Happy Holidays!

I just thought I make a quick post wishing you all a happy christmas if you celebrate and happy holidays if not. Hope this time of year is good to you all. The weather here in the UK has been kind of crazy and I think it has in other parts of europe too so I hope you all stay safe if your travelling about. The picture below is of Sheffield where I was staying a few days ago.



I'm hoping that you'll do me a little favour. My new years resolution for 2010 is to get some work experience and that is well underway. Anyway, I've been set a little challenge. If you get a bit of time over the next few days take a look at the quirky cool fashion music art website Sarah Young If like me you like all things new and undiscovered this is the website you need to bookmark now. You can also follow her @sarah_young on twitter and thats where you really come in. They want to boost their followers and trust me its worth doing. Please spread the word! Thankyooooou :) PS. You can follow me too @glitteringheels :)

Happy christmas and here's to a brilliant 2010! xx

Killer Heels

As promised, a picture of my new, nearly breaking my ankle, heels!


They don't look that high here but they certainly feel high when I'm wearing them.

Naughty Shoe Shopping and Nail Varnish

First off I thought I'd show you the new nail varnish I bought a few weekends ago...its from No. 7 and called Pink Grapefruit. I've had this post open for a while trying to get the photos up and its finally worked. The joys of weird uni network connections...


Its quite a cool colour, but looks really pink in some lights and really red in others. But I like it :) I've currently got a very red nail varnish on, pillar box red almost from No. 7 but not sure what it called, cos the label has come off! I seem to be going through of bit of nail varnish stage at the moment. Though need to get a good top coat cos they always chip really easily. Not sure if its the nail varnish or me just doing things and it chipping cos of that.

I've also recently bought some new Bronx heels from Dorothy Perkins which were an amazing bargain. They're basically just black courts with an ankle strap, the goes with everything shoe. I'd had my eye on them for a while but they were £90 but then they were reduced to £50 or something and then I had a discount code for 25% off so got them even cheaper. Was a bit of a nightmare with delivery though...I chose standard delivery which is meant to be 3-5 days, ended up taking almost 2 weeks!! Worth the wait though. They are so high, much higher than I'm used to and they've got quite a bit of a platform as well. I wore them out last night and had great fun trying to walk. It was already hard enough to walk anyway cos of the strong winds threatening to blow me over but nearly broke my ankle at one point, thankfully managed to save myself though! Pretty comfortable as well as far as heels go, after a night of dancing they hadn't rubbed or anything, just had achey feet. So very happy. May post a picture at some point.

Anyway, bit of a favour. Got another questionnaire, on craft magazines this time, that I would be so grateful if you filled it in. Click here to take the survey I've been so so busy with uni work lately and this is just part of a whole load of things I've been doing. The best assignment is a series of photography briefs, from taking a portrait shot to doing a romance themed shoot. I've got the romance shoot on friday, can't wait to do it! Should be fun. If my model doesn't mind, I'll post the final images once they've been edited and stuff.

Hope your all ok, I shall catch up very soon!

Fabulous False Lashes

Halloween, last week, found me on the search for some great false eyelashes as part of my look as a cat. I kinda ended up not really dressed as anything in the end but ah well! Anyway, I found some in claire's accessories which if you're not familiar with it, is like a teenage girls girly shop with jewellery, fancy dress stuff and various other girly bits. Not the ideal place really but it was late on Saturday and it felt like the entire population of the city was in town. I've always avoided false eyelashes until now, thinking they'd be too much hassle or that they'd annoy me but I am now totally converted! And on the hunt for more, both natural and dramatic party ones - so any recommendations please let me know.

Anyway, I went for a dramatic black smokey eyed look and this was the final result...
The lighting is pretty poor but you kinda get the idea. I loved the lashes, although after a few hours one of them got a bit loose at the edge so took them off. Today has been a great makeup shopping day. I took advantage of the £5 No. 7 Boots voucher and got myself a new foundation brush, loose powder and nail varnish in a very lovely bright pink-red called pink grapefruit. Also because I spent over £22 I got the free gift set which included a pinky gold eyeshadow called antique rose, a nail varnish called milan, a mini extreme length mascara and a liplicious lipgloss in marshmallow. I also got a mini protect and perfect night cream and serum (which I love!!) and blissful body wash. All this was contained in cool silver purse! So all in all, totally amazing and bargainous! I love things like this, gotta love Boots deals eh?

