Darlings of the FROW

Everyone knows that those in the FROW of any fashion show are scrutinised just as much as the clothes on the catwalk.  Couture fashion week may not be as high profile as the RTW fashion weeks that we are all accustomed to seeing all over our twitter feed, but that doesn't make these frow guests any less fabulous and worthy of our attention.

Two of my favourite style icons at the moment have both appeared at the two most substantial fashion houses this week, Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart at Christian Dior and Chanel respectively, both rocking slightly daring looks compared to their usual red carpet numbers.

Jennifer Lawrence, the current face of Miss Dior, wowed in a full Dior ensemble and nailed two trends at once - baring the midriff and the ever questionable skirt/trouser garment.  Whilst the look might come across as slightly too try hard for many a star, Jennifer's slick hair and basic aviators dressed the ensemble down and made it look (almost) wearable.

Wearing head to toe Chanel, Kristen Stewart showed that you can have alabaster skin and still have perfect pins.  Whilst the leather gloved look isn't one that I will be trying anytime soon (Michael Jackson anyone?), it's something that K Stew, in all her grunge glory, actually manages to pull off whilst paying homage to Chanel's sometimes infamous Creative Director.

Despite the fact that Kristen originally was notoriously against the whole Hollywood/Fashionista stereotype, the star has certainly come into her own with the past years public appearances and her teams an oversized tweed blazer with barely visible leather shorts.

My favourite thing about this look?  Her hair.  I never fail to be jealous of the Twilight actresses hair, even when she has it scraped back and greasy it somehow looks better than mine after professional styling.

2012's Fashion Round Up

From Ange's rightleg to Slimane's debut at YSL (or SLP, who actually knows), we review the best and worst of the fashion industry over the past 12 months.

Red Carpet Moment - Angelina's Right Leg.

On the red carpet for this year's Oscars, Angelina Jolie decided to flaunt her perfectly toned right leg in this Atelier Versace gown, spawning a number of online virals and even it's own Twitter account @AngelinasRightLeg.


Moment - Fashions Olympic Takeover



I'm going to admit it, I didn't watch a single event barring the opening and closing ceremonies, but judging by this, I caught the best part. David Gandy led the way for some of Britains top models during the Closing Ceremony in London this year.


Store - Victoria's Secret



Famed for their multi million dollar fashion shows and models more than the actual garments sold, the US brand launched a flagship in London's Bond Street this year. Like we needed a reason to go underwear shopping!!

Advert - Brad Pitt for Chanel No. 5

 The American Actor became the first male to front a campaign for the luxurious perfume this year. Whilst many viewers were confused as to what exactly it was that Brad is actually talking about, no one can deny that the advert gained a lot of media coverage.

Style Crush - Kristen Stewart.

With promotional tours for Snow White, Breaking Dawn and On The Road and a partnership with BALENCIAGA, K Stew discovered that fashion might actually be something worth smiling about.

Reunion - The Spice Girls

 Not only making an appearance at the Olympics Closing Ceremony, they helped launch a musical loosely based on themselves. I, for one, will never be too old to admit how much I love these girls!


Family - The Beckhams

 With Victoria being the most tweeted about designer this year and David launching his own underwear line with high street retailer H&M, Romeo joined his parents as part of the fashion elite by fronting a campaign for iconic British brand Burberry.


Takeover - Hedi Slimane for Yves Saint Laurent

Stefano Pilati's seat had barely even cooled before Hedi Slimane had taken over at the French fashion house and completely rebranded it, changing the iconic 'YSL' trademark and changing it to 'SLP'/Saint Laurent Paris. Despite his complete overhaul and impressive background, Slimane has failed to impress critics meaning both his collections and advertising campaigns have been less successful than his predecessors.


Shock Exit - Nicolas Ghesquire at BALENCIAGA

Despite being the man who finally made Kristen Stewart smile, Ghesquire made a shock exit at Balenciaga at the end of October. No official reason was given to his exit, but many attributed his quitting to the lack of creative freedom he was given compared to Slimane when taking over YSL. As to where he will end up, that’s another mystery, with some sources making suggestions from him taking over from Lagerfeld at Chanel, relaunching Schiaparelli or even just being courted by LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault (Rivals of Balenciaga owners PPR).



