Monday 30 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY NINE



DAY TWENTY NINE: Neon friendship bracelet, Daniela Sigurd 


My new obsession with neon has been well documented over the last thirty days but I thought as I'm coming to the end of this edition, it would only be right to try and squeeze in one more little bit in the form of this bracelet. 


As you might've noticed from the daily photos, I wear a stack of bracelets on my right wrist every day. I never take them off until generally they fall off, just adding and adding. It got to a point last summer where I was wearing about 30, many of them random bits of string and I had to edit down, so I chose to go for a monochrome look with just one green Daisy Knights skull. 


However, now that summer is around the corner, I've decided that maybe it's time to add some colour, starting with this neon pink feather friendship bracelet from Daniela Sigurd. The second I saw her collection, it was pure and utter lust. The simple gold and silver charms are all threaded on colourful adjustable strings and at only £10, I've had to restrain myself from snapping up every combination going.


You can pick up one from Fashionbloodhound.com
 

Worn with [left to right]: Skull bracelet, Links of London; Silver buddha bauble, ChloBo; Woven diamente, Urban Outfitters; Black crystal, Olivia Rubin for ChloBo; Skull on green cord, Daisy Knights; Silver bead bracelets, ChloBo; Black braid with gold A, Urban Outfitters; Black woven crystals, H Samuel.

Thursday 26 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY EIGHT


DAY TWENTY EIGHT: Oversized shirt, Asos

Apologies for the lack of post the last few days, I have been somewhat overwhelmed with my regular work life (it's press day season) which means that rather than sitting at my desk, I have been running around town looking at what brands have to offer for next season. If you follow me on twitter [@adulescent], you'll have seen my favourite pieces from my rounds.

Yesterday was another one of those days of appointments, not helped by the fact that the rain was absolutely hammering down and there were gale force winds battering us from every angle.  I've taken to the belief that the wetter it is, the more important it is to wear as little as possible on your bottom half (avoiding backsplash and puddles) and as many thin layers as possible on the top half - there is nothing worse than overheating in a chunky jumper that you can't take off.

I've had this oversized white shirt from Asos kicking around in my wardrobe for a while but somehow, I couldn't find the right way to wear it until I came across my Versace for H&M palm print jumper and suddenly, inspiration struck. Two thin layers would fit under my coat, keep me warm against the wintery conditions and stop me from sweating the second I dived in to various venues across town on my missions.

The shirt in all it's oversized glory is still available on Asos for a very reasonable £25 [here].

Worn with: Palm print men's sweater, Versace for H&M; Leather shorts, H! by Henry Holland; Creepers, Underground London; Trench, The Kooples; Aviators, Ray-Ban.

Sunday 22 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY SEVEN



DAY TWENTY SEVEN: Mint green skinnies, Peacocks


With my irrational hatred of pastels, I never thought the day would come that I would find myself in a pair of mint green skinnies but this pair from Peacocks entered my wardrobe very sneakily. The lovely girls at ZPR sent me a pair just before Christmas and they hung out (literally) on my rail for months until Friday when I was having a bit of a tidy as new batches of samples came in and found them. Suddenly, the thought of wearing mint green had an inexplicable appeal for me, maybe it's the fact that I've done so many pastel themed things this year that they have entered my fashion radar simply by osmosis. Or maybe not. Of course, I'm still wearing them with a palette of monochrome but it's all about baby steps. Maybe by the end of the year I'll be colour blocking head-to-toe in fondants. And maybe pigs might fly.


Sadly, the Peacocks website is currently down so I can't link to a purchase but you should still be able to pick up a pair in your local store for only £16. I liked the cut of these so much I bought a pair in cobalt blue too. 


Worn with: waffle sweater, Gap; Breton tee & necklace, H&M; grey bag, Jaeger; slip-ons, Converse; Wayfarers, Ray-Ban.

Friday 20 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY SIX



DAY TWENTY SIX: Perspex necklace, H&M


This week has been a tricky one for transition dressing. With the UK being hammered from all sides by torrential rain with the odd burst of sun, my wardrobe has gone into total meltdown and I've retreated to a monochromatic safe haven in my winter wardrobe. However, today I finally woke up to a brief stint of sunshine rather than the all too familiar sound of the rain hitting the window panes and decided that this must be celebrated one way or another, so on went the River Island spring knit from my post a few weeks ago [here].


