How to party.... In Pyjamas!

Apologies for my absence from blogging this last week, I have been one Bizzy Lizzy at university tying up my years assignments. But when I have had a spare coffee break I have been reading up on the years trends and taking a keen interest into Spring 2012's most  popular evening trend, The Pyjama Party. Think slouch, silk and prints this season and you'll be well on your way to achieving the Pyjama look. The key is to keep everything loosely fitted and to experiment with colour and pattern. White is big this season but so are pastels so don't be afraid to get adventurous.

H&M have a great range of blazers this season, with their striped blazer at only £24.99 or if you want a silky blazer they still have a pink number on sale at £9.99. Just keep your blazers undone as you don't want to go for the fitted look, it will kill the whole pyjama style you are aiming for.

ASOS have a nice range of blouses including a stripy blouse at £30.00 although I do really like their boyfriend blouse in neon orange priced at £28.00.

American Apparel have a fantastic range of slouchy trousers in various colours. They really do offer the best range at the moment however my second choice would be with Topshop. At American Apparel opt for the 'party pant' and you can be bang on the spring trend by choosing the pants in coral or cream.

As important as it is to get the look right (as with all trends) this trend also needs to be relaxed and appear effortless. Keep accessories to a minimum and pair up with a leather satchel or if you've got extra pennies then a Mulberry Alexa would look perfect with this look.

Brogues are for everyone...

One of my new fashion loves are Brogues! Not so long ago, in fact this time last year I was scared to wear them, I wasn't sure how to pull them off (they made me feel man-ish) and others were also not sure how to wear them neither. However, the more I feared wearing them the more intrigued I became by them and I wanted to know how to pull the style off. I started checking out different girls styles and saw how many different types of outfits they looked fab with. I realized that Brogues can suit all kinda girls, whether your a tomboy or a real girly girl. 

Now Brogues don't all look the same, there's four types of Brogues - Classic, High Heels, Ankle Boots, and Casual plus they come in many different colours. The flat Brogues can be matched with so many outfits. If you like your girly styles the floral dresses look really nice with a pair of Brogues and really do balance out the masculinity of them. The great thing about Brogues is that, unlike many flats, you can wear them with tights or socks and still look fabulous. I have even been adventurous enough to wear some rolled up jeans with different colored socks on (Navy Brogues with red socks are a good mixture and look). For a more boyish look or if you just feel like being casual then cropped jeans look great and also skinny jeans teamed with a t-shirt and blazer. 

Ankle Boots have been big for some time now but the Brogue styles are by far the best. Team them with skinny jeans and a baggy t-shirt (preferably a gimmick one!) for a very casual but cool look. For girls that love their leggings, the Ankle boots and Heeled Brogues are a good match. Just make sure you wear a dress, top or knitwear long enough to cover your ass, sorry I had to get that in, many females are treating leggings like trousers recently, its not a good look when I can see your ass!

Brogues can match all budgets. If you're lucky you can sometimes grab some vintage Etienne Aigner brogues at vintage stores and when I last looked Oxfams online store had some at a reasonable price and in great condition. If you can't get hold of Vintage brogues and want a varied range of colours and styles most reputable high-street shops and online retailers have a wide range of Brogues. TopShop has a really good and varied range which start from £30.00. My best buy has to be Dune's Metallic Shimmer Brogues which are only available online. Grab them while you can though, as they are on sale and currently reduced from £65.00 to £46.00.

Statements Earrings - Not just for Pat Butcher

For a while now necklaces have been the statement point and earrings and studs seem to have been forgotten. But I was so pleased to see that statement earrings have made a huge comeback in many of the spring collections. I just love statement earrings. As a lover of classical styles I do love the elegant petite drop styles but I also love exotic earrings, the more bold and exotic, then of course, the better. I have been searching the online fashion world for some of my favs and found so many fabulous choices, ladies we are absolutely spoilt for choice right now. The ASOS sale is still going on and they have a fabulous choice online and many in the sale.

For a Classic style I really love the Silver Ball Drop Earrings which are currently £4.50 reduced from £12.00. They would look fab with a LBD. I really do love classic styles and I think there is nothing more beautiful and stunning than a woman dressed elegantly. If you choose to match gold with your LBD or dress of choice then ASOS also offer some very similar earrings with the ball in gold. I personally love my bling and I own far more gold accesories than silver (my urban streak coming out). But both are lovely pieces, and I would definitely be stuck for choice with a pair of these in each hand.