Hope you're all have a lovely weekend and managed to bag yourself so goodies :)

Giles Deacon Free Scarf Mania!

So who's been in on this competition that has been running with Cadbury Caramel and Giles Deacon, various fashion bloggers and online stores like ASOS? Through clues on the facebook fan page, people in their 1000's have been clamouring to get their hands on a free Giles Deacon scarf in pop up shops that open and close as they please!

Unfortunately it was only open to those in the UK but that didn't stop people trying! I think this promtion has created excitement and irritation in equal measure. So many comments on the facebook page from people to have been so close when the store closed or have had computer glitches. I was lucky enough to spot a link to a shop and get there really quick, so I was one of the lucky ones. Can't wait for it to arrive in the post and I shall keep you posted! Has anyone else been lucky enough to win one?

A little favour...

I'm wondering if you lovely people can help me out? One of my modules at uni requires a bit of research on people's magazine reading habits, so I've set up a questionnaire here and it would be a huge help if you could fill it in for me. Its only 10 questions so shouldn't take long to fill in but it would be a huge help. Thankyou :)

Fashionably Late and Balancing Acts

I know, I know...I swan in declaring that I shall return to regular blogger status and then disappear into the ether once again, returning once again promising that it shall change.

Life as a second year journalism student is harder than I thought. The pressure is really on this year to do well as the marks actually count and this is the year that could put us on that long desired route of top journalist. I'm not sure how the real world manages really and I have serious respect for every journalist out there from staff writer, freelancer to the fashion editor. One of my assignments this term is to come up with, pitch and write a 2000 word feature. Simple right? Well yeah, if you have the idea to begin with. This is where I seem to be struggling...ideas, yeah I have no end of them but not all are suited to this particular length of feature. So I have been racking my brains constantly, scouring the newspapers from the wonderful Guardian to the not so wonderful Daily Mail (did anyone see that awful story by Jan Moir on Stephen Gately's death?!) to inspire me. I think I have an idea so I guess watch this space...Hopefully I'll be able to build up my portfolio of printed work in the next year!

I have also found an absolutely amazing fashion book, by Caroline Evans called Fashion on the Edge. Its our set text for this year for one of the modules we study and yes it is academic but its so interesting, although a little morbid in places I thought. The book considers the dark side of contemporary fashion with its themes of death, alienation, destruction and what this tells us about society. It can be a little heavy in places but its highly readable, and definately recommend it, whether or not you are studying fashion. Its also got some amazing photos from the collections of Alexander McQueen, Viktor and Rolf and John Galliano amongst others.

Viktor & Rolf (S/S 1997)

Alexander McQueen (A/W 1995 "Highland Rape")

The book includes a lot on both the above collections, Alexander McQueen's collection is particularly interesting and there is some good analysis on it. Definately worth a read!

London Fashion Weekend

I know its been a terribly long time since I've posted...life has been a little hectic lately. I've been working, and moving back to uni and just generally being a bad blogger. But hopefully I'll be back to my regular posting from now on! Last week I was lucky enough to go to London Fashion Weekend, which is the event open to the public after London Fashion Week. Its basically a shopping event with reduced items from various designers but there is also a catwalk show which was really exciting. It featured a range of outfits from designers such as Alexander McQueen, Lipsy, Richard Nicoll and Issa. There was also some outfits from the AW09 collection from Manish Arora which was really exciting! The Jaeger London AW09 collection also featured with some 70's inspired office wear. I have now got a camera (yaaaaaaaaaay!) however, I've been having huge issues trying to upload some more photos on here thanks to a very lousy uni internet connections so you can see the rest here


The next London Fashion Weekend event is in February just after LFW so have already made a vow to go. Its a really good event but we were a little short on time that day as we left later than planned and didn't have much time to wander around, so need to make sure we go earlier. We were also hoping to go shopping at Seven Dials which is a short walk away but got totally lost and walked in the wrong direction! As I bought a gold ticket I also got a goodie bag which was worth it in itself, there were goodies from the sponsors such as Toni & Guy, coffee from Lavazza, a Luxe London guide and Fantasy by Britney Spears perfume. Some of the other girls I went with got Elizabeth Arden make up which is also pretty good! Gold ticket is the way to go, although with the platinum ticket you got access to the Chambord VIP lounge and all sorts of other extra goodies...soo very tempting! Maybe next time....