To cap it off, I decided to throw on my favourite necklace from H&M that I've been wearing all week on top of black and grey jumpers. I bought it a few weeks ago in the flagship Regent Street store, drawn to it by the absurdly large perspex tablets and of course, the neon ribbon. I'm a sucker from any bright accessories these days.


Whenever I wear this necklace, people are drawn to touch it and noone ever believes me when I say it's from H&M, most people think it's Marni. When I tell them it's from H&M, the usual comment after the raised eyebrows is 'Marni at H&M?' and then their eyebrows practically fall off their faces when I say it's regular H&M.


I wish I'd had the forethought to buy two as the ribbon on this one is going a little grey at the edges from constant wear but I figure that maybe if I wash it gently, I can bring it back to it's former eyepopping glory.


Not bad for £14.99.


Worn with: blue and white spring knit, River Island.

Wednesday 18 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY FIVE


DAY TWENTY FIVE: Neon orange nail varnish, Orly

In a week of rain, hail and god only knows what other surprises, I've found myself digging out the heavy winter items that only a fortnight ago I was contemplating packing up for the season. Unable to wear any of my more colourful lightweight pieces, I'm back in my favourite waffle jumper today, worn over my Marni at H&M silk shorts for one tiny stab at spring.

I'm perking up my overly dark outfit with zingy nails though. My sudden love of neon has been well documented during Transition and one of the easiest ways to accommodate it is without a doubt nail colour. I've already mentioned American Apparel's awesome Neon nail colours but I feel Orly are worth a mention too as this orange from their new summer collection is bin-man-jacket bright. Seriously, every time I look down at my keyboard I have a brief moment where I go YOW!

When I first tried it a few weeks ago during that brief spell of sandal weather, I initially put it on my toenails and I got compliments on it left, right and centre. Also, if like two of the members of our fashion desk, you're pregnant, Orly is great as all of their nail polishes are DPB, Toluene and Formaldehyde free.

This particular shade is called Orange Punch and it's available [here] for £9.25.

Monday 16 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY FOUR



DAY TWENTY FOUR: Tortoiseshell sunglasses, Polaroid


I spent most of this weekend wishing I was waking up in Palm Springs at Coachella and the rest shaking my fist at the sky over the fact that I wasn't there. However, the sunny skies in London meant that I could at least pretend that I was there with the hipster masses by swanning around my garden in these awesome oversized sunnies from Polaroid.


They're part of the Heritage range that has seen the company dig out their archive of styles and recreate designs from every decade, starting from the 1930s. There's some lovely cats eye styles from the 1950s that I also want to get my hands on for a touch of retro glamour. They're also great as all of the styles are polarised, meaning that they block out a lot of the glare that other sunnies don't and they turn my iPhone screen green which is always weird but fun.


You can see the full range of styles on the Polaroid website [here]

Friday 13 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY THREE



DAY TWENTY THREE: Black studded collar top, Zara


There are some days when a regular t-shirt won't cut it. Today I have precisely one of those busy days - appointments in town, then back to the office before heading out to dinner with one of my favourite PRs so I needed something that would work for all three.


I have become obsessed with Zara. Ob-sessed. Whereas once my heart (and wallet) lay with Topshop, my allegiance has shifted in the last year or so. With prices creeping up in Topshop and the average age of shoppers in there making me feel a bit mutton-dressed-as-lamb (I'm only 28) plus the alarming love for bum cutting hot pants, I suddenly found myself stroking things in Zara where the prices seem to have come down and the quality has gone up.


I bought this top a few weeks ago and I love it because while it has a tee feel, it's definitely smarter. Plus, who doesn't love a stud detail?





Oh and also, check out the back, love this pleating detail:


I would however suggest going up a size in this style - I usually wear a small but something told me to buy it in a medium when I didn't have time to try it on. Whatever this something was, it was pretty smart as even a medium is snug on my chest. Like it? Run on over and buy it [here] before it disappears into the Zara ether.

