#WhatIWore My @Topshop Silver Midi-Dress, @Tightsplease @Jonathon_Aston @YBDFashion @DrawInLight & @Converse.

So this is my Sports-Luxe casual look outfit!

#WhatIWore 31.08.12. My eBay BARGAIN @Topshop Silver/ Grey Marl Midi-Dress (about £5!) a pair of @Tightsplease Shimmer Dance Capri Tights by @Jonathon_Aston  accessorised with my SS12 cute studded @DrawInLight nude leather belt from @YBDFashion & a pair of trusty used to be white @Converse.

I wasn’t too sure how I’d feeling wearing the Capri-length tights (out of my TightsPlease Blogger Challenge Goody-Bag), but they are sooo comfy! Kind of like a sheer legging for Ballerinas… I’m no dancer, mind you, but I do adore a top-knot style bun! 

Photography © Lucie Kerley

14.08.12 :: Don’t be cross meet @RedOrDeadLondon’s Erica! Check out my @TightsPlease #BloggerChallenge entry. #fashion #style #hosiery #inspiration

I decided to play around this evening with a look for my @TightsPlease #BloggerChallenge.

What do you think?

I opted for my new cream coloured H&M Peplum top, £29.99 (pick up a similar one here form H&M reduced to £17.49 in the SALE), worn with a tan coloured plaited waist-belt, a pair of jazzy gold beaded Topshop high-waisted hotpant shorts (AW11 I think for about £60?) and these Red or Dead Erica Tights, £14.49 with free UK delivery from Tights Please, which have a delightful criss-cross pattern up the side of the leg! I then topped the whole look off with a pair of towering Topshop Libby Platform Heels* !

* (Which I’ve now said goodbye to after selling them on eBay. I hope they are going to a good home! I’ve only worn them a couple of times, so they were wasted sitting in my wardrobe really!

** They are a sexy but very impractically-high shoe!)

CHECK OUT THE TIGHTS PLEASE FACEBOOK PAGE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS AND VOTE FOR MY LOOK!!! I WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER!!

THANK YOU!! xx

Photography © jmgcreative &  Lucie Kerley

01.07.12 :: #PhotoDiary A Sunday In A Million, Cats. Friends. Fields. Heather Tait. Photography. Hasselblad. Polaroids & @FrostandSnow Meringues.

Meet Patricia. My good friend and fabulous Photographer Heather Tait’s new kitten.

A whole box of JOY! It was so exciting to go to Heather’s and get her Hasselblad’s out and then finding three unexposed Polaroids left in the Hasselblad! 

We took to the garden and made the most of the beautiful summer sunlight and her gorgeous Medium Format film camera. 

These are the three Polaroids that Heather took of me wearing my new Topshop Khaki coloured Casual Military Shirt, £36.

We then headed off in the car to a nearby farmer’s field to shoot some more portraits using her Hasselblad. Alternating between some 120 B/W and Colour film that will be sent off to Peter Gaffney’s metro colour lab in Birmingham for processing. Heather also took her Nikon D3 DSLR and experimented with the flashes of sunlight that kept trying to peek through the cloud-heavy sky.

I love the texture and depth of Heather’s work. 

She also has the CUTEST little boys!

Meringue Time!!!!

Everybody tuck-in!!

After spending a wonderful day at Heather’s, I then nipped over to see my good friend Joe Mitchelmore @MadeByOthers & @mrchrisdesouze (aka @studiobonito) and was just in time for dessert! (How convenient!)

I also got to meet the fabulous gastronomic genius that is Sarah Frost of @FrostandSnow Birmingham Bakery Fame! WHAT A WOMAN!