Cocosa

After being told about the website Cocosa, I had to find out for myself what it was all about. However its invite only so I had to wait for that invite to drop into my email inbox. Its worth the wait though. If you are after fabulous designer clothes at exclusive prices then you need to get on that invite list! Featuring special sales from various designers including, currently, Peter Jensen and American Retro. There are also soon to be sales from Giles Deacon and Liberty of London which I cannot wait for!

If you are interested in an invite then let me know via comments or DM on twitter...and I'll select 2 at random! Good luck :)

Premiere of The September Issue

Hands up if your excited?! The documentary that has got everyone talking premiered last night and the glitterati were out in force to watch it. Are we jealous?! Of course not. Facebook was streaming the red carpet arrival, but here in the UK I think it was in the wee small hours. Here are some pictures of some of the attendees...

Apparently the devil really does wear Prada! Anna Wintour with the cover star of the issue in question - Sienna Miller

Oscar de la Renta with Carolina Herrera

Jessica White - I absolutely love this dress, its a really hard colour to wear yellow, but she carries it off beautifully

Jason Wu with Karlie Kloss - Love the well clashed skirt and top

Georgina Chapman - I love simplicity and no fuss, and this looks great

Chanel Iman looking stunning in a simple white dress

Bee Shaffer, again love the dress. Purple is one of my favourite colours and it looks amazing here

Quirky fashion queen Alexa Chung looking great in this vintage looking dress, the shoes are pretty cool as well!

I'd have thought that with the documentary people would be selling of the issue on ebay to see what they could get for it but surprisingly there wasn't really anything on either the US or UK ebay. Maybe more people will once the documentary has aired. I'm curious to see what was in the issue, apparently it was the largest (in terms of pages) magazine in the world ever. If anyone has the issue available let me know!

Photos: Style.com

Summer dreams are made of these...

I can be so fickle...one week I'm wanting it to be Autumn soon and the next I'm lamenting the end of summer. To be completely honest I would happily have both in one go! This summer does seem to have passed by in a bit of a blur, its been never ending, having finished uni early June and not really having had much uni before then has made the summer seem longer but now we're fast heading for September. Exam results season is upon us (good luck to anyone getting A Level results tomorrow and GCSEs next week, good luck too to anyone else expecting exam results shortly). August ends in a few weeks and the September magazine issues are now out, filled with the new season collections. I don't know about you but I have a very very long wish list of boots (regular readers will probably realise I am quite obsessed, can't wait to go shopping for some new ones), cosy knits and pretty much anything else that catches my eye. My wardrobe is in such a bad state right now, it needs some serious reinvention- kind of difficult on a student budget but I shall attempt it!!

For today though, I've been going through my magazines for hazy summer inspired fashion photography. Perhaps I expect too much from my summers, but I want adventure and excitement. Instead I've spent the last few weeks working and there has been little excitement. Maybe next summer will be "the" summer...for now my dreams will be held in images such as these.








The top two images are from an editorial in Elle UK June 2008, the next three are from 125 Magazine (SS09) and the last two are from Plastique Magazine (SS09).

This text came with the images from 125 and I think it goes perfectly...

"The Last Rays of Sun - Our world is kind; our environment is a luxury we all have access to. Luxury is not excess, but the tiny moments that can go unnoticed which are accessible to anyone. Subtle sensory experiences, like lying in woodland on the moist mossy ground under a dancing canopy cover....feeling the last rays of the sun on your face as you float in and out of dreamtime and let yourself be transported somewhere else, just for a moment of Luxury".

This particular shoot by photographer Venetia Dearden, was absolutely beautiful and definately captures the idea of a fading summer day. I would seriously recommend getting this magazine! May summer days live forever ♥

Coco Avant Chanel

Last week I finally, finally got to see the film that has got the fashion world talking. I almost thought I wasn't going to be able to see it until it went to DVD but thankfully I did and it was well worth waiting for. I thought it was fantastic, and quite interesting to be able to discover Gabrielle Chanel's life beyond being a fashion designer. I've seen documentaries on Chanel before but its always interesting to discover different perspectives. I just love how innovative and ahead of her time she was in her tastes and ideas. I think thats what wearable fashion and clothing is about, just going on your own instinct and tastes, logic says if it appeals to you then chances are it will appeal to other people too. Audrey Tatou was such a great choice to play Chanel and I couldn't really imagine anyone else playing her. So glad I was able to see the film. If you could see a film about a fashion designer then who would it be?