Book - Grace Coddington

 The Welsh born former model was reportedly approached by a publisher during the filming of R.J. Cutlers ‘The September Issue’ in 2009, and has spent the last 2 ½ years writing this insightful book, with help of friend Michael Roberts, of Vanity Fair.

Fashion Faux Pas: Kristen Stewart

Considering she once compared having her photograph taken to being raped, Twilight actress Kristen Stewart is showing an awful lot of skin on her current promotional tour for new movie On The Road.

Whilst anyone who reads this blog knows how I have a love/hate obsession with KStew, this latest look makes me a little nauseous. As we've seen since the beginning of the final Twilight's promo tour, Kristen has upped her game lately when it comes to her sense of style but this number by Erdem just seems to undo all the effort she has gone to!

Whilst the 22 year old actress has a body many would kill for, the sheer dress and silk underwear combo just did not do her any favours. That style underwear is more for the Dita Von Teese types and it just makes Kristen looks flat. The real shame however, is that her outfit, minus the torso section, is perfect. Her Louboutin courts accentuate her legs to perfection, and her glossy pony and smoky eyes balance out the fluro shade of the shoes perfectly.

Crushing On: KStew

She was never my favourite Hollywood star (it's called jealousy) and I know I'm not the only person to have taken a dislike to her, but despite plenty of industry insiders stating their distaste for Kristen Stewart, ever since she finally learned how to smile, she has been a regular fixture on fashion magazine covers and blogs. Fresh from having the world's first teaser trailer of Breaking Dawn pt 2 released earlier this week at Target stores in the US (in which we saw Bella join the Cullens as an immortal, complete with flawless skin, perfect hair and rose tinted lips).

K Stew has also been revealed as the July cover girl for Elle magazine, complete with previews of the 'Adventureland' stars shoot wardrobe. When she first burst onto our seen KStew was well known for her awkwardness, lack of smile and total nonchalance on the red carpet (she once turned up on the red carpet in just a hoodie, skinny jeans and sneakers).

Since then, the 21 year old star has evolved some what, the first look that changed her from 'moody teenager' to 'bad ass rock chick' was undoubtedly last years MTV Movie Awards when she some how managed to snare a dress from major brand Balmain which she chose to wear with black, pointed courts.

Since then, Kristen's been seen at the front row of more than one Fashion Week Show, consistently dazzled fans with an array of feminine dresses, become the face of a major fashion campaign and yes, even cracked a few smiles.

Despite her off duty uniform remaining the same (scruffy clothes, unbrushed hair) and Celebrity Stylists aparantley describing her as a 'Fashion Pariah' with one source even going as far as telling U.S Magazine 'She has grubby nails, ratty sneakers and a bad attitude.  Very few people want to work with her because she doesn't want to look good', it seems that high fashion designers still can't wait to send her their clothes.  Whilst she still has a tendency to change from heels to sneakers half way through premieres, it's nice to see her making an effort to be more in touch with the industry that she has worked in for so long.

She may have the boyfriend we all want, star in our favourite movies and have a wardrobe we'd kill for, but it seems all that just isn't enough to keep us from falling in love with her.  Our favourite look?  The 2009 MTV Movie awards.  The dress? Wrong. Belt? Wrong. Sneakers on a Red Carpet? Wrong.  On Kristen? So right.

Picture of the Day: MJ's Exceptional DRESS Sense

He may be one of the most well known men in fashion, but that doesn't mean he's the best dresser.

The Louis Vuitton - Marc Jacobs Exhibition opened earlier this week in Paris and whilst celebs such as SJP and KStew wore beautiful dresses, the same can't be said of the designer whom the exhibition was in honor of (seen here having accessorized his pink rugby dress with black buckled shoes)

Balenciaga's New Face

Not only has she bagged one of the hottest men in the world, starred in one of the biggest movie franchise in recent history but now she's the face for the fragrance of one of the hottest brands around.  Has all that made her finally crack a smile? Of course not, she's Kristen Stewart, nothing makes her smile.

The 21 year old actress, better known as Bella Swan from the Twilight movies told WWD earlier this week that 'Balenciaga has always stood out to me' (amazing she knows a brands names considering this is the girl who dons Nike's on the red carpet) 'Even when I first began to consider fashion and admittedly rarely knew what brand I was wearing, I always recognized and loved Balenciaga. The brand is just cool, that's the way it is'.

