London - OOTD

This weather is driving me insane. Hot and sunny one day, cloudy and windy, and the rain and humid! I've tried to cooperate with this every changing season by wearing multiple thin layers and black tights that can be taken off if it get too hot to handle. I visited central London today to attend the London College of Fashion open day. 

Today i wore: 

Gold Choker Triangle Necklace - Topshop

Snake Skin Kimono - Topshop

Sheer Black draped Midi Dress - Miss Selfridge

Leather Loafers - Next

After the open day seminar was finished I had a look around South bank for interesting architecture of photos I could take for first hand research for my second year fashion coursework. Near the Oxo building I came across this abandoned warehouse which was hosting a Graduate Theatre Design exhibition.  

Abandoned warehouse hosting the exhibition. For my fashion topic I need to find places that were once beautiful/polished and have been worn away over the years. This was quite possibly one of the best places I could've found. The cracked worn away paint and rush have come out really well on the photos I took. Here are some of my favourite  

Street Artist painting free hand along the South Bank 

June Haul Favourites and New Hair

Here are the main/favourite items of clothing and beauty products i have bought and used during this month. The majority of the clothes i have bought are still being delivered, ready for my trip to Florence with college and then a family holiday late July. Once i receive them next week i'll do a pre-holiday haul and possible a lookbook.

Shoes: Woven leather sandals - Ecouté at Urban Outfitters

Hair dye: 9N light natural blonde precision foam colour - John Frieda 

Magazine: Company

Foundation: Wake me up foundation 100 Ivory - Rimmel London

Eyeliner: Extreme 24hr felt tip liner - Collection 2000

Hair: Sea salt spray - Label. M

Necklace: Gold choker with layered triangle - Topshop

Shorts: Wrangler authentic light demin wash - Asos Marketplace 

As we are going into the summer I thought I'd try a different foundation as my previous 'Rimmel London Stay Matte' did not have any SPF in it. After trying 'Rimmel London wake me up foundation' with SPF 15 i have come to the conclusion that even though it has SPF in it, its too thick and oily for my skin and only lasts a few hours without being reapplied. Even with a powder to set it in place, it does not cover my blemishes as well as i'd hoped it too... however, it does smell nice and my skin feels 'awakened' and fresh when applied early in the morning.


Hair

For a while now I've been contemplating whether to dyeing my hair blonder. over the past few years my hair has gotten darker and has approached a very dark 'dirty' blonde, with natural highlights. To the left is a photo of my hair before I dyed it (completely natural, so I am a newbie to dyeing my hair) I also thought, as its apparently summer I should get into the vibe with some fresh hair. 
Before dyeing my hair I read numerous reviews on whether I should straight bleach my hair or gradually dye my hair with different dyes. Weighing up the positive and negatives I decided to go blonder in stages... so that my hair would be healthier and would hopefully not go an awful shade of orange or green.    

I also looked at reviews on hair dyes. I decided on John Frieda's 'Precision Foam Colour' in colour 9N light natural blonde.

Application of the hair dye was pretty easy, although the instructions did say for short hair i should use 2/3 of the bottle. Now after seeing the end result, I wish i'd used the whole bottle to give my hair a more vibrant colour. 

I like the end result as it hasn't given me a 'flat' colour and I can now determine how much lighter I'd like to go. The shade of colour isn't exactly the colour it said on the box however I like the warm shade a lot. Over the next few days before I head off to florence I think i'd like to go slighter lighter, even if it doesn't keep the warm blonde tones that I have grown to like. 

Overall, i'd recommend John Frieda's 'Precision Foam' if you are new to the hair dyeing situation or want to try something new. Application was easy and mess free, i'm definitely going to be using it again.

Bournemouth

Today i headed off to Bournemouth Art University to look at both BA Fashion Design and BA Costume Design. I can't post any of the student's work on here but I can honestly say it was some of the best graduate work I'd seen for ages. 

