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Tuesday 22 January 2013

What To Wear To...A Winter Graduation

My sincerest apologies for my recent absence from the blogsphere! Life has been totally hectic since my return from holiday. I started my internship this week after 3 months of working from home (largely in my pjs!!) so am struggling to get back into the swing of things.

Anyway, yesterday marked an important milestone in my life (and one which if I'm honest, I didn't think I would reach!) - my Master's Graduation! After what was quite possibly the hardest and most miserable year of my academic life, I somehow managed to pass and live to tell the tale! I knew that this graduation would differ quite a bit from my undergrad graduation in many ways but as usual, my main concern was with the weather. Dressing for a summer graduation is definitely a piece of cake in comparison to dressing for winter, particular one which has for the last couple of weeks been referred to a the big freeze! It took my half an hour yesterday morning to dig the car out of the inches of 'light snow,' I dread to thing how bad it must have been for those coming from outside of London. But like true troopers, everyone managed to beat the weather, looked lovely and it was a fab day overall! See below for what I wore...

Winter Graduation...

My top tips for dressing for a winter graduation:
  • Tights are a must, even nude ones. It is just not practical to be walking around outside in -1Âșc temperatures without tights! (...at least not anymore :-D!)
  • A good pair of ankle boots or shoe boots keep the feet warm while still looking professional. I lost count of the amount of ankle boots I saw yesterday!
  • If you follow the above tips then with dresses/skirts, anything goes. You might not want to go for sleeveless if you get cold however, it is important to remember that it can get pretty heated under the gowns so if your a naturally hot person go for comfort. I am a naturally cold person so a 3/4 length cottony dress (above) was the perfect amount of coverage for me. It was also a bargain at only £15 from Dorothy Perkins in the sales!
  • This is really a minor but don't forget to consider the colour of your gown when picking your colours. Our gowns were green and black so I went for teal to complement it.
Have you got any tips for professional winter attire? Let me know!!!
Ciao for now ;-) HMLDN xx

Friday 4 January 2013

From Catwalk to High Street: Black and White

Happy Friday everyone! Today I've got a fab trend alert for you! After a warm-coloured winter of oxbloods and purples, black and white is officially back as a trend for Spring 2013 (not that it really went away!). Seen on the catwalks of designers such as Mark Jacobs, Jill Sander and Ralph Lauren, this spring's monochrome look is all about stark contrast - less polka dot and more colour block (though of course polka dots are not to be ignore!). Black and white is definitely one of my favourite combinations, although in writing this, it has come to my attention that I have seriously been neglecting it recently. So what better a reason to riffle through the wardrobes for your favourite black and white items and accessories and play them of each other in stark opposition!
Michael Kors
Narciso Rodriquez
Marc Jacobs
(Images: Style.com)
Black and white combinations are literally endless! Stripes, colour blocking, prints, spots - anything can be used to create a stunning monochrome look. For a simple but eye catching look, why not try teaming a plain black top with plain white bottoms (skirt, trousers whatever!) or visa versa. With black and white being wardrobe staples for most, this is definitely one of the easier trends to try out this spring! But if you do fancy adding a few extra items to your black and white collection, see below for some fab bargains!


Attack of the Black...and White















What do you think of the black and white trend? Will you be trying it out? Let me know!!!!
Ciao for now ;-) HMLDN xx

Tuesday 1 January 2013

My New Year's Style Resolution - Bold Accessories

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope you had a fab time celebrating the end of 2012 and the start of 2013! I am soooo excited about the New Year; graduation is in a couple of weeks, I start my new internship shortly and I've got a few christening and a wedding to look forward later in the year. Although there are lots of exciting things to look forward to, my favourite part of entering a New Year has still got to be New Year Resolutions. As someone who is obsessed with self-reflection and self-assessment, the New Year is the perfect time to self-assess and reflect, work on what you could have done better and continue to do things which were successful.

This kind of self-assessment can totally be applied to your wardrobe too and there is no better time than the start of a New Year with a wardrobe re-assessment and clear out! What worked for you last year? What didn't look so good or didn't suit you? Do you have a look you would like to try out? All these questions (and many more) can really help to mould your personal style while keeping the emphasis on you and not only on trends. It can definitely be difficult to avoid jumping on every trend that comes out regardless of whether or not they are suited to your look, personality, body shape etc...There are always ways to adapt trends to your personal style and a good wardrobe self-assessment can definitely put you in the right mind set to be able to do this. 

Although I won't be able to do a full wardrobe assessment until I get home, I have set myself one cost-effective and much needed New Year's style resolution for 2013: Focus on accessories. In particularly jewellery (minus earrings, of which I already have too many!) which can totally change the mood and styling of an outfit in a minute. I am seriously lacking in necklaces and bracelets, especially coloured ones (I have loads of gold and silver) and will focus my attention on building up a more versatile collection. Any trends that I feel particularly enthusiastic about, I will try to integrate them into my wardrobe through accessories and hopefully save myself much needed money and wardrobe space!

Here are a few things I have my eye on...

Into 2013...

What are your New Year's style resolutions? Let me know!!!
Ciao for now ;-) HMLDN xx