Reinvention - let's do this!

My birthday is fast approaching and in five days I will be 22 - most definitely now classed as an adult and most definitely out in the big, bad world. *sighs* With another birthday milestone imminent  I'm determined to make my twenties as fabulous as I can, starting with a personal reinvention, ha!

I get bored very, VERY easily and my hair is something that I change way too frequently; it was just over four months ago when I was posting saying that I was embracing my dark side for the winter months! But my mantra is that hair can be dyed any colour you want and, if you don't like it, can always be changed back. I have the same mantra when it comes to cutting it; hair will always grow back! But I'm now reaching the stage when I don't really have THAT much hair left as I'm pretty much shaven all around my head, bar the left side of  my head. Thus I have come to the conclusion that I'm seriously considering changing the style of my hair as I've had the same style for WAY too long, I feel.

Now that I've decided to change my hairstyle, I've been pondering various possibilities as I'm quite limited with what I can do due to how much of my hair I choose to have shaved. I've considered growing my hair and having it "cut short" as opposed to shaving it, but it would take far too long to grow to a suitable length for that and I would have to spend months looking like a mess. No thanks. So I think I've decided on a wedge cut, AKA - the bowl cut! -DUN, DUN, DUUUUNNNNN-

I've contemplated having a full fringe cut in for a long time, as opposed to a side fringe. Getting rid of my fringe is not an option as I was blessed with a five-head when I was born. Lucky me. But I think a full wedge cut could look pretty cool if I kept my hair shaved at the back. Kinda like this...

Wedge Cut

I love the style in this image and this is the kind of style I'd go for. Love the range in layers and I love the colour, too. As from Thursday, I'm going lighter and am determined to get my hair to this colour eventually! But for now I think I'm going to opt for a light brown/blonde/ginger colour so that the darkness can be lifted and that it builds a foundation to get lighter.

If I go through with this drastic change, I'm hoping I'll love it as there's not much I can do about it once my chunk of side fringe gets cut into a full fringe, ha! Also hoping I'll love the change in colour as I believe change is good and keeps us fresh.

Will be sure to post the results!

"Rihanna for River Island" IS FINALLY HERE!

After months and months of anticipation and a successful debut at London Fashion Week, Rihanna's capsule collection for River Island has finally launched in-store and online, and the result is an eclectic mix of edgy and feminine designs, catering for the RiRi inside of everyone.

When the venture was announced, I wasn't sure how RiRi's style would translate into her own fashion range; Rihanna's style is promiscuous, to say the least, but that is the image she is most famed for. What a lot of people fail to see is all the times she's pictured sporting a more adaptable and basic style, and the "Rihanna for River Island" collection merges the best of Rihanna's fashion persona into an end result that is classy, stylish and almost affordable. Below are a few picks of my favourites from the collection.

"Denim Shirt Zip-Front Skirt"

Denim Shirt Zip-Front Skirt, £50

I think this innovative twist on the plain tube skirt is great. It adds a real edge to the garment and completely transforms the whole look of the skirt. I think the skirt's really versatile and depending on how the skirt's styled could be worn in a load of ways!

"Knot Back Turtle Neck Top"

Knot Back Turtle Neck Top, £35

Knot Back Turtle Neck Top, £35

This turtle neck cropped top would brighten any outfit up perfectly. I am really loving bright colours at the moment, such as burnt coral, orange, yellow & electric blue and I think they can bring a completely different dimension to an outfit. The turtle neck on this top will allow for a chunky necklace to sit perfectly on the neckline to bring some much needed glamour to an otherwise plain top. This top would work perfectly in co-ordination with the skirt above as the denim and yellow compliment each other well. I also LOVE the slash on the back of the top. I love adding the shock factor to outfits and this slash most certainly has that in abundance! Perfect for summer.

"Dark Wash Double Top Jeans"

Dark Wash Double Top Jeans, £60

These jeans are my favourite piece from the collection. I love vintage-look denim; the older it looks, the better! I've also come to embrace the straight leg jean and think they're timeless and are a good staple piece for everyone's wardrobe this season. Normally I would avoid double denim like the plague, but these jeans make me want to style out the double denim stimulus! Absolutely love these! I think they'd look great with Dr. Martens in any colour, a band tee and lots of chunky jewellery.

"Black Leather Tattoo Pendant Backpack"

Black Leather Tattoo Pendant Backpack, £60

And last, but by no means least, is this fab backpack. Let's be honest, no outfit is complete without a bag of some sort, right?! This backpack looks like the perfect size; not too big, not too small. The leather brings ultimate grunge to any outfit and to glam it up slightly, the bag features a pendant which is an exact replica of the tattoo Rihanna has on her chest. Love this.

I think RiRi's Spring/Summer 2013 collection for River Island has been a complete success. I'm rather looking forward to seeing what she's created for Autumn/Winter 2013 already!

