MEREDITH

For such a long time I've been telling myself that I will wear more colour and actively steer clear of my monochrome addiction, but time after time I'm drawn to black and white pieces over all others. This beautiful dress from Topshop is a prime example. The back of it is black, so it's perfect for both casual and work environments; the panel of white at the front brightens it up. On top of that, the sleeves make it perfect for the impending cold season. So with all these things going for it, I reasoned that if I add a swipe of red lipstick (Tom Ford's reddest red if you please) then that would be colour enough for me, and thus I could allow myself one more black and white dress. After all, monochrome is versatile, right?

1. Phone Case £22 by Kate Spade 2. Lipstick £36 by Tom Ford at Selfridges  3. Pumps £650 by Valentino at Moda Operandi 4. Dress £48 by Topshop  5. Necklace £22.50 by Topshop 6. Tote £895 by Victoria Beckham at Net-a-Porter

Sunshine Colour

So it would appear that I have recently developed a slight penchant for yellow. When I say slight I mean obsessive and when I say yellow, I don't mean those lemon shades that the pastel trend is shovelling on us. No. I mean the canary yellow, neon bright, glow in the dark, hurts your eyes to look at, nauseating kind of yellow. As seen above.

See, point example explain. Just like we did in school.

This all started about two weeks ago when I stumbled (literally, it was 9am and I was barely functioning) across a tweed jacket in just such an electric hue. It was tweed (tick) and it had zippers at the waist, meaning you could unzip it and have it flapping around like it was real Helmut Lang (tick tick). It was also from Zara (massive high street friendly tick) meaning it won't cost £500+ like all the other yellow zipped Helmut Lang style jackets you're likely to come across. So that's a happy dance due right there.

Also, if you're anything like me, pairing this with black and having the effect of looking like a giant bumble bee will actually be a plus. If anyone asks, just tell them 'No, it's not fancy dress'. Buzzz.

Just incase anyone was wondering, or happened to share my addiction to the brightest colour in the spectrum...

Shoes Zara, Top Helmut Lang, Dress Topshop, Dress Giambastitta Valli, Shoes Charlotte Olympia, Bag Stella McCartney, Rainmac Mulberry, Pouch Victoria Beckham, Blazer Zara and Skirt Giambastitta Valli.

Oscar Time

Octavia Spencer in Tadash Shoji / Mila Jovovich in Elie Saab



Emma Stone in Giambattista Valli Couture / Leslie Mann in Roberto Cavalli



Glenn Close in Zac Posen / Berenice Bejo in Elie Saab

So these are my favourites dresses from last night's Oscar festivities. There were a lot that could've potentially hit the mark big time (ROONEY WHY DID YOU NOT GET THAT GIVENCHY FITTED?!?!) but these were my besties.
Octavia Spencer has been dressing well this whole award season as far as I'm concerned, especially as a 'bigger woman' as she is constantly referred to. She looked beautiful and that dress was mesmerising.
Props to Emma Stone for daring to wear red with her hair colour; I thought she looked beautiful, and my friend's point that the bow looked stupid was quashed by my argument that 'it was Giambattista Valli Couture and therefore it was perfect'. I win, right?
Leslie Mann scored big points for wearing my one of my favourite red carpet colours, and the beading on the dress was lovely - I thought it was an excellent Oscar choice.
Glenn Close absolutely hit the mark in her Zac Posen number - there was a lot of talk about 'dressing for her age', which I hated as age doesn't mean you can't look nice. There was a lot of green around on the red carpet last night (points also to Maria Menounos for her beautiful forest green gown, and Missi Pyle for her eye-popping Valentino Delfino dress), but for me Glenn won the race.
And lastly, the Elie Saab gowns. In my mind Elie Saab is just perfect in every way and I love every dress he makes, but these two were particularly good. Mila's was bright, sparkly and glamorous in every way, whilst Berenice's was the definition of understated elegance. Thumbs up all round.

Also Gwennie's Tom Ford number was stunning but the cape was a no no. Jessica Chastain finally wore something I loved - McQueen. Stacey Keibler wore a lovely gold Marchesa dress which didn't get the greatest reaction, but I thought she looked out of this world. I adored Angelina's Versace Atelier gown but her pose was just too irritating to post. Again on the age appropriate topic, I think Shailene Woodley looked amazing in that Valentino Couture dress, and I'm sure if she'd have gone for an Angelinaesque piece they would've said it was 'too old' for her.





And then at the Vanity Fair party three of my red carpet favourites (plus Cammy D) went and pulled it out of the bag.
Diane Kruger looked picture perfect in Calvin Klein Collection, and added to all the red dresses worn (which is always a good thing).
Zoe Saldana stole my heart by wearing London favourite Marios Schwab.
Kate Bosworth was stunning in New York favourite Prabal Gurung (I actually hoped someone would wear this when I saw the show), and her and Michael Polish just looked so damn cute.
And lastly Cameron Diaz in her controversial orange Victoria Beckham dress. I happen to like a pop of orange now and then so this was a nice surprise. Despite looking a little strange in dresses these days with those arms, she pulled it of. Dare I say that she looked better than VB herself?

Who were your favourites on the Oscar Red Carpet?

Loes x

Victoria Beckham

I'm not the hugest fan of Victoria Beckham's designs; there never seems to be enough variety, and I can't get excited about a designer who produces the same look season after season. So for me, this FW12 show came as something of a surprise. Following on from Spring's debut, we had more coats, and excellent coats at that. An olive peacoat with black python trim and an oversized maroon boyfriend coat caught my eye. The dresses had a sporty twist this season, but my favourite dresses came in the form of four black minidresses at the end of the show. Sleek, simple and sexy, yet overwhelmingly effective, they are the kind of piece that have come to be Beckham's trademark. On another note, the boots and socks look? Love or hate?

Loes x

Tuesday Wish List

Acne Cotton Sweater Beals cotton-terry and silk-taffeta sweater - £160 from net-a-porter.com
Miu Miu Ruffled stretch-jersey and cotton top - £360 from net-a-porter.com
Victoria Beckham Denim Twist skinny jeans - £255 from net-a-porter.com
Marc Jacobs Embroidered tulle skirt - £2,415 from net-a-porter.com
Acne Romantic leather skirt - £1,000 from net-a-porter.com
Isabel Marant Merry leather sandals - £245 from net-a-porter.com
Clinque Pressed Poweder - £21 from boots.com
Mulberry Harriet textured patent-leather tote - £950 from net-a-porter.com
Michael Kors Chronograph Watch - £180 from michaelkors.com

At the moment I have a real obsession with big cosy jumpers, and this Acne one I spotted looked so beautifully comfortable that it just made me feel like snuggling up in it and going to sleep. The skirts were really lovely; the Acne one in such a soft brown leather, and the Marc Jacobs one is just a breathtaking concoction of pink tulle. More jeans, as you can never have too many, same with white tops. I've been yearning over the Michael Kors chronograph for about 2 years, and I discovered that I save myself some pennies if I buy it in the US, so I'm waiting to go there before I make my purchase. And my make up's just about run out (uh-oh-for-me) so I need to restock.

Loes x