Sarah had whipped up some homemade meringues dusted with cocoa, and filled some rather delectable Anthropologie bowls * Bowl Envy * full of pick and mix-esq toppings such as:

• White Chocolate Cream
• Dark Chocolate, Cinnamon and Creme Fraiche Dip
• Fresh Raspberries
• Pistachios
• Toasted Coconut
• Mascarpone with Passion Fruit and Mango pulp

Frost and Snow is a Social Enterprise Bakery in Birmingham that creates job opportunities for previously homeless people. They also cater for Weddings and Parties…

I know who I’ll be calling when the time eventually comes…

Photography © Heather Tait and Lucie Kerley

#WhatIWore 28.06.12 :: Hot & Humid @Topshop Nudes, Boyfriend Blazer, @Reiss Brewer Bag, @PepeJeans and a bit of @DaveGorman

Ooops… Forgot to post this on Thursday…

“OH BOY!!! It’s humid today! Icky sticky England. I wanted to wear my Cream Topshop Cap Sleeve Flippy Tunic, but it’s just too hot to wear it in this weather, it being so tight and all that jazz… So I eventually opted for a pair (my favourite at the minute) of Pepe Jeans Boyfriend cut, rolled up - for a bit of air - around my ankles, a cropped white sleeveless top with nude/ peachy pearl detailing and my Topshop Snake Court Shoes to Jazz it up for a night at the Theatre (Warwick Arts Centre) with @jmgcreative, to watch @DaveGorman’s Power Point Presentation.

I’m taking my Reiss, indigo and tan, BREWER Bamboo Tassel Bag and a lightweight silky cream Topshop Boyfriend Blazer Jacket to throw on over the top… should it ever cool down out there!

Smart Summer Casual. Well… an attempt anyway.”

* Dave Gorman’s PowerPoint Presentation WAS AMAZING! I thoroughly recommend that you go and see him for yourselves! It was such a hot day… I was glad I opted for a crop top…

Photography © Lucie Kerley

28.05.12 :: A little bit of analog photography, sunshine yellow summer dresses and Lashtastic lashes

This weekend I was working away in the beautiful and ever-so-sunny County of Herefordshire. I packed light, taking mainly floaty cotton maxi dresses and this little yellow floral racerback sun dress from last year, which was dirt cheap from H&M, with my Leopard Surf Rider Sunglasses, £16 from Urban Outfitters and metallic sandals.

Photo: © jmgcreative

Meanwhile, this morning back at home in Leicestershire, the Postman delivered me the pack of 10 Fuji Provia Slide films won on ebay for just £30 all the way from Thailand. My heart LEAPT with joy as I undid the package and anticipated the moment I popped the film into my Mamiya and got creative - analog style! I’m working on an exciting Documentary Fashion Project at the moment and hope to use a combination of my Canon 5D MKII, JMG’s Canon 550D and my Mamiya C330 Medium Format camera. Nice!

Also today, with just 9 sleeps left until our Summer Holiday and a pretty busy Bank Holiday Weekend leading up to it - a night out with the girls, a wedding and a family party to name but a few…  I decided to try out Lashtastic individual lashes. 

They took around an hour and a half for beautician Claire to apply, and cost £60. You can choose which length lashes you’d prefer. I had the extra long, long and medium as my lashes are longish but have no curl to them…

They are said to last between 2 and 4 weeks depending on how well you look after them. I’m just hoping they’ll still be in place for my holiday so that I don’t look like a newborn baby mouse in the sun without eye makeup on!

I’m very happy with the results and found that even without mascara, which I usually pile on in abundance, my lashes looked accentuated and eyes looked better.

Photography © Lucie Kerley

20.05.12 :: The Stylist’s Subliminal Art of Persuasion. My new @Topshop Cap Sleeve Flippy Tunic, @Warestyle Gold Foil Print Cardi, & @tightsplease @redordeadlondon Ingie Patterned Tights.

After watching the Model’s strut their stuff in the latest Highstreet fashion’s yesterday, I was gagging to go and shop!

This look in particular worn by the gorgeous Rada (I hope I’ve spelt that right…) had me dashing into Warehouse and Topshop looking for the pieces necessary to recreate the look!

Here’s how I put together my own version of Stylist Anna Moor’s Summer Party look:

Cap Sleeve Flippy Tunic, Cream. £20, Topshop. 

This ‘Cap Sleeve Flippy Tunic’ cream cotton dress from Topshop is so cute! I tried it on and knew it had to be mine! I think a waist belt would look great too! It also comes in Grey and Black.

