Rainbow Bright | Festival Series

Hello, Hello!

So with festival season being so nearly upon us in the UK, and with Coachella flooding our timelines over the past couple of weekends I thought that there was no better week to start my festival series! In each post I will be styling a different vibe / aesthetic and posting many more tips and essentials for festivals in general. I am only attending Parklife this year because I'm also going on holiday and your broke gal cannot afford both. However the fashion is my favourite kind so whenever summer comes around I want to make it a central feature on my blog, because there is no better time to express yourself than at a festival! So without further ado let's get into the look.

Let's start with what inspired this look, the rainbow crop top. This is new in from New Look, it is £15.99 and can be bought online HERE. I was having a little browse in the shop the other day and naturally my eye was gravitated towards the rainbow, and it was love at first sight. I'm not normally into off the should / bardot tops, but the cuffs are that far down that having them ride up wasn't an issue. The quality of it is amazing and soft, and not see-through! As soon as I bought it  I knew it would be perfect for festivals, as it's super bold , colourful and fun but it's also practical enough for you to dance your little heart away. I feel like a number one tip for festival styling (if there is such a thing) is that rainbows / rainbow stripes are ALWAYS a good idea. 

Originally I wanted to style this with just some high rise bikini bottoms (which I have on underneath) with the fishnets, but I am just not brave enough for that! I just wasn't comfortable with it, but when Parklife actually does come around you never know, maybe it is just the thought of me wearing it when it isn't the festival that is the issue? We shall see! So instead I decided to throw on this very 80's colourful pleated skirt, which is actually see through. It is a kind of mesh / sheer fabric so in person you can see my high rise bottoms underneath, which I actually love. It is super fun and playful.  I think the colours in the skirt match pretty perfectly with the top, but I also love the way the prints clash.  Another tip - the most your items clash the better! There is no better place to make an outlandish statement than a festival, so just play around and have fun with it! After all the funniest thing about it is that there are no rules.

So if there wasn't ENOUGH colour in this look, I decided to add another. This is the most incredible reversible oriental silk jacket, I prefer the lime green side as it really packs a punch and gives off a different vibe to the outfit. It gives the look a new level, and the added layer is great for the evening when it gets a bit chilly once the sun has gone down. It's something I always forget and then it gets too 10pm and I'm there shivering trying to keep warm in the crowd. I love the added colour as it contrasts the ones seen in the top and skirt because it's neon, and I know for sure I will not get lost in the crowds in this!

For footwear there was no other contender than these incredible platform trainers, reminiscent of the buffalo's which are so on trend right now. They actually are super comfy because of the massive platform, but I do feel like a broken ankle might be in works if I fall over / loose my balance. But hey, I will get a good view in the crowd though! I desperately want to wear these for parklife, I just don't know if they are going to let me groove away in them safely, so watch this space too see if I actually wear them or not. The finishing touches with the accessories, are simple but effective. I am not an accessories person, but I can get on board with a good hat and some good shades. This Spice Girls cap needs no explanation, it is absolutely iconic with their styles being forever festival inspiration too me, it is only fitting I feature them. The shades are just yellow lenses from Primark, only £2! Get yourself down there and grab a pair, because they are 100% not worth spending more than that on, I mean we are all just doing it for the gram aren't we? The final thing, fishnets. I don't think any festival look, well any look for that matter is complete without fishnets these days. Plus, my legs feel too bare without them.

So there you have my first instalment too my festival series! I thought it would not be me if I didn't start with a bold colourful playful look. I have another couple of outfits that are going to look absolutely KILLER, so keep an eye out for them once this British weather clears up again and I can get shooting. I also might do a makeup post / tutorial, haven't decided on that yet, I might just do a list of key makeup essentials on creating the perfect festival look... we shall see! Hope you stick around to find out!

XOXO, EMMA 

Spring / Summer 2018 Trends : The 1980's

Hello, Hello! 

