Alphabet Pony

Asos Marketplace

Being the fashion magpie that I am I spotted this little bit of cuteness on Asos. She is called Rave Pony. The name suggests she is the kitsch accessory du jour for the more edgy of us out there. The company that makes these wonderful and so-cute-it- hurts trinkets are called Junkonomix. I need a Junkonomix fix pronto.

It is all so pretty...

 

Pile on the sugar, frost with hundreds and thousands, coat with layers of lace and pink icing. Nails are the narcotics of the new millennium and bring it on is all I can say. Don't be shy channel your inner Nicki Minaj and adorn your fingers with the fanciest fun frivolity!

Even just popping to the shops I feel tense and sick if my nails are not covered in the newest nail lacquer invention. This season there is so much to choose from that each nail can be adorned with a different design. Leopard, cupcake, polka dot, ice cream cone on one hand, or lighting strike, panda and hello kitty on the other. Being the most girlie of girls I have approached the trend with all the restraint of a seven year old in a Disney Store. I love new but not nasty so forgive me but I will not be investing in a cracked enamel. It is all about striving for a pretty perfection not a look that needs a manicure.

A Fashionable Life: Grace Banks

There is not much this girl does not know about fashion and even has been a consultant and lecturer on the subject. She has managed to fit in an illustrious career in only a few years. As an intern at Grazia, Grace was recommended for the job at the fashion features desk at InStyle and since then her career has only gone from strength to strength. She currently helps to develop brands through advertising whilst being a contributing writer for Aishti, the Middle East’s most prominent luxury lifestyle magazine. Grace shares her secrets with MSL on how to live a very fashionable life.

1.Tell us a bit about yourself and your career.

I’m a fashion writer, stylist and creative. I started my career as an intern for Time Out, New Woman and Grazia. Whilst I was at Grazia I was recommended for a role on the fashion features desk at InStyle magazine and I stayed there for a year. I then moved to a creative agency where I started working with fashion brands doing everything from creating magazines to styling and interviewing designers to fashion consulting. I then went freelance. I now do a mixture of fashion writing, consulting, guest lecturing and fashion advertising.

2. Describe your typical day.

Every day is different! Which is part of the reason I love my job. At the moment I’m working on the spring/summer ’12 campaign for a luxury fashion retailer so a lot of my time is taken up with that. I will choose what clothes the model will wear to the trends and copy to the music in the advert. At other times I’ll be interviewing a designer for a feature, brainstorming for future campaigns or working on trend reports. Fashion week is coming up so I’ll be going to shows during that time.

3.Do you have a treasured piece of clothing that you have kept hold of?

My favourite item is a YSL black oversized chiffon shirt. I was given it after working on a fashion show a couple of years ago. It’s black and bit gothic and it never goes out of style. I wear it with everything – a body con dress with desert boots or paired with hi-tops. It’s really versatile and chic.

4. What is the story behind the item? And why is it special to you?

I was given the shirt as a thank you for the work I’d done on a charity fashion show for the White Ribbon Alliance – Fashion For Relief. I’d helped a lot with the show, and it was a really lovely gesture. It has quite a sentimental value as it was early on in my career and it reminds me of the young me!




5. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I like visiting galleries and exhibitions; the Hayward and the Gagosian are two of my favourites. I also love shopping for vintage and original editions of books. I like to spend time with my friends too. There are some lovely new bars in London that are so fun for an evening out, Happiness Forgets and The Experimental Cocktail Club are two of my current favourites.

6. If you could give your younger self one piece of advice what would it
be?

To be yourself and do what you love. If I was to give advice to young girls, I would say find out what really makes you happy and don’t compromise in getting it. Keep moving forward and be creative!

7. Tell us a fun tip!

Bio oil. It makes an amazing hair mask just leave it on all night and wash it out in the morning!

Caroline Barnes

   
http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/02/10/fashionable-life-grace-banks/

The Dress That Turned Liz Hurley Into a Pin-up

A dress so special that it managed to propel the one time girlfriend of Hugh Grant to instant celebrity status. She went from abject obscurity to an overnight star. No wonder the black Versace dress she wore to the premiere of Four Weddings and a Funeral has since developed a cult following. In 2008 it was voted the greatest red carpet gown of all time. In 2010 it came second in an online poll of the top ten dresses of the last fifty years (only to be trumped by Geri Halliwell’s Union Jack Dress). It surely proves how one can dress for success.

A dress held together with safety pins is hardly the most unassuming of choices and the impact on the media was huge. The day after the premiere in 1994 it was spread across the front pages of the press all over the world. It did little harm in promoting the fashion house Versace, so much so in fact Donatella released a newer version of it again in a collection in 2009. This dress has inspired a trend for a ‘barely there’ theme of dresses on the red carpet, for example the green Versace that Jennifer Lopez donned for the Grammy Awards.

An icon in its own right and despite causing controversy for its revealing nature, the Versace gown is now simply referred to as ‘The Dress’. The reason for its resounding success and appraisal by many is largely due to it being quite different from the usual floor length couture. It was daring choice, a guaranteed head – turner. Gianni Versace stated it was punk inspired and termed it as ‘neo-punk’. Elizabeth Hurley has said that at the time she could not afford a dress to wear for the event and was given it to wear for free by the design house. Thirteen years later a copy was sold for £10,690 at Harrods in 2007 as part of an exhibition dedicated to the ‘little black dress’.

We are now in full throes of the award season, I wonder if there will be many to rival Elizabeth Hurley’s safety pin dress on the red carpet. Hugh Grant may have given a winning performance in the film but it was his one time girlfriend who won over the critics on that night.

Caroline Barnes

http://www.maggiesemple.com/blog/2012/01/31/dress-turned-elizabeth-hurley-pin-up/