Styling The Iconic Rainbow Jumper

Hello, Hello.

So over the past couple of years, this one most significantly for me - the rainbow trend has met an all time high. I remember a few years back when Lazy Oaf released the ICONIC Crayola knit but it was, and still is way out of my price range. Hopefully one day I will be able to treat myself to a Lazy Oaf piece, but until then I just gaze at their Instagram longingly and pray that my time will come. It is probably my favourite current brand, If I could afford it I would own there entire shop. Anyway, the rainbow trend has really saturated the market this year and I finally managed to get myself an iconic rainbow jumper. Honestly, I don't know how I have gone so long without one.

This little number is from Monki, and if your a fan of Lazy Oaf chances are you shop on here as they have a similar vibe but at a fraction of the price. This crew neck knit is the mere price of £25! You can find it at this link here, but I would be quick it tends to sell out super fast. I got mine in a size XL because I love a big boxy oversized fit, and it fits exactly how I wanted it too. I usually don't like a long fitted cuff on a jumper, but I actually love it on this as it gives it some shape and makes it look more tailored. It is a nice knit, not too think or thin just right for layering, and the colours are incredible and just as vibrant as in the pictures. It is a guaranteed head turner, and I promise you will make a fair few people smile in this one! I think that's what I like so much about rainbows, you can't help but smile when you see one.

With the change in the seasons, comes a change in my style. As soon as Autumn / Winter comes around my style leans a lot more towards alternative and grunge, the styling here is somewhat showing the start of my style transition. The weather is finally cold enough for me to show off these incredible dickies dungarees which I bought from a vintage kilo sale a few months back, I have wanted to wear them for so long but they were just too heavy for the summer months. Dungarees are one of my favourite things to wear in the colder seasons, but I feel like because of the lighter wash I feel like I need to make the most of these sooner rather than later. I do think this wash of denim really compliments the colours in the jumper though, it keeps it light and fresh. I also love the baggy look of these, I have always wanted the perfect oversized pair but never seemed to find any, until these of course! I know it's a lot of loose fitting items and the look doesn't have much shape, but I think that adds such a retro vintage feel and more so, I love the vibe it gives off. Oversized clothes have always been a massive hit for me because I like to play with gender roles and what's deemed masculine / feminine. I also just love the effortlessness of it, I almost feel like my early 2000s self when I used to shop at tammy girl, but hopefully a bit more chic. The overall vibe of this look too me is so 90s grunge with a tad more colour, the bagginess of the look, the denim and the stripes, the chunky platforms are all key elements of the era it's just got my added colourful rainbow touches, like I say my style is literally transitioning like the seasons. 

Now lets talk about the details, is there anything more perfect than this sunshine yellow beret? No, I didn't think so. A few years back you wouldn't see my dead in a hat, but since I discovered a love for berets and baker boy caps last winter I can't get enough! I have wanted a yellow one for the longest time, and they finally got them in H&M (where I work) so I snatched one up straight away. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available online anymore, although there are a few in stores. I love how it ties in perfectly with the yellow in the jumper, and also how the colour looks against my grey / silver hair. Another defining details are these iconic chunky platform shoes, straight from the 90s / early 2000s. I found these at a local carboot and they cost me 3 QUID. £3 for a pair of shoes this insane is literally a gift from the gods.  They give me a bit of height, which I needed or else these dungarees would be trailing in the dirt - and they also add that grunge touch which I was on about earlier. 

I really love the way this has all come together, I love how it is showing how my style slowly transforms through the seasons, especially in this in between grey area where you have no clue what to wear. However it is safe to say that the cold weather is settling in here in the U.K. so more layers and outerwear are going to become a much heavier feature, but I think this post was a nice way to move away from my last post (which was all sun, bikinis and holiays) too more seasonally appropriate content. 

All images are shot on a Canon 4000D & edited on VSCO. The images of me are all taken by my incredible mum, and the other images are all taken by me. Hope you enjoyed this one, cya next time. 

XOXO, EMMA.

Sun, Sea & Sangria.

Hello, hello!

As some of you may know, if you follow me on Instagram or know me in real life I have just been on a sweet little getaway to Puerto Rico, Gran Caneria. Can you believe that even in September the temperature was in the high 30s?? I couldn't. It was a lovely week of sea, sun sangria & seafood. I have never eaten such a vast and glorious amount of fish and shellfish in my entire life, mixed with the sea views and cheeky cocktails safe to say it was a week to remember. Right before we went I decided to treat myself to a brand new DSLR, and I got in some perfect practice on this holiday. So I thought in this post, rather than a heavy focus on text I would just show you all what I wore, and what I sore on holiday.