What are your favourite pieces from the collection?

When did River Island get so amazing?!

When I was Christmas shopping in Merry Hill yesterday, I paid a visit to their River Island store as my local store is pretty bad in comparison to bigger city stores. Normally I walk around, spend about five minutes looking at what River Island has to offer and then walk out, completely underwhelmed by what they have to offer. Yesterday was a different story entirely.

I found so many things in there that I wanted and I could have easily spent about £100 if I had that kind of money to spend so freely. Sadly, I don't, so I'll just have to settle for oggling until payday. I'm also hoping that the stuff I want goes into the sale after Christmas; that would be fab!

The first item on my want list is this cool, khaki with leather-look sleeved jacket. It's taken a classic, vintage style jacket and reinvented it with the on-trend leather sleeves. Beautiful, but perhaps slightly overpriced.

RI leather sleeved khaki jacket, £65

My second item to accompany the above jacket is a t-shirt emblazoned with the Queen of my world, Rihanna. I think it would look perfect perhaps a tad oversized and could be worn underneath a shirt, over a pair of jeans and maybe tucked into a pair of shorts in the summer. I'm not usually a fan of tee's that plaster musicians all over them, but this RiRi tee is a must!

RI Rihanna tee, £20

The final item from River Island that I need in my life is this pair of blue skinny jeans. As soon as I saw these jeans in store I fell in love with them. I love, love, LOVE them. I think it's the colour I love the most; I don't own a pair of skinny jeans this colour, which I think is why I love them so much. I also have so many other items of clothing I could wear with them; I have a burgundy jumper and a pair of studded brown biker boots that would go perfectly with them! I also think they're insanely cheap for River Island, only costing £25!

RI Limited Edition skinny jeans, £25

So they're the items I have my heart set on from River Island, but there's so many other's that I could have added to this list. I may drop some very subtle hints to my family on ideas for Christmas presents.

Winter Warmers - Time for a Change??

Now that winter is well and truly upon us, everything starts to change; days seem shorter, nights seem longer, clothing becomes significantly thicker and we say "bye-bye" to our summer purchases until next year.

Winter is never a good time for anyone, whether it's the cold that we hate or the fact that it means Christmas will soon be upon us. But we have to just get on with it, so change is inevitable. One thing I do love about winter is my change in style - I LOVE wearing thick, oversized jumpers with new boots and skinny jeans. I also love layering. Love, love, LOVE it! But this year I'm embracing a different change; a change in colour.

No, not a wardrobe colour change but a hair colour change. I have bright blonde hair and when freshly bleached is almost white, but white blonde is a colour I have always seemed so close to achieving yet so far. I recently had a crazy idea to tone my hair silver, drawing inspiration from P!nk and her ever-changing locks, but then somebody that I work with dyed their hair silver and that kind of put me off. Not because they did it before me(even though that may contribute slightly, ha!)but because the colour had been toned that much that it was verging on purple/bluey/silver, which I really didn't rate very much and I hate nothing more than when I dye my hair and the colour result is a disaster. I also hate putting my hair through the damage process it will endure to correct it.

So, for this reason, I want to go back brunette. I have been dark many times before but a very long time ago. I think the last time I had any trace of dark colour in my hair was late 2010. Trust me, I am slightly worried that I'll regret it as it's such a drastic change, but I always say that change is a good thing. I don't look at it as a change, more a re-invention. That said, I'm quite excited to see how I'll look with dark hair again. One thing I do remember about being brunette is that it used to make me look really pale, but I think that will be perfect for this winter season. I can also dress in really warm colours to compliment my dark hair, rather than having to dress to cater my icy hair colour at the minute.

So yes, I'm going back dark. Not sure how long it will last, I'll probably begin lightening it after Christmas knowing me, but I'm embracing this new re-invention! I'll post again once I've gone through with it, along with pictures!

Topshop Skeleton Tee - MUST HAVE!

It's just a quick post as I'm trying my hardest to post more often as I know I suck slightly at this! But I like to think that this post will be fairly short and sweet.

Payday is almost here - hurrah! Which means that I'm slowly compiling a list of all the things I want to buy once the day is finally here; eight days (almost seven) and counting!

I'm having an inner debate with my conscience over whether or not to open a Topshop/Topman card. I know some people are dead against store cards, but they are a useful thing to have, especially if shopping is one of your vices in life. So yeah, I want a Topshop/Topman card, hence why I find myself browsing both sites quite a lot lately. But when I was adding to my ever-growing list of things I want once I get paid, I came across this amazing skeleton tee-shirt.

