People Tree & Orla Kiely S/S 2012

Now you must have been living under a rock to have missed People Tree's fabulous collaboration with Emma Watson. Well now they've done it again. But this collaboration is even more fabulous.

People Tree have collaborated with amazing designer Orla Kiely for their 2nd collection together. The designer is well known for her stunning prints and out of this world accessories.

The collections colour palette features neutrals, corals & navy blue. So it is ideal for Spring\Summer. The range has a distinct retro feel with many pieces being 50s inspired. Button up bell style skirts, sleeveless alpine print dresses with belts at the waist, jersey dresses made with 100% organic cotton that is fairtrade certified.

I saw this collection in person on Thursday and instantly fell in love. I adore the garments silhouettes, the monochrome and coral palette and above all the femininity that is inherent in the collection.

Now you all probably know that People Tree is an ethical fashion brand. Ethical brands have a special place in my heart. People Tree's SS12 collection supports 4000 farmers and artisans from some of the world's poorest countries. They promote and use organic and handmade materials.
I'm really glad to see more designers embracing ethically made clothing and it is a real coup for People Tree to get a top designer like Orla Kiely involved with the brand.

The collection launches February 2012.

The People Tree website can be found here.

Review - 17 Magnetic Nail Polish & Mooooo!

Hey Lovelies!

So who's heard of the new trend in nail art? Of course I'm talking about magnetic nail polishes. Basically the polish contains little flecks of metal which create a unique looking effect on the nails when you place a magnet near the wet polish on the nail. Clever huh?

I've been dying to try it out for quite some time so when I saw 17 had brought one out and it was on promotion I figured what the hell, let's give it a try. I have one word word for you - amazing! So easy to apply and I love the 3D effect it gives to my nails and it almost looks holographic when it catches the light. The polish was super easy to apply. It's quite pigmented so you only need one coat and the cuticle rest on the lid makes it a cinch to magnetise the polish. I went for the metallic green colour and it is a gorgeous shade. The polish dries quickly and doesn't chip easily. Sop as you can probably tell 17 Magnetised nail polish gets a big thumbs up from me. Now all I need to decide is which colour to choose next. I think I might try out the purple. Any of you tried magnetic polish yet?







Moving on...... Everytime I attend a bloggers event or press event I seem to get asked for a business card for my blog. I've resisted the urge to purchase some.....until now. A couple of weeks ago online influence assessors Klout offered a perk for their top influencers that allowed you to purchase mini moocards for just the price of postage. So i decided now was the time to jump on the bandwagon and get me some Moo! I really love my cards so I'm glad I did they're soo pretty. And of course I love pretty things. Take a look.





To get 10% off your own set of moo cards visit http//moo.com/share/rgbq6t

Ethical Fashion & Me - Why I made the Change

So what exactly is ethical fashion? As my blog migrates from the coverage of Japanese fashion to ethical and locally made fashion due to my recent lifestyle change i thought i would examine what exactly ethical fashion is and some of the issues surrounding non ethical fashion.
Ethical fashion is a term used to describe ethical ways of designing, buying, selling and making fashion items. Areas covered within this are exploitative practices, fairtrade goods, sustainability, environmental impact, working conditions and the treatment of animals.
The ever expanding globalisation of the fashion industry means that the materials and the work involved in producing clothing can be outsourced to various parts of the world where the costs involved are substantially lower. But this way of producing clothing is very costly in other ways that aren't so visually apparent. Some of the issues involved are:-
Exploitative working conditions and treatment of workers- some child and adult workers are violently treated and physically abused in order to force them to work overtime. The places of work can be cramped, dirty, unsanitary with long hours and very low pay.
A lot of clothing is made using cotton. The cotton industry actually consumes 22.5% of the worlds insecticides and 10% of the pesticides - these toxic chemicals are not only detrimental to our environment but they can also adversely effect the health of the workers who grow it.

Most Textile growing in general is unsustainable because of its long term negative effect on the environment. One such example of this is Asia's Aral Sea where the water is now at only 15%  of its original volume due to the large amount that is needed to produce cotton.
All these effects even before the chemicals are applied to the actual material. These chemicals include zinc, lead, chromium and formaldehyde. They are bad for the environment and bad for our long term health.
I won't go into the fur trade because my contempt for that industry has already been discussed in detail.
High Street clothing has become disposable meaning that more of it than ever ends up in landfill. Actually 1 million tonnes yearly is thrown away in the UK alone I hate to think what the figures for the USA are. And of course clothing is inorganic so it doesn't give back to the earth in any positive way. Those are some of the many reasons I made this lifestyle change. Yes it'll be hard and yes I may struggle at times but my determination is high and I'll have all of you, my wonderful readers and friends to motivate and spur me on and your supportive comments since yesterday have helped more than you'll ever know. During this journey I hope that through this blog you'll discover a whole host of truly amazing innovative and ethical designers that you yourself will want to shop from not only for their ethical practices but because you genuinely love their designs. If I can effect just one persons shopping habits in even a tiny way i'll be a happy girl. I can't wait to share this journey with you all!

