Florals Finale

Following my Everything's Rosy Post this is the finale for the Floral Trend. I've covered the Runways in Trend of the Week, Who's Wearing It, Highstreet Style, Accessories, The gorgeous girls from The Saturdays in Steal Her Style and ONE X5. I've rocked the Floral Trend and will continue to do so over the course of the Summer and even into Autumn Winter 2011 as Winter Florals have graced the catwalks and are set to be a strong trend for the coming seasons. Stay tuned once I'm done with the Spring Summer Trends and I will focus on Autumn Winter with a few little stops in between for anything that I feel might be of interest.

I've rocked Florals in a Boho Look, A fab Paisley Printed River Island Jacket with cute little ditsy print flowers. Have you rocked Florals yet?

Everything's Rosy

As part of my Florals Trend I have really wanted to share these pictures from Cosmo Uk. The Floral Fantasy pictorial "Everything's Rosy" was in the March 2011 issue of Cosmopolitain Uk Magazine and from the moment I laid eyes on it way back in FebruaryI was sure that I wanted to feature it here as a Blog post for those of you who may not have seen the mag or the pictures. There is something very Ethereal and just so stunningly beautiful, girly and innocent about the photos taken by Margaretha Olschewski. I am completely in awe of the genius behind the camera and of the gorgeous fashion by Sairey Stemp, the fashion editor of Cosmo Uk, which makes these models and the dresses they are wearing completely in tune with the surroundings. I am so inspired by this pictorial, everything from the sheer natural beauty of the models, Erin and Charlbi,  to the makeup and styling. With clothes from D&G (some more shown here), Monsoon, Jigsaw, Mulberry, River Island, Asos Salon, Guess by Marciano, H&M, Littlewoods and Paul & Joe and accessories from Cornelia James, Johnny loves Rosie and Johnathon Aston. I now want to go out and buy floral clothes, plant flowers in my garden and wear flowers in my hair. For your enjoyment....

 

Did anyone else see this Pictorial and find inspiration? Is there other Pictorials that have inspired you? I would love to know if there was something that stood out for you and remained in your mind as something special. What is your inspiration?

Celebrate Collaborations

Fashionista Twins Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen are the ladies behind this weeks second Collaboration to be celebrated and excited about.

The lovely ladies with their Fashion Child The Row have joined forces with TOMS, the One for One charitable shoe brand, who match every one pair of shoes purchased with another pair of shoes given to a child in need. Such a fab idea, especially considering The Row is a luxury apparel and accessories brand and may be unaffordable to many. The capsule collection of TOMS signature espadrilles have had Mary Kate and Ashley's style spin these basic shoes, with a good cause, into something special and sooo fashion forward, with a good cause. The espadrilles are made using Italian-sourced wool, cashmere and leather and feature a mix of plaid and herringbone so are definitely more lust worthy and Seasonal for Autumn Winter than the cotton, linen espadrilles that we have seen thus far. And sticking with the ethos of the TOMS brand, for every one sold, one will be given. "We feel it's really important to spread awareness of the TOMS One for One mission," says Ashley Olsen. Together, Toms and The Row customers will have the ability to give back and create change with a single purchase." One step, that's all it really takes. Change in this world is possible if every person just does their bit, takes the step that they can take and little by little change can be created. Making the difference to one person in their life. One little child who is given a pair of shoes will create change in their life beyond anything that any of us can comprehend. I believe that to change the thought process of one child can enable that child to grow and prosper. Positivity and encouragement and just a little help creates the chance to change the world, one little person at a time.
"The giving is so immediate and transparent," explains Mary-Kate Olsen. "Having the opportunity to be a part of something so meaningful has made the collaboration with Toms so special to everyone at The Row.

This is possibly the greatest excuse EVER for expanding my shoe collection, any excuse possible is generally the way but now I can actually be helping someone and be guilt free. I may have to purchase more than one pair...all in the name of a good cause.

Celebrate Collaborations

I'm a sucker for any type of designer highstreet/affordable collaborations so I was Uber excited to see the latest news in the fashion world where collaborations are concerned. Doing my usual fashion news rounds I came across this headline. Karl Lagerfeld for Macy's!

