just as good and they look just as good too. They literally go with anything and I think are a good staple for the wardrobe.

I love my jumper, I once again was browsing around in Covent Garden and came across this beautiful multi-coloured jumper. I love the prints, which just made the whole outfit visually interesting.

My Accessories this week are obviously a circle ring at £15 from jewellery brand 'Lollapalooza by Dee', and this bold statement gold bracelet from Forever 21 at £5.00.

 I wanted to keep it festive down to the last detail and went for this metallic copper coloured nail varnish by Avon. My earrings from 'Primark' tied in nicely with the gold bracelet (£2.50)

Attention: My Boots! - These are my favourite boots ever! I bought these leather beauties from Aldo (£85). Whenever I wear these I feel so empowered. Although they are five inches high they are very comfortable to walk in.

Lastly, the way to carry off a colourful outfit successfully is with a smile - chheeeessseeee :)

Quick Q&A with Hilary Alexander & Fashion Designer Zandra Rhodes

As a fashion graduate who is fresh out of London College of fashion, sometimes it can be a bit daunting when you've spent nearly all of your life in education, and then you're free to do whatever you like. I've learnt a lot of the last few uni years which I feel has prepared me for industry work, but my dream is to eventually venture out on my own. 

Over the weekend at the 'Birmingham Clothes Show Live'  I had the pleasure of meeting famous Fashion Journalist Hilary Alexander and Fashion Designer Zandra Rhodes who gave me great advice for fashion graduates and emerging designers. 

Meeting renound fashion designer Dame Zandra Rhodes was the highlight of my day. Famous for her use of colour and print, Zandra Rhodes could be described as outrageous extrovert designer who loves to push boundaries.

                                            Zandra Rhodes Designs (Images sourced from google images)

I love her design aesthetic, so when I met her I completely fanned out and had a fashion moment lol. I told her that I was a graduate and I asked her

 Shara: what is your advice to fashion graduates and emerging designers?

Zanda Rhodes: 'Surround yourself with people that encourage you, don't surround yourself with people that say, don't do that. Always be around people that encourage you, because its easy for people to put you down and say don't do it, you can't do it, but if YOU say that you can - then you will'

                                                                                   Me with Zandra Rhodes 

I also met Hilary Alexander, you may have seen her on 'Britain's next top model' or at London Fashion week, so obviously I fanned out when I met her as well. I asked her,

Shara: What is your advice to fashion graduates and emerging designers ?

Hilary: 'It's always a good idea to have a partner who looks after the financial side, but at the same time you don't want to be a complete airhead and not really know about the business, you've got to get business experience. Don't always be in such a rush to start your own label straight away, take your time. Get work experience even if you're doing it at Primark, Sainburys or George in Asda, because you will learn so much. It is very important that what you're designing people will wear, and that it fits them, that you've got the sizing right, which department you're going to go for, what age group, what sizes.
                                                                               Me with Hilary Alexander

Shara: What would you say to the students / graduates, who are hesitant about being commercial because of fear of not being called 'innovative'?

Hilary: 'Everyone's got to be a bit commercial. I mean Christopher Kane who's fabulous, he says 'what are we here for? we're here to sell clothes'. There's no point in making clothes if they're just going to hang in a glass case. You've got to have the balance, have a partner that can look after the development of the business, leaving you free to concentrate on the creative side, and at the same time you've got to have an understanding of what fashion is all about, because it's not just making clothes.'

I left the Clothes Show that day feeling amazing! Even if I did nothing else for the whole day, just to meet these two inspirational women was worth it. I value and respect both of their opinions and feedback. I will definitely take what these women have said on board and apply it to my fashion journey. :)

The Birmingham Clothes Show Live 2014

On Thursday 5th December the 'Birmingham Clothes Show Live' came to the NEC displaying some of the latest fashion the country has to offer. We saw some of the best models, emerging designers, household name fashion designers such as 'Zandra Rhodes', Beauty and cosmetic giants 'Barry M' as well as retail magnate 'Asos'. Over the next few days thousands of fashionable young people will grace the event in search of a bargain, fashion inspiration, hope to gain exposure or better yet, get scouted by one of the top modelling agencies in the country 'Select Models'.

