Liverpool Street Style: Global Scouse Day

When it comes to fashion, Liverpool has a style all of its own, but stepping away from the stereotypical Scouse brow’s and curly blow dry’s, I wanted to find the true fashionistas of the city.

What better day to do this than on Global Scouse Day – 28^th February. (If you’re not familiar, Scouse is an authentic Liverpool dish similar to a stew, served traditionally with pickled beetroot, pickled cabbage and chunky slices of bread and butter).

The lovely ladies of Liverpool once again did not fail to impress with a variety of styles and well put together ensembles. With the lingering bitter weather, layering is still the main focus of the season, with clever ways of wrapping up whilst looking as fabulous as ever.

The cape coat is bang on trend right now and seems to be a favourite cover up for Kim Kardashian as we’ve seen in multiple designs. I love the classic white shirt worn underneath and accessorised with a wide brimmed fedora hat, perfect for those chilly days.

Black Cape Blazer: Nasty Gal £44.11

White Longline Shirt: River Island £25

Block Heel Shoes: Topshop £58

Felt Floppy Hat: ASOS £20

There’s nothing more comforting than throwing on a big fur coat and tackling the freezing cold winds (especially in Liverpool). This laid back look is perfect for those days when comfort and warmth are neck-on-neck with looking good. Wear with a high neck swing dress and a comfy pair of flats and you’re ready to go.

Black Fur Coat: Alice & You £40

Ribbed Turtle Neck Swing Dress: River Island £32

Gold Trim Brogues: Missguided £20

Tan Across Body Bag: Dune £59

So we might well be creeping up to spring, but the weather is still very much in winter mode. The bobble hat is an accessory favoured by the celebs lately, particularly Millie (Mackintosh) Manderson who always looks fabulous in any kind of hat. I love the classic collarless black coat accessorised with a blue tote bag to add a pop of colour to an otherwise dull outfit.

Blue Mini Tote Bag: River Island £30

Black Suede Ankle Boots: Office £75

CASPAR  Pom Pom Hat: Amazon £13.90

Black Collarless Coat: New Look £30

Questionnaire: The Sustainability of Luxury Fashion

I'm currently in the midst of my fashion dissertation and would love for any readers to be a part of my research. I've put together a quick questionnaire (only 10 questions long) about luxury fashion and would be so grateful if you could take the time to complete this questionnaire to aid my primary research.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RB6X53L

Thank you!

Gareth Pugh: LFW Return

One of my all-time favourite designers and a treasure to British fashion, it has been announced that Gareth Pugh will be ending his seven year break and returning to London Fashion Week in February 2015 during the autumn/winter showcase.

"London is where everything began for me. My creative family is here, our story is here. So I'm thrilled to acknowledge such an important milestone on home ground. At heart this is a creative decision - it feels timely and true to the spirit of the work." Pugh, vogue.co.uk

Let’s take a look at some of Pugh’s previous collections and remind ourselves of his incredible talent.

The Hottest Campaigns for SS15

It’s less than a week until Christmas, but right now, all that is on our minds is the trickling in of those Spring/Summer campaigns. Next season is already set to be a scorcher with some super-hot famous faces for our favourite brands. From Madonna for Versace to Julia Roberts for Givenchy, Calvin Harris for Emporio Armani to Nicki Minaj for Roberto Cavalli – these designer/celebrity combinations have definitely got us feeling the heat. 

Adriana Lima, Joan Smalls, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Isabeli Fontana, Crista Cober for Balmain

Anja Rubik for Marc Jacobs

Calvin Harris for Armani

Julia Roberts for Givenchy

Karlie Kloss for Jason Wu

Madonna for Versace 

Naomi Campbell and Jourdan Dunn for Burberry

Naomi Cambell for Agent Provocateur

Nicki Minaj for Roberto Cavalli

PFW: SS15

So, fashion week is officially over for another season, and so far we’ve shared our favourite shows from London, New York and Milan – now for the crème de la crème of Paris fashion.

It has been described as being ‘arguably the show of the season’ by Vogue; Louis Vuitton pulled off yet another incredible collection. A continuation from his last collection, Nicolas Ghesquiére built on his preppy-go-seventies vibe with the A-line silhouette made up of striped eel skin in a combination of navy and red, yellow and black. Following on from this we saw cropped velvet flared trousers, leather biker jackets, white woven dresses with buttoned up bibs and printed leather trousers; all accessorised with the classic bag now sporting the new LV logo.