The Designer superstar is creating a capsule collection which will be available from August 31 and can be purchased for as little as $50, which works out about E35. Considering Chanel and Karl's regular creations are pretty much completely unaffordable for most, this is a delight to see. This is not the first collaboration for Mr. Lagerfeld who has already teamed up with the highstreet favourite with designers H&M, Hogan, Diesel, Magnum and recently the Karl Lagerfeld Coca Cola bottles. Karl said to Vogue, "The collaboration is a kind of test how to do this kind of clothes in that price range. As you know, I love occasional co-branding."  "Macy's is the perfect department store in the US, where everybody can find what they're looking for without ruining their budget."

According to Vogue the line will be made up of 45 limited edition pieces. Tweed, Printed t-shirts and some of what Karl Lagerfeld does best, the Statement Jacket, will all play a part in the collection as well as various styles of dresses such as "the soft and feminine to the more sculpted and tuxedo-based".
"There's a contemporary spin on his signature aesthetic, with versatile, easy-to-wear pieces with a modern twist," said Macy's group vice president and fashion director, Nicole Fischelis. "His passion and creative genius are deeply reflected in this collection, highlighting his ever evolving perspective to the fashion customer."

I don't know about the above sketch, to me it looks a little like a school uniform crossed with your bank manager's work suit but one person's inspiration doesn't always translate through paper to others. I am incredibly excited to see what he comes up with and to see the capsule collection in it's entirety. Whether I will be looking to possibly purchase or not, is yet to be seen. Curiosity will definitely be causing anticipation for me. Tomorrow The Olsen twins and The Row collaborate with TOMS...

ONE X 5

For my ONE X 5 for the Floral trend it took me a couple of days to actually decide which piece to work with. There are so many fabulous pieces out there that I really couldn't make up my mind. Should I go floral dress, playsuit or jumpsuit, a pair of palazzo pants or a jacket. I have after much deliberation decided to go with this gorgeous Pixie Lott for Lipsy playsuit. The outfits may seem like alot of the same but at the end of the day it is a playsuit so it is slightly harder to mix up. However I think that I have shown the range of outfits and looks that can be achieved with this fab little piece. When it comes to clothes you have to get your money worth and I think that if you can get those 5 separate looks out of the one piece, then your purchase would have been worth it.

So here are my outfits.

Bikini Victoria Secret, Sandals Aldo, Bag Juicy Couture at Asos,Sunglasses
River Island, Bracelet Miss Selfridge, Mac Lip Conditioner,Clarins SPF,
Maybelline Falsies Waterproof Mascara, Towel Calypso St. Barth

Kimono Asos, Sandals River Island,
Bag Topshop,
Jewellery House of Harlow 1960

Jacket and Bag Topshop,
Shoes and Ring Asos,
Necklace Belle Noel

For this outfit I wanted to change it up slightly. As a fashionista you have to think outside the box at times and not take everything so literally. I have seen one of my favourite bloggers Fashionnerdic chop and change outfits for so long from wearing dresses as tops and tops as dresses and everything in between so this outfit was slightly inspired by her. There is no reason why this fab little playsuit can't be altered slightly in it's purpose and worn as a top under a flowing pleated skirt. The playsuit is small enough to not create too much additional bunching on the tummy area and with the skirt being so lovely and flowy it will skim right over any volume created by the playsuit. From occasion you do need to power blazer it and this outfit can do just that for the perfect Power Blazer Brunch.

Blazer and Skirt Asos, Shoes Aldo,
Clutch Zara, Sunglasses River Island,
Watch Michael Kors, Ring House of Harlow

Jacket Miss Selfridge, Boots, Sunglasses and Ring Asos,
House of Harlow 1960,
Perfume Reb'l Fleur by Rihanna

Everything I use for my ONE X 5 are pretty accessible to everyone. As you can probably tell House of Harlow 1960 is one of my favourite jewellery lines and can be bought from quite a few different online sources such as Asos, Revolve, Charm and chain and the Trend boutique to name but a few. For those of you from Ireland it is now available from the Design Centre in the Powerscourt Centre in Dublin. I haven't been in to see their selection as I am in fear of how much the price will be increased just to be sold in Ireland. I will be doing a Obcessed feature very soon which will talk a little about my favourite designers, design houses and fashion lines of different varieties. And I will most definitely be foucusing on House of Harlow 1960 for one of the posts. I hope you like my outfits.