After I returned home from being away for a while I was greeted with a pile of my magazine subscriptions. The Uk edition of Elle (September) is currently running a competition you the chance to write for the magazine. To enter submit a 900 word piece on What Style Means to Me to elletalent@hf-uk.com by 20 September 2009. You also need to include your name, contact details, age and current occupation. For full T&C check the magazine. Good luck to anyone who enters, and maybe you'll see your piece in the magazine should you win!

Shoes, Sales and Sodding Work!

Apologies for my absence over the past few weeks or so. Spending hours at a time makes you really despise staring at a screen any longer than you have to so I couldn't really bear to update. But as of today I am free from data entry. Hooooooray! Even getting paid an extra day but given it off, result eh? This has kinda been me lately...

Yeah, not been much fun but this means that I can maybe go shopping and enjoy the sales that have been taunting me for the past few weeks...They are everywhere and its not really much fun to look but not buy. Whats the point?!

Anyway, I'm signed up the Outnet newsletter just for a little more sartorial teasing and they often have spontaneous sales, including "Going, going, gone". In a few hours these slices of gorgeousness, Christian Louboutin Rosazzisimo sandals will be available.


The idea is that the price drops over time and you get to lock the price you want...kind of lowest bidder wins or rather how long will you wait to snap them up, in the hope that no one gets there before you or you buy them too early. Head over to the website, register and keep your fingers crossed you land them!

Anyway, the weather is gorgeous here in the UK at the moment. It is technically my weekend now and I am dreaming of being somewhere like this...

Oh yes, I am so badly craving to jump on a plane and get a holiday. I haven't been away and the summer has been so fraught with money worries and job hunting that I feel like I haven't been able to properly destress and chill out for a while. So yeah, I'd love to be there now. Anyone wanna offer me a ticket away?! Haha!

Hope your all ok and apologies for not being around lately. I have so much to catch up with...a week away is a long time in blogville isn't it?

Watch this Space

Apologies for lack of entries the last few days. I've not been feeling well. I'm currently away from home on my own so finding it all really difficult. Hopefully normal service will resume shortly.

Puss in (Designer) Boots!

I've posted a few times lately about my quest for new boots. Well this quest has just bumped up in priority. As is typical of the UK, we don't really get summer, we get rain. I'm currently living away from home whilst on a summer job and rather stupidly left packing to the last minute and whilst I was hungover. This resulted in a not so clever choice of footwear. My boots are well and truly broken...bad quality wooden heels that are worn and unmendable and my flats are soggy and falling apart! So this leaves me with heels that don't fit brilliantly, sandals which aren't ideal in torrential rain and then my work shoes. Doing well so far...Also thanks to a pay mix up, it will be another month before any money enters my well and truly overdraft account. Some way or another I am gonna have to get something to see me through this bad weather until I am home and reunited with the rest of my shoes. It may be some time before I get those boots that I really, really want. I'm hoping the birthday fairy will grant that wish come October.

I have a thing for riding style boots and they have to be flat. I can't do heels during the day when I'm walking around either at uni or day-to-day things. I have some black heeled boots from Dorothy Perkins and I just can't wear them all day! Definately a flats girl by day, but heels by night. I've seen some more affordable versions of these about so will have to check out the quality. After my disaster with the New Look ones, I'm gonna be ultra wary. New Look have some boots on their website which look great, I love the Brogue Boots. Topshop were a little disappointing so far, I'm hoping that they'll have some more available soon. Faith also a little on the low side for boots, after my gorgeous boots from there last time, I'm hoping I'll find another pair of great boots. If you see any boots that you'll think I'll like, give me the heads up cos I'd love to know about it!

Anyway, I've been doing some online window shopping/dreaming on that amazing website we all know and love...Net-a-Porter! Here are my picks, if I were a rich girl (nah-nah-nah-na-nah!)

From the top: Belstaff Trailmaster boots (£400), Jil Sander Leather Riding Boots (£565), Brian Atwood Suede Thigh High Boots (£1020) and Chloe Buckle Embellished Leather Boots (£765). These are just a few of the ones I liked.








































































Also, does anyone know about the site cocosa? Someone I know was asking me about it and as I don't know anything, I was wondering if any of you do. Get in touch!