I’m SO Excited!

As many of you already know I’ve had plans for a dedicated community for UK fashion bloggers in the works and i’m pleased to say I’ve now set up the site and got my first members. I launched it yesterday and so far so good. Obviously I still have a lot of work to do but the foundations are in place. It has forums, groups, profiles and each few days i’ll be showcasing a different blogger who’ll appear on the front page.



My aim is to provide somewhere for UK bloggers to congregate and share experiences for the benefit of all us. I want the uk fashion blogging community to become more close knit as there is a huge absense of a dedicated fashion blogging network for us brits. I love many other blogging communities and will still participate in them but feel that they tend to be USA centric.

I’ll be purchasing a custom URL but for the moment its at - http://ukfashbloggr.ning.com/

New Year, new blog, new you… resolutions, goals for 2011

This weeks FBFF questions are looking at goals for our blogs in the coming year. Thanks to the amazing questions from Vahni of Grit and Glamour and as always check out all the other responses on Katy’s blog Modly Chic

1. What's the one thing you vow to learn or do in 2011 to improve your blog?

Take better pictures. The one thing I find lacking on my blog is my own photography. In 2011 I plan to attend more fashion exhibitions and shows and I really want to master the art of taking good photos. I’ve just purchased an SLR camera and now I just need to learn how to use it properly.

2. What did you learn about blogging in 2010 that you plan to put into practice next year?

The past six months have been amazing. I have learnt soo much. The main thing I’ve learnt is that original content is the key to a blog worth reading so in 2011 I plan to post original well written content. I never realised until quite recently that I am a good writer and that the posts that are most well read are the ones where i follow my inner voice and just write. I’ll continue to do these kind of posts and tackle issues that are close to my heart.

3. Do you have any high-level goals for your blog in the coming year? Monetization? More comments? More connections with other bloggers? A  new template?

My main goal for the next year is to develop more connections with bloggers. For me that is the best bit about blogging. This year has introduced me to soo many great bloggers and I've loved my conversations with them through my blog, FBFF discussions, IFB and Twitter. In 2011 I really want to connect with more UK fashion bloggers which is exactly why I've set up the uk fashion bloggers network on my blog. I want to set up events too to really connect and support each other. I’m hoping the first one will be to London Fashion Weekend in February. This year I attended my first PR events which allowed me to meet bloggers in person and I really loved it because of the interaction with bloggers that it provided.

 

 

4. If you could collaborate with one other blogger within your sphere of influence in 2011, who would you like to collaborate with, and what would you like to collaborate on?

If I could collaborate with any blogger it would be Jennine of the coveted and founder of IFB. I would love to organise an event like the conference IFB had in New York this year but in London instead. I feel there aren’t many such events in the UK and there is a desperate need for one. I also know many British bloggers feel the same as me and are crying out for such an event. The IFB one was a huge success from what I’ve heard and feel that 2010 saw a huge expansion of UK fashion blogs launching and I think 2011 will be the year of the blogger.

 

 

5. What do you plan to do to support other bloggers next year?

I’d love to feature more bloggers next year and I’m making plans to have regular guest posters on my blog. This year i was awarded most supportive blogger by Vahni of Grit and Glamour so I think I'm doing a lot of the right things but I want to work on forging stronger relationships with my fellow bloggers and supporting them in any way I can .

What new years resolutions do you have?

Fashion bloggers and how they've touched my heart!

As fashion bloggers we're often regarded as superficial and only interested in our appearance. Its true that as certain fashion bloggers have become well known names their blogs can be littered with outfit posts and pics of whatever fashion show they've been to but there are a whole host of bloggers that are helping to eradicate this image. More and more bloggers are putting themselves out there and making me think about issues that I've not thought about while reading a fashion blog.

Recent posts i've read have included posts on body image, online bullying and how the fashion world has influenced the rise of eating disorders in todays' youth.

But two recent posts have really opened my eyes and made me think and made me thankful for the life that I have. All too often I complain about my life without realising just how lucky I am. Me and my family are in good health, my kids are happy and all round I have a good life. These posts have really made me appreciate that.

The first one I'd like to mention is by collette of statements in fashion.