Sunday Samples My Spicy Gambas Prawns with Lemon Yoghurt Sauce and Rice

We grew up spending all our summers in West Cork where we were a stones throw away from the sea. Being this close to free sea food and fish we always availed of all the we could get. Going out on my Granddad's boat to catch fresh Mackerel, trawling through the low tides to catch ourselves some flatfish and going on searches for Mussels, clams and periwinkles started my love for all sea food and through the years my love has grown. This method is literally a throw everything in a pot and hope for something delicious. The first time I tried it I was trying to recreate a dish that I love from an Istanbul restaurant in a local food court, which is divine but is made with kebab meat, which isn't the best for you. The sauce however is gorgeous so I wanted to make something like it myself. I couldn't believe it when I tasted the final product, not really like the Istanbul place but oh so yummy.

You will need
2 Gambas Prawns Per Person
An Onion
2 Large Cloves of Garlic
Fresh chilli's, amount depending on personal taste ( We like it HOTTT so we use a full Scotch Bonnet Chili)
5 Heaped Tablespoons of Greek Yogurt (You can use low fat yogurt if you want, I just prefer the taste of Greek Yogurt)
A lemon/lime
A tin of chopped Tomatoes
A Tablespoon of Tomato Puree
Spices

Chop your onion, garlic and chili

Amazing Gambas Prawns which need to have the shells removed

Tin of Chopped Tomatoes

Your Spices needed

Place your onions, garlic and chili
in blender with Tomatoes

Add the spoon of tomato puree

Once blended place in hot pan and allow to simmer

Take your prawns, slice down the center by the black vein and wash out

Place washed prawns in tomato sauce and allow to cook
for a couple of minutes on a low heat

Prawns are ready to be turned over when they start to lose
the translucent look and curl inwards

This is what they look like once they are cooked

 Prawns are delicious when cooked properly. They should only need about 3/4 minutes either side. When they are over cooked they can taste quite rubbery.

Take your Greek yogurt

Add the juice of a lemon

 Place the yogurt, lemon and some fresh parsley or coriander leaf all in the blender and mix together

Place a cup of rice on your plate add your prawn sauce and serve with some sliced lettuce. Pour your yogurt sauce over the top and Enjoy!

Kardashians, All about the Kolor

One of the latest Kadashian ventures has hit the market. Something that as a huge lover of all things Kstyle I was definitely anticipating. The Kardashians collaboration with Nicole for OPI was launched yesterday by Khloe and Kourtney in New York.

I talked a little before about how much these girls inspire me and I genuinely watch out for whatever they do so this is definitely something I was looking forward to having a sneak peek at. The collection which will be available for the holiday season this year has 14 colours and is inspired by all the women in the family.

From Left: Rainbow in the S-Kylie, My Empire.. My Rules,
Follow me on Glitter and Hard Kourt Fashionista

Sealed with a Kris, Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi , All Kendall-ed Up,
Wear something Spar-Kylie and Kim-pletely in Love

Listen to your Momager, Kendall on the Katwalk, Disco Dolls,
Khloe had a little Lam-Lam, It's All About The Glam

I like it, I'm not overwhelmed or will I be queuing up like a crazy person for it. It's very christmassy or something. I would have preferred a more relative to their style collection. With Khloe's favourite colour being purple and Lamar being a Laker I thought there would be at least one purple. I also thought there would be more nude colours. However I love the All Kendall-ed Up and Kim-pletely in Love, which is a gorgeous shade. The white too is different for a collection of polishes but I've seen Kim wearing this shade on many occasions. So what do you think of this Kollection? Krazy about it or just plain Krazy?