The campaign is expected to roll out later this year, lets hope by then Kristen has managed to master the art of a happy facial expression.

2011 MTV Movie Awards

Ok, so I know that the MTV awards are hardly the most prestigious of awards, but they are definitely my favourite, yes, I even had the date saved in my diary.  What’s not to love, the opening scene is always hilarious, the world previews of certain movies (yes I’m a ‘twi-hard’ and ‘potter geek’) and most importantly, the outfits. 

This year the stars did not disappoint, neither did the designers.  Balmain, notorious for being over selective when it comes to lending outfits to celebrities loaned outfits to three, yes that’s three, stars for Sundays events. 

First up we have Kristen Stewart wearing a fitted bodiced dress with her customary short length, the dress, made up of red and black safety pins, was originally presented as a jacket in the French Houses Spring/ Summer 2011 collection but was reworked for the Twilight actress.  Worn with side swept hair, and miles of pale white pins, Kristen has come a long way since she first stopped on the red carpet not even knowing how to smile.

Next up was Mila Kunis, who rocked a two piece ensemble with a black top and embellished skirt taken from the fashion houses Spring/Summer 2011 collection.

Finally was Leighton Meester, who opted for a metallic silver long sleeved cocktail dress,  Pierre Hardy shoes, Paco Rabanne Bag and Bulgari Jewels.  She didn’t manage to win the Best Villain popcorn award, losing out to Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame, but she was definitely the best dressed Gossip Girl of the evening.

Speaking of Gossip Girl, Jessica Szhor seemed to be taking fashion tips from Shakira, wearing an Alice + Olivia one piece.  Metallic clutch with tousled hair, this look might work on the Columbian beauty, but next time Jessica might be better off taking advice from the other GG girls.

Making the final Gossip Girl appearance of the night, Blake Lively, presenting award for Best Kiss with Green Hornet Co Star Ryan Reynolds, made a statement in an electric blue Michael Kors fitted dress with illusion panels mixing it up with purple suede Louboutins and Lorraine Schwarts jewellery and a long sleek pony, similar to that of Victoria Beckham at the Royal wedding. 

Ryan Reynolds looked every bit as beautiful as his usual self in a navy Band of Outsiders cardigan, grey trousers, Alternative Apparel gingham shirt and khaki Vans shoes.  Proof that men really do get better looking with age.

Reese Witherspoon, awarded the Generation award by Patrick Dempsey, Chelsea Handler, and perhaps the funniest speaker of the night - Robert Pattinson, accepted her popcorn trophy in a brown and aqua leopard print Vivienne Westwood dress.  Her acceptance speech managed to hit headlines after being seen as a dig at American socialites such as Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton:-

‘Its possible to make it in Hollywood without doing a reality show.  When I came up in this business if you made a sex tape you were embarrassed and hid it under your bed.  If you take naked pictures of yourself on your cell phone, hide your face people’

 - The woman has a point.

On stage with her was Hollywood hottie, and the object of my own obsession, Robert Pattinson, looking every inch his casual self in a two buttoned blazer, blue and grey plaid shirt and his uniform trainers.  Is there anyone else in the world who could pull of this look as well as Rpattz?

Talking of Twilight men, Robert Pattinson caused quite a stir when, going against the ‘will they wont they’ kiss act that Robsten usually embark on after picking up the popcorn for best kiss, he decided to run through the audience to instead kiss co-star Taylor Lautner.  Taylor Lautner himself looked, there is not other word for it - beautiful in grey faded jeans, brown scuffed boots and black shirt open to sternum.  His jacket appeared to be black leather jacket but on second glance just had a waxed finish.

Two more Twilight stars who deserve a mention for their outfits - Bryce Dallas Howard and Xavier Samuels.  Both were recipients of the ‘Best Fight’ award, alongside Robert Pattinson for Eclipse.  Bryce looked glowing in a white and pink flowing J Crew maxi dress, and Xavier Samuels opted for a smarted look than that of his co-stars, with a white shirt and black suit complete with black waistcoat.

