Postmodernism at the V&A

On Tuesday I visited the V&A to go to the 'Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, 1970-90' exhibition. The exhibition was huge, much larger than I expected, with rooms of architecture, fashion, music, art, print, household objects and furniture - to give an idea of how much was in this exhibition, I was in there for four hours. Not the V&A, just the postmodernism exhibition. Four hours! And I had to sit down three times. To be completely honest, I did find the first half of the exhibition quite repetitive and in my opinion, the amount of examples of architecture and design pieces were unnecessary in gaining a knowledge of the postmodernist movement. However, the exhibits are very visually stimulating so I think it'd be best to have a look but save your energy for the fashion, music and print rooms.
'Postmodernism was an unstable mix of the theatrical and theoretical. It was visually thrilling, a multifaceted style that ranged from the colourful to the ruinous, the ludicrous to the luxurious' with its key principles being 'complexity and contradiction. [...] Postmodernism shattered established ideas about style. It brought a radical freedom to art and design, through gestures that were often funny, sometimes confrontational and occasionally absurd. Most of all, postmodernism brought a new self-awareness about style itself'. (http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/postmodernism/postmodernism-about-the-exhibition/)


Grace Jones in maternity dress, designed by Jean-Paul Goude and Antonio Lopez


'Homage to Levi-Strauss' dress, Cinzia Ruggeri


i-D, no 28. The Art Issue, August 1985, styled by William Faulkner, design by Terry Jones, photograph by Nick Knight, featuring Lizzy Tear

Find out more about the exhibition here.

lace, owls and dinner

As I'm in London for the week, I took a trip to Covent Garden today for a long-awaited trip to the Sass & Belle shop, a catch up with Steff and a meal at Pizza Express with Chris. The weather's so temperamental at the moment, yesterday I went out in a jumperdress and was freezing cold one minute and boiling hot the next. My favourite winters are ones where the sky stays clear and you get that lovely winter sun, which is how it's been recently, so I shouldn't complain too much.
Today I wore:



White lace playsuit, Urban Outfitters
Fitted black cardigan (just seen), H&M
Trench coat, New Look
Tights, Marks & Spencer
Rust red suede brogues, New Look
Doctor's bag, Topshop

And here is my lovely owl cushion (14.99)! I chose the 'Grey owl' as I thought the mix of fabric prints and colours were more easy on the eye than the others, although 'Wise' and 'Ditsy' owls were close seconds. The Sass & Belle shop in Covent Garden is wonderful, like a magical emporium full to the brim with tealight holders, cushions, floral garlands, bunting and other cute bits and bobs. If you haven't heard of Sass & Belle before, you can check out their website here.

My very best of Versace for H&M

My very best of Versace for H&M via Polyvore

Versace for H&M by fabricreligion featuring studded belts

cocktail evening

Last night Hannah, Andrea and I headed into town for some delicious cocktails and dancing. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get an outfit shot of Andrea as she joined Hannah and I later on in the evening. We were trying to channel 'girls from the office'/'after work drinks' haha - Hannah wore some lovely pieces from H&M and a Michael Kors watch, and I wore a light pink top, cream lace top and suede metal corner bag, all from Topshop, grey bodycon skirt from Warehouse, New Look suedette platforms and Urban Outfitters watch.

Versace for H&M

Finally the lookbook for the eagerly-awaited Versace for H&M collection has been released. The collection is unmistakably Versace, featuring bold colours and prints, daring cuts and the Greek key embellished on jackets and dresses.
‘The collection for H&M is the essence of Versace. For the collaboration we’ve brought back from the archives, as well as from more recent collections, some of the icons of Versace. [...] I can’t wait to see how H&M’s wide audience will make these pieces their own’, Donatella Versace
Below are some of my favourite pieces from the collection, I especially love the black silk crepe Grecian dress. Find the collection in selected H&M stores from the 17th November.




read more about it here and here

ten past ten

I love watches, I feel so lost if I don't have one on, and I've just found these quirky, vintage-inspired watches on the Urban Outfitters website. Urban Outfitters always have a great selection, but if you are looking for a watch which has a history behind the vintage exterior, Portobello Market in London and The Lanes in Brighton (especially Snooper's Paradise) always have an amazing range with some looking pretty similar to the ones below - and if you shop at markets at the end of the day you can always haggle prices down!

Sun and moon dial watch £38, Globe leather watch £26, Both Urban Outfitters

zig zag

When thinking of what nail design I could do next, I thought of the beautiful colourful Missoni zig zag prints, and attempted to translate this pattern onto my nails. Using Barry M Nail Paint in Coral as the base colour, I then used white and gold nail pens to create the zig zags across the nails. Trickier than I expected as it does require precision and using white on coral means there's no room for error! They do look a little messy up close but overall I think they look cool and quirky.



When creating intricate designs like this, the last thing I want is for the paint to chip a couple of days later. There's one trick I've learnt that's made them last about a week, and that's to make sure the nail polish is sealed. If you look at the edge of your nail after you've painted them and you can see the white of the tip of your nail then they're not sealed and will be prone to chipping. To avoid this, use a little polish on the brush and sweep across the edge of your nail. You may get some on your skin but don't worry if it's messy as you can just use a cotton bud with some nail varnish remover to clean it up. I also top up throughout the week, covering parts where the varnish has chipped or flaked off the edge, because with designs like this, where there's lots going on, you can barely notice the repairs.

spotty polka dotty nails

One of my favourite Autumn/Winter 2011 trends is polka dots, just because it's a fun, playful print that can look ladylike and elegant and can be refreshed every year. I find that this trend works best when used with sheer fabric or tailored/bodycon shapes to flatter the form and prevent the body from looking swamped.


Stella McCartney A/W 11


Marc Jacobs A/W 11

I love following the catwalk trends but my student budget doesn't allow me to update my wardrobe as often as I would like to with high-street imitations, let alone buy designer pieces.

As I have recently got into nail art, I find that translating colours and prints onto nails is a really quick and easy way to be on trend without spending money on new clothes. I created the look below using Rimmel Lycra Pro in Golden Totem and a white nail art pen. I applied two coats of gold and then used the white pen to paint three dots (five on my thumbnails) across the nail as a guide for the rest of the dots. This is one of my favourite designs so far because it's relatively simple but eyecatching and I could recreate this look in loads of different colours.