TWILIGHT

The time has finally come where I can start packing for holiday! I may seem a littler overexcited about the whole thing, but I haven't been on a (beach) holiday in three years and I am craving some sunshine, tan lines, cocktails and sand between my toes. Holiday shopping has been a struggle between buying things which I can wear again and buying things which really just caught my eye. My mission to find some nice black denim shorts have failed. But I did purchase this tapestry style corset top above which goes nicely with a white skirt I bought. Now, all that's left is to zip up my suitcase and go to the airport! Ciao!

Corset by Topshop, Sandals by Asos, Shorts by Ksubi, Bag by Marc by Marc Jacobs

SEASON

Now I'm a Summer girl. I love beaches and bikinis, ice creams and balmy evenings, shorts and sunnies, suntans and sun bleached hair (you get the picture?). When September rolls around with its rainclouds and falling temperatures I'm not a happy bunny, and I will never get used to how depressing it is to leave work at 5pm in the dark. Living in a country that gets so little of the Summer season makes you love it even more when its (finally) here. 
 But around August we get distracted from this when all of our lovely fashion houses start to drop their Autumn/Winter collection. I recently went shopping for holiday clothes only to be greeted by a barrage of knitwear and jeans. My Mother also threw a near on tantrum in M&S because they hardly had any swimwear left. But this is diverting from the point. 
There are few things I like about Winter (with the main exceptions being Christmas, hot chocolate and ice skating) but one thing I love is Winter dressing. Layering up outfits, investing in thick jumpers and wearing chunky boots to protect from the rain. But the main reason I am looking forward to Winter right now is stemming from this Zara AW13 campaign above. Season upon season Zara produce truly beautiful tailored coats and the year has finally come where I am going to bite the bullet and part with my money. The only tricky part now is to decide when is the best time to buy a coat before Zara stocks sell out, as they so often do. Oh, and that other tricky part of course, choosing which one to buy. 

TED BAKER WITH POLYVORE

A few weeks ago I attended the Ted Baker AW13 in London as a Community Correspondent for Polyvore, which I previously blogged about. Here are just a few Instagram snaps I took of what happened at the show.

NET-A-PORTER x POLYVORE

This post is long overdue (this happened back in May!), but I couldn't go any longer without making a post about the amazing day I had at Net-A-Porter with Polyvore. 
It was really exciting to get the invite and the itinerary for the day, especially when I found out that we would be having designer clinics with Erdem and Nicholas Kirkwood! I arrived at the Ampersand Hotel bright and early to meet the other Polyvore members (who were amazing) and the Polyvore staff (equally amazing) who had flown in all the way from California for the event. We were taken to the Net-A-Porter offices by the super swanky chauffeur service Uber. When we got there were were firstly given a tour of the offices. No pictures were allowed (and so I can't show you unfortunately) but the offices were stunning. One side housed Net-A-Porter; a vast open plan space with high windows and chandeliers, rows and rows of desks and seating areas, all overlooked by a huge glass boardroom. Our tour guide explained to us that they wanted to have the feeling of openness throughout their offices and business. 

We began with our goodie bags which had lots of lovely treats in, including a gift card to spend on the Net-A-Porter website! 

Then breakfast! 

Next we had three talks from the directors of Buying, PR and Fashion (Gabrielle Hackworthy, above). These talks were really interesting and gave us an insight into how the business is run. Gabrielle talked us through the launch of Net-A-Porter's new magazine 'The Edit' and talked about how the magazine had been conceived and developed. She showed us moodboards that were created for the shoots and showed us how the magazine was interactive so that people could click and buy items straight from the pages.    
Cute little fashion cookies!

We then had a designer clinic with Canadian designer Erdem who was really funny and sweet. He talked us through the creative process of designing and showed us pieces from his current collection. The dresses were beautiful and it was really interesting to hear about his inspirations and ideas! 

Lastly we had a designer clinic with footwear designer Nicholas Kirkwood and his team. They bought along lots of shoes to show us and they were all to die for, especially the chain ankle one above! Nicolas and his partner were really insightful and honest and talked a lot about the issues that they have often faced. We learned about the Kirkwood 'woman' and about new and innovative ideas that are being pioneered by Nicholas at the moment. 
The day was such an enjoyable one; I loved meeting the other Polyvore members and the Polyvore staff and getting to know them and it was amazing to see the offices and meet the people who work for Net-A-Porter. Huge thank you to both Net-A-Porter and Polyvore for the experience!! 

GRADUATION

Last Thursday I attended my Graduation! Over three years at University I have made the most amazing friends and done things I never thought I would do. I will look back on my time there with the fondest of memories and can honestly say I have had the time of my life. I'm a graduate baby!