In true enfant terrible style, Jean-Paul Gaultier put on a spectacle of a show as he took his bow on stage after his final ready-to-wear collection. Known for some of fashion’s most outrageous and provocative designs, this collection was bound to be all of that and more. Themed as a beauty pageant with categories of models representing various stages in his life, his inspirations and comments, it was a truly special insight into the designer’s career. Superhero wrestlers, WAGs, Grace Coddington, Suzy Menkes and eighties Madonnas, to name a few, donned the catwalk as well as some of the designer’s most famous designs. It was a lavish celebration and an extravagant send-off perfectly fitting for JPG.

It was the most glamorous fashion protest if ever we have seen one. Models strutted down ‘Boulevard Chanel’ in ones, twos, threes or even gangs, chatting away in their heritage style Chanel attire. Tweed suits, box-pleated skirts, painterly floral prints over silk and mosaic cocktail dresses made up of plastic pewter blocks were the essence of this inspirational collection. Karl Lagerfeld planned an impressive finale of a mock protest with models marching down the replica street, complete with banners stating “Free Freedom”, “Tweed is better than tweet”, “Make fashion not war”, “Be your own stylist” and “Ladies first”, whilst Cara and Gisele screamed on quilted Chanel megaphones “What do we want? When do we want it?” - Fashion bloggers everywhere would have been dreaming of snapping this street style.

MFW: SS15

Gucci brought a flare of the seventies back onto the fashion scene at this season’s Milan catwalk. With button up denim jackets and matching skirts, suede coat dresses and floaty boho blouses worn underneath gilets made of Mongolian goat hair and crafted patchwork snakeskin, this collection felt like a time capsule uncovered four decades later. The colour palette consisted of an array of autumn shades; rustic reds, burnt oranges, clean whites and not to forget the stereotypical seventies toffee brown.

Blue was the colour at the Emporio Armani show last week. Cornflower, navy and metallic were the designer’s preferential shades throughout his collection, teamed up with crisp bright whites and subtle greys. There was a prominent essence of young and sporty combined with a relaxed yet partially tailored silhouette. Trousers were loose fitting with tapered ankles, puffball skirts looked somewhat deflated, and his footwear of choice was, of course, skate shoes and hi-tops.

After last season’s unforgettable collection centred on a carton of McDonald’s fries, how could designer, Jeremy Scott, maintain the wildness at Moschino? By creating a collection inspired by Barbie of course! His plastic-fantastic themed show was consistent down to the boxed Barbie dolls and mirror-turned-iPhone cases on every seat. Whilst Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’ played in the background, a real life version of the boxed Barbie opened the show in her bubble-gum pink attire and curled blonde wig. From Business Woman Barbie to Cowgirl Barbie, a collection of life-size dolls strutted (or skated in the case of Roller-skater Barbie) down the catwalk. We also saw sequin covered jeans, metallic gold outfits, and ensembles that replicated blow-up pool toys – this collection was truly genius.

LFW: SS15

Straight from New York to London, here are my favourite collections from our country’s very own fashion week.

One of my favourite designers over the recent seasons is the amazing David Koma. Recently appointed as artistic director at Thierry Mugler, the designer once again showed off his many talents within his own collection, giving us a glimpse at what we could expect for his debut mainline collection for Mugler. Stepping slightly outside of his usual comfort zone, Koma’s latest designs consisted of soft silhouettes with fluidity in the designs, yet kept to his signature style of adding angular cuts and bodycon fits. The combination of black and white mixed with lemon yellow and shades of blue created an eye-catching palette. Asymmetric necklines, sheer panelling, cut-outs and tailoring; there is nothing we don’t adore about this collection.

The Queen of print herself, Mary Katrantzou, wowed us more than ever this season with an exquisite collection; possibly named as her best yet. As she began to move away from her stereotypical printed designs last year, the designer once again continued with this and produced a collection of immaculately embellished designs. With the inspiration of a prehistoric land, this was apparent throughout all of her latest work, with extremely intricate detailing representing broken up islands of the world, revealing a background of sheer nude; highly worked beading and embroidery to create prehistoric creatures upon her designs; layers upon layers of luxurious fabrics; this collection was sure to be the envy of fashion world.

The most British of all brands, and the epitome of London Fashion Week, Burberry once again stole the limelight. It’s the show that attracts the crème de la crème of the fashion world, both on and off of the catwalk, with Cara Delevingne, Kate Moss and Mario Testino sat front row, model Malaika Firth opened the show in a wasp-waisted denim jacket in indigo blue, lined with white sheepskin. Denim jackets seemed to be the key aspect of Christopher Bailey’s designs for the brand this season; all lined and cut in alternate versions. Worn beneath the jackets were delicate and light tulle dresses in jewelled tones with variances of pleats and twists added to the designs. Statement prints of slogans and insects and trainers worn with these immaculate garments gave this typically British brand an exciting modern twist.

Images from vogue.co.uk