This first set of images are my sea themed, cool toned images. I wanted to really reflect and put emphasis on the beautiful tones of the sea, especially in these shots in my blue bikini which tied in perfectly. I had a lot of fun editing these images and giving them an overall blue tone, seeing the flow between images makes me realise the importance of editing. It makes the images so much nicer to look at, as well as enhancing the beauty within them. I am also SO HAPPY with the new quality within my images, before I was only using the camera on my phone - which was all I had access too at the time. But, now seeing the difference it's given me so much more drive to just keep on creating content and improving more and more. 

This second collection of images are on the opposite side of the spectrum, full of warmth. Obviously alongside the beautiful turquoise sea we had the glorious heat. These images represent that, and the warmth and happiness I felt the whole time I was there. I really wanted to show two opposing sets of images that represented two sides to the holiday. I wanted to play around with tones and hues and create a story within the images, rather than just throw all my holiday photos into a post and call it a day. This way, at least I think, it makes the images more interesting to look at as well as give you more of a real sense of how I experienced my holiday and what I felt. Two of my favourite things in life is the sun and the sea, and I think this really reflects that.

So there are my collection of a select few images from my holiday, a collection of landscapes, nature and style. I like the idea of combining these things together, be it more cohesively in the future. Trying to tie together nature and fashion, two of the things I hold dearest too me. Now that I have my camera I feel a much wider sense of freedom, where I will be able to experiment more and bring together much more unique and high quality content. I'm super excited for the direction that I see my  blog moving in, and I can't wait to develop and strengthen and show my progress along with it. I am so proud of the way these images have come out, and I really think they reflect my holiday perfectly. It is so nice to be able too see my own personal improvement, and that just drives me even more to keep developing myself!

XOXO, EMMA 

Runway to My Way | Versace AW 2018

Hello, Hello.

So I have had this idea for a series on my blog for quite a while now, where I take inspiration from my favourite catwalk shows and create looks heavily inspired by them by items of clothing that I already own - or that I've picked up thrifting. The idea is to demonstrate that you don't need to spend much money, if any at all to create something inspired by designer shows. Now don't get me wrong - you are all more than welcome to splurge on the high ticketed items, or even pick up similar inspired options from fast fashion high street retailers -I'm just providing an alternative for all my cost conscious babes out there.

So with the Milan Fashion Week which has just past showcasing the AW18 Shows, and with us here in England being in the midst of Storm Emma & The Beast of the East (and all the snow it has brought along with her, which is finally melting away - thank goodness!) I thought there is no better time to start my series. Today, as you can already tell from the title we are focusing on the Versace show. I cannot deny that for the past few seasons I have been totally head over heels for their collections, mainly because of how bold and colourful they are. Thankfully, the AW18 show did not disappoint. What I loved the most was the return of tartan, but with clashing colours and playful silhouettes that we are all sure Cher Horwitz would be very proud of. The clueless-esque style nods to the 90s, It is preppy meet almost Punk with the mix-match of tartan and the berets. These styles where the highlight too me, they were bold, playful, colourful and unique and that is what I love most about Versace as a brand.

Here are a roundup of my favourite looks, and the ones which I drew the most inspiration from so you can see for reference, if toy want to view the whole runway show then here is the link to the images over on VOGUE here.

So now that you have seen my inspiration, lets see what I've created and why. Tartan is something that pretty much everyone has in their wardrobes, it is a staple every Autumn / Winter, which means we are all more than likely going to have some pieces in our wardrobe we can use. I am a lover of all things tartan so for me, I knew my key pieces would be my green tartan skirt, and my red tartan coat. The two clashing tartan prints may not be the exact colours, but they still pay homage to the style epic-ally. I absolutely love the way they look against each other, very bold colourful and playful. The coat is from River Island about 4 years ago (still going strong!), and the shirt is a charity shop find (sorry!). I would link you all alternatives, but I am trying to show that you don't necessarily need to go out and buy more clothes to master up and coming trends, as they are usually refreshed styles and prints that we have all seen before.

Underneath I decided to wear a print which is a lot more classic Versace - the baroque print. Something Versace has been playing with for years, and for years high street brands have taken their spin on it. I picked up this inspired piece for £2 in a charity shop, and I love the look it gives layered over this H&M Divided Yellow Polo neck (here). Yellow is a colour that always (well more recently anyway) has been featured in their shows, so I knew I wanted to incorporate it in some way. The colour also pairs beautifully with both the red and green tartan, which I tied in together (literally and metaphorically) with my yellow O Ring belt.