Gold Foil Print Cardigan, £50, Warehouse.

Red or Dead, Ingie Patterned Grey Tights, £12.49 now £9.99 Tights Please. 

\

And finally…

I now own a pair of Nude GATOR Snake Heel Court Shoes, £50 from Topshop.

They look like a rather sensible shoe… which is unusual for me.) One of my BFF’s, Melly, bought them the other week and I experienced proper shoe envy, and when Stylist Anna Moor told me that everyone should have a good pair of nude shoes… I was sold!

Hook, Line and Snake Skin Heel…

I’ve been wearing them around to house today to get the feel for them. I looked like one of those Desperate Housewives. I don’t wear heels everyday, but I found these great to walk erm… I mean… hoover in.

Photography: © Lucie Kerley

16.05.12 :: All Jazzed Out

Phew! I am exhausted! A full day working at the office and then off to an impromptu Jazz Concert @lincdrillhall Cafe Bar. It was FREE and FABULOUS. My frolleague (friend + colleague) @KayOgilvie and I had a wail of an evening and were truly amazed that cultural performances like this were being offered for FREE in Lincoln and why not!

It was a superb evening sat watching some lovely Jazz at the gorgeous Lincoln Drill Hall, a venue I had never been to before and listening to the melodic sounds of the Edwards & Dearden Jazz Quartet, as part of Lincoln’s BIG’s city wide Jazz Week 2012.

Yorkshire vocalist Julie Edwards’ voice is filled the room in a very beautiful way! #SwingingJazz I especially LOVED it when she covered “The Snake” by Al Wilson. One of my FAVOURITE uni night out songs. 

A thoroughly wonderful evening!

Today I decided to pair my @LamaPeach boots with a handmade floral ditsy print tunic dress made by Typographer @solearysmith’s amazing mum Eileen, a little tan waist belt, grey floaty blouse and acid wash charcoal grey leggings both from Primark, a Charcoal grey body top and my Lama Peach Paige Summer Ankle boots with my long Topshop Gold Spike Pendant necklace, Tatty Devine Retro Red Swallow Earrings and my Swagga and Soul Daisy Leather Biker Jacket.

Good night all! x

Photography: © Lucie Kerley

15.05.12 :: Ding Dong Hello Lincoln! My @COSstores Striped Tee, @Matalan old Glitzy Midi Skirt & @LamaPeach Paige Boots look inspired by @refinery29 (I LOVE YOU GUYS!)

So everyday I get a few cool little bite-sized fashion and beauty titbits from the guys @refinery29. I always make time to check out their latest DIY fashion tips, or to ponder over their glorious ‘how-to-wear-it’ style articles that they write so well! I’m not even sure how I stumbled across their site… but I’m bloody glad that I did! Refinery29 is should be every good and bad girls go-to guide for the very best accessible fashion and beauty features without all that sugary sweetness that people sometimes pile on top to make an average article edible. Excuse the food pun, but that’s often how it is.

So anyway… the ballsy gals at Refinery29 like to do things a little differently. Their articles are slightly ‘edgier’ - for want of a better word. They cut out the crap. They write for the likes of you and me that want to know how it is, and more importantly, how to achieve it.

So yesterday, said email pops up in my inbox and their Hot Fashion Story for the day was all about jazzing up your old striped t-shirts in new and interesting ways… see it here: 6 Brilliant Ways To Dress Up A Striped Shirt.

I saw their slideshow and was greatly inspired by the ‘Add A Glitzy Skirt’ idea. So last night I went bed dreaming of what my OOTD (Outfit of the Day) for today was going to be to fit in with the ‘re-inventing’ the striped tee theme.

I wore my old striped navy blue and nude colour horizontal striped flared bottom tee from the Cos Store in Bullring, which I bought in the sale for about £15 last year after being introduced to the brand by my great friend Joe Mitchelmore aka @MadeByOthers. When I first entered a Cos store I was pretty in awe of the sleek store layout and you could say a little bit intimidated by it - in equal measures - up there on the glamourous, somewhat, elusive third floor of the Bullring Shopping Centre.