The 'Skool Girl' magazine team and I headed down to the Clothes Show to find some cool trendsetters and see the main attraction - the runway show and we were not disappointed!

The show was opened by singer 'Jetta' who set the show off to a brilliant start with her incredible vocals. The models looked fierce wearing garments from both emerging designers and household name such as 'Giles'.

Some of my favourite designs were the mens wear by Fashion Designer 'Ema Ranger' I loved her fabric choice and colour palette, I thought it was a great take on street wear.

I also loved the collection by fashion designer 'Alice Vandy', I thought the fit on the catsuits were brilliant, and her use of print and colours made the collection fun and youthful.

The dancers also put on an amazing performances which consisted of a variety of dance styles from contemporary to lyrical.

After the show it was time to find the trend setters and found some cool girls who we thought had the best sense of style. It's always interesting to come to the clothes show to see other people and how they express their individual style.

My favourite part of the day has to be when I met both fashion journalist 'Hilary Alexander', and fashion designer 'Zandra Rhodes' - like literally I fanned out and had fashion moment. They gave me great advice which I value as a fashion design graduate myself. (Interviews with both of them will be posted some time this week).
                                                                Me & Hilary Alexander

                         
                                                     Me & Fashion Designer Zandra Rhodes

As we were browsing around we came across the 'Asos' graduate market place, where we met fashion graduate 'Molly Trubody'. We loved her collection  which was full of bright, colourful, furry things. It was great, I felt happy just looking at it lol. Taking her inspiration from harajuku and Japanese fashion, Molly looks as if she has definitely carved her own identity in the UK market.

After looking at all the great clothes and glamorous beauty and nail varnish stands, it was time to go *sigh*. I honestly had a lovely time and will definitely be attending next year

Me and the 'Skool Girl' Magazine team, we had a great day!

Friday's Fashion Fix

Today's fashion fix is all about my favourite things...SHOES! I absoloutley think that wearing the right shoes with the right outfit is essential to a womans wardrobe. Different shoes send different signals and messages for examples, converse say I'm on the go, Court shoes say, 'I mean business'. Not to mention wearing a great pair of heels can make me feel very empowered and cause me to strut my stuff like my name is Naomi Campbell down the pavement.

I always say that you can have on a basic outfit, but your shoes will be the definers of how it s carried off. So today I bring you three pairs of shoes that I've been eyeing up for a while that I will hopefully purchasing sometime soon.

1.) The 'Roxy stud High Sandals', I'm obsessed with these shoes! I was in Top shop trying on something and wanted a shoe to try it on with and the sales assistant brought these over, I felt like this person had read my mind - they're gorgeous. The block heel make them very comfortable to walk in, I think these would look great at a cocktail party or if you just want to look super fierce in the day with a pair of black cigarette jeans and a biker jacket. They also have these shoes in black.

                                                                                                        Top Shop £55

2.) Next the Gold metallic court shoes from Zara. I've wanted a pair of these for a while now. I purchased a pair from Top Shop about a year ago, but when I got the home realised they were to tight and had to sell them *sighs*, I couldn't find any shoes the same, but behold the ones from Zara are exactly what I like, but I have now just gone on their website and they've sold out of my size *sighs once more in disappointment* For now they will just have to remain on my wish list.

                                                                                                        Zara £39.99                                                                       

3.) I do love a good ankle boot. Not only are these boots stylish but they are weather appropriate with a block heel. These are what I call the multi - purpose shoes because they go with any and everything. They also transcend seasons as I can see this being paired with a little tank top and denim levi shorts in the summer.

                                                                                       

                                                                                                        Zara £49.99