So, with Spring finally making its mark on the British Countryside and the adorable little lambs are jumping around the fields I thought I would take today to talk about one my favourite trends this season, and show you my take on it. The 1980's in terms of fashion where years of excess and drama, the bolder the shoulder, print, colour or shine of an outfit - the better. I think that's what I love about 80's fashion, as it was so bold and out there but also (for the most part) very colourful! Obviously for this post I am referring too the ~mainstream~ / "popular" style of the decade. For me, the biggest icon is of course Cyndi Lauper. She had such a bold playful unique style, and I love it. So for today's look I was feeling super inspired by my new hair and thought the bolder the better, which is pretty much my outlook on life to be honest.

The main colour of this look is pink, but of course bright almost neon pink - no pastel hues here. I loved the look of layering the cropped oversized sweater over the dress and matching it with my cropped leggings. I think it really added to the whole sportswear / aerobics vibe of the 80's. Sportswear is still a major trend at the minute, especially with the influence of street style still be very predominant. The resurgence of the iconic cycle short (mainly thanks to the Kardashians) just shows how much of an impact the decade is having on today's trends. I honestly can't wait till the weather gets warmer so I can start rocking my cycle shorts, I am going to be all over this trend this year. By teaming these with fishnets while it's a little bit chillier means that they can act as a transitional piece through Spring and into Summer. Also, I am hopefully going to be doing a styling post on them when the weather finally picks up (which fingers crossed is this week in the U.K.), so if you're interested in that keep your eyes peeled on the blog in the future. They are such a versatile item to style and I think they will more than likely take over from high waisted denim shorts for me this year, which is a winner because they are about a million times comfier. I think I might need to invest in them in every colour, no exaggeration. 

The print of this dress screamed the 80's too me, it reminded me of the iconic squiggle / doodle print that was EVERYWHERE alongside geometric shapes. But I also loved the switch in tones, the top half is a white background with black print, and then the bottom half is the opposite. The dress looked cute on it's own but I love the added touch the sweatshirt gives - especially with the 'lil collar peaking through. I just chucked on my super oversized denim jacket / coat over the top, because what was the 80s without denim? Even though I know double denim would be hella more appropriate. But I love the detail of the rainbow stitching it really plays well with the playfulness of this look.  I do not think there are any more appropriate shoes to finish off this look than these high top Nike's. Actually no, a pair of high top white reeboks with the straps (let's ignore the Flo Rida Reference here ~cringe~), but I don't own a pair. But I think these work just as perfectly, especially with the colourway. I also love the way the pink laces and accents tie in with the rest of this look perfectly. These trainers are super old, but still really groovy and definitely gave off the 80s vibe that I was looking for. 

I definitely think that I am more into the more casual and experimental side of 80s fashion rather than the 'glam look'. I can't see myself rocking shoulder pads or crazily bedazzled / metallic dress, but that's the fun of fashion! You can just pick whatever style it is that you like best and run with it and make it your own. You don't need to stick to a specific trend just because that's what is hot at minute, have fun with it and make it your own. The minute that fashion becomes more about trying to fit the trends and straight copy the runway, then it looses its originality and fun. Runway collections are made to inspire and to promote self expressiveness, and that's what fashion should be about. I hate too see people buy something that is considered trendy when they don't even like it just to try and be "current". I personally think the best way, and only way too be "current" is to be yourself and add your personality to your style. I don't mean by being crazy and outrageous, I just think that your style should reflect who you are as a person and not what you think you should be perceived as by society. If you're a quite and simple person, don't feel the need to wear crazily outrageous clothes, and if you like to wear black and feel more like yourself in that, don't feel the need to force yourself to wear colour just for the sake of other people's opinions. You do you, boo. 

Accessories wise I opted for fishnet tights, I mean do fishnets not just scream Madonna in the 80s? Well they do too me. I think they just added a quirky little touch to the outfit and look super cute underneath these cropped leggings, and like I said above added just a little bit of extra warmth ( I mean hardly any, but still). The bag however is where I have failed the era, the clear perspex bags where definately one that became popular in the 90s/ early 2000s. But I just couldn't get over how CUTE it looked with this outfit, especially with the almost neon pink tone to the bag. It definately reminds me of a backpack from when I was younger and I am living for it. This is actually the only item from this whole look that is actually shoppable! (sorry guys). It is from the one and only Primark and costs £4! and was found near the swimwear. The bag inside is my Golf  Le Fleur Converse Dust Bag, but you can be as creative as you want with what you choose to put inside. This trend is RED HOT at the minute with the likes of Chloe and Belenciaga hoping on the train, but this hot pink version is my take on the trend (and a very nostalgic one at that, all i need now is a blow up chair, which I am lusting over so bad). 

