BAM Bamboo Clothing

I'm a bit of an online shopping geek - it comes with the occupation unfortunately. So I love it when brands launch new websites or new ways to shop. BAM Bamboo Clothing have just done exactly that. With their new mobile site from MoPowered. Visitng their site from a mobile or tablet, the site automatically optimizes itself to make your shopping experience as easy and pleasurable as possible

BAM make Eco-friendly and ethically made bamboo clothing. Having never worn bamboo clothing before I wasn't really sure what to expect. But when I received a bamboo vest and pair of socks from BAM I was more than impressed. As well as feeling really comfortable to wear and lovely and soft, I was reliably informed that they are also temperature controlled, anti-bacterial, anti-static and UV protective. Multi tasking clothing - I like it! I'm actually wearing their Bamboo vest today, so I'll maybe squeeze in a wee outfit post later to show you. It's a really flattering shape and sure to be one I wear with everything! In fact I might need to invest in more colours too.

Have a look at the BAM website and let me know what you think!


*PR sample

Project Perfect

When the gorgeous Sarah from Fashion is my H2O told me about her new Project Perfect mission I couldn't wait to get involved. Her aim is to make all of us feel gorgeous no matter what size we are. Each week she has 6 bloggers all in different sizes from 6 to 16, and each person styles that week's selected item of clothing in their own way that makes them feel body confident and happy in their own skin. It's such a fab project and shows that we really don't all need to fit in to a particular shape or size in order to be beautiful.

This week's challenge was to style a blazer. And here's what I wore!

Blazer - River Island

Shorts - vintage

Top - Primark

Shoes - Topshop

Necklace - Fossil

Each of the other bloggers look amazing in their blazers, what a gorgeous bunch! Have a look at Sarah's fab blog here.

 

What I wore to the Scottish Fashion Awards

I was lucky enough to be invited along to the Scottish Fashion Awards on Monday night with the beautiful Lisa from Juicy Satsuma. We had an amazing night of celeb spotting and, more to the point, fabulous outfit spotting!

The problem with being invited to an event like this - with the cream of the crop of the Scottish fashion world in attendance - is picking just what to wear! Getting the right balance between staying true to your own style, being a bit fashion forward, but not looking too try-hard is no easy feat! So I decided to follow my favourite mantra WWKD (what would Kate do) and recycled an old favourite. I last wore this Mint Velvet dress when we had a housewarming after our big move earlier this year and I decided it had the right amount of sparkle and high-end-high-street for the fashion awards. I teamed it with my new favourite Moda in Pelle shoes (they're so amazing they may even deserve their own post at a later date) and my ever faithful New Look blazer toned down the sequins a touch. I kept the jewellery minimal with just a long beaded necklace from Oasis.

Outfit picked, the next challenge was the hair and make up transformation, as us girls know, we don't wake up looking this gorgeous. Here's a wee selection of the products I used on the night, and a wee mid-makeover shot - including one remaining trusty Velcro roller!

When we arrived at the awards our first stop was the VIP red carpet to do some papping (next time we'll remember the step ladders like the pros). Unfortunately we missed Alexa in her Christopher Kane dress and the gorgeous David Gandy. But we did manage some shots of some legends while we were there. Brix Smith-Start was her usual eccentric self sporting a statement Louise Gray dress with a graduated hem. The designer herself then made an appearance in some rather fabulous clashing prints and a dash of neon hairspray!

Designer of the year Christopher Kane was rather dashing in his studded shirt. I later discovered I was sitting beside his partner Declan during the awards show, something I was rather chuffed about until I told my husband and he replied with "who's Christopher Kane?" don't worry I'll be giving him an education pronto!! Scottish model of the year Tali Lennox was stunning in the flesh, and her dress was gorgeous. But the tiny catch we noticed in the skirt of her dress certainly helped bring her back down to being just a mere mortal!

The awards were amazing as you can imagine, with musical performances, fashion shows and Alexa was a charming and funny host. For more info on the actual awards, including the performances and who won what, check out the gust post Lisa and I did on Mabel's Log. It has all the important details you need! After the show we had a bit of fun with in the photo booth in the foyer of the Armadillo. Looks like we still need some practice before they'll nominate us for model of the year. All in all we had a brilliant night, we left the boys at home watching the football while we indulged in all things beautiful and fashionable, bliss!! And who says you need to be a VIP to get a freebie? Every seat had a bottle of Highland Spring water waiting for us, yip, my life is just a blur of glitz and glamour!

Here comes the high street bride

A while back I blogged about the impending Richard Nicoll bridal collection for Topshop. As you can see, here, I wasn't too convinced by the idea. Much as I love Nicoll's designs, and much as I love Topshop, who doesn't?? I just wasn't convinced that the collection would be aisle worthy. Well today the first images of the collection were released.