I've been toying with the idea of getting one of these tee's for a while. I have no idea why I think it's so good as I'm sure many people would disagree with me but I really like it. I really like the rolled back sleeves as I don't really like tee's that have sleeves that make the tee look like a box. It's a pet peeve of mine. I think this top would look great with black skinnies, black ankle boots and lots of gold jewellery; I have a gold chain that would go perfect with it.

So basically I've convinced myself to buy it once I get paid! Now payday really needs to hurry up!

My A/W12 Style Crush...

When it comes to describing or defining my style, this is something I would struggle to successfully do. I guess the word I would use to describe my style is eclectic; it changes so often and I'm very rarely channelling the same style for a consecutive period of time. It really does just depend on how I feel on that day. 

The reason that my style is so eclectic is because I take inspiration from a range of places. I don't only take inspiration from people, such as celebrities of fashion icons, but I take inspiration from different prints, the seasons and different trends. But I don't like to be predictable with what I wear and I would like to think that I dress the trends to suit me, rather than me dressing to suit the trends.

I won't lie, the majority of people who I take inspiration from for my style choices are females. Females are so much more daring when it comes to fashion and I admire the fact that they test the boundaries of fashion, which is exactly what fashion should allow. Fashion means that individuals can interpret the current trends in their own, unique way. 

Over the summer months I found myself falling in love with Rita Ora and Jessie J's styling. Rita Ora has a real urban feel to the way she dresses and is always seen in LOTS of gold jewellery, which always seem to accentuate whatever she is wearing. Jessie's style is craaazy and there is no way I would have any chance of attempting to mimic anything she wears. But one thing she wears better than anyone is shorts. I saw her at Wireless Festival in the summer and she was rocking a pair of distressed Levi's, white tank top and a camo jacket. I would describe her street style as pretty effortless for her, but it's most definitely effort for anyone else who is hoping to clone her style for themselves.

My most recent style crush is Demi Lovato, and I'm sure many people would agree that this is a bit of strange style crush for a guy to occupy, but oh well. I have been hooked on The X Factor USA and I'm actually more interested in what Demi is wearing rather than who is singing and if they're any good. The way that Demi dresses is so fresh for someone her age and it totally portrays her personality, as well as her professional image. This is something that young singers and performers very rarely accomplish and too often we see them dressing ten years older than what they are. Demi's style is very edgy and she has the ability to grunge up the most girly and feminine of products, as seen below.

Demi Lovato looking high street chic
at the X Factor USA auditions, 2012

I love everything about this outfit; I love how she took a very floral and feminine dress but dressed it down with the leather gilet and added a bit of edge to the outfit with the spiked necklace. A perfect outfit for Autumn/Winter! Also, the fact that she has layered this outfit makes it wearable even in the depths of winter; to make the outfit fully appropriate, it could be teamed with a pair of thick black tights and a nice
pair of biker boots.

The edge factor is something that I am gradually incorporating more and more into my outfits. Working in fashion retail means I need to be ahead of the trends before they hit the high street and by taking inspiration from someone such as Demi, I'm slowly doing that and am loving experimenting with different styles!

So yes, Demi Lovato is my A/W12 style crush! Which makes me quite excited to see what outfits I can create, whilst drawing inspiration from Demi and her cute, edgy style!

Watch this space!

Miley's crazed - her hair is gone!

I'm guessing that for anyone who follows Miley on Twitter, they will already be familiar with the teen star's latest image overhaul. In fact, I suspect anyone who reads newspapers or is a celebrity gossip junkie will know that she has indeed chopped her locks off in favour of a short buzz-cut. I won't lie, I love it!

I'm guessing the former teen star's new look has not gone down well with the majority of the world with many news sources suspecting some form of 'breakdown' on Miley's part; so the girl is clearly a little crazed to cut her hair? It has nothing to do with the fact she wanted a changed, right? This assumption riles me.

I hate when people are defined by something as aesthetic as their hair. I also hate when people (i.e. THE PRESS!) then start to fabricate reasons behind such drastic changes. I think one factor that media outlets forget when conjuring their tripe is the fact that Miley is YOUNG. There is no way she was going to stick with the same hair style for the rest of her life. I actually admire her for doing something so bold whilst in the glare of the public eye.

The reason I get so riled up is because I was defined by my hair for many years. When I was REALLY, REALLY young and at secondary school, I had hideous short, spiky hair which I then proceeded to grow as I was a tad tired of people constantly praising my ugly hair faux pas. So I grew it, then cut it, then dyed it a variety of colours from brown with blonde, to red, back to brown and then, finally, and currently, to blonde. I've also had my hair cut into a range of lengths but I'm currently working a shaved buzzcut, very similar to Miley's, which then graduates into lengthy fringe at the front.

Hair can be inventive and I get a bit annoyed by people who conform to the norm, such as long, flowing locks on a girl or a short crew cut on a guy. Switch it up, experiment and have fun; hair does grow back after all! In the meantime, sceptics need to move on and accept that a change in hair style does not mean a change in mental state. Hell, if that was the case, I would've been admitted to a psychiatric ward a looong time ago!

