The Wizard Of Oz

I was watching this film the other week, and I was reminded about how beautiful is. The colours in Oz are so vibrant, and the costumes are fantastic, and it got me inspired to write a blog post inspired by the film. I started out just wanting to recreate Dorothy's iconic outfit, but then I found inspiration in a few other places, and here are the results!
I've linked most of the items included in these outfits underneath each outfit. If you want to see the full list of items then you can find all of these outfits on my Polyvore page.

Glinda by floral-mess

This first look is inspired by Glinda, the good witch, who wore my favourite costume from this movie, and possibly one of my favourite costumes from any movie. It must've weighed a ton! Glinda's dress is pretty much how I longed to dress every day for the rest of my life when I was about 6 years old.

Items included:
Dress from New Look / £55.00
Oxford Shoes from Splendid / £62.00
Earrings from Accessorize / £3.00
Bracelets from Dorothy Perkins / £15.00

Wicked Witch by floral-mess

The wicked witch had the right idea (in terms of fashion mind you, a little less so in terms of morals) - after all, black is always in fashion. I do think the hat was a bit of a fashion faux pas though - it's just for decoration on here, but you can try and rock it if you're a fan of pointy headgear. Green body paint is also optional.

Items included:
Dress from House Of Fraser / £22.00
Heels from Macy's / £23.00
Skull Ring from Topshop / £8.50
Flower Ring from Etsy / £7.60
Studded Clutch from Awear / £20.00
Nail Polish from SpaRitual / £7.60

Emerald City by floral-mess

This one is a little more abstract, but hey, how often do you see outfits with generous lashings of emerald green in them? Not often enough, I think. Emerald was voted 2013's colour of the year by Pantone, so maybe you'll be seeing a lot more of it this year. The land of Oz itself is so vibrant and colourful in the movie that I thought it deserved an outfit of its own.

Items included:
Jumper from Romwe / £39.00

Jeans from Miss Selfridge / £43.00
Beanie from Allsaints / £35.00
Nail Polish from NARS / £14.00

Dorothy by floral-mess

And last but definitely not least... well, I couldn't resist. Dorothy's outfit is so iconic that I don't doubt many a fashion blogger before me has taken inspiration from it, but I still felt I had to put my own little spin on it. I had to include some ruby red heels, perfect for walking down your own yellow brick road in.

Items included:

Dress from General Pants Co. / £60.00
Blouse from Monki / £12.00
Shoes from Steve Madden / £34.00
Necklace from ASOS / £18.00
Bag from Forever 21 / £16.00
Nail Polish from OPI / £16.00
Socks from Opening Ceremony / £13.00

Do you like posts that are a little more like these? It was so much fun putting this together!

Thank you so much, as ever, for reading. Until next time, keep following that yellow brick road.

Featured in Links á la Mode!

Hi there, everybody! I was thrilled to find this week that my post on the top trends of 2012 had been selected for IFB's January 17th Links á la Mode round up post. This is the first time I've ever been chosen and I admit there was a small amount of chair-dancing done in celebration. Here it is - check it out if you haven't already done so.

Looking Forward 

Edited by: Emily of Sugar and Spice

We’re already halfway through the first month of 2013 but that doesn’t mean bloggers aren’t still in reflective mode: creating resolutions for the coming year and looking to up-coming trends, whilst also looking back on the trends of 2012. There’s also a reflective element in many of the posts this week over blogging and how that might change over the coming year, not just on a personal level but more generally too. There’s also a good dose of travel inspired posts this week for those who are trying to beat the January blues and jet off somewhere sunny. And if you’re not jetting off somewhere away from the cold, make sure to check out the great how to layer below:

LINKS À LA MODE: THE IFB WEEKLY ROUND UP: JANUARY 17TH

Aesthete: Fashion vs Style: Who’s Your Icon?

A Brit Greek: The Ultimate Guide to Finding Perfect Jeans

Avenue M: My Wardrobe Storage and Decorating Ideas
Bougeotte: The New Way to Colorblock
Chocolate Sarcasm: To Do 2013
Fashion On The Line: London Snow Fashion
Floral Mess: Top Trends of 2012
Fly Songbird: Not Doing It For Free
Hopeless Anorak: The Wonder of Marc Jacobs – Can Fashion Talk?
House of Modern Vintage: Travelling in Style
IFB: The Best Tips For Part-Time Bloggers
Incognito: Interview Greta Miliani Italian Blogger
Lifestyles of the Thrifty and Shameless: Savin’ Maven Monday: Packing for Roadtrip
Moi Minnie: 2013
Of Mice and Trend: Simple Winter Layering
Secret Style File: Mad For Monochrome
Style, Saran-Wrapped: Not Colors
Stylonylon: The Anxiety of Blogging – Can You Feel It?
Sugar and Spice: Who Do You Dress For?
We Are The Market: Insiders Guide to Berlin
Youth Savage: The Re-design Issue Part 2: Ethics

Lots of love and lipstick kisses,

Top Trends Of 2012

This year has been pretty hectic for me so far, and I apologise for letting my blog suffer for it a little bit, but things, including my posting frequency, should go back to normal by the end of January. Now, 2012 was a great year for fashion. For me it's the first year I've been properly integrated into the fashionverse, through starting this blog. This post is a little reminder of some of my favourite popular trends of the year!

