Scarf hunt with the Caramel Bunny, Nibbles and Giles Deacon

how did i spend my thursday afternoon? well, i spent a few hours yesterday afternoon constantly hitting my refresh button waiting for pop up online boutiques to 'open' on my favourite sites and blogs, so i could virtually queue up for a free scarf. what the hell am i talking about i hear you cry?

the scarf in question (pictured top) is an exclusive design by giles deacon in conjunction with the caramel bunny for a collection (including a polka dot ruched dress, pictured above with the lovely giles) for the launch of cadbury's nibbles. the scarf is only available through online pop up stores that pop up randomly on fantastic fashion sites like asos, msn, handbag.com, mademoiselle robot and bitch buzz on the 29th and 30th October and is completely free and given away on a first come first served basis.

i eventually got mine on on handbag.com (boutique 'front' shown above) after queueing unsuccessfully on asos and msn. even the sites and bloggers are unaware of the time that the nibbles boutique will open on their site, so the only way to discover where the tricksy bunny and her assistants are going next is to follow (very closely) everything she says on facebook! here's handbag.com's explanation of how this fashion-themed treasure hunt works:

it can be a bit frustrating to queue, but it's also a lot of fun and, hey ladies, it's completely FREE! a heads up for today is that 2 of my favourite bloggers Marian and Miggy will each have the bunny and her scarfs on their blogs! this is such a great way to team up the online fashion community and sites and is an inspired social media experiment - she's one clever bunny! good luck getting your scarf today!

Up your VIVA with Alexandra Burke and Junk Food

Here's a post i did for my 'day job' blog for Self Service:

A couple of weeks ago I was invited down to MTV HQ in Camden to watch an exclusive (there were only about 40 people in the audience!) session with Alexandra Burke to coincide with the launch of fab, fun and down-right frivolous music and entertainment channel, VIVA.  Alexandra launched the channel (it's replaced TMF) this week and previewed some of her fantastic songs from her new album, Overcome. My absolute favourite song from her album is 'They Don't Know', a beautiful ballad that she performed on stage with a live band - and my gosh can that girl sing - a-maz-ing!

As well as performing 3 tracks from her album, Alexandra also did a Q+A with the VIVA host, Ricky Haywood-Williams, with questions from the crowd (mine included! I obviously asked about style and fashion!). She was so charming, friendly and honest - here's a quick summary of the Q+A:

Q: What can we expect from your album?

A: I wanted to give you guys something very true - it's very sexy, it's sassy, it's fun, it's BEASTLY!

Q: Flo Rida's on your first single, Bad Boys, who else have you collaborated with on your new album?

A: I've collaborated with Neyo, I've got a duet with him. Which I can now reveal-thank god! I've been keeping that a secret for so long! I haven't met him (Neyo) yet, sorry, I'm gonna keep it real! I record my part, he records his part, Simon Cowell and Neyo speak on the phone, and the contracts done! It's good to have a boss like Simon!

Q: Who's your style icon?

A: I've got 2 style icons; one is of course Beyonce, because I think she dresses so amazingly well and of course Cheryl (Cole)! I have a woman crush on her! I love her!

Q: Who's your Bad Boy?

A: Flo Rida or Ricky (giggles...a lot!)

Q: Who would you like to collaborate with?

A: Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Leona (Lewis)

Q: What are your thoughts on the UK urban music scene and who's on your ipod?

A: I'm loving it right now! I think that the UK has A LOT to offer! And I think America needs to watch out! I'm listening to Chipmunk, Tinchy Stryder and Pixie Lott...why not!

Q: Who is your favourite on this years X-factor and are you enjoying the show?

A: I'm throughly enjoying that show! I LOVE the X-factor! I've gotta to say the over's (over 25 group) are doing it for me. I think they're very strong! It's the first time it ever been this strong, all 3 of them (Jamie, Danyl and Olly) are majorly strong. I'm routing for the over's! (fyi the crowd was loving Miss Frank and Tracey!)

Some other interesting facts from the evening just for you:

• Alexandra's black dress is from Religion and cost £70 (Alexandra said that she 'loves the highstreet!') and her shoes are from Louboutin (and cost a lot more than £70!!!)
• Alexandra gets the giggles - a lot! And it's very infectious!
• Alexandra is desperate for Simon Cowell to buy her a puppy (bichon frise if you're reading this Simon!)
• Alexandra is still good friends with Cheryl Cole and thinks 'she's great', and Alexandra has also met up with Leona in LA and chatted about everything except music, 'Leona has a great spirit'.

To view the VIVA performance and Q+A watch the video below! Have a look at all the great shows VIVA has (I'm already addicted to Scream Queens!) and become a fan on facebook!