The collection consists of 7 dresses, all priced between £75 and £350. He's named the collection Tie The Knot (cute!) and the dresses are really beautiful. However as someone who dreamed of, and had the perfect fairytale wedding (don't worry, no Katie Price style carriages were harmed in the making of my wedding!) I can't help feeling they're just not special enough. They'd make really lovely bridesmaid dresses, or even wedding guest outfits, but I just don't know that they stand the test of time as the most important dress of your life. Here's every dress in the collection...

£350

£200

£170

£200

£75

£350

£170

What do you think? Would you wear any of the dresses for your big day?

Bank holiday shoe porn

Happy bank holiday Monday folks! It seems like the whole world is off today apart from me. I really should stay off Facebook and Twitter on days like today. It only depresses me hearing everyone talking about still being in bed at midday and all the fun/lazy things they're doing with their day off while I slave away at my desk.

So to cheer myself up, I've been having a lunchtime perv over these Balmain beauties on the Stylebop website. With a brass python detailed toe and heel trim plus a super high stiletto heel they're my new favourites...for today anyway. Just a shame they are a wee bit out of my budget at £1,054!! Swoon….

Outfit of the weekend

Not really an outfit of the day as technically I wore this on Saturday night, it's clearly just taken me this long to feel back to my non-tired self....I think I might be getting too old for this party lifestyle! Hubby and I threw a wee casino themed housewarming party for our friends on Saturday night. The dress code was "casino chic" surprisingly enough it was dreamt up by him and not me! I took full advantage of the theme though and dug out my favourite sequinned dress.

I actually bought the dress last year for my hen party from Mint Velvet. They've done a similar style this year, but I've got to admit I prefer last years... luckily enough seen as that's the one I own! I teamed the dress with some old favourite snake print platform heels from New Look and some new jewellery from M&Co.

I didn't actually win anything on the night, but when the gambling moved from the poker table to the Singstar I couldn't have cared less about the prize money!

Topshop bridal

I got married last summer, which therefore means I should never look longingly at another wedding dress (or man for that matter!) for the rest of my life, right? However I'm also a female who grew up on Disney films, so the site of all that tulle and embellishment is always going to get my heart beating a little bit faster.

I couldn't help myself getting a little excited last week when I heard that Topshop were bringing out a bridal collection designed by the fabulous Richard Nicoll. Unfortunately there's no sign of any pictures of the collection yet though so we'll all need to imagine what the designs will be like until they are released in June.

I'm not going to lie, when I first read the news I did get some terrifying Britney, Christina and Madonna style images in my head. How can a company as trend led and fashion forward as Topshop design wedding dresses that will last the distance and still look as elegant in 20 years time as they do today?

Eeeeeeek!

But then with designs that are as sleek, sophisticated and classic as Nicoll's SS12 collection surely they couldn't go too far wrong?

The jury's out until the designs are revealed in June, but with prices from £70 to £495 and a fan base as massive as Topshop's there's bound to be a queue at the door waiting for their high street wedding dresses. What do you think? Would you go high street for your wedding dress?

Lulu Guinness collection for Uniqlo

Oooh I love it when Uniqlo launches a new collaboration! I thought I couldn't get much more excited than I was when I saw their fabulous Barbie collection a few weeks ago….that was until I set eyes on the new Lulu Guinness collection…

What's not to love about Lulu Guinness? Feminine, kitsch, fun, glamorous, I could go on. So at a bargainous £12.90 I'm definitely setting my sights on a few of the fab t-shirts from the newly launched range.

With cute cat prints, classic cameo designs and lots of the gorgeous drawings that the designer is so renowned for, it's hard to pick a favourite. I think the pale grey style with the sweet "put on your pearls girls" design and drawn on pearl necklace has my name written all over it though.

Do you have a favourite style? Which of the Uniqlo collaborations has been your favourite?

Casual midweek shoe porn

Happy Friday Eve folks, I hope you're all enjoying a cheeky wee four day week??

As Monday was Easter and therefore we were all off work and stuffing our faces with lots of lovely chocolate, I didn't really think there was much need for some shoe porn to cheer us up....although it never really goes wrong to be fair.

Midweek in a four day week however there's a definite need for some shiny new shoe delights to brighten our day. These little Kurt Geiger beauties did the trick for me in a post work online window shop sesh! I say window shop as, yes, the spending ban is still in place. I fear it may be there until I'm 80!

Ok so at £150 they're not the cheapest trainers I've ever owned, but just look at how studded and lovely they are. Generally speaking I'm not really good at the whole casual dressing thing, I feel much more at home in a dress and heels than I do in jeans and some cons. But I think this amazing Lumiere style bridges the gap somewhere between "casual and comfy" and "stylish and fierce"!

What do you think? They're probably wardrobe essentials really aren't they??

