Lana Del Rey for H&M

H&M are known for some great collaborations and they’ve done it again. The 26 year old singer Lana Del Rey has become the new face of H&M LA Noir collection, and it doesn’t disappoint.  There are some gorgeous pieces in this collection and at H&M prices you’ll be able to grab yourself at least one item!  I’ve picked out my favourites for you.

Now this particular piece is at the forefront of the collection and has sold like crazy.  When at work I saw someone walking past with this jumper on and thought instantly I have to go out and get it, so I took my break and went on a search.  I visited a number of different stores and could only find two size mediums left in one of them. So my advice to you is if you see one grab it, it’s a necessity and selling out fast.  

My favourite part of this collection is the colours picked for the clothing, the light pinks are a continuing theme throughout and such a cute flattering colour.  This mint green colour for this jumper is just stunning.  When I walked in it stood out from the rest and really makes bold statement with any outfit.

A party to promote this collection was thrown by H&M in New York on the 19th September.  Lana Del Ray was rocking classic beauty as usual in a mini black dress with a sheer black shirt wrap around her waist, that had slits up to her waist on both sides.  Her hair in a 50s beehive she sung her new single Blue Velvet which is being used as the soundtrack for the ad campaign.  The advert is just as cute as the collection!

I wouldn’t wait to pick up this particular collection, it wouldn’t be around for long! 

Who's Jack Blog

Check out my new blog for Who's Jack. I'll be posting about high street fashion up to five times a week. Don't miss out http://www.whosjack.org, you'd be a fool if you do!

London Fashion Week

Even if you aren't a major fan of catwalks or checking out clothing labels you can't afford, what LFW can provide is an insight into creating your summer 2013 wardrobe.  Maybe to some it seems premature but if like me you look outside your window at the miserable rain, you'll love nothing more then getting started with what to wear Spring/Summer 2013.

Although I didn't go to see any catwalks myself, as always I took advantage of their live streaming.  Surprisingly for me my favourite of all the collections had to be Mary Katrantzou.  The Vogue's Fashion Editor Frans Burns said, "It was a fantastic move forward.  The shapes felt so modern and uplifting", and I couldn't agree more.  Her designs came in the form of stamps money and flowers giving her collection an original and fresh feel.

The cuts and prints truly made it stand out from the other catwalks. It was something I could see myself buying and wearing which is exactly what you want.

Another stand out collection (as always) was Vivienne Westwood's Red Label.  You will be as shocked as I was, when I read on Vogue's website that she told them, "she doesn't really care about fashion", and that she was using this collection to make a statement about what she really cares about, Climate Revolution.  Her collection had an American 40s & 50s vintage twist but according to her you are under no obligation to buy any of it. Actually she would prefer that you hoard your old clothes and only go shopping if you actually need something new.  She made sure her message was heard by emerging at the end holding a banner with the the slogan "Climate Revolution".

Then there is the Henry Holland catwalk, one of my new favourite designers, (I have become addicting to watching him on Styled to Rock) I bought some of his items at London Fashion Weekend as I just couldn't resist.  His collection was as expected fun and funky, mixing colours and prints to design some real creative pieces.

He has used some of my favourite looks (above) with crop tops being a big trend this and next summer.  Also an childhood fave tie-dye.  This look in particular reminds me of how much time I spent as a child trying to create this look with my own t-shirts.  He definitely brought huge amount of colour into this Spring/Summer 2013 LFW.

A collection we just can't ignore this LFW is Philip Treacy.  With Lady Gaga opening in this outfit (below) it started what we could call a wide range of amazing head gear for the Treacy collection.

It went from small and cute to huge and simply outrageous! A combination of Lady Gaga and Michael Jackson styles made this collection one to watch on the catwalk this LFW.

Pale and pastel colours are the ones to watch this Spring/Summer and the main thing I took away from this LFW is mixing prints is still cool so what more could you want?!

Vogue Fashion Night Out

I have been busy the last couple of weeks helping organise Vogue Fashion Night Out, where I work at Conde Nast Worldwide News (sorry if I have been neglecting you)! It's been stressful but more than anything very exciting. We are selling the official Vogue T-shirts designed by Jonathan Saunders with all the proceeds going to Refuge - a domestic violence charity.

If you buy them on the night after 6pm along with a magazine (when the event starts) you can grab these amazing goodie bags!