For a more exotic look, budget store Peacocks have some great statement earrings on offer. I hope everybody is aware of Peacocks accessory range, it's fab and cheap too! I can always rely on Peacocks when I'm on a budget. I found two sets of irresistible drop earrings which I have ordered as they are Spring/Summer 2012 outfit essentials. As I mentioned I do love my bling and I like to inject gold into my style as much as possible, and with this the circle drop earrings are perfect for so many outfits. You could wear these with so many dresses and I can just vision wearing a Yellow mini dress (Yellow is a big colour for 2012) and some Kurt Geiger Wedge Espadrilles. Fab! These earrings retail at £3.00 and can be ordered online.

If your willing to be daring and slightly eccentric then these tribal earrings from Topshop are for you. They are unique to say the least and you will grab attention with these. Michael Korrs has proved that tribal is here for another season (yay) as he unveiled some very tribal styles in his SS12 collection. These sell at £12.50 and should be available at your nearest Topshop or also online.

I'll be doing another earring review later this week as I have fallen in love with another eccentric new style also available at Topshop.

Post Christmas Skin Blues - Spot treatments & low-cost skincare for combination skin.

Did anybody make the major mistake over Christmas and consume too much alcohol and not enough water? I did! However, my excuse is I was in Spain with family who own a bar, so I had alcohol on tap and when bottles of water had run out, the only option was Spanish tap water, which quite frankly is awful and probably not very good for you!
Now, as much as I would love to re-live my teenage antics I really would not like to re-live the skin disasters I had as a youngster. From the age of 12 up until 15 I suffered from teenage spots as many of us do. I actually teared up most of my mums photos of me from that age (Can you believe my mum had a spotty school photo blown up and sent to every family member!). I probably would have suffered from these dreaded spots a lot longer if it wasn't for the advice of a family friend. Now it's always proved shocking to me that this amazing skin care tip is not widely known about, and reader if you have tried this please let me know. The secret is ......YEAST! Yes, yeast used for making bread, but in tablet form. I was originally told to buy fresh yeast and wash my face with it but I didn't quite fancy that idea so my dear mother went along to the local health store and found me some tablets to take. They are miracle pills for people suffering from spots, and I have purchased a new bottle because I have gained many pimples over the Christmas season. They are natural and good for you and I highly recommend them. Over the years I've advised many people to use them but most have not taken me seriously, if only they did! However, a very vain male friend of mine did take my advice as he was suffering from spots quite bad and he couldn't believe that in weeks his spots had cleared up. You can get yeast tablets from most Health stores but the ones I mostly used were from Holland & Barrett, called Brewers Yeast. If you visit the website you can grab yourself a 500mg bottle for £6.45. I know the awful feeling of being young and suffering from spots so please pass this information on to anyone you know suffering.

If you're like me and suffer from combination skin you might have problems finding a moisturizer to suit your skin. I have tried so many different moisturizers over the years and most (even the expensive brands) would make my skin blotch or itch. My face is so sensitive! But even sensitive moisturizers would irritate me, even Simple! I often get people compliment me on my skin and ask what moisturizer I use. Usually they are spending £15-£30 on a tub of moisturizer and it isn't working. People are shocked when I tell them I use Clean & Clear daily moisturizer. People relate Clean & Clear along with Clearasil to spotty teens. But it really is fab! It makes my skin feel lovely and fresh and it lets me apply my make up smoothly, unlike some moisturizers that make it hard for me to apply my foundation smoothly. It's mega cheap and works well! And hey, wouldn;t you rather use a teenagers cream than one aimed at older people, surely feeling young is an added boost of confidence!

Art Cinema & Fashion

So last night I decided to order some Art Cinema DVD's to add to my collection I already have. As a Media Student I spent much of my second year at university studying Art cinema and became intrigued by it's strange-ness. I have always loved all things weird and different and would definitely choose it over Hollywood films any day. Well, being the impatient female I am I couldn't wait for a particular famous Bertolucci film I had chosen called Last Tango In Paris starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider. Maria plays a young Parisian girl called Jeanne. It was Jeanne's style that got me instantly hooked on this film! So much so that I have made an aim this week to get to my nearest vintage store and try and re-create her look. Jeanne's outfits are most definitely one of my favorite points of this film. I particularly love the first outfit she wears; A beautiful fur white collar coat which I now insist on having. A beautifully designed Fedoro hat with flowers on, which I am going to try and make myself with the plain hat I already have. She also wears a yellow mini dress with a belt around (oh so Parisian).

As this film has inspired a new style for myself I have now ordered a book by former Chanel model Innes De La Fressange called Parisian Chic: A Style Guide. It was realeased in April 2011 so many of you may already have indulged in this read but unfortunately my reads have all been academic for the past two years :(. Anyway, I shall be reviewing upon arrival. 

I have many more films on order and I can't wait to review more outfits, but I doubt any will be better than Jeanne's, I'm in LOVE...LOVE...LOVE!