Anyone for afternoon tea?

Last week my husband and I moved house, it's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, hence the lack of blogs recently. Well that and the fact that we STILL don't have internet in the house. I'm getting some serious withdrawal symptoms from social media and draw something!!

So today was my first day back at work after a week and a half off. Sad as it is to say, I think I was ready to go back to work. There's only so much daytime tv and payday loans adverts my brain can take!

However one perk of a week of This Morning viewing was discovering this little beauty from George at Asda.

Designed by the winner of Graduate Fashion Week's "People's Choice Award" Le Thuy Le Thi, this gorgeous chiffon dress with blue embroidery jumped straight to the top of my shopping wish list as soon as it was featured on the show. I'd already styled it in my head, and picked the perfect red heels to wear with it. When the price was revealed at just £18 I was hooked! Apparently I wasn't the only one though as I now can't find my size in stock anywhere!

No wonder it's a sell out though, the flattering tea dress shape and chiffon sleeves cover a multitude of sins. And the gorgeous blue floral embroidery is inspired by oriental pottery and afternoon tea….only my favourite meal of the day!!

Rumour has it Asda are expecting more stock of the dress so I'll be checking the site and my local store like a crazy person. What do you think of the dress? Are you one of the lucky ones who've snapped it up already??

Time for bed?

I have a confession to make, I have a real issue with people wearing their pyjamas outside. Don't get me wrong I've done the odd picking someone up from the train station or driving to a friend's house in my jammies. But the number of people (women if I'm honest) I see every day out and about in them really infuriates me. Please tell me I'm not alone in this rage??

However I think it's time I got down off my high horse and explored this sleepwear as day-wear trend...

Pyjama pants were all over the catwalks and are now all over our high streets, so maybe it's about time I took the plunge. I've had a wee nosey around and picked out some of my favourites. I think they'd look great styled with some fab heels, a blazer and a bright white t-shirt for an easy summer look, just steer clear of the slippers and coordinating teddy bear!

Oasis £45

Warehouse £39

Warehouse currently on sale from £50 down to £30

Whistles £125 (Good luck finding a pair though!)

Zara £25.99

So what do you think of pyjama trousers? Will you be wearing them and how will you be styling them? Personally I'm loving the sale bargain of the Warehouse floral lovelies could they be an investment summer buy perhaps?

Monday shoe porn

So this week my best friend and I booked tickets for the upcoming Louboutin exhibition that starts in the design museum in London this May. I'm so excited about it, although worried I'll end up leaving with an overwhelming urge to spend hundreds of pounds on a pair of the red soled lovelies.

Anyway in tribute this week's shoe porn is dedicated to the inimitable Mr Louboutin. I hope these brighten your day as they did mine! Happy Monday!

Asteroid suede and patent leather pumps £945

Devidas embellished Suede pumps £1,650

Fifi leopard print sequin pumps £945

Sexy strass Swarovski crystal pumps £2,095

All of the above are available at Net-A-Porter if you're lucky enough to be able to afford them...

Do you love a Louboutin? Which ones are your favourites?

Monday shoe porn

So, as anyone who knows me could tell you, shoes are my weakness! Open any cupboard door or drawer in my house and you're sure to find some shoes. So what better way to brighten up a grey Monday than with some shoe porn??

These glittery little beauties are Marc by Marc Jacobs.

In real life I hate rodents... seriously hate them, the thought of them gives me shivers...but in dream shoe world how adorable are the wee mouse faces on these?! Plus they're practical (a girl can never have too many ballet pumps!), sparkly, cute, what's not to love? And they're a total bargain at £220.....ahem! Even a wee lunchtime perv over them on the Harvey Nic's website brightened up my day today. I hope they did the same for you, what do you think?? Do you love them too?

Marni for H&M

What will you be doing this Thursday morning? I know what I'll be doing, fighting to get on to H&M's website to bag myself some of the new Marni for H&M range.

I always have mixed feelings about designer and high street collaborations. Usually when they first come out I'm totally drawn in and obsessed with them but a few weeks later I'm left wondering what all the fuss was about. Case in point the first Versace collection for H&M last year, so tacky it was almost tasteful! I don't really see those studded leggings and tropical prints being wardrobe staples in the long term though....

But the Marni collection has some style classics that I could see having pride of place in my wardrobe for quite some time, especially some of the accessories (my weakness!) with a real sixties feel to the range, it's pretty timeless.

Some of my favourites...

The amazing studded collars, totally torn between the black and the white!

The chunky ribbed leggings, they'd go with EVERYTHING!

Some of the lustworthy prints, I think I might need them all. And I definitely need to book a holiday so I can wear the fab frill trimmed swimsuit.

So what do you think? Will you be joining me on Thursday morning refreshing your browser like a mad woman?