You can also win yourself some LFW tickets thanks to Propercorn, for more details you can like Conde Nast Worldwide News on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/CondeNastWorldwideNews or follow on twitter: https://twitter.com/CNWorldwideNews.

If that wasn't enough there will be a 100 mini cupcakes to feast on when you come in, what could be better?!

See you there!

Read more of my articles in Demur Magazine August Issue! Fashion Pills and Hawks, also includes vintage fashion advice!


http://demuronline.com/demur/demjur-magazine/


Let me know what you think!!!

Second article published for Demur Magazine online! Magazine will be out soon, check it out!!!

http://demuronline.com/demur/2012/07/your-winter-wardrobe-demurpopshop/

My First ever published article on the Demur Magazine website 

http://demuronline.com/demur/2012/07/first-london-collections-men-schedule/

Enjoy! 

Vintage Fashion???

Right so I am about to have a little rant...here goes...

As the demand for vintage fashion increases, what constitutes as vintage fashion does too.  Then I find myself wondering what is vintage fashion? When I first began shopping for vintage clothing, I would class 50s, 60s, 70s, even 80s as vintage, especially when I wanted to claim my mums old clothes were a new vintage find.  Now is seems that anything up to 2000 can be labelled as vintage fashion.  Has the definition of vintage clothing changed or is it just the demand causing people to take the definition too far? Ebay sellers and ASOS Marketplace label many items as vintage and sites such as ATELIER-MAYER.com sell ‘vintage’ from 1900 all the way up to 2000!  Even buyers of high street brands easily label their clothes as ‘vintage’ just because they may resemble something they once saw in an old photograph! 

Vintage was described as something at least 25 years old, which would technically include the 90s, but some take it far enough to claim something from two seasons ago is vintage, that can’t be right, can it?

Vintage, to me, was always something that was one of a kind.  Something you knew no one else would be wearing whatever the occasion.  Two seasons ago wouldn’t really mean much to me, as I still have clothes from five years ago hidden in the back of my wardrobe, maybe I could pass those off as vintage now.  

It seems to have become more of a matter of opinion and not something you can give a true definition.  Just make sure whatever you are buying with a vintage label is what you would constitute as a vintage piece.  For me it will always be from at least the 80s, a piece I have had to rummage through the charity shops for.  One thing I must confess about the increasing popularity of vintage fashion, is that vintage clothing shops like Rokit and Beyond Retro are my fashion heaven.  The online shopping makes it so much easier to get the vintage look I want, so I guess the love for vintage fashion soaring isn’t all bad.  As some people would say vintage should speak of the era in which it was produced of a certain quality, standard, fashion, design and aesthetic.  If you are happy that the vintage clothing you have bought represent the best of that fashion era then no harm is done! 

Bicester Village

So I took a trip to the fashion outlet shopping city Bicester Village this weekend and I wasn't sure how to rate my trip.  I had heard so much, but in the end it is just another place filled with outlet stores and if you can't afford the full price designer, the discounted versions aren't really going to be in your reach either.   It was probably more naivety on my part that everything would be high street prices, and that of course was not the case!

It was however one beautifully laid out, actually looking like a village (probably the point) and I got rather excited when I saw Gucci like a little tourist taking pictures of it all.

Then seeing Vivienne Westwood shoes which were adorable...

The highlight of my day have to be when I finally knew what people meant by love at first sight with this Burberry jacket, this was just WOW.

I can't say I didn't reach my objective going to Bicester Village however, as I did get my graduation dress :D which show there are one or two affordable shops!

But I won't be revealing what's inside until the day sorry guys!!!

Treating Myself

Urban Outfitters was having a sale and since it is my favourite store I was inclined to treat myself, finding the cutest top for Hackney Weekend/my holiday to Croatia this summer!

As cute as it looks from the front it was the back of the top that sold it to me and screams summer time! Cut at the bottom with a pink bow tied at the top it's the perfect for the festival look, which happens to be my favourite look.

The little peace pendant was a extra bonus have always wanted one just like it! So urban outfitters sale (that you can use student discount on still) has made my week! Love treating myself.

Vogue Festival

I know I have been away from my blog for a while due to my degree but I have been keeping up (live streaming all of London Fashion Week in the library!).  My latest endeavour has been the first year of The Vogue Festival.