Hope your having a good weekend and it isn't as washed out as has been here today :)

PS. Had a right nightmare with these pictures and trying to get the layout right. Does anyone know how to make it easier?...had pictures refusing to line up or go where I wanted them so apologies for this lousy post in terms of layout but it was the only way it was gonna work...

Looking ahead to Autumn...

Maybe its the fact that the rain doesn't seem to have to stopped falling since that heatwave at the beginning of the month, and that right this second the skies are grey and the patter of rain can be heard on my window. Maybe its the fact that soon it will be August and the arrival of the "September" issues of our favourite fashion magazines will be hitting the shelves packed with the new season must have. Maybe its the fact that I just like Autumn and Winter for my family and friend's birthdays, of which there are plenty and of course that magical time of year- Christmas. Whatever it is, right now my mind has turned away from beaches and sunshine and summer clothes and is thinking of blazing fires sat with a hot chocolate, walks in the woods where the trees are ablaze with shades of copper, bronze and fiery reds and wearing cosy knitwear and comfy boots for stomping through puddles and kicking leaves strewn across my path. Each season has its good points, and I think this season wins over. Not that I'd turn my nose at a few weeks on a white sandy beach in the blazing sun or balmy evenings sat with a glass or two of wine over dinner!

Are you a summer person or a winter person? Which is your favourite season and why?

On a side note- I wish I could show you some of my favourite winter editorials, but thats not happening for a while. Does anyone know any good picture resources? I'm finding it very frustrating having ideas and not being able to show them visually...

Emerging Designers: Trine Wackerhausen

As you may have gathered, I'm a big fan of new designers. I think that there is a point where you are at your most creative and thats usually before you have to create designs that are commercially viable because lets face it, you've gotta make money if you want to continue working. Anyway, my magazine habit lead me to discover the magazine Indie-The Independent Style Magazine which had an article on the Danish fashion designer Trine Wackerhausen and her label Wackerhaus. Her designs are just my thing, minimal but still with that hint of femininity. Incidentally, femininity and masculinity and its contrasts is something that Trine wants to concentrate more on in her collections, having been intrigued by both strength and masculinity. Within her designs, there is definately evidence of strong silhouettes with defined shoulders adding an edge to an otherwise simple outfit or flashes of shimmer on simple dresses. With 2 shows already at Copenhagen Fashion Week, I think we can expect to see more of Trine and I'm looking forward to it.

For more information on Trine Wackerhausen click here and here

Twitter Error

How cool is this picture that comes up when Twitter encounters an error? Its quite quirky and odd but I like it. There is another one that came up the other day which I liked. Anyway I've saved it and now I'm sharing it with you. If you want to add me on twitter go ahead. Its glitteringheels

Hope your having a good weekend. So far I've not got up to much...had an opticians appointment which wasn't too fun. It always makes my eyes water! Anyway, need to have my glasses updated as they haven't for years because I wear contacts more. Its so expensive *sob* I'd sooner spend the money on clothes or something fun. I may just pass up on the new glasses anyway haha! Happy weekend xx

Fashion Photography: Diana Koenigsberg

How fun are these photographs by Diana Koenigsberg? I was browsing Cyanatrendland and the bright colours of these images caught my eye. I like things that are pretty and vintagey, and I like things that are quirky but I also like photographs with a sense of humour. The playful nature of these photographs just stands out so much and I love that. Lets hear it for fun fashion!






Thanks to Cyanatrendland for the images. For more information on Diana Koenigsberg click here.

My Picks For The Week

Thought I'd point you in the direction of some of my favourite posts of late...

Dress Design & Decor

Create

Pigtails & Blushing Cheeks

Design Scene

Aspiring Couture

Picked because they are funny, yummy (you'll know which one I mean!) or just because I love the pics, they are all fab! I also thought I'd share with you one of my new favourite etsy sellers, well two actually...I bought a set of postcards from alicebgardens and they are stunning. If you like all things slightly vintage pretty then this is the seller for you! Here are some of her photos...

The second seller is Tabitha Emma for her gorgeous quirky, slightly child like cute mix of purses, tea cosys and prints all decorated with images of drinking tea, owls and other similar woodland animals. There are some amazing things in this shop and I can see myself buying a few gifts. Here a few of the goodies she stocks in her shop :)



Hope your all having a good week and not getting too soaked...I wish summer would return! I've got a limited footwear at the moment as I'm away from home and its mostly entirely unsuitable. Gonna have to get something super cheap I think as the purse strings are bit tight right now. Any suggestions?