Stand to Attention and Combat Your Fashion Fears

Goodness me I'm a very bad blogger - over two months since I last posted, woops.

And I don't really have any excuse, I mean I've had quite a lot of uni work and have started a part time job but really I've just been slacking.

Anyway, onto the trend I want to talk about - Military Boots. They have been slowly surfacing for a couple of months now and seem to have now established themselves as the footwear of the moment and a major trend. I call them military boots, but they could easily be called combat boots, biker boots or lace-up ankle boots, and are also slightly like doc martens too. Generally I have seen them in black or grey and work best as flat boots, though if you want to work the trend for an evening look, heeled military boots can work well as long as they're paired with the right outfit.

The boots can be paired with skinny jeans for a quick and easy daytime look, but if you really want to work them, you need to get into the rocker/grunge/90s look that I've been banging on about so much. Taylor Momsen works this trend a lot and celebrities such as Momsen have been seen in these flat, lace-up military style boots - below is a picture of Dakota Fanning flaunting a doc marten style pair:

Now, when it comes to buying a pair, they can often be quite expensive because they are usually leather boots, but I have found a reasonably priced pair at chockersshouse.co.uk with a link to the pair I mean here: http://www.chockersshoes.co.uk/category/boots/product/chase/

So military boots are an easy way to give an edgy, hard look to your outfit and I advise you to invest now before this trend makes a strategic exit from the war that is the world of fashion.

Hopefully it won't be so long until my next post...


Elvie xxx

In for the Longchamp

I've been living in London for just over a year now and ever since I've been regularly travelling on the tube and just wandering around town in general, I have been noticing women carrying a particular bag.


The bag in question is a canvas tote bag with a brown leather flap and handles, and a zip to fasten the bag which seems to extend a bit longer than the bag itself across the top. And I would guess I've seen it carried by at least 20% of women I have seen in London - no joke (though I'm not great at estimating amounts so take that with a pinch of salt...), but anyway - A LOT of women. It's quite a nice simple and elegant bag but I've found myself to be a victim of trend-itis - I want one even though if I'd only seen one women carrying it I wouldn't have taken a second glance. But because so many women, and they are usually of the sophisticated, cool, London type, carry one I have become very envious and want one myself, just so I can be like them.


Anyway, because the bag doesn't have any obvious logo on it, and I haven't been close enough to one to really have a look for some sort of identification (that would go a little too far even for me - in London you are supposed to act completely nonchalant towards the people you travel with and see on the street so staring at someone's bag intently would look a little weird) AND I've been too much of a coward to approach someone and ask where their bag is from, the bag's identity and where it is from has remained a mystery to me. Until today that is - I finally decided to try and search for it online and after about five minutes of typing various combinations of: "london women canvas tote bag leather handles and flap" into Google, I finally discovered the bag in question is a Longchamp bag.

More specifically it is 'Le Pliage' bag and you can get it in a range of colours at http://www.longchamp.com/gb/home-e-shopping-10218.html or go to www.longchamp.com and click on your correct country if you're not in the UK. It is around £63 which I would never pay for a bag, but considering it is an actual 'designer bag' then it's pretty reasonable. I'm not sure I will actually buy it but I may look for one on ebay or somewhere, or perhaps look for a copycat from a cheaper store, but I'll let you know if I find anything.


So there you have it, the 'Le Pliage' Longchamp bag - every London woman's go-to bag for style and simplicity, it's not really a cutting edge trend, I think women have been carrying them for years now, but it's definitely a prominent and prolific trend in any case.


Until next time,


Elvie xxx

Summer Pastels and the Romance Invasion

Big apologies for the lack of blogging but as it was the Chrissy period I went home to Dorset and was busy with relatives and winter walks and the sort. But anyway, hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year and I'm back to bore you with my musings!


I thought I'd start with a vague prediction for spring/summer 2010, or as the comedian Peter Serafinowicz (who I follow on twitter - twitter.com/serafinowicz) would say '2KX' which I quite like, anyway back to the point - after gazing into my crystal ball I have found that pastels are gonna be big. Although don't hold me to that...


Basically from looking at a few high street stores new collections, it looks like pastels - mainly in the pink/beige variety, are going to be the colour of choice for summer, paired with studs again and with lots of florals. This lovely tutu style skirt would be a really good staple to see you through the summer, it's from New Look and can be bought here: http://tinyurl.com/y9cw8sw.

OK - I'm afraid I started this post a while ago (a couple of weeks) and saved it to finish at a later date and so now, since starting this post, I have seen this trend go crazy! It's now in nearly every high street shop and on sites like asos, take a look at some of these pieces from their recent newsletters:

And look in any women's clothes shop and they'll have a section on this trend (well definitely New Look and Topshop anyway).

Also I think I'll have to adjust what I have said previously - it's not a trend prediction for Spring/Summer it's a trend for now! As I speak I'm wearing a pale pink jumper, or 'sweater' if you're American, with a pink and grey floral scarf both from Topshop - thanks to a gift card I got for Christmas from an aunt (though I spent more than was actually on it in the end woops!). You can find them on Topshop's site here: http://tinyurl.com/y9mlm6l (sweater) http://tinyurl.com/ybvw9hy (scarf)

So pastels, pinks, florals and whites are BIG right now - just think romantic, Parisian, spring days and floaty flowers. I did hint on twitter (follow @sheaimstofollow !) that I'd be writing about velvet but that seemed to be a very small trend that just fell by the way-side a month or two ago so the pastel/pink/floral trend has taken my attention instead - maybe velvet was only good for the festive period and now that's over everyone's looking towards spring with lighter fabrics and colours?!