I went on the first day 20th April, 9am-1.30pm, and what was described as an experiment when amazingly well.  First to be 'interviewed' was Christopher Bailey, who after the incredible London Fashion Week catwalk, had drawn me into this particular time and day. As you can see I was sitting quite far back from the photograph below!

First working for Gucci, when he moved to Burberry he described it as a "incredible diamond trodden into the ground - had so much potential...needed love, care and belief".  And that is certainly what he gave to it, turning it into a worldwide fashion label. When talking about his stores he said he wanted them to be seen as welcoming and not intimidating.  As he talks about his job and the many places he has to travel to and see, I became increasingly jealous! In his own words he called his life a "privileged life" and that it certainly is.  To be working somewhere I felt that passionate about is only something I could dream of, Burberry is not only a job for Bailey but his "baby".

The next talk I was able to sit in on was titles "My Fashion Life" with Lucinda Chambers the Vogue Fashion Director, Matthew Williamson an independent fashion designer, Marigay McKee Chief Merchandiser at Harrods and Russell Marsh a Casting Director for models. You can just about see them here sitting together on the stage.

Lucinda was the first to speak, and as it is my dream to work for Vogue I was so intrigued by what she would have to say. She started off with a line that I very much agree with, that you have to "see the power of clothes...can totally change how you feel about yourself", as she described a shopping trip she had with her friend.  It is very true that we tend to stick to the same mundane look not exploring what other clothes out their may suit us, completely changing how we feel about they way we look. It seems she ended up at Vogue magazine through hard work and chance, starting at the bottom and working her way up to the top.  She inspired me with the way she talked about finding inspiration from everywhere she looked, "have to look at all things in a special way".  She described British Vogue as being there to inspire you and make you dream.

Matthew Williamson very witty talk was described as "part1 of his life", with only 15 minutes to speak how was he supposed to sum up all his achievements that time? But what he did unveil was truly fascinating.  He worked incredibly hard and fought the odds to achieve what he has today, telling use "you have to fight for what you want". When people told him he couldn't do something he was just pushed to prove them wrong (which he clearly has).  His website http://www.matthewwilliamson.com/, shows how his hard work has paid off!

Marigay McKee described herself as "not the most fashionable or most clever" growing up and talked about how she just "muddled through" in life.  Working originally as a school teacher she moved into cosmetics then onto a buyer and then onto Harrods firstly working in the cosmetic department.  She seemed to transcend from job to job but with Harrods she "fell in love" reminded of her and her mums love for Harrods as a child it became her dream job when she finally became the Chief Merchandiser.

Russell Marsh was a interesting speaker to me as prior to this I had never known much about casting models and how it all worked.  Russell Marsh would cast models for designers trying to make sure he has the right model for the right designer, telling us that the right model can "bring a collection to life".  He looks for not just beauty but the way they dress their attitude!  Once he has found this he is the one who teaches them to walk and how to hold themselves.  His job takes great care in making sure each designer gets the right type of model in order to create an amazing reaction to a collection.

What I took away mostly from these talks was that it wasn't just about who they knew, or a great academic ability but sheer hard work that got them to where they were today. Which has inspired me greatly to work hard to be where I want to eventually be!

I had a little look round afterwards at all the other things they had on, with hair advance from Josh Wood, make overs from Armani's top make up artists and a beauty consultant on the best shade of red lipstick to suit your skin tone, mine happened to YSL in raspberry...

I loved their Vogue cover wall,

and got very excited when I saw a cover related to my dissertation on World War II fashion!

And just to end t  my amazing experience at Vogue Festival (which I will definitely attend again) was these little cuties...

Vintage Inspired

Just read an article (http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/vintage-clothing-when-i-was-14-i-swore-id-never-wear-high-street-clothes-again-6534499.html)  all about vintage clothing by Harriet Walker talking to, William Banks-Blaney (a globe trotting vintage shopper), Claire Stansfield (co-founder of Relik) and Sarah Kennedy (author and vintage expert).  Everything they said was good advice for when buying vintage and I'll definitely remember it for the future, and make sure I pick up a copy of Sarah Kennedy's book!  Claire Stansfield quote: 'Vintage doesn't follow trends, it creates and inspires them. Trends will always be influenced by what you see on the big screen or on the latest catwalks'.  This is so true!!! Everything now is vintage inspired and that label helps products sell.  It got me thinking about my vintage purchases and why I love them!  I never realised how much vintage I had until I decided to write this so I tried to narrow it down to a few of my fave finds!