Rocking the playsuit trend were Elle Fanning and Cameron Diaz.  Cameron went for a plain black satin playsuit whilst Elle went for a feminine pink floral playsuit with white floral wedges, all by Dolce and Gabbana.

Flying the flag for the British were the lovely Emma Watson and Spiderman star Andrew Garfield.  Emma wore a short ivory jewel encrusted Marchesa dress, giving the appearance of very strong shoulder on her petite frame, complete with 6 inch metallic silver Brian Atwood heels.  Andrew Garfield went for a mixture of casual and sophisticated, wearing indigo jeans with a waxed finish, denim plimsolls, a navy blazer with gold buttons and hair to rival that of new BFF Robert Pattinson.

Finally, my personal favourite.  Emma Stone in a yellow satin knee length dress with a black lace overlay from Bottega Venetta’s fall 2011 collection an orange woven Bottega Veneta clutch and tan Casadei satin platform pumps.

A GIRL CAN NEVER HAVE TOO MANY DRESSES

Whilst they may have been the Highstreets leading retailer for many years now, having one of the quickest turnarounds in fast fashion (getting the catwalk looks to you) there is one area Topshop have continuously lacked in – Party wear.  Having worked in the store for two years I won’t lie, there has been more than one occasion when a customer has asked me to recommend a dress for a specific occasion and I’ve been at a loss for what to recommend, due to the fact that whilst our clothes are on trend, they aren’t exactly what could be deemed appropriate for occasion wear.

Well, get your credit cards ready, coz that’s all changed, with Topshop having this week launched the ‘Dress Up’ collection (the name for the range shortened from the phrase ‘why dress down, when you can dress up’, why indeed?).  A range of party dresses and occasion wear which can be worn all year through and that ‘brings out individuality and attitude’ (Jacquie Markham, Topshop Design).  The dresses are all about having fun and making them your own......  

Nude Bandage Dress - £55 (also available in black)

With Bodycon and Lace being two of the most feminine materials of the moment this dress is definitely a must have, with studs which make the dress slightly edgier, it can be worn during the day or night, or even as I’d prefer, during festival season, just add fringing and suede boots.

 

Black Bandeau Flower Dress - £85

Topshops twist on the simple prom style dress, with added embellishment.  Team with a tailored blazer and block heeled shoes for a more structured look, or leave the shoulders bare and add coloured opaque tights for a more summer inspired look.

Pink Heart Frill Bodice Dress - £55 (also available in yellow)

Another dainty, feminine dress with cut out back detail that should definitely be work with high wedges – perfect for elongating your pins!!

Black Leather Stud Bussle Back Dress - £150

 Team with block heels, a messy up do and bright red lipstick for the perfect rock princess look

Nude Beaded Ruched Front Panel Dress - £80

With Nude seemingly being one of the most on trend colours over the past three years, this is a dress that won’t have to be hidden in your wardrobe at the end of the season waiting to be reworked at a later date.  Team with a biker jacket and shoe boots for the Jessica Alba look.

Sequin Flame Dress - £150

A black jersey dress with a mesh panel along the top, finished with flame shaped embellishment.  This dress is not for shrinking violets.  Wear with block coloured wedges for maximum impact.

Fairground Beaded Dress - £175

An art deco inspired dress, which, as the name suggests, wouldn’t look out of place on a show girl at a fairground.  A dress that speaks for itself and one which doesn’t need accessorising, team with basic platform heels for a show stopping look.

Multi Sequin Dress - £125

 No doubt inspired by the Burberry dress Emma Watson wowed us with at the Burberry Prorsum S/S 10 show.  Teamed with Opaque tights during the winter or bare legs as the sun comes out this look will carry you through the year.

Dark Red Feather Hem Dress - £70

Not unlike the bandeau dress Topshop in sold last summer in pink, white, green and erm black, the black on red with a feather hem definitely vamps this dress up.  Can be worn with block heels for a more glam look, or as I prefer with black converse and plenty of eyeliner a la Kristen Stewart at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards.

Cream Embellished Pleat Dress - £70

A dainty little number that can be worn pretty much anywhere, dresses up with killer heels and a sharp, tailored blazer of an evening, or even worn with flat boots and a messy fishtail plait during festivals.  Definitely my must have dress.

Available in store and online today.