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

18.05.12 :: Ooh la la! #todayimwearing my darling #Elizabeth @redordeadlondon @TightsPlease Vintage Floral Pattern Backseam Tights #Photos

Today was BUSY to say the least! I’ve been up and down the country with the lovely @gemmasly from @RBH_Agency to visit the @OracleReading shopping centre.. the drive alone from The Midlands is tiring even as a passenger… urgh. Our task today was to take photos for the @SupercutsUK #StyleHunter campaign. We needed to find shots of people with inspirational hair do’s and after legging it around the shopping centre for a good few hours I think we did it! The hair style gallery of my photographs will be up on the SupercutsUK Facebook, www.goodlookscostless.co.ukBlog and also their Flickr page soon… Check out some of my work for their previous Style Hunter galleries too!

We shot around 45-ish portraits today for the Style Hunter task with a short break for a much needed re-fuel @JamiesItalianUK. My RBH Glamourous assistant Gem had a very tasty pasta dish whilst I opted for Jamie’s chilli and tomato bruschetta with a side of crispy chilli squid! Gorgeous! We also shared a bowl of Polenta chips… which were… erm… interesting? Like little chips made out of squares of cous cous-esq material (Polenta).

And so… because I knew that we were going to be running around all day and taking photos sans tripod! I decided that I needed to wear something that I would be cool and comfortable in, free to move around and chase people up escalators, etc.

I opted for a pair of last-year’s @Topshop denim high-waisted hot pants with blue stitched embroidery detail, a simple black Primark body top with low rise back, my Schuh Cabe Leopard Print Lace-up Flatforms from @schuhshoes and my little Turquoise Zip Closure Messenger Handbag, a snip at just £10 from @Mango @Highcross.

Which has just enough space for my iPhone, Keys, Purse and some chewing gum (much needed after our v. garlicky  v. tasty Jamie’s Italian lunch…)

At 7:39am I was just about to put on a plain, cheap and nasty (only-pair-that-I-could-find-quickly…) black tights when the doorbell rang… “Oh no!!” I thought - make-up half done. “Gem’s early!!” 

But nope! It was the Special Delivery postman with my Next-Day delivery from the amazing @Tightsplease_PR team with a bundle of tights for me to ‘style’. I was like a kid in a sweetshop trying to decide which ones to try first! I opted for their Exclusive Red or Dead - Elizabeth Tights, which have a gorgeous Vintage-esq Floral pattern detail on the calf and a very sexy back seam running down the 50 Denier Sheer Black Leg… delightful! I read that you can wear the seam either down the front or back, but I opted for the back as I thought it added a little cheeky something to my otherwise rather two-toned outfit.

The Elizabeth tights were great, lots of stretch, but not too much so that you find you have ankles like Nora Batty, they felt quite supportive too… I don’t think this is noted as one of their selling points, but actually I felt that the lycra in them worked a treat for creating a smooth silhouette and perfect pins.

I definitely believe that a good pair of tights can really make an outfit!

They also come in cobalt blue and grey! They are usually priced at £12.99  however for the next few days they have been reduced to £10.39 and they also offer Free UK Delivery. Nice!

13.05.12 :: Taking Back Sunday From The Sickly Girl

I’ve just got back from the first Sunday morning Body Balance class that I’ve been able to go to since being sick. Turns out that a lady in my class has also been off poorly for the past 3 weeks with horrific sinusitis, there must have been a bug going round…

So consequently, I’ve missed a few sessions and oh my… did I know it! I decided to take it a bit easy and not push myself too hard. So after an hour of Downward Facing Dog’s, Forward Folds, Mermaid Twists, Three Legged Dogs, Sun Warrior and Pilates 100’s, etc I am now feeling newly refreshed and ready to take on the world… erm, kind of.

JMG and I have just 23 sleeps left until our holiday in the sun! Two lovely people from my gym class, who it turned out today, know me only as “Pashley Princess” due to my lovely bicycle - what a GREAT nickname - always laugh at my sleeps rather than days countdown method… But I think it makes it more fun and will continue to do it this way until I am old and wrinkly! 

After my short ride home, I plonked my yoga mat, etc on the table and gratefully accepted  a cup of coffee from the fella and settled down to check out my Google Reader Blog Subscriptions - it’s  new thing I’m using to keep up-to-date on the fashion bloggersphere.  I have Flipboard on my iPhone and have a Google Reader feed that feeds my Social Media updates to my Flipboard iPhone app. I wish someone would do a Flipboard for Mac version??  Anyway… that’s the lovely Brit Nason - Disarming Darling that you can see on my screen - her blog is amazing! We’re trying out that new Kenco Millicano as an alternative to the usual ‘instant’ coffee varieties and actually… it s pretty tasty! It still won’t beat a good cup of ‘proper’ coffee with steamed milk et al, but oh well! Needs must!

The kitchen is a humdrum of activity - but I like it!There’s my little seed propagation trays on the window ledges along with some potted fresh Basil and Coriander pots from Sainsbury’s. I’m attempting to not kill grow Cherry Tomato plants, Strawberry Plants, Lobelia, Pansies, Geraniums, Sweet Pea’s and Petunia’s. This is the first time I’ve attempted to ‘Grow-My-Own’ and it’s not easy I tell you!

*Note to self: You’ve got to remember to WATER them daily! 

There’s also a heap of clean washing drying on the ‘maiden’ (as my family like to call them?) Does anyone else know them as this? or ‘clothes horse’ for the majority of you… It’s probably ready to be put away now - I WISH I had a maid!

AND… 

Because it’s a Sunday a roast dinner is obligatory and therefore we have a chicken-licken in the slow cooker - one of our MOST used household appliances! It is absolutely brilliant! I’d recommend it to anybody! When we moved into the flat in Leicester a couple of years ago, JMG’s Grandma gave us the pennies to buy one and we’ve never looked back! It now lives with us in our little house and I’m sure will move around with us for years to come. Our’s is a Cookworks Signature 6.5litre one from Argos and cost £24.99. It has three settings and has a removable ceramic bowl that can be put in the dishwasher too! We put the meat or veg or whatever in it in the morning - go to work and do our day-to-day things and then come home to a yummy, tender, beautifully cooked hot meal! Yippee! We make lots of yummy food in this: Chilli Con Carne, Spag Bol, Stews, Veggie Casseroles, Roast Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken, pie fillings, to name but a few!

Mmm…

Have a lovely Sunday all! x

Photography: © Lucie Kerley