Anyway I'm basically just repeating myself by banging on about pinks and pastels so I'll love you and leave you - hopefully there won't be such a big gap between posts next time...

Elvie xxx

A Little Husky for You

Just a small post because I've found a nice 'Husky' jacket on asos.com after trawling around some websites. I re-ignited my search after a girl walked in wearing one in a lecture today. It made me so smug to know I had written about it as a trend previously and then I was seeing it in reality (not that I think I influenced her - of course she hasn't read this blog - no one has...! )

Anyway, it made me wonder where she had got it from, though it looked a little 'vintage' i.e. maybe from a charity shop or somewhere, as it had a nice plaid lining to it that made it look like a proper husky, horse-rider jacket, so in other words I doubted I'd be able to find one in a high street shop, and I'm far too pathetic to have gone up and asked her where it was from like any confident person would have obviously. However I thought I'd look online to see if any stores had picked up on the trend, and of course only the lovely asos had: http://tinyurl.com/ylaxqw2

There seem to be loads of options for men on their site too - maybe it's more of a male trend?!

Anyway enjoy

Elvie xxx

Tweet Tweet

Just thought I'd say, if anyone in the slightest is reading, you can follow my musings, or ramblings on Twitter at http://twitter.com/sheaimstofollow

Elvie xxx

High Buns and Huskies

Bonsoir web world.

I thought I'd talk about the 'private school girl' look that is always on the peripheral of fashion trends.

It's a tricky thing, because in one way I despise private school girls and really want to slap them sometimes, but actually it's probably just jealousy as ultimately I wish I had gone to private school - doesn't everyone want to, deep down, come from a rich family, go to the best schools and then go to Cambridge or Oxford?? I hate myself for saying it but it's probably true in my case.

So the typical look of a private pupil comes with the same mixed feelings - I think it looks pompous and haughty but really I wish I could pull it off, though that then poses another problem - if I did pull off the look I would be pretending to be something I'm not and putting out a snobby image perhaps... I don't know, I think about these things far too much probably!

Anyway... basically I've noticed a couple of micro-trends that seem to be in this preppy vein: very high buns and husky jackets. 

I've noticed the buns more really, it seems to be the way to wear your hair at the moment and definitely has the 'model' look about it. Basically it's just a simple twisted bun almost right on top of the head but not done too tightly so the hair looks a little loose and has a few wisps of hair flayling (I may have made that word up) around. BUT the bun itself is not a big messy one - it's tight, neat and concise, it's the rest of the hair that can be a bit messy. Again this is just a trend I've noticed on the streets of Landan and not so much on celebs so I can't prove it with celeb power I'm afraid. And also I would take a picture of myself wearing one but it really doesn't suit me because I have a side fringe (a grown out front fringe) which is too short so always falls down and this look only seems to look good with all the hair pulled back into the bun.

Now husky jackets. I only actually recently found out what they were called, but have been noticing these quilted, usually navy, jackets on people at the same time as the bun hairstyle. It seems it's a jacket you can only wear if you are confident in your style because otherwise you'd probably look like you were impersonating the Duchess of Cornwall or some other horsey middle-aged woman (like Jennifer Saunder's character in Jam and Jerusalem - comprendez??) because it is a very strong staple of the privately-educated wadrobe. Once again no celeb pictures but I'll post the best example of one of these jackets on here, though it's not a great one I'm afraid, I've seen much better on girls I've passed on the street, but hey-ho, here we go ^ (see above)

 Also, just thought I'd show you my new boots from River Island that I luh-uh-uve, and were £35 which is reasonable for RI really, and they are flat ankle boots with a bit of studding - what more could you want?! YUM.

Elvie xxx

PS I think things have changed around on here so I can't have the same font colour which is annoying for miss meticulous here, but nevermind...

Jump into warm festive sparkles

Wow it's been a whole two months since my last post - I am slacking. But I have a sort of excuse - I'm back at uni in London so my schedule consists of more than just lie-ins, watching tv and cruising the interweb now - lectures appear somewhere in the midst as well...


Anyway I thought I'd talk about the jumper with embellishment (mostly in the form of sequins) trend that is emerging. I first noticed it a couple of months ago when I saw one in H&M but unfortunately I was only idling some time away until I had to catch a train and didn't have time to try it on and possibly purchase said item - but it was nice anyway, and I regretted not buying it because next time I looked it had already gone and H&M don't sell online either.


Anywho, after this incident I have noticed more and more long, snuggly jumpers (perfect for the nippy weather obv) shrouded in a sequined or some sort of sparkled design, often draping over one shoulder or around the neckline, or in an emblazoned emblem on the front. I can't find any examples of celeb-wearing for this trend really, but I've scoured the shopping sites for some pictures and here we go:





























The left is from asos.com and costs £45 which is a a little steep, but not too bad for a warm jumper that you know will be well made and can also be worn dressed up or down. The right is from dorothyperkins.com and is £10 cheaper than the asos one but maybe not as stylish.


There are loads about in high street shops, so the choice is endless, if only I could have that H&M one though....


Elvie xxx