She recently posted about how her new blog design was inspired by the death of her son. This post actually brought me to tears. It was so heartfelt and well written and as a mother of 3 boys I can only imagine the anguish and pain she went through. I know that when i had a miscarriage before the birth of my boys it really tore me up inside but I was only in my 1st trimester. I think it was really brave of her to write that post and share her deepest thoughts with her readers. Reading it made me appreciate my own kids even more and realise how lucky I am. After reading it I went and gave them all a hug and counted my blessings. You can read her post at  http://www.statementsinfashion.net/2010/11/my-alexmy-dragonfly.html

The second post that stood out to me was the button owl's post on controlling men. In my life quite a few of my friends have ended up in relationships with controlling partners. It starts off with things like deciding what they wear or which friends they socialise with but then it descends from there in a lot of the cases - into violence or obsessive control. Button Owl discussed how many of her mum's friends had partners who chose what they wore. In my opinion what you wear is an element of who you are. We use clothes as a way of expressing ourselves. Allowing a partner to control this aspect of ourselves can lead to us losing a bit of ourselves. We as women need to empower and stand up for ourselves. In any case if a partner truly loved you they wouldn't try and control you. You can read button owl's post here -

http://thebuttonowl.tumblr.com/post/1681918071/controlfreak

These kind of posts really show how not all fashion bloggers are vain and self obsessed and that we do think of things other than what we wear. Yes outfit posts and style news and fashion in general is the backbone of a fashion blog but sometimes its good to hear bloggers discuss issues that 'really' matter and it makes me love their blogs even more.

High St haul and a look at Japanese beauty gadgets

So today i decided to do a little shopping on the high street for once. I usually buy all my stuff on the internet and god I'm glad i did as i picked up some lovely things

First off i got a lovely pink long sleeved dress that for once is long enough to not ride halfway up my rear lol! Its pink cotton adorned with pink pearls at the top and it was on sale at TK Maxx for only £8. Bargain!



And i got some lovely pink ankle boots with chains hanging off them. I was actually amazed they had my size They’re peep toe ones.



I also bought 2 lovely scarves a cream cotton one and a fluffy black one. With the weather getting colder i really need them.



And i got a nude coloured lipstick and a black pencil eyeliner.



And finally i got a pair of pearl studs (can you tell i love studs lol).



Now onto the next part of my post Japanese beauty gadgets.

Japanese Beauty Gadgets

Waist-Shaping Cushion: Sleep with this heart-shaped cushion under your waist and you can say goodbye to sit-ups so is the claim. By working on your posture, this pillow supposedly creates a taut waist without effort.

Beau Bust Roller: Using electro-stimulation technology, this little, battery-powered contraption firms up breast muscles and promote growth by activating the tissue.

Beautiful Voice Trainer: Don’t like your voice? You can get the sultry voice you’ve been wanting in just five minutes a day. This device retrains your tongue to position itself so that you breathe from your stomach when speaking. The result? A strong, sexy voice.

Head Refresher: With 234 stimulating rubber points, this scalp massager increases circulation to your entire body and stimulates hair growth for thicker, longer hair…and probably feels amazing. Just hold the ergonomic handles and brush back and forth on your scalp

Aluminium Facial Spa: Slip on this mask and enjoy a steam facial at home. Wrap the aluminium mask around your face, secure it at the back and feel the sweat!

High St ‘Gal’ Shopping Series Pt 1

Hey Guys! Welcome to part 1 of my high St shopping series. Part1 is gonna focus on House of Fraser who have an AMAZING selection of clothing suitable for gal style. I’ve found that their new femme fatale collection is especially suited for gals. From dresses to skirts to top to shoes to jewellery they have it all. As you can see they have some really gorgeous stuff and with stores scattered all over the UK your sure to have one near you (if your UK based)
And for those gals not in the UK they ship internationally. Hoorah!!
You can find their stuff at www.houseoffraser.co.uk






 





















 






  






So guys what’s your favourite piece?

And please tell me what you’d like to see more of on my blog. I welcome all suggestions.

Im thinking about adding a reader gallery where you can submit pics?

What do you think?
And lastly i’d like to thank everyone who’s followed my blog so far. I really do appreciate all your lovely comments and for following little old me.
Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows how excited i get about gaining new followers
Much Love

WC Sale 2010

At the moment the big labels are having massive sales to clear room for the Autumn/Winter 2010 collections. Yesterday i had a look at Ma*rs and today I'm bring you my favourite items from WC sale. You can pick up some proper bargains with some items retailing for a massive 90% reduction. WC is one of the most popular gal brands and i’ll be doing a post on their Autumn/Winter 2010 collection very soon xxx



You can buy these products here.
They don’t ship overseas but a really good shipping service is Treasure Japan. You can find it here
Thanks to samispoon for her info on treasure japan. Check out her blog here. (She rocks. Seriously)!