Worn with: Grey skinnies, Topshop; Tortoiseshell Wayfarers, Ray-Ban


Thursday 12 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY TWO



DAY TWENTY TWO: Printed tee, Miss Selfridge


So, the great battle of the British weather continues. My daily routine seems to go: wake up to blue skies, realise that the temperature's still single digits and then by mid-afternoon get attacked by the rain. All of the spring/summer stuff that I'd started wearing is firmly back in the wardrobe until the temperatures pick up because this certainly isn't Miami.


However, never one to admit defeat, I am trying to pretend that the office is a tropical paradise by wearing this really, really colourful tee from Miss Selfridge. I'm not usually one for such full on prints if they're not on trousers but I am however sucker for both leopard print and palm trees. So bam, SOLD.


I had a hard time deciding whether to choose this purple/blue/green colourway or the slightly brighter pink/orange/yellow but the darker hues won out this time. You can get the colourway I'm wearing [here] or the pink version [here], each for £24.


Roll on, summer.


Worn with: grey skinnies, Topshop; Tortoiseshell Wayfarers, Ray-Ban.

Monday 9 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY ONE



DAY TWENTY ONE: Zebra nail wraps, nailease


I love crazy nails but I rarely have the patience anymore to spend a whole night giving myself a complicated manicure and I have a weird phobia of anyone else touching my nails after a few dodgy adventures in nail bars so most of the time I just end up painting my nails block colours these days.


The other day I randomly got given some nail wraps and in a fit of boredom, decided to test them out. Usually I find them too fiddly what with having to heat them up, smooth out air bubbles and so on but these won me over as they didn't involve a hairdryer and an army of other tools.


After a tricky first hand, I got into the swing of things - match your nail, peel off the wrap and gently press it on, then file off the excess. Admittedly, I had to redo one of my index fingers as the curve of the nail isn't really accounted for in a flat transfer but I'm impressed with how well these have lasted. I applied them on Thursday afternoon, fully expecting to be peeling them off by Friday morning at the latest as has always been my previous experience, even when they've been applied by a professional but these don't look like they're going anywhere.


The wraps have gone a little crinkly (I think this is moisture getting underneath) but with a quick coat of my Ciaté topcoat every day, they've stayed in place remarkably well considering everything that I've put them through over the long Easter weekend. The edges are starting to wear down like any manicure would but there's no chipping as of yet so they might stay in place for a few days still.


UPDATE: So it turns out that these particular nail wraps are by a brand called nailease, as sold at Miss Selfridge [here] for the rather bargain price £6 for a pack of 20 wraps. I actually cut some of mine down before applying them and minus one or two replacements, you could probably get two sets out of one pack. I couldn't help myself and picked up another set on my way home, definitely addicted.

Friday 6 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY TWENTY


DAY TWENTY: Smile sequin sweatshirt, Love Label at Very

Apologies for the lack of posts this week, it has been one of those weeks. Apart from the awful weather, I spent most of the week knee deep in press days, shoot prep, shooting and then shooting some more, all the while doing my juice diet. More about the latter in a separate post, needless to say even though it was only a four day working week I felt like I'd done way more than that.

But anyway, it's a four day weekend! (Well, not for me - I'm in on Monday, BOO) So in honour of today and the sunshine, I thought it was appropriate to wear this very cheery sweatshirt from Love Label. Grey marl plus neon plus sequins meant that I couldn't resist it. Isn't it just super happy?


So, this weekend make like my top and SMILE!

Available at very.co.uk [here] for only £20. Might need to get the gold version too. Hmm.

Worn with: Tortoiseshell wayfarers, Ray-Ban; lots of bracelets; big grin.


Monday 2 April 2012

TRANSITION: DAY NINETEEN


DAY NINETEEN: Blue striped knit, River Island

The sun came out again on Sunday, so to celebrate the the last few hours of glorious weather before it all goes downhill this week - I mean, snowing at Easter? You've got to be kidding me - I whipped out another purchase from my night of influenced shopping last week. Again, another pastel. WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME??

I don't know how it happened but not only was I wearing pastels again, I'd somehow ended up wearing more colour than I ever have - pink chinos, the blue sweater and a yellow bag. My multi-hued look definitely got some stares as we pottered around the park.

Worn with: pink chinos, Zara; grey vest, American Apparel; Yellow satchel, Asos; tortoiseshell Wayfarers, Ray-Ban.