For even more boldness I decided to rock red coloured tights, which are actually inspired by the previous Spring Summer Versace runway - with the three head too toe one colour looks. (Which, once the weather warms up, I hope to do a #RunwayToMyWay on very soon). Whilst still on the subject of accessories I decided to tie an old head scarf around my waist, head scarfs were a massive feature of this show so I decided to incorporate one in a less standard way. To finish the look off I threw on a pair of heeled calf length boots, the black contrasted the red tights perfectly and added more of that preppy school girl edge that I had seen on the show.

So that is it for my first ever #RunwayToMyWay! I really enjoyed doing this, and it just goes to show that you can create a super cool designer inspired look on a teeny tiny fraction of the price. I can't wait too do more of these, and show what runways are really inspiring me. I hope that some of you will be inspired to also try this out! I will follow the hashtag just in case anyone does. But for now that's me over and out,

XOXO, EMMA 

An Outcast Fairy

Hello, Hello! 

Today we are taking a trip down my creative mythical side of my brain to bring you this super fun and colourful fairy concept shoot. When I was on one of my walks I found this spot and the look and theme just instantly came to mind, so I ran home got all my stuff together, makeup props and outfit - and returned to shoot it in that same day. So, here is the photo-set and the story alongside with it. 

This is the visual story of a lost fairy who has lost her wings because she rebelled and was outcast. She is a spoiled teenager who had everything handed to her, but now she has to work everything out for herself and learn how to be appreciative. This old tree truck is the portal in which she has come into the human realm, lost and unable to use her powers. 

All she has is her spell book and crystal but they have lost their charge, and she has lost her powers. She has to learn the value of respect, and until then she is banished here until she can learn, and her parents thought there was no better place for her to learn this than from than the humans. Here she still thinks her family are going to come and get here - like they always have in the past so she is bored and waiting to be brought home. At this point she doesn't understand the seriousness of the situation, she's just annoyed. 

Now she is super bored of waiting, and it's starting to hit here that she isn't getting the help that she always used to. Her guard is starting to come down as she realises that she has pushed them too far this time. As she comes from a wealthy high societal family, she didn't get the attention and love she felt she deserved from her family. They used money and possessions to show their affection,  but in retrospect this just made her crave their attention more and more, and she decided that bad attention was better than none. But now she's alone and has to find her way back to explain to her parents how she feels. 

Now she's returned to the portal where she came from and is wishing and hoping that her parents can see what they did and why she acted the way she did, as she struggles to find her way back, but is also deciding if that is even the place where she belongs. 

So, that was my fairy concept photoshoot, I adored doing this. Getting into the character, getting really into the shoot and covered in dirt, it was so much fun and I want to try and do more shoots likes this. The location was just perfect and I couldn't miss shooting in it, and I am so glad I did. These turned out perfect, exactly as I hoped they was. Photo credits go to my Mum (she is honestly the best), and the makeup, styling, and theme was all brought to you by my little brain. I hope you all love this as much as me! These are honestly my favourite photos to date, and I love my little story I have alongside them. 

XOXO, EMMA. 

Strawberry Fields Forever

Aloha! Today I felt like combining two of my favourite things for this post, fashion and The Beetles. The people who know me IRL, will know that my favourite band of all time is the Beetles, I am a full on die hard fan. From the early to the late work (although I am more into the later stuff). There music is timeless and never fails to make me smile. I don't have a favourite album, I'm more about a certain collection: The Magical mystery Tour, The Yellow Submarine & Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. All released in between 67&69 these albums have my heart. They are fun, experimental, silly, psychedllic and bold in such an unapologetic way.

So for today's look and today's edits I decided to go for a bold fun colour blocking look. I am wearing my favourite denim pinafore / dungaree dress. This piece was thrifted, and I cannot seem to find a similar dupe anywhere that is in stock. This is the closest I've found but is out of stock :(. Underneath is a super cute green and blue striped polo, which you can find pretty much everywhere. To add the pop of yellow (bright primary colours are always something I associate with The Yellow Submarine, especially yellow!) I matched my Dr Martens with my cardigan. I topped the look of in the most appropriate way with my strawberry hat (hence the title of this post), a chunky red belt and a rainbow beaded necklace. Most of these items you can pick up pretty easily if you keep an eye out in your local charity shops and vintage shops (as I always do!) Unfortunately I don't have many dupes for my items today, sorry about that!