So that is it for this weeks blog post, I hope you enjoyed the carefree colourful 80s vibe as much as me. Honestly I have been rocking looks like this a lot recently because they make me feel so happy! I throw on a really colourful and playful look and my mood honestly changes. I can't wait to do more posts on styling cycling shorts, and finally get round to being able to do some festival styling posts. I love this time of year because as festival season approaches everyone is more willing to truly express themselves through fashion, and are less self conscious of what others think. I just wish our society was as accepting as it is over the festival season all the time. But we are getting there!

XOXO, EMMA 

My New Fruit Salad Hair!

Hello, hello.

If you've been here a while (or known me IRL a long while), you will know that I love experimenting with hair. I think I have had near enough every colour under the rainbow, from Green too Pink. However, one colour I hadn't used before was yellow, and I was dying too try it. Which, is how my new fruit salad hair came about. I randomly decided one day that I wanted yellow highlights, and on Easter Weekend I made it happen. I also thought that I could talk you through the process and the products we used, alongside showing off my new do! I absolutely adore it, and I have also received the most compliments ever for this colour combo. So, without further ado let's get this show on the road!

As you will know if you have been on my blog before, (and if not, hello! I would love for you to stay) I started with a pink base which was pre-bleached beforehand. If you're not comfortable using bleach at home, and / or if you hair is not strong or in healthy enough condition please *do not do this at home*, go to a salon. I know that is hella expensive, but it's for the sake of your hair. If I'm completely honest, I am not sentimental about my hair. I happily cut it off from near enough waist length to shoulder length without flinching, life is too short to worry about hair! (In my eyes anyway). I knew that I wanted highlights, but I also knew that I didn't want them to be proper chunky and really obvious stripes at the roots. But, too my rescue my mum (who is the hero of this whole process) said she had a plastic highlighting cap, so we used that to pull through the strands of hair that we wanted to use.

Once we had all the strands through we wanted to use (which took ~FOREVER~ do not go into this lightly it takes so so long), we then mixed together the bleach to highlight them. We used the Jerome Russell BBlonde range, with the high lift powder bleach and maximum cream peroxide Vol. 30. These are readily available in Boots / Superdrugs / Savers in the UK and are very affordable, and they do work. I've used them before, and I trust the outcome which is why we used them. It's a 1:1 ratio, and that was all we need. 1 sachet of powder and one little bottle of bleach did a full head of highlights on me, however keep in mind the fact that my hair is shoulder length and I have quite a large undercut. This didn't take long, and also didn't take long to develop, however in hindsight if we left it on a little longer the ends would've been more blonde.

Once we rinsed the bleach off and dried the hair we realised that the hair was pretty much white at the root and the ends were a dirty blonde, which meant that we decided to go with a yellow too orange ombre rather than just yellow. Luckily I already had orange dye in, from when I used to have orange hair. This also didn't take long to do, however I left this on a lot longer than the bleach as it isn't as damaging, and the longer you leave it on the more the colour saturates your hair and lasts longer. So once that had developed, hours later than starting the process we thought YAY DONE. Ha, nope.

Once it was all rinsed and dried I decided I wanted too add some more pink as we had pretty much lost all the colour, so we bought another pink dye and just went through my hair and picked out places where they would work best and Voila! Finally done. This was one the most, if not THE MOST difficult hair dying process but the outcome is pretty gosh darn impressive. I can't believe how much depth and how many different tones and colours there is in it, the other day a customer at work said it looked like 'literal fire' and it made my freaking day. Obviously it isn't perfect, but for a home done job I think me and my mum outdid ourselves.

So what do guys think? Do you like my new hair?? I personally LOVE it. I feel like Hayley Williams circa Misery Business and my 12 year old self would literally be jumping for joy if she could see me now.  My love of colour is not just within my clothes, I share the same passion with my hair! I think I will always be a colourful haired gal, as whenever I go a *normal* colour it never lasts long. Let's hope it washes well and doesn't fade too much, I've got all my fingers crossed that it doesn't.