Kim Cattrall in Mannequin vs. Catwalk Trends SS 2010

Well, I spent yesterday afternoon curled up on my sofa watching Mannequin, the a-maz-ing 1987 classic movie. Kim Cattrall plays Emmy, a time travelling girl from ancient Egypt, who finds herself in the 80s as a mannequin and only her creator, Jonathan Switcher (played by Andrew McCarthy. Yep, he's in 'Pretty in Pink' as well, but that's another blog post!), can see her in the flesh. Together they create fab window displays, have all the fun you'd dream of having in an empty department store, and fall in love (awww). It's a great 80s film; cheesy dialogue, bit of a dance montage and, of course, a great soundtrack, not to mention fash-tastic costumes!

Not only is it a great, nostalgic, fun movie but, while I was watching it I kept thinking the outfits looked familiar - then it dawned on me... I think that a designers were watching Mannequin before designing their SS10 collections, clearly paying close attention to the outfits during the dance montage, 'Do you dream about me?'. See if you can see the link between catwalk and Mannequin too!

Mannequin vs Marc Jacobs 

Mannequin vs Luella

Mannequin vs Diane von Furstenberg 
 

Mannequin vs Balmain 
 

Mannequin vs Loewe 
 

What do you think? Whether it's print, style, fabric or colour I think I've found the overall theme for SS10 - Mannequin!

Haven't had enough Mannequin flashbacks? Watch the montage clip in question below (ps. you're welcome!).

Cx


Images: style.com and gladden entertainment

Diamond Style - Marina and the Diamonds

I'm loving Marina and the Diamonds; Marina's style, great songs and fab videos. I first saw her when she was performing before Paolo Nutini at the Round House for the iTunes festival in July. I was blown away by the pocket sized songstress and her cute and original style; she'd fashioned her own shoulder/neck piece (similar to the one in the video below. Seriously, what do you call it? Answers on a postcard please!) and she really looked great!

I knew I liked her when the first thing she did on stage was take off her huge high heels and say her false lashes were falling off (girl after my own heart!). She also writes a fab blog on her band site, check out the post on toys and games from the 90s (anyone for 'dream phone'; brad wants to take you on a date!)

Anyways, below is the offical video for their song 'Mowgli's Road', my favourite from the album, Family Jewels. P.s., it's catchy!

Cx


Image: Getty and SoulSide Funk

Put your best choo forward with Jimmy Choo and Project PEP / 72

Jimmy Choo have teamed up with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to create Project PEP / 72. An exclusive Project PEP collection is available at Jimmy Choo, with 25% of profits supporting the funding of the Simelela Rape centre in South Africa.

Tamara and Minty Mellon

The proceeds raised by Project PEP will enable the clinic to stay open day and night providing 24 hour/7 days a week access to the vital life saving treatment that has to be administered within the first 72 hours of exposure to HIV.

PEP is the name of the medication that must be given to rape victims within 72 hours to stop them being infected with HIV, which gives this project it name and theme of their new campaign. The new social campaign is called Project PEP / 72 'You, Your Shoes and 72'.

Winning images will be showcased at the global launch of Project PEP at Selfridges London on 29th October and at Jimmy Choo Project PEP events globally. Over 100 winners will be chosen to win products from the Project PEP range, with a Grand Prize offering the overall winner 7 pairs of shoes and 2 bags from Jimmy Choo.

It's really easy to get started, register on the website to either upload your own photo or get involved and get voting-there are some fab photos already! The official closing date is the 7th December, but the best entrants so far will be on display at the launch event on the 29th Ocotber. It's a great way to spread a serious and important message in such a fun and creative way. Here are some of my favourite entries so far:

72 shoes, 72 hours by Estemp

72 steps by e emme

pink patent leather by laducaberg

Daniel by gm

 these shoes were made for dancing by lunyjane

fashion claim by fashionclaim

Such a great competition, cause and, of course, Choo collection - get involved or just say hi on twitter

ps. thanks to the lovely Marian for showing me this great cause on twitter!

Cx

Best Dressed at 2009 Whitney Museum Gala, NY

On Tuesday night in NYC, a bevy of beauties descended on the Whitney Museum of American art for a gala sponsored by Donatella Versace (and don't we know it, almost every single person to skip down the red carpet was dressed in head to toe Versace!), so that meant plenty of leg and décolletage on show. So, lets start with the 'A' team: 

Alexandra Richards

Ally Hilfiger

  Alexa Chung

Alexandra looked very Barbarella with coiffured blonde locks and knee high boots to go with her, you guessed it, Versace dress. ally (anyone used to watch her show?) looked very retro with 40s inspired hair and make-up, wearing a sculptured shoulder and king fisher embellished dress. Alexa looked cute as button in powder blue mini dress and shoe boots.