These were my auntie's back in the day CAT shorts which are gorgeous! She saw me wearing shorts similar and gave me these.  Perfect vintage.

Levi cropped jeans from Rokit! Great find, hard to get the right size so was so happy with these.

I remember spending my last £35 on this jacket on a market in Brick Lane (I had to haggle) and it's still fashionable today.  Win for me!

I found these trousers I saw on a mannequin outside a vintage shop in camden and asked the to bring them down for me.  And although they are about 3 sizes too big with a belt I made it work!

Found this cute cardy at a vintage shop called COW near my friends university in Sheffield! I have to look round the vintage shops every time I am down visiting and make sure there is extra room in my bag to carry everything I find on the way back!

SO basically I love vintage!!! Who doesn't want to own something they know no one else has, makes it truly precious!

Pure London

On Monday 13th I went down to Pure London, the leading trade fashion event for sourcing womenswear, young creative fashion for women, accessory and footwear brands.  I was able to catch the womenswear catwalk and the young fashion half scene catwalk, and was fun to see what autumn/winter has in store.  The three looks they spoke about before the womenswear catwalk were Eco Hedonism, Hyperculture and Radical Neutrality.  Radical Neutrality struck me the most, I loved the nature aspect to the clothes.  I am very into patterns and this look incorporated that well.  What I heard a lot during the talks was NEUTRAL! It's all about neutral colours for the 2012/2013 winter just like its all about pastel colours this summer.  It's good to have a heads up on whats to come this winter.

I got some snaps of my favourite looks from the womenswear catwalk, the first three are all about the shoes (as this is my weakness!)

Love the biker girl look!  They will be so good, comfy and warm for the winter this year.

What amazed me about these are how did she walk in them?!? Gorgeous but dangerous!!!

These welly boots look so cute and will be perfect in the mucky English winter.  They are practical as well as a fashion statement.

My last snap is all about the pattern!

This is a simple cardigan but when you look at the back it has such a beautiful design, making any simple outfit stand out.

What I loved most about this was looking round and finding some amazing new boutiques:

http://shop.shopheartboutique.com/

http://www.lovestruckclothing.co.uk/

http://www.rubyrocks.com/

http://www.minauk.com/

http://www.arkclothing.com/Ark_Female/Shop_by_brand/Danity.html

Which give you something different to look at when you always shop high street!

Cheer Up Shoes

I had this idea for my blog about 2 days ago when I was feeling blue and bought myself a new pair of shoes to cheer me up! When I'm sad shoes seem to be the first place I look for comfort, so here I am going to give my top five cheer up shoes (which trust me was hard to narrow down).

#5 I can't afford it so someone else buys it for me as a present shoes:  Office shoes that were £70 which I could not afford, but wouldn't stop going on about for weeks.  After dragging my boyfriend in to see them a few times he got the hint and bought them for me!

#4 I want brown heels shoes:  I spent forever looking for the perfect brown heels that I could actually walk in, when I stumbled across these in New Look.  These were a great little pick me up!

#3 25% off Office shoes with O2 priority:  Got to love being with O2 when they bless you with these little gems! Cheered me up a great deal when I saw this offer, went straight to office and then fell in love with these shoes.

#2 See shoes in a magazine, go to Sheffield, walk past an Office, go in and buy instantly:  As you can see there is a pattern with my love for Office shoes! I saw these shoes in a magazine and fell in love! That same weekend I was going to Sheffield to visit my friend and of course I needed a souvenir...

#1 Wanting doc martins for years and years and finally found the perfect pair: These are my number 1 as I have wanted doc martins since I can remember.  Buying those fake ones on camden market is just not the same (and I know for a fact).  Definitely worth the £95 I spent on them and so worth the wait.

FEAL THE LOVE

Just saw this on Melanie Rickey blog and had to share they are so adorable. On top of this a 1/3 of the proceeds go to the British Heart Foundation, they can be found at any Beyond Retro.

FEAL THE LOVE

My Fashion Journal

This is my fashion journal!!! Here will be talking about what I like and in some cases dislike.  I will also be talking about all the latest fashion and my personal opinion on them! I have just signed up to tumblr so I can also be followed on there, where I will be updating weekly as well as this blog: andreaelizabethmccaul.tumblr.com. You can also follow me on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/AndreaMcCaul.

Enjoy reading!