Wedding Fever?

Sorry it's been a while since I have posted. I've been so busy with my new job I just haven't had time to post.

What with all the wedding fever in the build up to the Royal Wedding you may be a little wedding-ed out. But if like me you seem to have loads of invites landing on your doormat, with no clue what you are going to ware then this might give you some inspiration.

I have had some moments of panic trying to find an amazing outfit for my friends wedding coming up and although there is loads out there it took me ages to find an outfit that I loved. Until I saw this amazing Turquoise Siri Lace Dress from Whistles. Perfect colour, perfect style (very Kate Middleton lace!) the only problem is the price, £275! If I wear it for lots of summer weddings though I might just get away with it. Couldn't I?

Whistles Siri Lace Dress (image whistles.co.uk)

In my hunt for the perfect wedding outfit I have also spotted this beautiful pink floral fascinator on non other than the lovely Danni Minogue in the Marks and Spencer adverts. I was a bit gutted when I could only find the dress from the ads online but after a bit of investigation and some help from the lovely customer service team I have found out it's going to be in store and online from 25th May for £35.

Danni Minogue Floral fascinator (image: http://www.marksandspencer.com/)

I'm not sure if the two colours will clash in the right way so I may go for a butterfly fascinator from Chapeau Claudette.

Chapeau Claudette Butterfly Fascinator (image: Ilovehats.co.uk)

Chapeau Claudette as seen in Look Magazine

Even though Princess Beatrice got slated for her Royal Wedding fascinator I do love this Butterfly one she wore a few years ago.

Anyway, I will hopefully put together an outfit and post a photo here when I do. If you have a killer summer wedding outfit then email me a photo and I will put it up here too.

Going Bananas!

Thanks to Topshop I can now go bananas whenever I want! The Topshop Banana Drop Earrings are only £6.50, a bargain compared to the Prada version for £140.

Topshop Banana Drop Earrings

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Outfit Photo: My Whistles Carrie Skirt

Outfit: Carrie Skirt, (Whistles) Knitted White Cotton Cable Jumper (Topshop) ACE Black Suede Lace Up Boots (Topshop) Brown Leather Bag (Vintage)

My Whistles Carrie Skirt has arrived and I thought it was about time I shared an outfit photo with you. I settled on the knee length one in the end and I love wearing it. I'm sure I will be wearing it well in to the summer plus, I'm loving it even more now the lovely people at Whistles have said they will 'overlock' the hem for me.

The skirt has a frayed style to the hem but I was worried because it was starting to fray quite a lot (you can see it a bit in my photos) Then I got in touch with them to ask what I should do and they very kindly offered to make the 'overlocked hem' alteration to it for me to make it much more practical. They even offered to pay the postage for me to send it back to them to get the alteration made. Great news, so now I know my skirt won't totally fray away.

I'm so impressed by Whistles. I have written about how great they are before but this is now the best customer service I have ever had and it definitely is the kind of brand I would come back to- and I'm hard to impress! I can't wait to get something else from the Spring Collection.

Dearne, Aka Notting Hill Girl has taken on a challenge to wear her Carrie skirt as much as possible before the end of the Summer. Easy! I can think of 100's of ways to wear it. You can see how she will be wearing her skirt here. I would love to see how you are wearing yours. Feel free to post a link to your outfit photo in the comments here.

Retro Style: The Dress

This week everyone has been talking about the rumour that Sarah Burton from Alexander McQueen will be creating Kate Middleton's wedding dress.  

Although she laughed it off and has now even admitted to New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn that she won't be designing it. I thought her collection a Paris Fashion Week definitely showed off  a show stopping wedding dress fit for a princess. It got me thinking of a very special photo of my parents I thought I would share.

Retro isn't it? Not as glam as the McQueen dress but fabulous all the same. Check out the perm on my dad too!

Elle's Style

I have been looking over all the amazing blogs from London Fashion Week and came over a familiar face when looking at the What Elle Wears blog from the Elle Style Awards. Don't those Elle ladies look great? And they definitely follow the idea of "It's not what you wear, it's how you wear it" mixing high street and designer.

ELLEuk.com Fashion Assistant Alice Watt is a good friend of mine and was my flatmate at University. Maybe I'm bias but I think she looked fabulous! She has a really individual style. I adore her Mawi ring and must find out where I can get my hands on one. This isn't a brand I have ever heard of before but having a look on their website they have great pieces.

Alice Watt - ELLEuk.com Fashion Assistant
Miu Miu dress, YSL clutch, Topshop shoes, Mawi ring, vintage earrings (Photo: Elleuk.com)

Mawi Skyline Tube and Crystal Ring (Photo: Elleuk.com)

Great Vintage Earings (Photo: Elleuk.com)

Most Wanted: Whistles Carrie Pleat Skirt

High up on my top wardrobe must have trends for Spring Summer 2011 is Neon. As seen at Jil Sander and Christopher Kane it is now making its way onto the High Street.

The Whistles neon pink Carrie Pleat Skirt went on sale online today following a long wait. It's already sold out in the midi length and is only available in a shorter length. Be quick though at only £95 (compared to £580 for the Jil Sander version) and with only 100 produced it's definitely going to be a sell out.

I'm a huge fan of Whistles and think their customer service is something lots of brands can aspire to. Their staff both in store and on their customer service line couldn't do enough to help me get hold of my skirt and for the first time I was able to look at their twitter (@thisiswhistles) for updates. Although, they could have done with being more regular. If you want the skirt one of the girls in the Selfridges Birmingham store told me there may be some due in either their Wednesday or Friday delivery.

Their Spring Summer 2011 collection is all stunning. My favourite piece apart from the 'Carrie' skirt is the blue Pintuck Blouse, £90 and to make it even better you can also get 20% off the new collection with this month's Glamour Magazine. You can see the full collection in the lookbook here and in the video bellow but be warned...something will end up on your Most Wanted list!

Whistles Spring / Summer 2011 from WHISTLES on Vimeo.

I ♥ Mary Portas

I know I might be a little behind the times here but I have only just had chance to watch Mary Portas : Secret Shopper on Channel 4. I am hooked!

Having never seen Mary Queen Of Shops I wasn't quite sure about her but the idea of the show is genius! The show is all about her trying to improve customer service for us, the shoppers. I watched the 1st episode about High Street chain Pilot and was jumping up and down screaming at the tv. For ages I have been totally infuriated by the lack of knowledge and service you get in some shops. Even when you take a photo from a magazine or blog in showing exactly what your looking for, the shop assistant just momentarily stop their conversation and gesture "if it's here, it's over there" and "if it's not out, we haven't got it" It's so annoying and frustrating. Mary doesn't blame the staff though but the management.

Then I remembered this Liz Jones Article from The Daily Mail I read a couple of weeks ago. It's a little bit shocking how little the shop assistants in this article seem to know about clothes and how uninspiring they are.

It shouldn't be so unexpected when shops actually deliver on service. I have had great experiences recently thanks to first class service in Whistles and Joy. It really does make me want to shop there more often when the staff are helpful, hardworking and friendly. Is it really so hard? Where on the High Street do you get the best service?

Thanks to Mary, next time I'm not looked after I am going to complain to the management and ask for better or not spend.