Edited by Sophie Donoghue @ Step Drop Media (here)

I feel like my attitude towards fashion and style is very familiar to The Beetles with their music. I love to have fun and be bold and I definitely don't care too much about what people think. I draw inspiration from everywhere, but I do think the beetles will always be one of my biggest inspirations. One of the biggest things that they taught me is just to have fun! Don't take life to seriously, and their music always reminds me to just be myself. But another part of them that I associate so fondly with is how they were constantly changing and evolving in style, music and fashion wise. They never stuck to one thing, which is certainly something that can be said for my style I can jump from one thing to another each day depending on my mood - you will not find a consistent style here I'm afraid! Combing my love for music & fashion together is one of my favourite things to do, and there will be more to come so watch this space!  I would also like to take this time to talk about Steep Drop Media Collective, my best friend start this creative group which I am more than proud to be a part of you. You will find parts of her work, be it edits or photography dotted about on my blog with the links provided. We plan to have a lot more fun and quirky colllaborations coming up so watch this space, and go give her page a follow here  The content is worth the follow, I promise. But for now that's me over and out,

XOXO, EMMA.

The Colour CLASH

Hello everyone! As I said in my previous post this is part two - in today's look I am styling 4 pieces that I got when thrifting. A hat, top, pair of jeans and a coat. The only thing that isn't thrifted is the boots! I could've done a complete lookbook featuring all the items but in all honesty there would be way too many looks for one post! Instead what I have decided to do on my blog is to show how good sustainable shopping is by featuring at least one item of clothing or accessory that is second hand in each look (which isn't even a challenge really). I want to show how with the right styling, and the right attitude you can be the trendiest person walking the streets and no one would batter an eyelid - in fact when I wear my second hand ensembles that is when I get the most compliments! Alongside the posts I am going to be linking similar items to ones I am styling that are on the high street - to prove that you can find the top high street trends at a fraction of the price! But for the items that aren't dupe-able - well it reinforces how special the whole experience is/items are. SO without further ado lets get into the look.

So let's start from the top with the red felt beret. These are literally everywhere - you can pick them up in near enough any popular high street brand and they are identical. This one only cost me £2. Which is probably well under half of what you'd pay new. HOWEVER if you must there is one in the zara sale for £3.99 here.  You can find these so easily so I would definitely recommend keeping an eye out as they are such a key trend at the moment.

Let's move down to the top, I wanted to keep in touch with the Parisian style so opted for a black and white striped smock style top. Originally from Zara but I paid £1.99 for it. Stripes are classic - and are always in fashion. But I liked the smock style as it made it a bit different. This one from Asos is the most similar I have found here. As well as the beret striped tops are some of the easiest things to thrift, and you can pick up some pretty unique styles as well.

So my personal favourite thing about this look at the cropped kick flare high waisted jeans. I almost squealed when I found them, and I did squeal when I tried them on and they fitted perfectly once I got home. These jeans are a prime example of looking at other sizes, these are a size 16 but because they are retro / vintage they run smaller much more like a UK 14. These are such a stylish piece, and I am still utterly obsessed with red (as you can tell). So these turned out to be my favourite purchase - mainly because I know I'll get so much ware out of them. I found quite a few similar pairs while having a browse. These are in the sale on H&M of £17.99 here. There are also a pair of weekday one's in the sale for £20 on ASOS if you'd rather have a higher quality jean here. I really wanted to go all out RED as I am an all or nothing gal and I love the effect that wearing these pointed red kitten heel boots have given, super fun and different. These are old season Primark but these are only £9.99 in the Zara sale! (Lord Bless January sales).

The final thing -and probably the biggest bargain of the century is this Made in England vintage Sherpa coat. It has real leather details, in near perfect condition and cost me the mere amount of £1.99! Can you even believe that? They were only just ticketing the item and I grabbed it before it even touched the shop floor. Later on the manager said it was a trainee that priced it up, and if i hadn't of got it they would've priced it a lot higher, so what a score. I researched it and they are selling for between £60-100. SO if that's your game, buying to sell - then keep them eyes peeled. This is one of those items which I can't seem to find a close dupe for, bu the teddy bear style is absolutely everywhere this season, with big fluffy coats being a massive trend. So I've managed to bag a true vintage piece that is still very current and trendy, that is one of a kind.

So if I haven't managed to sell you on thrift shopping these past two posts then I don't know what will! But you will for sure see more thrifting related content and images on my blog, I'm thinking of doing a 'where to thrift' post in the near future talking about all the different ways to shop sustain-ably so keep your eyes peeled for that if you're interested!

XOXO, EMMA