Taylor Momsen

Hana Soukupova

 Lindsay Lohan

Taylor Momsen is working the jail-bait look she does so well (how is that girl only 16???) she looks amazing, but the dress is too mature for her and if I see her one more time in fishnets I may scream (but at least they're more typical 16 year old attire!). Hana Soukupova looked a-maz-ing in electric blue with that high shine, polished metal belt, which works so well with her laid back make-up and hair. and Lilo, oh Lilo! Pale gold? what were you thinking??? She's morphing into Donatella at an alarming speed!

Lake Bell

But the best dressed of the night, has to go be Lake Bell, star of many a chick flick, who totally stole the spotlight in this stunning red dress, which she teamed with low key hair and make-up and no jewellery. Take note ladies, this is how red carpet is done!

Cx

images: star pulse 

Gaga gets Dazed

Lady Gaga has filmed a short film with DazedDigital which coincide with rehearsals for her current tour. It shows the first lady of theatrics wearing a whole plethora of designers, including a catsuit by Pam Hogg and a fash-tastic dress by David Koma.

Koma's black dress from his A/W 09 collection can be seen at the beginning of the film, with it's body-con shape and chain/metal embellishment. It works fantastically well on film, with flashes of metal gleaming away - I really love his clothes (seen below).

Pam hogg, the iconic Brit designer, has been spotted everywhere since the launch of her pop up store this summer, and Gaga wears a space-cadet style catsuit in the video. Roisin Murphy is another fashion-forward musician to be seen in one of Hogg's legendary catsuits (image from the look and drama magazine).

Cx

Beautiful Bulgaria

A few weeks ago I went to bulgaria with the boyf, and was completely blown away how pretty it was! Bulgaria was a random holiday destination we chose to get some last minute September sunshine, really wasn't expecting to find beautiful beaches, chic bars, old ruins and lots of history!

I was expecting a 'Costa' style break, but found some really amazing little places, my favourite being the old town of Nessebar. It's an old harbour town that is on top of a cliff and surrounded by the Black Sea. The cobbled streets are lined with small eateries and shops selling amazing antiques and trinkets. It was so amazing to get lost through the winding streets and look at all the colourful, traditional wares.

My top 10 Bulgarian facts:

1. They have very extreme weather - boiling in summer, lots of snow in winter 
2. While touristy in some areas, it remains a great place for culture vultures (with ruins, churches, scultures...)
   
3. The locals are lovely and all speak about 12 languages (German, French, English, Italian, Bulgarian...)
4. They have quite a serious clubbing scene, with top ibiza djs all through the summer.
5. It's *so* cheap! 50. pence. a. pint! (yeah, that's right!)
6. They don't use the dreaded euro.
7. A nod of the head means no and shaking your head means yes. Very trippy.
8. The culture is such a mash up of Germany, Greece, Turkey and other European countries traditions and specialities. You will feel like you've done a whistle stop tour of Europe.
9. I've said it already, but it really is that cheap! Bargain!
10. Mainly, it's pretty.

 

Cx

Jimmy Choo do H&M

Oh. my. god! A Choo shoe from high street giant h&m! That's crazy talk, well no, not so much. Jimmy Choo have done a range (and what a puuurdy range it is too!) for the Swedish legends themselves (no, not Ikea) h&m, that will be available from the 14th November in 200 stores worldwide - prepare for mass hysteria and stiletto injuries galore!

The range is made up of shoes (well obviously), bags, jewellery and a few items of clothing too (why the hell not!) and looks rather good! Now before h&m make you squeal with delight at the photos, remember one thing, they're cheap for a reason, and sadly with h&m designer diffusion ranges the main down fall is the quality. The fabrics and materials are often a huge left down to the fantastic styles, colours and design.

So while these pics are awful nice to look at, (the pink clutch actually leaves me short of breathe!), i'm waiting until 14th November to make up my mind on whether Choo can do h&m! Oh, and ps the electric blue beauts are mine, so back off girls (size 7 fyi.

To view the whole collection at instyle, click here.

Cx

fashion inspired by chocolate

well chocolate has always inspired me, and now it seems that some people geniuses in france have figured out that fashion and chocolate go together very nicely, as shown at the paris chocolate show!

the 15th annual 'salon du chocolat' show in paris saw french celebrities take to the catwalk wearing creations either made entirely or embellished with chocolate (or in Armelle Lesniak's case nothing!) the catwalk show launched the annual exhibition and which ran until the 18th october.

french celebs such as, laetitia rey, carole brana, corinne touzet (wearing a design byagatha ruiz de la prada), julie ferrier (escorted by 2 hunky boys - hubba hubba!) and a very naked armelle lesniak (in a chocolate picture frame) all took to the catwalk! i really needed something to entertain me after fashion weeks around the world drew to a close, and this definitely did! clothes that look are good enough to eat!

watch highlights of salon du chocolat below, but *warning* you will want to eat chocolate after watching this video!!!