XOXO, EMMA 

March Playlist & Release Radar

Hello, Hello.

So, another month has passed which means another monthly round-up is here. This month, I don't have any new t.v. shows or films to talk about really, and I prefer the idea of keeping these posts solely about music - what I have discovered, and what is hot of the press that I think is worth a listen. As always, in the sidebar to the right is my spotify playlist for the month. You can give it a listen while you read this post, or save it to listen too later. So without further ado lets get into my jams of March.

If you know me, you know that I will always love The Vaccines. They were the first proper gig I ever went to, I have been to every album tour and I met them on my 20th Birthday. So, you can imagine my joy when on Friday the dropped their latest album COMBAT SPORTS. They had already released the three tracks, Put it on a T-Shirt, I Can't Quit, and Nightclub. I can't lie I do not listen too them as much as I used too, simply just because I am constantly looking for new discoveries rather than repeatedly listening too albums that I love, but from my first few listens I can tell this album is a winner. It really upbeat and sounds more uplifting rather than their normally moody pessimistic tone. I can't give my final verdict on it yet, nor can I pull out my favourite tracks but I'm sure I will be able to give a run down of my favourites next month. 

This month we have seen the return of the three part rap group from NY. Towards the begin of the month they dropped the track Headstone, and just a few days ago they dropped U&I (feat. Dia). Both tracks same the same artwork so I am assuming they are both part of their new album, which will be the follow up to the 2016 3001: A Laced Odyssey. Both these tracks are incredible, but very different. Headstone is a true hype song for me, It proper gets me up. U&I is a lot more chill and has a real 90s vibe too it especially with the gospel vocals. I love them both, and I think one of the greatest things about Flatbush is the different tones and rap style that each of them have, yet they work so well together. Another of their tracks that isn't new, but is on my March Playlist is their remix of Portugal's Feel it Still. It is actually the first song that I added to the playlist, I love the new beat that they added to the song it gives it a whole new vibe, and their verses make it absolutely fire (better than the original in my opinion). 

Another discovery of mine this month was the band Glass Animals, but more specifically the album How To Be A Human Being. I am late to the bandwagon with this one, with the album being released two years ago. But the song Youth made it's way into my my Discover playlist and knew I had to give them a listen. There music has a very feel good vibe, and I particularly like the hip-hop and synth pop vibes that you can hear in some of their songs, especially in my favourite track off the album, The Other Side of Paradise. I recommend listen too the album from start to finish as it is a brilliant listen. I love how each song is different and has a new vibe, it keeps the album fresh and interesting. 

STAND OUT TRACKS

So I have been listening to a lot of rap music again this month, no shock there. But there have been a few absolute fire stand out tracks this month. The first being Energy (Cadenza Remix), by Avelino, Stromzy, Skepta & Cadenza. This track is such a good vibe, it's refreshing to hear grime artists over such a chill dance beat, it makes it less aggressive and more lightweight. It still packs a punch, but in a different way and I think that's why I like it so much. Secondly we have PICK IT UP (feat. A$AP Rocky) by Famous Dex. I really am not into these types of rappers, I cannot stand mumble rappers or any of that bullshit. HOWEVER, the BEAT and A$AP's verse are just out of this world. I think without his verse it wouldn't be as good, he really lifts the song to another level. I have been on a bit of a hype over A$AP lately, I think it might have a lot to do with the fact that he is performing at Parklife this year (*cries tears of joy*). The last stand out track has GOT to be OKRA, by Tyler, The Creator.  He literally dropped this track out of nowhere last week, a random drop and as he says - "a throwaway track". But is is hottttt, like ever other Tyler track, understandably he is a controversial Love / Hate artist, and you probably already know what side you fall on. His work is so different that if you haven't listen too him, just give him a lil listen because I don't think there is a way to describe his music style that will give it justice.

So that was my round up / summary of some of my favourite artists / tracks / releases of the month, obviously there are a lot more that I haven't discussed, which is why the playlist is linked so that you can give them a little listen. I hope you like the new format of this post, I think I prefer it to the way I was doing it before it makes it more cohesive. So, until next time!

XOXO, EMMA