Today i wore:

Salmon Pink cropped jacket - American Apparel

Patterned Shirt - Vintage

Highwaisted Leggings - H&M

Converse 

Bag - Rough Trade London

After the open day, me and my dad stopped by Bournemouth beach and stopped by the pier to have an ice cream and a wander. Next week i'm be off to London College of Fashion open day and starting my Fashion A2 coursework so I'll keep you updated with how that goes. 

Only two weeks left of part time college before the summer! All we need is the sun and some warmth and it'll be all set. The pictures below are making me so excited for s-u-m-m-e-r

Falmouth

Yesterday and Tuesday my friend Esme and I travelled six hours from London to visit Falmouth University. As a university mainly focussing on the Arts, it was a great opportunity to see what they had to offer. 

Travelling down mainly consisted of comfortable, warm clothing that reflected our mood of being stuck in a car eating chocolate and reading magazines. Luckily we stopped overnight Tuesday in a hotel near Falmouth, so that we could spruce up before heading off to the university in the morning.

I chose to wear:

 -  Pastel printed Playsuit (worn as top) - Sparkle and Fade for Urban Outfitters

- Black Maxi Skirt - Made by myself (as i can never find any maxi skirts/dresses long enough to fit me!)

- Leather Loafers - Next

- Black Fedora hat - Asos

ootd photos taken by friend: Esme

Unfortunately the weather deteriorated throughout the day, not allowing me to take many photos of the beautiful cobbled seaside streets and festival jubilee flags that were still hanging. However I captured some of the harbour which displayed a number of boats and yachts.

 

Over the next few weeks I will be visiting some more universities, so will keep you updated on what I decide to wear and hopefully the weather will be a lot better!

OOTD: 18/6/12

Monday morning - worst morning of the week. I'm tired, never EVER in the mood for travelling to college and always - every week without fail - leave deciding what i'm going to wear to college until last minute. I usually fall into the same dress code which consists of an oversized shirt or t-shirt, cardigan and my parka or denim jacket. 

Khaki Parka - Topshop
Gold Choker - VintageLight-wash denim shirt - RichardsCut out, flower appliqué cardigan - Vintage
Navy Corduroy Trousers - H&M
Leather Brogues - Next

This has been one of my favourite cardigans for a while now. Donated to me by my mum. I try not to over wear it but when i do i try to team it with plain shirts or t-shirts so that it doesn't distract from the beautiful appliqué/stitching shown above 

Ready, Steady, Bake!

Saturday = baking day. I've finally decided that once a week i'm dedicating a few hours towards baking or cooking as I'll be off to university next year, and i'm nowhere near as prepared to leave home as I should be! 

Today I baked an old favourite, angel cupcakes with pink butter icing... nom nom nom.

OOTD: 15/6/12

  Pump Up The Jam

Leather Headband - Haberdashery

Floral Shirt - Beyond Retro

High-waisted Jeans - Topshop

Converse - Asos Marketplace

Graduate Fashion Week

Graduate Fashion Week, London, took place at Earls Court from Sunday 10th-Wednesday 13th June 2012. As a fashion student at college it was a fantastic opportunity to look at the level of talent graduating from Fashion degrees across the country (and some parts of Europe). 

Due to a (well scheduled) day off college yesterday, i took a trip down there on the last day to have a look at what i could expect from doing a degree in Fashion Design, Fashion Illustration, Photography and much more. 

Below are just a selection of photos i took from the day, some from my favourite collection of the day which included Bournemouth, Leeds, Bath Spa and Westminster.

Throughout the day (and the week), from the 'George' fashion stand, there were a number of activities for current and future students to help with a number of things such as Portfolios and work experience. The highlight for me was the question and answer sessions that took place with a number of well established designers/fashion experts. 

I hung about to listen to Henry Holland talk about how he got into fashion and answer questions on his inspiration, tips and even if he had any lucky underwear! Oh, and i got to have a chat and a photo with him after which made the day a whole load better, what a lovely man.