1. Studs & Spikes

Images: Frankie Morello A/W 2012 / Quiz

Adding a little bit of edgy detail to an outfit really took off last year. I've mentioned in previous posts how much I love studs and spikes, so I kind of hope this is a trend that sticks around for a while longer!

2. Baroque
Images: Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2012 Runway

Baroque print was a very popular choice for adding some sophisticated glamour to clothing both on the runway and in highstreet shops. I love it on dresses, it just adds a very royal, elegant touch.

3. Military
Images: Burberry Prorsum Fall 2012 Runway

I've previously dedicated an entire post to this trend, which should speak volumes about how much I adore it. Camouflage print, khaki and combat boots were all in trend in 2012, and can add a bit of kickass chic to an outfit.

4. Oxblood
Images: Nina Ricci Fall 2012 Runway, Christian Siriano Fall 2012 Runway

This dark red hue was THE colour of autumn 2012. I particularly remember there being a lot of love for Alexa Chung's head-to-toe oxblood look. This colour is classy, suits a lot of different skintones, and happens to goes well with pretty much every other trend on this list.

5. Black Leather
Images: Valentino Fall 2012 Runway / Topshop
Leather has never really been out of style but in 2012 it was cropping up everywhere you can think of - including on shorts, on the sleeves of military-style jackets, and in the form of leather-look jeans. This is a really great trend because it goes with almost anything!

Are there any fashion trends of 2012 you loved that I've missed? What were your favourites?
Let's hope that this year will hold some exciting new fashion trends too.

Studded Boots

This Christmas was the best one yet.

...Okay, I say that every year. But it's always true! I just love Christmas, and the magic surrounding it is very much still there for me. This year I spent a lot of time with my family, which was so much fun, and I also received some really lovely presents. I'm not going to do one of those haul posts, because they seem a tad showoff-y to me (sorry to anyone reading this who's done one!), I'm just going to write about one of my presents which I was very excited about; a pair of studded boots.

Please excuse the phone photo, but EEEK aren't they so cute?! You can find them here.
They inspired me to do a round-up of other cute pairs of studded boots (all of which are under £60).

Items featured:

1. Debenhams / £40.00

2. Office / £35.00
3. Boohoo / £20.00
4. New Look / £39.99
5. New Look / £59.99
6. River Island / £20.00
7. ASOS / £48.50

Do you have a love for studded things too? Would you wear studded boots? Please share!

I should also mention that in-keeping with the somewhat cleaner look to my blog, I decided that I need to cut down on the length of my blog post titles too. Expect more two-worded post titles and a lot less ones that would almost take up a full tweet.

Hope you're loving 2013 so far! Best wishes.

5 Fashion New Year Resolutions

Welcome to my first blog post of 2013, and the end of my blogging hiatus!
Usually, I'm pretty good with my new year's resolutions, mostly because I either set realistically easy-to-accomplish ones or I don't set them at all. This year I thought I'd go with the former option, and because I've enjoyed fashion blogging a lot these past few months, I thought I'd make them all fashion-related. So, I present to you my fashion resolutions for 2013.

#1. Have a proper closet clean out
I recently became aware of the fact that my wardrobe is full. I realised this as I was desperately trying to cram a pair of leggings onto an already full clothes rack. I confirmed that I definitely need to have a closet clean out when I found a top that was for ages 13-14. I am 17 years old. Yikes. So, my resolution is to look through the whole of my wardrobe and get rid of the items I never wear or don't fit me properly. I plan on filling big charity bag with my old clothes and possibly saving an item or two in case I want to try a DIY project.

#2. Buy less fashion fads, and more classically stylish items

I think I've been pretty good throughout 2012 in not buying into fleeting fashion trends too much, but I'm making it an official resolution of mine this year. My goal is to buy less of these fads and more items which never seem to go out of style. This would save money, and would also mean less need for closet clean outs in the future!

#3. Try out some DIY tutorials
This is pretty simple. I've seen lots of easy DIY tutorials that I wanted to try but never got round to it, so my resolution is to try out one or two of them. In a lot of cases putting in a bit of work can save money too, which is a bonus.

#4. Learn how to sew better
I can sew, but not very well, so I'd like to learn how to do it a little better. Sewing is a skill which can easily fix a lot of fashion problems, such as buttons falling off or small rips in fabric. Plus, it's just a good general life skill to know.

#5. Stay the same dress size
I am currently a UK dress size 10, which makes me somewhere in the middle of being curvy and slim. I'm at a healthy weight now, so I'm not particularly bothered about losing weight, although some of my jeans are a little tight right now so I could probably do with losing a couple of pounds. My goal for this year is to stay the same dress size, so that I won't have to buy a load of new clothes in a different size because my current wardrobe is too tight or too loose for me!

Do you have any fashion-related new year resolutions for 2013? Please share!

Thank you for bearing with me through this blogging hiatus. I am so so grateful for all returning readers of this blog, and I hope that I'll be writing another set of resolutions for my blog this time next year.
Much love,