I thought it was going to be mega mega pricey. I was wrong. Think of Cos as a cut above the likes of H&M (of which the brand is associated) and a little bit like a posher Zara and you get my idea. It is high street fashion for those looking for that ‘something else’. Beautifully tailored and very well-made, lovely fabrics and sensibly priced. It’s fashion for the Twenty-somethings and up! I love it.

I had bought my Cos Tee a good while back, (last year I think?) on a whim, visiting Birmingham for a film screening and meeting Joe for chinese. It was a hot day and I’d been travelling about a bit so wanted to freshen up. And so splurged on a £15 tshirt and et voila! Felt so much better about myself.

I have worn the Tshirt a handful of times since, with tailored trousers, skinny jeans and denim shorts, but never with a skirt. It was time for a change. I dug it out of my wardrobe, gave it a good iron, and rooted around for the old Matalan Papaya Dark Navy Midi Skirt with a glitzy silver stripe through it (A skirt that must be a good 8 years old or more…) and decided that today I was going to marry them together… cinched in at the waist, of course, with a skinny tan leather belt.

Because the weather was said to be a little temperamental in Lincoln today, I decided a pair of Navy tights would do the trick and also my Lama Peach *Paige Boots to hop over puddles. (*Just to see if, yet again, they’d go with another completely different outfit ensemble and they DID! HAPPY! HAPPY!)

I finished the look off with a short pearl necklace and a slick of Dior Addict Firework Red Lipstick.

I’m working in Lincoln for the next couple of days. It’s such a mega commute from my house, about 2 hours in the car and around 2 1/2 hours by train - so sometimes a 5 hour round commute! However, tonight to cut out the horrid travelling, my bed for the evening is at the divine, newly restored, Old Palace Hotel in Lincoln. We got a great deal as we’d booked months ago before the renovation work was even finished and the first guests had even slept in their beds! The hotel is situated right next to the glorious Lincoln Cathedral and our rooms are ensuite with a lovely bathroom and we get a fry up in the morning - what more could a girl ask for? So, for the next few mornings, it won’t be the pigeons coo-ing above my window at home that I’m woken up by - it’ll be the bells ding-a-linging in the Cathedral!

Nice.

Sweetdreams!

Photography: ©Lucie Kerley

14.05.12 :: Step-By-Step Photos of My First Time Baking Red Velvet Cupcakes

I’ve just followed the Joy Of Baking Red Velvet Cupcakes Recipe and was pretty pleased with the results!

Mmmm! Want to see how I made them?

Check out my step-by-step photos below:

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14.05.12 :: When I tried the Racer Front Vest look inspired by @afterDRK

A simple @HM charcoal grey vest worn backwards a la @afterDRK with my @TheHulot Prussia Tan Leather Satchel, my @SwaggaandSoul Daisy Leather Biker Jacket and @LamaPeach Paige boots from @YBDfashion. Check Shirt, Wooden Tribal style faux-ear tunnel and my Leather & gold cuff are from @Topshop. The red paisley scarf is vintage, a gift off my nana. Make-up-wise: I opted for Boots 17 natural dark brown eyeshadow and Urban Decay Glide-on eyeliner pencil in ‘Stash’ for a smokey eye look, and a couple of coats of Dior Diorshow Extase Mascara in Black. 

I’ve been working from home all day today so I thought I would give this Racer Front look a go without the risk of anyone apart from my boyfriend thinking I’m a twonk and have gotten dressed half asleep… basically by turning what is meant to be a Racer Back vest the wrong way round… Da da! I saw this look worn by the beautiful @afterDRK on her fab blog, read it here: BACK TO FRONT | @afterDRK and wanted to see how it felt… 

I thought it looked quite cool but JMG was a little wary of my chest falling out of the sides… Which is fair enough. Ideal for those of you with pert little breasts like Kate Moss… However if you’ve an ample bosom you have to be a bit careful of any accidental side-boob appearances… Either that or choose a vest with a slightly tighter in fit.

Photos: © Lucie Kerley