Category Archives: Fashion

Fashion

A short history of The humble espadrille

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Espadrilles are once again “having a moment” – or should that be, they’ve been “having a moment” every summer for so many years that they’ve now made the leap into must-have summer staple. I’ve just ordered this pair from ASOS (yippee!) which I hope will cover me for a wedding, work and my summer holiday:

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Here’s a short history lesson on these humble rope and canvas shoes, followed by some summer shoe shopping inspo (another yippee!). The Archaeological museum of Granada holds the earliest known pair of espadrilles – estimated to be a staggering 4,000 years old, which were found with human remains inside the “cueva de los murielagos” (the bat-cave).

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A 4,000 year old fashion, still going strong. I’ll take mine from ASOS though, thanks.

Espadrilles were also commonly used in the Pyrenees as peasant footwear dating back as far as the 14th century. They first “had a moment” fashion-wise during the 19th Century in the French Pyrenean city of Mauléon, where they were apparently on-trend for soldiers and priests.

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Espadrilles next had a fashion resurgence in the USA in the 1940s, partly due to their appearance on the feet of Lauren Bacall’s stylish character Nora Temple in Key Largo.

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In 1970, Yves Saint Laurent  invented the wedge espadrille and women worldwide embraced the concept of a shoe that was comfortable and stylish, glamorous and casual.

Espadrille popularity skyrocketed again in the 1980s, thanks to Sonny Crockett (played by Don Johnson) in Miami Vice. 

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In SS2013, espadrilles even got the Chanel seal of approval with this seriously covetable pair:

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Today, the humble espadrille can take you from work to the supermarket and from the beach to dinner. Here are my top summer picks:

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Michael Kors $99
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Banana Republic $98
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H&M £12
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Kurt Geiger £150

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Monsoon £59
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ASOS £15
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Love Moschino £74
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Soludos £48

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Fashion

go faux and share some snake love

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There are nearly 3,000 species of snake in the world. Only around 375 of these are venomous, and only a small proportion of these are potentially harmful to humans. In the UK, we have adder, grass snake and the rare smooth snake, all of which are legally protected (as are their lizard friends). My favourite is the lovely slow worm – actually not a worm or a snake but a legless lizard (insert obvious joke here). These little cuties are only 50cm long and are have lovely smooth skin (for legal and safety reasons reptiles should only be handled by experts, obv!). Continue reading go faux and share some snake love →

Fashion

Top 10 Quirky Jewellery pieces to brighten up your Spring wardrobe

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If you’re bored to death of your winter wardrobe and currently dipping your toe cautiously into spring fashion, you could do worse than to add some quirky accessories to liven things up a bit. Here’s my top 10 picks for colourful, rebellious and carefree jewellery to brighten up your spring wardrobe:

Continue reading Top 10 Quirky Jewellery pieces to brighten up your Spring wardrobe →

Fashion

Colour me Friday – Blue Velvet

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I was browsing through the SS 2015 catwalk shows again recently and I couldn’t help but notice the return of blue velvet, as seen at the Louis Vuitton 2015 summer collection:

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It reminded me of David Lynch’s 1986 dark, intense thriller and the equally classic song (I love both the 1963 Bobby Vinton original and Lana Del Rey’s awesome, atmospheric 2012 cover for H&M). We can’t all afford Louis Vuitton, nor are most of us daring enough to pull off the outfit above (you couldn’t exactly wear it to pop to the shops), but maybe a little Topshop or ASOS blue velvet might sneak it’s way into our wardrobes this spring? Continue reading Colour me Friday – Blue Velvet →

Fashion

Everything I learnt about fashion, I learnt from 80’s Dallas

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Hold on to your (cowboy) hats, because I’m about to (not quite scientifically) prove to you that, 24 years after it ended, Dallas is still influencing fashion in a major way. When I was growing up in the 80s, Dallas was compulsory viewing in our house. Yes, I do mean compulsory. Whatever was going on, my mum had a rule that it all stopped for Dallas – homework, chores, sibling squabbles, even if it was actually past our bedtimes – every Wednesday night, my mum, stepdad (begrudgingly), me, my five brothers and sisters and Sloopy the dog would race in to the living room, leap onto our alloted (and fiercely fought for) beanbags and faux-black-leather-and-chrome sofa spaces, and await with baited breath for the answers to last week’s cliffhanger. Continue reading Everything I learnt about fashion, I learnt from 80’s Dallas →

Fashion

New Apparel At Peachy Queen Boutique

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Hi guys, I just wanted to share the latest drop from The Peachy Queen Boutique, which has given me some inspo for tapping into some SS 2015 trends. I especially love the vibrant orange, and also the polka dot dress – according to this month’s Elle Magazine, polka dots are currently having a “mini-trend”. I’ve been following The Peachy Queen for a while now and she frequently brightens up my day with some fresh inspiration. Enjoy!

Fashion

Colour Me Friday: #Colour Me March

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The lovely people at the etail PR Blogger Network are holding a completion to win a pair of tickets to Cheltenham Races Ladies Day on 11th March – and given that the competition is called #ColourMeMarch, what could be better than for this week’s Colour Me Friday to be my competition entry, and at the same time provide a little colour inspiration! The look is inspired by the Lana Del Rey song “off to the Races”. Here goes, wish me luck!

What Would I Wear To Ladies Day? My Wish List

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Dress: ASOS £40; Cape: Ted Baker £99; Lipstick: MAC Rebel £15.50; Orchid hair clips: Accessorise £8; Shoes: ASOS £35; Necklace: Accessorise £12.

Fashion

Colour me Friday – How to Wear Yellow

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Yellow, that notoriously-avoided-by-brunettes shade, is predicted to be BIG this year, and has been widely seen in recent fashion weeks – both S/S 2015 and A/W 2015. It was on tops, coats, skirts and scarves at J. Crew; shoes, jewellery and dresses at Mary Katrantzou; coats and bags at Michael Kors; and a bit bonkers at Vivienne Westwood.

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Michael Kors Spring 2015
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Mary Katrantzou A/W 2015, Style.com
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J. Crew A/W 2015, Style.com

Great – but how do I, as a normal human (brunette), wear yellow? I tend to avoid it like the plague because it -well – makes me look like I have the plague. OK, not the plague, but as I have olive skin I’ve always thought it would make me look sallow and sickly. Well, following my triumph with one of my new year’s resolutions last year – “try yellow eyeshadow” (for which I can heartily recommend Clarins Sunny Yellow) – the key for me will be to avoid what I would describe as “1980s C&A pale pastel lemon” (memories of a bargain sale oversized-and-not-in-a-good-way pale lemon blouson ski jacket still haunt me). Continue reading Colour me Friday – How to Wear Yellow →

Fashion

Work it Baby!

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Brrr! It’s cold outside – and I can’t think of any better way to walk to work in the snow than in a pair of classic work boots. Although it’s a trend that never really goes away, they are currently in the upper zone of their fashion curve. In October Elle Magazine proclaimed “Timberlands are the new Birkenstocks!” (and controversially omitted the huge influence that hip hop has played in the rise of the Timberland boot). Vogue featured Timberlands in September; Grazia in November; InStyle (and Vogue again) in December. But there’s plenty more to the work boots trend than Timberlands. Continue reading Work it Baby! →