Rihanna for River Island!

So, fresh off the press, it's been confirmed that Rihanna is launching a clothing range and has chosen to collaborate with high street chain, and one of my favourite outlets, River Island!

I'm so excited for this collaboration! It's going to be interesting to see the tone and style of the range, given that RiRi is famed for her more raunchy outfits. But a clothing range has been a long time coming, especially given the fact that Rihanna is very much involved in the fashion industry at the moment - her Sky Living TV show, Styled to Rock, is due to premiere in August. And now it's official: she's venturing into the designing aspect and has chosen the UK as the country to debut her collection to.

Below is the link to the official press release:

http://www.rihannanow.com/news-article/rihanna-for-river-island/

It really is a great year for the UK!

Ain't about the b-bling-b-bling...

Jessie J is my muse and inspiration for life. No joke. The outfit that she is wearing could be worn by me. I LOVE IT.

I want the jacket. I want the tee. I NEED those shorts. This outfit makes me love her even more. She better rock up to Wireless Festival in a similar outfit, because I definitely will!

Caught Creepin'

Okay, so, in the midst of moving house I've had to clear out A LOT of rubbish in order to make room for all of the stuff that I need to keep; 'stuff' such as my clothes. However, lately I've been feeling really hateful towards my wardrobe. I really wish I had disposable money as I would shop, shop, shop until my heart is content. I am constantly finding items in stores that I would love to purchase but can very rarely justify spending copious amounts of money on items of clothing, especially given the fact that I do have plenty of clothes already at home but I just want new clothes. 

Although I have lots of clothes I don't have lots of shoes, and this leads me swiftly into my next 'want'. A girl I work with has such a quirky dress sense and today she was wearing a pair of leopard creepers with a pair of denim shorts, plain tee and oversized cardigan' the cardigan I, myself, already have. Her creepers looks so cute and really complimented the rest of the outfit. I came to the realization that I want a pair of creepers in my life.

The reason I don't have loads of shoes is because the shoes that I do have match any outfit that I wear. But I've already started planning what I could wear my creepers with; I've decided I want plain black creepers just for the reason that plain black shoes match ANY outfit. I also don't think I could work a pair of zebra/leopard/any other colour creepers, so I figure plain black creepers are the perfect choice.

So yeah, deciding what colour I wanted was pretty easy but then I needed to decide what I could actually wear with them but then it wasn't long before inspiration hit me. I recently saw a leather gilet in Topshop which I instantly loved; the only downside was that it was £45! Sadly, I could not justify that amount of money for a gilet. Gutted. However, a few days ago New Look got the exact same gilet in store at £24.99!! What. A. Bargain. Seeing as I work there I got staff discount, too! 

I do love it and it would go perfectly with my creepers, a pair of skinny jeans and a band tee; I'm channelling my inner rock God with this outfit and to complete the outfit lots and lots of studs, in the form of necklaces, bracelets and rings! The wonder of the creepers being black means that I could, within reason, wear them with anything. But I think skinny jeans or shorts would look amazing with them.

I look forward to experimenting with my new babyz.

My Quest for Shorts...

Okay, so, lately I've been on the hunt for the perfect pair of shorts. With the summer months fast approaching and high street stores almost nearing the end of their summer season trend, time is of the essence to find a pair of shorts for myself.

At the minute all high street stores are filled with shorts so I find it hard to fathom how I don't like any of the shorts I see. Most of the time I find myself drifting around aimlessly as I know the chances of me finding a pair of shorts that I am going to fall in love with are extremely slim. 

But yesterday I finally accomplished the short term goal I had set myself - I found the pair of shorts that will see me through the summer months, summer holiday and, more importantly, my summer festival. They are as close to perfect as I think I'm going to get.

There they are! Whilst searching for the perfect pair of shorts, I noticed that stars and stripes are a prominent theme along the high street. Perhaps TOO prominent. I do like it but sometimes fashion tend to overkill certain trends. That said, I have only noticed this in relation to female clothing and trends. I have struggled to find any item of clothing, for guys, that is unique, affordable and wearable; my shorts are all of the above.

What I love is that these shorts are stocked only online or in London at the minute which means it could be a few weeks before an influx of these shorts appear. Hence why I've snapped them up. They're from Topman and Topman jeans/shorts are always fantastic quality, hence why they're perfect for me. Definitely a worthwhile buy.

As well as loving the above shorts, I also found some rather 'different' shorts that I like. I haven't bought them yet, but there's a good chance I will. I've been told by numerous people that I'll "never wear them" and that "they're awful". Well, I like a challenge.

They're very Dick Van Dyke, Mary Poppins era.